110 degree temps and we decided to travel even closer to the equator. It was well worth it, because the company was grand. But, as the pictures will tell, we didn’t do much out in the blazing sun.

Our first morning, Aunt Summer and Little Old Man peacefully relaxing in the sumo bean bag chair.

Later, we head to town and the kids decided that it was just to exhausting to lounge at home that they must then snooze in the truck.

Yep, even the one who never sleeps partook.

Now, I must introduce my brothers oldest (the youngest being still in the womb at this time), Miss Lilypad. As she sits in her bucket nibbling on a pickle and contemplating life.

And, finally our host, my sister (in-law). As she snuggles with a sleeping Smiley.

I love to name the characters in my life that frequently or infrequently appear in my blog. So far we have…
Me – Lady of the barn
My hubby – Geek Adonis
Oldest – Little Old Man
Middle – Sugar Plum Fairy
Youngest – Smiley
My oldest brother – Doc
Other brother – Chief

I listed these because I need your help with a new character. My sister (in law) in MS. She reminds me of a iconic 40′s silver screen beauty. Flawless skin, raven hair, and a great personality to boot.

Help me figure out a name for her please! If you do and I pick your suggestion then I will send you a gift certificate for $20 to fandango.com. (Name will be picked on Monday, August 22nd.)

Thank you everyone for entering June’s Artist giveaway. If you enjoyed this months artist and want some more information on Phyllis’ jewelry feel free to contact me @ ladyofthebarn@gmail.com, and I will put you in touch with her. Phyllis’ has many beautiful pieces for sale. She is currently showcased at the Rockvale Art Gallery.

Here are a few of her other pieces –

and…

Kelli-Adventurez is our Winner this month! I will be contacting you via email asap.

This month’s artist is an absolutely lovely lady. I know because she has been very close to me for 30 plus years. She is my mom. She is very talented and I am so excited that she agreed to do this with me. She has excelled in many forms of artwork and her latest creations have been in jewelry. Please meet my Mom… (Her name is Phyllis).

Artist Bio

Born a coalminer’s daughter, youngest of 5 children and the only one born inside a hospital in Charleston, West Virginia. The doctors had told my father that if he didn’t get out of the mines that he would die of the black lung fever, so he went off to Chicago to get electrical training and then was later hired by DuPont. DuPont later decided to build a new atomic plant in South Carolina, so my father transferred to the new plant and this is where I grew up after the age of 5. I really enjoyed my childhood, loved the outdoors, enjoyed climbing trees, playing with my dolls, carrying my cap pistol and wearing my pearl necklace, all while I played in the rain, drove my toy cars in the sand and collected sandspurs as I went running through the woods of beautiful South Carolina countryside.

Then, the babies came along and I just had to put it all away because they too liked to play in all of these things that little ones really do not need to eat, paint on the floor, walls or each other, if you know what I mean. So, I played more with the house, the children, the flower garden, etc. I really got away from any real expression of my creative side until I began to go on medical mission trips. I so wanted to take gifts to give away while on my trips and I began to make bracelets and necklaces for my 4th trip to South America. The jewelry became addictive (it is really hard to go to jewelry shows and not want to buy anything). I also enjoy praying a blessing on each piece of jewelry I make.

Over the few years my Mom has created jewelry, I have luckily been the recipient of many a gorgeous piece. Here are two pieces of my personal collection that I just wanted to show you that my Mom made.

One of my absolute favorite bracelets…

Aren’t these just fun?…

Anyway, on to the best part. This next piece is the giveaway piece. I named it, “Moxie”, because that is what red makes me think of sometimes. The most emotionally intense color, red stimulates a faster heartbeat and breathing, while it also represents valor and hardiness. So, who needs a little Moxie, in their lives?

How to enter to win “Moxie”:

Leave me a comment on this post and tell me why you need a little “Moxie”, in your life. (seriously, thats it) On June 20th, I will choose a winner via, random.org.

Laur you are our winner! Yay! I will be sending you an email and letting you know the details. Thank you everyone for entering our May giveaway. If you didn’t win this one, no worries. Kelli has some more wonderful pieces on her Etsy site for very affordable prices. Please visit her @ She sells sea shells lady.

And, do not forget to visit Kelli on her blog and follow her and her families adventures. You can visit her blog here – Adventurez in Child’Rearing’.

I loved having my first giveaway last month. I met some new blogging mom’s, one of which did an awesome post on her new cape that she received from my giveaway. Since, I had so much fun with the last giveaway, I have decided to try and have a handmade artisan giveaway each month.

This month’s artist is Kelli from Adventurez in Child’Rearing. I met Kelli, when I decided to try out for the first time the HSBA Post, homeschooling swap. Kelli was my swap buddy and we started emailing back and forth and praying for each other and got to know each other more and more. I mentioned to her that I wanted to try and do an artisan giveaway each month and she said she would be interested. So, now please meet Kelli –

Kelli’s Artist Bio

I really consider myself more of a “crafter” than a genuine artist. But, I do so love to paint & create. I’ve been creating art in one form or another ever since I can remember. As a young child, I would see a broken piece of wood & instead of passing it by I had to bring it home and clean it up. To me – it wasn’t a broken piece of wood at all – but instead a beautiful castle. We still have that piece of wood somewhere, my father put a clear coat of paint on it to help preserve the shape after I had cleaned it and worked with it until it was a thing of beauty (at least to me).

Have I mentioned that I love to paint? I just love slinging paint. I am drawn to the bright bold shapes and colors of primitive art. These days you will often find me working on fun animal paintings with my three boys.

Kelli has been so gracious in letting me giveaway one of her fun animal paintings.

And, here is a close up of that wacky bird…

How to Enter the Giveaway:

Please leave a comment on this post and a winner will be chosen randomly using random.org. The Giveaway will end on May 6th @ midnight!

If you would like to get to know more about Kelli and her precious family then please visit her on Facebook and her blog.

Thank you so much to those that entered my first blog giveaway. I was so excited and cannot wait till the next one. To those of you that did not win, not to worry, the capes will soon be for sale on my etsy page (info to be posted soon on my Facebook page).

And, the winners are –
1. Deanna
2. Megan
3. Terri

Just a heads up, my next giveaway will be in May. It will be from another artist friend of mine, she is very talented and make some very cute items.

I will emailing the winners, so please look for an email from me in your box.

I have been inspired by “The Ultimate Blog Party”, to do a small giveaway. This will be my first giveaway and I am a little excited and nervous. I am giving away – a duo kids cape & apron. It is 100% cotton and hand dyed. I am giving away three of them and whoever wins them, if you want me to, I will hand paint your son/daughter name or initials on it. My precious models decided to pose for me, so that you could see what you are winning.

He had a blast showing me just how the cape works!

Never having actually cooked on the stove before, she was a little disappointed that this was only a photo shoot.

To win, please leave a comment on my blog and the winning contestants will be chosen at random. (I will post the winners on 4/9/11)

(These are the colors of the cape/apron’s that you can choose from)

My husband made a good point, so I wanted to make sure everyone else understands too! I am giving away three cape/apron’s to three different people, not all three of them are going to the same person.