IF Glow

The Magic Egg seemed to glow in the Moon light. They stood amazed and delighted as they looked at it! I remain amazed and dazed as the year ends. Not been a particularly wonderful for me and my family. But certainly not as bad as many of my fellow man. I wish you all a better and healthy year ahead and love and laughter too!

Snow baby angels dance in the cold winter weather! I think snow is an unnatural state for water. Growing up at the beach I love the warm season and beautiful ocean. But different strokes for different folks. I still a bit numb from the losses my family has had this year and topping it off my beloved cat Sadie passed away on Saturday. She had been my faithful companion for 12 years and for the first time in over 20 years I find myself cat less. Seems funny and I keep expecting to see her come around the corner. No pets for a while I need to take time to reflect on the past year and how to make the best of it. Thank goodness for the kids and their kids to make the holiday somewhat normal. I think of the parents and families of those lost in Connecticut everyday. I can't even imagine their loss. My thoughts and prayers are being sent to them. May they be able to breathe in this time of grief. I will try to dance like the snow babies and I AM thankful for all of my blessings!And I hope for a new and better year ahead for all of us!

IF Explore

These curious kids are about to explore the noises they heard in the dark. I would have never been so brave but then I was always a bit afraid of the dark. Been busy trying to get over the punch in the stomach life has hit my family with. My Aunt passed in May, my Mother in August, my ex husband and Uncle in October and now my beloved cat has Lymphoma. I know it will get better but WOW I don't seem to be able to relax. Life can be tough......but I'm hanging in there. Hope your life is better than mine has been lately!

IF Carry

 This little girl is able to carry her flowers home in this green basket...Im not sure if she will be surprised by this little pink worm hanging by the vine in front of her.                        

IF Suspend
Rabbit is a bit surprized as he is suspended by his suspenders! Frog is thinking that his friend has jumped a little to high!

IF Refresh

I'm sure this little Bear and his Rabbit friend find these snacks and Lemonade very "Refreshing".
Trying hard to figure out this new format for the blog site...Ugg , why can't they leave well enough alone? Mom broke her foot and it has been a hard week. A 93 year old woman with a bad memory and short temper is not easy to deal with! I find myself soooo tired at the end of the day even with help from the kids. Oh well life marches on! Im hanging on by my fingernails........But Im sure we will get through it! Hope you are doing the best you can too....have a great day, I hope too!

IF Secret

It is wonderful to dance and move your body! Especially when your dancing abilities are a secret!

IF Shiny

This little Mermaid is enjoying the SHINY flying fish as they fly by!

IF Yield

This little bear is happy to yield the right of way to his little bunny friend! And the bunny is delighted to charge ahead in his little car. This topic made me think of how often in our life we choose to yield to others! I do it for so many different reasons and I not sure sometimes it is the right thing to do. I yield to my Mothers wishes most of the time as she is not in her right mind and not to yield would cause her distress and would confuse her more. I put my foot down when that decision might hurt her. I yield to my Children sometimes just to keep piece in the family and sometimes just to help them along in their journey. I know that is what parents all over the world do. I yield to people that have strong convictions if I don't have an opinion on the subject, as not having enough information would keep me in the background. But I don't yield when I feel my character or beliefs in life are challenged. I try to live in the truth as much as possible and when someone comes from lies and deceit enters my space I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stick straight out! I have watched these untruth doers over and over try to manipulate my life to make theirs what they want it to be. I think what a waste of time and energy they are spending on something they won't achieve. WOW how did such a heavy subject come out of such a simple topic and a children's illustration? Guess it is some of the stuff I see going on in my everyday life. It's a beautiful day here so a drive down to the beach to stare at that vast ocean is on my list of things to do. I hope you are free of manipulative people and that you have a beautiful special space you can retreat to if needed. Life is not always easy and we need to take advantage of the calm and peaceful times. Enjoy the small moments.......

Temptation?

When I started this painting my intention was to capture the feeling of how wonderful it would be to have a wonderful bed, soft and beautiful deep in the forest. The smiling Moon overhead and nothing but you and your thoughts to fall asleep with. As the painting developed the colors seemed wrong on the woman so I changed them and realized that if using mostly black and white something red would really stand out and the apple came to mind and the next thought was Eve, why not she WAS looking tempting I think! I used the trim around the head and foot board to represent the snake, and if you look closely you can see the snakes head at the bottom right side. I was surprised with how this theme developed. Much like life we can never predict just how life will turn out and I know that to be true as every day passes. I also know that this is not a dress rehearsal and as far as I know we need to live life to the fullest. My breath is still taken away by the sight of the wonderful ocean. My heart still skips a beat when I truly look at my beautiful Children and Grandchildren. Amazing how did we get this far. Where did the time go? Flying by as all the older people say, I wish you all many days full of temptation, after all whats life all about if not about making choices? Make yours good ones!

IF Forward

Little Red and Grandma are beating feet as fast as they can forward to get away from the Big Bad Wolf! I guess we are all trying to run forward as we go through life. Many different things are chasing us as we make our journey. When I was small I was moving forward trying to hurry life along so I could do the things the big kids did. Later I hurried forward to fall in love and get married and have children, why, because everyone else did. And now I'm moving forward to the unknown parts of my life and being a care giver to my Mother is now my big bad wolf! This task has shown me many sides of my life and personality I didn't know I had, or if I knew I chose to forget it. My Mother is sweet and always has been but her short term memory is gone. And repeating herself is constant. Sometimes, many times in a role and try as I may my patience wears thin. I find myself remembering things that annoyed me about her many years ago and disliking these things now again like I did then. I didn't know I could be so short with someone or that I had the ability to run away from her so I don't have to listen to the repeating. It would seem like it would be easy to be nice but sometimes I find it a difficult thing. Believe me I have analyzed why and the conclusion I have come to is that I am really mad because I miss the Mother I used to have. The one I could talk to the one I spent time with having fun and giggling. The one that made sense, even when I didn't want to listen. She went and got old on me. 93 in April, and life inside of her head must be harder for her with the confusion and inconstancy. I know I sound shallow and unappreciative! I vow to work on this and to continue to love and take care of my Mother as she did for me for many, many years! Big bad wolf Im not running anymore!