Monday, June 21, 2010

4 more school days to go

Until Mo's last day of school. This year I have decided not to put him in daycare for the summer. Sometimes it feels foolhardy, but mostly it feels right. I am doing this for a variety of reasons - most of all though, is the fact that this may be the only time we get to do this - have the whole summer together, no camps, no 'work', no commitments, just open time for play and fun.

I have a few big contracts though, and this does concern me a bit. How will I get them done while looking after 2 kids full time? Well, Mo loves to paint and draw beside me. So the plan is to have him either do that with me for an allotted time every day - or have play time by himself in his room. The challenge will be to make sure this happens while Zaley is sleeping so I can actually work in this time. We shall see. I also have a lovely young woman up the road who is available to just come and play with mo for the afternoon if I need it. I also have great friends who happen to love my kid - and our kids get on so well together it is almost less work to have another around - so there may be some swapping happening. I always manage to get things done - so I am not too worried.

I am looking forward to it. I have plans, and I really happen to like my kids - and hey, my mom did it for YEARS, and so do lots of others. I will miss this quiet I have today though, sleeping baby, radio on - no chatter, just me and my cold coffee. It is only 8 weeks till Kindergarten starts - so I say YEAH for summer.

Bring it on.

Here is a character sketch for a new book I am working on... it is going to be FUN (and something Mo will be very happy to be drawing beside me!)

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Just when you think your kid is a genius...

... that very same kid swallows a dime. Is really upset cause he swallowed a dime - so you call telehealth and they tell you it will either pass or will be stuck and to ask said Genius questions about how it feels. Genious then tell you it does in fact feel stuck. So you pack the whole family in the car and head to the emergency room and wait for 3 hours - finally get X-ray from very nice doctor saying there is nothing in there. Could have passed or was never there... Genius then says he swallowed it yesterday or maybe the day before but definitely swallowed the dime. Deciding whether to be a little bit angry, or just happy dime is gone.

Zaley rolled over today.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Ripple - illustration friday

http://ripplesketches.blogspot.com/ check this out - what an awesome idea - this one has sold already, but I hope to do more... this is a place where illustrators get to help out the Gulf in a small way by... illustrating! So much great art and the spirit of sharing it is fantastic. Thanks to Charlotte for buying mine.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Mowat tried to tape a seedling back together today... like a cast

... it broke. I thought he was ok, then he tried to replant the top. He was on his way to get some water and he broke down. He was so very sad. So, do we sneak out and put new seedlings there? Or do we let him deal with the reality - that the plant will not regenerate?