The Omnivore Digest(s)

FORE

2011-08-11T15:00:00.001-07:00

DSC08253, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Recently, Joy found a set of junior clubs for 3 bucks, so now the younger kids can to accompany me to the driving range.

"When can we go out on the REAL golf course with you Dad?"

"We'll talk about it as soon as you can reach 80 yards"

Ding! Leo promptly hit the 80 yard marker with his ball.

We'll need to get a game in on a nice rainy day!

Watching Jellies

2011-08-11T10:00:00.001-07:00

DSC08325, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Hey There,
Grampa Lornie. Because you're the only one who ever checks this blog for grandkid pics these days. Just click on the photo for more!

Seven Year Old Fortune Cookie

2011-05-02T14:12:00.000-07:00

Leo gave me this handmade fortune on Friday last week! He was right. I haven't been too texty in blog posts of late, but today seems like an opportune time to take an actual lunch break and jot some things down.

When you own your own business, you have to be vigilant in maintaining personal time, and to keep family happiness a priority. Yesterday was a bona fide Sabbath for us. At the beginning of this year, I made a decision to move the shop hours from Tues-Sat. to Mon.-Fri., with Saturday appointments still available. Aside from Joy's weekend work schedule, I just wasn't seeing enough traffic/sales on Saturdays to justify missing my children's childhoods, and Saturday being one of the two days that they have off of school meant that I was missing a huge chunk of prime-time, non-homework-oppressed kid time. I've got a major order that's due this Wednesday, and thought it best that I put in some "overtime" at the shop this past Saturday, which put a lot of pressure on making the most of our one day off together on Sunday.

It was a gorgeous, sunny day yesterday, and it got all the way up to 63 degrees! Today we've had heavy rain and we've got sub-50-degree temps as of 2 PM, which makes our sunburns received yesterday almost magic and inexplicable.

We went to Double Bluff beach yesterday and the kids were able to kayak solo on the 50-yard little lagoon that was scooped out of the sand by this past winter's storms. The kids found a starfish, and we saw golden eagles and osprey. I got to take a meditative kayak trip out into the bay on my own while occasionally being buzzed by a pair of cormorants. Later, we took a hike in the forest, and found a little hollow in the ferns where a deer took a nap not too long ago. We found a frog living in a tire-track puddle. Also on our hike, it was discovered that Leo has an immunity to nettle, and I discovered that I really, really am not. We also got pie at the new sit-down coffee shop that opened up this past weekend in our island village. This morning I woke up pretty battered and sore from all of yesterday's activities, but quite happy. Thanks for giving the heads up about our happy-day gift from God, Leo! When it comes to happiness, you really know what you're talking about.

Find In This Picture: Five Forks, Nine Candles, Koi Fish Birthday Hat.

2011-04-25T15:16:00.001-07:00

DSC07741, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Blow Out the Candles!

2011-04-25T15:14:00.001-07:00

DSC07744, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Backseat Driver

2011-04-25T15:13:00.001-07:00

DSC07776, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Orange and Blue

2011-04-25T15:12:00.003-07:00

DSC07838, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Lighthouse at Ft. Casey

2011-04-25T15:12:00.001-07:00

DSC07785, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Happy Ninth, UltraViolette!

2011-04-25T15:11:00.001-07:00

DSC07756, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Happy Seventh Birthday Leo!

2011-04-25T15:08:00.001-07:00

DSC07652, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Click the picture for more recent photos.

Sylvan

2011-04-12T12:23:00.001-07:00

sylvan, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Standard Way-Cool Dragon

2011-04-10T13:11:00.001-07:00

DSC07619, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

...by Leo

Raspberry Tree

2011-04-10T13:10:00.001-07:00

DSC07620, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

...by Leo

Can I Take a Pikcha of You Dad?

2011-04-10T13:07:00.001-07:00

DSC07626, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Sure...I guess so.

Corn Dogs

2011-04-09T17:54:00.005-07:00

DSC07550, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Cedar's birthday meal request.

Make your best duck face.

2011-04-09T17:54:00.003-07:00

DSC07556, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Birthday Dinner

2011-04-09T17:54:00.001-07:00

DSC07558, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Smiles

2011-04-09T17:53:00.001-07:00

DSC07559, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

It's easy to blow children's minds.

2011-04-09T17:52:00.003-07:00

DSC07560, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Box o' legos

2011-04-09T17:52:00.001-07:00

DSC07568, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

Blow Out Event

2011-04-09T17:49:00.001-07:00

DSC07571, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

forgot to post cedar's b-day from early march.

You Know That Noise?

2011-04-09T15:47:00.001-07:00

You know that noise that the washer and dryer make?

I don't like it. I just want to listen to the wind.

--Leo Dennis

rainbows

2011-04-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

rainbows are made of rain and water and light my brother says that a leperkan came in his classroom and messed it up.

violette dennis

blackcherryicecream

2011-04-07T10:49:00.001-07:00

blackcherryicecream, a photo by the.omnivore on Flickr.

new and improved blog!

2011-03-09T13:18:00.000-08:00

me and my sister yzzy are improving http://sylvansextremeblog.blogspot.com/ so feel free to visit it!

yzzy's blog

2011-03-08T17:39:00.000-08:00

Sylvan just taught me how to make a blog, so here is the link to mossyfaeries. (The blog wouldn't let me name it "moss")

Violette

2011-02-15T18:20:00.001-08:00

I'm A Little Behind

2011-01-30T11:48:00.000-08:00

...and no, not a chubby cheeked behind. Although some of you may disagree. Yep, you guessed it, this is Chris writing; pretty unlikey that Joy would lead off a blog post with a bathroom joke. I talked to my dad yesterday, after remembering a couple weeks later that it was his birthday this month. He said he'd shed tears of true happiness if I'd post some new pictures, so, here you go.

This is a nice picture of Leo. I also dig the composition in which yellow takes an active role by way of the edge of his sketchbook, creamer, pineapple strips, and mixing bowl.

Cedar navigating the Christmas carnage with four wheel drive.

Unkaluke and Sylvan vegging out on Super Mario.

Violette.

Nice Niece.

Yzzy's Twelfth.

Story time.

Recent Pics & Blog Maintenance

2010-11-26T16:13:00.001-08:00

Hey...it's really me, not me delegating my blogging duties to my children. Taking a break here at the end of black Friday, on which I had painted the shop Flamenco red slightly before dawn today.

I wrote a bunch of stuff for this post, but it was just a bunch of inane garbage...so let's not waste each other's time.

Go check out the rest of the pictures on flickr (click on one of the pictures...no superfluous links here). Don't have much time to write/code anything of meaning anymore these days. Pictures=1,000 words?

Love Always,

Chris

Inspiration

2010-11-26T15:37:00.000-08:00

Last night, I painted the shop Flamenco red. As I sit here at the end of the day too exhausted to do much more than catch up on long overdue blog reading, I had a nice stream of consciousness moment moving from the Flamenco red oozing off the wall and steering my brain to, my friend, Peter Tsiorba, the guitar maker, the man who puts the Flamenco in guitar. Super well-done, inspiring video!

Yzzy's chair

2010-10-27T13:23:00.001-07:00

yzzys chair
Originally uploaded by the.omnivore

Yzzy built this chair in her shop class this month!

She did a great job. I'm so happy that she gets to do projects like these in school. Thumbs up to Mr. Sage and the South Whidbey School District!

rip the ears off a gundark

2010-10-21T16:58:00.001-07:00

rip the ears off a gundark
Originally uploaded by the.omnivore

the sun looked at itself in a hazy mirror

2010-10-21T16:20:00.001-07:00

the sun looked at itself in a hazy mirror
Originally uploaded by the.omnivore

Joy, the hottest framer.

2010-10-21T16:17:00.001-07:00

Joy, the hottest framer.
Originally uploaded by the.omnivore

leo: shiner

2010-10-21T16:12:00.001-07:00

leo.shiner
Originally uploaded by the.omnivore

"I was running at top speed and a pole ran into me."

Choo-choo

2010-09-19T02:09:00.001-07:00

DSC06580
Originally uploaded by the.omnivore

A Friend In Need.

2010-08-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

More of this over at the portfoldeo.

Little Kid With Goatee

2010-08-05T16:24:00.002-07:00

I Think I've Had Enough

2010-08-05T16:24:00.001-07:00

2010-08-05T16:23:00.000-07:00

Lucky Boy

2010-08-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

Wasn't Pizza Invented In China?

2010-08-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

Crackin' Kelp Bullwhips

2010-08-05T16:20:00.000-07:00

Our Resident Pixie

2010-08-05T16:18:00.000-07:00

2010-07-14T12:17:00.001-07:00

I've Got Extra Sand. Want some?

2010-07-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

Y & S

2010-07-14T12:15:00.001-07:00

Our Friend Poppy

2010-07-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Hot Dogs

2010-07-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

Aunt Naomi!

2010-07-13T13:59:00.002-07:00

Uncle Tim!

2010-07-13T13:59:00.001-07:00

Shalom!

2010-07-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

Rehnata!

2010-07-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

Tater-tot!

2010-07-13T13:51:00.001-07:00

2010-07-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

Tim,Naomi,Shalom,Rehnata and Tate spent three days with us, three days is never long enough.

These rocks are stale!

2010-07-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

Inside a driftwood house there was a whole dining room set up, perfect for enjoying some sand-rock pie!

2010-07-13T13:27:00.001-07:00

Floating Violette!

2010-07-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

Finger eating crabs!

2010-07-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

annoyed baby crab decide to begin its own clinging!

Cedar, the monkey boy!

2010-07-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

We went to the beach and played in some pretty cool driftwood houses.

One legged Sylvan!

2010-07-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

My brother only has one leg now, but he's happy anyway.

Nana!

2010-07-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody, this is Yzzy. Dad asked me to blog for him, since he's super busy wioth the store, heres a picture of his mom when she came to spend the week with us.

One For The Old Cheezer

2010-06-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

Leo Jumpin' Through Hoops

2010-06-17T16:20:00.000-07:00

Super

2010-06-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

Couple Rainbows For You

2010-06-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

I wouldn't have seen this if I hadn't been a good boy and taken out the trash on Tuesday night.

Bringin' In The Trees by Christopher Dennis (with Jim Barnes)

2010-06-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

Here's the completed painting after some collaboration with Jim Barnes. Thanks for all of your suggestions!

The Sun Is Staring Too Hard Into My Eyes

2010-05-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

Cedar said, "The sun is staring too hard into my eyes." during our walk on Friday. Everything is personified: including the unexpected. Yesterday on our walk, he declared, "my butt's hungry". It took a while for us to figure out what that meant. Turns out he was itchy, and thought that if his crack could "eat" some ointment, that might make things better.

Monkey Skull Chainsaw Mouth, please help finish my painting

2010-05-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

Hi There,

If you've been watching my art portfolio, you'll notice that my work is taking a different turn. So, I have writer's block on this most recent piece that I'm working on and was wondering if you would be so kind as to give me a hand with finishing it. You see, I'm almost done, but I'm lacking the final element, which is what the Monkey-Skull Chainsaw Mouth is actually saying. My recent work is focusing on the use of words and primarily absurd phrases. What is that angel of death monkey-skull chainsaw saying to those cowering trees? What does it have to do with the stumps floating on the clouds above? The person who puts the right words in my painting's mouth will receive an 8 x 10-ish" signed print of the finalized version and will be named as a collaborator wherever this thing ends up being displayed (probably the internet).

Birthday Tent

2010-04-30T16:59:00.003-07:00

Birthday Tent
Originally uploaded by the.omnivore

A gift from the brothers and sisters.

Morning!

2010-04-30T16:59:00.001-07:00

Morning!
Originally uploaded by the.omnivore

Monstrous birthday greetings, brother.

2010-04-30T16:48:00.001-07:00

Monstrous birthday greetings, brother.
Originally uploaded by the.omnivore

Grampa Time

2010-04-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

My dad, a.k.a. Grampa Lornie, came out to visit us this month! It was great to have him here and it was sad to have to take him to the airport. We were blessed with great weather as you can see from some of our beach shots.Aside from setting up a chicken yard for the kids, dad also helped me out in the shop. I had a large, antique tapestry to preserve and frame this month and was quite thankful for his and Joy's help. He helped out with the intimidating project of cutting the glass and Joy helped me with the hours of stitch mounting necessary to get the tapestry to hang right. I have to say this was the most exciting and stretching project that we've taken on so far.

Thanks for everything, Dad!

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

Both Joy and Yzzy hit the egg!

Night of the Living Androgyny

2010-03-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

My kids have discovered fairly quickly that responding to being picked on with humor is really infuriating, especially when the bully becomes the butt of the joke. Both incidents below occured on the bus on the way to school.

Child XY was interrogated as to whether he was a boy or a girl. His non-chalant response? "Both". In other words, gender is not a characteristic that makes him inferior or superior, so he's not going to provide a satisfactory response. It has become a point of intrigue, and the school rumor is that he's actually an alien, which delights Child XY to no end. Parenthetically, androgyny is the oldest "I'm too sexy" trick in the book--exhibit A: Morrisey, exhibit B: Maggie on Northern Exposure, exhibit C: one of my brother's-in-law who is still lucky to have his pretty face after wiping it off with the sidewalk during a dirt bike accident.

Separate incident. Some older lads decided to harass Miss V by telling her that she looked like a boy. Little L stuck up for her with balled up fists and kindergarten expletives like a good brother, but on top of that, Violette inquired with the bothersome dude, "Oh...do I look like a boy? So were you looking for a BOYfriend?". Which resulted in much confusion and ridicule of said dude.

Three Years Old

2010-03-13T20:24:00.001-08:00

More pics available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/theomnivore/sets/72157623615374596/

Warning: Maniac

2010-03-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

My son wanted to make a wanted poster of himself. He thinks he's worth a hundred million...and should be brought in alive...'kay?

But I Thought This WASN"T a Lutheran Church!

2010-03-01T13:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we checked out the Calvary Chapel here on the island. Before we all piled into the clown car, Sylvan asked if we would be going to a Lutheran church. No, not this Sunday. Which was met with a disappointed look that I couldn't interpret, but I responded to it, saying, I'm sure you'll have fun there and you'll have stuff to do. No response.

So, after service, the church was having sandwiches for the congregation, which they don't do every Sunday as far as I can tell. We were invited to stay and eat, which sounded like a great plan to me because it cut out some driving back home for lunch, etc. before we went to the beach for the afternoon. We tell the kids the plan and we're getting in line for the grub when Sylvan exclaims, "But, I thought this wasn't a Lutheran church!" Which was a real head-turner of a comment.

Pause. Brain processing what makes a nine-year old make such a statement.

"Oh. You think this is a Lutheran church because they're serving lunch?"

"Yes."

"Is that why you were so disappointed before? Because you wanted to have lunch at church?"

"Yes."

"Lutheran's aren't the only ones who eat together after church."

"Okay. I know that now."

I'd like to blame Garrison Keillor for the weaving of this gross generalization into my son's psyche, but, in fact, I've been known to find myself in a strange town every now and then and wander into a Lutheran church driven in part by the post-liturgy grub.

--Chris

As Requested: Photos

2010-02-23T16:37:00.000-08:00

Hey there,

We are still a bit preoccupied with all the odds and ends of moving, but will tell some tales later. We don't have any pics of the inside of the house yet because it's wall-to-wall cardboard boxes. Here's one of the outside, and a picture of our view from our bedroom window this morning...pretty humbling and surreal that we are in this house...that's all I've got to say for now.

If you click on the pictures you should be able to navigate to some other pictures that were taken yesterday/this morning.

--Chris

Art Show.

2010-02-05T23:41:00.000-08:00

Me, with Dave, the artist.

Cartharsis

2010-01-30T21:28:00.000-08:00

If you checked my facebook a few weeks ago, I drew a picture of the sun tearfully singing "I am my sunshine, my only sunshine". I explained at that time that I like to think of things ridiculously sadder than whatever I'm going through to give me a good laugh. Thus, this "Jacked of Hearts" Valentine's Day card. You know, timing is comedy, and if your romantic relationship was a bit shaky and you received this on Valentine's Day, you can't tell me that you wouldn't just laugh laugh laugh. No? Okay maybe it's not that funny to you, but I'm having a chuckle.

Anyway. The sadness for me is that due to some strict insurance policies at the little independent car rental place just down the street and some unintentional leading astray by the guy who booked my car reservation, I am without transportation, stuck at the shop, and not with my kids, and not with my sweetheart. Some of the kids took it really hard, which was hard for me, and I'm sure even harder for Joy.

That's the sad news folks. But, on a happier note, it looks like we may be able to get everyone moved up before the end of February, and I've found what seems to be a great house at a great price (from what I saw in the ad), hopefully it doesn't get snatched out from under us, or I'll be designing cathartic house warming gifts as well...I've got some ideas which involve burning bags of dog poop left on door steps, but I think that's been done, but maybe not as a house warming gift.

Also, other very happy news is that Grace Community Church had a soft spot in their heart for our car-less family and gave us a car! It's a 1999 Intrepid...which is roomy inside, but doesn't legally seat all of us. Joy says I can ride in the trunk. Beggars can't be choosers, and we're super grateful; gracias Grace!

--Chris

Burn, Smolder, Ignite,

2010-01-27T19:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a painting that I completed last night. It's loosely biographical. I was so thankful that Joy could come and visit me a couple of weekends ago, but it was so, so hard to say goodbye. So hard, I was burning up inside, you could say.

Thanks to the incredible kindness of some friends, I'll be driving a rented a car this weekend to go down and see her and the kids, who are at their absentee-father-wits-end. I know it will be hard to say goodbye again, and I will be squeezing every last minute of time that I can get with them, which means I'll head back up to the shop early early Tuesday morning to get here to catch the ferry, return the rental car, and open the doors by 10AM.

Things at the shop could be better. We're covering basic expenses, but haven't seen a paycheck from our labors yet. We had an ad in the paper today, along with an article, and I've got a 25% off sale going on, so, hopefully things will pick up soon so we can get everyone moved up to the island!

When the font on your shop's main sign is smaller than your sale sign, that means you really mean business.

A Lonely Gray Day Using the Timer on My Camera

2010-01-11T18:18:00.001-08:00

A Lonely Gray Day Using the Timer on My Camera
Originally uploaded by the.omnivore

It occurred to me that shooting rocks, trees, and water would be of no interest to my wife and children.

Tornado in the Frame Shop

2010-01-07T22:33:00.000-08:00

Hey, it's Chris here writing. Thought I'd show you what I've been up to the past week with the Island Framery. Here are a few "before" pictures:

And here are the "Afters".

Here, I added a clamp light with a white light spectrum incandescent bulb. Unfortunately, I can't really do anything about the florescents on the ceiling without a huge headache and expense, so that will have to wait, but having that incandescent bulb makes an immense improvement in making the art and frame combinations look closer to what someone might have at home.
On the left half of the picture, here we have "The Dungeon"--at least that's the word that keeps coming to mind when I pass through it. It is a big merchandising challenge for me as it is not really a prime retail space since it is around the corner and the less adventurous will absolutely miss it, so I went ahead and played along with that fact by surrounding it with the least attractive fixtures of the store. Eventually, I'll turn this area into a "Lucky Deal of the Day" corner with a sign in the front area pointing it out. In this area, I'll feature samples of mouldings and mats that we have an overstock of. Oh, and I just remembered, I need to get those boxes that are up high out of the customer's view as well...there's plenty to keep me busy.

I moved the print bin over to the right hand side of the store and also put a table next to the front window where I've jammed a bunch of items for a red tag sale (see the red tags in the window?) This has had people stopping at the window and looking, and even coming in to check things out even though they had no intention of framing anything. I'll be changing this area frequently, taking a cue from my days as a merchandiser with Rogers Gardens in Corona del Mar. I worked there on Eric Cortina's team, who is a local Orange County celebrity, of sorts. He was a great mentor to me in the skill of presenting merchandise in an irresistable, always-fresh fashion. "Bingo!"...that's for you and Bamboo, Eric, should either of you ever stumble across this. Here is the design table, which was turned to help me gain space to add the above mentioned front window merchandise area at the front of the store. I like the fact that it faces the door as I'm working with the customers so I can greet whoever comes in. Also, on the left of the picture is a bit of a self-help area with pre-cut mats, backing and glass. This stock was originally stored on the fixture pictured in the first "Before" picture. The fixture was too tall, isolating the customer from being able to see all of their options througout the store, and it felt like shopping in a department store versus my goal of putting merchandise in a closer context to what someone might see at home...granted, that may not be a bunch of wooden boxes stacked on each other, but home decor almost never is inspired by stray slat wall fixtures on the lam from TJ Max...maybe IKEA is working on that design right now, though. You never know what crazy thing those Swedes will come up with next. Crazy Swedes.
The above picture is the left side of the shop. I painted the wall with a color called "Coal". This is maintaining drama on the wall of art that would otherwise be deadened and washed out by the florescent lights above. You'll also see that I wiped out the office area that was installed there before. It basically ate up over 100 square feet of potential retail space (20% of the showroom), so it had to go. Now, there is a much smaller desk that is completely incapable of holding paper clutter and all of the reference binders and stuff were moved out of sight so the customer can concentrate on what's actually for sale. Also, I put a chair next to the desk right next to the computer so the customer and I can chat while I'm figuring up their order. Having both of us sitting down for this part of the transaction makes the process more relaxed. They feel like they can take their time in making their decision, and I feel better knowing that there won't be buyer's remorse later if they aren't feeing rushed.
Finally, I've put original pieces of art up on the wall. Frame shops tend to lean heavily on limited edition prints and posters, mainly so they can show off their framing work. Also, running a gallery has its own unique complications and is a full-time-and-a-half job in itself, which a frame shop owner may be discouraged from undertaking. As this community is heavily populated by artists, the more I help out local artists, the more they will return the favor. So, despite the potentially long hours, I believe focusing on original, rather than mass-produced art will be rewarded on many different levels. The art you see on the left side is by a friend of mine, Dave Pauls, who lives in Shoreline. More about his completely awesome work will be announced in a few days through the frame shop's web address www.islandframery.com Joy's art is also up on the right side. It has only been up today, and I have been super pleased with all of the positive responses to her work.

So, after being unemployed for two months, I'm estimating that I've become ultra-employed, putting in 90 hours since New Year's Day. It is not easy being away from Joy and my kids, but for this first week, at least, this situation has really been valuable in enabling me to take care of business.

Time to take a nap now.

Awesome

2010-01-07T01:48:00.000-08:00

I am startled sometimes by how awesome my son is.

Christmas Dance Party '09

2010-01-02T09:57:00.000-08:00

Something that makes me smile even on the greyest of days. Nephew A and Leo have got the moves fo' sho'. More dance party pics here.

Gone

2010-01-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

So, Chris is gone. He left for Whidbey Island and the Framery about an hour ago. My brother David graciously offered to drive 2 hours South to pick him up and then drive 5 hours North to drop him off and then 2 hours South again to go home. It will be a long day for him, but quality time with Chris and all of our thanks. For those of you who don't know, he will be at the shop alone unitl we can get our resources together enough for us to join him. I have really been dreading this even though we knew that it was a possiblility when we decided to take the leap. We really tried to avoid it but found that those doors were closed and that we just needed to forge ahead even though it was not ideal. Our prayer is that this month will be very profitable and that our separation will be short.
Now it is time for me to develop some empathy for single moms, and moms whose husbands travel alot or are stationed elsewhere. I can feel the patience draining out of me as I write. This is surely a time for supernatural intervention. I will need your prayers, and your company! The longest that Chris and I have ever been apart was one week when he had to go to Bend for work. We know that this could be as long as three months, but hope not.
A little information on our car situation. We have been borrowing Jeff's car and will return it to him on Jan. 10th. We have been given some funds to locate a new to us car and are shopping around for someting that will accomidate us all and be faithful. We are so thankfulfor God's provision and hope to find one soon. Things will be alot more fun around here if we can get out of the house from time to time. Let us know if you know of anyone selling a 7 seater with a good history who is letting it go for Cheap!
I am feeling pretty down and would appriciate your comments, emails and calls.

---Joy---

Another Dozen

2009-12-24T07:52:00.000-08:00

Another dozen little gems cranked out courtesy of some persistent elves. On "It's a Squid", Leo insisted on seeing what melted crayons look like on our canvas, which was a pleasant annoyance for me. He is feeling free to explore what media will do, interrupting the process, and forcing me to think outside of my comfort zone: all good things.

The Botany of Desire? Or, Who Wants Poop-On-A-Stick?

2009-12-21T20:09:00.000-08:00

Recently discovered on a local hike. I'm no botanist, but I'm assuming that these turd-twigs are some kind of mutant moss.

Children Like To Watch Television

2009-12-20T15:53:00.000-08:00

The Apprentice

2009-12-20T15:28:00.000-08:00

Cedar painting the background for what ended up being The Mothership. I actually prefer the backgrounds that Cedar and Leo paint over mine.

A Little Hike

2009-12-19T10:08:00.000-08:00

Guess who doesn't like hiking?

Performance Art Directed By Violette

2009-12-18T23:40:00.000-08:00

Violette shows off her re-creation of the Statue of Liberty with Yzobella playing the part of Lady Liberty.
Liberty's awesome, so don't forget to smile!

Yzobella is such a good sport.

Another Fine Drawing From Violette

2009-12-18T23:36:00.001-08:00

Another Fine Drawing From Violette
Originally uploaded by the.omnivore

I drove my Chevy to the Levy

2009-12-18T23:02:00.000-08:00

...and said goodbye.

Actually, a tow truck did the driving, and it didn't go to a levy...and the levy holding back my tears was not dry. How far can I take this? Nothing in Gresham or Portland rhymes with Lodi...so here it ends.

For those of you following the saga, the Suburban is a goner (sold it). We look forward to someday having a vehicle big enough to legally hold all of us, but are biding our time patiently for now with 1)mooching rides off of our ever-lovin' neighbors 2)riding the bus 3)walkin' 4)making multiple trips with Jeff's truck and 5)towing the three youngest with our bike trailer.

Not complaining, just taking this in stride, and thought you might want the scoop. Hopefully we won't be doing a Middle of the World North America sequel.

Happy Birthday, Yzzy!

2009-12-18T22:46:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Y's birthday this week. Tonight, to celebrate, we had the adventure of riding the bus* down to Bipartisan for pie and then heading over to the Academy Theater for Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Lots of fun was had. Yzzy had chocolate/espresso cream pie. For so many reasons we are so blessed to have her for a daughter/big sister!

Bat in the Hat

2009-12-18T22:43:00.000-08:00

It's easy to catch a hibernating bat with a hat. But untangling the bat from the hat is scary once the little guy starts baring its fangs.

Extreme Motocross

2009-12-18T22:41:00.000-08:00

Cleaning Up the Leaves

2009-12-18T22:40:00.001-08:00

Explorer Leo

2009-12-18T22:37:00.000-08:00