Raging Red-head

Before and After

Halloween 2012

The kids are getting older, but that didn't change their desire for ghouls and goodies this year. The boys went down to the Gig Harbor waterfront with mom and dad and the girls went to a Halloween party. Raechie tied for first for best costume.

Hello, Stanley!

In August, I was appointed to head up an art project for Playground by the Sound--a completely volunteer effort to build a world-class playground in the community. I had been asked to do a number of art projects for the playground all ready, so I readily agreed. Whew, I did not know what I was getting myself into. It took nearly two months to complete and countless hours of fielding mind-numbing questions from curious kiddos. My favorite? "Is that a squid?"

No, Stanley is not a squid he's an octopus.

Here is the space I had to work with:


Front Side

Back Side


I decided to put in a mural on the backside using some of the 3-D pieces I had painted from the original build. The critters were all pre-cut for me, but I wanted to cut out a rock shelf and some seaweed to balance out the backside with the tenticles.

Here are some of Stanley's friends:

I had a lot of fun doing these pieces. There is also a shell, a sunstar and some fish that got included in the final mural. I had some difficulty getting these screwed into the composite wood. There were special star screws I had to use and the screw length was pre-determined. The screws kept going through to the other side. Very frustrating! I finally got it all worked out and could get going with the placement of the pieces.

Here is the prepwork for the background:

I chiseled the contour lines and eyes by hand and used a drill to prep for the 3-D suckers.

Painting the background was super easy. Little did I know, the rest of the project would be so time intensive.















Stanley's eyes really looked creepy
when I first did them.

The backside started to take shape really quickly.




Once the background was completed,
I worked on putting up the little critters.

More little critters.





The background on Stanley started going in
and the white for his 3-D suckers.

Stanley finally got his undercoat,
and Eli came out to check it out.

Luckily, I didn't have to do this by myself.

Helena Jole came out to help me often and did some great work on a hermit crab for me.



There wasn't any lengths I wouldn't go to
in order to finish this project!

This is Hermie. I painted the shell,
 and Helena did the body for me.



My friend, Linda Lockner, painted
this beautiful jellyfish for me.



I really hated what happened to poor Stanley's head. I loved the eyes, but his head looked like it was made out of rock. Totally redid that and added some deep texture.

The backside was complete by this time,
except for Stanley's tenticles.

Stanley took the longest to complete. There were SO many suckers.

The biggest question I got from kids was,
"Why are you doing that?" and "Can I help?"

Here is the finished backside.



Here is Stanley's Grotto completed.

 

I felt blessed by this amazing opportunity to work on this project. The childrens' reactions were priceless and the parents confirming. I'm so grateful for my helpers and thankful that I can now dedicate this project to my family and all the kids who play at the Playground by the Sound.

 

Saying Goodbye

My house that I grew up in got a facelift. My kids and I drove by to check it out and say our goodbyes to grandma's old house. We also made sure to go down the big hill and scream when our tummies lurched over the big bump. Good times!

At the Tacoma Car Show

The boys had a great time checking out cool cars.

Reel Music

Since our family didn't have any big plans this summer, I thought it might be fun to do a musical together. The kids and I had never acted before, so we thought it would be a great experience for everyone. Our final show ended on Saturday, and we're all missing our new cast family already.

The Show Must Go On

Guess who dropped in on our show last night! The man in green himself (or should I say herself)!

My friend and I dressed up to host a mock awards ceremony for the director of the musical the kids and I acted in. What a riot!

I'm a Sewing Machine - Pun Intended!

I've been sewing a lot for the summer musical and this popcorn vendor hat is one of my projects. Thanks, Ethan for modeling it for me.

REEL MUSIC

The kids and I starred in a musical this last week. We still have four more shows and we're having a blast.

Here is Ethan in And the World Will Know from Newsies:

 Raechel and I starred in Mother Knows Best from Tangled:

Raechel in Oklahoma!:

 Ethan in Rainbow Connection from The Muppet Movie:

 Here's the full cast in Circle of Life from the Lion King:

We are sure having a great time!