David and I are big readers. We pretty much prefer reading over most other activities. (Most of the time.) But Nathaniel — not so much. He’s the social one and would prefer to play with friends or toys or imaginary games over reading. Given a good book, he will happily sit and read, so much of my time is spent searching for good books for him. He likes funny books that are series. Not a genre I know too much about.
For his birthday, his friend Ryan got him the 13-story treehouse, its sequel and a gift certificate to buy more. I hadn’t heard of this book, but apparently we already had it. So we went to the the store and exchanged the new one for the two sequels, so now we had all four books. Nathaniel spent the weekend reading all four without stop!
When we heard the author (who is Australian) was visiting our local bookstore, Nathaniel and several of his classmates all went to the reading. It was his first book reading and it was such a delightful one to start with because the author was hilarious, kind, and genuine. He made us laugh and laugh and laugh. And then he signed his books.
It was an absolutely incredible experience for the little boy. I am so glad we did it!
PS: As it turned out the next book in the series was already out in Australia (though not coming here for another year.) so when it turned out that I had to go to Sydney for work, Nathaniel’s one and only ask was the next book!
Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
All of these cards are drawn with the Stabilo All pencil and then watercolors.
Card five says: To make living itself and art, that is the goal.
From the Back is a Monthly Project for March 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
- Weekly Intention: The beginning of this week is hectic and full of meetings. The end of this week promises some emotional news. Knowing both of these things, I want to make sure to try to be calm and present in the beginning of the week and supportive and calm in the latter part of the week. So I guess my intentions are around calm. Physically, emotionally, and psychologically calm.
- Choices I want to make:
- One: I will choose to support my son, in all the ways he needs.
- Two: I will choose to take some time for friends even in the middle of this week.
- Three: I will choose to breathe. And then breathe some more.
- I am looking forward to: some wonderful news this week, I hope.
- This week’s challenges: We will find out some news this week. I am hoping, wishing, praying it’s good news. I am not even 100% sure what exact news is good news but I am hoping that it comes anyway.
- Top Goals:
- Work: I want to catch up and maybe (gasp!) get ahead this week.
- Personal: Be patient and calm. Do art. See friends. Be your kindest self.
- Family: I want to support David and Nathaniel with school. I want to hug Jake so much. I missed him so!
- I will focus on my core desires (kind, strong, true, generous, brave) by:
- I will be kind to my son and myself.
- I will be strong by doing what needs to be done.
- I will be generous with my time and work this week. I will also rest when I need to.
- I will be true to my values. I will do what’s right for my family.
- I will be brave by asking for what I want and taking what I get.
- This week, I want to remember: that it will all work out. No matter what. Even when it doesn’t seem like it. Deep down, I have faith that things work out the way they should and I have faith that we adapt, learn, and grow as we need to. I want to remember this again and again.
Here’s to a wonderful week!
All of these cards are drawn with the Stabilo All pencil and then watercolors.
Card four says: I wish to have a life that causes my soul to dance inside my body. (i love this quote)
From the Back is a Monthly Project for March 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
- Three Choices I made this week:
- One: I chose to rest as much as possible. I took the time I needed as often as I could.
- Two: I chose to stay calm even as some things changed that were beyond my control.
- Three: I chose to spend time with my kids. I love them.
- I read/learned: I finished Be Frank with Me and A Man Called Ove. I am now listening to Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty and reading Symptoms of Being Human.
- I celebrate: I celebrate my life. It might change, it might not, in the meantime I want to make sure to celebrate it, be grateful for it and honor it.
- I am grateful for: good friends. kindness. generosity. my husband. my incredible kids. getting second, third, infinite chances to get things right.
- I focused on my health by:
- Walked 10K steps every day
- No Diet Coke or latte this week.
- I am trying a new idea with food and am not sure how I’m doing yet.
- I made art: i am still behind on art. this is one thing i haven’t been able to figure out how to fit into my schedule.
- I let go of: I let go of having any control over how things turn out. I am trying my best to be present and see if I can just be with what is.
- Core Desire Check-in:
- Kind: I was kind to my husband, friends, and at work this week. I did my best to be available and to listen.
- Strong: I was strong with my convictions. I showed up when I didn’t feel like it and did what had to be done.
- True: I stayed true to my beliefs and was honest. Even when it was hard.
- Generous: I’ve been generous with my time this week. I am hoping to take some time for myself today.
- Brave: I was brave with my fears this week too. I tried to reason with them and to calm myself. Some moments I did better than others. Here’s to hoping I can do well next week as well.
I didn’t manage to process the photos from this week so they will have to wait until next week.
Weekly Reflection is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
Here’s week nine in my sketchbook. It’s another collection one. Chairs.
Here are closer shots of each side:
Today I Choose is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
All of these cards are drawn with the Stabilo All pencil and then watercolors.
Card three says: It doesn’t get any easier. You get stronger.
From the Back is a Monthly Project for March 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
All of these cards are drawn with the Stabilo All pencil and then watercolors.
Card two says: Those who wish to sing always find a song.
From the Back is a Monthly Project for March 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
I read Aquarium because I saw it on a friend’s goodreads feed and I had already seen it in two places so I decided it must be time for me to pick it up.
I read the whole thing in one sitting. It was one of those books I loved while I was reading (or not even loved but would not put down) but then I wasn’t crazy about it in retrospect. So I am on the fence about it now that I look back and think about it.
In the end I am not sorry I read it. If any of you have read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Every year when it’s time for Valentine’s Day, I find myself struggling to put something together for my kids. For reasons I am not sure of, I am not willing to buy Valentines for my kids’ classes so I always end up making them with the kids. As he grew older, David’s class now makes Valentines optional and he’s opted out of making them but Nathaniel is still young so his full class brings valentines for everyone.
I always end up spending quality time with Pinterest, looking for Valentine ideas that are suitable for boys, that don’t involve any candy (our school doesn’t allow candy) and that we can do relatively easily. This year, after a lot of searching, we landed on these Fortune Tellers.
Here’s the link to where we got it.
They were relatively easy to make and were a big hit in Nathaniel’s class. So if you’re like me and always scrambling for some last minute ideas, here’s one to add to your list.
Another one I had liked but didn’t buy my supplies in time for are these cute pencil ones. Maybe I can use them next year.
Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
My March project was born out of one of the Life Book 2015 lessons. I was looking through the lessons I haven’t done yet and there was one by Donna Downey. It involved a girl drawn from the back (she actually used a stencil but Tam had some tutorials on some other back pictures) I was inspired enough to sit and draw a few immediately. So it then grew to be my March project.
All of these cards are drawn with the Stabilo All pencil and then watercolors.
Card one says: We are what we believe we are.
From the Back is a Monthly Project for March 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.
- Weekly Intention: This week I would like to take time for myself. I’ve been really stressed for a multitude of reasons and while I am getting a lot done, I am also not doing a lot of what I want to (or feel like I should) do partially because when I do have down time, I feel exhausted. So instead of continuing to fight this and continuing to just get more and more frustrated, I will instead spend most of my free minutes resting this week. So I can see if I can fill myself up a bit and find new energy to point toward the things I want (and need) to get done.
- Choices I want to make:
- One: I will choose to read and sleep and do art. Even if some things get dropped.
- Two: I will choose to start the process of making peace with parts of myself that I have been unkind to for a long time.
- Three: I will choose to be present with my boys, especially in the latter part of the week when it will just be the three of us.
- I am looking forward to: another wonderful week in my magical life, trying to remember to be deeply grateful.
- This week’s challenges: Jake will be leaving town for a few days starting mid-week. He and his two brothers are taking a brothers trip and I am so happy for him but it will likely make the end of the week more challenging than usual being alone. A great reminder to be so grateful for my wonderful husband.
- Top Goals:
- Work: I’d love to finish some of the documents I started and feel a bit caught up and organized. I also would like to find a way to schedule emails.
- Personal: Rest. rest. rest. read. do art. see friends. rest.
- Family: I want to spend a lot of time with Nathaniel to work on his spelling this week.
- I will focus on my core desires (kind, strong, true, generous, brave) by:
- I will be kind to myself this week. Help undo a recurring theme, little by little.
- I will be strong by taking time to rest even though I know I will have a lot to do.
- I will be generous with my kindness this week. I will do my best to be the kindest I can be with each interaction.
- I will be true to myself by taking the time I need to really recover.
- I will be brave by doing the self-work that’s long overdue.
- This week, I want to remember: that life is a marathon and we’re all playing the long game. It’s not about sprinting and always catching up, always rushing through, always crossing items off my list. I will get to do plenty of that for the rest of my life. So it’s most important to pace myself. To always do what matters most, first. And to make sure I take care of myself so I can be my best self for all the people I love in the world.
Here’s to a wonderful week!
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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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