The Tryouts

Look at these handsome boys. Friends and teammates since age 7 I think. Last year they tried out as 8th graders and made the 9th grade high school team. Today they start tryouts for JV and Varsity. I am nervous excited for these boys. The potential in each of them shines so bright. I was telling one of the mom's the other day that one thing I love about them is the encouragement and joy they seem to have in one another's success. They each play different positions so there's no competition there. They each have strengths and weaknesses at the plate. They each have so much love and support from their families. So no matter what happens after this week, my hope is that this support continues. Real friendships are built on this type of foundation. Good luck boys! We all love you!

Raising Boys

I love these guys.  Really.  I do.  I can't believe we've let 7 years go by of playing baseball together.  That quickly.  I've been getting a little emotional about all that lately.  Time flying and stuff like that.  These boys are entering High School next year.  And I couldn't be more excited for them!  What an amazing 4 years they are about to embark upon.  And luckily for them, they all have parents and grandparents to love, nurture and support them the entire way through.  And luckily for me I have their Mommas to hold my hand, be my extra ears and hand me those tissues along the way.  Raising this boy has been....well much easier than raising the girl Horne.  Truth spoken.  And although he has  many flaws and imperfections, in my eye his gifts and talents outweigh these.  And as a mother if I continue to nurture and nourish these wonderful gifts surely he will grow into the man not only I desire him to be, but the one God intended him to be as well.

The Children of an Artist

Okay, this is not a normal post for me. There is definitely a following of people who do not appreciate pictures of artist's children in their blogs, BUT the argument I have for that is this. These children affect my day to day life and how I see the world around me. They inspire me to be a better Mother and artist everyday. So I had to share some current pictures of what they excel at doing other than being the child of an artist. This is Mailey riding Charlie with her instructor Jonquil right along side. Jonquil ROCKS by the way! She's been taking riding lessons for about 3 months now out at Serenbe. This was her first ride on Charlie, a full sized Palomino horse that's 36 years old. Yes, that's right, I said 36. He is super sweet and amazingly soft! Mailey is dying to jump, but right now we are working on just the basics. Up..down..up...down.... I love to watch Jonquil teach her, so very patient!

Here she is riding up to the amazing barn at Serenbe with lesson buddy Kathryn. Do you see how much bigger Charlie is compared to Gabby?

This is my super star William. At least I think he is. This was our first year with tackle football, where he played quarterback and something on defense (it's on the end-tight end?). He's played baseball since age 3. I've found football to be much more exciting to watch, and much more noisy, if you catch my drift! It has been a challenging season, but a wonderful lesson in humility as we win and lose as a team with dignity.

So there they are, my little budding artists who amaze me with their other talents. They also have a wonderful knack of driving each other crazy! I hope you have a lovely fall evening. Look for more pictures of felted birdies and some fun enameling that I'm making with Valerie soon!