Watch Foriegn Movies - The Way He Looks

Our former roommate, The World Traveler, told us about this brilliant film called The Way He Looks.  Borrowed it from the library and watched it twice.  A romantic film about figuring your shit out as a teenager.  You know, that whole thing.  It is well done though and approved by a variety of film tastes.

The Way He Looks

Being a Better Father When You're Not Even a Mother

With the little humans afoot, we have begun taking more consideration of how we can learn to be better parents.  Given that both of us have lady bodies and neither of us have actually birthed any children from said lady bodies, we have quite a task ahead of us.  As Auntie and Tia, we are attempting to fulfill the roles of Mother and Father.  We have found some traditional methods for learning these roles including talking with other parents and attending ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) classes.  Our favorite resources on how to be good fathers come from some other kinds of sources, listed below.  Here is what we have learned so far, mostly from the bassist, Flea:

1. Be there.  (Classic and yet so difficult, apparently.)
2. Actually care.
3. Really listen.
4. Teach them the good things you know about life.
5. Do the stuff with them that they like to do.
6. Stay calm even though little people rarely stay calm.
7. Admit when you do something wrong and apologize.
8. Reward the positives, discuss the negatives.
9. Tell the truth.
10. Avoid hypocrisy.  (Little humans can smell acts of hypocrisy.)

The Other F Word

Rad Dad

Go Swimming (or How the YWCA Saved Our Sanity) - Done

Hello Friends,

The YWCA may be one of the best inventions for people with little humans ever.  Did you know that swimming for an hour forces little humans to pass out instantly?  Also, they have this room where you can drop your kid off and then go sit in a hot tub.  What?  These gifts have actually encouraged me to swim quite a bit.  I have even started running even though I am not playing tag or breaking the law.  Strange.  With one mini triathlon completed and the second one scheduled, I am left wondering what all of this means, but I have grown to love it.  So, with a pair of ugly running shoes from a secondhand store and the tightest article of clothing I own, my racing swimsuit, we are off again.

Much love,

Nicole

Toddlers with Backpacks

Hello Friends,

If you know anyone with a toddler or preschooler or are owned by one yourself, encourage the little humans to carry their own backpacks.  This suggestion is made for two main reasons. 

1. I have recently come to the realization that there may be nothing cuter than a toddler with a backpack.

2. Don't do things for them that they can do themselves.  Little humans want to be independent and growns-ups should not thwart that desire by carrying more than they already have to.  Seriously people, put down that princess backpack.  God gave little humans shoulders for a reason.

Supporting evidence below.

Much love,

Nicole

Fill a Bare Book and Try New Art Medium - Done

Hello Friends,

As part of a series of drawing sessions between Monica and I, I managed to fill a bare book and try several new types of art media.  Great exercise all around and it got us making art again more frequently. It turned out to be a counting book called 11Wheels.  Great fun.  Below are some examples from the book including papercut, masking fluid,  digital, block print, and pen on top of gouache.

Much love,

Nicole

Try New Recipes - Three Done

Hello Friends,

Cooking is something I only really got into when I decided to resign from my job to be a radical homemaker. Many tasty adventures have followed, which is why trying new recipes is on my Year-Long list. It is very easy to make the same things over and over again, especially with the Little Ones. I added recipes to my list so that I would not make excuses for myself and continue to push my skills and taste buds.

When I look for recipes, I first check our few recipe books Betty Crocker Cookbook and the Homemade Pantry being the most perused. Then I grab a few recipes from the internets and use a little from each one to create a recipe that works for how I cook. So far Indian-Style Samosas, Chocolate Mouse, and Orange Cream Smoothies. Yum.

Much love,

Nicole

Go on a Trip - Done

Hello Friends,

My list this year should really have said "Plan and execute an epic train adventure" because seriously, it was intense.  If you know any 2 to 7 year old tiny people, you will notice that trains have an impressive and magical ability to connect to children in a way that has been lost by growns-ups.  The Bigger Little Human's first word was "choo-choo" and the Little Human can already say "train."  Shit is magic, check it out.  Below is our itinerary and a few photos.  The Chicago Hostel is amazing; great rooms and fantastic crown pleasing breakfast.  The Earthship was miraculous.  Mesa Verde was beautiful and 10 times more impressive than in photos.  New Mexico reminded us much of Norte Chico, Chile.  Tasty food and gorgeous sunsets and sunrises.  This was our first time traveling with the Little Humans and it went exceptionally well.  Enjoy.

Train to Chicago
Stayed in HI Chicago Hostel - Cloud Gate
Train to New Mexico
Stayed in Earthship
Visited and Stayed at Mesa Verde in Colorado
Stayed in Albuquerque Hostel
Train to Chicago
Stayed in HI Chicago Hostel - Chicago Children's Museum
Train to St. Paul

Much love,

Nicole

Visit a Minnesota Destination - Done

Hello Friends,

Although I was hoping to visit the Jeffers Petroglyphs, we ended up staying a hostel near the Mississippi Headwaters and visited the tallest Paul Bunyan statue over winter break.  It was pretty great and pretty Minnesotan.  The Little Human now says "Hi Paul" to his photo on the wall in our living room.  Still can't say Auntie, but Paul gets his own greeting.  When's the last time Paul changed any diapers?  Anyway, enjoy the photos. (Note: Paul Bunyan is a myth and the Mississippi Headwaters are really every bit of water in that region and no one specific place even if a bunch of guys constructed a neat looking pile of rocks that get stolen by visitors and have to be replaced all the time from rocks that are not even from the area.  Both were highly photogenic.  The dinosaurs were, of course, Monica's doing.  Shockingly.) 

Much Love,

Nicole

Create a T-Shirt Design - Done

Hello Friends,

After beginning an illustration class, and not really digging the first assignment, I began reworking a t-shirt design that I had started in the fall.  It combines my fascination with bubbles and their power to calm toddlers with shape work.  I think I finally managed to get the bubble blower more accurate proportions.

Much love,

Nicole

A New Backpack - Done

Hello Friends,

A backpack became a comfort object during high school. It was a barrier between me and all of the chaos life swirls around you when you are in the throws of becoming an adult. I have never been fond of purses and diaper bags, so I use a backpack instead, even as an adult caregiver of young children. Recently I went on a search to find a bag that would work just right to hold the kid stuff and the grown up stuff I needed to carry with me on everyday outings. I am much more interested in function than form, but I still have aesthetic desires that need to be met.

What needed to fit in this new backpack? A couple diapers, change of clothes for each kid, my inhaler, wallet, cell phone, bus pass, library card, pens, extra hankies, snack, and my tiny companion Mr. Mikey. When I don't have kid stuff, I also need it to hold a computer.

After drawing up what I thought I needed, I started and ended my search at REI. The backpack I found was not designed specifically for any of my intended uses, but it is compact, comfortable, and useful.

This purchase also satisfied one of my year-long list goals. Hurray!

See the New Backpack 

Much love,

Nicole

Year-Long Lists

Hello Friends,

Each year around her birthday, Monica makes a list of things to do before her next birthday. The number of things to do is determined by her new current age. I picked up this habit last year, but instead of my birthday, I use the start of the new school year which always feels like our New Year. I have found that it helps focus me I what I really want to accomplish. Some things change throughout the year and I remain flexible to the whims of life. As I turned 30 in June, this is my current list:

30 Things Before Fall of 31^st Year

1. Create a t-shirt design
2. Create family postcard #2
3. Try paddle boarding
4. Visit petroglyphs or another MN destination
5. Go on a trip
6. Learn a song on something I can sing with
7. Learn a song on the harmonica
8. Create a backpack plan
9. Submit filet crochet, papercut, or seed art to the State Fair
10. Update artist website
11. Fill a bare book
12. Try a new art medium
13. Do something with memorabilia bucket
14. Create or attend an illustration class and create 6 print-ready pages
15. Go dancing or throw a dance party 6 times
16. Draw 6 people, well
17. Read books, stories, or essays
18. Go climbing and/or swimming
19. Create surprises for Monica
20. Eat at 6 new restaurants and/or food trucks
21. Try 6 new recipes
22. Watch 6 new foreign films
23. Scan photographs to fill album 12 times
24. Practice steps
25. Do one nice thing for myself each month
26. Conduct second graphic novel book club
27. Complete Spanish levels 1 and 2 on computer
28. Floss twice each week
29. Stretch and exercise twice each week
30. Continue blog (starting with this post)

Much love,

Nicole

Family Postcard #1

Hello Friends,

As secular folks, we have struggled to think of a good way to share family photos and information with our friends and family. Many folks do this with a card at the end of the calendar year. We have coworkers who choose a silly week, such as National Library Week, and send it out then. After much thought, we have compromised on a family postcard during the summer, which is essentially our New Year. Below is the front photo collage and the information we printed at home and slipped into the envelope.

This year has once again been filled with amazing adventures:

Nicole resigned from her position as behavior support from Bancroft Elementary and has taken on several art residencies, professional organizing, and substitute teaching. Monica recently finished her fourth year as a teacher's aide at Bancroft and loves working with 2^nd and 3^rd grade classes.

Together there has been:

A trip to WI, camping in Afton, a plethora of niece and nephew fun, lots of biking, three deaths within our families, many house guests, gardening, a Camp Quest Summit in Dallas, lots of homemade food adventures, making things, dancing, and too many visits to the library and farmers' market to count.

Some of our favorites this year:

Museums - M.I.A., Weisman, Franconia, Arboretum

Movies - Song of the Sea, Where Do We Go Now?, Begin Again, Lunch Box, Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Interstellar, Shock Doctrine

Books - Hug Me, It's All Too Much, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, 100 Demons

Much love,

Nicole and Monica

Glimpses of a New Home Part 6

The Sketchbook Project

 

http://www.sketchbookproject.com/

Glimpses of a New Home Part 5

Glimpses of a New Home Part 4

Making Monday: Kool Aid Yarn Dyeing

Learn how from Knitty.