Someday, he will inherit the mantle "CrayolaSmoker"...
 

Holy crap! Kyla and Lucas turn one today. I don't think a single year of my life has flown by as fast as this one. Over the past 365 days have we've watched the twins go from this...
 

...little more than lumps that eat, sleep, cry and poop, to this...

...highly mobile, highly vocal miniature people that have learned/are learning just how easy it is to interact with their world. Sure, they still eat, sleep, cry and poop, but who doesn't?

I am continually amazed by these two. Both in their similarities and their differences. They're both generally happy babies, with infectious smiles and inquisitive natures. However, Kyla is very methodical in her inquisitions, testing the food, toy, thing she's climbing, incrementally until she understands it. Lucas, on the other hand, barrels forth towards his goal with little regard for the process of getting there. Kyla is consistently using sign-language to communicate her needs. Lucas? not so much. Lucas has begun walking. Kyla? Still thinks she needs a finger to hold, despite being able to lean almost 90 degrees over and still get back to standing. What they're going to do next is impossible to predict, and it makes our future crazy exciting.

When anyone asks, I tell them that fatherhood has been a frustrating, exhilarating, exhausting and insanely rewarding ride. And I mean every word of it. It's the fastest roller-coaster I've ever been on, with the sharpest turns, lowest lows, and highest of highs. As far as I'm concerned, the ride master can just leave the harness locked, 'cause this is a ride I don't ever want to get off.

H A P P Y   B I R T H D A Y   K Y L A   A N D   L U C A S ! ! !

I'm very much looking forward to seeing you two have many, many more!

After Adepticon, and two particularly inspiring painting classes from the Wappels, I was hit hard by the painting bug. Lacking any ready-to-paint 40K models, I grabbed a box (or two) of Malifaux and quickly slapped together some custom bases. For the past few weeks, on my days off, nap-time for the twins has been "paint time" for me. With the exception of one canine that I had to strip, I have now painted every Resurrectionist model I own. Holy crap! I have a fully-painted force I can put on a gaming table! That's a first, folks.

Without further ado...

The Resurrectionts: Body Thieves Box Set
(swapping Flesh Construct for Zombie Chihuahua)

Dr. Douglas McMourning - Morgue Master

Sebastian - Morgue Assistant

Nurse #1

Nurse #2

Flesh Construct

Zombie Chihuahua with Canine Remains

McMourning's Crew

I'm pretty damn proud of 'em. Not only for being the first time I've fully painted an "army", but because I think I've pulled off a cohesive look and theme. I'm still trying to figure out if I want to do blood spatter on the bases. There's merits to both sides of the argument, but I'm still not sure how to pull it off effectively. We'll see.

The Chihuahua's coloring is modelled directly after Chili. I even went back and lightened the lighter spots 'cause she's damn near white there in her old age. Niki thinks the paint job is hysterical, if a little bit gross.

Next up: The Death Marshals Box Set with Executioner. And a Doppleganger. That model was just too cool to pass up.

Gulf in Crisis: McBoxy's Biggie-Sized Blunder (YouTube) has advanced to the finals! I'm still a bit shocked. Not because I doubt the quality of our film, but because the heat we screened in was so damn good.
 
I know of what I speak. I sat alongside the Palatia Motion Picture Group guys through every film of this year's competition, and I don't think there was a single heat with better overall quality than the heat we were in. With a different set of judges, We Kill Birds and/or Apple to Oranges would easily be going to the finals in our place.
 
The finals are Monday night, starting with Pixelvision at 6:00 PM. Guerilla, our division, starts at 8:30. Feel free to come out and cheer us on.

Since the 9th Annual 24-Hour Video Race was this past weekend, it's time for smokingcrayolas.net's annual spring cleaning. I've updated various bits of the site and found a couple places where I should add on to the infrastructure.
 
Tonight is the debut of Team SmokingCrayolas' short film Gulf in Crisis: McBoxy's Biggie-Sized Blunder at the Angelika. It will debut on the internet both here and YouTube shortly after we get back from the screenings.
 
I'm off to catch Pixelvision, with Niki and the twins joining us for our heat at 8:00. It's the kids first trip to a movie theater and it'll be after their bedtime.
 
Wish us luck. In more ways than one.