Just Call Me Diane Arbus

I had a great birthday yesterday! Thanks for all the birthday wishes--they helped make it a good day.

One of my friends stopped by in the morning with iced coffee and bagels so that was a fun way to start the day, then I had lunch with my sister and opened some gifts from her. Oh--Pickle still seems not quite herself, but not bad--so if she still seems under the weather tomorrow I'll take her to the doctor.

So later when Don got home he gave me his gifts. One of his presents was a beautiful coffee table book of Diane Arbus' photographs. She has always been one of my favorite photographers. As I was looking through the book I commented that someday I would love to have a camera like the one she used.

Don played dumb and he was all "What kind of camera did she use?" And I said "A Rolleiflex."

Then the next gift I opened WAS a Rolleiflex!!
It's so beautiful and I'm so excited to use it! Imagine the shots of Pickle I can get with this!!

It took us a few tries, but we managed to get a roll of film loaded, so tomorrow I'm going to play around with the settings and see what I come up with. I'm sure it will take some time to get used to it.

I'll definitely be taking lots of pictures of the kids with this--but I also want to hit the streets Diane Arbus-style and really try to get some interesting stuff. I can't wait!

This was a great birthday!!

Happy Birthday To Me!

That's right--it's my birthday and I'm blatantly posting about it! I hope it's a good one--I have plans to have lunch with my sister which should be fun--but Pickle is showing signs of a cold and that always puts me in a worried mood. Hopefully it won't turn into anything.

I'm super excited about something though--over the weekend I entered one of my paintings in a local show. It's a juried show which means a panel of judges looks at all the work and choose who's right for the show.

I was doubtful when I got there to sign in because there was just a sea of paintings entered and I had no clue what kind of chance I had. Plus, I wasn't crazy about the piece I was submitting--it's alright but I have better--the problem is that it had to be framed and ready to hang and this was the only one that fit the bill.

So I dropped it off Saturday morning and got a call later that day telling me that it was accepted! I'm SO excited!

Also, turns out there were over 200 pieces submitted and they chose 45 to be in the show. That's not too shabby.

There will be an opening reception on Friday night and I'm looking forward to taking the kids to it. And the really extra-exciting thing is that they will be giving out awards and cash prizes plus offering some people solo shows!! I'm not holding my breath on that at all--but still!

This is the piece I entered--it's a watercolor called "Room Service":

I would say it looks better in person because it has zillions of layers and the colors kind of glow in a cool way.

So that's my big news (well that and my birthday!) Oh, and if you wondering how old I am--the answer is "old"!! That's all I'm sayin'.

I'll be sure to take lots of pics at the Friday opening!!

Mother's Day Extravaganza

I hope you all had great Mother's Days! Mine was very nice--in fact, I told Don it was "Mother's Day weekend" which meant both Saturday and Sunday were all for me--he wasn't really buying that though.

When I came downstairs on Sunday, the kids had decorated the house with streamers and balloons.
And Don was busy in the kitchen making chocolate-covered strawberries. Here they are with some of my creepy doll heads.

Chocolate face!


He also made Bellinis!

And these really good breakfast sandwiches that had egg, prosciutto, salami, basil and mozzarella on sourdough bread:
There were some gifts:
And the big boys went out on their own to get me some gifts--cute!
Gooser picked me some flowers:

I asked Pickle what she wanted to wear on Mother's Day and she said "Ummmm--Princess!" So that's what she did!

Then later, we had our Mother's Day tradition--Indian food!


Here are our mango lassis:

Gooser enjoying his:

Big boys!

Mommy and Pickle (smelling the rose the restaurant gave me!):
It was a great day!!

Creepy Doll Pics

First of all, Happy Mother's Day!! Hope you have great ones! I'm writing this the night before, but it looks like lots of secret surprises are in the works at the Fun House.

I got a big box of old and creepy doll parts in the mail today. I got them on eBay and plan to use them for some sculptures and stuff--but some of them are so cool I think I'm going to keep them for my collection. It was so much fun unwrapping them one by one--just like Christmas! But a Christmas where all I got was old dirty dolls...

Anyway, Pickle was fascinated with the whole thing and oohed and ahed over the dolls even though some of them were SUPER creepy. Ultimately, I did a little photo shoot with Pickle and some of the dolls. I love the way they turned out! Here are some of my faves:

I call this one "Poor Pitiful Pickle":
I LOVE this one!
I love this one too. Pickle has become quite the little model--she can do the "mad face" on demand!Can't wait to hear about all your Mother's Day festivities!

Aliens in the Night

Last night, Andy went to a dance, and came home with a bunch of those glow-in-the-dark plastic necklace things. Don thought it would be fun if Andy put a couple of them in Gooser's room (he was already asleep) so if he woke up in the night he would see them glowing.

But Andy--prankster that he is--decided to put all the glowing rings all over Gooser's room and write a weird note (and picture) saying that the rings were from an alien.

I had forgotten about it, but woke up this morning to Gooser screaming "Mommy! Mommy! Help!"

When I went into his room he looked super scared and was borderline crying. He was holding the alien picture and said "I found this in my bed and I'm really freaking out."

I don't blame him:Luckily Andy came in (and I went back to bed) to handle the situation. I could hear Andy talking to him over the baby monitor and reading him the note from the alien:
In case the writing doesn't show up well, it says:

Hello young Gooser, I am from the planet Zagnog and I have come in peace. I have left many secret alien rings in your room. They contain special powers inside them. You are to retrieve these rings, and place them all in your backyard tonight to get a gift from us tomorrow. Enclosed is a picture of me. Good luck, Icknoz"

Once Gooser realized the alien "came in peace" he was excited about the whole business and has spent most of the morning playing with the rings and looking at the picture.
(That painting behind Gooser is what I've been spending a lot of my time on--the eyes are driving me crazy and I keep redoing them!)

Here's Pickle w/ the "alien rings":
It will be interesting to see what Andy comes up with tonight for phase two of the Alien Project!

More Freakiness

Yesterday I showed you my freaky monkey and today I want to introduce you to my kreepy klown. Remember when I was buying all that crazy stuff on eBay? I was getting some props that I want to use in paintings. I had Pickle pose with the kreepy klown the other day in hopes of getting a good shot that could possibly become a painting.

I thought the clown might be too scary for her and she wouldn't even want to touch it--but she warmed right up to him!

She looks so happy to be holding it...
But at some point I think she started wondering about its creep factor:
In this pic I think she's kind of not liking it anymore:
And this last one is my favorite and the one I will attempt to use for a painting. I like the light and the faraway look in her eyes...
Is this thing creepy or what??
It looks like something that might come to life and rise up in the middle of the night and kill us all!

Maybe in conjunction with the freaky monkey...

To be on the safe side, I've locked them both in the laundry room!

Fun in the Sun

We had a great weekend at the Fun House and spent a lot of time hangin' in the backyard. New sand in the sandbox, lots of sun and the dogs running wild. It was great!

Pickle was out of control!
Kicking balls:
Hugging freaky monkeys:
And picking dandelions:
Portrait of Gooser with dandelions:
And with dandelion:
Gooser with the freaky monkey:
There was lots of sliding:
And dog hugging:
Even Hazel got in on the freaky monkey action:
I like this pic of Pickle:
And this one too!
Oh and this one too...
I'll leave you with Portrait of Freaky Monkey and Dandelions: