Daily Life 020: Speak No Evil, See No Evil, Hear No Evil

July 5, 2010 - Daily Life 020: Speak No Evil, See No Evil, Hear No Evil

We went to see the fireworks down in old town Saint Charles, by the waterfront on saterday. The show was great, and the kids loved it. Olivia sat and watched in silent awe. Abby thought the the great showers of sparks were too bright, so we offered her sunglasses to her. Which she gratefully accepted and then enjoyed the rest of the show. Our friend's son thought the pops and bangs were just a bit too loud, so he sat with his hands over his ears.

We had our own little parady of the monkeys that See, Hear, and Speak no evil. Happy fourth of July, everybody.

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. :)

Cincy Comicon

Cincy Comicon is coming up in just a little over a week. This is a show that I've been looking forward to since last fall, with awesome artists like Bernie Wrightson, and Arthur Adams (Literally two of my childhood art/comic heroes), as well as Katie Cook, and too many others to really get into naming. Maybe you could hop over to their website and check out the line up. It's incredible. 

On top of that, I'll get to hang out with my friend Leighton Connor, of Laser Brigade fame, Adron Buske and Dan Cassidy of Loop and Hoodie, as well as visit my friends Annie and Martin on the way. I feel like I'm all over the place getting ready, but really wanted to share some of the things that the girls and I did together this week.

Abby had  some long strips of scrap paper and wanted to make a comic. She had the idea of using dogs, and wanted a wagon in it, the rest just sort of evolved from there. She thought the people skeleton was hilarious.

Olive and I spent part of the morning making pin-back buttons this morning. She was quite the industrious helper, and was a lot of fun to work with. The only snag we hit was when she decided that all of the button blanks were pirate treasure, and I had to dip into my reserves for awhile in order to keep working.

We're really happy with this set of 34 new buttons, including a 5 pack of Life With Girls buttons. Olive thought hers was so cool that she demanded to wear one of them, and tried to talk me out of every one we made. It's a picture of her, so it must be hers, right?

I'll drawing and chatting in Artist Alley at the con on September 6-8, stop by and hi!

July 2010

July 2010

Some people complain about having to drive to four different places for thanksgiving or Christmas or blah, blah, blah...let me tell you about my Independence Day. First off, it's not just a one day event. It usually lasts three, and can last as long as five. Heaven help me if I can't get off work for all of them, either. In our house, Independence Day is like a high-school reunion, college frat party, documentary about locations in the Saint Louis metro area, and family reunion wrapped up with parades, topped with a carnival and then set on fire and blown up.

It is pretty cool, though, hearing Abby say "Oooooh...fireworks!"


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 019: Whirley Gigs

June 30, 2010 - Daily Life 019: Whirley Gigs

One of the things that amazes me about my little two-year-old, is seeing the open wonder with the world around her, and watching her make connections between one thing and the next. This spring, as the days got a little longer, the sun would finally still be up when we got home from work and school. This would give us just a little bit of time between the car, the mailbox, and the front door to notice the little whirley gig (or helicopter) seeds all over the driveway. So, we'd pick a few up, and test them out. By the time all of the seeds were finally gone for the year, she'd gotten at least good enough at tossing them that they'd actually spin a bit before plummeting to the ground.

I think that's a success.

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. :)

June 2010

June 2010

When June arrives, it's finally time to bring the pool out into the back yard. Pools are great for a number of reasons. It keeps the big kids occupied while you work in the garden (or get popsicles out of the freezer). You can get them outside in the fresh air, without worrying about them getting too hot and sweaty (though I guess either way, you're going to have to towel them off). You can play a game to see just how many kids you can fit in the pool...

I have just one word of advice for the uninitiated. I know kid's pools are small, but parents, you might as well get in because you're going to get wet, too.


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 018: Rocking Chair

May 29, 2010 - Daily Life 018: Rocking Chair

There are so many things that I love about Abby growing up into a big kid. She's so much fun to play with, and she's so loving, smart, funny, and ... did I mention already how much fun she is? There's so many things that I enjoy about her now, that I'd forgotten some of the things I enjoyed about when she was a little baby.

Like how much I enjoy sitting quietly and rocking a sleeping baby in the rocking chair. Olivia turns a month old tomorrow, where does the time go?

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. :)

April 2010

April 2010

April is great. It marks the end of the (often bitter) cold Missouri winter, and brings with it the spring and the vibrant, crisp green of new grass and leaves after a rain. Outside, we can hear the neighbor kids playing, the baby birds chirping and the insects starting their warm weather chatter.

It also brings my two most very favorite birthdays of the year. Abby's birthday is crazy with all the kids, parents, relatives, wrapping paper...you get the idea. Then, assuming it' not too soggy outside, the kids run in the yard while the adults get lunch together.

This year, the best birthday present was a new baby sister. I think the only way that Abby could've been more excited was if Olivia had been dressed in a Batman costume when she met her.


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. :)