Merry Christmas to You!

Merry Christmas to you and your family!  We will be at my parents house celebrating Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be spent at my sister in law's! 

Katie Beans

It's been a bit quiet around the house the last few days.  We had to say "goodbye" to our sweet 13 year old dog, Katie.  It's strange coming home without her being there to greet us.  She sure had a wonderful, adventurous life and I'm so very happy that she's no longer in pain and in a better place now.  RIP Katie. We love you. 

Scent & Senses

I love the smell of cinnamon and apple during the holidays, so I decided to get some of that scent going around the house without having to make apple pie or buying an expensive candle at the grocery store.

Just a few easy steps!

1. Boil water in a large pot.
2. Add orange peel, apple peel,  2 cinnamon sticks & since it's Christmas time I cut a sprig from our Christmas tree and added that as well.
3. Turn down heat and simmer all day long.   Please don't forget to turn the stove off when you leave your house!

The Holidays

Amelia's grandma has been in town from Michigan for the last week and for the last two years she's been getting together with my mom to construct gingerbread homes with Jordan and Amelia.  I had a lot of fun watching these girls eat the fruit loops and candy while also concentrating real hard on decorating their little houses.  I must say I'm pretty impressed with the decorating skills, they've improved quite a lot since last year!

Announcement!

I'm excited to announce our little family is growing again.  I'm 13 weeks pregnant!  So far the pregnancy has been been wonderful, and I'm looking forward to having a little munchkin in our midst again.  

WHAM Photos

Hi! The Winter Holiday Arts Market was a huge success! Here are a few photos of my long, hectic, cold, rainy but mostly fun weekend.

 

Etsy Shop

I updated my Etsy shop and now I have both prints up for sale!  Yah! 

Choo Choo

The Winter Holiday Arts Market is named after it's location on Winter Street.  The building the market is in is also called Winter Street Studios.  It's a real fun location right next to the railroad tracks! *Fun Fact* The Winter Street Studios used to be an old furniture factory scheduled for demolition but saved and turned into 75 artists studios!

More Art!

I've been super busy prepping for this weekends art festival called Winter Holiday Arts Market or also known as WHAM!  Friday night is the opening party.  Think music, food, drinks & lots of fun people for only $10!

If you're in Houston and have a bit of free time this weekend please drop by my table!

Texas Alphabet: Final

Fall Time Camping

A camping trip with the Kaiser's is always going to be an adventure, and last weekend's camping trip was just that.  We ended up seeing three venomous snakes, which one of them the guys killed, to of course protect the family.  We had a quick visit from a stranger who ended up being a family friend.  We woke up to gusts of wind at 3 in the morning followed by a huge rain storm.  Our tent had a leak in it, so at 9 in the morning we were forced out of our tent.  Our vehicles got stuck in the mud.  I think I missed a few things, but all I know is that I had a blast and we will talk about this trip in years to come.

Recent Work

Texas Alphabet

I finished my Texas Alphabet last week and this is the end result.  I'm having it professionally scanned so I can get prints made.  Thursday you'll get to see the actual scanned art with all it's fun details.

Out of Town

Hi!  I'm back again!  Don't you love how I'll write my blog for a few months and disappear for a while and then come back again?  I'm so reliable.  ; )

Last weekend we got to run away from the city for a couple of days.  My college roommate and long time friend, Kendall, asked us to celebrate her 31st Birthday at her friends ranch house just South of Luling.  This beautiful property is 100+ acres of land right on the Guadeloupe River!  To own property out in the country some day.. What a dream.

Discovery Green

Last night we visited Discovery Green park in downtown Houston to watch a unique theatre group from Australia called "Strange Fruit" performing on 14-foot tall flexible poles.  What a beautiful and extremely interesting act.

Progress..

26 little drawings sure does take a lot of time.  I'm ready for some color! 

James Turrell : The Light Inside

On Saturday I took a little time on my own and went to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston to see James Turrell's exhibition.  I studied his work in college and was happy to discover he had 6 light installations on display.  I would definitely recommend a short visit to all Houstonians out there before the exhibition ends this September 22nd!

Work in Progress

I'm currently working on a "Texas Alphabet" painting and plan to get them printed as well.  Q for Queso,  Y for Y'all and  X for "All my X's live in Texas".  Why not?  I'm loving this little project.  I think it will look great when I'm finished!

Omi

Every other week Amelia and I drive up North to visit Amelia's great grandmother, Omi.  Omi is originally from Germany.  After the war she moved to the U.S. and lived in Colorado the majority of her life.  She's been in Texas for several years now so she could be near us.  I love listening to her fond childhood memories and watch her sing German songs to Amelia.  These moments are priceless.

The first thing Amelia said after a hug and kiss was "cookie!"

Omi is a huge fan of bird.  She even has a clock with different bird sounds at every hour. 

Nature's art in Omi's front yard. 

Weekend Adventures:Sunday

These were taken at Brazos Bend state park.

We saw 4 alligators. EEH!

My Mother-in-Law is in town for the week.  We missed her a lot!

Look at those beautiful trees.

On the way to the park we saw acres of cotton fields in bloom, so on the way back I had to stop for a couple of pictures. 

Weekend Adventures:Saturday

 After a short weekend of selling art and a trip to our favorite state park, I've got loads of house work to do!  Here are a few photo's from last weekend.

We had a bit of a slow start on Saturday morning due to rain, but thankfully it stopped after an hour. 

Blue sky!

Amelia and David dropped by for a little bit and showed off some new sunglasses.   She cracks me up!

Mr. Fox

One last painting for tomorrow's art market!