Understanding Opposites

Little Stinker!

Bayward Bound

Avery and I took an inpromptu trip to the Bay area to visit family and friends over the weekend!

Katie was home from Greenville!

Avery LOVED Dixie!

Favorite Great Uncle Tim!

Lunch with Grandma Laurie!

Avery recognized Grandpa Chuck from the flashcards!

BBQ with old friends at the McGaheys.

Mr. Zack teaching Avery the ways of the kitty.

Cheese face with her Aunties!

New Work

I recently have been busy with a couple new art projects. One of which was to re-illustrate some children's literature for an orthodontic supply company. They decided on a cartoon look and these are a few of the final 9 images. Great to be back in the art game and getting paid for it!

Also finished the pear oil painting I'd been working on...

What a Weekend!

This Mother's Day weekend was one for the books! Saturday morning the La Jolla Debutante Society hosted a complimentary brunch at the Hotel Del Coronado for the spouses and children of deployed servicemen. We joined a couple of friends and enjoyed time munching on exquisite fare.

Saturday afternoon Avery and I took a picnic lunch to the naval housing community pool. We've lived here over a month and hadn't been there yet. They have a great little 1 ft wading area for the small people!

Saturday evening myself and 30 other Team 3 wives were invited to the Naval Special Warfare Foundation Benefit Dinner & Live Auction. The event was held at a private home in Pt. Loma whose backyard literally drops into the Pacific. This amazing group financially supports all kinds of resources for men and families like ourselves. It was a little overwhelming to see multiple people raise their cards for $25,000 gifts like it was no big deal. Reminds me how incredibly blessed we are to be a part of this unique community - they even paid for our babysitting!

After a Saturday like that, Sunday was decidedly more chill. Avery let me sleep in till 9am (wa-hoo) and we started our day with a walk around the neighborhood, checkin' out the playgrounds. During her nap I squeezed in a little painting in my "studio" (really just a corner of the garage, but, hey, I'm not complaining!).

And what more perfect ending to my second Mother's Day, than this gorgeous arrangement sent by Matt. He sure knows how to make my heart sing...

Flashcards

Avery loves taking the picture frames off of our bookshelf and looking at the people.

In an effort to keep little fingerprints off my frames, I recently put together some laminated flashcards for her to play with. They are the name and photo of the people who love her! Even though we don't get to see all our friends and family as much as we would like, at least now Avery can look at and talk to them whenever she wants!