Lets' roll!

Chandler and Graham really do enjoy each other. Even though sometimes Graham wants what Chandler has and Chandler wants to be left alone, they do spend a lot of time laughing and jumping on each other. They both like to dance and run around the house, and sometimes they ride Chandler's old tricycle around the dining room! I am not sure why Graham is sticking out his tongue. Maybe he wants Chandler to inspect him for thrush.

In a box

Graham loves to get inside of things. Cabinets, laundry baskets, hat boxes, even oversized packaging. To prove this point, here is Graham putting himself in a rubbermaid bin. It normally holds Veggie Tales toys, but Graham decided to make it his new home.

Bulf

Well, we were going to have the Carrolls over for some games and food last night, but it didn't happen. About four o' clock, Graham starting acting lathargic. I gave him a bath and he started shivering like crazy. I snuggled him tight and dressed him in his warmest jammies. Karla took his temparture with the rectal (ouch) thermometer and it said 102.7. That was that. I called the Carrolls to cancel and then Graham barfed. Karla camped out downstairs with him in case they both got sick. I took Chandler to bed with me in case he would start. Karla and Graham were up most of the night and I finally went to bed for the last time around 4am. Graham is doing ok this morning, he has a tylenol suppository in him (ouch). We'll see how it goes today. If possible, I need to do some laundry, and am ready to rush to the hospital. After all, it is that time of year.

Watch out!

Graham got his new babysitter today, and boy, I'll bet she is worn out. Because Graham doesn't really like it when people leave. And when mommy, Chandler or I go anywhere without him, he wakes the dead with his screams. That being said, we Thought it might be prudent to have the babysitter over a couple of times beforehand to get him used to her. That seemed to work. He had a few tiny fits, but most of the time he kept it together.

This morning, however, was a different story all together. Chandler and I did our usual sneak out the side door on our way to school before Graham see us thing. And that worked. It doesn't always. Then the babysitter arrived, and the world ended. They even try to trick Graham with the old, let's go see the cat in the basement routine, while Karla made a bee-line (etymology?) for the door. He lost it! He couldn't be calmed down and went into a full-fledged panic attack running around and searching for "Momma".

Ring. Ring. "This is Mark". That was the next obvious course of action. So I headed home determined to find a way to keep him from tossing his cookies. When I opened the door he was tugging on the gate to the upstairs and gasping "Mah mah". He ran to me and climbed up into my arms and spent 15 minutes struggling for breath and making strange noises. I 'm not sure how to describe them, kind of a burp and a breath at the same time.

Anyway, he calmed down a little and I proceeded to get out toys from every room. I even went downstairs and got Chandler's old Vespa riding toy and refurbished it with new batteries. He was a slightly hesitant rider but then proceeded to drive it around a little. Not really drive around, since he didn't even attempt to steer. We got out his coloring book and put in the TMBG DVD. Then I kept going from room to room without him hoping he wouldn't follow. Graham looked for me right away for the first few attempts, but then the babysitter took him downstairs and played the LeapPad. Then he came up looking for me and wasn't all that interested because I had untangled the giant mess of Plug-N-Play games that was in Chandler's room and had brought them down for him to play with. I wandered into the kitchen and then snuck out the side door. I called the house about 20 minutes later and they were doing fine. Crisis averted. And by crisis, I mean gallons of puke.

Bee-line
The phrase derives from the behavior of bees. When a forager bee finds a source of nectar it returns to the hive and communicates its location to the other bees, using a display called the waggle dance. The other bees are then able to fly directly to the source of the nectar, i.e. 'make a beeline' for it.

uh-oh

Today Graham said uh-oh. Chandler started by saying it and then Graham said it back to all of us. Cute kid.

Today I walked on the treadmill for a little over 2 miles. I am trying to do 10 miles a week for a couple of weeks and the increase to 20 miles a week by Spring. I know, good luck. I also have this great collection of DVD's that I want to watch while I walk, but I can't find them. Poor me.

Oh yeah, I got in touch with this guy I used to go to grade school with. It is kind of neat to converse with someone who you haven't spoken to in over 25 years. Gotta love the internet.

Karla made crusted salmon, salad and couscous for dinner tonight. It was really good, but it had a spicy horseradish kick. Afterwards, I had an apple with peanut butter to cool my palette. Yum.

I really need to start thinking about two projects I want to work on. My children's book and stuffed toys. I am not sure when I will have time or the energy to start something new, but I want to be able to find the drive somehow.

I finally finished the initial round of scrapbook paper, rub-ons, etc... It was a lot of hard work. The files were enormous and they took over 5 hours just to resave them. I worked from 8am-3am Monday and Tuesday and from 8am-12am on Wednesday. I skipped lunch a couple of days to make it work. I just found out (which I had a feeling) they want different files. Oh well, I will go in tomorrow and covert them all. It should only take 2-3 hours at the most. I hope.

Brick Boy

Most people assume our oldest acquired his name from the TV show "Friends." But in reality, Karla and I both agreed our first born, regardless of gender, would have her maiden name, Chandler.

And because he is doomed to never have his a name on a novelty license plate or a T-shirt, I am always on the lookout for other things that bear his name. It is a relentless pursuit and has been both enlightening and humorous at times.

First and foremost, at least for printing aficionados, is the letterpress manufacturer, Chandler and Price. If you know of a century old letterpress that is running today, there is a good chance it is a C&P. Author Raymond Chandler, who created the fictional detective Philip Marlowe, also shares his name with our boy.

There are two popular definitions of a chandler. The first meaning is simply one who makes or sells candles, and the second is a person who sells supplies and provisions.

I am also aware of Kentucky politician Happy Chandler and Dr. Chandler who used to make all sorts of weird medicines and tonics. (You can find his signs, medicine boxes and bottles on eBay.) Don't forget your geography, there is also a Chandler, Arizona. However, the most interesting to me is The Chandler Motor Car Company, who produced automobiles in the good old USA during the 1910s and 1920s. That little car company was purchased by another who then had a ill-fated partnership with another car company, the Graham-Paige Motor Co. Coincidence? Actually, yes.

Last, but not least, there is also a Chandler, Oklahoma. And to prove its importance, behold a mighty brick from the Oklahoma Territory! Supposedly, this brick was made BEFORE Oklahoma accepted statehood in 1907. That makes it special. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and do some more useless crap.

Ye old Book covers

Here are some rejected cover options for the Mileage Pro book I did back in 2005. The last one is a screen capture from Amazon of the final book cover. It still uses my illustrations but the red and name placement at the bottom is someone else. I also did all of the spot illustrations inside the book.

An additional note about this. The client informed me after a few rounds that women aren't frequent flyer travelers. Which is why you see men only options for the latter designs. Opinions?

Graham

Here is a photo of Graham in the clubhouse. I took this photo in November before he got a much needed haircut. Enjoy!
What you looking at kid?

A Night in the Museum

This movie is great! Chandler and I met up with the Stearn crew today for a fine old time at the movies. It was funny in all the right places and the quick pace was just right to entertain kids and adults alike. It was a bit like Jumanji, except not as scary. The CG was very convincing and the creatures were right on target! It was really a lot of fun! I recommend taking your 5+ kids to see it today! Get out there and boost that economy! Yeah!