Triple Trouble

Korey has a cousin that was coming into town a couple of weeks ago and his mom wanted us to come down for a mini family reunion.  We packed up the car and headed south the weekend before Thanksgiving.  And of course Dallas traffic put us an hour and a half behind schedule due to two wrecks.  Sigh.

We ended up arriving at 10:30pm at night and Hunter and his cousin Brandon quickly reunited and started playing.  We didn't go to bed until 1am!

On Saturday we we were reunited with Korey's cousin.  They have a 2 year old also so we spent the weekend with 3 two year olds.  And it was seriously so much fun seeing them together.  (I'm just realizing in the middle of typing all of this that I don't have all of the pictures downloaded.  Guess I'll do another post later!)

We went to a pumpkin patch and Hunter climbed up on the pumpkins.  It was the last weekend before Halloween so it was very crowded.

Here are the three cousins!  Andrew, Hunter, and Brandon.  Nana bought them each a Halloween shirt so we dressed them up in them for our Saturday adventures.

This was at the pumpkin patch.  The three of us moms were crouched down behind the sign holding our kids up.

On Saturday night we put all 3 of them in the bathtub together and they were so cute.  We, of course, aren't posting those photos.

Here are the three cousins!  Becca, Korey and his brother Kevin and their kiddos.  We had so much fun hanging out with them.  I wish they lived closer.

Here are the ladies from our weekend.  Bekah, Corey, me, and Korey's mom "Nana."

The Energy Bus for Kids

I know I've mentioned this on Facebook but I've been meaning to write about it here.  Earlier this year Korey got contacted to do a book with Jon Gordon.  He is a well-known motivational speaker and has several books out for adults.

He decided he wanted to make a kid's version from one of his popular adult books so he needed an illustrator.  Korey agreed and worked on it all summer.  We had to keep it on the down low until the book finally released.  And being the good wife that I am, when I took this quick picture, I didn't get all of Korey's name in the frame of the picture.

You can read more about the book on the Energy Bus for Kids site.

Once Upon a Mutant

Another book illustrated by Korey is out!

He got contacted by a friend of someone he had already done a book for.  We love referrals!  She had just finished writing a book and needed an illustrator.  The fun part is that she lives in Saudi Arabia and her last name happens to be Sultan!

The book is called "Once Upon a Mutant" and is the story of a boy who comes across a town of non-accepting mutants.

Here is the cast of mutants:

 Here are copies of the book.  On the author's blog, she mentions that the book is in a store in Jeddah.  Jeddah is near the Red Sea.  So cool to have one of his books that far away!

 She also mentioned that it's for sale in a candy store.  (Korey says she knows alot of people so that's why it's in places like these).  There it is on the vertical rack on the wall.  Eat some candy and read a book!

Here is a picture from one of the pages Korey illustrated.  This depicts the green mutant...notice how the whole picture is cast in green?

This is available to download on Itunes!

Korey's Surprise Parties

Yes, parties is plural!  Korey does not like to celebrate his birthday so I did what any good wife would do...I threw him a surprise party times two!

The first party was on a weeknight.  We met my family at Freebird's.  It was dark and I only have one picture of him from that night after my camera battery ran out.  So just take a moment to imagine his surprise...

Ok done!  Now on to party # two.  Korey spent all day Friday and Saturday at an art conference.  He got to meet with an art director from Simon and Schuster and show him his work.  This was an opportunity for him to meet face to face with an art director to see his portfolio because most of the time he sends postcards with samples of his new work to different publishers so you never know if that postcard gets buried in a stack of mail on someone's desk.  He also attended writing sessions because he would love to one day write and illustrate his own book.  So while he was working on his dream I was running around like mad to get ready.

Korey actually got home 30 minutes before the guests arrived so I went ahead and told him what was going on.  I had already cleaned and cooked so he didn't have to worry about that.

Here's our first set of guests that arrived.  Luke and Christy and their two daughters, Lucy and Jillian.

Ronnie and Luke are enjoying their second bowl of chili.  Ronnie is about to graduate from DTS.  It's taken him 7 years because he's been working and enjoying having a family.  I told him we'd have to have another party to celebrate.

I was a little worried that the older girls wouldn't want to play with all the baby toys we had but they entertained themselves!  And actually I don't have pics of them because they were off playing their own game.

Below is Jenny, Ronnie's wife watching the kids play.

And then little Miss Jillian decided that she needed to fit into the smallest space possible.  Go figure.

We also ate pumpkin pie for dessert, one of Korey's favorites, and chocolate chip cookies which I made for the kids.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!

Our Saturday

We started the day off bright and early because a month ago we decided to have a garage sale.  We have gone back and forth about what to do with some of our extra furniture since we keep going back and forth on whether or not we're moving.  Well, we're staying so the furniture is going.

  Korey and Hunter are about to greet one of our customers.  Since we had mostly a Hispanic audience I told everyone in Spanish that my husband spoke their language.  One guy speaking in Spanish, said the English word Mexican, as in "You speak Mexican?"  Haha

As the minutes crawled by, and no one wanted to take our awesome stuff, we had to find ways to pass the time.  Korey and Hunter played while...

I took pictures.  Isn't he handsome?

Korey's friend, Kacy, came over....

and Korey told him stories.

Hunter drank a Dr. Pepper....(kidding)

and then we got a tour of our neighbor's garage.  He builds model airplanes.  I never try to be too nosy about what's in his garage...

but when Korey's friend, Joel, showed up they got into aerodynamic discussions and who knows what else.  Joel can get anyone to talk.  Later, Joel and I discussed Blogger and HTML code. 

After we cleaned up from the garage sale, the guys invaded our house to watch football.  So I retreated into the kitchen and made dinner for a friend.  Recipe post coming soon!

Koreyscott.com

Once upon a time my husband decided he wanted to illustrate for a living.  Growing up he was always content to be drawing.  Some kids like to read or play video games.  He liked to draw. 

Up until 2010 he had two jobs.  One was a regular ol' day job and the other was being a freelance illustrator.  When we got married in 2008 he was able to build up his business over the next couple of years to where he decided he wanted to quit his day job and be a freelance illustrator full-time.  This was not an overnight decision but came after two years of discussion, budget crunching and prayer.  Shortly after our son was born, he took the plunge, quit his day job, and said goodbye to that steady paycheck.

He has three websites that display his portfolio of work. The biggest one is Childrens Illustrators.  There are over 700 hundred artists all displaying their work.  If you take a look you will see they are all GORGEOUS illustrations.

For Korey to get contacted by a client to illustrate a book, I believe, is a matter of prayer.  Here's why:

When someone decides they have a book they want illustrated they will start scouring portfolio sites to find the illustrator's style that might best capture the characters in their book.  They already have an idea of what the characters will look like.  It's just a matter of finding the illustrator who they think will do the best job.  Did I mention there are over 700 illustrators on just one site? 

Once they find someone they like, as in Korey, they contact him and ask about his prices, etc.  Then Korey will respond with his time frame, price per page, etc.  A lot of his business comes from clients who want a book to be self-published.  It seems everyone has a story to tell.

After Korey responds, we wait.  We pray.  Then we rejoice when they want to proceed.  At this point, Korey sends them a contract and starts working on sketches.

Besides his amazing talent that stands out, I think prayer is the key to his steady stream of clients.

You can see Korey's portfolio here, on Creative Shake, and on Hire an Illustrator.

A Sharefish Tale

Here's a glimpse of one of the pictures Korey illustrated for the book, A Sharefish Tale.  It's not published yet but I just had to show off one of the gorgeous illustrations!  I have to brag on my husband because he's got some mad drawing skills! 

A Sharefish Tale

Honduras 2011

Back in April, Korey got contacted by someone to illustrate a book for him.  More on what was involved in this process in another post.  He found out it was for a nonprofit agency, Sharefish.  When Korey found out the author was going to Honduras and taking a group with him, he decided he wanted to go, too. 

I'm borrowing the following from Korey's blog about his trip to Honduras.

"I just got back from a trip to Honduras. I illustrated the book, A Sharefish Tale, for the non profit group Sharefish.org. The book will be out in print sometime in December or January. The goal is to use the money from the book sale to buy more books for the library in El Corrizo, Honduras.

Sharefish was created as organization to improve education, nutrition, housing, medical and economic opportunities in impoverished communities. Sharefish is currently focused on improving the lives of children in two small communities in southern Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

On our trip, the goal was to celebrate "Dia del Nino" with the kids. "Dia del Nino" is a national celebration to honor children. The kids were able to make crafts, jump rope, read new books, and draw pictures. I took down some of my Doodlin' Pads to donate to the library.

When the book is available, I will let you know. Below are a few pictures from the trip. My goal as an illustrator is to hopefully do more of these trips. I want my art to be more than a picture. I want to use it to help others."

Here is my husband!

This is a prototype of the book he illustrated.

The kids are in one of the churches drawing pictures.  Every day they would go hang out with the kids, play soccer with them, and give them time to draw.

This was a scene on the busride from the airport.  I love how green it is!

Here is one of the librarys located inside a church in a small town.  Korey said one of the towns they went to only had 300 people in it.  Many of the families can't afford to pay for their children to attend school.  Sharefish is just doing what they can to help further the education of these children so they can have the skills necessary for life.

Korey took this picture for me.  In Thai this is a a tuk tuk.  I rode in one of these taxis when I lived in Thailand.  Not sure what they are called in Honduras.

A typical Honduran home.

This is the founder of Sharefish, Oie (pronounced Owey).  The school gave him an award for his dedication to furthering education.  Through his organization you can sponsor a child so that they can afford to attend school.  Their organization reminds me of what Compassion does.

When Korey got home he talked nonstop about his trip and mentioned going back next year and taking me!

Be a Sharefish!

FROM THE HOMELESS TO THE HOPELESS, THERE IS OVERWHELMING NEED IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, OUR CITY, OUR COUNTRY AND OUR WORLD. We’ve heard the question “How can I possibly help?” and we’ve come up with a simple answer. Share. By sharing something of yourself — a little time, a little money, a little love — you can make a drastic difference in someone’s life. This site gives you the opportunity to share with people in need in Honduras, but you can be a Sharefish anywhere. Put some money in a parking meter that's expiring. Hand a bag of food to a homeless person. Volunteer at the Food Bank. Buy 5 cups from the kid's lemonade stand on the corner. Once you start sharing, the world instantly becomes a better place.

Date Night

Korey and I hoard gift cards. We are hoarders. There I said it. We have been saving a Maggiano's gift card since probably Christmas to use. Well this past weekend we got to use it for a fancy date night in addition to a $10 coupon I got over email from them. We were set. We even got a little dressed up. It was nice to go to a place that didn't involve someone calling your name over a loud speaker to come and pick up your order.

Korey got his favorite appetizer - Calamari - and I/we ordered our favorite dish which is Rigatoni D. You know you think too much about your food budget and how much food costs when you start calculating the cost of the ingredients in the dish and figuring out how you can make it for much cheaper. Hello? Chicken, pasta, button mushrooms, cream, and some white wine. Not expensive! Stay tuned. I will conquer making it.

Our date night pic: This got taken in our car because I have a husband who shys away from making a scene in public. The car was our compromise.

Next time I won't wear my skinny pants. We did enjoy the leftovers for lunch AND dinner the next day. Now that's a yummy bargain.

Bath Time

After dinner, it's bath time which I'm in charge of since Korey does the dishes. After all, I made dinner. I think I've got the easy job!

Bath time means the dogs are near. They like to observe what's going on. And I've had to keep a towel on the floor because Hunter is known to dump water overboard.

See? Camo is never far from Hunter.

Then there's my other baby, Harley. He doesn't like to be far from Camo. Where two or more are gathered, then Harley will come.

After the bath "we" brush our teeth. Lately, Hunter has taken over this duty and doesn't let me help. He's such a big boy!

First Day of Preschool

We sent our baby off to his first day of preschool and of course being the newbie that I am I don't have a picture with his backpack and lunchbox or a picture of his teachers. But here he is before we left the house.

Why am I so scary looking in this pic?

Korey and I both took him this morning and I went in late to work. I felt dumb saying to the teachers that they would never see me bring him or pick him up since I work in Dallas but oh well. When Korey picked him up he said he was playing with the blocks and was excited to see him and wasn't fussy at all. On Sunday mornings when we pick him up he starts crying as soon as he sees us. I'm hoping this is a good start! We got a note saying he rested quietly haha meaning he didn't sleep, poor thing. And he ate most of his lunch. I'm so glad he had a good day!

Super Dad

Hunter: Hey, Grandma and Grandpa where are you going?

G&G: Well Hunter it's our 40th wedding anniversary so we're going on a Mediterranean cruise.

Hunter: Who's going to play with me while you're gone? I don't start preschool until 2 more weeks.

G&G: Your mom and dad of course. See ya!

Hunter: Oh, ok.


Sunday...

Me: Hunter has a fever. Can you take him to the dr tomorrow?

Korey: OK

Monday...

Hunter: Hey mommy where ya going?

Me: I have to go to work. You get to stay home with Daddy. He is going to take you to the dr.

Hunter: Oh, ok. Mommy why am I so hot? And cold? I don't feel good.

Me: I know baby.

Later that day...

Korey: The nurse asked me how we took his temperature so I told her rectally. I think that's the first time I used the word rectal in front of a stranger.

Me: (After laughing) What did the dr say?

Korey: She said it's not strep but just a virus. It should be over in 3 days.



Tuesday...

Me: Hunter your fever is now 103.5. The nurse said we may have to go to the ER if it hits 105.

Me: Korey did the dr say that a day is counted by 24 hours or the day of the week? Is this day 2 or day 3 of the virus? He first had the fever on Sunday. Shouldn't this be over?

Korey: I don't know.

Hunter: zzzzzzzzz

Later that night after his fever came down...

Me: Korey are you coming to bed?

Korey: No, I have to stay up and work. This project has to be done this week.

Wednesday...

Me at 7am: Korey what time did you come to bed?

Korey: 4am

Me: You got 3 hours of sleep?

Later that night...

Me: Korey are you coming to bed?

Korey: No, I've got more work to do.

Thursday...

Hunter: How come Daddy doesn't wake up early like I do?

Me: Because he has been staying up late working after he takes care of you all day.

Hunter: I didn't do anything except sleep on his chest all day. I'm just so tired. Must be this hot forehead I have. And he keeps trying to make me drink water. Can you tell him to stop? I just want my bottles back. Then he tried to make me eat a popsicle. It was too cold for me. And what's up with the juicy juicy straw? You know I can only drink from a Capri Sun straw.

Me: According to this digital thermometer that I have used umpteen times on you this week, I think your fever may have broken.

Hunter: Oh, that's good. I do feel better. Can I go play now?

Me (later that day): Hunter what are all these red spots on you? Is it a food allergy?

Hunter: I don't know. I haven't eaten that much this week since I didn't feel good.

Friday...

Hunter: Mommy I still have these red spots. They are everywhere. What are they?

Me: I don't know. I'll consult Google.

Me: Korey, did he eat anything weird? Could it have been the juicy juice box? Or the wheat toast? Maybe the pomegranate juice in the juice box?

Later that day...

Korey letting out a big sigh: You're home. He won't sit still and he's been off and on cranky all day. Almost like he'll just start having a fit for no reason if he doesn't get his way. I can only concentrate on my work for 3 minutes at a time. And he has red spots on his stomach now.

Me: Hunter let me see your red spots.

Me: Well the closest thing I can find to his rash is that it may be a food allergy. Or scarlet fever. I'm not sure. But I don't think it's scarlet fever although it does say it's a rash that follows strep throat and since he was close to having strep maybe that's it. Maybe not. Or is it hives? I don't think so because it's not raised welts.

Korey: I told my mom and she said it could be roseola.

Me: Ah hah! Roseola. I'll look it up. I didn't think of that one. Yep, Google says he has roseola. I'll call the nurse.

Me: Well the nurse confirmed it's roseola. But she made it sound like it's just a side effect of the fever and it should go away in a few days. I guess that means we can't take him to the birthday party tomorrow.

Later tonight...

Hunter: Mommy, why is Daddy sleeping again?

Me: Because he's been busy helping you get over your sickness this week and trying to work.

Hunter: Oh he should sleep then. He held me alot when I didn't want to play. Cause I didn't feel good.

Korey: (whispers to Hunter)

Hunter: What's that Daddy? You said "I win?" Oh, ok. Mommy, Daddy says I win this week.