DC Day One

Day One started at 4:30AM after going to bed at close to 2:00AM, and this was all thanks to my husband, who so lovingly found the earliest flight out of Austin so that we could get to DC right at nap time. We groggily met up with my in-laws in Houston and were on our way to the nation's capitol.

After flying in and getting our hotel rooms situated, we headed on down to the Metro and jumped on the wrong train to go ahead and get it over with. (We had a similar incident in NYC and it seemed only natural to repeat the folly). So, with that out of the way, we proceeded confidently to get on the right train and made our way to Arlington National Cemetery. Finding out that it was closing just as we were arriving, we made a quick change of plans (because we're flexible and usually have no plans) and walked on over to see the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and the sights that surrounded the area. I can't emphasize enough how amazing it is to actually stand there next to Lincoln. It was surreal.

Finn was excited about getting to see Ham Linker, but even more excited to trek up and down the stairs leading up to the memorial. This became a trend throughout the trip, as there are a plethora of stairs just about everywhere you go.

The two-tone Washington Monument stood towering over the grounds. Audrie noticed the two red blinking "eyes" at the top, and we imagined some monster to be living up there, gazing down at the people below.

It was a long walk from the cemetery to the Mall, but I was a trooper, and tried my best to keep up with my 8 year old. We made it into the subway station, got on the wrong train...just kidding...we got on the right train that took us back to our hotel where I slept walked through the rest of the evening. Did I mention that we got up at time that I didn't even know existed?

And that's Day One, in a nutshell.

ND

And we're back!

Well, we survived 5 days in Washington DC with the kids, had a blast, and between two cameras, averaged about 700 pictures a day. I'm not kidding. I'm eager to share them all with you right now, but uploading 3000 pictures might take a while. I'm going to break it down into 5 posts, like I did when we went to New York. And, since I can't post today without putting any pictures, I'll leave you with a common scenario on our trip:

The Reading of the Map.

(Hmm. This seems vaguely familiar.)

Oh, and then there's this one:

The Eating of the Hot Dogs

I'm off to try to put a dent in the mountain of laundry!

Nessa Dee

And we're off!

We'll be flying out of town today, so I'll be out of blog land for the rest of the week. And just so you won't forget our faces, I'm posting these pictures:

Print them out, put them on your fridge, you can even frame them if you want to. We'll be back before you know it, and I'll have plenty of pictures to share.

Until we meet again,

Nessa Dee

Saturday Morning Cartoons

The cartoons were set in the Wild West, so naturally, Finn had to grab his cowboy hat and six shooter.

He was poised....

waiting patiently.....

to help the hero defeat the bad guy.

Everyday is a new adventure with this little guy and every adventure requires a costume.

Nessa Dee

Prints!

Just wanted to let you know that I am now offering prints in the shop of these four paintings:

I am hoping to start adding prints of some illustrations as well. If you have any suggestions as to which illustrations I should print up next, let me know!

Nessa Dee

IF: Legendary

His super hero skills are legendary.

ND

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Just a little bit of green for the day.

ND

ABC's

I'm apologizing up front for the quality of these pictures. They were taken on a dark and rainy day.

Teaching a very impatient and stubborn toddler his ABC's is not the easiest task in the world. I've found that drilling him with a deck of flashcards doesn't work very well, especially when the toddler you're quizzing leaves the room by the time you get to "C." Here's what does work, turning flashcard time into a big guessing game. I lay out about 6 or 7 cards at a time, starting with the first letters of the alphabet, and then ask Finn to find letter "A." Once he finds the letter, we set it on the table and continue this way until he's found every letter and we've arranged them in succession. After we've finished, Finn heads for the fridge to find the matching letter magnets. He started this part on his own. This game is a great way to learn letters, as well as colors, and matching. And because he is actively involved in the process, he doesn't get bored easily and leave as quickly.

Another way to keep little ones interested in learning their ABC's is to grab a cookie sheet, and have them find the letter magnets to place on the pan. A similar concept, and just as effective.

A few things that are helpful in these learning games are to have multiples. No, I don't mean to go out and try to have a set of sextuplets and get your own show on TLC. I mean have multiple sets of supplies. A plethora of letter magnets is good to have on hand because these things tend to get lost under the fridge, or carried off to use as L-shaped laser guns.

The same goes for flash cards. I have several sets of ABC flash cards. I don't think one of them is complete, but with multiple sets, I can combine the cards to have a complete alphabet. Like magic!
Also, the last tip is to not force your kids if they're not ready. If you are fighting to get your toddler to learn something he or she is just not ready for, it will be stressful on the both of you. Learning should be fun at this age. It's not until they're older that you can make learning boring and tedious. Note the difference in expressions:

Success!

:)

ND

If I Neglect Everything Else...

...and just focus on art, look what I can get done in two days!

Okay, I confess that the last one was painted a while ago, but I did get 5 paintings done, plus two more started, and this includes making the canvases! To top that off I'm working on finishing up a commissioned piece. These pieces plus a few others and some prints will be selling at our Etsy Austin Street Team table at SXSW over the next two weekends. Check out our mock set up in the garage of a fellow member. Pretty exciting!

Again, if you're in the Austin area come by and visit us! Just don't drop by my house....it received the brunt of my neglect.

ND

Does Anyone Want A Dog?

I think my dog is plotting against me. I think she knows when I'm super busy and tries to sabotage me. I'm trying to get a bunch of paintings done for SXSW this weekend, and that I have no time to play with her right now, so what does she do? She digs in the muddy yard, knowing that I can't leave her out in rainy, 43 degree weather, knowing that I'll be forced to scratch her back while bathing her. But she doesn't stop there. She proceeds to dig in the mud every time I let her out to do her business. She had 4 baths yesterday. Not only that, since she used her potty time to cover herself with mud, she needed to go out right after every bath, and since I JUST KNEW she wanted to dig in the yard again, I wouldn't let her out. So can you guess what happened? Yep, she peed in the house 3 times. And she strategically targeted each of my rugs and Audrie's bed because those are more time consuming to clean up than wiping off tile. So you see, my dog is out to get me.

Does anyone want to take this thing home now that I've described some of her best qualities??

Awww, but look at that face. And those ears!

Look at those eyebrows. I can't stay mad at you.

Never mind, I guess I'll keep her.......at least until tonight. ;)

Nessa Dee

**Update: My dog just carried a spool of thread through my house. There is red thread strung from one end of the house to the other. Looks like keeping her until tonight might be a little ambitious!**

NASA

NASA came to Austin last week and held space day on the capitol grounds. The kids saw a variety of demonstrations,

watched robots in action,

experienced space food, (mac 'n cheese anyone?)

touched a moon rock,

and, even met a real live astronaut. (No, not this one.)

(This one.)

It was an exciting day, but an exhausting one. ( at least for me)

When it was all over, the kids were wishing they could be astronauts and blast off into space, and I was hoping to find a rocket to fly me home.

Nessa Dee