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High School Drawings
When we moving from Texas back to New Hampshire, I found an old portfolio from high school, and it had a handful of drawings in it. I know I used to draw almost every day back then, so I have no idea what happened to the bulk of that stuff. But these few were still floating around. So I scanned them for you all to see. Apparently, I was really into drawing hands and eyes at the time. Sometimes when I see some of my old sketches, it makes me wish I still had time to draw now. But it looks like Sean is turning into our little artist, so maybe I can live vicariously through him. :)
Posted under Projects by Joel on August 31, 2008 11:25 PM | Comments (1)
Pick a Peck
We went apple picking today, with Grammy, Auntie Tracy and Uncle Mike, and Cousin Ryan. It's almost exactly a year since that last time we did this, which was right after we moved back to the Northeast. Last time, Carter was so small that I had to carry her on my back, and she had barely enough teeth to scrape at an apple. Today, everyone was walking and exploring - Sean was climbing ladders, Carter was picking her own apples off of the low-hanging branches, and everyone was chatting up a storm. It was hard to limit myself to posting only seven photos!
Posted under Photos by Joel on August 31, 2008 02:53 PM | Comments (0)
Woodworking - Medicine Cabinet
Getting ready to start a new project. Both our upstairs and downstairs bathrooms are in need of new medicine cabinets. The type the previous owners left behind are the bargain-basement particle board type, and they are falling apart. I think that I am going to work on this project in parallel with finishing the work on building my router table. I'm hoping to learn some new techniques on this project - inset frame-and-panel cabinet doors, and I also plan to try and veneer the panels using some fancy burl veneer I picked up in a veneer lot on Ebay a few years ago (and haven't touched since). Below is my concept drawing for the piece - I am going to try and document the project on our blog as I go.
Posted under Projects by Joel on August 29, 2008 08:25 PM | Comments (0)
Ely
A friend came over to see the kids today - his name is Ely. Does he look like Carter's twin, or what? Same hair, same eyes, same nose - and the same disposition. He is about the sweetest, happiest little boy I've ever met.
Posted under Photos by Joel on August 27, 2008 09:13 PM | Comments (0)
Sunflower
Sean is continuing to amaze us with his knack for drawing, lately. Here is one he drew a few nights ago. When I asked him what it was, he told me "a sunflower, with a sun shining on it." Amazing, eh?
Posted under Projects by Joel on August 27, 2008 08:25 PM | Comments (0)
The Met
A couple of weeks ago, we went to a children's museum that Lori used to go to when she was teaching preschool. It's called The Met. Inside, they've got lots of interactive exhibits that Sean and Carter both went crazy for. They had a child-sized fire truck complete with fire coats, hats, boots, and hoses. They had a sand pit with buried "dinosaur bones" for the kids to discover. They also had a pretend resturaunt and a pretend dentist's office. They kids had an amazing time - I suspect we'll be returning sometime soon.
Posted under Photos by Joel on August 26, 2008 08:26 PM | Comments (0)
Party Playland
A few weeks ago, Lori took the kids to a place called Party Playland. It's a lot like that place we used to go to in Texas called Pump It Up - it's full of inflatables. As expected, they had a blast.
Posted under Photos by Joel on August 25, 2008 08:48 PM | Comments (0)
Mustache
Last night, about fifteen minutes before bed, Sean jumps up from where he was lying on the floor and says "I need to look in the mirror!" So I take him into the bathroom and he lifts himself up onto the counter so that he can see himself. He strokes his upper lip and says, "nope - no mustache!" Then ten minutes later while I was helping him into his pajamas, he said to me "daddy, can you see my mustache?" And then again, while I was tucking him into his blankets and giving him a kiss, he asked again - "daddy, do I have a mustache yet?" I have no idea what put this idea is his head, but isn't it adorable?Posted under Stories by Joel on August 24, 2008 08:24 PM | Comments (0)
Cup Stacking
The kids saw a kid on TV doing competitive cup stacking, and they have been doing it themselves ever since. Sean is getting pretty good at it, as you can see. He does a great job, and is so intense about it. It has to all be perfect, or he starts over.
Posted under Photos by Joel on August 9, 2008 09:18 AM | Comments (0)
Knocked ... What?
Last weekend, Sean was running laps around the house. On one pass, he bumped his sister on the way by, and knocked her flat on her butt. So we asked him to stop, come back, and tell Carter that he was sorry for knocking her down. So he comes up to her, gives her a hug, and says "I'm sorry I knocked you up, sister." Lori and I just looked at each other and busted out laughing. Then we told him to say "knocked down", not "knocked up", as the difference is quite substantial.Posted under Stories by Joel on August 9, 2008 09:16 AM | Comments (1)
Fish
Sean has started drawing something new lately - a fish. He saw someone on "Yo Gabba Gabba" draw it, and now he draws it by himself all the time. He really loves to draw. I can't wait to see what he draws next. He's always asking me to draw things for him, and he seems much more interested in the process than in the final result. He stares at my hand as I draw, and then erases it almost as soon as I'm done and asked me to draw something else.
Posted under Projects by Joel on August 9, 2008 09:13 AM | Comments (0)
Ahoy!
The other day, Carter found Sean's pirate costume from last Halloween, and she insisted that we put it on her. Doesn't she look so sweet? They've been watching a show called "The Wiggles" lately, and there is a character on that show called "Captain Feathersword", the friendly pirate. So both of the kids have been obsessed with pirates lately.
Posted under Photos by Joel on August 9, 2008 09:05 AM | Comments (0)
Goodbye, Diapers!
A few days ago, we decided (based on his pediatrician's recommendation) to go cold turkey on daytime diapers with Sean. After all the resistance he's been giving us over the last couple of months, I expected a disaster. But we told him he was too big for diapers, and that he was responsible for his own potty training at this point. We told him that we weren't going to remind him to go anymore, and that if he had an accident he would have to clean it up himself. And guess what? He's been 4 days now with no daytime diaper, and he hasn't had a single accident. It's been good for him in more ways than one - he's so incredibly proud of himself, and it gives him a new sense of responsibility. I only wish we'd tried this sooner.Posted under Stories by Joel on August 8, 2008 09:22 AM | Comments (0)
