Customizing Littlest Pet Shop

My middle granddaughter has realized that using her artistic talents to create something new and different helps relax her when she is stressed. So as we prepaired for our current adventure, Sissy entered the world of revamping Littlest Pet Shop toys. After repainting and styling her pets she decided to do a fun photo shoot with them. When I asked her why she photographed them in the bathroom, she said it had the best light and was good for reflections.

This photo shoot took place just a few days before we loaded the Uhaul with all our belongings and headed home to Sioux Falls. 

The move was made on a leap of faith that has us holing on tight. Lexxie and Lissa both had jobs lined up, so that's all good.however, we did not have a house lined up, so until we find one we are staying with family and all our belongings are still packed away in storage. Until we find a place I will be trying to blog with my phone and tablet and will not be taking any orders for memory photos or taking on any portrait clients. Wish us luck, i do believe we need it.

Do you find creating to be a good stress reliever?

Boxes Boxes and More Boxes

By now one would think I am an expert mover. I have literally lost track of the number of times I have moved in my life. I am sure if I wanted to fill up a tablet and pull out the calculator I could come up with a relatively accurate calculation but that is way too much work for my old brain. So instead just let me say this ...

I hate moving!

I hate packing!

I hate unpacking!

and I HATE boxes!

And this month has been jammed full of all of them, and there is still a great deal of unpacking and organizing to do. The good news though is that I LOVE our new view!

I am looking forward to wandering around the hillside!

We are still in Rapid City, only now instead of being on the edge near the valley we are on the opposite side with all the beautiful hills.

Helping Children Say Goodbye

Whether you are moving across town or move 1500 miles it is always a busy and stressful undertaking. When that move means uprooting elementary school age children it can be even harder. On top of all the typical things that must be organized for the move now you have to find ways to make the transition easier for the children. 

The one thing I learned years ago with my children was the importance of giving kids a special way to say farewell to their friends whether it was a sleep over or a farewell party, something had to be organized to get the kids and all their friends together for one last adventure. 

Of course when you are so busy with preparations for a major move there is not much time left to organize parties and such. It is extremely important though that children have a chance to say goodbye and know that although they may not see their friends for sometime, they can remain friends and still have contact with each other. To achieve this Mrs. G printed up notes for Sissy and Bubba to give to their friends at school that announced we were moving the following week and that if they could join us at the park on Saturday afternoon from 2-4 to play we would love to see them before we move. The note also contained our new address, phone number and Mrs. G's email.

Here are a few shots from the afternoon at the park.

P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday submission

Of course there were a few tears, and Sissy and her friends spent more time talking while  Bubba and his friends had a blast with one game or another.

No they may not all keep in touch, but at least they know they can. If nothing else they have some fun photos of them and their friends. 

Linking up with a fun little link over at Random-osity's

and with Kent Weakley for P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday

Click the links below to hop over and check them out.

 

Here We Come

May was a wild month for our family. 

Traveling through a wet cold snowstorm we arrived in South Dakota on May 1st.

Traveling along I29 my oldest son and I counted 18 vehicles in the ditch due to bad weather. Fortunately it didn't look like there had been any accidents with injuries.

We spent the night of the 1st at my sisters home in Sioux Falls. The morning of May 2nd we continued on to our new home in Rapid City.

We quickly unpacked the moving truck with a little help from the Rapid City US Navy Recruiters. After three long days of driving you would think we were done and would not get back in the car for any lengthy drives, however it wasn't over yet.  The Morning of the 3rd we all piled into my daughter SUV and headed back to a small town just outside of Sioux Falls where we spent the night with a friend, so that we could be up and ready early on the 4th to attend my youngest son's graduation from The University of South Dakota in Vermillion, SD.

It was a wonderful experience watching as my son went through the time honored tradition of receiving his degree. I only wish his father could have lived to enjoy it with us.

It was nice to have all four of my kids around me.

Of course this proud mom had to get a photo the graduate and his sweet girlfriend, who by the way I really like! The month of important events wasn't over yet we still had one more graduation to attend. This one took place here at our new home in Rapid City. It was the Kindergarten graduation of my youngest grandchild Bubba. Yep he is a big boy now and headed on to new adventures in education. 

His parents Mr. & Mrs. G and I were completely shocked at how amazing the kids new school here in Rapid City made this important ceremony.

The pint sized graduates entered the auditorium wearing their crisp blue cap and gowns, orderly walking by two's up the isle to the song 'Let them be little" by Lonestar.  Watching them file down the isle and into a section of seats to await the receipt of their certificates was so cute and reminded me of the USD graduation we had attended just a few weeks before.

After receiving their certificates each child was asked to tell the audience what they wanted to be when they grew up, before they then joined the other graduates on the platform. To a crowd of applause and smiles Bubba announced that he wants to be a NASCAR Driver when he grows up.

Once all the children had received their certificates and found their spot on the platform we were treated to a number of musical performances. The songs were very cute, one telling us all the things they had learned over the year and another declaring that the 1st Grade teachers better be ready because they were on their way!

 At the end of the ceremony the Principal introduced us to the High School Graduating Class of 2025 and invited everyone to enjoy some punch and cake.

Awe, Mrs. G's baby is growing up, doesn't she look sad?

To see what will be happening at Artistic Composition in the coming week check out this post.

Today I am linking up with:

Rising from the chaos

Where oh where did the month go? I do believe it got lost somewhere in the chaos of our move. Thankfully this move is over and the boxes are unpacked, for the most part.  Now to get back to living life on a more creative note. I have a great deal of catching up to do with all the wonderful blogs and Linkies I generally follow, but trust me I haven't forgotten any of you and will stop by soon. 

I have so much to share with all of you it may take me a bit before I can delve more into exploring my new home town. Here is a peak at a few things I have in the works.

"The Labor of Love"
An in depth article and photo journal featuring the civil war  home of John Cary-Weston and interview with current owner Lisa Trengove-Jones.

"Farewells"
What we did to make this major move a bit easier for six year old Bubba and nine year old Sissy.
  

"Rural America"
Just some of the beautiful sights seen on our trek from Virginia back to South Dakota. 

As well as a few updates on the comings and goings of our family and an important announcement on some changes taking place at Artistix Network LLC.

Yet again the chaos has been defeated and I have prevailed!
 

I am adding this Fragment post to Mrs.4444's Fragmented Friday, please be sure to hope over and check out what everyone has been up to. I hope you will come back for the upcoming post 'The Labor of Love' It will be published Sunday June 9th.

 

Week In Review

Packing, packing and more packing!
Two more weeks and our trek back to the Midwest begins. 

As can be seen by the evil eye I got from Belle, the animals are not too happy about all the packing.

As much as I wanted to go to the beach during the hot weather we had this last week there was no time. This picture was taken the week before.

We have a new pet! His name is Bob the Bee and he is a carpenter bee that has decided to guard our peach tree.

Remember the baby kittens last month, well their momma finally came back and brought a few friends. As soon as we walked toward them they all ran off, so we were still unable to get her and reunite her with her babies.

weekend reflection submission

With all the preparations for our move it was nice to take a break and get a little work done. This is one of my favorite shots from a very special session I did with a young Navy Wife whose husband left on deployment last month.

Needless to say there has been little time for exploring the city let alone creative work. So, I thought I would share this composite art piece I did last month in honor of my oldest brother's engagement to a very sweet woman. 

Today I am linking up with a number of great parties across the blog world. Please visit them and share in the fun. 

Jame's Weekend Reflection