jake
This was a hectic week for Jake as it was his interns’ last week. It included several evening meetings, a day in San Francisco, several presentations and some new clients. All in all, a good week. He‘s been working quite a bit in the last few weeks and I think he will need some downtime soon or he might collapse. I have no idea how he can get by on such little sleep but he seems to do it again and again. I wish I could, too.
karen
This was a hectic week for me, too. Some serious work hours in preparation for the next milestone. I also did a lot of a art and a layout every single day this week. I am working on getting ahead of schedule while I can since I don’t know how hectic life will be in the next few weeks. I am still art journaling regularly and that’s making me happy. Early this week I was in a lot of pain but thankfully it seems to have subsided and I am going back to that peaceful place which makes me considerably happier.
david
David has a few more weeks before he goes back to school and we’re trying to get ready. He got a few more clothes for school this week and he’s been playing a lot. I do think he’s starting to get bored being at home so I think he will like the routine change of going to school again. I hope that he will really enjoy his new school and make some good friends. He’s already been invited to two birthday parties which is wonderful since he hasn’t met any of his classmates yet.
nathaniel
Nathaniel is going to start school soon, too. He’s not aware of course and I just hope hope hope that he is ok with it. Thankfully it’s very close by so I can be there quickly if there are any problems. I am just going to have faith that it’s going to work out. He’s been growing up and skipped his nap three times this week but I can tell he still needs it badly so we work on it and I read him stories until he agrees to lie down and get some rest.
Here we are at the end of another work week. I am tired and could use a nap. As I was taking photos of my layouts today, the little boy came to the stairs to show me his toy.
He was quite excited about it.
and then I snapped one of David (I stood above him as he lay on the floor for this one.)
The little boy looks so much older with the haircut doesn’t he?
David told me his coldsore was hurting too much to smile.
But the little boy broke out the big guns.
And David couldn’t help but play along of course.
And then he calmed down again to write the gratitude words and we were at the end of another day.
I don’t really have big plans this weekend. We are going to have date night and go to visit some friends. Other than that, I plan to do art and read and play with my kids. The very best kind of weekend to have.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for the weekend.
2. I am grateful that I have almost no todo items this weekend.
3. I am grateful that life is starting to feel calm again.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I watched a movie with Ece. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played with Daddy and Nathaniel.
3. I am grateful that I watched some Bob the Builder with Nathaniel.
Journaling Reads:
My sweet boy just like your brother you are one happy boy. You love being goofy and making us all laugh. You love hearing others laugh and will always join in even if you have no idea what we’re all laughing at. Which, of course, makes us all laugh again. I have no idea how I got so lucky but I am so grateful that both my boys are so joyful and happy. I love you so much.
For the background, I used mists. Like last week, I sprayed them on a baby wipe, and then rubbed it on my page. Then I glued some music paper and really pretty much built from there. I added more until I decided to stop.
Here are some details:
Here you can see: The map paper went through my border punch. I painted the blue heart using a Crafter’s Workshop stencil and pan pastels. Lots and lots of free form stitching.
Here: a little maya Road blossom, a Pink Paislee ticket, a tiny tag, and a small heart i cut out of map paper. More stitching.
here: you can see the other two hearts i cut out of map paper, the Maya Road heart canvas, Tim Holtz tissue paper. Some bling. Ribbons. And a lot more stitching.
See all that stitching?
And for your viewing pleasure, here’s a little movie, too:
I am creating multiple art journaling pages a week for July and August (and maybe longer). You can read more about it and the book I am using for these pages at the top of this blog post.
Over two weeks into the new plan and I am finally showing some improvement. The wii tells me I lost 1.1 pounds this week. I am still above where I was in June but at least I am making progress in the right direction. So far so good. Let’s hope it stays this way.
The exercise is still continuing daily. I am doing an incline for a mile of it and continuing with the 3.12 miles daily. I will admit that it’s still pretty hard. Especially during the summer because the garage is so hot. But I just do it. Again and again, without fail.
I haven’t had coffee in a long time now, too. I have completely switched to tea. My plan over the next few weeks is to reduce the graham crackers as it’s one of the only non-whole things I am eating at this point. I am focusing on protein still with salads with chicken and bean burritos. Small steps of progress daily. That’s what it takes.
So on and on I go. I am truly hoping that I am back on the right path now. I have worked too hard to have this go awry now and I am determined to finish what I started.
today was not a good photo day. When I asked Nathaniel he gave me this.
and when I said I needed more, he gave me the “no fair” look.
and then the devastated one.
david was a bit more accomodating.
I haven’t been so great at taking daily pictures lately. I will get back into it because I love having them. I just need to make it more of a priority. Work’s been too hectic and, of course, that doesn’t help. As we go into the fall season I will have to think of ways to readjust my schedule, and figure out what I want to cut out and what I want to add etc. I know from experience that it helps to think ahead a little and then also wait and see how the new routines are (school drop off etc.) so I know where my pockets of time are and what I can fit into them.
I am both excited and sad that fall is coming. I am not ready for 2011 to end yet. It’s been a good year for me and I feel like clinging to it a bit longer and feel like it’s all passing way too quickly.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I have been doing a lot of art and I am grateful for that.
2. I am grateful for that my todo list is dwindling.
3. I am grateful that my jaw seems to be doing considerably better. Let’s hope it’s gone for good.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I have swimming class. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played lego men with my brother. (khan academy!)
3. I am grateful for Daddy.
My journaling:
There are many causes I feel passionate about but at the very top of the list is education. I believe a high quality education can make all the difference in a person’s life. I think that all kids should have access to and deserve a good education. With that, one can achieve a lot in life and go farther than many others. There is a gap and we need to fix it.
The first thing I did for this week’s art journaling page was to spray some mists into a baby wipe and then rub it along my page to color it.
See the baby wipe? I spray right into it and then just rub it on the page. I used several shades of blue and green.
Then I took my tree from the Mistables stickers by Pink Paislee and colored it with distress ink. And lay some pink and white heart-shaped beads on it. For three of them I used buttons or cabachons just for some fun texture and variety. I also added some Donna Downey Prima canvas letters and wings.
Then I removed the wings, added some stamping, some stitching, letter stickers, and a bunch of birds. The stickers read “Always be You.”
here’s a close-up.
I didn’t like the page, decided to add a bunch more birds.
I like it better now. Still not my favorite but something different. And that’s the point.
And for your viewing pleasure, here’s a little movie, too:
I am creating multiple art journaling pages a week for July and August (and maybe longer). You can read more about it and the book I am using for these pages at the top of this blog post.
David had a friend over today so Nathaniel had to play by himself downstairs and he was not happy about it.
but he gave up and just played anyway.
When I asked him for a smile I got this.
and this.
and David gave me this one.
and this one.
My jaw is a bit better today, thank you for your kind words. I must admit some of the peace of the last few weeks is gone. I do want it back and plan to slowly claim it again. I’ve still been doing sketching, art journaling, and scrapbooking daily. I am not journaling a lot but I am doing a little in my weeklong journal. I need to do that more. I also hope to work on Soul Restoration a bit more. But I am doing a lot of art and I am happy about that. I am feeling quite tired lately partly cause I am still getting up at night to take David to the bathroom and partly cause I am not sleeping well. But that’s life. It shall pass. Always does.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for my sixth day in a row of making layouts!
2. I am grateful for getting ahead of schedule.
3. I am grateful for art and books, they save me again and again.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Ece came to our house. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played with my brother. (khan academy!)
3. I am grateful that I read to Mommy.
It is so funny to me that I picked up Before I Fall because I was looking for something light and easy to read. I knew it was about a girl who died but I also knew it was good.
What I didn’t know was that this young adult book would completely change my life. The effects it had on me are profound and have nothing to do with the goal of the author (or so I assume) and I had so many revelations as I read it that I couldn’t believe it. There were parts where I felt like the character was speaking right to me.
I cannot tell you if it will have the same effect on you. Unless you have the same exact issues i have and struggled in the same way and are in the same mood as I was when I read it, it might not speak to you in the same way it did to me. But I am so so so glad I read it.
here’s the next journal page I made in the Strathmore book.
I took my watercolor paper and made rectangles using yellow, orange, pink and red.
Then, I drew different types or shapes of birds in almost all of them with a pencil:
Then I colored each bird and wrote some words in a few of them. And I outlined each with black pen and used some white pen, too. Finally, I stitched around each of the rectangles with black thread.
And here we are again:
And for your viewing pleasure, here’s a little movie, too:
I am creating multiple art journaling pages a week for July and August (and maybe longer). You can read more about it and the book I am using for these pages at the top of this blog post.
