And one of the reasons I haven't been updating as much...

I'm having a baby! I'm 20 weeks today. I've been waiting to tell the world for awhile, but now, everything seems healthy and great, so here she is!

Yes, I said her! I've always wanted a baby girl. Alice Ariel. Look at those lips!

Little tiny feet... so sweet!

Alice is watching you!

RIP Spider Cat

Yesterday, my wonderful catty, Spider, died of a kidney infection. Trenton got to say goodbye, and so did our other two cats, Spike and Diesel. We decided to bury him in our backyard. This summer, we will plant a flowering bush on his grave or perhaps make a little grave stone for him. Understandably, today is a very sad day at our house.

"Spider cat, Spider cat. Does whatever a Spider cat does."

Reading and Writing

Yesterday was payday! It was also the last day of my 25% off discount for teachers at Boarders books. So I went and bought the 2009 Writer's Short Story and Novel Guide. I feel that I deserve it. I am trying to work hard on my writing career. DO NOT think I am giving up on my art, but writing is another creative outlet I need to explore and I am bringing to my blog. Tonight I sent my story Four to my mom for her review. It's the story I wrote for my anniversary to my hubby. Tomorrow he gets to read it. He's doing homework and has been all week, so I'm cutting him some slack for not reading his gift. My story got a favorable review from Mommy. Tonight I was good at sticking to my craft. Not only did I write for over an hour, I also made a list of all the publishers I am going to send my stories out to this weekend. Monday, a huge stack of envelopes will be going out into the world, all containing stories by me!

Back in the swing of things

So after I posted last night, I made another goal for myself. I have been horrible about my writing as well as my art. As you may or may not know, I am an author as well as an artist. So my next goal (to go with posting three times a week) is to write for at least 15 minutes a day. Last night I accomplished that goal by leaps and bounds. I finished a short story I had been working on titled Four. It was a story I started for my four year wedding anniversary with my husband way back in August. Of course, it didn't get finished on time. :o( Well, It's finished now. Tonight I am starting on a brand new story for my 15 minutes of writing. I'm excited about starting my writing career. It's time to stop being so lazy and time to get to work.

I've missed you guys!

I know I have a bit of wander in me. Make that a lot of wander in me! It is hard to keep anything up as a habit. So, here I am, trying to post again. My goal: to post three times a week. A week starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday. Let us see how long it takes to break this resolution. Well, anyway, here is my collage of the day. I didn't actually make it today, that would be silly & require effort! It's from my senior year in high school. I hate to say it because it is so simple, but one of my favorite things I have done. It was made from crayons, colored pencils, chalk pastels and magazine cutouts. So indulge your sweet tooth and enjoy.

dragons and snow

Remember when I talked about getting carbon paper I needed for a project? Here is that project! This was the example that I made for my students. We all did dragons and put them in caves, notice the beautiful icicles? That is the part of the project that I needed the carbon paper for. The dragon was done in watercolor. I think he came out very nice. And why am I posting this in the middle of the day? Another snow day. I hate snow.

Happy Birthday, Mt. St. Trenton

This weekend was my youngest son's 4th birthday party. His absolute favorite things in the entire world are volcanoes, exploding volcanoes. I have a tradition at my house of making wonderful, personal birthday cakes. So I ended up making this for him. I did three round cakes, two chocolate and the top layer was red velvet cake. I then frosted the entire thing with light brown frosting. I crushed Oreo cookies and gramh crackers and tossed them on the outside. I also added chocolate covered pop rocks (yes, there is such a thing) and brown sugar crystals to the outside. To do the lava, I added red frosting to the top and then drizzled melted orange-colored candy wafers on the top. I then added strawberry pop rocks and cut out pieces of red fruit roll up to the side. I added candles and sparklers as a finishing touch. It went over very very very well. Only problem: what am I going to do with all this cake?

Oooooh! Pretty!

The finished inside of the cake. Yes, I do have a pink knife. Thank you!