getting into the swing

Well, I think we're finally getting into the swing of things around here and things are going very well.  The last two weeks of August were busy with us celebrating Brooke's birthday on the 20th with a big slumber party, and then there was the back to school shopping, and enjoying one last leisurely trip to the library.  The children are in their second week of school and we're all sailing along smoothly now.

The children are all doing well and are happy with their teachers.  Brenna is in 8th grade (I can't believe it!), Brooke is in 6th, and Sean is in 1st.  I'm still volunteering in the library this year, in fact today is my first day.  And...even bigger news, I have been asked to teach art this year!  Yay!  I will be teaching art to 4th grade and 6th grade.  

Monday was my first day with art and I think it went really well.  I'm so excited and know it will be a fun year.  What a fun way for me to help at school, do something I love and pass on that joy to a room full of eager kids!

Brooke and Sean are still humming along smoothly with soccer and football.  (You should see all those 5 & 6 year old boys running around in their helmets and pads!  So cute!)  Their first games start next week.  Brenna was supposed to be playing soccer in the same league as Brooke, but they didn't have enough 8th grade girls to form a team, so now we are checking into an indoor league for her.

I've still been knitting up a storm and am also itching to paint.  I have a big 36 x 36 canvas waiting for me.  I haven't painted in a while and I'm really looking forward to sitting down and enjoying some time in my studio. 

  All in all, I'm happy and we're blessed.  I hope you are, too.

blessings and happiness,

Athena

 

a different point of view

The last couple of weeks have seemed such a blur.  It seems to have rushed by amid of flurry of track meets, field trips, volunteering in the library at school, guitar lessons, and school carnivals. Today it all came to a happy and welcome close with the last day of school.  There was a chapel service and Seany's kindergarten graduation, followed by cake and tearful good-byes to his amazing teacher.   We then spent our first hours of summer vacation enjoying a lovely day at our favorite book store with a dear friend and her daughter, followed by a yummy lunch. 

Last weekend we drove to Chicago as a family to watch Brenna run with her teammates in the state track meet.  (The boys and girls teams each brought home the 2nd place trophy!)  It was held at Condordia University.  I thought the campus was lovely.  It was surrounded by beautiful old shade trees and lovely old neighborhoods. 

A track meet can be a long and grueling day (even for the spectators).  Little Sean just does not have the patience to sit and watch race after race after race.  Fortunately for us, there was a small playground near the track and we would take him there periodically throughout the day to help alleviate some of his boredom.  While he and Brooke were playing, I began to notice the interesting patterns and textures on some of the nearby buildings.  These pictures are a collection of images that caught my eye that day.

Now that school is officially over and we have the summer to look forward to, it seems as if I can finally take a breath and just enjoy whatever we want to do without so much of a sense of urgency. 

I hope you are enjoying your weekend and that you, too, have quieter, more relaxed days to look forward to.

blessings and happiness,

Athena

seeing green

Happy (early) St. Patrick's Day!

blessings and happiness,

Athena

new beginnings and new work

This is the beginning of a very pretty shawl.  I'm using the Dream in Color yarn I got from the yarn club the other day.  I guess I needed something fresh to work on for a while, because I've had some challenges with the Debbie Bliss sweater.  Despite doing two gauge swatches and being very careful with following the pattern, I'm now on version three.  My first two attempts turned out to be first, too large, and then, too small.  Hopefully, the third one will be just right.  It definitely had both Madeline and I puzzled the other night, because my gauge is spot-on.  So we decided to go up two sizes in the pattern in the hopes that that will fix the problem.  We'll see...

In the mean time, I just wanted to work with something new and this yarn is nice and fresh and green -- it reminds me of spring.  We're still waiting for signs of spring here, so hopefully, this will keep me going until we see the real thing.

So along with making a fresh start on something with my knitting, I'm also making a fresh start with something in my art.  As I mentioned the other day, I feel like something new and big is growing and sprouting in my little art world.  New ideas are sprouting and growing in my little noggin. 

So here it is...

I'm writing a book!  A children's book.  A children's chapter book to be specific.  The kind of introductory chapter books that still have pictures.  I really want to do the illustrations as well.  I hope to share the whole process here with you.

This is a realy big deal, a really big leap of faith into the unknown for me.  I feel in my heart that this is something I've been meant to do for a long time, but I'm only just now getting the courage to do it. 

Not only am I a bit nervous because I've never done this before, but also because I occassionally have a little voice of Doubt that likes to taunt my brave little steppings out into the big world. 

It says things like, "Who do you think you are?" and "You've never even taken a creative writting class, let alone have a degree in English.  What makes you think you can write a book?!" and "You don't have a fine arts degree or any formal training; what makes you think you can illustrate a book?" and even more ominously, "How on earth are you going to find a publisher?"

So, there it is.  My big exciting (scarey) announcement.  I feel oddly that I'm finely heading into the purpose and destiny I was meant for.  Like for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm doing exactly what I'm suppossed to do.  

Please pray for me.  For courage and wisdom and inspiration and grace and favor, to complete the work, that the work will be good and worthwhile and be published.  And that it will bring happiness and joy to the children who read it.

I thank you as always for listening reading.  I thank you in advance for your prayers and encouragement.  I thank you for going along with me on this crazy artful journey.

blessings and happiness,

Athena

playtime

We have been so blessed this week with warm spring weather.  I can not begin to tell you how thankful for that we are.  So since today was Friday and it was so beautiful outside, I took the children to the park for a little playtime on the way home from school.

It was so nice to enjoy some time outside together.

After we played, we walked around the pond and waterfalls where a few geese and ducks were enjoying the spring weather, too. 

After a stroll along the path, my attention was drawn to a group of train cars at rest on a nearby switch track.  I thought Sean might like to go over and take a closer look since he likes trains.  As we got closer this is what we saw.

I never can tell what graffiti says (which is probably a good thing), but I like the bright colors and think in its own way, it's art. 

I hope no matter where you are, you have some spring weather to enjoy and maybe some unexpected art to discover, too.  Enjoy your weekend!

blessings and happiness,

Athena

art room

First off, I have to say the close up pictures are the little things that make me happy, but the wider angle shots are the ones that tell the whole story.  So I'll preface the tour by telling you that our new house is a two story craftsman style house in a new neighborhood.  It's a brand new house, but it feels old because of some the features built into it.  (I love old houses, Rob not-so-much.  So this is a good compromise for us.)

My art room is actually in the basement, which is a walk-out that we plan to finish.  So for now my room is unfinished so you'll have to pardon the exposed wall studs, insulation and concrete walls.  But what I do love is that I have a great window and door that let in lots of light and lead out to the patio and backyard.  In fact, this was the view out back 2 days ago.  We had just gotten another round of snow and the trees looked beautiful. 

So I hope you enjoy this tour of a little bit of my new world. 

If I could, I'd invite you over for a cup of tea.  We could chat about blogland, our art, our families, the weather, maybe a favorite book...  But I guess this is the next best thing.  So thanks for stopping by and as always, I wish you...

blessings and happiness,

Athena