Your Face is My Canvas (...that sounds so artsy, doesn't it?)

I never need a reason to paint the kids' faces. Yes, I really love to do it. To begin with, they have simple tastes like puppy, butterfly, or lion.  Next, they see what I have created as a work of art.  This is quite an ego boost when your kids throw themselves on you and dramatically proclaim your creative genius.  I could have painted the most lopsided lion, that really looks like a stepped-on dandelion, and they will think it is completely wonderful. 

Not that I have ever made any bombs, mind you. Just sayin.

The Pensive Pooch

A Bored Butterfly

Baby Batman

Ah that's more like it!

Yes!

Workin' at the Dog Wash yeah...

 We took Charm to the Self-Serve Dog Wash and it was quite a good time.  Charm LOVED it; it was like one big Petting Fest for her.  She stayed completely still and never shook one time.

 Ethan lost interest quickly in our big old dog and really took to this pipsqueak of a creature. I do not care for rodents with long hair that people call dogs.

 Claire and Audrey drying Charm off, which she thought was the massage portion of her doggie spa day.

At home smelling as fresh as a daisy...

 Dad, Maida, and Julie in Hawaii on a horseback ride

Playbarn

My sister is building a barn on her property. They are doing all the work themselves, with a little help from a forklift/backhoe thingie.  But peeling the bark off all the logs entirely?  Incredible.  Yes, I understand they don't use a potato peeler to do it, but still incredible nonetheless.  I am a Project Shortcutter and would probably leave the bark on; I would then pretend I was going for a more rustic look. Well there's your difference between the Country Sister and the City Sister.

Anyway, as I first looked at this picture what popped into my head was what Audrey would see, which was a GIANT PLAYSTRUCTURE. Note the beams that would later hold monkey bars, the ladder that would later have a slide, the ropes for swinging...
Oh...is that a chainsaw on the ground? Hmmm I don't know what Audrey would think of THAT in her park!

The Many Faces (and hats) of Claire