Us Right Now & Weekly Update – December 24

jake
After a lovely day at Legoland, Jake’s week started with having to drive 8+ hours to get us back home safely which he did wonderfully, as he always does. We listened to Steve Jobs’ biography on the way there and back. He had a few meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday but I think his week was light overall. That meant more time home which was great. We spent the nights curling up and watching movies together.

karen
I really enjoyed my time at Legoland, too. My favorite part was the 3-d Bob the Builder movie. I remember the first time I ever saw 3-D and how amazing I thought it was. I still feel enchanted by it. I loved watching how happy the kids were and how much joy it gave them to be there. The drive back was long and painful and after another few stressful days at work, this week finally got quiet. The quiet is what I enjoy the most. For many people the holidays are hectic but not here. We relax, we play, we don’t cook or clean or have company. And to be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love the quiet magic and gratitude of this time of year.

david
David has the most fun of all of us at Legoland, of course. He made friends, he ate candy, he built legos, he went on rides, and even got to go home with some legos (thanks Mom!) He was wonderful on the long way home and has been great all week. He’s been playing wii, reading, building with his legos and really really looking forward to Christmas Day. Here’s to hoping it will bring him all the magic he wishes for.

nathaniel
Nathaniel really enjoyed Legoland, too. Way more than I thought he would. He built with his brother, looked at all the mini, moving cars, enjoyed the boats. He was perfect in the car ride both ways. He just looked out the window and sang to himself. He had one more day of school on Wednesday and now he’s out until Jan 9. He doesn’t really get Christmas yet but he definitely wants to open the packages under the tree already.

Here are some of my favorite captured moments from this very week. Again there are several repeats between these and my december daily posts of course. A lot of photos this week:

our hotel in Carlsbad was right next to a local airport. Early Sunday morning, Jake held Nathaniel up high so he could see the airplanes taking off.

a photo of the boys right outside the park. you can see david cannot wait to run in.

one of my favorite lego creations

nathaniel loved playing with these.

david with his favorite characters.

i loved that they had a place for the kids to play with legos while we waited in line for each ride.

most of the rides were david and daddy in one car and Nathaniel and me in the other.

towards the end of the day, we went into duploland so the boys could play. they had a lot of fun.

nathaniel went for the cars

and david for the cash register

he also loved the balcony.

at the end of a long, full day, we waited for the shuttle to come pick us up. Nathaniel is going through the bag to find his little truck book he asked for.

i love love love his light in this photo.

he loves any book that’s david’s.

david reading the Little House in the Big Woods, to me.

nathaniel and his lined up cars. He’s telling me to take a photo here.

the boys reading on wikipedia.

our home right now. the tree, the wii, the little boy’s blankie, my feet under the blankets as i rest and take photos. i love the everydayness of this photo.

my pile of books i’ve saved for the holidays. things i don’t read throughout the year but save for this quiet time.

my wonderful husband, relaxing and then falling asleep. which he does almost every time he stops working and relaxes.

little boy watching bob the builder movies on my computer.

and concentrating.

family shots from this morning. we did it before the movies so it was even darker than usual.

but i got my kisses.

and tickle time and that’s all I needed.

and then this morning we went to see Tintin and took some photos on the way out. Here we are at the booth: (I was trying to get Nathaniel to look at the camera and not the tv that shows us.)

And those are some of the moments from our week. Here’s to another lovely week!

Us Right Now is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

December 24, 2011 | Family, Family Diary, Us Right Now, Weekly Diary 2011 | Leave a comment

My Mind’s Eye Blog Hop

Welcome to the My Mind’s Eye Blog Hop!!

I wanted to start by telling you how much I love My Mind’s Eye and their beautiful products. The layouts I made using their products are among some of my very favorites. Here’s an older one that I still love. Especially now that David’s lost four more teeth. This layout was about how now that he’s lost a baby tooth, his smile will not be the same. Just one of those special memories I like to capture:

Ok, I can go on and on about my love for their products for a long time and I know you’re here for the blog hop so let’s get on with it.

You special word is “the NEW“.

If you’ve landed here from Lisa’s blog, you’re going in the right order, if not, go back and start on the My Mind’s Eye blog to ensure you can get the right phrase. Lori is next on your list!!

ONE winner will receive one of everything in our 12 Days of Christmas AND both Kraft Funday collections!

Here’s what you do:

1. Email Amber (amber@mymindseye.com) with the secret phrase.
2. Leave a comment. (My Mind’s Eye will randomly draw one of the designers’ blogs and choose a winner from her blog comments. This winner will receive our entire 12 Days of Christmas collection.)

The blog hop will close on December 28th, at midnight.

Good luck and Happy Holidays!!

December 23, 2011 | My Mind's Eye, Scrapbooking | 140 comments

December Daily – Day Twenty-Two

And we’re on to day twenty-two:

David reading out loud to me. I wrote the Little House on the Prairie but it was actually The Little House in the Big Woods. I love listening to him read to me.

i also love these little stickers. Put them all over my book this year.

another photo. added just a little my mind’s eye chipboard on there.

Nathaniel’s been lining things up a lot lately so I was compelled to capture it. I just love how cute he is. He loves when I photograph them.

and on the back is the little boy reading a catalog. I love the little feet that stick out.

and that’s it for Day 22.

December 23, 2011 | December Daily 2011, Scrapbooking | 3 comments

Healthy For Life – Week 51

In all honesty I am not sure if I gained the full pound back or not. Since I moved to using the scale and not the Wii, it’s been hard to remember the number from week to week so I can’t tell exactly how much I’ve lost or gained. I can tell around where the number is and that’s really all that matters to me. This way I can keep tabs of any drastic changes and those are what matter.

With the exception of chocolate, holiday eating hasn’t really been an issue so far. I’m sticking to my regular routine for the most part and still try to east as much whole food as I can. I do think I need to work on more of a plan for next year but I’ll admit that I am not motivated at all. So I am just giving myself some time off and I will figure out what to do with the food in a week or so.

The exercise is still going. 2.2 miles a day. Especially hard on these cold, dark winter mornings. But I am keeping at it and I am very grateful for my treadmill which has been used every single day that I was home since I bought it. Actually since Mom bought it. Thank you, Mom.

and here’s this week’s card:

Healthy for Life is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

December 23, 2011 | Health, Healthy for Life | 2 comments

December Daily – Day Twenty-One

My next page was leaves so I left them as is and added the numbers:

the next page is David’s Lego creation that he was super-proud of:

and then the back is the first day of Hannukah. When Nathaniel saw the candles, he screamed “Happy Birthday!!!!” and tried to blow them out. We laughed and laughed.

and that’s it for Day 21. My book is almost full so I am guessing it will only go to Christmas Day this time.

December 22, 2011 | December Daily 2011, Scrapbooking | Leave a comment

2012 Projects – Weekly Diary

If you’ve been reading Karenika with any regularity, you know that I like to post photos of my family. I used to do these daily but have recently moved to a Weekly format. I like this format better because it gives me the space to write more reflective posts daily. I plan to continue with this project in 2012 as well.

Here’s my plan for each week:

1. A photo of the four of us
2. Quick updates for each family member from that week
3. Photos + words of highlights from that week
4. A few lines on how my healthy for life journey is going

I’ve moved the daily gratitudes to a column on the left side of the blog. I know this means you can’t read them over RSS/email anymore and I apologize.

I love doing these weekly updates and I really enjoy taking the family photos. So I am looking forward to another year of wonderful photos of all of us and a collection of fantastic memories.

Here’s to hoping 2012 is a year to savor for all of us.

December 22, 2011 | Weekly Diary 2012, Yearly Projects | 20 comments

Art Journaling – Fabriano Artistico – Set 4

So here’s the last set of Fabriano pages:

The full text reads: There’s magic in letting go of who you should be and being who you are.

this page uses acrylics. I wanted color and dimension for a change.

And here’s the next page.

The full text reads: Life is a collection of ordinary moments. Enjoy yours.

Another dimensional one. Used acrylics. A bit color-less for me but I like it.

And here’s the next page:

The full text reads: Look around and pay attention; you are surrounded by people who love you.

I used distress inks on this one. It’s soft and simple.

And here’s the next page:

The full text reads: Always know that the world is a better place with you in it.

Watercolor pencils and acrylics for this one.

Well here we go. That’s the end of the Fabriano pages. Here they all are:

and set two:

I haven’t bound it yet so no movie yet.

I am creating multiple art journaling pages a week for now. You can read more about it and the book I am using for these pages at the top of this blog post.

December 22, 2011 | Art, Mixed Media, Weekly Art Journal | 9 comments

Daily Sketching – Week 37

Sketches from last week:

Sunday I made a girl using what I learned in class :

Monday, I continued the diary entry-like sketches:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

and then I took the weekend off since we were out of town.

Daily Sketching is a weekly project for 2011. You can see a detailed post on my steps here.

December 21, 2011 | Art, Sketching, Watercolor | 8 comments

A Book a Week – Personality Plus

As I decided to take the journey to getting to know myself better, one of the books that was recommended was Personality Plus so I bought it and did the test and made Jake do it too.

As it is often with these things, it’s hard to generalize and put people into boxes. People are more often shades of gray than they are black or white.

However, each of us did fit into specific sections more strongly than others and reading about my type and jake’s type and how we interact was really useful for me and I think it was/is for Jake too. It’s something I want to learn to keep in mind because it is a reminder that he is who he is and he is different than I am and that I don’t have to be embarrassed to be who I am and instead embrace my strengths and make good use of them.

December 21, 2011 | Books Read in 2011, Literature | One comment

2012 Projects – Letters with Nathaniel

Since 2012 will be my third year of doing a project with David, I wanted to take the time to do a project with Nathaniel this year, too. He will turn 3 in April and I think he’s ready for some Mommy and Me project.

I wanted the project to be something fun and useful and not super-hard to do. Crafting with David in 2010 was fun but it was also challenging at times and we didn’t end up following it through all year. So for Nathaniel I decided we’d do a project involving the letters of the alphabet each week.

I had an extra Moleskine Volant XLarge Plain Notebook in Blue which is the perfect size for my project.

My plan is to create a spread each week which will have:

– letter of the alphabet in capital and lowercase
– photos of objects, verbs, nouns that start with that letter
– a big letter for him to color
– a simple craft project that starts with the letter

Here are some sites I’ve found in a quick search:

actionalphabet
First School
The Crafty Crow

I will look for more. And here’s an initial list of activities I plan to do that correspond to the alphabet letters:

  • a – apple printing
  • b – blowing bubbles or making beads, boat, or balls
  • c – making cookies or cupcakes, clock
  • d – dancing
  • e – creating a paper envelope
  • f – drawing flowers or fingerprints
  • g – goldfish using glitter (and glue)
  • h – hand prints or hats
  • i – ice cream!
  • j – jumping
  • k – making a mini kite
  • l – collecting leaves
  • m – macaroni art
  • n – making necklaces
  • o – making an owl puppet
  • p – collecting pine cones, potato prints
  • q – some game with quarters or a queen crown
  • r – making a rainbow using ribbons
  • s – sock puppets
  • t – making a tissue paper tree
  • u – making an umbrella
  • v – creating a paper volcano
  • w – creating a windmill or wind chime
  • x – making a map with a X marking the spot
  • y – making a xmas tree using yarn
  • z – drawing a zebra

I might change my mind, add, alter as we go along. I’ve learned that being consistent but flexible is the biggest key to success in yearly projects. My goal is for Nathaniel and I to have some special “just us” time, to do some art/crafts together and for him to be familiar with the letters of the alphabet.

I will post our pages on alternating weeks with David’s Book of Good Memories pages.

If you have ideas on other crafts, things he might like to do, ways to incorporate the alphabet more, I would be very grateful for them.

December 20, 2011 | Letters with Nathaniel, Yearly Projects | 16 comments

December Daily – Days Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen and Twenty

So here we go. There are a lot of pages from Legoland and not much of the two days we spent in the car.

I wrote up the story of how we came to decide to go:

i tucked the tickets inside and wrote a little story about getting to the hotel.

the next page is early morning Nathaniel and Jake and how they watched the planes:

and then a simple spread with both my boys smiling:

then right outside Legoland both us and the sign:

and a page with a flap where i wrote about how kids can play legos while we wait in line:

here it is with the flap open

the next spread is more photos of the kids and the park.

and then more. I love the fabric on the right which is why I didn’t cover it all.

the next page is all the photos of the lego models I took while there and the kids playing in a car.

and the other side of the spread explains the models a bit and then one of the boys sitting as we wait for the shuttle to come pick us up. David’s there under the flap.

The next spread is just a tree photo (from last year, it was in the book when i made it.) and a Starbucks sign that I liked with some My Mind’s Eye stickers. The right side was actually a baseball card holder page but I didn’t feel like using it for now.

and then finally for today, my rings came so I took a photo of my finger.

here it is with the flap open and some journaling about my word:

Phew. All caught up!

December 20, 2011 | December Daily 2011, Scrapbooking | 8 comments

Welcoming Daddy

This is the one a layout I made for My Mind’s Eye December newsletter. There are step by step instructions in the newsletter.

And the journaling says:
Your greatest moment in any day is when Daddy comes home. There’s so much joy and jubilation. On this day, we were coming back from the playground and Daddy met us halfway. You were so very thrilled and excited to see him that you ran right up to him and hugged him super-tight. He’s one lucky man, your daddy, He’s so very loved by all of us. And we are so lucky to have him in our lives.

December 19, 2011 | Layouts, My Mind's Eye, Scrapbooking | One comment

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