Happy Valentines Day

We have had a happy week here in NY and these last few days the most happy! We spent Valentines Day in CT with our favorite CT family!

First we were all spoilt with lovely treasures - check the excitement on the Engineer's face when he opened his very own GI Joe! I am so excited! He has proudly displayed it on the "treasure mantle" he has created in our dining room!

Then there were the treats for Flossy! Because I apparently stifle her creative talents (by refusing to have jonas brother posters on her windows), my darling friend created Transparent Jonas Brothers!! Hooray!

Now we have the boys everywhere. Of course the large sized Nutella was met with equal delight - Ellen has shown Flossy how to make Nutella Crossiants in the oven!

In keeping with the Jonas Brothers infatuation...we presented Red with her very own Fan Club book and the girls enjoyed their time flipping through the pages and chatting about which photo they liked best.

Max of course was bored with all this and wanted to have a swim in Boompa's pool. But what happens in the winter to the pool....to his initial suprise but subsequent delight, Max discovered you can go ice skating on it!

Ellen taught me how to cook ribs! and as a result, we enjoyed a divine dinner/lunch of baked then BBQ'd pork ribs, yams, salad and costco rolls (you can never only have one). This was all washed down with caramel coated brownies, a little Pino/Beer/Pink Lemonade (depending on your age!) while watching the NFL (boys), while playing American Girl (little girls), while playing art (big girls), while catching a few zzzz's (little boy)!

Now it is Sunday morning, I am enjoying the peace while The Engineer and Mighty Max are rocking it out at Madison Square Garden with Ernie, Big Bird, Oscar and Elmo.

Oh to be a fly on that backpack!

Happy Birthday TMan

This little man is 1 today and we celebrate! We celebrate his infectious laughter, his rolls of "chub", his desire to be just where everyone else is and his love of christmas pudding!

Happy Birthday T Man!

Who's your Aunty!

Postscript: Spare a thought today for the people who have lost families and homes in Australia's worst darkest weekend.

Bushfire Hotline - 1800 240 667
Family Help Hotline - 1800 727 077
SES - 132 500
CFA website
Australian Red Cross - Donate by calling 1800 811 700 or online
Salvation Army - Donate online or phone 13 72 58

Art Is...to enjoy the moment you are in and relish the moments you have had!

I have been kept busy recently working on our website for Art is...You 2009. We have a wonderful faculty joining us this year who will bring such incredible talent and projects to the table. Attendees from the last year are already counting down the days. One person I am very excited about is the wonderful Nicole Chazaud Telaar who treated my mum and I like royalty when we spent a weekend away together making our felted rugs.

Our theme this year is Taking Tea with Alice and just look at one of the many items Nicole has created...

Clever Girl!!

Of course I have a daily reminder of home with boxes on the dining room table - one for my friend's mum who wanted an Obama Doll! One for my arty friend who needed her Debbie Mumm Calendar (I promise you will have it before the end of February!!), one for Ez who turns another year older and one for Chubby Bubby (below), who turns 1!! Don't worry Tman - I am just trying to finish your birthday DVD!!


I miss him and my Jman just a little bit too much! Riding a horse to London is just not the same when you haven't got 3 little boys bouncing on your knees!

Oh and the highlight of last week, was Max's yearly haircut! The last time it was done was March 2007. This time all plans for a trim to retain the curls went out the door (so did all the other customers) when he decided that a headlock was the only way his hair was being cut! So he got a Number 4. He was rewarded (for his brilliant behavior) with a lolly pop and the stylist and I got a couple of tylenol (panadol)! Sorry no photos as yet due to the camera being dropped in the snow.

Due to the tylenol not working...I had to take myself on an artful weekend escape with the delightful Mrs Pom, the wonderful Pamela Huntington and my partner in most things...(art, shopping, drinking, eating), El. My thoughts strayed to the girls at home and their Hunter Valley escapes, wishing I could be with them to enjoy their company and yet wishing they could be with me so that they could experience the extraordinary friendships that I have made with these wonderful women.

The amazing Jen of Earth Angels produced the second magnificent HeArt of Winter folk art show in the historic village of Warwick, NY and we were lucky enough to go to the show. With our appetite for art fulfilled, we then set about finding a place for tea. Charlotte's Tea Room hit the spot!

The evening was spent at Sleepy Valley Inn. Irish fish and chips, red wine, a little bit of creating, a little bit of magazine reading, topped off with our Valentine pots of sweetheart candy from Mrs Pom.

A wonderful way to close off the week and start the madness of this one! Musical rehearsals for Flossy, school for Mighty Max, work work work for the Engineer and then to me...where I have challenged myself to clean out one cupboard or drawer each day! At this point I can comfortably say, we could start our own stationery company.

xx