Black Jack Brush Tee Shirt

Black Jack finally made his way to the folks at Skreened. The shirt is available for men, women, kids, babies, and tote-collectors. Click here to purchase the shirt or to view the other Jolly Troop attire available through Skreened. Printed on best tees you can find (American Apparel), you can choose the color, fit, and size best for you.

This Friendly World

I have been thinking a lot about friends lately. And I think they are a good thing.

I think friends who think like you are good because you can share entrees at restaurants with them. But I think friends who do not think like you are good because they will tell you honestly if plaid is a trend you should avoid.

I think you are lucky if you have friends enough for a dinner party. But you are also lucky if you have one good friend who will help you move a heavy armoire back and forth across a room (cus you can't quite make up your mind about it's placement).

It seems that friends of any kind or any number are worth having since being a friend is worth trying.

So I really like my troop of friends.

And I hope you really like your troop of friends, too.

-rfb

Coloring Page: Third Eye Guy

Stilts, like many, is trying to find or reach Nirvana. He believes three things will get him there: focusing on his third eye; hiking the majestic slopes of the Himalayas; and listening to the new-age musician Yanni.

September Craft: Pencil Toppers

We thought our school supplies could use a little fun and what better way than with our own mini versions of Red Fred Bodoni and the Jolly Troop?

To make Red Fred pencil toppers you will need:
• Different colored fabric for each bird (we used fleece cus it's so soft)
• Coordinating embroidery thread
• Fabric glue
• A thread needle
• Scissors
• Red Fred Bodoni printed patterns

Directions:
1. Click on patterns, drag to desktop, and print at 100% (on your printer!).
2. Cut out each bird and accessory from the patterns and trace onto material.
3. Fold material and cut along traced lines so you end up with two matching pieces.
4. According to the pattern, line up beak in between the two matching pieces.
5. Glue together along the top and side but leave the bottom open (for the pencil!).
6. With embroidery thread, line stitch around the outside of your bird except for the bottom (cus of the pencil!).
7. Make a knot for each bird eye and cut excess thread.
8. Top your pencils with our own members of the Jolly Troop!

The Hoeflers and The Show Me State

Did you know there are wineries in Missouri? I did not. I did know wine is produced outside of Italy, I just wouldn’t have expected it in the mule state I suppose.

However, The Hoefler Twins spent a weekend at a Missouri winery recently.

They needed to unwind after a recent, heated debate over the historical accuracy of the first moon landing. It lasted an entire week. Magnus was at his wit's end.

But while they vacationed at Chandler Hills The Twins wine tasted, but not too much. They relaxed, but took long walks. They asked one million questions about vineyards, but listened to all one million answers. They stayed awake late, but woke up early.


And they argued some, but agreed some too.

The trip was a very good idea. The Twins returned home stress free (mostly).

I hope you are stress free (completely).

-rfb

Fast, Faster, Penny.

I like Penny because she is so fast. She talks fast. She reads fast. She moves fast.

She once started and finished a story before Big Ben was done chiming the noon hour. She once read the whole dictionary in the time it took me to make a pitcher of lemonade. She once beat me by a mile (literally) in a running race.

But she is also fast to say hello to someone new. She is fast to smile at a stranger. And she is fast to ask about your salsa dance lesson from last night (which didn't go as well as I'd hoped).

I'm glad Penny ran across my path.

And I'm glad I ran across yours.

-rfb

Blog Button

Some folks have asked us to perch on their blogs so we created this Blog Button just for them and for you. Just go to the page where you customize your blog pages, click and drag the image to your desktop, and link the image to our blog. Easy peezy.

Coloring Page: Alien Window Seat

It is safe to say that Algernon likes everything green. Even if it is an alien with a gaping, chomp-action mouth, no eyes, and electrical-shocking feelers. When he woke up last Tuesday, he looked out the window and saw Saturn very close to the horizon. Come to think of it, he saw a volcano, a flying popsicle, and a fish singing Joni Mitchell's Little Green. The lava, however, was as red as me.

Download: September Bookplates

With school in swing and tree-leaves turning, we thought a few bookplates (or Ex Libris if you want to be fancy) would fit nicely in with end-of-summer-beginning-of-fall reading. Inspired by Brother Hildebrand Brandenburg of Biberach, we'd like to give you a few, jolly, downloadable bookplates. Here's what you do:

1. Purchase labels. We wanted a nice, hearty sticker so we purchased Avery® 3-1/3" x 4" white shipping labels (product 8164) from Office Depot. Keep the blank stickers you don't use because we will find more excuses for them in the future.

2. Download templates. Avery provides templates for your labels. Search for product 8164. Follow instructions for your particular computer (Mac & PC are different).

3. Safe images to desktop. Click on the images below or drag them to your desktop.

4. Load images to template. Open up your Avery application. Select "blank" template. Click on the label you want to put an image on. Click the "browse" button and find the images on the desktop. Adjust the image to fill the space of the sticker (you will need to rotate it 90º - look for the rotating tool).

5. Print.

Of course, if you don't want to use stickers, simply open the images in a preview-type of application and print them. You'll need to cut them out yourself, as well as glue them to your book. Either way, it's a great way to make the Jolly Troop stick to your reading.

-rfb

The Colosseum

I love going home for a visit. Rome is such a beautiful city, so much to do and see. This time I took Black Jack on his first trip to the Colosseum. He would like to be a gladiator for Halloween this year. A gladiator or British Royal Queen's Guard; he wants a dignified costume.

I like perusing from the inside out.

Black Jack preferred the bird's eye view.

I try to imagine the Colosseum in its original Flavius Amphitheatre glory. I envision 50,000 spectators. I study the travertine stone of the exterior. I question the thought process behind the naming of the vomitoria.

I think I would have liked to see a Roman drama there. I think I would not have liked to see an animal hunt there.

Maybe I'll see you there.

-rfb

Coloring Page: Monster Mouth Cave

We weren't sure on this one: cave or monster's mouth. How many "teeth" are there? If Black Jack was in a limestone cave, then which teeth are stalactites and which are stalagmites? If Black Jack was in a monster's mouth, then how many cavities does the monster have?

Click on the image and then print it out. And remember: its fine to color outside the lines.