Set Painting

Talking camel cutout for Joseph 

My oldest daughter and her favorite Hindu god

Scrooge's front door.

Neon signs for Guys and Dolls

I really love painting big set pieces for plays--which is handy, since my daughter is in quite a few of them. Here are some samples.  

The Sphinx (before his paint wore off)

Older Drawings

Bob!

Here are some drawings from before my 8-year break from doing artwork... This is my husband Bob (back when his beard was dark. Actually, it was blue in the drawing for a long time, because I saved the beard for last. Bob kept showing me his real beard and saying, "It's not blue!" --so for a long time that was the title of this piece.

H2Ose

This little girl was the daughter of a woman I bought some clothes from on eBay. We got to be cyber-friends, and when she sent me this photo, I had to try a drawing from it. Boy, was that water fun!

Sermon Doodle: December 2, 2012

"Courageous Faith"

This is what happens when the sermon is unusually short!

Christmas Card Drawing 2012

Christmas Card Drawing 2012

Wishing you a Christmas filled with warmth and deliciousness!

Sermon Doodle: November 25, 2012

All about EVIL!

Southwest Airlines--LIKE!!

I CAN'T BELIEVE I am about to recommend an airline. For starters, I HATE flying. And not for the reasons most people do--I'm not afraid of it. But given our always dicey finances, I feel like the airlines go out of their way to make you miserable, and to ensure that you spend a lot of time thinking, "I paid hundreds and hundreds of dollars for THIS?"

(Note: I realize that I should simply be delighted and amazed that we can fly. That I can get from Denver to Vermont in only 4 HOURS. Just like this hilarious video says...)

Enter Southwest. First of all, we were able to check bags for free. Just like in the good old days!

We were flying on Christmas Day. (It was cheaper that way.) All of the people working for Southwest that day were, in a word, delightful--when they could easily have been surly for having to work on a major, major holiday.

But the best: The airline steward who did the announcing. He took that ordinary safety instruction card reading and made it hilarious:

"In the event of an unscheduled water landing... because we've stopped scheduling them..."

"To inflate the life vest, pull on the red tab. If that doesn't work, blow into the red nozzle. If that doesn't work, well, you're just not having a very good day, are you?"

"Be sure to fasten the oxygen mask over your own face before helping your child. If you are traveling with more than one child,... what were you thinking? God bless you. Well, just choose the one you like the best!"

And he played with us:

"Hey, folks, if you're on the left side of the plane today, be sure to look out the window, because, well, you just don't get to see tha-- oh, nevermind, it's gone now."

"Be careful when taking your belongings out of the overhead compartments, as they may have missed you during the flight and might jump out to see you!"

"We'd like to welcome you to Hawaii. Except you're not there, so we can't. OK, then, welcome to Boston."

The return flight on New Year's Eve also featured a joke by the pilot, as well as a beautiful smooth landing despite incredibly turbulent air coming into Denver (We all applauded.).

In my scientific sample of two entire flights, it appears that the employees of Southwest actually enjoy their work and are encouraged to do so.

I am determined to ONLY fly Southwest whenever we fly in the future!

Middle School Difference-Makers!

OUR SCHOOL'S "spiritual emphasis theme" this year is "Put Your Faith in Motion." This is SO up my alley I can barely speak! We have many cool things planned.

2nd Baptist dances their shoes off.

The first is Wednesday, Sept 28. We are going to have a Denver Christian "Dance Your Shoes Off" event. The idea came from this video of 2nd Baptist church in Houston. They donated thousands of pairs of new shoes to people who needed them. If all of our kids participate, that will be about 300 pairs of shoes.

We will be donating the shoes to Soles4Souls, an awesome nonprofit that collects and distributes shoes worldwide. If you are in the Denver area, come dance with our kids--and donate some shoes!

As it turns out, an organization called Sevenly is running a drive (2 days left) in which for every "Give Shoes" t-shirt you buy from them, they donate $7.00 to Soles4Souls! How awesome is that!?

I am most excited about my students' year-long project--the "Faith in Motion Performance." Each middle school class (there are five) will be choosing a cause/problem to work on. They will become experts in that issue, creating a Wiki page as they go. Then they will design a 15-minute performance to educate, entertain, and motivate their audience about their particular issue. These could involve singing, drama, videos, art--whatever the students come up with.

April 12 is the date--it is currently scheduled for a morning performance, but if it turns out as cool as I think it will, I might push for an evening show as well.

If you are reading this, would you please pray for these kids as they research and prepare? I am sure I will blog more about this, because it is SO near and dear to my heart, so check back for updates. I can't wait to see what they choose as their causes!