Here’s this week’s story:
Title: Gratitude Journal
Story:
When David was six, he and I both started our own gratitude journals. He was learning how to write his letters and I had read a lot about the advantages of keeping a gratitude journal so we each started one. Even though, he’s since fallen out of practice, I feel that the regular writing exercise and having a daily focus on something good was really valuable for him.
Now that Nathaniel is approaching six himself, I decided it was time for him to get his own journal. As I was buying David his graph paper notebook for math this week, I got Nathaniel a notebook with wide lines. I got him one that was bright green because green is his favorite color.
On Tuesday, he started writing daily gratitudes. So far we have: I am grateful for the swings (at school.) I am grateful for the spiderweb ( a climbing structure at school.) I am grateful for cakepops. I am grateful that I went to the movies with my friends. We missed a day so we decided to just skip it and keep going.
I was worried that Nathaniel would rebel or whine or complain but he hasn’t done any of it. He always starts with picking his item, then writing “i am grateful” and then for each word, we first spell it out loud and see what all the letters of the full word are. Once he can easily repeat all the letters, he writes the word down by himself and then we discuss the next one and on and on.
Even though he’s not falling behind in any way, I want to make sure some of the attention stays on Nathaniel’s progress. We’ve been focusing a lot on David lately because of the Tech Challenge and middle schools, etc. So this project is my way of ensuring Nathaniel gets daily writing practice.
I will also search for some math work for him and I hope to convince him to read on his own more often, too. He can definitely read now and he just needs practice. Around this time, I did the daily reading with David so maybe that’s what we need here, too. Anyhow, one step at a time and, for this week, this journal is a wonderful step forward. Three cheers for Nathaniel!
Stories of Twenty Fifteen is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
This week is all about abundance. About glitter and leaving a trail of it. Sharing the good. Sprinkling it all over everyone. Being generous with everything. My time, my kindness, my love, my sweetness, my patience. My kindness. Here’s to sprinkling glitter every single day.
here is a side look for the lovely gold and shimmer:
You Choose is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
For this week’s stamp, I had so much fun! I saw this awesome stamp idea on pinterest and I wanted to try to see if I can do it, too and I was so thrilled to be able to do it. I know it’s not as useful as my regular ones which can be used more creatively and are more versatile. But, as a book lover, I loved making this one.
Here’s what the stamp looks like:
isn’t it so cute?
Fifty-two stamps is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
This page was inspired by Dyan Reaveley’s lesson from Life Book 2014. It’s a simple page and it wasn’t hard to do. I painted the background with all different stencils and other fun things and then I used a human stencil to make them all black and then left one to stand out by using the opposite part and stenciling around the body.
The text says: choose to be you.
Part of being brave, for me, is being wholly myself. Embracing who I am. Not just being okay with it, but fully owning it. Being proud of it. I am always trying to improve as a person. I have many many many flaws. Many.
But I am trying. And I also have many wonderful characteristics, just like everyone else. I want to remember that what I am best at is being who I am. There’s a reason I am who I am and I want to embrace it 100%. I love many other people and I also want to love who I am.
All of me.
Note to Self is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
I made this page the day I booked my first flight to Zurich. I was scared and excited at the same time and I hadn’t drawn a plane yet so I thought it would be fun to try to make one.
On the right side, I wasn’t sure what to do. I drew my little Google cup that I drink out of often when I am on the go, where I put my hot tea. And then I just decided to do a little jar lantern for the fun of it.
And there we are. Here’s another week.
Fifty-two stamps is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
Here’s this week’s story:
Title: The Tech Challenge
Story:On Thursday evening, I get a letter from a friend of David’s mom. “Is David doing the Tech Challenge?” she asks. Instead of going to bed, like I usually would, I decide to google it.
And then the world speeds up.
Next thing I know, I am emailing parents to see if they’d be willing to advise kids. I am reading the rules. I am talking to David. I am registering them and I am in the middle of forty-seven emails and twenty-three phone calls. All in the span of twenty-four hours.
Here we are, a mere two days later and I’ve committed David to spending two late nights and seven extra hours a week on this crazy project. I’ve also committed my own time with the kids once a week. I am reading documentation, trying to wrap my head around what all this means. Buying supplies for the kids to get started. Looking at my calendar and doing the math over and over again on how all this is going to fit into our already overflowing life.
And yet.
And yet we do it. David’s excited, motivated and looking forward to the adventure this is going to be. And isn’t that what life is all about? Working hard to support him in all the adventures he wants to take? Isn’t this what I meant when I picked brave for my work this year? Doing things despite the fear and worry. Stepping up. Showing up. Having faith that my instincts are faithful guides on this journey I’m taking.
So here we go. We stepped up for the challenge. Let’s see what unfolds from here. Let’s see if the boys really come through. Let’s see what we learn. Let’s see how much fun and struggle and learning this will result in. Let’s see what we don’t know yet. Let’s see where this journey takes us.
Bring it on.
Stories of Twenty Fifteen is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
This week, I decided to remember serenity. I feel like this year, I’ve done a good job honoring the alive and possibly even open, but not so much on serene. I want to take moments to embrace peace. Moments to sit with a blanket and some tea. To watch the sea. To honor being here. Being now. To honor the privilege of my life. This week is all about remembering that.
here is a side look for the shimmer:
You Choose is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
For this week’s stamp, I took another simple idea and wanted to run with it. I made this little tag and I feel like, like last week’s, it can be used so many little and big ways. I like stamps that can do that.
And here’s the stamp:
one more stamp carved. i’m enjoying this little project.
Fifty-two stamps is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
For this first page, I used Tascha Parkinson’s lesson from Life Book 2014. The subject was about overcoming fears and she made a fish with popups. I decided to take her idea but instead of fears, I wrote my core desired feelings.
I made mine a lotus flower where each leaf is a desired feeling I have and my word of the year. The idea being that if I embrace them all, I will bloom. These feelings make me bloom. So each of the front petals lifts up and the words are underneath.
the text says: you get to choose how you feel
Because I do. Every day. every moment. I get to choose.
here are some shots that show it better:
from the side:
with the petals a bit more open:
note to self: your desired feelings help you be the best version of yourself.
Note to Self is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
This week’s page was much more fun to make after last week’s struggles. I did a mixture of drawing from life and drawing from pictures. For the left side, I drew this colorful pen Nathaniel brought home from a birthday party. When I was little, I had the exact same pen where you can use these lovely interchangeable tips. It was really fun to draw this.
The right side was a result of my dreaming about the seaside. I love a lot of different things but there’s nothing like water to calm me, ground me, and make me feel serene. I love this magical house that brings me peace just by looking at it.
And there we are. Here’s another week.
Fifty-two stamps is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
Here’s this week’s story:
Title: Practicing Basketball
Story:
David’s class started their basketball practice and games in November. From November to March, they will have practice and a game each week. As opposed to many other boys in his class, David doesn’t play any basketball (or other similar sports) outside of school. This means that the weekly practice is all he gets.
In hopes of giving him a little more time to practice, Jake took both the boys to the park this week. As the boys practiced, I worked on my computer. Jake was shooting hoops, trying to teach David how to steal the ball from right under the net. I asked them if they could take a little break so I could take a photo of David shooting.
They were willing to accommodate me so David grabbed the ball and gave it a shot. It was the very perfect moment because David threw and it went right into the basket!
I am not a sporty person. I have never played any sports I wasn’t required to. I am way too clumsy and uncoordinated to be good at anything. Even when skiing and skating (the only two sports I can do) I am cautious and therefore not very good. Sports is just not my thing. It’s never been and I don’t think it will ever be at this point.
Which is exactly why I love watching my kids play. I love it when Jake takes them out there and works with them to improve their balance, their skills, and their dexterity. I love watching David try again and again. I love that he’s willing to keep going. I love that he’s getting to experience playing a team sport. I love that he keeps trying relentlessly.
I love sharing the things that I know how to do with my boys. It’s special for me to pass on my own joys and learnings. But, what I love even more is watching them do things I never could. Watching them ride bikes. Watching them sing or play an instrument. Watching them play sports. I haven’t done any of these things. I get to experience them for the first time through them. I get to see how amazing it feels to have your kids be better than you. To be more. To do more.
It’s a magical feeling.
Stories of Twenty Fifteen is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
This week’s pick is one that makes me feel every one of my core desired feelings: the sea. I love the sea. I crave the sea. I am so grateful for the sea. There’s nothing as magical as the sound of the waves hitting the shore. I am so glad to be so close to the sea and I need to remember to visit the sea way more often.
here is a side look for the shimmer:
here’s to embracing serenity.
You Choose is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.
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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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