I honestly can’t remember much about today. I’ve been keeping the same routine all week. I wake up, read to D, feed the kids, scrap, work, put N down, work out, work, work , work, and then do workbook with D, dinner, gratitude journal, kids down, process photos+blog, draw+paint portrait. that’s about it. so today was no different. Last night I was out so the portrait didn’t get done. So tonight I will have to do it though at this moment, I feel no desire.
I did take more photos and they are less noisy. Nathaniel’s really taken to this dog lately. Jake and I both think it’s so cute.
He’s gotten more mischievous too. He stands up on the couch and laughs at me.
And here’s a classic look of “what?”
He now says “ouch” so he will do things that hurt just so he can say “ouch.”
He loves sitting with David (it was PJ day in his school today) and watching him play.
He also loves to roar. They are both roaring here.
Here’s the classic look again.
And my stunning boy.
Yes the Christmas tree is still up. I might never take it down. I love it.
Off to rest a bit and make a todo list for the weekend. My mind is in that completely wandering place where I feel like I have a ton of loose ends and I don’t even know what to work on first. So I need to write it down so that I can see it and organize my mind. Let’s hope it works! I’m done with my initial set for CHA and my DT blog work for next week so I can breathe a bit since everything else I have to do is much more optional.
Here’s to a great weekend for all of us!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a wonderful mahjongg night last night. It was so nice to be among goof friends.
2. I am grateful that it’s the weekend. This was a long week and I got a lot done. Time to regroup and rest, both of which the weekend is ideal for so I am glad it’s here.
3. I am grateful that I am done with some of the “must get done” items on my list. I always stress when I have deadlines so it’s nice not to have such strict ones.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I looked at Max’s Ninetendo DS {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I watched a little TV
3. I am grateful that I snugged up with mommy (I love love love it when he snuggles up with me.)
I’ve been tired but feeling so good. Having the pain leave still has me on a high. I wake up each morning and read to David, prepare their food and get to work on my CHA layouts. I have five done and one more to do tomorrow. Then I have a pink paislee assignment for next week and then back to cha work. so far so good. Lately, things are busy so I am focusing on the must get done items. reading to david, exercise, cha layouts, portraits, etc. everything else is pretty much falling on the floor. this weekend I will pick up a whole bunch hopefully and start getting caught up. Let’s hope.
So I’ve been doing a bad job on the photos. The fact that it’s dark doesn’t help either. I switched back to my 85mm today. Since it’s 1.8 and not 2.8 that gives me a lot more light. Let’s see if the photos improve.
I love how Nathaniel likes sitting with his brother.
Here’s me trying to get a shot of David again and him giving me a “smile” so he can get back on the computer.
I love these shots. Even with the blur and the bad color. There’s something about them that speaks to me.
And the last one. I didn’t get any good ones today. Oh well there’s always tomorrow.
And here we are. It’s almost bedtime for the kids and I am going out to my friend Holly’s house tonight to play Mahjongg with a bunch of my work friends. People I love and haven’t seen in a long time. Excited. And then we do it all again tomorrow. Life goes quickly.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am deeply grateful to be in no pain. Still. I can’t tell you how grateful.
2. I am grateful that I get to go out tonight and be with good friends and just enjoy it.
3. I snuck out for a short period today and went to Anthropologie to buy my December reward (I buy a piece of clothing for every month that I exercised daily). They had a skirt I loved and so I bought it even though I was planning on buying tops only for a while. When I tried it on, the size that fit me was size four. Four! I can’t ever remember being a size four in my life. This exercise and eat well routine is definitely working and i am deeply deeply deeply grateful.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I did a wishing thing in art today {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that we did workstations at school because the smart board was really fun
3. I am grateful that I did a timeline at school, i’d never heard of that and it’s cool
I cannot tell you the amazing feeling of waking up without pain! I woke up this morning and I was so energetic and happy. I immediately got to work. I made food for the kids, packed lunch, and read with David all before 6:45am. Then he left for school and I did another layout for CHA. Then it was time for work. Nathaniel napped, I worked, I exercised, I worked some more. And I am still working. But it’s ok because I had no pain!!
Nathaniel was in a good mood. He learned a new word today “wawa” which he says for water. Success!
Here he is sitting with Jake, watching choo choo.
And then he notices me and give me a smile.
Then to Daddy. I love that you can see Jake’s smiling here even though you cannot see his face.
Lest you think I ignore David, he was not in the mood for photos today. Though, he did do his math workbook and ate his veggies and was all around wonderful.
But not Nathaniel. He was feeling happy!
And here we are at the end of another day. The days seem to pass so so quickly. I haven’t even glanced at my todo list for days now and I have so many unanswered emails. Please forgive me if you’re waiting for an email. I will reply, I swear. Tonight we get to go out on a date night thanks to my friend Holly who offered to baby sit. This means I have to finish my portrait in the next hour. So off to work on that.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am deeply grateful to be in no pain. It’s so amazing.
2. I am grateful that I get to go out tonight. A movie always makes me happy even if it means my todo list suffers.
3. I am grateful for all your amazing comments on my blog today. It made me so grateful and emotional to see all the kindness and generosity of spirit. Thank you so so so much.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I played the xylophone at school {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that i will watch a movie with daddy
3. I am grateful that I did two more pages in my science book (where does wood come from, what happens when wood gets wet)
Well the TMJ did not get better this morning. In fact, it was so bad that I didn’t think I could make it through the day. I called my doctor as soon as they opened and he squeezed me into his lunch hour. By then, I’d already had 4 advil and I wasn’t feeling any better. After the visit, I already felt a little better right away and then gradually my pain got better and better. I still have it a bit but it’s considerably duller. Unfortunately, he said it might be the pushups so I’m not allowed to do them for a while.
Here are some smiley shots from the little one.
I love that the Christmas lights are still in the background.
And I tried to get David to smile, too but he’s still got that awkward one.
Though I did get this.
Today wasn’t so productive so I am going to try to catch up a little tonight. Do one more layout for CHA and then do my portrait. I’ve been making those nightly. Got eight so far. They are getting better but I still have a long way to go. This month’s focus is all CHA though. I have about 12-15 projects to do at least. So I better get to it. And David and I finished our book today so tomorrow we start a new one. Yey.
Ok I will go get to work. I hope this Tuesday has treated you well.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am deeply grateful that the doctor squeezed me in. He skipped his lunch to let me come. It was very kind.
2. I am grateful that I feel much more optimistic than I did this morning and that I get to play with so many beautiful products for CHA. I am a truly lucky gal.
3. I am grateful that I have even more fun stuff coming down the road. This year has started off busy but I am trying to pace it all and make sure it doesn’t get out of hand. One step at a time, right?
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that i am not sick like Maggie is {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I got to work on my science book (solving a question)
3. I am grateful that I did a page on my animal book (cottontail bunny)
I went to bed early last night with the hopes that I would wake up at a reasonable hour and feel rested but alas, I woke up feeling even more tired. It’s been a month without the TMJ doctor now and I can definitely feel the difference. I’m hoping this week I will start treatments again and can stop the pain. I had to take 5 advils just to get through today. But I still managed to do my exercise, read to david, make a CHA layout (though it’s not one of my favorites) and David and I even did some workbooks. I still have to do more stuff. I need to make my portrait. I might have to work some more on the layout since I really do not like it a lot.
Here’s the little boy. He was so cute, a few seconds after this, he patted next to him so I could sit down with him. I love him.
I asked David if I could please take a photo of him today since I didn’t have a good one in two days.
And then Nathaniel graced us with this when we were doing our workbook. He always likes to come by when we’re together so that he’s included too.
Now the kids are in bed and I am going back to work tomorrow and I am too tired to even think about it. but tomorrow’s a new day and I will have a positive attitude. I will choose joy, I will tackle it all with grace and patience and kindness. (or so i hope…)
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I am hosting at write.click.scrapbook all week. It’s a huge honor to be a part of that group of amazing women. I hope you come visit me and even leave comments.
2. I am grateful that I got my hair treated today so it will be less frizzy. We’ll see if it worked but i am going to be optimistic and assume it did.
3. I am grateful that things are slowly going back to routine. I am a routine-girl through and through.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that i got some fuzzy grams {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I got to watch ghost busters
3. I am grateful that I did a math workbook with mommy
My plans for today fell through early in the day but I’d already exercised super-early (for me) and so it would mean that I had the rest of the day to be productive. Instead I was just tired most of the day. The kids did their playing and running around. Nathaniel talked about choo choo of course and held the book close while he watched some Thomas.
Then he tried to master the Google TV remote so he could just put more choo choo on at will.
Then he went to go sit with his brother. When he saw me grab the camera, he made sure to pose.
Briefly, Thomas got his attention.
And then he decided David’s game was much more interesting.
As he often does, he got bored and decided to play with his toys instead.
I spent most of the day on the couch, thinking about my todo list but not accomplishing much. I did make one CHA layout which I am happy about. I still have to do my portrait tonight. David and I are almost done with the Wizard of Oz and he starts school tomorrow. Life will likely go back to schedule in a day or two. I am off tomorrow so my guess is it will take until Thursday or so for it to feel normal again.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I finished a CHA layout. I am always nervous when making those since there are limited supplies and I can’t just go run out and buy more if I mess up. But alas, I try to remind myself to just glue it down and make it work. Which always inevitably happens. (except when it doesn’t but even then it turns out okay.).
2. I am grateful that I have one more day to rest. My whole body is aching and my back is hurting so I think I will plan to lie down and read most of tomorrow.
3. I am grateful that I found a new TV show to watch on reruns while we’re in the off season. I really really miss my TV.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that i played with my legos {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played on the computer
3. I am grateful that I played with Nathaniel
David says:
I liked that Pooh saved Piglet because Piglet was in danger and Pooh was being nice. I like that they make good choices. I wish I had friends like that because they are very nice to each other. I like the story of Eeyore’s birthday because it ended happily.
My favorite character is Pooh because he is the nicest of all of them because he does nice things for his friends like he saves Piglet, he finds the North pole, and he found Eeyore’s tail, and he throws Eeyore a birthday party.
My least favorite character is rabbit because he’s makes a bad plan where he tries to steal Kanga’s baby Roo. I also don’t like that Kanga tricks Piglet and gives him the medicine so she grows.
I also liked that Pooh had a good idea when he was trying to save Piglet because he didn’t do that anywhere else in the book.
Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
1.1.11 – here it is. The new year. All this leading up to it and here it is. Just like any other day.
Well I did pretty good on most of my projects today. I made an art journal page, a portrait, exercised, did my pushups, and read with david (and by myself.) but I didn’t do so great on the photos. I took one shot of David playing Wii but it was so so and it’s been so dark here that the ones I took of Nathaniel are very noisy.
He’s watching David play.
He didn’t get to watch much TV today cause it was David’s wii day. So he kept walking around and saying “choo choo.”
Then he found a Thomas book and turned every page and pointed at every single train saying “choo choo” every time. It was so so so very cute. I love him so.
And here we are. The first day is almost over and I still have several things I’d like to get done. But I must admit that all the exercise is definitely getting me tired. Let’s see if I can motivate myself to scrap. I hope your first day of the year was great!!
By the way, if you got my newsletter and have feedback please do send it to me. I’m sort of figuring it all out as I go along so I’d be delighted to get some feedback.
Oh, and, if there are digital downloads you’d like to see in 2011 let me know. I’ll be making one set for each newsletter, and one other one each month here on the blog.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I made an art journal page today. It even almost turned out the way I visualized it in my mind. that’s rare for me.
2. I am grateful that I was able to up my daily exercise to 2.6 miles. My plan is to up by .1 mile a month so that by June I am walking 2 miles and running 1.1 miles which adds up to 5K daily. Let’s see if I can make it work.
3. I am grateful that I have fun, exciting books to read. I’ve noticed that having a page turner really really helps the exercise process.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Daddy and I watched a lego movie {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played wii
3. I am grateful that mommy and I read the Wizard of Oz
hello 2011!
And here we are! I close each year with a tulip and I wasn’t making an exception this year.
We had a lovely day today. The first two photos are from last night. I put on a pair of jeans I hadn’t worn in years. I was so happy I fit into them that I snapped this shot.
And then this one.
This morning we were all really tired for some reason so we lay around for a long time. The kids played quietly and I read and so did Jake.
After I exercised and Nathaniel napped, we all decided to go to the movies. So we snapped a family shot (as per Mommy’s new rule).
Then went to see Tangled. David loved it and so did we and Nathaniel was very well behaved the whole time. A quick trip to Target for some fruit and we are now home. I felt bad about not snapping enough photos so I asked Nathaniel for one and this is what I got.
As you can see, all the images have a lot of noise. It’s been dark here. I just got to talk to my sister where it’s already 4am new year’s day and it was so wonderful to hear her voice. Nathaniel is already in bed and David is going soon. We then get to read, relax, watch movies and play video games. We like to play video games on New Year’s eve. Some of our best memories are filled with video games. So it will be a quiet one here.
I hope wherever you are, you’re happy, healthy, safe, and sound. And warm. And with the people you love.
Thank you for being here with me in 2010, I am truly blessed with each and every one of you and I hope 2011 brings you everything you’ve ever wanted and more.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we all went to the movies together. I was worried about Nathaniel but it was something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. When we got there the theater was really full and we got frustrated for a second. But then it worked out much better than any alternative (as it always does).
2. I am grateful that I got to talk to my sister. I love talking to her every day but especially on New Year’s eve. We’ve always called each other and I was worried I missed her because I was at the movies but I didn’t!
3. I am grateful for an amazing year. Birthdays are nice but not a big moment for me. The new year always is. And I feel so wonderful, content, thankful, optimistic, and loved at this very moment. I am deeply grateful.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we watched a movie {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful for mommy and daddy
3. I am grateful that I got Harry Potter silly bands and gummi bears and a cookie today! (yes it was one of those rare days)
Good-bye 2010!
The little boy decided I had enough sleep so he woke me up extra-early this morning. After that, it took me quite a while to get my bearings but I did end up reading to david, exercising, sketching a bit, doing my newsletter, and even drawing a face. Little boy played.
And so did the big boy.
Little boy wanted everything big boy played with.
And did not like hearing “no”.
He did not like it one little bit.
But then he found something else that piqued his interest and we were good again.
We spent most of the day resting. Then my friend Kathy stopped by and it was super-fun and then I painted a bit and now we’re getting ready for some visitors. Very quiet and peaceful day here. I wish the days would go even more slowly. I am really enjoying all this downtime so much.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I took a risk this morning and I got such amazing rewards from it that it had me on a high all day. I am so thankful for that.
2. I am grateful that my friend Kathy came to visit. She’s always so positive and fun to be around.
3. I am grateful that my new Big Picture Classes workshop is now open for registration. This workshop is really really meaningful to me as it’s all about how to find your own authentic way/design/look in scrapbooking, something I am so thankful to have found in 2010.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for all my toys {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful for the lego game on the computer
3. I am grateful that I watched a little bit of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Another lovely day at the karenika household. I woke up, read to David, did my pushups, ate breakfast, did my exercise and then sat down to make my todo list. Nathaniel and David played in the meantime and when I saw him with the hat on, I grabbed my camera. Seeing me, he smiled.
And since he wasn’t running away I kept snapping.
I love how the hat is backwards.
Goofy, walking away.
When he went down for his nap, David and I played with mega blocks he got for Christmas. We also did his spelling workbook. He made some lego creations of his own while I did my todo list items.
And then the baby woke up and we did another huge chore I’d been putting off for a long long time. We folded all the laundry and put it away and we moved all of David’s old (too small) clothes to Nathaniel’s room. We packed up all of Nathaniel’s old (too small) clothes and put them in boxes and rearranged everything just right. It took a few hours but I felt so good at the end. This was something I’d been putting off for a long time. And then I came downstairs and did another thing I’ve been putting off for a really long time so I feel like today’s a huge success already. I am now off to go paint my portrait for the day and then my hope is to do one more big thing that’s on my list. Let’s hope it happens.
Thank you for all your kind comments about my projects, I really do hope that you’ll join me in one or more of them. It’s always always more fun when more people play along.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I have more happy mail coming both from The Girls’ Paperie and from Pink Paislee. I am itching to scrap some non-holiday stories and very excited to get wonderful products to play with for the next few weeks.
2. I am grateful that I crossed of some big todo list items today. Things that had been transferred from day to day for months.
3. I am grateful that I added the pushups to my exercise routine. I cannot do a pushup to save my life but even the half ones I’m doing seem to be working because my arms and abdomens are in a lot of pain.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that i played on the didj {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I get to watch a lego movie with daddy
3. I am grateful that i helped mommy put away the laundry
One of the new projects I’m adding this year is to read a book a week with David. Since I love reading so much and since he’s just learning to read I thought it would be a wonderful way for us to spend time together. The idea is to pick books that would take 2-4 hours to read out loud. And I will likely read all of the book to him. I might ask him to read sections. I haven’t decided yet if it will be two-three days a week or a little each day. At the end of the book, we will create a little book log with his favorite quote from the book and some of his thoughts.
To capture all of our books, I’ve created a simple template to fill each week:
Just in case any of you are interested in doing something similar or using the template for yourself, here it is: download me.
My plan is to print these 4×6 cards regularly and put them in an album similar to what I used for my Weekly Gratitude project. I love these colorful albums from Target and they are less than four bucks.
The idea is to make sure we don’t just read but that David spends time reflecting on the book and tells me a little about what he took away from it.
Since I didn’t grow up in the United States and didn’t learn English until my teenage years, I haven’t read most of these books either, so it will be extra-fun for me. I’ve asked my awesome friend Kathy to send me a list (she’s a teacher) of books she’d recommend.
Here’s what I have so far:
- Alvin’s Swap Shop series – Clifford B Hicks
- Because of winn-dixie
- Black Beauty
- Bridge to Terabithia
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- Charlotte’s Web
- Chasing Vermeer – Blue Balliet
- Cricket in Times Square – George Selden
- Danny Champion of the World
- Everything on a Waffle – Polly Horvath
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Freckle Juice – Judy Blume
- Frindle – Andrew Clements
- From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler – E.L. Konigsburg
- Hank the Cowdog series – John Erickson
- Harriet the Spy – Louise Fitzhugh
- Holes
- Homer Price – Robert McCloskey
- How to Eat Fried Worms – Thomas Rockwell
- James and the Giant Peach
- Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles – Julie Edwards
- Lemony Snicket series
- Lion witch wardrobe – CS Lewis
- Little House in the Big Woods
- Mad Scientists’ Club series – Bertrand Brinley
- Magic Treehouse series – Mary Pope Osborne
- Maniac Magee – Jerry Spinelli
- Mouse and the Motorcycle (or most of Beverly Cleary – some are girl-oriented, but i think that’s fine)
- Mr. Popper’s Penguins – Richard Atwater
- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH – Robert O’Brien
- Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series – Betty Macdonald
- Pippi Longstocking series – Astrid Lindgren
- Silverwings series- Kenneth Oppel
- Stuart Little
- the BFG
- The Borrowers series – Mary Norton
- the cricket in times square
- The Golden Compass
- The Secret Garden
- The Tale of Despeatoux
- The Twenty-one Balloons – William DuBois
- The Westing Game – Ellen Raskin
- Top Secret – John Gardiner
- Tornado – (or most of Betsy Byars)
- Trumpet of Swan
- Tuck Everlasting
- Wimpy Kid series – Jeff Kinney
- Winnie the Pooh
It will be a great way us to spend time together.
As you can tell, I don’t have 52 books here so if you have any suggestions, books you loved as a child, I would love to know about them (pretty please?) and I will add them to this list so everyone else can benefit too. Just remember that my son is six years old and while I will read it, it still needs to be relatively age-appropriate.
Yey, can’t wait to start reading!
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projects for twenty twenty-six
projects for twenty twenty-five
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
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