I seem to have been taken over by a huge allergy attack which always exhausts and frustrates me. But alas, it will pass. It’s just making me slow right now. But I tend to be better when I am slow so I am taking advantage of it. I started my morning with photos of the kids, which is rare for me.

David had class photos today so he was dressed in full-uniform.

and I had to snap a photo of him in it.

after he went to school, Nathaniel played for a while. and even posed for me.

he rode the truck and kept saying he wished david was there so he could ride the other truck.

one last shot of David when he came back from school and that was it for the day.

my eyes are watering constantly so I am off to rest a bit. I hope you’re doing well and I apologize for being behind in comments, I promise to catch up soon!

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I have another Beta out the door.
2. I am grateful that we had company over for lunch today. Rare but nice.
3. I am grateful that I have a caring and conscientious pediatrician.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I had P.E. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I tied my own shoelaces today.
3. I am grateful that I’m watching a movie on the computer.

Happy Sunday! I started this morning with exercise and then had a client shoot. The family is my old manager and I’ve been taking pictures of them for a few years now and it’s lovely to see how the kids are growing up over the years.

When the shoot was over, I came home and worked hard to make up for yesterday. I made two art journal pages, a layout, and a sketch. Then I took just a few shots of the kids. The big boy:

and the little boy:

who’s smiling at Daddy, here.

then we played bingo and blokus for family night and now I am trying to catch up on some blog posts. Then maybe a bit of reading and we’re done with this week. Here’s to hoping next week is calm and quiet.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I felt productive and calm and peaceful today.
2. I am grateful that we had some family time. I love family night.
3. I am grateful that I did a backup of my computer. I don’t do it nearly frequently enough.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I watched some batman movies. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played chess with daddy.
3. I am grateful that we played Blokus.

We had a rough night so it started the day on a tough note. But I still got up and exercised. Then we took our family photos. It wasn’t a great set this time but we got some fun ones from tickle-time.

David was tickling daddy again.

Then David and Nathaniel played.

David was in a super-happy mood so he talked nicely to Nathaniel, who of course adored it since he worships his brother.

David was so happy to play with him that he brought down all of his legos and said that he loved his brother so much and loved playing with him and that he didn’t want to do anything but play with his brother all day. He said he might even rather do that than play wii. he said it was the happiest day of his life. I am not exactly sure what prompted it but it was so so wonderful and lovely to watch them both play and hug and kiss. I will hang on to this one so I can recall it when they start fighting nonstop.

Then Nathaniel went to nap and David played wii and I sketched. I also started my art journal page but didn’t get to finish yet. When Nathaniel woke up we all went to the doctor to get Jake’s birthday present (finally!) so we were there for over 2 hours while Jake tried to put on his contacts. Then we went grocery shopping and by the time we got home and now that both the kids are sleeping, I am completely wiped. I have a photo shoot tomorrow so I will have to wake up early to exercise before I go there so I plan to just rest tonight and only do more art if I feel super-inspired. Otherwise, the couch and I will hang out as we watch TV.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I got some sketch time in today. I was so tired, I thought I would get absolutely nothing done but I took my time and slowly sketched.
2. I am grateful that I finally got Jake’s present, it was making me sad to have put it off so long.
3. I am grateful that I feel better today than yesterday, last night was challenging for me.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I played with my brother. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I got a new lego set.
3. I am grateful that I got a little travel fish set.

Happy almost-Friday. Last night was one of those huge shame-spiral nights for me. I got more and more and more upset and finally just went to bed cause I couldn’t stand it. Didn’t wake up much better this morning but slowly I started to snap out of it. Still got a ways to go but I am doing better.

Nathaniel was home today but I still got no shots until Jake held him in the evening.

even then he moved back and forth. blurring everything.

then he started heading David’s books so I snapped one more.

and as soon as I asked David to pose, Nathaniel threw himself at me and cried.

but I got some of David anyway.

Nathaniel now calls himself Nay-nay and basically says it all day long. “Nay nay food. nay nay no nap.” on and on. It’s so cute and fun to watch. Tonight’s David’s back to school and we finally get to meet his teacher. I am looking forward to it. And looking forward to the weekend even more.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that beta channel is live.
2. I am grateful that I had a good meeting today.
3. I am grateful that the weekend is almost here.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that for my math class today. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I found a Big Nate book at the library.
3. I am grateful that I played on the computer.

I know it’s getting tiring to read how tired I am but alas, I’m working hard right now so that’s how things are going to be. Little boy loves sitting at the table now (like his big brother) and playing with legos.

He’s been good about playing and not interrupting my work (though not much napping.)

big boy plays with the legos too.

and gives me smiles.

big smiles.

here’s one of those eyes-closed smiles I adore.

and one with eyes open.

here he’s signing “hat” (I often put the lens cap on my head to get his attention.)

the boys are in bed. My meetings are over. I have a few important chores tonight and then I plan to go to bed. Tomorrow and Thursday are back to school nights for the boys. Just taking it all one step at a time.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I got a sweet, little package today.
2. I am grateful that I am keeping up on my classes.
3. I am grateful that David made a friend at school.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I played with the geobands at school. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played with my legos.
3. I am grateful that I read one of the books we got at the fair.

And like always the weekend is gone before you can blink. A more hectic but still ok day here today. I managed to do my art and most of my todo list items. Though I still have a few but my inlaws were here all day so today was about family time.

The boys were very happy to have them here.

Especially cause they came with sweet presents.

Here’s Nathaniel waiting patiently for his grandma to read the directions on his new truck.

And David reading one of his new books.

Nathaniel playing with the crochet yarn. It’s his favorite thing to do.

He likes to play with them all, unwind them all over.

And now the kids are sleeping, my inlaws are back in their hotel and I am savoring the last few hours of my precious weekend. I am so wiped and exhausted that I doubt I will be productive but that’s ok. Sometimes it’s best to just veg and then go to sleep. I hope your weekend was wonderful and peaceful.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that the kids had a lot of quality family time today. We went to David’s school and they played on the playground for a long time and laughed and laughed, it was lovely.
2. I am grateful that Jake’s coming home tonight.
3. I am grateful that even though this weekend was fuller than I prefer, I still got stuff done and I feel content and peaceful about it. (Though, of course, I still wish I had another day off!)

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I got a new lego set. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that we got some books at the book fair.
3. I am grateful that I got a nighttime diary.