Christmas Catch-up

Well, it's about time! Our family has experienced much this year, (snippets can be read on the post below).  Hopefully, 2013 won't be as "exciting"!

In 2007, my husband asked for some original artwork for our church's Christmas Eve program. So, for five years now, I've painted something original for Christmas. It is a "joint" effort, my husband gives me "ideas" of what he would like to see, and I have to "execute" them. lol!

Here is this year's artwork~

~2012 Mary and Babe Sketch~

~2012 Mary and Babe Painting~

(as you can see, I didn't really stick with my original drawing when I painted this one!)

Wishing you a Wonderful Christmas with family and friends. May your time together be a Blessed time of celebration. From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!

~*~*~*~

A look back on Christmas covers past:

And Then What Happened?

 It is update day on TDIPT, and although the cooler autumn weather hasn't hit Boise yet, I've been thinking about and planning fall items since July. I took August off from the selling site to catch up on stuff here at home, but.......that didn't work out as planned! It has been a crazy August!

Here is the rundown: (Mind you, this has all happened in a few weeks, and no, I'm not making this up!) :)

* Husband fell, caught his ring finger on a railing as he went down and cut his finger deep enough for stitches. The wedding ring flew off, but he found it! He had nerve damage in the finger, so he had to have surgery. He will have to wear this HUGE bandage for three weeks while he tries to play the piano and guitar for school and church. Oh, and school (he is a Choir/Music teacher) started for him.

* Oldest Son (Ethan) has a severe sleep disorder. Sadly, no one in the medical field can figure out why he sleeps 18 plus hours a day (some days are worse, some are a little better). And, we do our best to keep him on a schedule and get him to wake up....again, some days are worse, some are better. He has sleep apnea with hypersomnia...which just means they don't know what to call it, or why it is happening. But, they gave him a CPAP (which only helps with the sleep apnea). This has been going on for years and impacts his life, as well as ours. Prayers for him please! He has decided to take classes at BSU, but we talked him into just two this semester...and they are both online.

* Youngest Son (Ben) ran into a base cabinet door at church while playing a game at youth group. His knee started swelling, so we had to take him to the ER (second time to visit that place in a week!). He didn't break anything, but tore some cartilage. He has to wear a brace for a few days, but should be okay.......and we started our last year of home school!

Well, I guess "home school" may never be over, especially now that "we've" started college. So far, we are taking Psychology 101 and Sociology 101. Should be an interesting semester! :)....IF I can keep him awake!
So, thank goodness I started some of my offerings before all of this happened! And, if you'd like to visit them, please click this link:

Pear Tree on TDIPT

Here is a quick peek at all of them:

Crow's Feet~ This was one of those quirky ideas in my head that turned out cute when I was done, lol! 
 

 Autumn~ A primitive portrait. Haven't painted one of these in awhile, but thought I'd give it a "fall flair".  She was started way back in July! :)

 ~Little Miss Muffet and her Pumpkin Tuffet~ My Halloween/Harvest spin on the nursery rhyme.

Sorry for yet another longish post. Things happen so fast around here, I just can't keep up with blogging about them! 

~Happy "Almost" Fall! ~

Fall Cleaning

I'm having a "Fall Clean-up" over on Ebay. I haven't put anything on Ebay in so long...they changed how you do it on me! So, after staring at the computer screen all day and trying to figure out a little "html", I've uploaded four items, and plan to add more later this week.

I'm starting items "low-ish" to clean-up my storage area. (I think this is typically called "Spring Cleaning", but I'm a few seasons behind!...or ahead?).    :)

Please have a look, and check back later in the week for more:

Pear Tree Primitives on Ebay

 

Here's Your Sign

Thank you for the Happy Birthday wishes. :) August is a big month of birthdays for us. Next week my oldest son will be twenty! YIKES! Why does that seem more of a milestone than me turning fifty?! GULP!

This week I had a rare afternoon alone in the house. It was quiet and I was trying to get some painting done. Then came a knock on the front door. Molly, our min schnauzer, started to bark. Well, it was more like she became unglued! She really goes nuts when someone comes to the door, even if it is her owners! :)

Thinking it was one of my boys who forgot their key, I opened the door. Nope, not a family member, but a salesman! Grrrrr!

Evidently my signage was not a deterrent for this guy.

When I opened the door, the young man said, "Ha!, that is the funniest thing I've ever seen!" (referring to my sign-photo above), and then asked, "Can I take a picture?".

Really? Well, just for the record: This sign is counterproductive. Haha!

Oh, but that's not all. After I said,"Sure", and pulled the barking schnauzer back into the house, he called all of his friends over to see my sign. You know, the van load of salesmen that are released on a street to canvas a neighborhood? Well, they all gathered on my front porch.

Molly was beside herself at this point.....so much for my "quiet" afternoon alone at home!

Click to Enlarge

  And here is what I was trying to work on that afternoon. The boys have dubbed her "Creepy Girl".  Lol! Guess she is a little creepy, but she will be getting a dress and some hair next, so that should make her a little more attractive and self-confident. *snicker*

50 is the new......me!

Today is my 50th birthday, and I'm okay with that.  :) For some reason I thought turning 30 was hard, but now, looking back, it wasn't. Life changed for me at 30, I had my first child. My husband and I were "late" bloomers. When others already had two or three children, we were just starting our family. So, that has kept me "young", at least, young-at-heart. :)

However unintentionally, I've given myself a birthday present today. My birthday present started over the last year and four months- since April of 2011. My husband and I began a fitness program called P90X (and went on to complete P90X2, just 'cause we are crazy like that!). We both have changed, in a good way! And this change will help us hopefully be stronger as we grow older. This isn't a "plug" for any specific program, just a story about our journey.

Our son, Ethan, introduced us to P90X. His developmental therapist had showed it to us and had Ethan using it....as much as he could. So, we thought we would support Ethan with his new fitness routine and he could join us. He did for a few weeks, and then he had his accident.
 (It is a long post.  If you click to read it, just scroll down to the "Blessing" part!).

Although we had a billion excuses to stop, we didn't. We continued....without Ethan. (He started a new program this past month). We started for Ethan, but we continued for us. And, if you think about it, we really continued for both of our boys as well.

It was time we carved out of our day to spend together, it was good for our bodies and good for us mentally and emotionally too. And, honestly, I think we really just needed to relieve stress from our lives, and the physical changes were a bonus. So, in the evening, after dinner we workout. Not the best time, we are already tired from our day, but that is the only time we can be together. And, with only one night off a week, we push on.

It wasn't easy however. Lots of interruptions, until the boys understood that this was our time to workout. And, lots of soreness! Working out at our age after years of a sedentary (or semi-sedentary)  lifestyle wasn't easy. Plus, the things that crazy Tony Horton makes you do on those DVDs seemed completely impossible, but after a few weeks of trying,  it's not as impossible as you originally thought.

We've completed P90X three times and since January 2012 we've completed P90X2 twice. We are now doing a hybrid of both. Next, my husband wants to try another program called Insanity....and now, after a year and four months of working out beside him, I don't think he is that crazy to suggest it! :)

50 is just a number and I can do that in push-ups! :)

 If you would like to learn more about the programs we've done you can visit Michelle Sylvia (you may also know her from The Black Berry Briar-link on my sidebar).

Happy Fourth of July

quote by ~Rudyard Kipling, The Old Issue, 1899

Hope you have a Safe and Happy 4th of July~

Sand, Surf, Saltwater and Sun

It finally reached the 90's here (more on that and our poor little garden the next post). 90 is going to feel wonderful about the middle of July when my family gets together in Galveston, TX, to play at the beach, in the middle of July, in Texas, did I mention it will be in the middle of July....in TX?

So, to psych myself up for this adventure, I've painted a few beach-themed signs for my update this month on TDIPT. You can visit my page here: Pear Tree on TDIPT

But, before you go, I'd like to show you how I made some of these new offerings ~*~*~*~*~

I am in love with old weathered barn boards. They just appeal to me for many reasons and they look cool too! :) So, I thought I'd try to replicate their "look" in a condensed version. I found some craft sticks in my stash of supplies. (Not really sure why I had those, can't even remember buying them, but they came in handy for this project).

I had my handyman cut 3 x 4.5 pieces of hardboard (the kind of board in the back of cabinets, and sometimes used for peg boards). This was approx. the length of my craft stick...they peeked over the edges of the board just a bit, but that was my plan! :)

Since all my pieces were wood, I used wood glue to adhere the sticks to the board. (Much stronger glue!) Then, I let them dry and painted them with one coat of acrylic white (I think it was FolkArt Vintage White). Then I sanded heavily! :)

I also sanded the edges of the boards where they extended past the hardboard. This gave the craft sticks, a "weathered board" look.

I drew my design on the boards and painted them, then sanded lightly this time.

Then, I applied a matte sealant and drilled holes for the jute to be threaded through.

Fun project!

The other item I have for the update is a little girl headed to the Beach! She is hand drawn onto a maple board that has a "custom" mix aqua/ blue sea color for the background.

So, to the beach we go!

Hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July! Have fun and please stay safe!