Last night we all seemed to have trouble sleeping. Maybe it was the walk late night or maybe not. Either way, Jake didn’t fall asleep for a long time, so when he was still sleeping and it was time for David’s swim class, I took him and tried to snap some photos, too. It’s hard to get good photos there and I’ll admit I didn’t try too hard.

then we came home, rested for a bit, did some art, etc, and it was time to take David to his birthday party. When we got home, we finally got to take the family photos. My boys were awesome.

David wanted Daddy to sit on him.

Both of the kids were in an off mood. Maybe cause it was a different time of day. Either way, this was the only good shot I got.

then David started making faces.

and Nathaniel started his meltdown.

making his body all rigid.

and whining.

we tried to make him laugh but it didn’t work. And david had lost total interest by now.

so we did the only thing we could.

yey for tickle time!

Now they are both down and I am exhausted. I had a shoot scheduled for tomorrow but it’s off and I am grateful. I need a whole day of nothing to do.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that today went more smoothly than I’d hoped.
2. I am grateful that we have fresh fruit in the fridge again.
3. I am grateful that I have no scheduled obligations for tomorrow.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I watched daddy play mega zombies. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that i went to a birthday party.
3. I am grateful that I played wii.

I’d tell you all about today but really it’s over. I worked. I worked. I worked more. That’s it. What’s good is this photo of my little boy:

who is cute as a pie. and still loves school so much that he doesn’t want me to take him home.

and wanted to get in the photo with his big brother.

and make him laugh.

and this boy who is also loving school.

and this girl who did a 5K walk today.

with all of these boys.

It was a long day. It’s going to be a busy weekend. But I am thankful for so so much this week. And I feel like I can tackle more now. Here’s to a great weekend.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we did the moonlight 5K as a family again this year.
2. I am grateful that I get two days off. I really need them.
3. I am grateful that I walked over 20,000 steps today, a new record for me.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we have the moonlight walk. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that i found a car at school and got to keep it (after no one claimed it for two days).
3. I am grateful that I got a glow-stick at the walk.

Today went much better and much worse than expected.

First the good bits…After we took David to school, we drove to Nathaniel’s school and he immediately started playing with all the toys.

Made noises.

Showed them to us.

When it came time to go, we said bye and he got really upset. But within seconds, it was clear that he thought he had to leave and was upset at that. Once he figured out it was us leaving but not him, he was totally fine. And when we came back to pick him up 3+ hours later he was playing merrily and didn’t even seem super-excited to see us.

All in all, it was perfect. and I am so so so deeply thankful.

But work went considerably worse than expected. It wore me down emotionally and psychologically and physically. I ended up going to work last minute and then driving home right at bed time. So I only got this one photo of David.

who is still loving school by the way (thankfully!!) and I am completely wiped. I didn’t get to read to David today (first time this year) and I might not get to do art either. I did exercise (albeit some of it with the laptop in my hand) and I did manage a quick sketch but today was full and overwhelming. Here’s to a better tomorrow.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that David still loves his school.
2. I am grateful that Nathaniel loved school too. He was so awesome about it.
3. I am grateful that Jake was totally on the ball and covered for me and made me feel 100% worry-less when I had to just drive to work out of the blue.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I read Calvin and Hobbes. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that i made two new friends at school.
3. I am grateful that I had a great science and music class.