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POTD - DAY 54   DD - DAY 54   This morning, David accidentally burped and it surprised him so much that he kept fake-doing it all day long. My little jokester, I love you madly. BEING VALUED So I learned a list of really valuable things in the class I took this week. One of them was about the importance of being valued. And how everything we get upset about angry about comes back to feeling not valued. Just think of every single thing you get upset at. I don't mean things like a sick child or bad health, but things that tick you off and get you from a positive place to a negative one, all day long. The little (or sometimes not so little things). In the end, they all come down to feeling not valued. Well it does for me. So now, I am paying more attention to that and taking a step back and creating my own self-value when others don't respect it. Or changing the way I look at the situation so it doesn't make me feel less valued. I am also remembering it when I treat others. I am trying to be calmer and to be more appreciative. I am also trying to be specific in my appreciation, so that it's not a quickie but a well-thought out, "I-really-did-notice-this" kind of appreciation. I promise more from the class, soon, Kim. THE PROCESS OR THE OUTCOME? I haven't been scrapbooking that long. I started right before David was born but didn't really, seriously get into it until last spring. One of the complaints I see everywhere I go is how much people complain about how many (or few) layouts they've finished. I'm always sort of taken aback by this. To me, it's not about the quantity of pages you've finished. If you really just want a way to display all the great photos you've taken, there are photo albums both in real life and online to allow you to do that. If you're mostly about the stories, you can blog or write in a journal. You can even combine the two in a blog or journal. You don't need to do scrapbook layouts for that. Cathy was just writing about how the pages with just photos miss the point for her. What is scrapbooking for you? This is a serious question. Why do you do it? I've been thinking about this a bunch lately. Here are my reasons:
So there you have it. For me, it's not about getting published, getting recognition, or using the most latest product. Most significantly, it's not about getting it done. The process is half the reason I do it. If I am lucky, it will never be done. It will go on forever, until I can no longer hold paper and glue. For as long as there is life, photos to capture and stories to tell, there will be scrapbook pages to create. So what's the rush? Enjoy the journey. PAINTING  I was lucky enough to sign up for Paulette's Organic Dimension class and I absolutely love the way she teaches. I have never ever taken a painting class before but I've always wanted to do it. So here's step one. This is class one. Already enjoying myself and enjoying the process. POTD - DAY 53  DD - DAY 53  NATURE'S FIRST GREEN IS GOLD  The end of the lovely tulips. POTD - DAY 52  DD - DAY 52   POTD - DAY 51  DD - DAY 51  POTD - DAY 50  DD - DAY 50  POTD - DAY 49  THIRD BIRTHDAY  Videos from David's birthday.The first one is really long and has music instead of sound, except for the very end. The second one is a few clips of voice. And here are the photos from the party. Happy Birthday, my wonderful son. TULIP LOVE  DD - DAY 49   POTD - DAY 48         DD - DAY 48  POTD - DAY 47       DD - DAY 47  PAINTING CLASS Have I mentioned that I signed up for Paulette's organic dimension class? I am so excited. I love the idea of mixing things up in my scrapping. I love stitching and I love the idea of using fabric, found items, and paint. I adore her work and can't wait to get started. JOURNALING GALORE Thanks to some wonderful comments, I spent some time going back and reading the journaling on my layouts today and realized how much I already love reliving the memories. I can't even imagine how much more wonderful they will be to remember years from now. Here are a few of my favorites: imperfect, sign, today, magical moments, you make me happy, staying up, no sad, and more recently clouds and, of course, not just a dinosaur. I love having the words along with my favorite photos. I love some of the other layouts too, but it's these with the words that I go back to over and over again to relive the moments. This is for me to remember that it's always worth it to take the time and write the story. Always. Always. POTD - DAY 46  And here's day two of the flowers Jake got me.  DD - DAY 46  CHA WINTER 08 It was really wonderful fun to get to go to CHA in Anaheim. I got to meet the amazing AMM ladies. I didn't take nearly as many photos as I should have but here are a bunch. OUR GARDEN  I LOVE...  BOOK LOVE  SOAR   I am starting this new album of "advice from mommy" here's the first LO for it. journaling reads: There's nothing you can't do. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Ever. If you know what you want to do, if you feel passionate about something, go after it. Give it all you have. If you get it on your first try, you were lucky. Most people aren't. If you really want something, you have to work for it. Sometimes you have to work very hard. Other times, it might feel like you will never achieve it. But, my son, it's still worth trying. Be unstoppable. Because, along the way, you will discover marvelous things. You will learn. You will grow. You will find your own limits and you will stretch yourself. And life is all about expanding and discovering. Maybe you will never reach the end goal you've set for yourself but you will have achieved so much along the way that it will be worth it. Don't let others' negativity or weakness get in your way. Believe in yourself. Give it all you have. Spread your wings and soar. CLOUDS  Journaling Reads: Last Wednesday, I came home early and got to spend a few extra special hours with you. You were in a good mood, and we decided to play on the bed for a while. We hugged, we kissed, we tickled, and we laughed. Finally we leaned back, and lay on the bed together. You put your arms behind your head and said, “Clouds, Mommy.” It took me a few minutes to understand what you meant. I closed my eyes and let my imagination take me where you were. It had been raining for days and I enjoyed having blue skies with puffy, white clouds. Even if imaginary. Then you looked towards the edge of the ceiling, where it met the wall and the light wasn’t reaching as much, and you said, “Dark clouds.” I couldn’t help myself; I let out a chuckle. This is one of the millions of reasons I want to spend all my waking hours with you, David. Your wonderful imagination and creativity reminds me that life is wonderful and I love experiencing the world through your eyes. Thank you, my delightful son, for giving me the opportunity to share it with you. JANUARY 2008    MOMMY I SO ANGRY   WATCHING IT RAIN   MUIR WOODS  GRATITUDE JOURNAL         LIVE TO CREATE   NOT JUST A DINASOUR  The journaling is on the bottom and says: To the naked eye, this looks like a toy. A little dinosaur. But, to me, it’s so much more than that. When the doctor first told us that he was concerned about how little you spoke, I didn’t really feel as worried as he seemed to. Six months later, when you were still not putting two words together, we agreed to get you evaluated, just in case. There were many things the evaluator said but one of them stuck with me much more than others. She asked me if you had any imaginative play. Did you use any objects and have them interact with each other. Did you feed a baby doll? Did you make the farm animals talk to each other? We had to admit, you didn’t. Sometimes, you’d make your dinosaurs roar. But that was the extent of your imaginative play. That’s when I officially started getting worried. Maybe there really was something wrong with you. Maybe it wasn’t all going to be okay. That evaluation brought on another and the next thing we knew, you were in speech therapy. The word explosion took a while to come and the articulation still isn’t there, but a few weeks after therapy started, I was sitting on the couch and saw you feeding your dinosaur. You gave it a spoon of food. You named them the Mommy dinosaur and the Baby dinosaur. Next thing I know, your toys were interacting with each other. Not only did you have imaginative play, your whole world became imaginative play. That’s the moment I knew we were going to be okay. I knew that your speech may take a while longer and maybe you’d need more therapy for the articulation, but there really was nothing wrong with you. You are just taking longer to express yourself than other little boys your age seem to. And that’s perfectly fine, my little one. Your plastic dinosaurs are spread all over our house. To visitors, they are colorful toys. To me, they are reminders that everything will be all right. ART JOURNAL - PATIENCE  Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself? ART JOURNAL - FOREVER  Therefore the Master: acts without doing anything and teaches without saying anything. Things arise and she lets them come; things disappear and she lets them go. She has but doesn't possess, acts but doesn't expect. When her work is done, she forgets it. That is why it lasts forever.   ART JOURNAL - MY JOURNEY  Text Reads: A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. HAPPY BIRTHDAY YONA My wonderful, amazing, incredible and absolutely beautiful sister's birthday is today. David has a little present for her: Happy Birthday Yona!!! POTD - DAY 45    DD - DAY 45  They celebrated David's birthday at school today so when he walked into class, he screamed "Happy Birthday!!" It was hilarious. POTD - DAY 44  DD - DAY 44  POTD - DAY 43  DD - DAY 43  POTD - DAY 42  DD - DAY 42  POTD - DAY 41   DD - DAY 41  POTD - DAY 40  DD - DAY 40  DD - DAY 39   After he blew the candles out, David grabbed one of the cupcakes and passed one to me and one to Daddy. How generous is that?  POTD - DAY 39      POTD - DAY 38  DD - DAY 38  POTD - DAY 37  DD - DAY 37  POTD - DAY 36   DD - DAY 36   POTD - DAY 35  DD - DAY 35   POTD - DAY 34   DD - DAY 34  POTD - DAY 33  DD - DAY 33  POTD - DAY 32  DD - DAY 32  POTD - DAY 31  DD - Day 31  |
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