SERIOUSLY!!!!

I promise this will be the last move for a while. Come see us at our new site...

Local Color of Galveston

We have a contract!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was excited for about 10 seconds until I realized now we have to move! I am going to break down and have a garage sale. It's something I said I would never do again, but we have a lot to rid ourselves of and the money won't hurt. I also decided to not sell clothing. That's my biggest hang up with garage sales. I can't stand displaying the clothes. And we have a bunch to donate. So, I am putting the girls on inventorying the clothes for tax purposes. The boys can bag 'em and we can take them to Goodwill. It's good to have manpower!

This house has been such a blessing. We became a family here. We started our homeschooling journey here. We drew close and rode out a decent size hurricane here. But, I am so looking forward to the next chapter. Darren needs to be doing his photography full time. This brings us one step closer. And it doesn't hurt that the next chapter involves a beach!

In the shop today...

We've come through The Hair Tragedy of '09 pretty well. The area of concern is located under that heart barrette. I guess it coulda been worse.

She's staying busy doing "inventory" today. I love that she likes to play "shop".

Until we move here permanently, we're getting school finished before Friday because it would just be too much to haul down here. So, they are finding other ways to fill their time. They take walks on the Strand or to the harbor. There is a building right across the street from the shop that is empty, so there is hardly any foot traffic. They've worn out the sidewalk with their ripsticks.

There's also lunch and snack time. Notice how Aaron has mastered eating while gaming. Phil is just glad to be eating. Is that a big enough bite, son?

Chelsey, too, has some mad eating/gaming skillz.

It's quite a set up they have back there. Board games, American Girl Dolls, TV, food. Poor things...

Bad Hair Day

I finally get her to brush her hair and this is what happens.



Darren and I both took turns pulling out single hair after single hair. I sprayed Pam in it (I know...I was desperate) to try to loosen it up.



We broke for lunch...



Then took a vote and, with Loree's OK, cut that sucker off. It's nothing a little comb-over can't hide...I hope.

ArtWalk

Nothing says ArtWalk like a flash flood.



Here's our harbor.



It usually looks like this.



I'm learning here on the island that you make the best of what you've got. (Yes, he's on a raft and she's wearing a wetsuit and rain boots.)

The water came right up to our doorstep. Occasionally, a big pick-up would drive by and lap a few waves up onto our door.

But like everything else, the water receded and life goes on...

I can't find my camera cord...

And I find it difficult to post without pictures because I'm really not that interesting. I do have an update on ArtWalk. (We had people floating down the street on blow-up rafts in front of our shop. I. kid. you. not.) We also had a minor hair emergency this week.





Let's just say Loree got stuck to a round brush and it didn't end well.

J. S. de Elcano

photo by Darren. I couldn't possibly do this...

This was in our harbor today. It's a Spanish naval training ship. She's one of the largest and oldest tall ships still operational. You can read more of her history here. It inpsired words like, "Coooool" and "Aaaawesome" from my boys.

Lanky...

My family is short. Like, I'm the tallest chick in my family and I'm 5'6". No one ever called any of us lanky, gangly or twiggy.



This one is all legs and arms. She came from my squatty body. She reminds me of a giraffe.





A silly, freckly giraffe.

Glorious!!!!

Look how pretty it is here today! I get to step out of our shop and see this whenever I want.




And I have these guys to keep me company.

It's Featherfest this weekend. The kids went on a walk this morning and got to see a bald eagle. I'm holding out for a Flamingo.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSS...

SNAKE IN THE HOUSE!!!!!! We had a snake in our house yesterday. I had taken Darren to the bus stop and then ran into the grocery store to get some food. As I was loading the groceries, I got the call. Philip said, "Mom, there's a snake in the house." In the background, all hell was breaking loose. Poor Ashlie has a MAJOR fear of snakes. They had a snake come into their house about 6 years ago and she was so scared that she got saved. Seriously.

The girls were standing on tables and chairs and Philip stood there looking at it. He said, "Mom, what should I do?" From the way the girls were screaming you'd think it was a 10 ft. python. So, I freaked out and called animal control. A snake was gonna eat my babies!!! I got Phil back on the phone and he'd talked to Darren. After Phil described it to him, they decided he could take care of it. He and Aaron scooped up the snake with the pool net, carried it outside, chopped it's head off and buried it. Turns out it was a baby, only about 4 in. long. A glorified worm, really. So, I called off animal control and all was well. But, eww...

Are you kidding me?

It was cold today. Not just breezy, but COLD. The wind comin' off of the water here near the harbor makes me want to kick someone in the shins. But...if you build it, they will come. We had some pretty colorful people come in the shop today. Everything from wealthy beach home ownin' "locals" (here every weekend, but live in the Houston area) to some Scottish guy that just wanted to check out the recovery effort here. You know what? The island has recovered! It's all just icing now. People do not walk around moaning about what assistance they're not getting. They DO (as in...make things happen) and they accomplish. I've never felt so much a part of a community and I don't even live here yet. I've said it before, the spirit here is soooo inspiring. There is so much talent here. People need to see this. That's why we're here. **jumps off soap box**

We had an artist in today and his work escapes my thesaurus expertise. He's a welder...





Darren couldn't resist actually wearing his art today. Don't try this at home.






Please...

Rainy and blah :(

But we have cookies in the shop!!!!!!!!!! Ashlie made some chocolate chip cookies that are taunting me. They go great with the coffee. It's a perfect snack for a day like today. I'm going to have make Ashlie sit in the naughty chair...

Since Spring Break is over, we will now be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday until we sell our house. Hopefully, this will only be for a short time. We have 2 families that have seen the house twice and may be ready to make an offer.**crossing fingers** We are so excited about being there full-time. We have met some artists that are excited about being featured in our shop and we have put more of Darren's work on the walls. We ordered some gift items to add some variety in our pricing. I'll post pics when we get it all in and displayed.

It's Been a Week!?!?!

It's flown by! I know some have been wanting updates...

Our Grand Opening was met with wind, rain and 40 degree temperatures. Nothing says, "Come to our balmy island" like frost bite. We were pleasantly and humbly surprised at the turnout, though. So many friends and family!

These are 3 of our 4 artists.

Some art...

Tim and Robert the Jew totally made the evening complete. If you ever have a grand opening, get music dudes. Together these guys had the Baptists actually dancing. Please don't call the convention. We need all the good press we can get.

Some mingled....

Some didn't...

Some kids worked...

Some didn't...

It was a great night. We are still a work in progress. But we're just so stinkin' glad to be here we can hardly stand it. As crazy as all this has been, there is a certain peace to doing what you love. I get to have my toes in the sand before I get to work. At any given time, I can walk outside my sunny shop and hear a seagull. And the cool thing is that all of our customers are happy!

photographs taken by my mom and butchered by me in photoshop...

Almost there...or not.

Yesterday was move-in day. Our good friend John from HPD painted our sign. We have decided we will change it every quarter, offering different artists a chance to show their stuff.

This is my lighting guy. He's cheap, but talented...that's how I like my men.

We had lunch...

And arranged art...

Some were less enthused than others...

But it is coming together nicely. Tomorrow we plan food...

This is what my poor children see...

When the phone rings now, the kids stop in their tracks and hold their breath. They wait as mom nicely says, "Sure! An 11:00 am showing of our house will totally work during our homeschooling day!" Then mom gets off the phone with crazy eyes and screams, "Pick up the house! They'll be here in 20!!!"

I take no pride in this...

Invite to our Grand Opening

I love beads...

A pleasant surprise. PARADES! They go right by the shop during Mardi Gras. You never know how bad you want beads until they are being hurled at you from parade floats.