New portaits

Audrey is our artist in residence here. She is rarely seen without a piece of paper and crayons, markers, pens, etc. She really does some sweet stuff sometimes. Sometimes I feel like I am drowning in "crafts" and have to throw stuff out when she's not looking. She can't keep track, so she doesn't get mad unless she catches me in the act. But some are too priceless to toss. Like last night when I was in the living room reading the newspaper and she said she wanted to draw a picture of me. I said okay. This is what she came up with:

I like my crazy hair! That's probably what it looked like last night after a full day of chasing kids, working the YMCA nursery and my water aerobics class. Later, Vince told me that she had come to him earlier in the day asking to do a portrait of him. He said that she was all serious about it and told him to keep a big smile on his face. She talked about having to add his beard and the hair around his mouth. When he showed it to me, I cracked up! The resemblance is uncanny I think: Doesn't it look just like him? LOL! I laughed so hard I peed myself. He had her sign and date it and is going to frame it.

The girls also both made cards for our neighbors. Sometimes they like to draw pictures and put them in the neighbor's mailboxes. Last night, we found out that Jim was not feeling well, so they decided to make cards for him. They were cute. Audrey's said "Get well, Jim" and Katie drew one of those people that looks like a big circle with a face and stick arms coming straight out from the sides. And the little stick fingers were holding a flower. So sweet. They really love our neighbors. The feeling might be a little more mutual lately as we have been trying to get our yard cleaned up a bit. Since we've moved in I have felt like our house was bringing the others down because our yard was so ugly compared to the other houses on our block. Every one of them has a gorgeous yard with beautifully landscaped flower beds. Basically all we did was mow our lawn. The flower beds in the front had no flowers, unless you count dandelions. The weeds were about knee high and there were little elm saplings growing amongst them, courtesy of the giant elm growing in our backyard that hangs over our house. That tree is a blessing and a curse. Love the shade, hate the little elm sprouts everywhere. Anyway, I got fed up and told Vince that I was going to kill the weeds, put down weed blocker fabric and put river rock in there. And so I did. It took me a while because it was basically just me and 3 kids "helping" clear out the weeds and white rock in there. It really looks a lot better. I can plant stuff later if I want to, but for now I just wanted the weeds gone. We also did the strip between our driveway and our neighbor's fence where trash and leaves tend to blow and rot. Now, we are focusing on the other side of the door and the side of the house. V cleared out some of the little trees and weeds and pruned the rose bushes that never bloomed. Now, I need to get in there and clear the rest of it out and put down the edging and rock. I can't wait until it's all done. Our house will look sooo much better. Our neighbors will probably do a happy dance! I tell ya, I have a new respect for those that keep beautiful gardens and such. That's hard work. It's been fun and a change of pace from trying to keep up with the inside of the house (impossible), but boy was I pooped!

We are planning to go on a hike later with some friends, so I should try to get Sam down for a nap pretty soon. The girls are coloring in the living room. I can't wait to see what they come up with next.