Daily Life 014: The Tale of Four Penguins

February 08, 2010 - Daily Life 014: The Tale of Four Penguins

Two-year-olds are funny people.

We went to the Zoo this weekend, and watched the penguin parade. All of the penguins marched out the back of their habitat, down the side-walk, and back into the front. Strutting their stuff, waving, straining their necks... one even laid down to take a nap in the sun. Abby loved it. She was so excited that Amy had to hold the back of her pants to keep her from dashing out to play with the birds.

After the parade was over, we decided that it would be fun to go to the gift shop, and let the girl pick out one of the cute stuffed penguins we'd seen earlier, to take home with her. Baby girl could care less about the four stuffed birds Mommy held out for her to pick from... She had her eye on the souvenir pen holder with the penguins that floated inside of it.

That's what we get for thinking a two-year-olds idea of "cool" is the same as ours.

I started keeping track of my life with the girls in 2009, in a series of illustrated status updates called "Daily Life"...As I finish up collecting some of these stories for print books, and catch up on some freelance work, I thought it would be a good time to post some of these older stories, so that everything is collected here on the blog. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. :)

Daily Life 013: Gravel On Satin

February 05, 2010 - Daily Life 013: Gravel on Satin

This is the international sign for "Holy crap this hurts/something's wrong inside of me!". If some guy is making this gesture because he just got hit in the nuts by a rogue baseball, while watching a Little League game... funny. If it's your wife, and she's six months pregnant... not funny. Actually, it's a little more on the alarming side.

 Last weekend, Amy called me upstairs, in too much pain to even talk. She insisted that we didn't need to go to the ER. LOL. "It's probably nothing, and they'll think I'm a baby." God love her, she does NOT want to be one of those pregnant women that calls the doctor for just anything...

 Long story short, after four hours(ish) in the ER, we find out what the deal is. Gall Stones. The doctor described the gall bladder contracting to release bile into the stomach (triggered by fatty foods) as two satin sheets sliding past each other... Throw a handful of gravel in the bed though, and it's a little less... um... luxurious. If she wasn't pregnant, the solution would be simple. Instead, we're moving towards a low fat diet, and painkillers as needed. Which fortunately isn't often. 

 On the plus side, I got to watch the last half of the new (meaning not filmed in the 70's) "Freaky Friday" movie, and most of "George of the Jungle"... The good times just never end.

I started keeping track of my life with the girls in 2009, in a series of illustrated status updates called "Daily Life"...As I finish up collecting some of these stories for print books, and catch up on some freelance work, I thought it would be a good time to post some of these older stories, so that everything is collected here on the blog. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. :)

Daily Life: February, 2010

February, 2010

We love our kids. Every day with them is wonderful, and special, and full of new discoveries. Of course, there's also the discovery of how awesome it is to get out of the house without them. Ha-ha-ha!

Every February, we do our annual "Valentine's Day Kid Swap" with our friends so that we can get out and do something together. An afternoon (or evening) at the movies, or getting coffee in peace and quiet. A time to enjoy each other without having to carry extra diapers.

Towards the end, we inevitably miss the kids, and it's wonderful to see their smiley faces again.


I started keeping track of my life with the girls in 2009, in a series of illustrated status updates called "Daily Life"...As I finish up collecting some of these stories for print books, and catch up on some freelance work, I thought it would be a good time to post some of these older stories, so that everything is collected here on the blog. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. :)

Daily Life 012: Abby The Explorer

January 25, 2010 - Daily Life 012: Abby The Explorer

Christmas morning on the way out the door to drive to Warrensburg and see Grammy. Abby was all dressed in her PJs with a winter coat, hat and (of course) her cowboy boots. Also the Santa lantern that Daddy Jim had given her on Christmas Eve... While Amy was watching her step out the door, she commented that Abby looked like a little explorer.

I started keeping track of my life with the girls in 2009, in a series of illustrated status updates called "Daily Life"...As I finish up collecting some of these stories for print books, and catch up on some freelance work, I thought it would be a good time to post some of these older stories, so that everything is collected here on the blog. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. :)

Daily Life: January 2010

January 2010

What better way to start off the new year tan with a forty-foot pillar of flame? 

We have a January tradition (weather permitting) of having a party and burning the Christmas tree. Fortunately, we have a large backyard with quite a few old trees on the property, so there's never a shortage of other stuff to burn. This is important because the Christmas tree goes fast. 

 Around about seven, when the yard is dark and quiet, everybody gets bundled up and puts an extra drink (or two) in their pockets, and we go out to the burn pile. 

Amy has her own tradition on this night...not paying attention to the trip to the backyard, and missing the awesomeness.

I started keeping track of my life with the girls in 2009, in a series of illustrated status updates called "Daily Life"...As I finish up collecting some of these stories for print books, and catch up on some freelance work, I thought it would be a good time to post some of these older stories, so that everything is collected here on the blog. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. :)

Daily Life 011: Shopping Cart 2

October 26, 2009 - Daily Life 011: Shopping Cart 2

Abby has a playschool shopping cart that she loves to push around... everywhere. And there's not really any rhyme or reason to what is actually IN the cart. The only consistent thing, is that usually either Woody or Kermit is riding in the seat.

I started keeping track of my life with the girls in 2009, in a series of illustrated status updates called "Daily Life"...As I finish up collecting some of these stories for print books, and catch up on some freelance work, I thought it would be a good time to post some of these older stories, so that everything is collected here on the blog. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. :)

2009 was a great year, and working on this project helped me learn a lot about the craft of drawing and painting, as well as the dynamic of our family's life. Over the course of the year, I developed a small core cast of characters. I'm excited to go through 2010, starting later this week. It was a big year for us, as we got ready for Olive to be born, and I prepared to be a full time freelancer and stay-at-home dad. In the fall of 2010, I began work on the 2011 calendar, which looked back on the year before, as well as highlighted our typical days during each month. I'll be using those illustrations in between the normal Daily Life illustrated status updates. 

Daily Life 10: Shopping Cart

October 12, 2009 - Daily Life 010: Shopping Cart

Abby and I go shopping together. A lot. Okay, so it's really a Saturday morning thing for the most part. Mommy sleeps in, and we go maybe to the farmers market, maybe to the Home Depot, or maybe to the Walmart. Groceries is usually a part of this trip, so usually the Walmart is one of the places we go. So, it's possible that maybe I'm an over indulgent father, or maybe i just understand what the girl wants... She constantly tries to turn around in the cart to face the direction we are going (I think it's partly that she likes to accost people with demanding hellos). Because of this, I've taken to walking with the cart facing backwards so that Abby can face forwards. She will wave at almost anyone... as long as they don't wave at her first.

I started keeping track of my life with the girls in 2009, in a series of illustrated status updates called "Daily Life"...As I finish up collecting some of these stories for print books, and catch up on some freelance work, I thought it would be a good time to post some of these older stories, so that everything is collected here on the blog. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. :)