In Episode Three of Shoot the $#!T, Chris and his brother, Marc, blow up the kitestring printer.

Check out older episodes:

Happy September everyone!! I’m super excited to post my blog on the first day on, what I consider to be, one of the best days of the year.

For anyone who actually stuck around for the past few months, instead of basking in the beautiful summer that embraced us, you will know that the kitestring team has been hard at work – “nose to the grindstone” you might say. We’ve actually had a lot of fun working on some amazing projects this summer. Fun as they may be, it was still difficult to ignore the hot temps and cool beaches that were calling our name!

But, as I welcome in September today, I suddenly feel like the very tantalizing summer fever that I had been feeling is finally lifted – hurray!

Today brings a new energy – it’s the day to get ready to settle into the last quarter of the year. Reflect on what’s been, what we’ve checked off of our list and what’s still left to accomplish before the New Year approaches.

So, as the sandal tan fades, I invite you to join in the excitement of the season! The team here at kitestring has been doing just that. We’ve brainstormed, We’ve re-focused, we’re excited, and, believe me, the creative ideas are cookin’! The studio’s a buzz as we work on bringing our latest wacky ideas to life!

Needing a little help coming off of the summer vacation high? No worries, drop by the kitestring studio anytime. We can help you with brainstorming, focusing and re-energizing too (after all, it’s what we love to do).

-jenn

Being the proud father of 9 month old twins, it’s becoming more and more apparent that babies are nothing more than really small zombies.

Let me count the ways:

1. They start out not really moving, or doing much, you think you’re safe, and like zombies, they really stink.

2. Slowly, they start to animate, becoming more and more mobile.

3. They develop a hunger for human flesh (teething process, and beyond).

4. When they chase you, they may not be fast, but they are persistent, and will catch you eventually.

5. They eat your brains. I haven’t been able to think straight for months. My brain is technically gone.

6. They turn you into one of them. I have a glazed over look, shuffle around like a zombie, and haven’t showered in days.

7. Like a typical zombie apocalypse, you are the only one left. All of your friends and family who used to visit seem to have disappeared, never to be seen again.

If anyone can recommend how I would fight the baby zombie apocalypse, I would be very grateful.

I know, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. I got the guilt trip from Chris yesterday…it’s been a very busy December. The projects at kitestring are going great, and life with twins and a 2 year old is draining me. Although, the twins did sleep for a full 8 hours last night! Amazing.

I am going to get my Christmas post out of the way now, and tell you what I’m thankful for this year. No techy stuff, just fluff.

I had a great talk with Jenn yesterday, and we discussed how things just feel right, like everything has fallen perfectly into place. I think we are some of the lucky people in this world who love their career, love their job, and love the people they work with. For that, I am thankful.

How many times have you said “I really love my job”, only to hear someone else say “give it time, you’ll hate it soon”. A very depressing sentiment, but unfortunately, for the most part, it’s true. I have had many jobs that started off great, only to drown slowly in company politics, gossip, red tape, and a sea of jaded, depressed people. Suffice it to say, those jobs didn’t last long.

I have been working with Chris and Jenn for over 5 years now, and it has only gotten better. We all respect each other, have fun together, and appreciate what everyone else brings to the table. And with the recent addition of Meg, whose energy and quirkiness are very contagious; it’s a perfect mix of fun and professionalism at the kitestring office.

I don’t know about you, but having a career that I love is a great gift. I’m also thankful for caffeine, my new best friend.

Do you love your job? If not, what are you going to do about it?

Have a happy holiday season!

Last year, my husband told me that our Christmas was ‘too grown up’ and that we needed to bring some kid elements in. As he was saying this, I think I actually blacked out for a minute and, in the blackness a lit marqui flashing the word ‘tacky’ appeared. Since then, I contemplated his words and chatted with many about it. I don’t think I’m ready to give up my nicely coordinated tree decor and all of the other pretty things that are in my Christmas collection. It wasn’t until the last few days that I realized that maybe a kid christmas doesn’t have to mean tacky.

This Christmas season is turning out to be a lot of fun in our house. Jack is now 2 1/2 and it’s the first Christmas that he’s actually cluing in to what it’s all about. He squeals at the excitement of the lights donning houses and is super intrigued by the presents that are starting to collect under the tree. The other big change this year is that he gets what ‘Santa’ is. He’s mesmerized by him actually. As a parent, its added a whole new element into Christmas that I am absolutely LOVING! Granted, he’s not quite old enough to start using Santa as a vehicle to get Jack to do the things I want for fear that he’ll be put on the ‘naughty’ list but, creating the magic of Santa is a blast!

Today I setup a neat video message from Santa  that Sympatico is providing for the holiday season. I simply inputted his name, age and a few other details and voila – a personal message to Jack from the big guy himself. I loaded it up for Jack to watch as he was eating breakfast. It was so cute to see his eyes peeled to the screen as his picture showed up in Santa’s big book. “That’s Jack, mamma”, he yelled! When it had finished, he insisted “again, again”. How much fun is that!?! (The link to Jack’s message is included below for you to check out and craft one of your own!)

So, in the end, I still have a pretty Christmas but, the season is enhanced for me by being able to sprinkle a little magic into the mix for Jack as well! Don’t get me wrong – I’m no pro at being Santa. Let me know some of the tricks and surprises that you added into your kids Christmas to make it extra special – I welcome the advice!

Link: http://santa.sympatico.ca/watch/c372b5ce6cc8980d6a7c2dfaa45fc3fc

- jenn

Not sure if you’ve heard the news but – the Holiday season is upon us!

We’ve quickly been thrown into the purchasing, wrapping and other preparations that surround us at this time of year.  With each year that passes I always vow that “I’ll be better prepared next year”. A great aspiration but, by the time the next Christmas season rolls around, I’m usually back in the same crunch that I always find myself in.

Not this year! This year, I promised to make a conscious effort to make it a little less stressful and a little more magical without  the post-Christmas financial hangover. We started our shopping earlier than we normally do – allowing us to put thought into what we are buying for everyone  and spread the spending out over several months.

I also enlisted the help of technology.

Too often, we wonder around the mall with a mental list of the people to check-off the and, worse, only a mental tally of the money we’ve spent.

This year, I downloaded an application onto my iPhone called ‘Holiday Shopping List’. It’s just one of the many available in the App Store. This handy little addition has allowed me to build our list, assign individual budgets for each person, categorize folks, make notes as we shop and keep a running tally of what we’ve spent (both individually and in total).It also allows you to mark a person as ‘finished’ – one of my most favorite features!

Now, as we shop, I have a current list in my pocket. No more scribbles on paper for us! I love this application. It’s allowed me to keep a really accurate tally on our status of what’s left to do and what we have left to spend. For once, I’m in control of Christmas Shopping and not the other way around.

Such a little thing has made a big difference! With our shopping in a good place – it’s left us time to actually enjoy the time leading up to the big day. We’ve been watching holiday movies, baking cookies, checking out the Christmas lights – who knew that the pre-Christmas weeks could be so fun!

Happy preparing!

- jenn

Chris’ post about creativity got me thinking about a great little interaction I had this past fall. Although it was short, it stuck with me.

A few weekends ago, we were at one of the wonderful Fall festivals happening in the area. At the end of the ceremonial parade, one of the firefighters came up to Jack and I and gave him a colour book and crayons.  ‘Mamma, I draw!’ Yes, Jack takes any opportunity he can to break out the crayons and scribble! It’s one of his most favorite activities.

As we were thanking the generous fireman, he admired Jack’s innocent excitement and shared a little story…

“I remember exactly the moment in life that I realized that it wasn’t acceptable to draw outside the lines. I was in grade one colouring away like a mad man. The teacher came around and admired the girl sitting next to meet for how well she was colouring. As I looked over, I noticed that there was something distinctly different about our two papers. Hers was neat and tidy and all inside the lines. Mine was a free-for-all a big splash of colour – and certainly not inside the lines. Hmm, I thought, I guess that there are some rules here to be followed…from then on in – I did my best to colour inside the lines.”

This story not only stuck with me but also made me think that maybe the ‘colour inside the lines’ philosophy isn’t always the best route. We need to reach outside of the lines – not only on our colouring sheet but in life in general. Reach for the stars as they say! As a mom, I keep this story in my mind as Jack grows up. I think its important for Jack to understand that sometimes its okay to colour outside the lines – it makes life interesting!

-jenn

Sesame Street is celebrating 40 years of Sunny Days and it’s hard not to remember your childhood when every time you need to google “hermeneutics” Big Bird is waving hello from their front page.

My favourite Sesame Street character was Telly, aka Telly Monster, the perpetually manic and paranoid Triangle Club President and reporter for “Monster on the Spot”. And even as an almost grown up, I can still get a good laugh out of Telly’s antics.

You must watch James Blunt sing an ode to Telly Monster’s triangle, see the triangle loving montage and remember how much fun it was to become addicted to television as a child:

This is my favorite SS moment. : ) Chris

With Bjork and too Much Denim.

What are you going as for Halloween?