Children's Day Anniversaries

It's Children's Day! (in Korea.) Time for pictures in the park.

Today is the twentieth anniversary of the day I first arrived in Korea for my mission. (Still can't believe it's been that long.) It's also the fourth anniversary of the day I learned I was pregnant with Andy, which means Andy is the same age that Kate was when we found out we were expecting him. I've been feeling rather sentimental about this.



Kate says, "Do bunny ears on me, Mom!"



Awwww!




Andy gets some help across the stepping stones.



Running to the playground.




We went down to Chung Ki Wa in Lakewood for lunch, and I got some really yummy kimchi jjigae. I brought home the leftovers--judging from past experience, it should be even better the next day!



Andy has developed his own rice-and-kim technique. His concentration is very cute.



We all like kim! I brought four packages and it all got eaten. Yum.

In honor of the occasion, my BYU roommate Trish posted this picture of me opening my mission call:



I was on the phone with my parents in Ohio while opening it. I remember that when it first came I called home and Mom wasn't there, so I had to wait. Oh the torment. Mom talks about how she remembers me reading through it and saying "KOREA??!" It certainly was a life-changing experience. I'm glad to be able to commemorate these occasions, and lucky that my family will indulge my penchant for pictures and Korean food!

Digi Handprint

I needed a handprint for something a little while ago and couldn't find anything I liked online, so Kate and I got out the paint. As there seems to be a shortage of handprint Photoshop brushes, I thought I would share one here.

Click here to download the zip file.

A is for Andy

Andy writes letters on the Magna-Doodle.  He'll write the whole alphabet in order now.  Some of his letters are endearingly wonky.



Last night Doug was writing things like "draw a circle," "draw a triangle," and Andy was reading it and doing it.  He is doing a little better with the talking thing--he chatters all the time, repeating things that he's memorized, but doesn't do much synthesizing to actually communicate verbally.  If there's something we want him to say we still have better luck writing it down and getting him to read it.  He sure is cute, though.  We love listening to him chatter and sing. 

and extra socks

That last one says "A map of space."

Andy in the Window

Uncle Brian on Grimm (and my fan art!)

Doug's brother Brian, who lives in Portland, got to be an extra on Grimm about two months ago. The episode ("Cat and Mouse") aired this last week.  Doug has been watching with me--it's like our Friday-night date after Kate goes to bed. 



We knew which scene he was in but couldn't pick him out at all. Fortunately Brian was able to identify himself. You can see his teeny-tiny head in the background for about half a second.



He said he could tell that the white sign would block him, so he scooted back a couple of feet. But then he's blocked by David Giuntoli's leg for most of the shot anyway. Still, it's kind of fun to be able to say, "Hey, that blurry little head there is Brian! Cool!"

 The scene was shot at Union Station at 1:00 AM (probably not many trains coming through at that time of night).  Brian had to get up at 6:00 the next morning, so the timing was not great for him, but he said it was fun getting paid to sit around waiting and eating snacks.



After seeing some other people's creations I tried my own hand at some Grimm fan art a few weeks ago--Silas Weir Mitchell as Monroe (everyone's favorite Big Bad Wolf) in charcoal.  I don't think I've done anything with charcoal since high school art classes, but this seemed like a good one to try it out with.  The actual drawing itself went a lot faster than my pencil drawings do, but then I spent another two days futzing around with it.  I will have to try some more charcoal later, once I decide how durable it is.  (I haven't tried spraying it with fixative yet... I'm just nervous about that!  I need to do a small test drawing or something.)
 

I had the drawing taped to my board and propped up on a kitchen chair for a while, so I could see it every time I walked by.  I decided this one actually looks better from an angle. I don't think I've ever had that happen before.

(Used a screen shot from "Game Ogre."  I also found this animated gif from the same scene.)

I am really enjoying this show. On one level it's about a police detective who can see creatures that no one else sees. On another level it's about a guy who finds himself revealed as the ancestral boogeyman of a certain portion of the population, and how he deals with it and how they deal with it. I just get a kick out of the twist on the whole monster-hunter thing and how they handle the concept of other, from both sides. And I adore the characters and their interaction.

(I can tell that my imagination loves this show, since the way my brain has been playing with it is completely different from what it usually does with shows that I like. Which makes Grimm unique in my experience.)

Pink Dress

I finally got some pictures of Kate in her pink dress.  (Not what I wanted, with the harsh sunlight, but it's something!)



The bodice turned out a bit too long.  When I was making it I was almost done with the front and decided it was too short, so I ripped out the top and added on a couple more inches.  Then when I got the whole thing put together, I thought, "Oh, I guess I should have left it the way it was."  I wasn't really going for the drop-waist look.  (Maybe it'll fit better next year!)



All in all I think it worked pretty well. I may try making some more along the same lines.

Egg Hunting

We had a Saturday-morning Easter egg hunt with some friends from church.  Four families, ten kids, good fun. It was really sunny, so I almost didn't take my camera, but I was glad I did. 







"I see one!"



Daddy helps out.




Kate's haul.



Kate lined up her eggs to count them.  Andy thought this was very cool.



After all the eggs were collected, the kids had to go through the stash.




Zoe looks very serious (I think she had a good time!)

Happy Easter!

Design Dabblings

I've been messing around with a few design projects this week.  I put this ad together for a friend-of-a-friend. (Kind of a rush job, but he was happy with it.)



And this business card for my sister Barb, who is starting her machine quilting business.



I also created this banner, to use on Facebook when I get switched over to Timeline. I made everything here except for the Korean font.  I like the painterly effect with the watercolor splotches.  (The paper leaves are for a set that I started a while back and haven't finished yet.)

Spring Break at the zoo

Kate was off for the week. (Doug was off the week before that, but since he gets home early, we still managed to get out a few times for some family fun.) We spent Wednesday afternoon at the zoo, along with crowds of other people out enjoying the sunshine.



The nice thing about having a zoo membership is that we don't have to worry about getting our money's worth every time we go, so if the kids want to spend most of the time on the playground that's just fine.






Everyone loves the otter slide!







These are so cool to watch.  They're like underwater venus flytraps.  (The sign said they were nudibranches, but it looks like that's not right.  Not sure what they are!)





We are happy to finally have some nice weather! Kate has been playing outside with the neighborhood kids a lot.  Andy isn't so much into hanging out near the house--he likes to take off around the bike path.  I get to follow him while he runs, and then try to steer him back toward home again.