Talent Show....

Tatiana, Destinee, and Mariza were in the talent show at their school last week. They sang a song by Danity Kane and sounded great! Tatiana and her friends are so talented and so much fun to be around. She has a wonderful group of friends. We love them! Tat's voice blew us away. She won't sing in front of us so we were so excited to finally hear her sing!!

Destinee and Tatiana getting ready for the show.

She's coming to life.....

Today in class we learned highlights for skin tones and now she is coming to life! I still need to finish her necklace and her outfit and do a little more work on the mouth and face but she has life now! =) More to follow........

I LOVE my family!! Thanks for a special Mother's Day!!!

To all you Mother's out there I hope you had a fantastic day! My beautiful daughter and wonderful husband spoiled me all day. I woke up to cards and a gift from Tatiana and Jamie and Tat's card was so special I cried. Happy tears of course. She made the card, and the sentiment that she wrote was far beyond her 13 years. I am so blessed to have such a thoughtful and loving daughter. That was followed by a day of rest and relaxation.....they made me breakfast, cleaned, (Jamie kicked me out of the kitchen when I tried to help) I read magazines and watched Food Network, and that was topped off by an evening wandering the shops at the mall and then off to dinner at my favorite Sushi restaurant. It was lovely! Thank you to my beautiful loving family! You are the best! I love you with all of my heart. =)

Much love to my Mom in Oregon, Jamie's Mom watching down on us from above, our California Mom Miss Corinne and all the Ladies in our life that are Mother's. We love you all!

Portraits.....

We are working on portraits in class and we had the choice of a lady from Jamaica or Placido Domingo. I chose the Jamaican lady. Portraits are interesting. I am not sure how she is going to turn out....I just keep working on her. I have quite a ways to go, but here she is in the middle stages......I have decided I really enjoy still life or landscape. One day maybe I will add portraits to the list. Just not yet. =)

My comedian husband Jamie says I am actually painting Aunt Jemima...you know the one from the pancake box. Nice. Only he would think of that.

What a Night!

We spent last Friday night with my niece Danielle, her Dad Tony, her roommates Heather and Megan, and their Dad's Kevin and Jerry (who were all in town visting from Washington state). What a FUN and crazy time we had. Great Italian food, wine, and laughter at Mama Mia's and then hours of fun back at their beautiful condo on the beach playing cards, laughing HARD, drinking more wine =) and enjoying each other's company. Thanks Dani, Megan and Heather for such a great time!!!

Rusty Truck.......

Done....well maybe. I actually took one of my paintings out of a frame the other day to tweak it. Details, details. =)

This one is a combination of 3 pictures. The truck is from one picture, the background from another and some outdoor elements from another (not pictured). I still have some fine details to work on but you get the idea. This one was quite the challenge! We are going to start portraits in the next class so the learning just continues and the fun never ends!!

As Marie Antoinette "supposedly" said........

"Let them eat cake!!" Okay, did she say it, who knows, all I know is that is what I did all day on my birthday! Cake from my girlfriends at Cheescake Factory, cake from my daughter and husband, cake, cake, cake! It was all so delicious I am in a chocolate haze 3 days later! =) Thanks to my family and friends here in Cali and my family so far away for making my day so special!! Love you all!

What a Trip!!!

They are back! Wow what a fantastic time the kids had on their trip!!! Check out some of the pictures below. More fun photos can be viewed in the slideshow and online album on the right. Welcome Home!!!!

A rainy day at the White House.

Mt. Vernon
No words needed.
Dinner before going to see Grease on Broadway!
New York, New York