Posts Tagged ‘family’

My shop is open until 9pm on Friday’s and Saturday’s. Elliott is not fan of these nights because it usually means he’ll be asleep before I get home. This past Friday was no exception. Elliott was asleep when I got home and Coral told me that he made something really cool with his Lego’s that he REALLY wanted to show me. In ParentLand this means in the morning I need to be sure to ask him about it. And I would have but, like usual, he beat me to the punch. What that means is that he woke me up at 6:40am with a very subtle, “Dad! I have to show you something!”

Half asleep, groggy eyed and not really 100% sure of what was going on he ran out of the room before I could respond. He came back seconds later carefully carrying this big awesome Lego construction that was actually a Lego version of himself.

(In case you can’t tell from the photo. The arms have some sort of pivot function so they can swing back and forth and the legs have hinges so they can bend.)

Obviously, I thought it was amazing and I told him so and then he left the room with his Lego Elliott and I fell back to sleep. When I finally woke up I had to rush out of the house to make it to work on time. Let’s be honest though, the phrase “on time” actually means opening the shop between 10:15-10:30am despite the posted hours on the front door that claim we open at 10am. The point is, I rushed out and totally forgot to take a photo of Lego Elliott. If you know kids and Lego’s you know the fun things they invent with them are usually quite fleeting. Lucky for us Lego Elliott survived the entire Saturday and this morning before I left for work I was able to get a photo of him. And it’s a good thing I did because when I came home from work today Lego Elliott looked like this.

I’m sure it wouldn’t take much surgery for Elliott to get the Lego version of himself back to working order, but the likelihood is pretty slim. That’s just the nature of Lego building. You build it. Play with it. Wreck it. And then on to the next invention.

That’s a wrap!
Thanks for reading.

– Jeff

* * * * * * *

Need more?
Check out this great text convo with Neal from 2015.
Speaking of Neal. Follow him on Instagram: @nealbretonart

So, if you subscribe to my YouTube Channel this video is not “new”, but I’ve been such a lazy blogger I haven’t posted about it yet. Anyway, this video is a compilation comprised of random clips throughout February and March. It’s much more family oriented, but there is a little art stuff going on too.

Enjoy!
– Jeff

January was a busy month. One kid had a birthday Another kid made a parkour course in the living room. There was a fire. Somebody cried at the beach and I almost finished a painting. Hashtag family life.
Enjoy!

So, my lovely nieces gave their little cousin, Elliott, their trampoline. Obviously, he is THRILLED.

He totally adores these girls.

It’s safe to say, they adore him too.

And here’s a video of me setting up the trampoline and surprising Elliott with it when he came home from school the other day. Enjoy!

Thanks for watching!
– Jeff

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If you’re looking for more things to click on, check these out:
– Time lapse painting videos!
– The Vlogtober Challenge, in which I teach you how to be a professional art vlogger.
– Listen to the Podcast Coral and I never have time to record, Live Work Love.

For some reason I was home alone on Saturday morning, which doesn’t happen often. I think I even slept in a little, which happens even less. These two things made for the beginning of a great day. It got even better when Coral texted that she was coming to pick me up. That sounds weird considering we live together, but it was exciting because normally when one of us comes home that is exactly what we do. We park the car and go in the house. This idea of getting picked up seemed so spontaneous. Romantic even. Visions of hot cocoa and chocolate chip croissants filled my head. Where could she be taking me, I wondered. Feeling like an excited little boy on his way to the candy store I grabbed my backpack and camera as I ran out the door. Whatever cute adventure she had in mind I wanted to document it.

This photo was taken in May 2015 and has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but since I’m writing about Coral I should really have a photo of her. Anyway…

I get in the car full of excitement and as she begins backing out of the driveway I ask where we’re going. She very naturally says, “Oh, we need to put gas in the car and I need you to pump the fuel because I don’t want to.”

I’ve been walking around in a lifeless zombie like state ever since. With a single solitary tear running down the side of my face.

This is an actual conversation I heard the other day between Evy (14) and James (16). So, the situation was James and Evy were downstairs. I was upstairs and could hear that James was singing. I couldn’t tell what song he was singing, but he seemed pretty into it. Also, he wasn’t singing along with music playing. This was straight up a cappella. Evelyn interrupted his singing to ask:
“What dees is that from?”
From upstairs I thought, “What is she talking about it?” while simultaneously fearing that maybe I was too old and uninformed to have heard of some new style of music. Luckily, James asked, “What?”
Evy: What dees is that from?
James, still confused: What do you mean?
Evy again: What dees is that from…you know, like 80’s or 90’s?

And that’s when I almost spit cereal out of my nose and had to rush to my room so they wouldn’t hear me cracking up. This next thing I’m about to tell you is one of those situations where my ability to be a good parent could and probably should be questioned. Naturally, my first instinct is to help and educate by teaching Evy the word “era”. For example, “What era is that song from?” But, I’m also human with a questionable sense of humor, which means I thought it would be more fun to not teach her and hope that she says “dees” for years to come. I especially hope she says it while talking to a boy she’s trying to impress.

Sometimes, as a parent, we need these things to keep our sanity. Now get out there and not teach something to your kids today!

I grew up in SLO and had never heard about The Polar Bear Dip in Cayucos until about 10 years ago. Probably because I was off in the mountains snowboarding and snowmobiling. Oh, how I miss those days! The first New Year’s after I met Coral she introduced me to The Polar Bear Dip and we haven’t missed a year yet. The funny thing is we’ve never truly participated in the dipping part, but our kids do and it’s become a family tradition. I think this year was the kids’ eleventh year of running into the freezing surf. Their grandparents even drive up from San Diego every year to join the madness. Also, it’s James’ birthday so it’s just a big party all around.

You can click the photo at the top to see a movie I put together of the event. I also made a short movie documenting Elliott’s first Polar Bear Dip (it’s only 1:29). We did not anticipate that he’d take the plunge so he braved the cold ocean in his Lightning McQueen underwear. Click this photo to see that video:

Enjoy!
– Jeff

First off, parents are not fans of three day weekends. Having kids home an extra day is no walk in the park. School should probably be ten hours a day, eight days a week. It was much harder for Coral since I ditched out on family duties to spend some time in thee ole’ studio on Saturday and Sunday. Then today I ditched her again to watch my nieces, but I did take Elliott with me, so Coral had one very needy and demanding kid out of her hair for the majority of the day. Last week I started a Lucha Libre series. Or better put, a series of Mexican Wrestling masks. Here are the first two in the series.

“Mighty Miguel”
3.5″ x 5″ – mixed media on wood
$60, plus shipping
Available online.

“Feisty Felipe”
5.5″ x 8″ – mixed media on wood
$80, plus shipping
Available online.

In addition to the Lucha Libre masks I also finished a new blockhead owl.

“Andy The Owl”
3.5″ x 7″ – mixed media on wood
$65, plus shipping
Available online.

Enough of the, “Look at me. Buy my art…wah, wah, wah” self promotional mumbo jumbo. Here are a few other tidbits from the week. But, really, you probably should buy some artwork. I’d be super stoked, plus I have a lot of bills. Anyway…

Here’s a studio shot that I am posting as less of a self-promotional buy my stuff pic and more of a it’s just part of my life photo. This is the first time in a long time that I’ve had enough artwork to cover a wall and I spent a big portion of my Saturday studio time wiring, signing, hanging and pricing artwork.

Again, this is more just part of my life so it’s getting thrown in the “weekly wrap up” because it takes a long time to make 100 magnets.

I was super stoked to go on a man date with my buddy Justin who I haven’t seen for a few months. We are probably the first people to spend 2 hours having lunch at a Mr. Pickles. Hey look, I know I called it a man date, but don’t let your pervy imagination turn “lunch at Mr. Pickles” into something it’s not.

And, of course, you can’t pull a camera out in front of Neal without him offering up his good side. And by “good side” I mean his stubby middle finger.

Well, there you have it. I can’t recall writing a weekly wrap up before, but it might be something I try to make a habit out of.

I hope you had a great weekend. If you’re not a parent I’m sure you did. If you didn’t then you are a jerk and need a little perspective. For example, Coral got yelled at by Evelyn (our thirteen year old daughter) for asking Evy to wash a dirty cup of soup that has been in her room for at least 6 days. The conversation went something like:

“Evy, please take that cup downstairs and wash it. I’ve asked several times and it’s been there for days, which is just gross.”

To which Evy responded, “Ughhh! You guys expect us to do everything ourselves!”

And really, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Anyway…

Tune in next time for…
who knows what. I’ll be babbling about something and I can assure you it will be babbles you won’t want to miss.

– Jeff

The title says “something I don’t understand”, but when it comes to James, I don’t understand any of it. I might be going a little too far by posting a photo of his underwear, but oh well. This kid kicks lazy up to a whole new level. Actually, kicking takes too much energy. This kid drops lazy to a whole new level. It’s literally been years of telling him to remove his belt from his pants before putting them in the wash. I didn’t even realize this was something I would ever have to tell another human being. The underwear intertwined in the pant legs is just a bonus for all of our viewing pleasure. Speaking of bonus, there was a Starbucks and Taco Bell gift card in his pocket. Which is now going in my pocket, cha-ching! I’ll admit, occasionally I forget something in my pockets and Coral fishes a screw or bent staple out of the washer, but I literally found the same Starbucks card in yesterday’s wash. I told James he forgot it in his pocket when I handed it to him just last night. You’d think that a Starbucks and a Taco Bell card would be like gold to a 14 year old, but James seems to dismiss it like yesterday’s dirty laundry. And today’s dirty laundry. Did that joke land? I’m not quite sure, but I’ll leave it.

Anyway, Here are a couple of “Jamestories” I’ve collected this month.

Jan. 2
James: I don’t like peanuts/peanut butter or cashews or almonds.
Me: I don’t like cashews either. (In my head I’m thinking, “Awesome, father-son bonding over the hatred of cashews.)
Then Coral walked in and I said, proudly, “We don’t like cashews.”
James (to Coral and I): Do you know where cashews come from?
Me: They grow on a tree.*
James: No, they come from papayas.
Coral and I shared a look we often share with each other when James is being James.

Jan. 14
Me: What are you doing in our room?
James: Using the mirror.
Me: Use the mirror in your room.
James: But I can’t see my socks in my mirror.
Me: Seriously?
James: You wouldn’t understand.

And he walked out of the room. Kind of unrelated, but the next day he wore a Rasta shirt with matching Rasta earbuds. I should mention that I have never seen him wear earbuds to school before. And I should mention that he hasn’t worn them since. This is where the sock conversation comes into play. I know he has a pair of Rasta socks somewhere. I guess he just couldn’t find them in time to wear with the outfit he orchestrated for the day. This reminds me of one of my earlier posts from when James was 12. It’s called, “James Prefers Fashion Over Function” and, although I’m biased, it’s totally worth a read.

See ya!
– Jeff

* As it turns out, cashews are very interesting in that they are actually a seed to the cashew apple. Personally, I think they’re kind of weird looking because the cashew nut is on the outside of the cashew apple. So yes, they do grow in a tree, but they are attached to a fruit. As much pleasure as it brings me to make fun of my kids, I have to say that in James’ defense, although the cashew does not come from a papaya, it does come from another fruit.

(photo by Coral)

This kid. He’s such a monkey. Ready for real talk? Here’s the truth about having a kid. I have never loved something so much yet been so incredibly annoyed with a person at the same exact time. It’s a strange feeling, which is made stranger because while he’s being annoying he has no clue at all that he’s being annoying. And he looks at me with the happiest eyes I’ve ever seen. He’s so full of love and just wants to play. It’s one of the hard things about being a parent and working at home. If I didn’t have to work I would be wrestling and having tickling wars with Elliott all day. Normally, my work at home days are spent in the garage while Coral watches Elliott in the house and that’s a nice set up. As of late, it’s been freezing in the garage, so I’ve been setting up shop on our kitchen table. Yes, my seat is right over a heater vent and it feels great. Ok, now let me give you a little play by play.

Elliott is in the living room with Coral while I’m in the kitchen working on a painting. Elliott runs to me yelling, “ELMO!” while shoving an Elmo plush doll in my face. After hugging Elmo I hand him back and Elliott runs back to the living room. One minute later he’s running back to me saying, “McQueen! McQueen! McQueen!”. I hand him the Lightning McQueen car that’s on the table. He grabs it, saying, “Welcome!” as he turns away because somewhere he picked up on the phrase “you’re welcome” and he uses it instead of saying “thank you.” It’s cute and endearing and he’ll figure it out eventually. A minute passes and he’s back in the kitchen pointing at our bunny, Pascal, who is enjoying his out of the cage time by munching on a cardboard box in the corner of our kitchen. Elliott fishes a bunny poop out of the cage and tries to feed it to Pascal. Then he motions to me to pet Pascal. After I pet the bunny Elliott grabs a bungee cord that he’s attached to Elmo’s leg and runs back to the living room yelling something in that special Elliott speak that we can’t always decipher.

Ok, let’s review. In a three minute span of time I…
– stopped painting to hug Elmo
– stopped painting to grab a McQueen car
– stopped painting to explain that Pascal does not want to eat his own poop

That’s all in a three minute span of time, people. And this goes on ALL DAY. I allow myself to watch something on YouTube while I eat lunch. Today I chose a 12 minute long interview with Mike D. In the twenty minutes of stuffing my face with more quesadillas than I can count, I managed to see 5 minutes of the interview because Elliott “needed” something every minute or two which involved setting down my food, pausing the video and taking off my headphones.

Sure, every once in awhile he will get totally engrossed in something, which is awesome for two reasons. One, I love to see his little mind at work while he constructs a block tower or hooking a bungee cord up to two cars so they can tow each other around. And two, it creates a little pocket of time in which I (or Coral) can work without interruptions.

By the 15th Elliott interruption today I looked at him and said, “Elliott, you are so annoying, but so stinking cute.” Then I picked him up and gave him a big hug.

What else can I do? I love the little pest.

We took a little family outing to San Miguel today. I took A LOT of photos and videos of Elliott. I even got some more photos of Coral taking photos, but it’s all too overwhelming to edit them all tonight. I did like this one though, so I’m posting it as a preview to a future post. Keeping it short and sweet tonight.

Sweet dreams.
– Jeff

I can see this becoming an ongoing series of mine. I have already amassed A LOT of photos of Coral taking photos. Some might consider it an unhealthy amount. Others might consider me a stalker. She is much more the photographer in the family than I am, which means she gets to use the fancy camera. Although, since investing in the GoPro I’ll have to admit I’m feeling pretty fancy lately.

Another thing I’ll have to admit is how cute she looks with a camera in her hand. I mean, Dang! She is one hot little cutie! One of the things about Coral that you might not know is that she transforms into a totally different person when she gets a camera in her hand. I’ve seen the transformation take place numerous times and it never gets boring to me. I love watching her work.

I’ve learned that once she’s in her element it is best to step back and let her do her thing. If you get in her way you get trampled, so be on the lookout.

These photos were all taken back in October after spending a day in Cambria. Highway 46 is a gorgeous drive from Paso Robles to Cambria. It can get pretty windy up there, but on a clear day you get a spectacular view of the Pacific and can even see Morro Rock off in the distance. If you find yourself on this drive I highly suggest stopping by Jack Creek Farm and trying one of their delicious Apple Cider Slushies. So good!

Coral doesn’t know I’m writing this and I might get in trouble for it, but oh well…I’m going to say it anyway. She is totally available for photography jobs. I know she won’t do a wedding, but she’s totally up for product shots, possibly some candid style portraits and of course, fashion photography. If you’re interested in hiring her contact her through one of her IG accounts or let me know and I’ll pass on the message.

Check her out on Instagram. She has two accounts at the moment.
instagram.com/slomygosh: Her personal account with lots of photos of our kids and some other random stuff.
instagram.com/coralcoloredglasses: Her professional account. Since May 2014 it is mostly photos of her deer series, which is totally worth checking out, but if you scroll down past May you will see some of her fashion photography.

Thanks for looking!
– Jeff