March: The month in moments

Read across America

This week was Read Across America and Dr. Seuss' birthday.  The elementary school celebrated by asking the kids to dress as their favorite book character on Wednesday.  Unfortunately, Zadie wasn't feeling well and spent the day on the couch watching Mako Mermaids.  The middle-schoolers were, of course, way to cool for this particular celebration, so it was up to Rosie to redeem the week for us.

Her pre-k classmates each chose a favorite Dr. Seuss character to dress as, and Rosie chose the Grinch.  Of course she did.

We asked if she wanted to be the big-hearted Grinch who carves the roast beast, but she replied, "No, I am the mean Grinch who steals all the toys!"

Well, she does know what she wants, and I must say, she was the cutest Grinch I ever saw.

Barn mural

Now that the babies are getting a little bigger, I have turned a little bit of my attention back towards one of my favorite endeavors, mural painting.  I thought I'd share a recent commission that I completed for a client in their children's nursery.

This job was so much fun, because the kids were similar in age to my own children, so I had some great helpers at home to tell me exactly what I needed to paint.

If you'd like to see some of my other work, visit me at facebook.com/LauraBarkalowMurals

Wordless Wednesday; Thanksgiving at Disney

Summer photo recap

Obviously this was our first summer with five kids.  High five!  We made it through.  Clearly there was no blogging, but here are some of my favorite moments.

Saturday with the dolphins

Last Saturday, we finally celebrated Zadie's birthday with her gift of a dolphin encounter.  We are trying (all be it with very little success) to stop acquiring so much stuff.  Our playroom looks like a going out of business sale at Toys R Us and, as you can imagine, they still prefer to play with dirt and bubble wrap.

So this year, Zadie's gift was a chance to meet the dolphins at our Gulfarium up close and personal, and it did not disappoint.  If you know Zadie, you know that there is not a human on earth that she would prefer to animals.  Someday I imagine her heading into the wilderness like Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist.

She's already asked for her next birthday gift.  When she turns 8 next summer, she'll be old enough to get in the water with the dolphins.  It's a good thing they're in a pool; if they were out in the gulf, I'd be a little worried that she'd ride off into the sunset and join their pod.  

Wordless Wednesday. Preschool mural