art for art's sake

Looking for inspiration in the day to day things around me has given me new eyes.  As I was cooking dinner a few nights ago, I realized I loved the lines my zucchini was making as I chopped it up.  I pulled out my camera and began clicking away. "What are you taking photos of?" my girls asked. When I sheepishly replied, "my zucchnin?" they dashed into the kitchen to take a look, gave me their "you're crazy" expression, chuckled a bit, and went back to watching their TV show.  

I've always loved a fresh ear of corn too.  The colors and texture just make me happy.

 It was overcast one afternoon, which makes for nice lighting in my little backyard.  I've been thinking that my fir tree would be a good subject, so I took advantage of the good light, and went to work.

The detail on one little branch is just incredible!  Look at the symmetry.  Amazing.

 Black and white or color?  I can never decide.  I like them both for different reasons.

Looking down from the fir tree sits my coleus.  It's a little hot for him, but he's surviving the summer somehow. 

 I never realized the trunk of the fir tree was so interesting.  Look at the colors and shapes!  Green and brown are just beautiful together.

I'm hoping to keep my inspiration flowing.  It definitely ebbs and flows, but summertime seems to be a good time to let my creative juices flow again.  

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One of my favorite places to visit in the summer is the Morse Museum of Art.  They house the largest collection of the works of Louis Comfort Tiffany.  The girls and I have gone each summer for the last three summers, and I think I enjoy it more than anyone.  There are fabulous family & kid's programs scheduled throughout the summer and the kids come home with an amazing art project each visit.  Maybe I will post them sometime for you to see.  If you're in Orlando, and have elementary aged kids, it's a must do.  Did I mention it's free?

During our visit this summer, my friend Kelly mentioned a book to me written about Mr. Tiffany called Clara and Mr. Tiffany:  A Novel.  I began reading it last night, and already found some great quotes from Mr. Tiffany in it.  I'll leave you with those:

"Train yourselves by seeking and acknowledging beauty moment by moment every day of your lives.  Exercise your eyes.  Take pleasure in the grace of shape and the excitement of color."

"Art for art's sake, we say, because beauty blesses humanity with a better life."

sunday afternoon

Sunday afternoon at my house means it's time to get ready for the week.

It's school snack prep time!

Each week is so busy, that I've found it's much easier to prep all the snacks at once at the beginning of the week, so that during the week, the girls can just grab the items they need for their lunch bags.

Our favorite snack is popcorn, popped traditional style. Yum!

Start with one cup of kernels.

Add three kernels to a large pot. The bottom should be covered with thin layer of oil. Turn on high heat and cover. Just wait until those three kernels pop. Then, add the cup of kernels, and your favorite popcorn seasoning. I use some special butter-flavor seasoning.

Shake the covered pot vigorously until all the kernels are finished popping. Be careful when removing the lid. There are usually a few kernels that pop at the very end.

Remove the popcorn to a large bowl, and wait a few minutes for it to cool.

Then comes the fun part: bagging it all up! The girls love to help with this part. We just put these little bags into our pantry, and each day the girls grab one for their lunch bag. Yummy, healthy, and simple!

I also prep a few other things like applesauce. I like to buy a large jar, and dish out individual containers myself. Maybe it's the environmentalist or the frugalista in me, but I'm pretty sure that re-using my own containers is both better for the environment and more economical in the end.

When I'm on a roll, I cut up celery and carrot sticks, cantaloupe and honeydew melon as well. They all keep well pre-cut. Just add a few ice cubes to your celery and carrot stick containers. They make nice, easy sides for meals as well.

You don't need school-aged kids to do this. It really makes life simpler to prep fruit and veggies ahead of time. Happy chopping!

let them eat cake

It's Miss A's birthday this week, so I have cake on my mind.


This was David's birthday cake. Black Forest. Yummmmm...


Miss A has requested a "treasure" party complete with a treasure cake, and a treasure hunt, and a treasure chest, and a "stick-the-jewel-on-the-treasure-chest" game. Whew! That's a lot of treasuring.

Mr. Basil

Meet Mr. Basil.


Would you believe that this large herb started from a simple seed packet? It's true. Water, soil, seeds and some TLC is all it's taken to grow this massive plant.



It's been Miss M's pride and joy. She's very attentive to Mr. Basil. And, if you'd like some, she's selling it in bunches for $0.50. But, she only delivers locally. My little entrepreneur.

food {as art}...and more

Miss M made these treats all by herself from measuring to mixing to pouring, frosting and decorating. I just put them in the oven. They're cupcakes baked in ice cream cones. So cute! She entered them into a "bake-off." Check out some of the other entries:


Good ole Uncle Sam. These must have taken a lot of time to put together!


The statue of liberty.


Oh, this one was delicious. Not only beautiful, but scrumptious as well.


Loved the berries on this one.


Everyone's standing around for the judging of the bake-off. Quite the crowd, huh?


We enjoyed some face painting...


...and spectating of the sack race. Here's Miss E. She's one of our neighbors this summer.


Go, A!!!


So, proud. She won the sack race for her age group. Good job, A!

pumpkin seeds and homeschool

We carved a pumpkin this year, but I was just too lazy to wash my hands of the slime to document the process. But, it's one fine-looking pumpkin! To make toasted pumpkin seeds, we rinsed them off, then baked in the oven for 30 minutes, stirring once after 15 minutes. The recipe called for 500F, but I think that was too hot. They got a little brown. I'd shoot for 450F next time.



So you want to know about homeschool?? If you want the full story of how we decided to start, you can read it on our ministry blog at davidandkristina.org



The first week was really hard on everyone. Last week was much better. Today is the start of week 3. What do we do? I've tweaked it each week, but right now, we take 1 1/2 hours a day, broken up into two segments, one hour in the morning for focused work, and half an hour right after lunch when I read aloud to the girls.

It's a steep learning curve, and I'm on the front side for sure. The hardest part so far has been figuring out how to keep the house running and have a few "me" hours in the day. I decided that Monday would be "chore" morning. Each of us has a job to do. Last week the girls washed windows (ok, I never do this, but I thought it would be a "fun" chore for them) while I mopped the kitchen floor (it was disgusting after weeks of neglect.) And, we've also added a Saturday afternoon "family chore" hour when everyone has a job and we all do it at the same time. This week David vacuumed, A dusted, M directed everyone, and I sorted out fall clothes. It's helped me to keep my sanity a bit more this week.

So, that's it. If you want more details, just ask! I'm happy to share more, I just don't don't know what else to say at the moment. I'm just trying to keep my sanity at this point. Happy Monday!

sushi lover

We hosted a dinner party last weekend, and let me tell you it was yummy! The theme? Asian food. We made some, and bought some. My favorite dish of the night? A sushi platter. I don't know if I was more excited about eating it or photographing it. Aside from being delicious, it's just so pretty to look at. My mouth is watering for some more just thinking about it.

corn and berries

We bought a ton of produce yesterdy, so today we had fun shucking and slicing. This morning I made this yummy-looking fruit salad.



Then, A and I went outside to shuck some corn. I have fond memories of Dad and I sitting on the deck shucking corn, maybe A will have those memories too.









There was a little worm inside this ear that A discovered. He was munching away at our corn! She was unperturbed, and we just flicked him off into our trash sack.

baking time!

I was in the mood to bake last week (which does not happen very often)--I'm more of a cook than a baker. So, I suggested to the girls that we make Valentine's cookies. They were soooo excited! I had a lot of fun snapping these as the process unfolded.


The rolling pin provided great entertainment while the girls were waiting for me to mix up the dough!




I taugh the girls how to "plan" their cuts in order to maximize the dough. They actually "got it" and made really good use of their space.








I usually don't care for photos of kids eating food, but these just made me smile!






And, of course, one of M's wonderful expressions. She has so many!