box drawing

You can buy all the toys in the world, but that won't keep your kids from spending all weekend in a box.

Friday went well. No test results yet. But at least we made it there and back, found the hospital and dropped my mom at the airport in time. It is amazing how exhausting a day at the Children's hopital can be. I often get a migraine afterward, but instead I was just completely useless Friday night and most of the day Saturday.

Yesterday we visited the Akron, OH zoo. They let us feed penguins! Ellie threw one of the fish way up in the air and a penguin caught it, I love it when zoos let you feed animals.

yet another friend

I love those friends who are always up for anything. This little guy will go with you, he doesn't care where, he doesn't care when and promises to make it more fun.

Melancholy part: My mom is visiting (no, that is not the melancholy part). Noah has a doctor appointment on Friday, hubby is teaching, so my Mom said, "I can go with you." She flew into town so she can tell Noah stories while he has, yet another, EEG test. We will go to Children's hospital in Pittsburgh to test Noah's brain waves in the morning, then we will meet with his neurologist in the afternoon. This may sound familiar, we did all this in the spring. In the spring the EEG came back with abnormal brain waves, so they did not take him off his seizure medicine as planned. This time I don't even know what to hope or pray for. I love the independence he has as a seven year old. I count on the medicine to keep him safe. But of course I want him to be healthy. The last time we took him off the medication, when he was 5, we were shocked by how different and wonderful our non-medicated boy was. I guess I just want the seizures to be gone, either way.

So that's it, Friday is a big day, I'll let you know what goes down.

Walmart people

While putting Ellie to bed tonight she said, "Momma, I'm glad there are two of you". "Two of me?" "You and the you that stays with me in my heart."

I need them to stop growing so fast. When they were babies everyone (particularly people in Walmart) was constantly telling me, "they grow up so fast" and I would smile to myself and think, "not my children, my children are special". But now it turns out those Walmart people were right and I'm a little angry about it.

another friend

....he lives in a nice hotel, not like the Hampton Inn in Juno Beach. Eeeewww

Little Red

I draw, she paints, I add.
The best art work is always done in pajamas.

new work: imaginary friends

Currently, Ellie has approximately 3011 (pronounced thirty eleventy) imaginary friends. It all started when she spent the month of October as Princess Leia. A large group of "nice" storm troopers followed Princess Leia everywhere we went. Now Ellie has branched out and new friends are popping up all the time. I started drawing some of these friends in ink, then I have her paint them with watercolor and then we finish them together. These moments of creating together are so special. She said the other day, "We are two artists: a big mommy artist and a little kid artist." It made my heart overflow.

Hip Hop Hippo

We went to the zoo while we were in St. Louis and the Hippos were happy. I love how graceful hippos are under water, like giant ballerinas.

Princess for the Princess

For Christmas, hubby and I made E.B. a Princess and the Pea set. Joel made and painted the bed and I made the doll and mattresses. I love making art, but making things for my kids is the bestest.

by the way...

I have some dolls and an article in the winter edition of Stuffed magazine. The article is about how I sometimes feel as grumpy as a pirate, as silly as a circus girl and, rarely, all put together like a Mrs. Fantastic. Today was a circus/fantastic day! But I'm worried about my pirate self showing up tomorrow :)

Happy 2o11

This is my favorite new art work. Noah and I made this at my parent's house over break. Break is officially over tomorrow. I'll probably cry when Noah leaves for school, but this is normal and I can usually hold it in until after he is out of the door. I can't help it, I just really like having him around.
Our Christmas and the break from normal life was lovely. Well, the beginning was a little rough with stomach flu and bronchitis, but it forced us to slow down, which was good. We were able to spend time in Michigan with the Postema side and in Missouri with the Ritsema side. We slept and ate a lot, and now I'm gearing up for return to "fast" life. More soon... I actually made some art!