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. :)

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. :)

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. :)

Daily Life 015: Things to Come

February 15, 2010 - Daily Life 015: Things to Come

This weekend, we watched our friends' four-year-old son, so they could go out to lunch for Valentines day. Abby was so funny, wanting to hang out with him. She followed him around, and sat on her little couch with him to watch a movie... it struck us that this is the same age spread that she will have with her little sister. Just old enough that they CAN do things together, and just young enough that maybe they'll WANT to.

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 006: Long Week

August 31, 2009 - Daily Life 006: Long Week

It's been a long, and very busy week. My wife is pregnant with our second child, and we've begun talking about some of the changes coming up in our lives. I have that feeling, like when you've just moved into a new house and you sit down in a little chair with boxes of your stuff in a place that's not really yours yet. I sit and let out a deep breath, and just feel a little... overwhelmed.

I started keeping track of my life with the girls in 2009, in a series of narrated illustrations 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 005: Dissapear

August 24, 2009 - Daily Life 005: A Gap In My Afternoon

Every day last year as I passed through one of the neighborhoods on my way from work to pick up Amy and Abby, I would pass this older black gentleman. And every day, he would turn slowly and wave as I passed. It's over two weeks into the school year now, and I haven't seen him at all... It seems odd that I should really miss a person who I never really met. And it kind of makes me sad that that should seem odd at all.

I started keeping track of my life with the girls in 2009, in a series of narrated illustrations 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. :)

Vote in your local elections today!

I know it's not as exciting as the presidential election and hanging chads, but voting in your local elections in April has much more impact on your daily lives. Your teachers, ambulance drivers, school boards and taxes will thank you.

Well, maybe your TAXES won't thank you, but you might at least want to know what you're paying for, right? The first step to having a better country is having a better community. Please take a couple of minutes and go vote today.