Kickin' Back, Enjoying Life!

The Storm Door is OFF!!!

Welcome to the last days of Summer! It almost seems that life is busier as an Empty Nester....or I just stay busier to compensate! I've been focused on finishing the facade of the house...though I've allowed myself a great deal of sidetracking procrastinating! So that post will have to wait, but here's a snippet.

The storm door finally came off thanks to my go-to guy, Ryan, and all manner of stuff has been happening to it in my laboratory basement.  What you see is a freshly painted, black frame! Bye-bye wineberry...Hellooooo Black!

This past week was filled with Nipo Time! Yes, my grandson ("Nipo") and his mom, Kara, came up for her sister's wedding. Kara was gracious enough to let me steal them for a couple of days & nights in the midst of the wedding excitement at her family's home.



A few minutes before they arrived at my home, this picture was taken in the car. He was listening to his uncle's music and was falling asleep holding the earbuds on!

A few minutes after they arrived at my home for a sleep over, Nipo & I got right down to business.  WATER FIGHT!! (What can I say? I rock!)

After a quick meal we headed outside for more fun and dessert. S'Mores, of course.

Daddy's Batman Sweatshirt

Since it was chilly, he got to wear the sweatshirt that I cross-stitched a Batman logo on for his Daddy when he was little.

I was so blessed to be able to teach him how to rock crab and cousin Neenie gave him his first fishing lesson....oh yeah...and his first driving lesson on the rider mower and there are way too many photos to use here! Yes, some of you may be breathing a sigh of relief.  That's okay.  Been there. For more photos, visit me on Facebook!

However, there are a couple more photos that pertain to DIYing! (I wasn't a total slacker.) I had a plan and it went like this: a six pack of 5" x 7" artist canvases and lots of craft brushes and paints. Here's what happened.

His smile says it all!

     He worked hard. He got into it.

     He had opinions.

     He was in his element.

     Hands & face sticky with paint.

     He made tough decisions on color and form.

     He gave it his all.

Just one more swirl.

He had many techniques and an almost endless variety of brushes and colors to work with.

And he gave his Nonna a most precious gift:

His personal, original artwork. 

Nonna now has a set of six very special paintings to display in her home! Can we have a "Oorah!" for Dollar Store frames?! Perfect, I tell ya'! Seriously. I saw paintings like this at the renowned Mystic Art Festival in August. These?  I know the artist personally and it only cost me $6 for the frames and $2 for the canvases...and they're original paintings not prints!  Life is good.


While I was at it, I also framed (with Dollar Store frames) the set of fish print cards I bought at the art festival.  They're pretty cool, too, even if they are prints and I don't know the artist.

Hope you all are enjoying the last of our Summer days! Leaves are starting to fall (blech), humidity is lifting (woohoo!), great nights for fires (Ahhh), the water is still warm enough for swimming and fishing. Really, it doesn't get much better!

Take time to breathe deeply, be refreshed, and appreciate each of God's blessings He's dropping into your life...you might even miss them at first so look for them...I guarantee they are there. Sometimes it's not winning multi-millions or getting that new job (or a job).  Sometimes it's small, maybe bright and colorful...like six small original paintings.