Spring Things

Spring is in full swing around here. We’re deep into track season, the trees and shrubs are leafed out, everything is so lush and green and purple and white lilacs are dripping from trees.

Every time I pass a lilac tree I have to force myself not to pull over and snap a few blooms from someone else’s tree. I just love them so much and could drink in their scent all day long.

Some other things happening around here this spring …

Our house has become an infirmary

The stomach bug has hit 4 out of 6 of us. It means lots of downtime, bowls waiting nearby and a little spark in me to disinfect.

The chickens have been rehomed

Two years ago we started with six baby chicks and have enjoyed our hens. They laid pretty eggs and were super entertaining to watch. But we had a few issues with them.

First, they laid eggs, but not enough to feed our big egg-eating family and so we were also buying organic eggs regularly.

Second, they are NOISY and SMELLY. It makes sense, since they are farm animals and I think I’m realizing I’m not much of a farm-girl :)

And finally – and probably the main reason we sent them on to a new home – we had part of our property cleared in the fall to extend our yard and the chicken coop no longer worked where we had originally built it. We could have either moved the whole thing or just call our two years as chicken-owners good enough. We went with the latter. A nice woman came and took the coop and chickens and I hope they have a happy life.

Spring break was fun

The kids and I visited our good friends in Flagstaff, Arizona where we did lots of outdoorsy things like climbing boulders, exploring a pitch-black lava cave (with headlamps, of course), jumping across a river and enjoying the heat of Phoenix for a day with pool-time.

Audrey got a new coat, lost that new coat, and then got another

My girl is growing like crazy and every single thing in her closet from last spring/summer is too small. Spring always feels like a good time to go through the kids clothes and take inventory of what items we need to replace.

One of those things was a spring jacket for Audrey and so we found this adorable one. Then she accidentally left it on the airport shuttle in Arizona. But we liked it so much that I ordered another one for her during another sale. It is currently on sale for $21.99.

(I used it for the background of this daily sketch. Isn’t the floral pattern and green color so great?!)

Book-Writing is underway

I traveled to Eugene, Oregon two weeks ago to meet with a team from my publisher to go a little deeper into the book-writing process, pick fonts + paper quality, set goals, do some dreaming and get to know one another better. On the drive down I was feeling a little anxious and posted this on instagram:

“I’ve heard that writing a book is a lot like having a baby. 
If that’s the case, then I’m at the mostly excited and a little bit nervous stage. In exactly 9 months, my first manuscript is due. I have snippets and notes and half-written stories. I have high hopes and feel so grateful that this dream is coming true. But I am also walking into unknown territory and traditionally, I’m a little timid when it comes to new things – especially when they are wrapped in expectations. 
Will you pray for me? 
This isn’t just a book thing; it feels like the start of a new career of writing and illustrating and the transition from old to new feels oh so clunky. 
It seems some people make the transition seamlessly. Me? There are seams all over the place and most of them are quite rough. 
The one thing I think I’m doing right, though, is paying attention. Naming feelings. Journaling my thoughts. Asking God for grace and clarity and trusting that He has this whole thing figured out. 
So I trust, walk. Trust, walk. And little by little, I know He’ll take me where He wants me to go.”

And then after a couple of days with my amazing publishing team, I left feeling encouraged and more sure that this hard, scary thing I’m doing is exactly what I need to be doing (you can read a little more about that HERE).

I can’t stop listening to this song

I’m not sure why, but I’ve been on a hymn kick lately. This album has been on repeat, and especially the song How Great Thou Art. I am so moved by it every time I hear it.

Here’s the painting I did inspired by the song:

Watercolor for kids is coming soon!

I already teach an online watercolor class and thought adding one specifically for kids sounded like a fun way to include the younger artists. Mason and Audrey (ages 11 + 9) are joining me for a few of the lessons and I can’t wait to show you all of the cute projects we’re making in the class. I’m hoping it will be ready within the next week or two just in time for keeping our kiddos occupied for summer break.

I read two novels and loved both

In the past few weeks I’ve read The Address by Fiona Davis and The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani. Both are historical fiction (my fave), neither are about WWII (also a fave, but I needed a break) and both stories had me googling things to find out what was real and what was not. I highly recommend both.

Well, that’s a bit about what’s going on in our household. How has your spring been?

Also, for my regular musings and daily sketches, be sure to follow me on instagram :)