Toy Box paint options

Here are some of the things we put in Calvin's room, so whatever design we choose for the toy box it will be in these kind of colors. This is what I have so far, try to image them in more accurate colors and a lot nicer.

Toy Box style A:
Toy Box style B (aquarium):
Toy Box style C:

Feel free to voice your opinion on the poll ->

Special Popsicles

I bought some plastic containers to make homemade popsicles. You know, pour in some OJ or yogurt, etc. However, the company seems to be advertising for use of green pepper popsicles. Seriously? Who designed their packaging? The person was either confused, thinking perhaps the pepper was a lime?? Or maybe they only had two images available on their computer and decided apples and green peppers look appealing enough. I guess it works. I bought them, didn't I? Maybe green pepper popsicles are better I think. Green eggs and ham, right? Can't knock it 'till you try it? ....no, I don't think so.

Done

Brandon proved us all wrong and finished the toy box in a week. Now how long will it take for me to paint it .....?? I'll post some samples and maybe take a poll on some ideas.

Time to draw

Since Calvin is one now and has enjoyed playing with his friends' magna doodles, I figured it was time we got him one of his own. Sometimes I forget it's his toy though and he has to pull it out of my hands. He will be starting art lessons soon...

Chicken pox?!

Calvin woke up this morning with spots. Gradually more & more have appeared and I was thinking it was some kind of allergic reaction, I mean, kids these days get vaccines for chicken pox, right? So they don't get it anymore? Then my friend reminded me that they get the vaccine at their one year appointment - which was last week. And it takes about a week for it to show up. They said it's common to have a "reaction" to the vaccine. The "reaction" is the chicken pox.
It's suppose to be less contagious getting it from a vaccine and it's suppose to be more mild (let's hope!). It should be gone in a few days or so. However, the time he was most contagious was before today and guess who has never had the chicken pox - Brandon.
UPDATE: So the spots kept getting worse & worse and started looking more bizarre than chicken pox, so I took him to the doctor and it's not chicken pox, just some virus he most likely got from one of his vaccines. It doesn't change much besides the fact that he's not contagious now, and he is going to be looking a lot worse than chicken pox.

Toy Box

We have been looking around for a good deal on a toy box and Brandon has decided to make one for us. He says it will be really simple and then I can paint it and make it look cool. My only question is: Will Calvin still be playing with toys when this project gets finished?
You can make your guess at the poll on the side ->

Sweat Fest 2009 Champion

Sweat Fest was a big success. A lot of us slacked off towards the end, but the ones that stuck with it lost some impressive weight. As a group we lost around 185 pounds. The winner was our friend Reid who lost 14% of his body weight! It was great to be part of something that helped my friends & family & me to be healthier.
Maybe we'll have to do the competition again sometime. Or another sort of competition. Any ideas? What else would be a fun thing to compete in?

Morning run

This morning when I was running by this old guy he pointed to where I was coming from and said, "Someone called and they want you to start over!" You could tell he thought he was pretty funny and says it to every runner that looks exhausted. (as I most definitely did) Still, I laughed and it made me stop thinking of the misery of running for a little bit.
Later I ran by this guy & girl outside some very nice apartments getting ready to start a run together. I swear that guy had just put on cologne. He must have been a little too worried about how he was going to smell once he started sweating. Face it guy, that is NOT going to help.

1 year old!

Our baby is one today! Several pictures can be seen here.

Swimming Lessons

Calvin gets so excited to get into the pool. While we wait on the side for our turn he likes to clap for the other kids. I like that he is learning things, but one of the things they have us do in class is gradually dip more and more of their face under the water and now Calvin likes to dip his own face in the water as well. And then drink the water.
And by the way, I have decided the best thing about two piece swimsuits is going to the bathroom. Boys wouldn't understand.

Politely screaming

Calvin has been learning a little bit of sign language lately. Some of the words he seems to get the concept, other ones it's more mimicking. For example, when he screams (which he has discovered a new volume level of this past week, I'm sure the neighbors are enjoying that) we'll put our finger over our mouth and say "sshhh". Instead of realizing that putting our finger over our mouths means he needs to be quieter, he thinks it means, I am upset and I am screaming. So now when Calvin screams he screams with his finger over his mouth. Not catching the concept. (Sorry, I would post a picture, but the camera is MIA)

New List

Calvin has put a countless number of things in his mouth now, there is no end to that list. However, it seems there is a new list that is forming. It's called "What Calvin has put in the toilet" We try to keep the bathroom door closed at all times, but occasionally it is left ajar and Calvin seems to know the exact moment when we are not paying attention to him that he can sneak in there. So far the list includes:

hands
hair brush (twice)
wooden spoon (attempt only)

Fanny packs: Rebuttal

Here is my sister's response to the previous fanny pack post.

p.s. I think she voted on the poll twice

Taking Jiffy Lube down

The clutch went out in our car, lame, right? We took it into the shop and it turns our our transmission is shot too. Some fun. The mechanic told us the cause was lack of transmission fluid. There was only a couple ounces of transmission fluid when there should be two quarts. hmmm. That's funny, we just had the transmission fluid checked and filled a few months ago by Jiffy Lube. Maybe there was a leak? Not according to the mechanic, no leak evidence whatsoever.
So we've been talking with the Jiffy Lube manager and he's trying to claim there was a leak anyway. Even though a couple times he said, maybe we checked the fluids, maybe we didn't. He said if they didn't check it all they would reimburse us for was the service that wasn't performed. Is it just me, or does that sound ridiculous? They didn't put any transmission fluid in the car, therefore the transmission goes out, and it's not their fault? I've never been to court before, but this seems like a good time to try it out.

Fanny packs, seriously?

My sister (who can name herself if she chooses) came over the other day and was browsing on our computer and calling everywhere because she was so anxious to buy a fanny pack. She picked out a blue plaid one and asked what I thought. I figured laughing would communicate sufficiently everything I needed to say. She claims they are coming back, along with other 80's trends like neon colors. Am I out of it? Or is she? see poll on the side for voting options -->

Competition Update: 22!

Our competition officially has a title now. (thank you Brandon) And a logo. And we have 18 participants so far. We're hoping to have 20 by the end of the week so the prize would be $100. (another update: we now have more than 20) If you want to join in the fun... just read the directions again below.

Weight Competition

I think losing weight is a great idea for me. Anyone else with me on this? Who would like to compete for cash? This is the deal:

1. Monday June 1st - Tuesday June 30th Whoever loses the largest percentage of weight wins.
2. Entry fee is $5, winner take all. Email me (theillustrator at gmail) to let me know you're in and I'll send you my address. The money must be received by June 1st to participate.
3. Email me your current weight on June 1st and your final weight on the 30th.
4. I won't share any info except how many people enter, and who wins with their weight loss percentage.

I think it would be great if 10 people or so enter. I am very motivated by money and I could use $50 and less flab. So if you're thinking about it, pull out an envelope, throw in a handful of ones and make it happen. Feel free to throw in more money if you feel inclined to do so : ) Tell your friends, just let me know you know them so I'm not mailing my address to random blog stalkers.
If delivering a baby is going to be part of your weight loss plan, you do not qualify to participate. May the person who sweats the most win.

Swim time

I just signed Calvin up for a parent/ baby swim class with 2 of his baby buddies. His swim shorts are a little big, but I think they'll work just fine. Maybe next summer too since they almost go to his ankles.

Purse wearing

Calvin has recently shown an interest in wearing my purse, although it turned out to be trickier than he thought to put on:first many tries to get it over the head:
lot's of twisting and pulling...
I think I got it Mom.

First ER visit

Calvin had his first trip to the ER last week. So sad. He was cruising around in our bedroom when he fell and hit his head on our metal bed frame. He screamed at first but he must not have been in that much pain because we were at the ER for 5 hours and the first hour he spent walking around the waiting room smiling at everyone. Apparently he was oblivious that he had a decent size gash in his head. Luckily the picture is a little blurry so you can't see how gross it really looked.
Then next 4 hours he just slept since it was pretty late. As much as I wanted to tell someone he is only 10 months old and should be a priority, it's hard to say that there is any hurry when he is happily playing or sleeping. So eventually the doctor had time for us and sedated Calvin for his 4 stitches.
Here he is the next day with the Camp Rock band aids we got for him. It was either that or Disney Princesses, the High School Musical ones cost more.

Vacation

We had a great time on our vacation. It couldn't have been better. It's nice planning a last minute vacation because you even know the weather forecast while you're booking your flights. We love our friends for letting us stay with them and run around DC & NY with us. We saw a lot of impressive sights, those cities are stocked. Although we saw so many amazing places, I'm pretty sure Calvin's favorite part was chasing around Battle, our friend's cat.Calvin also loved meeting strangers everywhere we went. Whenever we got onto a subway, the ferry, the plane, the bus, many more subways, he would stare at someone and smile at them until they would smile back. We talked to a lot strangers on our trip because of him, it was very entertaining.
(many many more pictures featured on the picture blog)

Graduation!

I almost think I'm more excited for Brandon to graduate than I was for me to graduate. I'm so proud that he has worked so hard, that he has a job, and that he was able to be a men's basketball intramural champion before he finished. It was a great day and we're ready to celebrate.

The Green Corduroy Book

I just received some copies of a books I illustrated in the mail today and I love the way it turned out! It is a book to record funny things that kids say and there are hilarious samples from the author's kids, which is what I illustrated. You can get more info at: greencorduroybook.com

D.C. here we come!

For graduation I was going to surprise Brandon by taking him to NY, which would have been awesome. However, it worked out to be cheaper and easier for us to go to DC and we are so excited! We have a 3 1/2 hour lay over in NY though, so I think that will give us enough time to ride on the subway, eat a slice of pizza, and maybe even snap a quick picture or two. If you only had time for one stop in NY, and it was even during rush hour, and you had a baby, where would you go? And would you bring a stroller?

*trip update*
Actually, it turns out we are going to have a whole day in NY after all. We won't get to see everything, but enough. I can't wait!

Finally!!

Tonight was the top division championship for BYU basketball intramurals and after years of coming close - Brandon's team won!! What a great way to finish his BYU career.

Frames & Earrings... so far

My friend Staci just opened an Etsy shop with some cool stuff for sale. She is very creative and talented. You can check out her stuff here.

our helpful baby

Sometimes Calvin will smoosh his lips together suspiciously like he's got something in his mouth. Sometimes it's nothing, but the things we have found in there so far are:

lint
peanut
leaf
kleenex
bolt

I think he is trying to encourage us to clean more - where does he find this stuff?? He is also good at encouraging us to eat smaller portions by offering to eat anything on our plate. What a considerate little baby.

Breakfast

I was taking some pictures off our camera and I found this video clip. Apparently while I was at aerobics this morning Brandon decided to try a new method of feeding Calvin breakfast:

ipod dream come true...

I accidentally washed my ipod in the washing machine. You might be thinking, it seems like that happened before? It did. But this time, the ipod still works! What a relief. I have gone through way too many ipods in my lifetime.

Business & Technology Expo

This week Brandon got tickets from work for us to go to this Expo thing going on. Big-D probably had the coolest booth there. They had a machine where you could ride a bike upside down. It was really fun and a little scary:


I ended up finding a couple places to hand out business cards, which I didn't expect. And it turns out I'm very talented at roulette and I won a pack of cards. ok - so I had no idea what I was doing. And someone gave Calvin a couple of golf balls while Heather pretended like he was her son. He loved the golf balls and gripped them so tightly in his little fists. Then he fell asleep in the car holding onto them.

New pet?

They were .12 each, why not buy some fish? (yes, there were 3 at first) I know they don't live that long, but it cost $1 to feed them their whole lives. I guess fish are considered pets because you buy them at the pet store, but I kind of think of them as a really interesting decoration. They are so fun to watch swim around.

First Five

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me!

my choice. for you. this offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. what I create will be just for you.
3. it’ll be done this year.
4. you have no clue what it’s going to be … it may be cards, a poem, a bookmark, something yummy or a complete surprise to you (and me) … who knows? not you, that’s for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
6. most importantly, you must offer the same deal on your blog - the first 5 people to comment on your blog (or if you do not have a blog, facebook) get something made by YOU! the first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me …

Design Build Competition

Brandon's team did really well at the competition in Reno earlier this month, they got 2nd place! You can tell Calvin is really proud of his dad.

Poll Results

Although Seattle was the poll winner (with some questionable multiple computer voting) we will be going with the 2nd place choice: Salt Lake area.
Brandon has accepted a job with Big-D in Lindon, the company he has been with for the past year and a half. He really likes everyone he works with and is excited about the construction jobs they have coming up soon. Big-D is a great company so we are very grateful.
We haven't figured out when and where we'll be leaving the student housing scene, but for now we think things look better here than anywhere else. Eventually I'm sure we'll migrate a little bit north. We'll see what we can find.

Two Things

I have two ideas that I think would make the world a better place:

First up: Grocery Store drive thru, Smith's in particular

* The simplest version: you know how some grocery stores have a pharmacy drive thru? Just add a small stock room there and allow people to pick only certain items ie: milk, eggs, bread, maybe 15-20 basic items.

* Or: Instead of having a stock room by the drive thru full of groceries, have a stock room of pre-ordered items in bags with people's names on them. Kind of like take-out from a restaurant. You could place your order online and then pick it up later. I always buy the same stuff anyways, so it would make grocery shopping so quick and easy. Especially with a kid.

Second idea, it seems pretty common sense:

hello - Girl Scout Cookies online & year round. Don't they want these girls to learn how to make money? Maybe if they sold them year round I wouldn't feel like I need to eat an entire box of Samoas as soon as I get them into my hands. By the way, if you live in Provo here's the schedule.

Oh yeah Catan

Suddenly this week I've seen multiple people with pictures about Cupcakes of Catan. Who started this ingenious idea and WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF IT?? I can't wait to play. Catan party here we come.

added memo for friends like Christy:
Cupcakes of Catan is a new way to play the board game Settlers of Catan, which is probably the best board game ever made and very addictive. Like cupcakes.

Brandon's homework

Brandon had an assignment to instruct someone in building a house. Kind of a practice for managing people building real houses I guess. So Saturday night I spent cutting up a cardboard box like he told me to and gluing them together with a hot glue gun.
Afterward I was going to scribble on it with a marker here & there to have doors and things, but then I remember how much I love to paint! Then it became very difficult to not get carried away. I'm planning on leaving it like this:
but he doesn't have to turn it in for another week. With it just sitting around for me to mess with, I might have to add some flower patches, curtains, a lighter color for the roof & some shingles. Let me know if you see something else I'm missing.
(And if you are thinking that I am going to get carried away with my kid's homework assignments I would just like to say that although it will be tempting, I am very determined not to. I hope I will have done enough art projects with them outside of school that they will want to do the projects themselves and I will be happy to let them.)