Butterflies. I love them.
Last night, after I wrote up my post, we got dressed up and went out to Marissa’s birthday party. It was the first time we’d been out and not going to a movie in a long time so I decided to try on this dress I’d bough before I had David that I loved. Simple, light, black dress. It fit like a glove. Well, it was a bit tight on the top since I am still nursing, hence the scarf. I dreaded the party but as it turned out we had a lot of fun and played mini-golf and won two prizes for David.
But it also meant I went to bed later than usual and woke up really tired and I feel like I didn’t recover from that all day. It’s 7:30 and I am still overwhelmingly tired. Will go to bed early tonight. Because I was so tired, this morning lagged a lot and the layout took me a lot longer than usual and then my sewing machine died (it turned out I had threaded wrong, so it was totally my fault.) By the time I was done it was almost 11 and Nathaniel was up from his morning nap.
David put together one of the prizes we won last night (a puzzle.)
And of course, Nathaniel wanted to check it out.
When he started destroying them, David literally guarded it with his body.
So Nathaniel found some other forms of entertainment.
And David made some angry faces at me. Cause aren’t they more fun than smiling?
We were invited to Jake’s boss’ 40th birthday party, so we got the kids dressed and I snapped some photos of Nathaniel in his Istanbul shirt.
Doesn’t he look so cute?
Then we headed to the party which was wonderful fun. Two parties in two days, that’s more than we’ve been to in the last three months. And now I am going to organize some things for this month and maybe write up a post for tomorrow explaining some June plans and then hopefully hit the sack with my book. Here’s to a great June.
Note to Self:
Despite working on it a lot, I find myself still telling myself “I should do” this and that or “I should be” like this and that and that I need to change somehow. Yet while growth is good, the ability to accept myself as I am is also good and I am getting closer but not there just yet. If awareness is half the game, though, I am halfway there. Getting more and more away day by day.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. This has been a full but wonderful weekend. I am grateful for so much time and laughter with my family.
2. I am excited for my plans for June and grateful that I feel ambitious and creative right now.
3. I am thankful to all of you for cheering me on this month and all the nice comments I got at 2peas and amm and facebook. I feel really thankful for all the kindness and generosity of spirit.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. Daddy. (He’s really into his dad lately.)
2. The birthday party and playing with Nico and Geoff.
After several wrong starts, fixing a broken sewing machine, and much tiredness, here we are. and now it’s done! 31 layouts in a row! Phew.
I’ve been wanting to do a kraft-based layout all month and here we finally are. I’d also pulled out these little hearts at the beginning of the month so I am glad to have gotten to use them. The journaling is all about Nathaniel now. How he loves music and he laughs so much and how much we love him. Which is so so so much.
Details:
Thank you so much for all your amazing and kind comments all month long. I never actually thought I’d do this but here we are. A long, thoughtful post on LOAD coming on Saturday.
This week’s craft was super fun and inspired by this (click image for source):
We got all the supplies
Wrapped the matchbox with felt and put a different one in the drawer.
Another view.
Then we used some beads and buttons to make the legs.
Pom poms, googley eyes, pipecleaner and a felt tongue and we were done.
It was too much fun so we made another.
Now they’re friends.
And now they’re kissing.
This was fantastic fun, highly recommended!
I wish I’d gotten a better photo of this frog. It’s quite something to look at.
I still get so much joy from watching him walk. It makes me happy.
Yep, drooling.
David loves tickling him.
And chasing him around the house while Nathaniel giggles.
And then finally they both got quiet. (for like three seconds)
I know this photo has Nathaniel blurry but I love that they are both reading. Look at my boys.
Good day! Layout done, lesson four completed, pedicure and eyebrow wax, some more crochet practice, Skype with mom, playing with kids, taking photos. And now it’s time to put the kids down. We will be going out to a work party for our date night tonight. I’m not a party-person so let’s see how I like it.
Note to Self:
Today, I’ve been thinking about how sometimes things come to you exactly when you stop craving them. When you stop seeking and just go on with your life, things just stumble in. I wonder if that’s cause you’re just being authentic or if it’s completely unrelated. I do notice this pattern a lot and wanted to make sure to capture it so I can think about it some more and be mindful of it.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Grateful to be done with the first versions of all four of my lessons for BPS. Big step for me.
2. Grateful that I do seem to be getting the hang of crocheting finally
3. Grateful that I get one more day of vacation. Yey.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. Daddy (of course!)
2. and Mommy (shocker! tho he said it’s cause i let him play a bit more wii today.)
Yes, I know, long title.
I felt like I hadn’t scrapped just David in a while and I wanted to let him know that even though I am spending more time with Nathaniel now cause he needs it I still love him so much and I am so thankful for him.
The bloomers, basics, envelopes, and the tape were all items I had put aside to use this month so I figured before the month is over, I’d better get to work!
Details:
Another one from the academy of sciences.
Today kept feeling like Sunday. I’m glad it isn’t. And it was a relatively productive day. I did my layout, finished my book and when Nathaniel woke up from his nap:
we went out to lunch to this French cafe we discovered that we love. We then went shopping for some of the items we needed to stock up on and as Jake and the kids were unloading, I snapped these photos.
David helps his Dad by carrying the grocery bags to the kitchen.
And Nathaniel likes to just hang out by the door when it’s open.
My sweet boy. Love him and those blue eyes.
It was David’s Wii day so he played while Nathaniel played with his toys.
And I practiced more and more of my crochet. Getting better at it. Still got a loooong way to go.
I had a hair appointment today but my stylist got sick and had to reschedule, then I made an appointment for a pedicure only to show up and find out they were closing. I had to reschedule that. too. It was one of those kinds of days. Now the kids are playing in David’s room while I sit with them and type this up.
My plans after they go to bed are to write my third lesson for the upcoming Big Picture Scrapbooking class. I want to get most of the content down this weekend so that I can perfect and tune the class in the time left. Let’s see.
I’ve already started the next book: East of Eden. It’s 1450 pages on my reader. Ugh…. but I’m told it’s really good.
So some writing, some reading, some June planning, choosing the photo for tomorrow’s layout, and then bed for me tonight.
Note to Self:
I’ve learned that, for me, doing an activity for at least 30 minutes is necessary. It takes me that long to get in the groove. In programming, we generally call this being in the zone. It’s one the reasons meetings are evil (amongst many others) because it takes a while to get into the zone and then you perform at your highest when you’re there until you feel like you rode it all the way through. For me, this applies to doing scrapbook pages or art. It applies to writing. That’s why I plan and then sit and write the whole lesson in one shot. It works much better for me when I have the flow. It also applies to reading. I get into a book much more after I’ve focused on it for over 30 minutes. (so 10 pages a night might eventually help me finish a book but I don’t really ever get into it that way.) It even applies to learning something new. When I’ve been crocheting for over 35 minutes, I am much better at it and at picking up new things than I am if I do 10 minutes a day. So this means that I need to set aside at least an hour per activity to really do well and get enjoyment out of it. Good to know.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. A delicious lunch (goat cheese, salad, and pesto panini), on a beautiful day, with my wonderful family.
2. Finishing my book. I really loved it. Rare for me to love a short-story collection this much.
3. The sense of calm and peace I am feeling. I am thankful for that, I am not taking it for granted.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I’m grateful for the Wii-time.
2. Going out for lunch.
Layout a day number 29. Almost there!
I love how David loves making Nathaniel laugh and it makes my heart so happy to see these moments. Not much journaling this time, I didn’t think I needed it.
Details:
Here’s this week’s items:
16. Decorate my bedroom walls.
I knew that for my bedroom, I wanted a photo of each kid behind our bed. So I picked my two current favorites and ordered prints, I love the way they look on the wall:
The simple, white frames are from IKEA. The nice thing about this is that every six months or so, I can order new prints. I can even change it to two family photos if I feel like it.
On the other side of the room, I had a papasan chair from 1994, so I finally threw it out and got a couch/chair from IKEA and put a beautiful Pottery Barn mirror (that was 69% off on sale) over it. And on the other side, I had a very very old TV holder, so that went away, too and we bought a simple, white one from IKEA. This TV will be gone when we get the new one downstairs and move that one here.
Next to the bed are the colorful bookcases I’d shown before and that’s it for the bedroom. Simple, clean, and spacious. Just the way I like it 🙂
More from the academy of sciences. There’s more too.
I wanted to get some simple snapshots of the ordinary parts of our day. Here are the kids playing as they do for hours every day. They like to rummage through the drawers and I love watching them.
David chasing Nathaniel around and both of them giggling.
Me trying to learn how to crochet still. This is picot stitch.
Nathaniel playing by himself.
Trying to figure out the details of the toys.
Me, trying to do a crochet in the round.
More playing. Walking around and discovering more toys.
And finally David and I playing legos (building a house in case you couldn’t tell.)
A wonderfully ordinary day: layout, breakfast, school, nap, work, school, food, skype, reading, working, crochet, nap, play, more play, daddy, dinner. wonderful.
blissful.
Note to Self:
I just finished my most recent audiobook and one of the points they make which has been true for me lately is that inspiration is fleeting. So when you feel inspired and are excited, you really need to sit and do the work. Because at those times you do 2 weeks of work in a day and when it’s not there you drag for weeks sometimes so while you feel inspired, dive in, capture it. Take advantage of it. I think this is really sound advice.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I wrote the first BPS lesson last night and I am loving it and feeling in the groove. Grateful for groove.
2. For daddy coming home earlier and helping mommy out so much.
3. A nice, long weekend with some small but fun events planned.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. Lego house.
2. Daddy. Sitting next to Daddy. Love Daddy.
And here’s #28. Had fun with circle punches today.
Nathaniel doesn’t like his leg to touch grass so when we sit in the backyard, he holds it up the whole time. I wanted to make sure to capture his funny quirk.
Details:
Journaling Reads:
I’ve always had issues with the way I look. A lot of it stems from my childhood and I can tell you stories after stories about how my friends made fun of me, how I wore thick glasses, how I was the ugliest one by far, etc. etc.
And while there are several things I am stuck with, like my crooked nose or my sunken eyes, there are also a plethora of things I can change about the way I look. And recently, I decided to do exactly that. I cut and dyed my hair. I put on some jewelry I love. I decided to wear more of what I like and put a little bit makeup, just to make myself happier.
There are also longer-term things I can do like working out more so that my body is shaped better and eating healthier which is good for my skin, too. I can moisturize more and give my skin some of that water it craves. The list goes on and on.
The thing is, while I can’t be someone else, I can be the best me and I can be grateful for what I have and make the most of it and that is my goal now. I can also wear a smile more often because I think a smile is the prettiest thing anyone can wear.
From the Academy of Sciences. I am a bit obsessed with butterflies.
I love watching Nathaniel and David, especially Nathaniel being so curious and getting in David’s business. So far, David’s quite kind with him.
And there’s much rejoicing when Daddy comes home.
Especially from this one.
And then tickling and laughing.
And more hugging and love. It makes my heart swell.
May 27 already? Another ok day but I can’t remember much of it. I am so tired most of the day. Some emails, a bunch of work, taking care of the kids, and poof the day is done. Tonight I hope to read some and work on my BPS class some, the deadline is coming fast.
Note to Self:
A bunch of great links for you (and me) today. Talks that are definitely worth your time. Elizabeth Gilbert and Simon Sinek on how leaders inspire action via Kelly Rae Roberts.
And this movie about the surprising truth of what motivates us is also awesome.
All of them are worth your time. And food for thought and soul.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful some great videos I watched that inspired me and made me think (see above.)
2. Grateful to find some awesome, simple crochet videos, been looking for those for a while now.
3. Grateful for this feeling of peace and self-content I have had lately. It makes me happy.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. Daddy baby he’s so loving his daddy!
2. sticker book we bought at the store while mommy was getting crochet needles cause she couldn’t find the ones she bought before despite searching for hours.
|
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
|
