Art and Bowling (Blogstalking and more!)

Yeah, go with it -

This is my favourite piece of art in our apartment:



Andrew bought this calligraphy picture for me up in Estes Park, Colorado on one of our many jaunts up there when we lived in Boulder. The quote resonated so much me - having lived in another country and having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world (we lived in Japan for three years) has made us different and better people.

My mother worked on this cross-stitch project and gave it to us after Willow was born, and it, too, means a lot to me. My parents allowed my sisters and me much freedom and I think we bloomed under it - and I hope to be able to do the same thing with Willow.



Another calligraphy project - this one was a wedding gift from my in-laws. If you look closely in the painting, you can see the words "Andrew (heart) Jo":



This picture was a gift to Andrew from our friends Tom and Melanie:



This is a picture in Willow's room that we really need to get a frame for... I'm not sure where we were, but Andrew and Willow were badgering me into saying we could get a cat (my stance is we have to be in a house first) - and Andrew's compromise to Willow was to buy her this cat sketch:



Now, I wonder if the photographer in question will pop in and claim this one... Andrew's friend Steve took this photo and Andrew very insistently said it had to be in our bedroom...



This print was a gift from my Auntie Daryth, and it depicts Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. She took me there when I was a young girl (maybe 3-4 years old) and apparently I told her the big mountain in the middle was my castle. Yes, I dream big ;)



This wall hanging was a gift from our employers in Japan, Margaret and Yuichi Otake. We really needs to get a more sophisticated hanging system, but for now we have this on our bedroom wall opposite our bed, and I like it there because it makes me think there is another window in our bedroom.



I couldn't leave out Willow in this journey through the art in our apartment! Here are some of her paintings - the big one on the left was a tie-dye project using a coffee filter (and is supposed to be a flower) and the smaller one on the left is the butterfly coming to land on the flower:



And Willow's other kitty cat (I love the expression on its face!):



And now onto the bowling! Yes, see - I did get to it! Willow's class had a field trip last Thursday. They were supposed to go to a farm and go for a hayride, etc. - but the school decided against it due to the 90'F+ heat. So, instead we went bumper bowling... and for most of these three and four year olds (Willow included), it was their first experience bowling. Believe me, I tried to get a decent picture of Willow bowling, but without luck:



In this picture she decided she might be better off *kicking* the ball to make it go down the lane. She quickly found out it wasn't a smart idea to kick an 8 pound ball...



She had a great time - and I think I would love to take her 5-pin bowling the next time we are up in Canada (it's much easier for the little kids!)