Canvas Haunting

In my family room sits this canvas, staring at me, all throughout the day and night. Many times I have heard the whisperings "What are your intentions toward me?". I continue to ignore the chills that these whisperings cause to run up and down my spine. And yet, I know it must be dealt with with great courage.

Ha Ha! Just kidding! I hope I scared you?

Actually, I am not really being haunted by the canvas at all. It's purpose is to be submitted into the Church's 8th International Art Contest to be judged and, hopefully, awarded a prize. The theme for the contest is "Remembering the Great Things of God". I am currently in the middle of the planning process. I have a few mental images and a small newpaper clipping that are my beginning inspiration pieces. I am 85% decided on the placement of the images on the canvas. So, the next steps are to have my guinea pigs...I mean children...pose for me in the same position of my mental images (so I have something real to work from), make some preliminary sketches, then decide which medium and color scheme I want to use.

The idea I have is of a persons hands holding a basket of fruit, or harvested vegetable, towards another persons outstretched empty hands. The focus of the piece would be the people's hands and the basket, not their faces.

I am really looking forward to working on this piece and will post the progress of the work. What would your choice of medium, foods in the basket and color scheme be? I would like to hear your ideas! Please, Wish me Luck!

To my friends Janet and Dawnae - I wish you my weekly "Have a Happy Day!". Maybe you will have something ready to submit to the contest as well Dawnae - and maybe your husband would be interested in submitting something as well Janet?! Do ya think?

David Blassuci's version of "I Am A Child of God"

In my last post, I mentioned how I use the Primary song "I Am A Child of God" to help me get rid of my NNT's. I love the Primary version, but a few of my children don't like the tune of it. So, in an effort to help them learn to love the song, I bought a different version of the song a few years ago. But alas, they still have issues when the song is being played. Many, many thanks to Judy who found a link to this song and created the video to accompany it! I hope you enjoy the song and the video as much as I do! Thanks bunches Judita! You're the best ever!

I Just Had To Share/ I've Been Tagged

My Baby Girls, Lauren & Ashley! Can you feel the Love?!

Okay, so I'm not really blogging right now, but I'm going to say my official weekly "Hello, Janet! I hope all is well with you!" and, because I have been tagged, I will unofficially answer the questions. Here it goes:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? Standing in the middle of the baby isle at the local drug store having a complete conversation with my 3 1/2 year old twins about what kind of pacifiers they wanted. "Okay, Lauren, would you like the blue one with a duckie on it, or the pink one with a teddy on it?" And realizing that this type of conversation was probably a very RARE occassion in anybody's motherhood career...there probably is not a spot in any baby book to record this kind of conversation.

2. What was I doing one year ago? Preparing for our family vacation that included taking Bethany up to the University of Utah for Especially for Youth.

3. Five snacks that I enjoy...

1. Pistachios

2. Chips & Salsa

3. Cottage Cheese sprinkled with freshly ground pepper & hot salt

4. Smoothies - mostly Strawberry/Banana

5. Brownies - Although they are illegal

4. Five songs I know all the lyrics to:

Considering that I make up my own lyrics I would have to say I know the lyrics to ALL songs! :) (Example: when another driver isn't kind to me while I'm driving, and I begin thinking NNT's - not nice thoughts - I sing "They are children of God, but they don't know it yet" to the tune of I Am A Child of God.)

5. Five things I would do if I were a millionaire:

1. Continue taking care of my husband

2. Continue taking care of my children

3. Set up education/missionary funds for the children

4. Talk my husband into going back to school for his PhD in business

5. Live on an uninhabited (except for my hired help) island and run naked all day long

6. Five bad habits:

1. Not admitting I have bad habits; and yet,

2. Allowing my bad habits to define me

3. Staying up too late

4. Not exercising enough

5. Not paying for something I think I can make myself - the curse of being a Relief Society member

7. Five things I would never wear again:

1. My current wardrobe - I wear the same thing over and over and over because I hate shopping for clothes - see #5 above

2. Contacts - amen and hallelujah

3. Purplish eyeshadow with Orangey lipstick - my wedding pictures will show you why

4. A nylon sweatsuit - it's against the environmental noise ordinance

5. A professional suit - it's artist attire for me

8. Five toys I love:

1. Bart

2. Bethany

3. Lauren

4. Ashley

5. Cameron

9. Five people to say "I Love You" to:

1. My Dad

2. My Mom

3. My Siblings - yes, all of them!

4. Aunt Barbie

5. Maggie

'Tis the Season

Well, school will officially be out on Thursday; and knowing what that will bring leads me to the decision to put this blog on Vacation Mode! So, to all you fellow bloggers I bid you a summer "Farewell! My next post will be August 20, 2007!"

Much Love,
Micalanne

Me & Some of My Girls At Grandma's Party!

Judy - doing one of the things she loves best - dressing up in a grass skirt!
From L to R, Ashley, Lauren & LeeAnna (my triplets). To LeeAnna's left, my twins, Bethany (in white) & Michelle (in red).
Aunt Lana looking fabulous as she does the HULA! Isn't she cute?!
Four Generations! ...Verna begat Penny, and Penny begat Micalanne, and Micalanne begat Bethany, Lauren & Ashley... Whew! I'm done begatting...
I love this Cari Girl! We had some great times when we were young and cute! (Well, we're still cute, just not so young. ) We would drive miles and miles just to get to a dance. Friends, good music and boys - that's what it was all about! She is the one who introduced me to taquitos and guacamole at a little taco shop around the corner from her house in Downey. How could I have lived in Southern California almost all my life and not know what taquitos and guacamole were?! Cousins are the fairy dust of life-they make everything twinkle when they are with you. I was SO happy to see you Cari!

Me and my Grandma! She is LOVE - What more can I say?! :)

To see some great pictures of the rest of my Girls and Boys, go to Judy's blog http://girlsjustwannahvfun.blogspot.com. Wish you could have all been there with us! (Sorry to the rest of my family for not getting clear enough pictures of you to post. :( )

Simple Pleasures

There are a few things in this life that simply make me happy. Pumpkins in their patch are one of them. Looking out at the garden and watching things grow (especially pumpkins) gives me great pleasure. We didn't plant anything in our garden last year and I really missed it. So, my plan is to plant the pumpkins the first weekend in July; this will give them plenty of time to be ready for Halloween! I am giddy with excitement just thinking about it!