Oakleys Getting Bigger!

Kayla Cartoons

Every once and a while, when I feel like making a film with out going anywhere, talking to anyone, or even getting off my computer, I work on my cartoons. They are a little more work and not as real as the films I make with my siblings, but they are cute and most importantly, I am pleased with my finished product! They are HARD work. It is a very detailed job that takes focus and precision. My latest cartoons I have been working on, are called: The Tink and Clarence funnies.

The stars of the show are based after the real dogs, Tink and Clarence who live across the street. There owner, Mrs. T. is like a third grandma to me and Jamie. We’ve had lots of fun walking her dogs for her. They were our first dogs we sort of got to help own. I like to think Tink is my girl! Anyhow we’ve spend a lot of time with these dogs and I’ve observed there characters and they are colorful beings! Jamie and I have imagined these dogs shopping at a store, or them going to the super bowl, or even getting the mail! Finally, I decided to make these hilarious visions come to life and they have transferred to the computer beautifully! lol!

They way I’ve made these little cartoon figures is kind of complicated, but I’ll try to explain. I use the program Microsoft  Power Point 2007. I paste together shapes to make the figures. Squares for the legs, body, & neck. Circles for eyes, & noses. The ears, tails and tongues and anything else strangely shaped I use a custom tool to make. To make the figures move I make another page on the program, duplicate the figure but turn the legs and then move the body forward and do this over and over till it appears they are walking. >>

start with the first one and go down, then go down the 2nd row

 

Imagine all those^ wacthed quickly after each other- it looks like Clarence is walking across the computer screen!

Here is a shot from a scene in show number one >>>

Tink complains to Clarence about her mail

Below is a behind the scenes picture I took of how the cartoons look before I assemble them. Above the line is the pieces separate, then below the line is after I’ve put them together. 

Hope all this makes some sort of sense! I just had to share my new found joy in cartoons. -Kayla

 

Oakley

Me and Oakley

Our neighbors have just got a puppy. His name is Oakley. He defines the word ‘soft’. He is a pitbullish fellow who is so quiet and loving.  His size is so holdable!

Dispite his wrinkles, he is so cute

Jamie is so natural with animals

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, and it was so…and God saw that it was good.

Gen 1:24a-25b

3 Year Old Art Work . . . . .

Hmmmmm . . . . . . .

Ahem…..Nathan draws all sorts of things. But one day, I asked him to draw some pictures of Clarence and Tink for Mrs. T. Well, he’s drawing turned out–interesting and very well drawn, considering he’s three….

Mmmmhmmm . . . .

I helped him sign his initials and I wrote the dogs’ names. He knew what he was doing though. He started with the legs. “Here’s their legs….and then the body….and here’s their tail,” (He drew little bunny cotton ball tails) “And their eyes”. He made large circles, and the put a little mark in the center of them. He knows eyes need those little dots in them, which we all call pupils, but that’s way over his head . . . . . . .

~Jamie

Books Vs. Dogs

"Hey, Tink! Jamie Prefers Me Over Horse Books!" *slobber*

 ^Back when it was nice outside, our family came home from the library with a bunch of books. Since Mrs. T was out, we decided to bring the dogs to our yard where they wouldn’t be lonely.  Just say it’s difficult looking at library books with an excited lab. I don’t think I got far in my horse book.

. . . . .”Whatever, Clarence,” . . . . . .

^ Tink was very calm (as usual) but she’s characterized by demanding attention, and so I don’t think Kayla read that much either, because Tink kept standing in the way wanting more pets. I believe she got tied to the tree after while, but even that didn’t do much good. :D

Nathan with Mr. Gong

^ Nathan brought over ‘Mr. Gong Man’ to our yard. ‘Mr Gong’ is one of Clarence’s toys—it’s much more fun then the tennis balls. Nathan had a great time throwing it in the air and ducking it as it came down.

And get this. We once asked Nathan who his best friends were (expecting to hear the usual, “Sophia, Aaron, Gabriel, Pastor H , Izzy,” ) and he said, “Mommy and . . . .Tinkie!” It was so shocking! Lol. “His best friend is the neighbor dog! AHHH!” Lol. He still says it: “Tinkie’s my best friend!” He adores brushing her and petting her and giving her hugs. I believe she likes it too.

Clarence Likes to Try to Sit on My Lap

^ I think in this picture I’ve pretty much given up trying to read.

Our Regal Princess . . . .

Tinkie acts so mature and royal…like a noble lady from the time of knights and castles and damsels and dragons. Except, this princess could rescue herself from a dragon. Tink doesn’t even let the neighbor’s chickens cluck without making a racket about it. I believe our poor Knight, Sir Clarence, wouldn’t do very good fighting a dragon anyway. Clarence is the kind of dog that would invite the dragon in for super instead and a play a round cards afterwards.  :D Tis true!

Kayla took the pictures above. :D

~Jamie

Somebody’s Been Here . . . .

Doggie print….how cute! Kayla took this picture last Saturday on ‘wash day’. :D

Oh, for friends who are interested, I shall soon be doing a post or two on some of the things I have receantly sewed or made. :D So stay tuned! :)

~Jamie

Clarence’s Bath

Love can somtimes be a bit disgusting . . . . .

Bathtime Boredom

“Ahh, feel the fleas jumpin’ off!”

Awwwww . . . . lol

Okay, here’s Clarence’s pics, once again, taken by Kayla.

Now, we all thought that it would be difficult washing Clarence. Here’s why. For those who don’t know, Labs LOVE water. The whole breed loves water and swimming. But not Clarence. He got tramatized when a he was a younger pup—he fell into a swimming pool! Since then he’s been afraid of water. Anytime any of us turn on the hose to water the grass, change their water, wash away ants, or fill the bird bath, he either runs to hid under the table or stands right behind Mrs. T. So, we weren’t sure how he was going to act when we tethered him to the fence. Well, it turns out, he doesn’t mind getting wet so long as he can’t hear the hose making loud noises. His first bath was a great success and Mrs. T was sooooo happy about it. So that’s why washing Clarence is a such a great job for me, because I knows he trusts me to get him wet. :D

We tied him to the fence and scrubbed him up. Unlike Tink, he was tied, so he couldn’t just up and walk off on us. He did turn in constant circles. When I tried to wash his left side he turn around and gave me his right. He’s such a stinker. He did very good overall. It’s so nice knowing I’m making him clean. When we finished, I undid he leash and he walked around dripping wet. Then we tied him up again to wash Tink. Once she was done and was rolling in the grass, he ran over and started jumping around and they had a little mini fight. And that means they both felt really good. 

~Jamie

Tink’s Bath

Me and Miss Ticket Tongue after her bath

‘Rub-ah-dub-dub. Tinky’s in the tub!’

Lights-camera-action!

‘I don’t like baths that much….’

You might be wondering why I’m posting about the neighbor dogs’ bathtime. But really, giving Tink and Clarence their baths are big jobs and are accomplishments that I’m pleased to conquer.  I’m posting about Tink first.  Once again, all photos taken by Kayla. She also took video at the same time. :)

We did her in the swimming pool because we  knew she would stand in it. She’s not afraid of water.  She did stand in the tub for most of her bath. Right when I was ready to rinse her, she came to the conclussion that she was all done, and stepped out, nearly dragging me through the soapy, dirty water. We chased her around the patio a bit, then I managed to step on her leash and we put the hose to her. She let us finish the job, and then she ran straight off and rolled in the grass. Thank heavens there is no dirt patches for her to roll in. She now feels very soft and clean. :D

~Jamie

Doggie Days . . . .

Posing for Kayla

‘Hello! Isn’t my pink tongue cute?’

‘Why are you always sticking that in my face?’

Jamie and Kayla-15 and 13

Kayla took several shots of me at Mrs. T’s  last month, at my request. Clarence had to join in the fun as well. Mrs. T took the one of Kayla and me.  

We enjoy going over there in the afternoons to walk Clarence and Tink. We usually stick around a while afterwards too, to visit with her and entertain the dogs. We help her brush them, and give them their flea treatmeants. I’ve helped her take both of them to the vet for checkups.  We receantly gave them their first baths not long ago. Hope to take pictures of their next baths.

We have this thing about Tink’s tongue, too. She often lies around with about  1/2 a inch sticking out. It looks likes a ticket machine–the little thing where you pull your ticket out to see what number you are. It’s so adorable.  

Clarence mostly falls all over me with kisses. Maybe I’m salty after walking him, because he licks me up like I’m a pork chop or ham bone.  Kayla thinks it’s quite disgusting.  I really don’t mind. :D

~Jamie

Walking the Dogs; a poem

A poem by Kayla

Walking the Dogs

It is fun to walk the dogs,

To take them on exciting jogs.

Tinky runs me down the street,

And I walk her up it in the heat,

To our house Clarence runs straight,

If he sees our cat, he thinks it’s great!

When we all march back, Mrs. Tripaldi says ‘hi’

We go inside along with a fly.

Although all the treats are great,

I try not to eat too much if it’s late.

(I also eat with a limit, cause,

I don’t really want to look like Tinky does!)

After snack and a bit of chat,

We go outside, Clarence likes that!
We grab our ice and the fly swatter,

And all of us hope it’s not any hotter!
We’ll sit in chairs or chase after flies,

Clarence makes Tink bite him, and he cries.

To the grass her back to us, Tink will go,

While we cheer on Clarence, as he catches ice like a pro.

When we see Mr. Potter, we all give a shout!

He’s a black carpenter bee, if you see him- look out!

We watch for Mrs. Woodpecker, humming birds too,

And get our arms stuck in flypaper glue.

The flies will bombard us, the dogs make us laugh,

By now, our time is probably cut in half.

Pretty soon, to home we must go.

We watch the clock to hit 4:15 or so.

We hug the 3 Tripaldi’s good-by

And bid good riddance to each and every fly!

Then we charge home, Clarence watching, and Tink,

At home we wash up with soap in the sink.

Dear God, I hope humming birds you will send,

Thanks for a good time, now this poem I must end.

What We Do In The Morning

Dogs love attention. We love to give it. :D

Daddy and Clarence love to play

A Blur of Action

Posted by Jamie

These pictures are from a morning visit at the Mrs. ‘T’s’. Daddy and Clarence love to play ball. Clarence loves Daddy to chase him. You can see in the middle picture that Tink doesn’t look impressed with the game.  Kayla took these pictures.

Bored of the Girls

Daddy's Caption: "Jamie telling Tink a story which Clarence has heard a million times."

Posted by Jamie

Kayla tried doing a photo shoot of me with Clarence and Tink in our front door. This is one of the funnier shots. When Daddy saw it, he said it looked like I was telling Tink a story, which was very interesting to her, but was boring Clarence because he had heard it before.   I think I was really telling Tink to look at Kayla! :D

Walking Tink and Clarence

Kayla with Tink

Jamie with Tink and Clarence.

Jamie and Clarence

Posted by Jamie 

Photos taken by Kayla

For the past few weeks, Kayla and I have been walking our neighbor’s dogs–Clarence and Tink. Clarence is a ten-month old Lab (he’s a giant), and Tink is a five year old German Shepherd/Boxer mix. She has the sweetest face and disposition and is a little over-weight. She loves to eat. Clarence is a big, boisterous puppy who loves ice cubes, playing ball and going on walks. :D

We go over to their home across the street every day after breakfast to say good morning and throw the ball for Clarence. Tink loves to be petted. She’s never chased the ball. She prefers to be pampered. Clarence gets jealous, though, and will start biting her small ears. She bites back and grabs the lose skin on his head and drags him around the yard. Ouch. :)

Around 3:00 or 3:30 in the afternoon, Kayla and I will go over to give them a walk on our street. Clarence loves to walk, even though he has bad hips. Walking Tink is an attempt to help her lose some of her excess baggage. ;b I usually take Clarence and Kayla takes Tink. We walk around our cul-de-sac first. Then we might go up the block to the next cul-de-sac on the left. But for some reason Kayla doesn’t like going that way. She says it’s dark, it had Halloween stuff (I didn’t even notice those), that there was no grass or flowers and that it wasn’t a ‘happy’ place. So we usually go to the right to a different cul-de-sac that is ‘happy’. Then we go down to the end of the street and come back. The two do very well. Tink gets a little excited if we pass a fence that has a barking dog on the other side. (She would love to just take ‘em all on and chew them shreds.) If it’s a nice day, we come back to our front yard to take some pictures and pet them. Then we take them back to their home.

Their owner is a widow, Mrs. ‘T’. She’s a Christian and loves to have us come in and sit down. She gives us water with cookies or apples and we talk and feed Clarence ice cubes. We enjoying spending time with her and the two cuties, Clarence and Tink.