fuller by design

Cavalcade of Cute

2010-07-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

On one side of the gate we have Roosevelt and his impossibly cute Double Sock Wash (grooming his face with both of his white feet, often accompanied by a Bonus Ear Comb) and on the other is now Henna, who will not be denied the the title of cutest in the house. Case in point:

The squeaking object is her new toy from Nana and Pop, a flattened faux rabbit pelt dubbed "Flabbit" for flat rabbit. It's probably a little offensive to Roose, but it is pretty hard not to love it.

Welcome Henna!

2010-07-22T17:43:00.001-07:00

After what seemed like an eternity (it's only really been since early May), the Fuller kids finally got the dog they've been asking for. Except that in typical Fuller style, it's not a pet but a project. Henna actually belongs to Guiding Eyes for the Blind and, after 16 months with us, she'll go on to train as a guide dog for a blind person. Wish us (and Henna) luck!

Shown here are the kids and Henna along with the mother and daughter who transported Henna from New York.

365 Days of Peace

2010-03-13T06:34:00.001-08:00

Back in January, Aster had a Target gift card burning a hole in her pocket so she and I took a trip to our local store to see what we could do about the situation. Most kids her age would make a beeline for the toy aisle, but not Miss Fashionista. No, we headed for the girls' clothes section and scoped out all the t-shirts (she only had ten bucks to spend) with peace signs on them. I'm not totally sure where her love of peace signs developed (though I have a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with seeing them in her beloved Archie comics).

Whatever the source of her love of these symbols of nuclear disarmament (yep, that's what the peace sign was originally designed to represent), the obvious joy that they brought to her made me think it might be fun to make her peace signs of my own creation. That quickly blossomed into a plan for the two of us to share a peace sign with each other every day for an entire year.

I know the whole Something or Other-a-Day concept isn't very original at this point, but I wasn't going to let that stop us! So far, we've been at it for a little over a month, and I just haven't gotten around to uploading everything to the blog or Flickr. Well, hopefully this will correct things and get you up to speed. Here are a few choice samples from what we've done already. To see more, visit my Flickr page. With any luck, I'll be able to keep it updated daily.

365 Days of Peace (When you get there, click on the 365 Days of Peace set on the right.)

Spring (Baking) Fever

2010-03-10T18:53:00.000-08:00

Spring seems to have sprung in the Fuller house. Not only is there a sweet bunny plying us with his happy antics (Spring fever?), this bundle of goodies has made its way into the house.

Now, whatever could it be????

Caty & Aster's Unique View of the World

2010-03-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

Every couple of weeks, Caty and Aster get an itch to take photos and will run around the house, camera in hand, squealing with delight and burning up the camera's memory. They have a knack for capturing these crazy vignettes of themselves and the world (usually the house) around them. But their real specialty is what they call "motion pictures," shots of anything and everything in blurry action. Here are a few shots from their recent turn with the camera.

That's One Foxy Pillow

2010-03-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

I keep forgetting to post photos of things the kids made for us for Christmas (they really stepped up their game!), mostly because I forget to bring the stuff they made for me home from work. Until I can remember to do that, here's the awesome fox pillow that Winnie made for Susan.

Winnie's Mythical Creatures

2010-02-28T13:10:00.000-08:00

Winnie loves animals, mythology, and has a gift for creating soft sculptures. She started out making felt creatures (see the earlier post on her Obama doll), but has recently been hacking Beanie Babies that she finds in thrift stores into mythological creatures. Being a D&D player from my teen years, I love her love of mythology and it gives me a thrill to see the ubiquitous Beanie Baby repurposed into something so original.

Chimera: a cross between a lion, goat and snake

Cerberus: the three-headed dog

Sphinx: half woman, half lion, all cool

Kitsune: a 4-tailed (fox, skunk raccoon, snake) fox thingy from Japanese mythology

Busted Mustard

2010-02-28T12:58:00.000-08:00

Opening for Bottled Ketchup, it's Busted Mustard (named by Doug's sister, Ande). Rock on, Reston! I particularly like the flames and stage prop with chains.

The Fuller Ad Agency

2010-02-21T17:50:00.000-08:00

Every couple months, Caty and Aster's creative juices start flowing and they whip up a batch of ads that they place around the house. I'm not sure what this says about their exposure to the media, but I try not to get too upset when they seem to know every jingle and tagline by heart. Tonight's batch included the above gems for Bacon Stop and Singer. I loved the Singer tagline (We know you sew) so much that I assumed Aster copied it from an ad she saw, but she said she made it up herself. As a lover of good copy I was totally impressed!

Sushi-Yako and Bottled Ketchup

2010-02-20T19:17:00.000-08:00

Caty has been obsessed with Legos for a couple years now, but in the last couple months Aster has joined him in his creations. Their specialty is creating kooky scenes and locations from real life and their imagination. Last week, their creations included a sushi restaurant and a rock band named Bottled Ketchup.

Bottled Ketchup, live!

Barry the guitarist and Roderick the keyboardist

Katie the lead singer and Jeff the drummer

Barry the guitarist is also a breakdancer!

Sushi-Yako, the first Lego sushi restaurant.

A business lunch at Sushi-Yako.

Sushi-Yako, the owner and head sushi chef.

In the background you can see Sushi-Yako's Budweiser and Sprite dispensers. Nice!

Welcome Roosevelt!

2010-02-20T18:31:00.000-08:00

After weeks of waiting and multiple trips to the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, the Fullers are pleased to welcome Theodore Roosevelt the rabbit to our family. Roose (pronounced "Rosie") is a year-old Dutch bunny who was quite the ladies man in the shelter. His name came from Susan, who suggested it when our appointment to pick him up was made for President's Day. Our first pet was a hamster named Augustus Caesar so it seemed fitting that the bunny should also be named after a historic leader.

Roose's quickly gotten used to his new surroundings and has really enjoyed hanging out in the family room watching the Olympics with us. He's a real love and doesn't seem to mind receiving multiple hugs and plenty of handling, something he's guaranteed to get in the Fuller house.

Florida Trip, Day 1

2010-02-03T18:30:00.000-08:00

Photos from day one on our whirlwind tour of Florida and it was mostly about food. We made a detour off Route 95 to try out Wilber's Barbecue in Goldsboro (we found it in our Road Food book). Dee-licious and oh-so authentic with plenty of locals and a no-nonsense old-school waitress who signed our book.

When we got to Savannah, we headed straight for Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, a restaurant by Paula Deen and her husband Bobby. Not bad, though we didn't see Paula anywhere. Maybe it's better that way...

Hopefully, more tomorrow from Gainesville. We're hoping to hit a Sonic while we're down here.

Sunshine Treasures

2010-01-31T09:49:00.000-08:00

While working at my desk this morning the cold, winter sun was streaming in through the window and illuminated these hand-made treasures from a while back and I just had to capture them on film (well, disk, actually). The felt chicken is from Winnie several Christmases ago and accompanied a gift from Susan and the kids. The gift was a donation to Heifer International in my name in an amount that would provide chickens for a family in a developing country.

This guy was made by Caton a while ago and I can't recall what the occasion was, but he's been guarding the lamp on my desk ever since. He reminds me of my own childhood love of pom-poms and pipe cleaners and I particularly love his one eye!

These felt cats were a gift from Winnie to attach to and brighten up the foam collar I had to wear after my neck surgery in 2008. They certainly made wearing that ugly thing more palatable!

Rodent City

2010-01-18T16:40:00.000-08:00

The Weasel family's front walkway

The Wessels' house

Rodent City is by far the greatest thing any kid has ever produced. Okay, that's going a bit far I know, but I tell you, Rodent City is really, really awesome. Inhabited by families of imaginary rodents (hamsters, chipmunks, mice, sugar gliders*, chinchillas, guinea pigs, rats, and squirrels), Rodent City began as simple wooden houses and has developed into a thriving mini-metropolis that occupies much of the wooded portion of our back yard.

Rodent City was initially begun by our kids several years back, but soon their friends joined in, each bringing a new family to the town. And like any frontier town, as the population grows, so does the need for services. Currently, Rodent City has a town hall, school, hospital, bank, grocery store, post office, silver mine (silvery mica is the Rodent City currency, don't you know), library, toy store, landscaping business and more. There have been three weddings, three mayors elected, and the town survived a mulching of the backyard which sent the kids into a panic.

Twiggy's (the flying squirrel) schoolhouse showing the students' desks (the rocks with slate pieces for writing on)

Rodent City food consists of nuts, berries, salads, fish from the neighbor's pond and almost any plant that can be scrounged for delectable salads. Transportation in and around the town is provided by birds (like cars, there are a variety of options from which to choose, each with its own features and benefits). Recently, Rodent City has expanded beyond our property to include a number of lodges (vacation homes) for families when they want to get away from the hubbub of city life. I'm probably missing a ton of things, but I think you get the idea of how complex the town has gotten.

The Sweetpaws' wedding with rows of tables and acorn caps for bowls and acorns stacked up for the feast!

I have to admit, I was skeptical when I first heard rumors of a "Rodent City" being built in our back yard, but have grown to love the amazing creativity involved and the way the kids work together during their many hours constructing the town (real and imagined). Now I'm more than happy to give them scraps of wood and rocks knowing they'll turn them into something wonderful and sad to think that someday they'll grow out of it and move on to other things (though I hope that isn't for a while!).

Rodent City Families
The Weasels (mice)
The Robinsons (hamsters)
The Tiptoes (chipmunks)
The Sweetpaws (chinchillas)
The Wessles (mice, hamsters, gerbils)
The Kasiskes (guinea pigs)
The Bushytails (chipmunks)
The Berrys (sugar gliders)
The Blakes (hamsters, guinea pigs, chinchilla)
The Whiskers (guinea pigs)
The Wilhelms (squirrels)

*Yes, they know that sugar gliders are marsupials and not rodents, but they seemed to fit well into the town.

Some of the stick furniture the kids made for Rodent City

Close-up of the very cool, working rocker

See more pictures of Rodent City here.

An Art and Food Adventure

2010-01-18T14:17:00.000-08:00

Susan, the kids, and I spent our afternoon at an art class making paper fabric at Judy Gula's Artistic Artifacts in Alexandria. Basically, you have a fabric base and use a glue-water solution to layer on various scraps of paper and tissue that, when dry, can be sewn and used in various ways. It took me a couple tries before I clued into the fact that what we were creating was less an end unto itself and more of something that could be incorporated into other things. I got hung up by really liking the scraps of paper from Chinese and math books — both foreign languages to me — too much and worrying that they were getting covered up by subsequent layers. Things seemed to go better when I loosened up a bit and did less thinking (which is generally the opposite of what is asked of me).

The class was followed up to a visit to Banh Mi DC Sandwich in Falls Church for our first ever Vietnamese sandwiches. I'd heard about a great place up the road in Falls Church's Eden Center, but DC Sandwich was a little closer and had good reviews as well. After our eating adventures last year (which we never got around to writing about, alas), we resolved to continue them this year, but with a budget focus. We got five sandwiches — plus a sixth one free — and two pastry-like things filled with yellow bean all for under $20. Quite a deal, I'd say. I loved the BBQ pork and Susan really liked the sugarcane shrimp and, given that it's just down the street from Caton's Cub Scout meeting site, we'll definitely be going back!

Mousie Style!

2010-01-13T20:16:00.000-08:00

Aster has developed quite the fashion sense these days! Here she models a hat I selected for her for Christmas (yes, Daddy does pay attention), her ever-present leggings, and a hoodie and skirt she bought at a thrift store. Completing it all is the scarf she made herself. I can't tell you what a joy it is to see her expressing herself in this way and to see how happy and confident it makes her. You go, Mousie!

Art Room in Action

2010-01-01T13:17:00.001-08:00

Winnie helps Aster on the sewing machine.

Caton uses his new sewing skills!

The new Art Room got a heavy workout this holiday season with Susan and the kids all making gifts. Aster's specialty was scarves, Winnie made various stuffed objects and creatures, and Caton used his new sewing skills to make awesome heating bags.

The Jury's in And So is Win!

2010-01-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

If you happen to be in Florida during February, March or April, be sure to stop by the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville to see Winnie's Animals of the Everglades quilt at the Quilting Natural Florida exhibit. It was a juried show and there were 135 total entries and 100 were accepted in the exhibit. We'll be heading down to Florida for a week in February and are hoping to make the opening night. Hope to see you there!

Trash Cat

2010-01-01T11:15:00.001-08:00

Over the last couple months, I've been reading The Hobbit with the kids and, while Winnie and Aster seem to enjoy it, Caton isn't always so interested. We read in the girls' room (now just Aster's) and I freely admit that I don't always vacuum as often as I should, so Caton channeled his boredom one night using detritus he found on the floor while I read to them. I don't always appreciate it when he doesn't pay attention, but how could I not love this cat?

The Art Room

2009-12-22T04:32:00.000-08:00

Before

After

We know you want to see more pictures of the room, right? Click here.

The idea for the Art Room was hatched over our 2008 New Year's eve dinner with the kids at Pei Wei. I have to admit I was skeptical at first, especially because I knew I'd be the general contractor and, being only three weeks removed from neck surgery, wasn't sure if I'd be up to it. The idea was to transform what we so creatively called the Long Room (at 13'x30', it runs the entire depth of the house over the garage) from the kids' play/junk room into a creative space for Susan and the kids. Susan already had a craft room in the basement and a sewing table in her office upstairs, but both spaces were small and not ideal for her prodigious creative output. Plus, the kids really didn't have a place for their work or the girls' sewing machine.

Because the room is over the unheated garage, it gets pretty cold and Susan had her heart set on a heated floor. She found a great product from ThermoSoft that looked pretty easy to install and was reasonably priced. That was early February and things stalled from there, with soccer and other activities taking priority in our lives (or, more likely, I was just trying to avoid getting started). It wasn't until late in May that work began in earnest with Susan and the kids taking on the onerous task of cleaning all the crap, uh, toys, out of the room. I took advantage of Susan and the girls being gone over Father's Day weekend to being demolition (the fun part!) and removed the carpeting from the room. The kids really enjoyed that I let them write all over the subfloor and pretty much covered the entire surface with rants against Han Solo and other typical Fuller kid stuff.

The next big hurdle was the installation of the heated floor. I did the installation, but we had to have an electrician do the very complicated wiring. Next up was the laminate floor. We would have preferred real bamboo, but the radiant floor required a floating floor with no nails, which limited our choices. I've installed laminate before, but I had forgotten what a complete pain in the ass it is! I made the last-minute decision to buy a table saw and I'm glad I did. I ended up setting up both my saws on the deck and put up our canopy to protect them from the rain. That eyesore of a set-up lasted more than a month. Most of the floor was done in a weekend, thanks to my father's help on day two. It was extremely aggravating and I couldn't have done it without him. We got the flooring through Lumber Liquidators and I'd highly recommend visiting one of their showrooms. Much easier than dealing with Home Depot or Lowe's (don't get me started on the ordeal of getting the new fireplace doors from them!).

(An awkward moment occurred when the three burly, tattooed dudes doing the installation of the new French doors to the deck started making cracks about about the manliness of one of the guys who had to leave early to go to a play with his wife. I tried to sink into the shadows as I worked on painting the pink walls while listening to NPR.)

After the floor came the trim and then the part I was dreading the most: the glass tile around the fireplace. I've never done tiling before and I was not looking forward to it. It turned out to be a real mess, but I was able to get it done over the weekend with decent results. We used some of the extra tiles on the mantle, which brought the two together nicely. The tiles are from Susan Jablon Mosaics and you can create your own color combinations, which is pretty cool. Instead of tiling the hearth, we used river rock (painstakingly selected from a local stone center and individually washed, I might add) set in a wooden frame, an idea we saw in a coffee shop during our trip to Canada this summer.

I also painted a quote from Van Gogh ("A good picture is equivalent to a good deed.") over the French doors, hung a vintage ladder used as bookshelf, made a very cute shelf from curly metal brackets from Lowe's and slowly brought in all the furniture for the room.

The theme of the room is vintage and Susan spent much of the summer collecting cool things to use for storage and decoration. We were able to use a number of pieces of furniture that had been scattered around the house, some of which we've had since before we were married. In a way, the room has brought us full circle, furniture-wise at least. Maybe the coolest thing in the room is a vintage advertising light we found this summer in Canada. Hardwired into the ceiling, it lights up and rotates, advertising milk. Lastly, after much searching, we found an extremely cute, vintage-looking couch at Macy's. Set opposite the French doors, and with my old toy box as a coffee table, it has become one of the favorite lounging spots in the house.

Susan spent the better part of a month moving all her supplies in and getting set up, which was quite a process in itself! The timing of the completion couldn't have been better because that heated floor is seriously nice now that the weather has gotten cold. Susan and the kids went into turbo creative mode for the holidays and it's pretty cool to come home and see them all in there sewing, lounging, and talking. Caty's even learned to use his sisters' sewing machine for some of his presents, which is pretty neat. During the many frustrating parts of the renovation, I questioned the worth of the project, but seeing how much use it gets and what joy it brings, I'd say it was worth the effort!

Shutterbug

2009-08-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

Caton has developed a fondness for photography recently. Except he doesn't just take a plain old photo. In true Caty style, he likes to shake the camera (see the Archie post below) while taking the picture. And more often than not, the result looks pretty cool. On their way back from a trip to Canada in July, Susan and the kids spent some time at the Buffalo Museum of Science and she and Caton took these awesome photos of the museum planetarium's "stars." There were about 20 of them, but these are my favorites.

No, the planetarium wasn't on fire. This one was taken during one of nightly beach campfires during our week on the shores of Lake Erie. Caton says he sees a bear's face somewhere in the upper right of the photo.

Sketchmaster Mouse

2009-07-21T18:26:00.000-07:00

One day I was looking through Aster's sketchbook and I saw a drawing that just made me smile (yes, I admit that I'm a bit of a softie). I took the sketchbook to work where I scanned it along with a bunch of others. I'm not much of an illustrator, but after adding color and some background texture, I was really pleased with the results. Her drawings took on a whole new dimension and I decided to turn them into a series of greeting cards (under the name of "A Dad & Mouse Collaboration").

I've already given a few sets out as gifts and made a pretty cute Valentine's card for Susan recently. Aster was pretty excited to see her work in print, exclaiming "I'm famous now!" upon seeing the cards for the first time. I'm thinking they might make cute shirts too. Unfortunately, I met with the reality of art directing your 9-year old when I asked her draw a happy looking boy that I could use for a thank you card and she came back with less-than-satisfactory results (by my nitpicky standards). No, of course I didn't tell her that! I just thanked her and figure I'll ask again at another time and hope inspiration hits her.

Pop Tarts x 6 + Frosting = LOVE

2009-03-31T19:40:00.000-07:00

I think we can all agree that Pop Tarts are a good thing, right? Especially if we're talking chocolate Pop Tarts. Now, stack six of those delicious chocolate slabs, add a layer of chocolate frosting in between, and cover the whole thing in more chocolate frosting. That was my birthday cake from Winnie last week. Thanks, Win! You're the best!

Barbie Mummy

2009-03-22T13:59:00.000-07:00

I came home from work last week and the kids were excited to show me their latest creation. I've seen just about everything from them, but I was still surprised by what I saw. One of their Barbies had been entombed in a plastic toy bin, sort of Egyptian style, but with a Fuller kids spin on it.

It was a truly collaborative effort: Winnie created the full body cast (Barbie's head was exposed in very un-Egyptian fashion, however) out of toilet paper that had been dampened, molded, and then allowed to dry. I tell you, she's got to be one of the country's foremost toilet paper artists! Caty and Aster decorated the coffin with a couple of old leis, some mardi gras beads and some misc. coins thrown in...perhaps for the ferryman (that's Greek, though, isn't it?)?

To top it off, they had the bin covered in plastic wrap with a small hole for a tube connected to a pump to pump air into the tomb. Why, I never found out, but maybe mummies last longer when they are kept oxygenated? Whatever the reason, it was a real creative tour-de-force. Or, perhaps, more of a tour-de-farce?

Fruit Bug

2009-02-23T20:11:00.000-08:00

I don't think I've ever heard of a kid who likes fruit more than Caty! He was so excited when his Nana and Pop (Doug's parents) got him a fruit-of-the-month gift from Harry and David. While he likes his bananas, oranges and the occasional kiwi just to name a few, his all-time favorites are definitelty grapefruit. Luckily, this new shipment just arrived. Should tide him over for a week or two!

The World According to Archie

2009-02-21T22:00:00.000-08:00

You know how they say that almost everything in life can be referenced to Seinfeld? For our kids, the same thing is true. But instead of Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine, their world is filtered through Archie, Betty, Veronica and the rest of the gang at Riverdale High.

A couple years ago, Susan decided that it was time for our kids to experience a pleasure of her childhood: the Double Digest. Although I had certainly heard of Archie — and I did my share of comic book collecting — I wasn't familiar with that term. The Double Digest is basically a collection of several Archie Comics in a compact, perfect-for-the-car-or-bathroom size. In our house, they have become like Tribbles. They inhabit every corner, whole or in pieces, and seem to multiply overnight.

At first, the whole gang got in on the Archie craze, with constant conversations between the three of them about what happened to whom in which story. Car trips were particularly easy with everyone's nose buried in a Double Digest, leaving the adults free to converse without having to break up the constant bickering happening in the back. The Double Digests were also helpful in other ways. If you needed a quick way to reward someone, pick up the latest adventures of Archie and friends in the grocery store check-out line. How about a little something extra from the Tooth Fairy for a particularly troublesome tooth? Try a Double Digest! And at only a couple bucks per copy, the kids could also use their own money and feel special leaving the book store with a purchase of their own.

Eventually, Winnie went on to more mature 'tween reading, leaving The Littles — Caty and Aster — as the primary consumers of the Archie saga. And now, while Caty still enjoys reading them, nothing can compare to Aster's devotion to all things Archie. At first I was a bit skeptical of replacing their "real books" with comic book fluff, but I would soon become used to seeing the kids with a Double Digest in their hands and it amused me to see them so engrossed in something.

Best of all were the unexpected teachable moments that came with Archie. At breakfast, Aster would look up and ask what it meant to be a billionaire and how many they were in the United States. Then later, she would comment on how self-centered Reggie was and we would have a nice discussion on how important it is to think of others instead of only ourselves. It seemed not a day went by when there wasn't at least one opportunity to learn something new courtesy of Archie. Few situations in Aster's life couldn't be related somehow to something or someone in the pages of a Double Digest. They're her Bible.

I'm sure this phase, like all others, will pass and they'll be on to something else, but I can honestly say that I'll miss Archie, Betty, Veronica, Reggie, Jughead, Moose and the rest of their friends. They're welcome back any time!

Obama is a Softie!

2009-02-21T20:51:00.000-08:00

This was the first election that the kids were old enough to really follow — and understand — what was happening. They knew we were for Obama (though we made it clear that we still respected what McCain has done for the country) and followed the election right on through his historic inauguration. While we didn't dare try to head downtown for the inauguration, we did see all the crowds and hoopla the day before and went with the kids to a really cool exhibition of Obama-related art.

Winnie loves to create stuffed critters out of felt and other materials. She has a knack for seeing how things will fit together in three dimensions and makes everything without a pattern. With the excitement of all the inauguration build-up, Susan offered Winnie $20 to make her a stuffed Obama. Armed with some photos Susan found online, Winnie created this amazing likeness of our 44th president. He's made with felt, thread, and pipe cleaners and he's as flexible (but still strong!) as the real McCoy.

Meeting the Monster Maker

2009-02-21T18:56:00.000-08:00

Stefan Bucher is an interesting guy. Originally from Germany, he now lives in LA where he designs for the entertainment industry and creates his "Daily Monsters." He was a judge for the Art Directors Club's Annual Show design contest several years ago and Susan and I had the good fortune to be seated with him at dinner after the judging. He and Susan struck up a friendship in the intervening years and when he came to speak to the Art Directors Club recently, she and the kids had lunch with him.

The kids were excited to meet him and made him cards to welcome him to DC. In pure Winnie style, she made him a felt card with a stuffed version of one of his monsters on the front. I wish we had gotten a picture of it before she gave it to him because it was so cool. Check out his work at www.344design.com and www.dailymonster.com. Truly amazing stuff.

She's a Sketch

2009-02-21T18:18:00.000-08:00

Aster loves to sketch! So much so that she's already filled several sketchbooks with her impressive fashion illustrations and other ideas. She and Susan like to combine art, coffee and cupcakes, with DC's Love Cafe being their favorite spot. Above are pictures from their most recent trip where they experimented with watercolor pencils.