More Paper Portraits

Here are some more paper portraits that I did as Christmas presents. I was waiting until after the gifts had been opened before posting the pics, so as not to spoil any surprises. I also gave another pair to my sister, but I forgot to take a picture of them before I brought them to her place. As soon as I can get her to take a photo and send it to me, I'll post it.

Christmas 2009

Christmas morning went great! Actually, Lori was the first one up, and she woke me up at quarter of five. We woke the kids at 5:30, and they literally leapt out of bed and tore down the stairs. It was just like I remembered as a a kid - they started with stockings, and excitedly showed me every single item they found inside. As soon as Carter found those sunglasses in her stocking, they went on her face and never came off - not even when we all got dressed and went to Grammmie and Grampie's house for dinner!

Breakfast with Santa

Last weekend, the kids and I joined Grandma King and James and Kathy for a breakfast with Santa at the Ashworth in Hampton. The kids were a bit shy at first, so we ate breakfast before I tried to get them to talk to him. But once they had eaten and warmed up to the situation, they chatted his ear off. They told him what they wanted for Christmas, and Sean also told Santa all about the Sonic the Hedgehog game he plays on his Gameboy. I think Santa was probably lost about two sentences in - Sean gave him all of the details of the game, which would be pretty confusing if you'd never played it.



More High School Drawings

While looking for old yearbooks and such in my Mom's attic, I found some more old drawings from high school. I still have no idea what happened to the bulk of that stuff, but I scanned what I found for you all to see. These days, what I mostly draw are Mario-related characters on Sean's wall. But someday I'd like to start drawing more seriously again.



Christmas Cookies

On Saturday, the kids and I made Christmas cookies. I used too much flour on the countertop while rolling out the dough, and the kids ended up covered with it. They thought it was hilarious that their clothes were all white. Later, while decorating the cookies, they got themselves covered with frosting too. I'm not sure whether more frosting ended up on the cookies, or in their stomachs. They tried to be subtle about it - they were spooning frosting into their mouths when they thought I wasn't looking. But they had fun, and we were headed to Grammie's later - so I didn't care much just how sugared-up they were. Heh.

Puzzles

The kids have been building a lot of puzzles lately. Carter is getting surprisingly good at it - we can sit her down with a 40 piece puzzle, walk away, and 5 minutes later she calls us over to show us that she's finished it. I think we might get her a couple of bigger puzzles for Christmas.

Heavy Lifting

Sean and Carter have a new game that they've been playing lately. Carter tries to pick Sean up, and then they both fall over. She makes the silliest grunts and groans as she tries to lift him up, and then they both end up in a pile on the floor.

Paper Portraits

I tried a new project over the long weekend - paper-cut portraits. It's basically just cut and layered paper. I had seen a tutorial on a great blog I read called DudeCraft. So I tried it with a couple of my favorite photos of the kids. I think they came out pretty good - I may try some more. I've been looking for a creative outlet that I can do at night on the weekends after Lori goes to bed. Something to get me away from the computer, but that doesn't make a lot of noise. I don't know how long this will stay interesting for me, but so far I find it very relaxing and enjoyable.

Sean’s Drawings: Home

Sean drew this a couple of days ago - it's him, next to the house. The house is complete with windows, chimney, and a front door (with a doorknob and deadbolt). So cute.