A Lincoln Coloring Page for YOU!

It's Ol' Abe's birthday today.  I drew this years ago and made it into a coloring page.  Print it.  Color it.  Enjoy.

Oh, and while sitting in my lap as I posted this, Charzie looked at my Lincoln picture and said, "Oh no!  Scary Guy, don't eat me!"

Preschool Paint Project

This morning I had the boys do the whole painting with marbles thing while Baby Charlotte napped. You know, the project where you stick some paper in some sort of container, glob some paint in it and let the kid(s) roll marbles around in the paint to make tracks. Of course it turned into just regular fingerpainting, but the boys thought the marble thing was cool.

Simon & Jonas' artwork

This little project led to a conversation with Simon (the older) about what we could find outside to use to make tracks next time. Here are some things he thought we could use:

Pinecones
Sticks
Leaves
Flowers
Rocks (stuck together with peanutbutter)
Cake

I'm not sure why the rocks must be stuck together with peanutbutter, but that's the way it has to be. (He said, "Peanutbutter is sticky!") And I really don't think we should use cake we find outside, but it's an interesting thought. He may have added a few other things, but I got lost in thinking of why we'd find cake outside.

Happy President's Day!

In honor of President's Day, I've uploaded a coloring page just for you! It's adapted from a drawing I did years ago of Abraham Lincoln.


Yes, I'm a weirdo. Also, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is my new favorite book. For real. I got it as a Christmas gift from my parents, sort of as a joke I assume, and it turns out to be great. Now color my picture, read that book and have a fun President's Day!

Preschool Craft Time

Finding junk to occupy the boys crafts the boys can both do is difficult because A. Jonas (2.5 years old) is 80 times more destructive than Simon (3.5 years old), B. Simon can (sort of) use scissors a little but Jonas cannot, C. Jonas still puts things in his mouth, D. Jonas wants to do everything Simon does, and E. I usually have a Baby Charlotte on my hip. So unless I want paint/glue/marker/blood all over my home, my options are pretty limited.

But I had an idea last week... toilet paper tubes + pipecleaners = sculptures. Even better, add googly eyes & a bit of marker and you've got monsters! I already had all these things in the craft/activity cabinet. Here's the super easy how to:

1. Gather your supplies [pipecleaners, toilet paper tube(s), hole punch, glue (I used tacky glue), googly eyes, marker(s)]



2. Punch some holes in the toilet paper tube. [I did 8 holes]


3. Give the tube & pipecleaners to your kid(s) and let 'em have at it!


4. Hand your kid(s) a marker and let 'em have at it again!

5. Help your kid(s) glue some googly eyes on their creation(s). [I guess some kids could do this step themselves, especially if they're older, but mine can't be trusted.]

6. Photograph the creation(s) for posterity.

Simon's monster

Jonas' monster

7. Be prepared for meltdowns when the monster is inevitably destroyed.

This occupied the kids for quite some time. Plus, almost a week later, They're still playing with (what's left of) their monsters! I think I win with this one.

(If you have older kids or want to take more time preparing, you could cover the tube with some pretty paper, too, but I'd do that before punching the holes.)

Not About the Baby

So here's a post that's not about Simon...

What? I have something to type about that's not about my baby? Yeah, crazy, huh?

I'll just get right down to it: I'm starting a design business. It will mostly be card-type things such as birth announcements, invitations, Christmas cards, thank you cards, and pretty much anything else I can think of or someone would commission me to do (I wouldn't be opposed to doing posters or t-shirts). I've been in contact with a local printing company to get an idea about pricing and such and it's looking like this can actually be made into a reality!

Once I do a little more research and decide what kind of paper to use and such, I'm going to set up a simple web site and an Etsy store. In the meantime, I've started working on sample templates... ok, really I've just made one mediocre design, but hey, it's a start!

I'm planning on selling "print-your-own" files (if that be your fancy) as well as the actual cards (both single sided and folded).

So there you have it! I'll be sure to post a link once I get things up and running. Remember me when you're looking for wedding and baby shower invitations... and next fall when you're getting Christmas cards! Now have some babies so I can do your birth announcements!

Winter Hat

I was inspired to make a winter hat for Simon. Here's how it turned out:

It's made of an old sweatshirt. I wrapped it around his head to measure, snipped, stitched, snipped, tied and snipped some more to make a winter hat with asplosions atop. Look at how cute he is!


And just for fun, here he is in a Santa hat:

Stupid Creatures

My friend Chelsea introduced me to the awesomeness that is Stupid Creatures. Basically, you take old socks and make them into stuffed animal monster things. It's awesome. She has this book that tells you how to make them.

So far I've made three, and here they are in all their Stupid Creature glory:

This is the first one I ever made. It's done with old cheerleading socks and a red sock. I turned the white part inside out so it would be fluffier. My mom is a cheerleading coach, and I made it for her.


It only seemed fitting for a Stupid Creature with a purple flame body and pink arms to be a cyclops.


This guy was a little more difficult to make because the ears, arms & legs are scraps of a different material not as stretchy as socks. I'm very satisfied with this one. I think it needs to go to a little girl.


And this is just Cyclops and Pink Paisley being friends.

Chase even started making one, and you should, too!

Planning the Third Annual Choppy Party

Well, I'm beginning the planning stage of the Third Annual Abraham Lincoln's Birthday Party. My friend Emily is my cohort this year in planning this party. My former cohort has moved a few hours away making it a bit difficult to do some party planning, but just maybe she'll be able to make it back for the festivities...

Contrary to popular belief, I am not actually obsessed with Abraham Lincoln. It's just that two years ago, I thought it would be fun to have a silly party celebrating his birthday. It was really an excuse to have people over and build a crazy cake (in the shape of a stove pipe hat) and then eat that cake. Then we/I just decided to make it a tradition! (Click here to read about/see pics from last year's party.)

You may have noticed the name of my blog is Choppy Chop and that there is a creepy Abraham Lincoln drawing on my banner. I guess now would be an appropriate time to explain that. (I must warn you, though, it's pretty anticlimactic.) A couple years ago, Chase was watching Jeopardy! on TV. I was walking through the living room and heard Alex Trebec say, "This was Abraham Lincoln's nickname that he got for chopping wood." (Sidenote: Yes, George Washington was the one known for the story about chopping down a cherry tree, but where do you think Lincoln's log cabin came from? Hello, Lincoln Logs! I'm sure he chopped a lot of wood in his day.) I then unexpectedly shouted, "CHOPPY!" Chase laughed so hard that we didn't hear the real answer. Since then, we refer to Abraham Lincoln as Choppy, and the axe he uses to chop wood is the Choppy Chop. I like to draw Choppy all creepy-looking and make clip art of him holding his Choppy Chop. Now you can feel cool because you are part of an inside joke.

I also will often refer to the Abraham Lincoln's Birthday Party as the Choppy Party.
Festivities at said Choppy Party include:

*Pin the Beard on Abe
*Trivia
*Cake
*Prizes
*Much Fun

So there you have it. The Third Annual Abraham Lincoln's Birthday Party will take place on the afternoon of either Saturday, February 17th or Sunday, February 18th. We're still deciding on a location. If I know you, and you're in the area at that time, you're invited and are welcome to bring a guest. If you are a stranger reading my blog, sorry, but I do not know you and you are not invited. If you are an Internet stalker reading my blog, you are definitely not invited and you should stop being a stalker because it it's creepy and not nice.

Artsy

I guess it's about time for some more Disney pictures. These are a few pictures that I made a little artsy:

This is Cassie's profile while on an African Safari.

Chase, me, Cassie and my mom- caught in action on the Dinocoaster (not what it's called, but what I call it) by my dad and his new camera.

Chase was pumped to ride the spinning tea cups.

And there you have it, my artsy edits. Are you tired of my Disney trip yet?