But Amy's has me laughing 15 minute after I read (watched) it.  So I'm just going to link to her blog entry for today. 

More Summer Fun - Amy's Blog.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did - the first one had me howling. 

me<><

Over here on my blog.  I know - I have all but abandoned this thing, but it wasn't intentional.  Well, not forever. 

Life gets complicated, you know?  First, I did break two metatarsal bones in my left foot on that vacation on Cape Hatteras. Then, before that was healed, I got a doozy of a case of cellulitis in both feet both the worst was, of course, that left foot. I have been claying like a mad thing, and then before I knew it, summer was here properly and the pool beckons.  So let me just jump right in with the clay thing and show a bit of what has come from the work of my hands!

This mosaic represents a few of my most recent things - a set of snowflake beads as part of my stock looking toward the holidays, as are the two pins in the next frame, and a flip-flop pendant and beads for Tiana, our flip-flop girl.  In the bottom row are two shots of a pretty new box I am still tweaking (you can probably see the lid isn't just right so I marbled gold and pearl clays for a bottom layer to the lid) and finally, an octopus who is the top of a mobile of fish and kelp - photos of similar items are in the next few pieces:

Amy had asked me to make a light-switch cover for the boys' room.  After I got going on the fish canes, these theme kind of took me over for a bit.  I made a couple of 5x7 pictures on canvas board to hang in their room, too:

But the prime piece, is by far (in my unbiased opinion, this next, a 9x12 picture which is my entry into the August Challenge of the PCAGOE, "Inks, paints, foils & leaf."  I have managed to use some of each, although we were only required to use one, and I have to be a bit loose on interpreting the theme to say I got all four.

I "painted" the background canvas with alcohol inks which is how I got the lovely mottled color.  I tinted translucent clay for several different elements, most notably the giant kelp.  The gold coins are gold clay covered with imitation gold leaf, and I used copper foil tape to edge the canvas, which finishes the piece off nicely, don't you think?  Each of the fish are from individual canes - three of them - that I then manipulated to different sizes and even various shapes, if you'll refer back to the other photos using them.  All in all, these were a lot of fun, if time consuming.  I should also point out that the piece is very dimensional.  Most elements stick out a good 1/8" (the fish) at a minimum, and the kelp is upwards of 5/8" in places, as is my octopus buddy.  The pink "bush" is a kind of coral I found looking for octopus photos.  I just had to try my hand at that, and the gold and green seaweed in the background are embossed on with embossing powders and a heat gun.  Having so many fun things to bring to one creation is a blast.   

So, you know the drill - VOTE - starting today, through the rest of this week and choose your top three favorites. All of you non-member voters are eligible to win one of several lovely pieces made by the members of the PCAGOE, as shown in the link.  (I've now inserted the link to vote three times - no excuses!)

And I'll finish off with these candlesticks I did this past week, too.  I love them.  I hope you do too - I'm headed off to list them in my etsy shop, when I finish up here.  Oh, and my 9x12 picture is listed for sale, too. 

Feels good to be back in the saddle!  I'll try not to be such a stranger. 

me<><

and I fell down! But that comes later.

Last Wednesday morning at 6:30, Hazel and Ron picked me up and, after a quick prayer for journeying mercies, we headed south to Cape Hatteras.  Erik & Amber'd found this beach house and several of us were asked to join in the fun.  There was one room on the ground (that's a lie though - the houses are all on stilts so it wasn't "ground" nothin') floor that slept at three so that was designated for Hazel & Ron and me.  Nifty little en suite bathroom, too. But again, I am ahead of myself.

We had no trouble at all getting there - only excitement we had was this:

That truck gave us the willies, it was leaning over so far.  We were glad to get in front of it.    (Photo was taken through the windshield, so pardon the reflection.)

I lie - we did have a problem, but only when we got to Kinnateek Shores, the development where our beach house is.  We actually went right to the house, but Hazel was sure it wasn't it because there were "toys" all over - scooters and stuff.  So we circled the development a few more times, looking in vain for house numbers.  Finally we went back to the gate and Haz called Stacy, who said they'd be right there.  And they were.  In a few moments, there came Stacy & Maggie on a motor scooter, complete with helmets.  So cute!  They led us back to that house with all the scooters - TOYS!  They were "loaners," from LeRoy, my niece's husband.  He has 10 or so of the things, built and re-built from junkers he finds on the island's dump! 

There were four or five steps up into the house, fortunately with railings on both sides so I was able to get up them easily.  But I was bushed and hurting so I merely crossed the foyer to our room and crashed.  I slept for a few hours, then woke and re-arranged myself, said hello to the gang who weren't there when we arrived and got into my PJs and crashed again.  My bed was the double bed on the bottom of a bunk and a half.  I'm fairly tall so I couldn't sit up straight on the bed without hitting my head.  There was a trundle, but Haz took the mattress off of that and tossed on the floor at the foot of my bed for Ron, and we'd brought Duke & Darla's inflatable bed, which Hazel put up in the foyer for herself.  (That sounds odd, I know. but she wanted to be where she could get air without disturbing anyone else when her claustrophobia got too terrible, and she also wanted to be where she could nab Ron if he got the wanderlust when it got light.  It worked very well for both!)

It was a rough night, between my being so miserable that I couldn't get comfy, and Ron sitting bolt upright every time I scooched, asking what was wrong or where I was going.  The room didn't have a lamp, and I couldn't find the power cable to my laptop yet so I didn't have access to my favorite middle-of-the-night-distractions (reading, Internet, or clay) so finally I grabbed my book and went into the bathroom to read for an hour.  In the morning, poor Ron was bent nearly in two with his back hurting so it was time for some adjustments!  Duke, Erik & LeRoy lifted the top bunk off, put that where Ron had slept, along with the mattress from the trundle and he had a very comfy bed.  He'd wanted to sleep on the air mattress when he first got up, but he could hardly wait to go to bed once he saw the new arrangement!    As for me, just being able to sit up made a lot of difference.  And, I got my laptop going (using Darla's cable when she wasn't, until I finally found mine) and we turned on a light after Ron went to sleep.  I was happy. 

Ooops - I ran ahead again!  And I think I'm rambling, so I apologize.  First, Thursday morning there was a "confab" about who'd be going where and with whom.  Tammy came over and after a joyful, weepy (it's the first we've seen her since just after her mother died) and chatty visit, some decided to go to one beach and others to another, and Duke wanted to explore on one of the scooters, and so did I, on my scooter, which Erik had taken down on his truck.  Here are a few shots of the little ones as this discussion was going on:

Kael loves the scooter - he's a Kriner, that's for sure! 

You'd think he'd realize he's a bit on the short side! 

Even Maggie's not QUITE big enough:

She and Kael really bonded last week - he adores her and followed her like a puppy.  She, in turn, adores Amber's little sister, Autumn, who is, I think, 14.  Big kids are always fascinating!

Hazel brought a new raft for the pool.  Here's Maggie getting one part blown up:

Everyone left, and Duke and I turned to go back in the house so I could poke around a bit.  I walked across the foyer, with my eyes on the deck to the pool.  I would have to cross the game room, first.  Never made it on that trip!  And trip it was.  I went charging into the game room, never noticing the large (9") step down from the foyer into the game room.  I fell.  HARD!  I knew right away that it wasn't good.  Duke insisted I stay still until we knew what was hurting and then we'd worry about getting me up.  Turns out it was fairly easy to get up holding on to the pool table - Duke did give me a wee boost from behind.  I hobbled to bed and propped my foot up.  More about that later...

One last pic.  Kael and Maggie came down to our bathroom and took a bath that night.  Hazel took several photos but at the risk of posting "salacious" pics, I'll limit it to this one of the tiniest of our bathing beauties:

He's so much like his daddy!

More soon.

me<><

Jason & Tiana came up and we had taco salads and cherry cheesecake for dessert.  Their gift to me was a combined one for Faron and me and for our birthdays, Mother's & Father's Days & our anniversary.  They got us a pair of these:

And a gift card for the lumber with which to build them.  We are very pleased.  Faron has to work Saturday for Grizzly's twice-yearly Tent Sale, or this would be the agenda for him and J this coming weekend.  As it is, it'll be the weekend after, while I'm away at Cape Hatteras with Hazel and some of her crew. (Erik & his wife found a lovely big house not far from the beach with a ground floor bedroom that leads out onto the deck and pool area.  I may never see the rest of the house but something tells me I won't mind!)

Later in the evening, Rachel & Jennie walked up from Hazel's with a plate of desserts from their gathering, and Cathy & Aaron followed a bit later, with April & Harry & the baby not far behind.  Since wee Emily Elizabeth is the main event (sorry everyone else but you know it's true!) we'll get on with the SHOW!    (I do have photos of the other kids, for the record.)

Emily's one of those lovely, soft, cuddly babies who just relaxes into you.  Her arm and leg movements (as long as she has the Nuk!) are very languid and soft.  Her hair is thick and so soft and of course, she smells wonderful - just the way a lovely little girl ought to smell.  Her daddy is completely enraptured and is obviously going to make a wonderful stay-at-home-dad.  April, on the other hand, was more tired than anything.  I asked what surprised her most about being a mom.  "That I can survive with so little sleep!"

Here she is with her sister and cousin, who, at 14, are both on the "high" end of the energy scale.  Not so April!

She's not mad or even disapproving.  They probably just woke her up - she dozed quite a bit while I was admiring her daughter.  :

The girls were hiding quite a bit from Harry & Cathy, who both had cameras and who were determined to get photos of the girls, just because they didn't want to be photographed.  Cathy had my camera.  I do have priorities. 

Even Aaron couldn't compete with the girls' high energy.  He just enjoyed the new "mother-lode" of tractors he just got from his Uncle Mel, leftovers of his boyhood stash:

Aunt Jennie stepped in quickly to get a snuggle when I had to leave the room for a moment:

Emily (according to her mom, and from what I saw I have no reason to doubt it) must be suckling on something ALL the time.  And none of that wimpy newborn crying stuff - she escalates straight to a demanding scream!  Her lungs need no exercise.  They are quite healthy, thankyouverymuch! 

Harry loves our recliners. But he kept reaching for the non-existent handle on the side to sit up. 

And I can't quite recall just what the girls were doing here, but I think I'd have been a bit frightened if I'd been Harry!

We had a very enjoyable evening and are very glad that Emily told Mommy & Daddy she wanted to meet Uncle Faron & Aunt Cindy.  We wanted to meet her, too.

me<><

But I'm only making a brief entry here to tell you that you must scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to vote. 

Don't forget.  VOTE - scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to do so.

Thanks!

me<><

Because these pieces are so diverse, and so personal, I've included a brief description of each by the artists. (HT, Lynda of DivaDesigns for this idea - thanks, Lynda!) The theme of "History/Historical Events" seemed to grab the imaginations and hearts of our artists and wow, what a collection! 

The website isn't set up for voting until tomorrow but you can get a look at the entries here, and start agonizing over how you'll place your three votes. 

1) Fly Me To The Moon Pendant by BeeTreeByMe

Mary Ellen's description of her entry: "My inspiration is July 20, 1969, MAN WALKS ON THE MOON! I watched live coverage on my black and white TV. Every kid wanted to be an astronaut! The Space-age inspired, awed and humbled us. This is my tribute to people who made dreams come true."

2) Australian ANZAC Slouch Hat Brooch by Polyclarific

Amanda's description of her entry: "This month we remember our fallen soldiers on ANZAC Day (April 25). We remember fallen Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War II."

3) The Day The World Changed Forever by NKDesigns

Linda'w description of her entry: "On 9/11/2001, 2973 innocent people perished in a horrendous act of terrorism at the World Trade Center. Living in New York, this is very close to my heart. This tin will not be for sale in my shop. It sits on my desk to remind me of the Day the World Changed Forever. Inside the tin is a Flag of Honor with tiny names of the 2973 victims of 9-11 who gave their life."

4) Medieval Manuscript Cane Set by ZoeOwyn

Laura's description of her entry: "This set of 4 canes are all based on pieces/design elements that you could find in medaevil illuminated manuscripts. I took a class to the museum to see an exibit, and I fell in love with the little detail work in the illuminations."

5) Headline 1920: U.S. Women Get The Right To Vote! Brooch by SCDiva

This is my entry. It commemorates the ratification and passing of the 19th amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which finally gave women in this country the right to vote in 1920. It also honors the first women in my family who were legally able to exercise their right to vote, my Great Grandmothers: Caralie Douglas Medlock Stoney, Julia Elizabeth Craft Moseley, Cora Lee Taylor Page and Pezzie Hinson Forrester."

6) My Great Grandmother's Steamer Trunk by ArrowdaleArtStudio

Cindy's description of her entry: "This trunk represents the hard choices all of our great-(?)-grandparents had to make when they left their homes and families - all that they knew, to come to a new life in America. My great-grandparents came in the latter half of the 19th century, along with 33 other families after massive flooding for several years running along the Rhine left their farms useless. As I think about them packing up what little they probably had left after selling everything to survive, I imagine that final packing must have been so difficult."

7) Ancient Shards Earrings by OneAndOnly

Maria's description of her entry: "These have been made using inspiration from the minoanss in Greece, the palace of Knossos has still some amazing frescoes that were made 1700BC, flowers and the spiral designs are evident in may of the works."

8) Italian-Inspired Terracotta Necklace by YoungCreative

Marie's description of her entry: "Indulge your daydreams of Italy with this bella necklace reminiscent of ancient terracotta pottery. The focal point is a pendant, featuring inset hand-stamped images of Michelangelo’s David beside a map of Italy."

9) Famous Painters of the Renaissance by PolymerClayCreations

Angela's description of her entry: "My choice was this tin with photos of three of the most famous painters and paintings of the Renaissance. Botticeli, Da Vinci and Michelangelo on a tin covered with gold, copper and pearl mokume gane."

10) Sunface Kachina Pendant or Wall Hanging by RenGalSA

Deb's description of her entry: "My entry is a tribute to Native Americans. It is the Hopi Kachina, Sunface. The Sunface Kachina represents warmth, shelter for the old, bright future, and playfulness for the young."

11) Bathtub Gin Bootleggers by AlisonEKurek

Ali's description of her entry: "1920 through 1933 marked a period of decreed alcohol abstinence in the United States. It also marked a period of bootlegging, bath tub gin, gangsters and general upheaval in American society."

12) Caveman's Wheel Pendant by IansCafe

Ian's description of his entry: "You can't talk history of modern invention without a homage to the birth of the wheel."

13) Come To The Tea Party by AshPaints

Arlene's description of her entry: "Not a political statement, just a reminder of one of the turning points in American history when patriots joined together to fight oppression."

14) Popular Toys of the 20th Century by BlessedBeadJewelry

Janice's description of her entry: "All of these toys, the crayons, the lincoln logs, Raggedy Ann, the teddy bear, Mr. Potato Head, and the Slinky were invented before after 1900 but before 1960! Mr. Potato Head was the latest one, in the early 1950's."

And remember, three non-member voters will win some of these terrific prizes! 

The prize pool for May:

First Row, L-R: Barrette by Polyclarific, Covered Tin by ClayCenter, Bracelet by YoungCreative, Necklace by ArrowdaleArtStudio.

Second Row, L-R: Bracelet by HiGirls, Necklace by 11BoldStreet, Earrings by PolymerClayCreations, Earrings by ClayHappy.

Third Row, L-R: Pendant by JKollmann, Pendant by NKDesigns, Pendant by SCDiva, Charm by JenCom72.

Fourth Row, L-R: Pendant by BeeTreeByMe, Pendant by RiverValleyDesign, Pendant by LaurelSteven, Raw polymer clay cane by ToniNZ

So don't forget, go to the website starting tomorrow (May 1-7) and VOTE!! 

me<><

My husband has decided he really likes my tiny buildings and has requested a general store and a church to go with the couple of houses and a barn that I've done for him.  This week I did the general store.

I started by cutting apart a cereal box, from which I built my basic forms:

Lots of masking tape is involved. 

Next, I used leftover clay from last week's tulip cane fiasco to cover the outsides of these forms, building the basic shape of my building.  (No photo of that - didn't think to grab one before I covered it all up.)

After doing a clay inventory, and thinking seriously about what color this place should be, I placed a lovely big clay order, which arrived on Tuesday:

Each of those are 12.5 ounce blocks of Kato Polyclay.  All I can see there is possibilities!  Kato clay blends beautifully, allowing a clayer to make virtually any color from these basic clays. 

Not that I had any exciting color in mind for my general store.  As I thought about it, it seemed to me that most of the stores I've seen in person, and on TV or in movies, are always gray.  So mine is, too.

I cut windows in this building - first time for that, as is the porch.  I put de-laminated mica sheets in the window spaces, and I actually put up walls and a floor, since you can see inside.  I've got a variety of "grocery stuff," ready to be painted and baked - I used junk clay for that, too, but it's too small to cover, and I am going to try using lighter, brighter colors on those inside items, hoping they'll be more visible.  We'll see how that works out.

Here's a side view:

Especially evident from this view are the many flaws my eye entirely missed.  I've already fixed many of them, like the slightly wonky posts and window frames.  Looking at these photos for this blog entry, I've noticed even more flaws - I'll do a quick once-over before it goes in the oven this morning.  But all in all, I'm happy with it. Faron loves it. 

As for personal stuff, we welcomed a new member to the family this week.  My niece Cathy's stepdaughter, April, gave birth to her first child this week, Emily Elizabeth weighed just 7 lbs and is 19 inches long.  She seems to have missed out on mama's red hair in favor of daddy's blond stuff, but it is certainly early days for that to be for sure.  I hear she's precious.  Photos to follow as soon as Cathy forks over a few!  

Faron's got his radishes, carrots and ... something else in this past weekend, and plowed up the part of the garden where the potatoes will go in.  He and Peter hope to get that done before the week is out. 

And finally, but not least, as of May 1, you'll be able to vote on the May Challenge of the PCAGOE "History/Historical Event."  All of the entries are in, as you'll see on the website.  Each month I'm amazed at how we all come at these things from such different points of view!  Amazing stuff here, but you'd still better vote for me!   I'll blog the prizes and the actually entries by Saturday at the latest. 

me<><

But I have been claying up a storm!  Let's get right to it, shall we?    (I sound like my 5th & 6th grade English teacher, Mrs. Caldwell.)

First, I've been making canes. Canes.  CANES!

Here's the pile:

The leaf cane was from a tutorial posted in the Guild's newsletter some time back.  It worked well.  Haven't used the leaves yes, but I will.  The plaid is from a tutorial that Carolyn Good of 2 Good Claymates posted on their blog.  I just made a small trinket box using that cane this morning - photos after it's baked. 

The Moorish tile one (that's what I've been calling it) is one I made some time ago.  I don't remember when.  I just found it when I was putting these others away and decided I like it. I think I didn't like it before.  (No one says I have to be consistent, do they?)

The next three are "Klimt" canes made with my clay extruder, using leftovers from the tulip cane next to them.  I like the Klimts, not so sure about the tulips.  I love tulips - my favorite flower.  The three tulips looked fantastic until I put this goofy border on it:

I don't know what I was thinking, but after I sliced off a few pieces, one of which I used to make this keychain, I hacked off all of that wild border and settled on the plain two colors as in the first photo. 

I also finished up a necklace I'd started some time ago - I'm going to list it in my shop this afternoon:

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.  Here's a closeup of the large bead:

And another closeup, this time of the magnetic closure I made for this necklace, by inserting rare earth magnets into two beads:

I was playing with some scrap clay and made a teeny cane from which I made a few things - the nicest of which is this barrette:

Also, using the Klimt canes, I made this ring:

And another tiny box:

It's cute, but it has several imperfections so I won't put it up for sale.  The cutter isn't completely square, and the riveted joint where the thing is held together caused a bump, but it's cute and I like it.

But most of my time for the past several weeks has been spent on my entry for the Monthly Challenge of the PCAGOE for May, a steamer trunk:

It's just less than six inches wide, and a bit under 4" tall.  The theme for May's challenge is "Historical Event".  I had a very difficult time narrowing my subject matter - I love history and couldn't focus on any one event.  But I wanted it to be personal.  This trunk represents the losses my great-grandparents suffered in leaving Germany after year after year of massive flooding along the Rhine ruined farm land and killed stock, leaving entire villages on the edge of starvation.  35 families left Neuburg am Rhine to make their way to Williamsport, Pennsylvania - imagine!  Two of those families contained my great-grandparents. 

I began to imagine how it was for them, probably selling off most if not all of their real valuables as year after year left them with less and less of a harvest.  By the time they decided to head to the USofA, they might not have had much left, but they'd want to take every last scrap with them.  But one trunk for an entire family of 7 children (with one on the way) means that they'd have to make hard choices when it came time to pack.  Which of our remaining treasures can we take?  We need our pewter plates, and of course the family Bible, but Grandma's vanity set?  We have no other comb or mirror, though.  But the Christening gown?

Here's the photo I submitted for my entry:

And a closeup of the Christening gown:

I think from start to finish, trinkets and whatnots including the gown and bibles and such, it made about 8 trips to the oven. 

I'm happy with it, overall. Of course, I found things I'd have done differently, but it's a learning process!

We're doing well - my feet are still making me nuts - was in and out a bit this morning hanging out a few of our hanging baskets and this afternoon my feet are cracking again.  So gross! 

So, don't forget to VOTE!!! in a few days (after May 1.)  I'll remind you again next week.

me<><

  I've been busy as a busy little bee lately with clay.  Partly it's the challenge of the challenges, but more it's the inspiration I get from so many of the other artists in the Guild. There are some wonderfully talented people in that group and we have this thing we call "Clay & Play Thursdays" where we can post photos of what we've done in the previous week.  Every week it's a parade of "OOOOOOOOOH!"s and "Ahhh!"s as so much creativity us revealed. 

A couple of months ago, one of the members, Christi Uliczny, of River Valley Designs, revealed her "Rocky Path" series.  A month or so after that, she wrote and made available in her etsy shop a tutorial on this process.  At first, I thought I could figure it out on my own.  I had somewhat of an idea how to do it, but when I tried it, I got a tray full of stuff for the trash barrel.  Oh, except for the eggs I made with the scraps - they are very pretty and make great missiles, as Derek discovered.  So, after another few weeks, I broke down and bought the tutorial. 

There were surprises for me in that thing, I can tell you!  I was way off.    Christi's very ingenious and my first time out with her instructions yielded terrific results. 

Here are a few of the pieces I did using Christi's lesson:

Bear in mind, none of these pieces have been sanded and/or buffed.  This is straight out of the oven, and they have this terrific shine, and I love the variations in color, as well as the distinct outline of the "rocks".  The patterned portion is smooth, btw.  It's part of the fun, getting this result. 

Some of the other stuff I've been working on this week:

Just a funny little bit of scraps that please me somehow.  No one else has to like it.  I do. 

A teeeeeeeeeny tiny little box I made over a stainless steel cutter I got a few weeks ago.  Here's the inside - it really is a box:

Oh, and from that same mixture of clay:

First ever successful polymer clay ring - baked over another of those cutters.  It's expandable, too. 

And this butterfly, using some of the leftover paisley cane from my ruffled box:

And speaking of that box, this month's challenge winners have been announced at the PCAGOE website - along with the voter winners, one of whom is Amy's sister Jen!  Can't wait to see which of the lovely pieces she gets. 

Congrats to all the winners.  I'd have loved to be able to vote for everyone. 

Next month's challenge piece is underway - but you'll have to wait to see that.  The theme is "Historical event."

me<><

And spending time with family and friends just capped it off beautifully.

Faron & Jason started things off by moving the picnic table from under the side porch to out front under the trees, in readiness for the egg hunt crowd. 

I didn't say HOW they moved it!

Mission accomplished. 

It was so lovely out there, we threw a sheet on the table, I pulled my scooter up to the end where Faron's standing and we ate our Easter dinner there under the trees.

After dinner, we all trooped back inside to prepare things for the egg hunt.  There were a few eggs to be filled and candy to be organized.  We didn't want to put chocolate out where it'd melt in the sun, so we put pennies in plastic eggs to be redeemed for un-melted chocolate. 

After all was made ready, we all trooped back outside (all, btw, being Faron, Jason, Tiana & me) to play bunny. 

Jason had way too much fun tossing candy and treats around the yard.  That's one crazy bunny!

Make that 2 craazy bunnies...

No, that's THREE craaazy bunnies!

They had a ball.  Way more fun than should be. 

Jason hid stuff in a few more difficult places for older kids like Rachel and her boyfriend, Grant, or Ethan & Stefan (who didn't have the decency to show up!) and J & T both hid things here:

Three prizes in one miniature rose bush.  Overkill? 

After the prizes were dispersed, Tiana stretched out on the lawn to "catch some rays" and call her parents, where the phone was passed from her mom to her granny to her dad and back again. 

Jason worked hard at convincing his dad he needs an iPad:

And, that's all the photos I have edited. I am now officially sick after the wild shenanigans of the weekend - cellulitis has struck my left foot and it hurts like crazy.  I'm sorry but I don't feel like doing anymore for now.  But it was a great day - more photos to come with lots of cute kids - and not Derek or Jared, either!

me<><