November 2010

November 2010

Baking in November is so wonderful...the house fills with the smell of fresh bread and becomes warm from the oven, while the activity warms us. Abigail is an eager helper and has become a whiz with the mixing spoon. Kneading the dough and scooping flour off the countertop are also favorite baking activities for her. The joy of time spent with this wonderful little helper outweighs the fact that she is covered in flour and her clothes usually need to be changed when we're done.

Sometimes though, her willingness to help out can be a bit much. It can be difficult at times to convince a two and a half-year-old that, in fact, you do NOT need help taking the bread out of the oven.

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. :)

October 2010

October 2010

In the olden days, when people still thought the world was flat, and there was still so much left to be explored, maps were drawn by hand by master craftsmen. Pictures of these maps show cool little annotations like "Here there be dragons" and "Abandon all hope." On the map of my year, the annotation for October would read something like "Hang onto your seat" or "Many busy days ahead...too bad you won't have time to rake the leaves."

The annual trip to the pumpkin patch with my in-laws marks the official start of our holiday season. Seeing Abby running around, picking out a pumpkin, looking at tractors, riding the horse, or playing with the other kids is only half the fun. Enjoying the company of Amy's parents, and watching them enjoy their youngest grandchildren is the other half.


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. :)

September 2010

September 2011

Fall is my favorite time of the year. Finally, with September comes a break from the heat, and it is once again comfortable to hang out in the garage and smoke a pipe. I'm often reminded of the scene in "Lord of the Rings" where Bilbo and Gandalf are smoking together after Bilbo's birthday party. The quiet familiarity of old friends, the comfortable ritual of packing and lighting the tobacco, the not too serious one-upmanship of blowing smoke rings...or not, as the case may be.

As if that wasn't enough for garage fun-time, there's also old western movies and playing Atari video-games from when I was a kid.


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. :)