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. :)

Daily Life 023: Drawing

October 8, 2010 - Daily Life 023: Drawing

A couple of months ago, we gave Abby a spiral notebook to use as a journal. She likes to draw her name, her hands elaborate, multicolored, scribbly compositions... We gave her a sheet of stickers which she happily used to fill the pages of her journal with a fascination combination of neat rows and layered smiley faces, stars and dogs saying "GOOD JOB!". The point is, she draws in the book, and (usually) not on the walls or bills.

Sometimes when shes sitting at the table drawing, I'll get my book out and draw too. Abby will lean over the table, balancing precariously on one foot and ask "What you drawing, daddy?" in her little voice. This particular time I was drawing her, drawing. "You drawing Abby drawing... daddy?" Yes, most answers are repeated as new questions. This is a sign that she will soon be shoving her journal toward me and demanding drawings of cars, or animals, or Shrek. Which results in a mad dash to get down a passable likeness before she turns the page and demands something different.

And you complain that your boss wants stuff done fast?

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 022: Washing Dishes

September 23, 2010 - Daily Life 022: Washing Dishes

Abby loves playing in the water. She will literally stand there for an hour "washing the dishes". I was struck by just how grown up she's getting. I know I say it a lot, and will probably keep saying it, but it always surprises me when I realize that my daughter is a kid now, and not a baby.

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. :)

August 2010

August 2010

I always look forward to summer with a bit of trepidation. Missouri winters are dry and cold, but our summers are hot and wet, with no wind to cool off the day. About half way through, I am just done with summer.

August is the armpit of my year. I am tired of always being hot and sticky. It's a time to stay inside with the fan blowing cool air. It's a time to play on the carpet with the kids, a time to pretend we're someplace else...I take it back, maybe August isn't so bad after all.


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. :)

Daily Life 017: The Fence

March 15, 2010 - Daily Life 017: The Fence

More new boots... What can I say? My daughter loves shoes. And she's not a baby anymore, she's a big girl now. Today when I got home from work, Amy and Abby were outside sitting on the porch swing. Abby has on a red sweatshirt (over a Batman T-shirt), purple flowered pants, bright yellow puddle jumpers with monkeys on them, and quite possibly the ugliest greenish-yellow felt bunny hat... ever. Apparently, she's been very into opening and closing the fence gate into the backyard today. She spent a couple of minutes showing me (over and over) how good she was at it until we walked across the boggy ground to the shed so I could give her rides in the wagon.

The one nice thing about this ridiculous time change, is that there is still plenty of daylight after work to do a little playing outside before time to make supper.

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 016: Chainsaw

March 01, 2010 - Daily Life 016:Chainsaw

I read in the manual that this is the face you're supposed to make when you are chainsawing stuffs. Grim and purposeful... this face has nothing to do with the fact that I spend faaaar too much time sitting in a chair working with virtual things, and not enough out showing real stuffs who's boss. I keep on telling myself that it will all be different in six months. Maybe I need to change some of my habits now. Ha-ha-ha!

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. :)

March 2010

March 2010

Sometimes what my wife wants winds up being a heap of trouble for me. Unfortunately, I don't always realize it until I'm knee deep. Usually though, it's worth the extra trouble, and even if it's really not I've been married long enough to just keep my mouth shut. Ha-ha-ha! 

We live in an older house. I don't know if you know this, but that generally means there are several trees. Not little ones either, I'm talking about BIG trees..with lots (and lots) of leaves in the fall and seeds in the spring. This is kind of a pain in the back side for me, but at least I'm getting some fresh air and exercise. 

In the fall, despite my best efforts, between wrapping up the year at work, the holidays, and doing anything other than raking those heaping mountains of leaves, I've often got more on mind than thinking about what to do with them. 

Eventually though, spring arrives and I get to thinking about how all those dead leaves that piled up in November are killing my grass. I think about how all the bald spots were just starting to fill in and look nice(ish) at the end of the summer. So I start to rake...and rake...

Luckily, Abby is enjoying helping me this year.

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. :)

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. :)

Daily Life 01: Fifteen Minutes

August 3, 2009 - Daily Life 001: Fifteen Minutes
My favorite part of the day, is the fifteen minutes between bath-time and bed-time when Abby and I just sit on the couch, watch a cartoon, and wind down...

 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. :)

100 themes - silence

Being a stay-at-home parent and freelancer is mostly awesome. I get to spend my day with the girls, playing, taking care of the house, going outside. I never have to set my alarm clock, and I actually KNOW my children.

Most of my work, I do at nite, but the kids do still have nap time...usually. I put the kids down, make a cup of tea and deal with e-mail, phone calls, and hopefully get some design work done. Sometimes though, phone calls come to me in the afternoon. Sometimes I leave my phone upstairs. My phone always rings LOUDLY, throwing off the delicate balance of quiet time, ha-ha-ha!

Building a home - animation from redherringjeff on Vimeo.
Being a stay-at-home parent and freelancer is mostly awesome.

100 Themes - Misfortune

 

Olivia can be relied on to play quietly with blocks for a few minutes before wondering off to play with other things. Unfortunately, she's also known for her Godzilla impersonation, or Olive the Destroyer.

Both Girls love to make things, but Abby has gotten really into Crafting and drawing. She's making things from morning to nite. She also loves socializing, so we've started taking her to Craft-Togethers with our crafty friends in ShowMe Etsy and Fusion. She enjoys being around so many amazing, creative people, and making stuff.

On our way to Crafternoon last week, her little voice piped up from the back seat, "I'm glad my sister isn't coming with us. I don't like it when she wrecks my crafts."

Olivia is getting better about leaving stuff alone, but I guess some wounds heal slowly.

100 Themes - Insanity

I'm not going to lie. Getting up in the morning is hard. The kids are already wide awake and ready to tackle whatever the day throws at them. For me that sometimes seems like an insurmountable task. Luckily, they're pretty good about giving me a little space to shake all those cobwebs off.

It's a delicate balance though, because if I get distracted by little chores, read too many blog posts, or chat on FB too long, the morning will cease to stand still. I'll have two crazy, imaginitive, little girls clamoring for me to draw pictures or build the "tower of power" out of blocks, which honestly I don't think I'd trade for all the quiet mornings in the world.