My favorite narwhal and skeleton in the world. "Say Cheese!"

You could call it stress relief, sanity management or a creative burst of energy. I think all those labels are fitting for my recent return to painting. I have to say thank you to my best friend for providing the inspiration for this. Recently, she invited me over for a cup of tea and to do some art. We chatted and listened to music while painting. I walked away afterwards so relaxed. I said to myself, "Okay you need to do more of this." 

Today she's eleven! How crazy is that. Happy Birthday, Ladybug! Love you to the moon and back. Here's some pictures from yesterday's family celebration.  For a look back at last year's celebration, take a look at this link:   Just like that...She's 10

My daughter is such a hard worker.  For the longest time, she's been working on getting her kip. For those of you who are not familiar with gymnastics terminology, here's  Wikipedia's  definition of a glide kip. The glide kip is performed by swinging in a piked hollow position, toes in front, under the bar to extend to a straight hollow position parallel to the floor. Once extended, the gymnast quickly pulls his or her feet towards the bar while simultaneously pushing down with straight arms to arrive in a straight hollow front support on the bar. Here's what it looks like in slow motion. This move may look easy but believe me, it takes incredible strength, coordination, and good timing to be able to perform it correctly.  I am late posting this video. At the end of September my daughter made her first kip and I was lucky enough to be there to see it when it happened. The first one I didn't get on video but I was able to capture her next two thoug

Before I get too far into into this post, I have to say thank you to my mother, for saving this document! It was mixed in with a bunch of my father's papers and could have very easily been thrown out by mistake. This is my grandfather Harold Murrell Sr.'s Naturalization Certificate. I am so proud of this man. He was born in Barbados and arrived in the U.S. on September 29th, 1927.  When he arrived, he didn't have much more than the clothes on his back and from there he went on to create a full life. He married my grandmother Ethel Smith Murrell in 1932 and raised two children Janice and my father, Harold Jr., in the Bronx, and then later, Hollis, NY. He worked for mass transit in NYC for 30 years which made it possible for him to purchase his own home and take care of various extended family members. He was one of the good ones.  Original To Be Given To The Person Naturalized                                                                         No. 5321893