just a few

just a few spreads from the book. we're trying to get it out to the printer next week (would be this week, but i'm not sure how to set up the color management yet-blaarrgghh!)

there are things i would've changed or done differently if i were going to do this project again, but i think, on the whole, it looks just fine. i hope buyers think so too.

fundraisers for fall

i've been working for the past month (when not playing bejeweled blitz on facebook) on a couple of projects for some local non-profits. the first is the 2009 readathon for DDR. they've been having me produce a multitude of print materials for this event. i really hope it's a great success.

the second is a collaboration between the nature center at shaker lakes and the local motophoto. this is basically a non-profit project for me as well, but i hope it will be another chance to market my work to the community. so far i've designed this photo border that will be available to nature center members who have portraits taken by motophoto staff this fall.
they have also requested some 4" x 8" christmas card designs, which i'm still working on. i'll post some images for those soon (i hope).

on the move

alas, i had hoped to regale you with tales and lists of all the things that sammy's been up to this week, but as i'm trying to cross off the last vestiges of my to-do list before we hop in the car, there just isn't time for another list within a list.

we are off to see more grandparents this weekend. far be it for me to deprive anyone the company of my little monkey for too long, and more than a month is way too long (in my opinion).

speaking of monkeys...get a load of the boy using his bouncy chair as a jungle gym. go monkey go!

...

i've been struggling with content for the blog lately. lots of things seem to be going on, but nothing exactly earth shaking or blog-worthy. i've got several projects in the works, and maybe i'll share a bit of news on them once they're finished up (or close to finishing up). until then, things are pretty much going along on the same trajectory -- sam being the most important part (and most amusing part) of each day.

for instance, i bring you...greenbean aftermath:

and our new paper shredder:

food for the dude

the other day i was reading an article about homemade baby food vs jarred baby food, and they mentioned the fact that companies that make babyfood are allowed to have a certain amount of things like rat hairs and bug bits in their food. yuck! it made me glad that i've been mostly making sammy's baby food myself. at least that way i know that if there's miscellaneous whatnot in it, it's probably my own fault.
last week i wanted to make sweet potatoes (we bought some of the gerber stuff, and sam really liked it, so i thought i'd try to make my own), but all they had at the grocery was "yams". i figured it was all about the same, but apparently it's not. anywho, i don't think that sam can tell much of a difference. i cooked them up last saturday with a little bit of pumpkin pie spice in them (maybe this only makes sense with sweet potatoes, but sam doesn't seem to mind). today we made fruit salad (peaches and apples with cinnamon), green beans, and lentils. both the green beans and lentils are the new things for this week. i'm anxious to try these out. if he likes the lentils, i'd like to try adding some garlic powder and cumin to them. if he's going to live with me, he's going to need to learn to like garlic and cumin - that's for certain.


and here are his lovely little portions. watch out tummy! here comes the dinner!

more stuff and stuff

for the last week or so, i've been spending my nights working on a new project. last night at around midnight (or maybe it was one or so, i can't exactly recall) i sent off my sketches. so now i'm obsessively checking my email and waiting to hear back. i'm not very good at being patient. i also had a lot more ideas than i was able to work on in the week i had. ah well...i really hope that something i sent looks like what they're hoping for.

sammy the 7 month old

7 month old sammy likes:

- "little dude" (the guy who came with his dump truck) - 9 times out of 10 he's the toy that sammy grabs first, and he'll sit and examine him over and over, day after day

- tags (especially those with writing on them) - he likes tags and loops, but he's most interested in the ones that have some kind of writing on them

- playing "peeker, peeker" (peek-a-boo) - i have a feeling that he could play much longer than i would want to. the easiest way to leave a room is pretend that we're playing "peeker, peeker." if i peer around the corner every once in a while, it's a game, not an i've-been-left-alone moment.

- visiting with "baby sam" in the mirror

- fruit - particularly bananas, apples, pears, and peaches

- being tickled on the legs - being tickled on his ribs and feet are also high on the enjoyment scale

- the jumpster - he loves jumping in the doorway while i make dinner, water the plants, or work in the kitchen

- being tossed and dangled - this boy is a rollercoaster lover in the making

- walkies - the easiest way to calm a fussy sam is a nice walk.

- goodnight calls to daddy - when mike is out of town, we call him at bedtime (before stories). sam's face just lights up as soon as mike starts talking to him on the phone. smiles and talking (or yelling) follow.

7 month old sammy dislikes:

- waiting for dinner - being hungry is tragic and tear inducing. it's very hard to distract a hungry sam.

- being sleepy - this boy likes his sleep. getting there isn't always easy, but once he's sleeping, he's a happy little man.

sammy sandwich

this is one of my favorite photos from the weekend. sammy getting hugs on sunday. so cute! we're lucky to have all the brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles that belong to our church family, and all of them just gush over sammy. not that i can blame them. he's really a magnet for that kind of thing.

we had a great weekend, even if it was a little bit too rainy to do all the things outside that we wanted to do yesterday. and of course it's never long enough. but there's lots to do again this week, and i'm sure it will fly by, and we'll be back to another weekend before we know it. yay!

i heart three day weekends

we've got lots planned for this weekend. baking s'more brownies, a picnic, a hike or two, chipotle, a concert, freelance work, and hopefully working on a couple of projects for the silly little monkey. we might even get the laundry done at some point. maybe.

whoa. i blinked.

and my blog turned one year old. happy belated birthday, blog!

here's to another year of this, that, and lots more sammy (because we all know that he's the star of this show, afterall).

image via martha.