Happy Father's Day

Lucy and I have been working on this project for awhile and we finally completed it! 

Happy Father's Day, Zach!

Lucy's artwork is on the top, and mine is on the bottom.

I thrifted the frame a few months ago and this is what it looked like:

Oh, you're wondering "what is bread?" Don't worry, here is a close up.

Mmmmm.

I took the bread print out of the frame, washed the glass, sanded the wood frame, spray painted the frame white, and cut a white poster board to fit as the new mat. 

I did a crayon drawing and then painted over it with watercolors to start the project.

Lucy used crayons in the color scheme I had already chosen to do my piece in, and then painted over the crayon drawing with watercolors for the final touch. 

After both paintings dried I centered the two pieces where I wanted them on the white poster board mat and used clear photo corners to secure them in place. I reassembled the frame with the new artwork in it, and voila! A masterpiece! 

You can't stop at one! I pulled out a second crayon drawing of hers to work on while we were at it.

Additional Father's Day Gift: Thrifted tie for Sunday

The final product.

It looks great it it's new home! Lucy loves talking about her artwork and explaining to me that it is "her artwork" and "mom's artwork".



PS. This morning when Lucy was saying her morning prayer over her cereal and banana, this is what she said: "Father in Heaven, thank you for artwork and artwork. Name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Music to my ears!

Love that girl.

Art Lesson: Watercolor Hearts- Color Mixing

Inspiration found here.

For my example piece I started with violet and added a little bit of red to each heart until the end of the line then repeated the pattern by starting with pure red to start the next line of hearts and added a little bit of orange to each heart, etc. down the line and through the color wheel until I had used each color combination.

For A's I let her choose whichever colors she wanted and have complete creative freedom after showing her how to mix colors. Hers turned out great!

I love the results we got and especially love Lucy's piece along with mine hanging on the refrigerator. It makes me smile every day when I see them there together. Lucy loves making "artwork" and has been asking me every day this week if she can make some. Nothing makes me happier!

A's final piece.

My hearts and Lucy's color explosion.

Death Talk: Heavenly Father's Hand

I've been thinking about death a lot this past week (even more so than usual). Last Friday my bishop called me to tell me that a family traveling through our area had gotten in a car accident nearby and some of the family members had died, while others were in critical condition and flown to our local hospital. As the president of the women's organization of our local congregation, he asked me to go to the hospital to meet with the surviving family members from the accident and offer our help.

Two of the daughters in the car died on impact and shortly thereafter. One daughter is in the ICU here and is heavily sedated and in serious condition. The mom, who was driving, and her older son who was in the passenger seat miraculously both escaped the accident with minimal injuries.

As I met with them and had the opportunity to help this family I have reflected on Heavenly Father putting people in our lives to help us, or for us to help. The thought has crossed my mind that maybe this experience was the very reason I was called to be Relief Society President in February so that I could be the one to go to them in their time of need.

I feel very blessed that I was able to be a part of their experience and try to help them through this trial. If I wasn't the R.S. President, I would not have had this opportunity.

As I met their various friends and family members and watched them embrace each other and shed tears, I felt that I was standing on holy ground. My heart ached for them and their loss and I shed tears along with them as I stood to the side and watched trying not to intrude on their moment of grief and consolation. I think sometimes in those circumstances we don't know what to do, but I felt a truth speak to my heart in that moment. Just mourn with them. Don't feel that you have to hold back the emotions or tears. Be in that sacred moment with them, and be grateful you were able to be there. Just cry with them.

I have also seen how even through heartbreaking trials and tragedy, God doesn't forget us. I have seen His hand guide us through them. I've seen this in my own trials and pain, and I've seen another testimony of this as I've been blessed to see into this family's tragedy as well. There are so many details already lined up perfectly to help us through these trials, blessings lining up as trials occur, and helping hands appearing just as they are needed.

God loves us and will help us through our pains and trials if we go to Him for help.

Peter's Memorial: Ten Months

We bought our balloon for Peter today, but Lucy managed to pop it on our way to the cemetery so we didn't get to write our memories on it and send it to him. 

Instead we said a prayer at his grave site and spent a few minutes thinking about him. Normally I get a little misty-eyed at his grave, but today was a particularly emotional visit and the tears flowed. 

Every time we visit his grave it makes me so happy to see his gravestone. I'm so happy with how it turned out and love the symbols on it. 

Happy ten month birthday, my sweet Peter. 

The leftovers after Lucy popped the balloon.

Peter has a new neighbor.

Wish I was here. Wish you were here.

Crawfish Dinner Party

Our friends had us over for Sunday dinner a few months ago and fed us delicious crawfish! Linda made two pans with different flavors and seasoning. My favorite was the "Whole Shebang", but they were both delicious! It brought me back to my college days when I went to New Orleans for an an art educator conference. Yum!

Here are her amazing recipes!

Recipe 1:
Linda Meats style of the "Whole Shebang"

1 pound of crawfish

1 pound sliced sausage

* Corn on the cob- optional
1 stick of butter
1 tablespoon of cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon of ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of lemon pepper
1 tablespoon of old bay seasoning
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
2 cloves of minced garlic

In a heated pan on stove put in the 1 stick of butter. When it is completely melted, add your crawfish or shrimp and sausage. Add in all the ingredients. Make sure the minced garlic is added last. Cook for approximately 5 minutes or until cooked. 

Recipe 2: Stir fry Crawfish.

1 pound of crawfish
1 teaspoon of oil
2 cloves of minced garlic
2 tablespoon of sugar
2 tablespoon of tiparos fish sauce
1 tablespoon of black pepper
3 thai chili (can substitute with one jalepeno) choped
Thai basil
quarted onions

In a heated pan put the oil in. Wait about 30 seconds to add the minced garlic. Stir fry for about a minute. Then put the crawfish in. Add all the ingredients. Make sure the thai basil is added last for keen aroma to taste. Cook for approximately 5 minutes or until cooked.

Note: You know the crawfish are cooked through when they turn a deep red color. 

These would be an amazing addition to a Mardi Gras party or a backyard BBQ. It is definitely a fun social dining experience. 

I would recommend having some kitchen shears, trash bag/bin, and lots of napkins handy for this meal! It wouldn't hurt to have straws for your drinks so that you wouldn't have to wash your hands every time you wanted to take a sip. 

The sauce is so delicious rice or rolls would be great to serve with it. 

We had a blast, and I always love it when someone feeds me amazing food! Thank you so much, Linda and family for inviting us!


What kinds of sides would you serve along with crawfish?