Idaho: A Great State

I don't know if Idaho is in the market for a new promotional poster, but if it is, here you go. Yeah, Old Faithful is a little out of place. But the heart is there. And what state wouldn't want to be represented by a weenie dog fishing from horseback, while harvesting potatoes?

Another Cartoonist?

I begin to wonder if we've got yet another cartoonist in the house. Though she's not as serious about it as her older brother.

Photos from Mars

So I draw a picture. And then our oldest does his own version, and does it much better than I. I am content.

I Wanna Be A Cowboy

Another A+ for a drawing from our youngest. This is kind of a different cowboy. I'm not sure many of them walk around with whips, so part of me wonders if this didn't start out as another Indiana Jones drawing.

Even More Zombies

Yeah. More zombies.

Zombie Time

First, you need to know that the zombies we draw are not the killing, brains-eating freaks you see in all those movies (and yes, you see them; I certainly don't). Basically, our zombies (relax, they don't sparkle) just have spinning eyes, Gary Larson-esque protruding lips and an affection for whatever activity or item on which they might be fixating at the moment. So here are a few zombies I drew a few weeks ago to entertain the kids at church.

Yes, I do entertain the kids a lot at church with drawings. It's a quiet activity, except for the giggling.

Share the Marshmallows

Mmmmm. S'mores.

Constellation Man

In honor of us finally (maybe) breaking out our oldest's birthday telescope this weekend, I present for your delectation and delight an assortment of constellations. Enjoy.

A Big Bundle of Church Doodles

It's been rough, these past few months.

Rough in that we have to head to church at 1 pm, which makes it a lot of trouble getting out the door and to church in a happy mood. You'd think with time to wake up, eat breakfast, play around and then get dressed, the kids would be happy happy.

Not so, especially for the oldest. It's been a rough few months.

So I've taken to desperation: Drawing a few doodles to try to encourage our oldest to crack a smile at church. Most of the times, I succeeded, and got him doodling on his own. Here's the fruit from the past two Sundays:

Unshaven Daddy

I know as a kid I was much more used to seeing my Dad with a mustache than without. On the rare occasions he shaved it off, I felt like I was in some kind of Fred (Flintstone)/Frederick pod person type moment, and really didn't feel completely at ease until the mustache grew back.

Now I realize, with as many drawings my kids have made of me with a three-day-old five o'clock shadow, I probably disturb them as much when I give myself a full shave.

I will continue shaving, however. After three days, a beard really gets itchy.

Anvil Time

Oh yeah. Oldest joke in the book. I'm sure he got this from poor ol' Wile E. Coyote. Super Genyusss.

Isaac Edits

Once and a while our youngest will sidle up to me and say, "Daddy, draw me." So I do. He insists I draw him again. I do. And again. And again. Pretty soon, I'm tired of drawing him. So something like this turns up. He, of course, edits the captions to make all these lovely pictures appear to be me. I don't mind.

He did consent to remain "President Isaac," however. Go figure. No ego on that kid.

Hot Dog Story

I'll be the first to confess I don't understand all of the Scooter comics our oldest draws. But I like that he's experimenting with the medium. To that, I say, huzzah. Keep on going, son.

Greetings, O Bearded One

This man had a loong beard; so long that he had to tie it in a bow. Or was it a tie?

Thus is our oldest child's explanation for this bearded individual he drew in his church book. And it's not helping that I just read a book by Isaac Bahsevis Singer and have old-fashioned bearded Jews on my mind. Maybe I'll just leave it at that.

Our Fine Four-Fendered Friend

Ah, to have influence over your children before they become teenagers and thus alienated with the world in general.

I love the film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," and thus, by extension, so do my kids. They don't love every film I do; they're all still too scared to watch "The Goonies" with me; they can't get past seeing Sloth in the restaurant basement for the first time. But they like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, even though the Child-Catcher is scary. He scared the hell out of me when I was their age. Our daughter still is a bit scared of him, but the boys think he's funny.

I just think it's funny the actor's name is Robert Helpmann. That's irony if I've ever seen it.

Man's Image

One of the stores on Main Street in "the city" (as the local kids call nearby Rexburg, Idaho, population a whopping 26,000) is called The Man's Image. They sell suits, Scout paraphernalia and other stuff.

It's apparently made an impact on our oldest. Behold:

This character, by the way, is named Scooter, and you'll see him as a repeated theme throughout our oldest son's art. He looks pretty prep, standing there all casual in front of the store's windowfront tie display. Gad, he's a handsome rogue.

I have no idea what's up with the "Wanted" poster. We only see those at the post office and at City Hall -- rarely do we see them at clothing stores. Maybe it's an advertisement.

Urp!

Today we see the first in a series of drawings taken from our oldest son's church notebook. We let them take notebooks to church so they can draw and scribble away during the boring bits. Evidently, church has been pretty boring this year.

Behold, The Burper:

More later.