Happy birthday, Claire! (and thank you)

my sunshine girl is 4 today!!! we are looking forward to celebrating! her party is next weekend, rather late, but thankfully she is young enough not to be bothered by this. here's a shot of my dear girl.

have a great Sunday, everyone, and thank you, thank you, thank you, to all my friends who attended the Adornment show - i felt your love and support and they mean so much to me! thank you!

The Adornment Show is tonight!!

i'm running around today with butterflies in my stomach, but it's all good. i'm looking forward to seeing many of you at the show tonight. i'll try to take some photos, but i'm guessing if anyone takes them, it'll be Phil. ok, off to put Cordelia down for a nap - hopefully it'll be a good one so she won't be cranky and fussy tonight. :)

This Week

i've been so busy, i haven't taken any film photos lately. i think it will have to wait until after this friday. so, i was running around at the end of last week, picking up my paintings from the frame shop and picking up my prints from the print shop. this week, i'll have to get the paintings hung, prints packaged, and try to keep our daily life going. Claire's 4th birthday is at the end of the week - i have been neglecting birthday celebrations. that too will have to wait until after friday!

but it's going to be fabulously warm this week and that makes me happy! what a treat we've been having with this great fall weather. if the snow holds until december, we may even get to see my parents here for Thanksgiving - since they aren't used to driving in the snow from having lived in Kenya for so long, they don't leave the house much in the winter. :)

happy monday, everyone! i'll leave you with this photo from a couple of weeks ago.

Halloween

did you all have a lovely weekend? or should i ask, did you all have a crazy weekend? our halloween weekend wasn't too exciting until yesterday. the girls woke up, all excited about going trick-or-treating. Claire would have run out in the early morning to fill up her candy bucket. i know parents complain about kids being on sugar-high, but my kids were on anticipation-high all day. it was a relief to let them out of the house. the part i enjoy most about halloween is seeing all the neighbours out with their families. time to catch up, see some neighbours we haven't seen in a while. now to figure out how to throw out some of the candy without the girls noticing...

Phil said to me this morning that we may get rain and snow this week. i'm hoping he's wrong, but then again, anything is possible since we've had such a warm fall. i'm not sure i'm ready to hunker down yet. but those days of staying in, baking cookies, decorating the tree, those days aren't too far off.

happy monday, friends!

The Adornment Show paintings

here are 4 paintings i will be showing at the show. i wanted to let you know that i will also have 8 x 10 inch prints available for these paintings. the prints are high quality giclee prints on heavy weight, archival, 100% cotton rag paper. i'm really excited about the prints as i've never made prints of my paintings before. they look really good and have picked up all the details from the originals. of course, the watermarks won't be on the originals or the prints.

Edit: if you are interested in purchasing prints, please let me know. i may have them available online if there is enough interest. thanks!!

 

Girl in Red, No. 1

Girl in Red, No. 2

 Girl in Red, No. 3

Girl in Red, No. 4

The Adornment Show

hello, everyone, i hope you had a good week and are looking forward to the Halloween weekend like we are. :) and on that happy note, i want to invite you to The Adornment Show. if you are in town, please do join us - i think it's going to be lots of fun!! in case you are wondering, i'm listed as S.L. Kim on the invite. i will post photos of a few of my paintings that i will be showing.

The Adornment Show
November 12th, 2010
at Winnebago Studios
from 5-9pm
2036 Winnebago Street
Madison, WI 53704

The last warm days

before the days turned cold, we tried to enjoy the beautiful fall weather by going on picnics. these pictures were taken by Lake Kegonsa. the girls loved it so much they've been asking to return. i think we'll have to wait until spring. it's suddenly gotten cold, it finally feels like winter is on its way.

One order of zen moment, please!

do you ever wish you could order those moments of peace whenever you wanted one? like a cup of coffee, or tea (my preference). there's a teahouse in Madison that i love - Macha teahouse. i would go there every day if i could. they serve you delicious tea on a wooden tray and give you a timer to show you when you should take the tea leaves out of your pot. i would love to sip my tea while reading a book, or writing a letter. alas, my life is not quite all mine to do as i wish all the time. i have to catch my zen whenever i can, whenever it chooses to fly my way.

and it was during one of those unexpected zen moments when i took these photos by Lake Mendota. Skye and Claire were busy playing on the playground, Phil was holding Cordelia, and i had a rare moment to wander over to the water.

i think i have won over the lice - yay!!! this means the rest of the week is going to be great! hope you're having a great week!

The past weekend

i was hoping to have another kind of post for you today, but last thursday, we were introduced to something quite new and i spent the whole weekend working on that. i debated on whether to share this with you - i couldn't help but wonder what will you all think of me?? i wondered if you would judge me, wondering what sort of personal hygiene i teach my children, if i never clean my house, etc, etc. but, it is a part of my life now, so here goes. Skye came home last thursday and complained her head was itching. usually, i probably would have brushed it aside, but her school has been having lice outbreaks, so i immediately looked. and sure enough, there they were, those horrible creepy crawly things. i went into hyper-mode. don't you dare move - keep your head still! take off all your clothes! take all the sheets off the beds! the first night, we tried the olive oil treatment, but by friday, i was at my wits end and used the strong stuff called Nix. i spent the entire weekend combing through Skye's hair, killing lice with my fingers, pulling nits out... honestly, i will never look at hair the same way, ever again.

Skye returned to school today and she seems clear so far. the thing with lice is they can come back. it is rather exhausting work being vigilant over these tiny, barely visible eggs. i wouldn't wish it on anyone. and the irony of it all? i hear that oil keeps lice away, so if you don't wash your hair, you are less likely to attract lice. so, maybe it's time to tell the kids to stay dirty.

Sunshine

hello, everyone!

hope you are having a good monday so far! we've had some glorious fall weather for the past week - bright and sunny, rather crisp in the mornings and evenings, "champagne" days. :) the weather makes all the difference on my perspective, how about you?

i received a very thick letter in the mail today from a friend - that too makes me very happy. no matter how much i love facebook and emails, they cannot diminish my happiness in sitting down to read a handwritten letter. :) do you have things like that in your life, something that instantly makes you happy?

i am right now at Skye's violin lesson, listening to her learn a new piece of music while Cordelia, having taken a good nap, entertains herself here next to me with a piece of paper which she will shred to pieces.

happy monday!

My girls

Humble pie + apple pie

i feel like i'm eating humble pie lately. i have to depend on so many people to do the things i ought to be doing! i depend on Phil to do most of the cooking these days. i depend on friends and neighbours to take Skye and Claire. and yet i'm still tired, so tired. i long for the day when i can feel myself again, to do the things i'm supposed to do. of course, i love my husband for doing so much and i'm so grateful for good friends and neighbours who love my kids, but i do long for the day when i don't feel so....useless.

but even in the midst of the sleepless blur that seems to make up my days, i did manage to bake an apple pie. afterall, what is fall without apple pie?

what's your favourite food in the fall?

happy monday, everyone!

Signs of fall

these are from a walk i took around our neighbourhood. while we are enjoying a fantastic, warm week, the trees show the tell-tale signs of fall. could i hope that perhaps halloween this year will be warm enough for my little fairy to go without her winter jacket? we shall see...

more pics to come! :) happy friday, everyone!

on art + books

what a busy weekend we had! but so enriching in many ways, so let me share. and a reminder to me of why i love Madison so much. i just wish i had more energy to go out every time there's something going on!!

considering that i am usually in my pajamas by 7 pm, it was quite a feat that we were out late on friday night, way past everyone's threshold, for Gallery Night. we hit just one spot (i don't think i could have handled any more), Winnebago Studio, where my friend Rachelle has her studio, along with many other artists. there will be more about this great space later as i will be participating in an art show there that Rachelle is putting on for November. it's always such an inspiration to visit other artists' studio spaces and to see the works they are creating. there was great live music too. when the kids started to complain of hunger, we went out to eat dinner with some friends. apart from almost setting the restaurant on fire, we did pretty well. :) (one of the napkins landed on top of the candle and we had no idea until a hole had burned through!)

then on saturday, i attended one of the readings at the Wisconsin Book Festival. it was Ngugi wa Thiongo and his son, Mukoma wa Ngugi. unfortunately, Cordelia did NOT sleep through the talk, but she did very very well and sat through most of it. i had to slip out about 10 minutes before it ended, but i got to buy two books and was almost at the front of the queue waiting to get my books signed. the two writers loved Cordelia and couldn't get enough of her. :) the reading sparked my memory and imagination. it felt good to hear writings about Kenya, so different from my mine, yet the same. i am really looking forward to reading these books: Ngugi wa Thiongo's Dreams in a Time of War, and Mukoma wa Ngugi's Nairobi Heat.

i promise to have more photos posted this week. i dropped off some rolls of film so i should be getting them back soon.

Ngugi wa Thiong'o is coming to Madison!!

who is he, you ask? he is the Kenyan author who taught me so much about the Mau Mau and the parts of Kenya that you don't see in stories like "Out of Africa". while i am a devoted fan of Isak Dinesen, i equally admire the works of Ngugi wa Thiong'o. if you are a local and want to join me, let me know. he is coming here for the Wisconsin Book Festival which will take place early October. book lovers, come on out!

Milwaukee pics + update on my agent search

 

 these are some photos i took when we visited Milwaukee just before schools started. i had heard there were so many kid-friendly things to do, like the children's museum and the mini aquarium, but the weather was so beautiful and we were already missing summer, so we spent our time at the beaches and walking along the riverwalk. 

and i really, really wish i could share great news with you regarding my search for an agent. it has been a year now since my search began. and still no agent. it is very discouraging and i can see how disillusionment can set in. but i must always have a shred of hope in me, because i keep sending those query letters out there. i sent out a batch today. and it hasn't been all nothing. i've had many agents get back to me, asking to read my manuscript, but in the end, the answer has been no. for now. let's hope i'll find that agent out there whose aesthetics match up with mine! i just wanted to share this with you since i've been rather silent about the search. i do get tired of telling people that i'm still searching.

Sisterhood

when i was a little girl, i always wished i had a sister. when i look at my girls, i grow warm inside thinking they will always have each other. over this past summer, i really got to see how good they were together. Cordelia's face lights up when Skye or Claire walks into the room. Skye takes care of Claire when i am not able and Claire provides companionship for Skye. of course, there's the bickering and fighting, but on the whole, the girls are happy together. could a mother ask for more?

Long absence

lately, i've been feeling like i'm caught in fast forward mode, but my body and mind just aren't able to keep up. life is moving along at its usual pace - i'm just moving too slowly. i do wish i could jump off of life, sit down with a cup of tea and watch it go by. like i used to do when i was writing my novel. but i'm really wishing for the impossible - i mean, how do you do that with three kids, and esp when one of them is just 5 months old? i keep reminding myself that by next year, i will have some moments to call my own. my sleep-deprived mind hasn't had the will to be creative, thus, the silence. and while i haven't been writing here, i've been thinking about my purpose for this blog. i had always seen this space as a way to keep in touch with those of you scattered far from me, a place for me to share thoughts and ideas that are important to me. perhaps this purpose seems rather uncertain to me right now because i'm so tired. :)
 so, instead of trying to figure things out, i'll share this image with you.

The Winding Down of Summer

where has summer gone? the air has that slight chill in the mornings...backpacks are ready to go to school...i'm trying to figure out where everyone needs to be when and how i'm going to fit in Cordelia's naps. this is our last week of summer. i have to say, i'm looking forward to schools starting, :) but let me take this moment to look back on our summer. i won't miss all the bickering and the sweltering humidity, but i have enjoyed being with all my girls all day long. our times at the pool were mostly good times. i was glad for their happy spirits as i blundered along, trying to adjust to taking care of the three of them. Cordelia is 5 months this week and these 5 months have been a blur with moments that stand out like exclamation points. i will remember this summer as the one where Claire learned to swim, the one where Skye emerged from a swim meet heat a proud winner, the one where all of my family came to visit, the one where i often looked at Cordelia's sleeping face wondering how i was going to survive yet another few days without Phil. there were moments when i was completely overwhelmed and my girls witnessed me at my worst, but i'm sure to forget those moments. will my girls forget too? i hope so.

i am looking forward to this year. the girls are growing so quickly and there will be many new experiences ahead. we will mark many milestones in each of their lives - please celebrate with us here!

The new Madison Children's Museum

we have been waiting for a long time for the new Madison Children's Museum to open and it did finally last weekend. yesterday was a rather cold and grey kind of day, so the girls and i decided we should make a visit. the first thing that hit me as we walked in the front door was the level of noise. overwhelming!! the place was packed, packed, packed!! when we used to visit the old museum, it was like visiting a ghost town. everyone was there to check out the new space. and a fabulous place it is too. so worth the visit. but if you're prone to claustrophobia when around hyperactive children, i would wait until the newness of the museum has worn off. there are 4 levels to the museum, with much more space devoted to older children, so Skye was thrilled. the best part for me was the rooftop garden. you can take the elevator up to the top of the building and see the Capitol and parts of Madison. they have a chicken coop with live chickens, a sand pit, and a sweet pond with wooden boats for the children to play with. however, i was rather disturbed by a large group of children who spent their time throwing rocks at the poor fish in the pond, determined to "get the fish"...i'm sure the creators of the new museums didn't envision that activity. 

once i got over the noise and overcrowding, i managed to get my camera out and take some shots.

here are the girls taping on the large glass windows on the second floor. i'm sure they were wishing they could do this at home too. :)

this was a portion of the second floor - chaotic but fun!

they had quotes painted on the walls throughout the museum - my eyes focused on them frequently, to rise above the din. ;)

my girls (including Cordelia, whose back of the head you can see here) was fascinated by this view of the water "tornado" that was exhibited near the entrance of the museum. here they are looking down a tube from the 2nd floor.

fabulous climbing structure!

down in the level for the under 5s:

even Cordelia got out to play in the baby room!

so happy to see bean sprouts there!

Claire enjoying her mango frozen yogurt