The Lily Pond- Digital Painting by Tracey Grumbach

"...first place that I can well remember was a large pleasant meadow with a pond of clear water in it. Some shady trees leaned over it, and rushes and water-lilies grew at the deep end."

-Anna Sewell, Black Beauty

 As promised, today I am sharing The Lily Pond...a piece that was conceptualized during a trip with my kids to Longwood Gardens and then inspired by our recent study of Monet in homeschool. This digital painting took hours of meticulous digital brush strokes to complete and I am very proud of it.

If you've never been to Longwood, there is a beautiful pond there that has trees dipping low, branches reaching for the water, shading a grouping of lily pads. It is just so dreamlike and serene yet teeming with life just beneath the surface. I could sit there for hours watching the subtle movement of the water, how the colors and shapes of the reflections change with each ripple of water.

Yesterday we finished cleaning, organizing, and decorating the bedroom and bathroom of my daughter's new apartment. She has a beautiful room that reflects her personality and she seems to have settled in nicely. We also took her grocery shopping for the first time to get her some essentials and to teach her some grocery shopping skills (comparing unit prices, checking ingredients, meal planning, etc.) Today we will begin concentrating on cleaning and organizing the kitchen and living area, although she is waiting for her roommate to arrive before decorating the common space. She is looking forward to her roommate's arrival tomorrow. 

Last night we went to dinner in the historic part of Winter Park. It was one of the most beautiful and interesting places I've seen. Brenna is not living in the historical part, but on the outskirts of Winter Park, on the border of Orlando. She is close enough to drive there for outings with her friends to the beautiful parks and to window shop on the main strip. She won't have much money to do actual shopping, but window shopping will be fun. ;)

In order to give her roommate some space and privacy with her parents as they move in, I think we might take a family fun day and do something special with the kids. Brenna has been so brave and has worked so hard to make her apartment nice and the twins have been so cooperative and helpful to us and their sister. We want to reward everyone while also allowing space for her roommate. I am not positive exactly what we will be doing, but I do know Orlando does not have a lack of amusement opportunities, lol.

Here's to another successful day of getting my baby settled. I hope everyone back home is safe and dry...I heard there were some nasty storms and flooding back home. Sending you lots of sunshine from the Sunshine State...

xo