Day 2 yogi bear and Old Rag Mountain

We started out the day with bouncing and the requisite Yogi Bear flag salute, complete with Yogi, Cindy, and BooBoo.

And then we followed that up with an 8 hour crazy persons hike, up a mountain, the likes of which I have never experienced before. We had to shimmy through crevices and out over rock ledges and through a cave. The moment I will never forget though, was when we almost had to quit 4 hours into the hike. We met a crevasse. The only way past was over. Noel jumped right across. It's was maybe a 3 foot jump, but a long,messy way down if you missed. Solenn sat and cried. And, I have to admit, I panicked. I mostly couldn't figure out how to get Carys across. So we sat for a while with Noel on one side and the three of us on the other. Until Solenn abruptly stood up, wiped her tears away, and took the leap. Yes, my heart skipped a beat. But wow, what a girl.

Then a long legged, rock jumping stranger wandered up and offered us his assistance. I said yes, but my heart entirely left my body as I watched him with a foot on either side of the world., slow motion style, pick her up from under her armpits, dangle her briefly over the bottomless pit, and deposit her safely on the other side. Then we continued our hike.

We met many helpful, kind, and patient people on that hike.

At the end of the day, there is only one time in my life I have ever been so tired. Will have to tell you about that one later. I don't know how the kids did it. What an amazing day.

If you ever get a chance to hike Old Rag Mountain, don't pass it up!

Roadtrip with the SnickerDoodles Day 1

Yes, we're on a road trip!

We're already on Day 4, but here's what we did on day 1...

Amish country in Pennsylvania!
We visited the Amish Farm and House. The kids had a lesson with Teacher Kate in the one room school house.
http://www.amishfarmandhouse.com/

And were intrigued by Chris the whittler who whittled flowers for them and showed them how to whittle a little rooster from a stick.
http://www.whittlingwithchris.com/

Next stop was Abe's Buggy Rides.
http://www.abesbuggyrides.com/
Earl was our driver. We chatted about horses, cell phones, technology, lifestyles, and family. Fantastic little adventure.

And then a quick stop at Gettysburg. Wish we'd had longer! You could spend days here. It was fascinating.
http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm

And then on to Virginia...

Photos are from my iPhone and unedited!

Happy Easter!!

We worked hard getting ready for Easter this year!

I'm happy the kids are as obsessive about Easter eggs as I am. This year Solenn made a pretty design on paper and I used it as inspiration for my egg.

I used to make these Ukrainian eggs when I was a kid. I can't remember when or how we started making them. I don't remember learning how to do it. I'll have to ask my mom if she remembers. I used to loooove making them. I made Easter egg Christmas ornaments for my grandmother. I won the high school art award with an Easter egg my senior year (Go Rams!).

Anyway... now the kids love making them too. A few years ago I started looking around for supplies and I called around to some local craft stores. And got awesomely insulted. I'm still trying to think of a good comeback. And when I called one (which shall remain nameless, but starts with the letter M) I said, "Excuse me do you have Ukrainian egg decorating supplies? No? Do you know where I might be able to find them?"

I can still hear her answer in my head. A little scratchy and nasal.  "Ummm... maybe back in the 70's?"

Let me know if you have any good comebacks. I'll call them back up again now.

These are some of mine from this year and the last few years:

These are some of the kids':

Here's the store in New York where I eventually found supplies. No one mocked me there.
http://www.surmastore.com/pysanka.html

And here's how to do it:
http://www.learnpysanky.com/steps.html

Rollerblading

Yesterday we went to the playground and the girls grabbed a bike and a scooter. I grabbed my 20, haven't been touched in 19, year old roller blades. Yes, our garage is a disaster. We went off, and at the park I made the kids stand next to me so they could break my fall when I wiped out. The middle one said, "Oh, Mom, you'll be able to do it. You're great at everything you try." So uplifting! And yet... now I just have to wonder when that sweet loving image she has of me will someday (many many many years from now) be shattered.

Here's a sketch from the same park a couple of days earlier. Someone else's kids...

More exciting news!

I now have a Favicon!!!!

Also known as I now have oneofthosefunnylittlepicturesthatgoesupinthebrowsertabswiththenameofmywebpage!

I can't tell you how excited this makes me and I have no idea why!

So exciting. Here is is:

Impressive, right?!

Even more impressive... it's a "multi-resolution favicon"!

Now I know you must be really impressed.

If it's a "multi-resolution favicon" that means if there's just a tiny bit of space it will show up tiny, but with a little more space it will look bigger. And it will look good at different sizes- all the way from small to teensy tiny.

You should see it in the tab at the top of my blog! Let me know if it works! I also put it on my website, so you should see it on the tab at the top of my website too: http://www.anikmcgrory.com


First I tried to make it myself. I used these webpages to figure it out:

http://voices.yahoo.com/10-tips-making-effective-favicon-7979814.html?cat=59
http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/10/06/pixel-art-create-a-better-favicon-for-your-website/
http://www.sketchpad.net/1pixelbrush.htm

I discovered it was very difficult to make a tiny-little-image-so-small-you-can-barely-see-it look good. I spent several hours (days?) working on it and then gave up and went here:

http://smoothdraw.com/product/freeware.htm

I downloaded SimplyIcon and then dragged and dropped, and voila: instant magic multi-resolution favicon!

Further instructions for making your own multi-resolution favicon (yes, I like saying that) by hand on photoshop can be found here:
 
http://www.ehow.com/how_6511844_create-icon-file.html

I gave up after following the directions on how to use SimplyIcon.

OK... Now I want to see all those multi-resolution favicons everyone's making after reading this!!! Favicon away! I do think it should be a verb now.

My new toy!

... is a wacom tablet. So I can draw straight into the computer. I think for me it will never replace a pencil and a sketchbook, but it sure is fun. Here's my first wacom sketch...

Do you see the little guy in the bottom left corner?

His name is Logo.

Creative aren't I?

I'm going to use him to put watermarks on my photos and sketches that I put on here.

Look, here he is again!

Do you see him?

Bottom right?

Allright, here he is big!

Edit:  Some more info. How to make a logo and turn it into a watermark...
I used mostly these 2 links to figure it out. I've never used illustrator before so it took me a while to figure out how to do anything. It's so different from photoshop!

this had some helpful basic illustrator stuff:
http://www.newthinktank.com/2010/07/adobe-illustrator-cs5-tutorial/

and this was very useful to learn about watermarks:
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/watermarking-your-photos-in-photoshop-7-and-cs-4881

Yes, definitely my child.

Breakfast at our house a few days ago.

And yes, that is her drinking glass she has turned into her brush rinsing glass. I am a good enough mom that I confirmed she had only drunk out if it before she had rinsed her brushes. Not after.

How has this come about?

My new morning routine. I've been reclaiming time. 5-7 every morning is mine. All mine.

The only problem?

The other early riser is... You guessed it... Carys.

Sleepy Sheepy (her nightlight/anti-alarm clock) tries to keep her in bed, but he doesn't always succeed. 

Hence, painting and breakfast.

This is a photo from the following morning pre breakfast...

She likes mine best.

I like hers best.

2 Books You Should Go Read

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
I randomly came across this at the library a while back. The audio version, which was terrific. I thought it might help me pull my self together! Do I look pulled together yet?? This book could change your life (my life?). I think. Also, even if it doesn't it's fascinating!

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt
2004. Newbery Honor. Printz Honor.
I don't know why I had never read this before. The kids and I finished it last night. The ending was a little rough. I think my just turned 8 year old may have been a little young. Maybe. This is a book that I think will stick with me for a long long time.

The Next Big Thing: A Global Blog Tour

I was tagged by my friend Liza Woodruff to participate in a blog tour! I'm supposed to answer some questions about a recent or upcoming book and then pass it on to some author and illustrator friends. So here goes...

1 What is the working title of your next book?
2 Where did the book idea come from for the book?
3 What genre does your book fall into?

 I'm going to answer these together, because I feel like it!

I'm going to write about Magical Monty, written by the fabulous Johanna Hurwitz and illustrated by Me! It's a chapter book for early readers and it's the fourth and final book in a series about a slightly shy first grade boy named Monty. The ideas and the writing for the series is all Johanna Hurwitz, but it's funny that many of the events throughout the series felt like they were mirroring my own life. When I was working on the first book, Mostly Monty, my son was starting to get ready for first grade, like Monty. He was an excellent reader and had asthma, just like Monty. Monty's baby sister was born, and my son's baby sister was born- two, actually, over the time I was working on the series. We've had pet birds, and, of course, lost teeth. Monty has identical twin friends. And Noel has identical twin cousins, who look mysteriously similar to the girls in the book. And just this year, my daughter, now in second grade, joined an after school magic club at her school. So it's been fun to illustrate all of these things and be right in the middle of it while I'm drawing it!

4 What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
hmmm... I'm not good at actors and actresses. I think that boy from Nanny McPhee would be just about perfect!! But he'd be too old. And he's got that whole british accent thing going. I'll get back to you on that. 

5  What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
A sweet boy grows into himself and discovers the world.

6 Who is publishing your book?
Candlewick. Love them!

7 How long did it take you to write the first draft?
Infinity. I didn't write it. T
o sketch and draw and paint the illustrations? I forget. 9 months?

8 What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Maybe a little bit like the Ramona books, but for a little bit younger.

9 Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Illustrate the book. The kids, of course. I love to draw the kids. I love to watch them figure things out in the world.

10 What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
Maybe these?!

Thanks for checking this out!!

And don't forget to take a look at Liza's book, "If it's Snowy and You Know It, Clap Your Paws!"

And finally, next on the blog tour, available next Thursday, two Jennifers!

A fantastic new children's book author and illustrator, my friend, Jennifer K Mann!!!

 

And the magnificent author and illustrator, my friend, Jennifer P Goldfinger, who is just starting her brand new blog here!! Welcome to blog world, Jen!

Barbara Firth

I just saw that Barbara Firth died recently. 

She's one of my very favorite illustrators.

That makes me very sad.

Little House on the Prairie and other stuff

We've recently taken the whole of season 1 of Little House on the Prairie out from the library, and we've been watching it episode by episode. They don't make tv shows like that anymore!

Carys on the drive home from school yesterday:
Mom, why doesn't Ma ever yell at her children when they're late for school?

Show is definitely a bad influence.

Another favorite recent Carys quote...
Carys On Skiing:
Mom, my hands have a headache.

Here's an sketch from early in the morning on our recent ski vacation while the kids were still sleeping:

The 2 little ones were snuggled in the same big bed. (Sorry snuggling not shown.)

They always remind me of hamsters when they're sleeping. 

I don't know why.

Carys at Work

Carys draws with her face so close to the paper,

you can barely tell what she's doing.

 

I used to draw like that.

last month's birding

Last month we did a little bit of birding here and there.

Of some excitement to me was a cute little clay colored sparrow. I didn't get a picture of him because I didn't have my camera, but you can see a picture of him here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sueorourke/8439486248/in/photostream/

Not so exciting to you? Sorry.

Noel and I also saw this guy...

 

Can you see him??

 He looks like this. If you look again I think you'll find him. He camouflages very well.

He's an American Woodcock. Apparently he's also called a Timberdoodle.
We liked him quite a lot.

And of course we saw lots of these guys:

 

Glenn is not so fond of them because they eat everything in our yard.

I still like them, but don't tell Glenn that. 

Happy Valentines Day!

Thumbnails and Storyboards and Book Dummies

Carys is very excited about her new book.

 

We had a snow day yesterday and she worked on it all morning long.

Then the big kids came home and we watched season 1 of little house on the prairie and looked at the deer eating out of the birdfeeder with the snow coming down then a friend came over and we played apples to apples and then they all dressed up like martians and went outside to play in the snow.

The end.

Music Classes

The girls have music on Thursdays.

Noel has recently changed to Tosday for guitar.

For the Love of Pickles

Carys came into our room at midnight last night because she urgently needed to tell us all the reasons she loves pickles. First of all, she loves the way they make that snapping noise. Secondly, she loves their color. Secondly, she loves their little crunchiness. And secondly, she likes the little bit of sourness.

All the secondlys are hers. I cannot take credit for them.

She's excited about the little jar of French cornichons we have in the refrigerator that I wouldn't let her open last night because we're saving them to go with the hamburgers and hotdogs we're going to have to celebrate Solenn's birthday tonight. She woke up not because of the cake and ice cream.

Because of the pickles.

This is the drawing she made on our kitchen whiteboard last night:



In case you can't read (a frequent problem in our house these days) it says "hape bfta", which could otherwise be spelled, "happy birthday!" Yes, those are balloons. And Hape Bfta is in a speech bubble. But we don't know who's speaking... I'll have to investigate further. Maybe it's a pickle.

In other news, Carys' kindergarten teachers have mistakenly informed her that Elemelo is not a letter in the alphabet, and that (secondly) the second S has been replaced by a new and mysterious letter called X. Very sad.

Secondly, her sister rudely pulled out her very first loose tooth. I was enjoying that tooth.

At least we can still sing Bla Bla Blacksheep together.

Hot off the presses!

Finally! My website redesign! It's been a long time waiting, but I've finally redesigned and updated my website. Yes, it still needs a few tweaks, but I'm proud of it.

Check it out:
http://www.anikmcgrory.com

Our resident book critic...

...gives 2 thumbs up to Stuck by Oliver Jeffers!

A Trip to France

We've been in France for the past couple of weeks now, and we're loving every minute. I've even had a chance to get a little sketching time in!

These were done in Pornic in Brittany.

The images might not be the best quality. i took them on the beach with my iphone. I was holding open the page with the book I'm reading right now (The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. Glenn's reading The Difficulty of Being Good, by Gurcharan Das. It's a little more dense. Gretchen's book reminded me i should be keeping my blog up to date!)