Francis the friendly octopus

Francis welcomes a friend home!

2010-04-24T07:56:00.001-07:00

Francis and his friends have a lot of work to do. One of their friends is coming home after being away for a looooong time.

They are going to the airport to pick their friend up, but they thought it would be nice to make a 'welcome home' sign first.

They have plenty of markers, glue, and construction paper!

Their friend is coming to the east coast all the way from the west coast, so she's traveling forward in time. It's a time zone joke! Get it?

After they write the message they start to put fun, futuristic pictures on. Like robots! And stars! And pigs with jetpacks!

They're almost done...

Wow! It looks great!

They pick up some silver balloons on the way to the airport. They're silver because they're from the future!

At first they watch carefully for their friend. They want to surprise her!

But after a while they get bored and start to play cards. And while they're not paying attention...

Their friend sneaks up on them! They may have failed at surprising her, but they sure had fun getting ready!

The Unbirthday Party

2009-08-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

It's a very important day for Francis.

He has to decorate the whole house.

There are grab bags to put together.

His friends are here! It's time for the party!

It's so exciting to see old friends.

The rest of the guests arrive a little while later.

Some of the friends pose while another takes a photo. Say cheese!

They spend some time catching up until...

Cupcakes!

While it's not technically anyone's birthday they decide to light candles and sing anyway. They never get to see each other on their actual birthdays.

Francis gets some of his friends milk. One friend doesn't really like milk. He can have lemonade instead!

Then everyone digs in and eats their yummy cupcakes.

Then, too soon, the party is over. Once his friends head home Francis starts taking his decorations down. Luckily he has happy memories of his time with his friends!

Francis helps a friend

2009-08-09T11:24:00.000-07:00

Today Francis is going to help a friend fix the wall in his basement.

He decides to use this old broken wheelbarrow. Francis loves to recycle!

This is probably more cement than he'll need. It's always good to be prepaired.

Francis has to clean the wall first.

This may take a while.

Francis also needs to deal with the bugs.

In case you're wondering, it's a bungee cord. Francis can't fly.

Time to mix the cement!

We're ready to get to work!

Yay! Cement!

It takes a long time to do a job like this.

After a few hours the job is done.

It feels good to help a friend!

Francis goes to a midnight show!

2009-07-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

You may not know this, but...

Francis loves Harry Potter.

He's read all the books.

He can't wait to see the new movie. He's going to a 12:01am show!

Francis always reads the books before he sees the movies (the books are usually better).

He makes himself a big cup of coffee before he heads out. It's going to be a late night!

Now: let's talk seriously for a moment. Francis would never encourage you to do anything that goes agains the rules...

But Francis isn't about to pay $5 for a snack. So he brings his own!

It's hard to find a wizard costume in Francis's size, so he makes his own with construction paper, string, and glue.

Sshhh! The show is about to start!

Francis raises chickens pt 2!

2009-07-16T17:48:00.000-07:00

It took a lot of work, but the chicken coop is finally done.

Francis even made them a ramp! They're still too small to use it.

Maybe Francis should have put the doorknob closer to the ground...

Anyway, let's go inside and say hi to the chickens!

The chickens sure are getting big!

Francis spends quality time with them everyday.

When they're grown up they'll lay eggs in these boxes!

Francis is starting to wonder about this chicken...

and the rooster isn't feeling so great.

Francis does his best to keep the chickens warm and fed and happy. See you later chickens!

Francis raises chickens pt. 1

2009-07-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

It takes a lot of careful planning before Francis can start raising his own chickens. First he thinks about everything he'll need.

He'll need a heatlamp.

And chicken food.

Think we have enough?

And a nice box lined with newspaper.

Hooray! The chickens are here!

At first they're a little afraid of Francis.

But Francis spends time with them every day, and eventually they become friends!

Francis takes a look at the place where he wants to build a chicken coop. What a mess!

Time to get to work, Francis!

To be continued...

Francis Cooks!

2009-07-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

Francis reads the recipe very carefully.

He checks to make sure he has everything he needs.

Remember to wash those hands! I mean tentacles... whatever.

Francis puts butter, sweetened and unsweetened chocolate in a bowl to melt over boiling water.

After the chocolate is melted and has been taken off the heat Francis mixes eggs, sugar, and vanilla.

Now it's time to add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture!

While the rest of the ingredients are cooling to room temperature Frances mixes flour, salt and baking powder. Don't make a mess with that flour, Francis!

Time to chop the walnuts! Buying prechopped walnuts is for the weak.

After everything is mixed together Francis gets a pan ready.

Now the brownies are in the oven. Francis waits for them to cook.

It's hard to wait.

Success!

Nom nom nom

because a few people suggested it...

2009-07-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

and I have some time to kill...

Coming soon: The adventures of Francis the Friendly Octopus!