Happy Mother's Day!

This is Ann taking over Jeff’s blog for a moment. Well, it IS Mother’s Day after all, right? And I am sure he won’t mind. Just had to share this funny Mother’s Day moment with you.As many of you know, Erin & Riley moved to Amsterdam last Sunday. Before they moved, Erin had a yard sale and was planning to throw out all of Riley’s magnificent finger-paintings. I saved all of them (including some of Erin’s as well) and decided to have one professionally framed.I took this amazing piece of art to our local frame shop (by this time they are used to all kinds of wonderful wackiness from us) and asked the owner Hub to help me select the best matting and frame to properly enhance this spendid creation.After a week Erin, Jeff and I went to pick up the finished product and were amazed (this photograph just doesn't do it justice).Erin found one of those record-it-yourself cards and Jeff (after quite a bit of time) was able to coax Riley into saying “I love you.”I carefully wrapped this glorious artwork together with the card and shipped it to my mom. She lives in a condo on the beach in South Florida surrounded by some truly amazing artwork from artists such as Chagall, Picasso, Ernst, Appel, Agam, Toulouse-Lautrec, Lebedang and many others. She and my step-dad Stan have been art collectors for many years. I figured that this would be a nice compliment to their collection.A few days later I get a call from my mom thanking me profusely for the present. And she asked, “Who is the artist? I just love it. I absolutely love it. Who is the artist? I can’t see a name?”“It’s Riley’s artwork.”“Riley? Are you kidding me? Riley? Why didn’t he sign it?”“Well maybe because he’s TWO , can’t sign his name yet and this is a finger-painting on cardboard.”[raucous laughter – my mom has quite an infectious laugh]“Stan! Stan! Riley did the painting!”My stepfather then gets on the phone.“Riley did that? That painting is as good as most of the stuff we have hanging in our house”“I know – I thought it would fit in nicely. It’s Riley’s best piece. He has others.”He then proceeds to tell me that you shouldn’t put glass on an oil painting, that you should just frame it as it is, etc. I gently remind him that this is a FINGER-PAINTING on CARDBOARD!!!!Anyway, he calls me the next day to tell me to tell me that he “has a Riley hanging in good company with Chagall, Picasso, etc…..” and when Riley learns to sign his name he should write it on a post-in-note so they can attach it to the masterpiece.Happy Mother’s Day!(P.S. It’s in his blood, really. You should see the water-painting I have in my house that Jason did when he was 6)