karenika

Daily Diary – September 4 2011

Another great and quiet day filled with art and family time. Jake went to work early in the morning while I exercised and then when he came back we took family shots.

I love and adore these photos.

even the blurrier ones.

or where the kids aren’t looking at the camera.

or make a super-bored face.

but, of course, my favorite is tickle time!

it is the very very best.

David got to watch a little TV.

Nathaniel went shopping with Daddy and came back with a smile.

my very favorite kind.

I’ve done a lot of todo list items this week and weekend. I feel close to caught up. I still have a few items on my list but I feel more caught up than usual. Tomorrow I have two classes starting up and it’s Jake’s birthday and the very last day of our summer.

Tonight, we play games for family night!

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for the piece of art I made today, it’s an all-time favorite.
2. I am grateful that we got more salads and fruit.
3. I am grateful that this summer was very memorable and wonderful for me.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we’re going to play Gobblet! * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I watched Looney Tunes.
3. I am grateful that I played on the computer.

Reading with David – The World According to Humphrey

David says:
I gave this story five stars because I really liked that the hamster was very intelligent and had different adventures in the book.

I liked the part when Sayeh finally raised her hand because she was trying to get the class to notice Humphrey’s costume. I also loved that he helped Mr. Morales so that his kids would listen better to him. I loved the part where he pulled out the TV plug and the family thought it broke and then later they saw it was unplugged but couldn’t figure out who would have done that.

I liked that he tried to get Aldo to notice the Moonlighter’s ad and used the projector wisely. And he was so clever because he made up a game to get Mr. Brisbane excited. My favorite part was the ending because they built him a playground and he also had an obstacle course and Ms. Mac came back. Finally, I was happy to know that Garth will get to visit him over Christmas Break.

Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Art Journaling – Strathmore – Star of Your Life

Here’s the next page:

The full text reads: You are the star of your life. Own it. Make it matter. Start now.

Here are some details from the page:

Here’s the funny thing. I hate this page. It looks all muddy and the colors are not what I like, etc. But as it worked out, I showed it to my husband and he said the colors are all muddy and I totally agreed and that ended up flipping the switch that I’ve had for months for some reason and the very next day, I figured out how to create pages I love. Sometimes you have to do something you don’t like to realize what you do like.

They are coming starting Wednesday. I hope you like them as much as I do.

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.

2011 Priority List and Goals – August Check-in

Here’s the check-in for August. I know I am a bit late but it’s not too bad, right? You can see the original goals for 2011 here.

Family
I have still been reading regularly to David and recently it’s been books from the library which has been extra fun. I’m still keeping up with weekly family shoots, daily diary, and gratitudes. We’ve done so-so on family night in August but we did quite a few full-day family trips and mini-vacations instead. I failed on the music class thing cause it was just terrible timing. Jake and I had a few date nights in August and they were a lot of fun.

Health
Going strong on the running and walking. Did 3.12 miles a day every day in August with one of those being on a slight incline and did 60 leg lifts and 30 crunches a day. The food has been so much better, too. I quit my coffee and the graham crackers. I am eating almost all whole foods, now and eating a lot more protein. Sleep’s been a consistent 7 hours or so. I’m getting up several times a night to make sure David goes to the bathroom but other than that I have so much enjoyed the summer rule of not having to set the alarm. We’re also taking daily walks still and averaging more than 75,000 steps a week. So far, so good. As promised last month, I focused on food this month and feel really good about it.

Art + Photography
Still Sketching daily every day. I feel like I am in a bit of a rut for that because I want and need more ideas. I plan to focus on coming up with a strategy for that in September. And also still doing weeklong art journaling. I still love this project. I have not grown bored of it one bit. I’ve continued with the daily art journaling in August and loved every moment of it. I am trying to keep it low pressure and tell myself it doesn’t have to be daily but it’s one of the few things that keeps my soul happy so I end up doing it every day. No movement on photo excursions or etsy shop however.

Scrapbooking
August was a lot of scrapping for future projects, trying to get ahead of the curve. I did quite a few pages but I am more than caught up now.

Reading
Still reading my weekly book regularly. Reading to David, too. We didn’t have book club this month either.

Writing
I am still neglecting the thoughts-posts however I still think about them all the time and even jot down ideas. I just don’t seem to feel like sitting and writing them out. Feels like I’d rather spend the time to do art. Newsletters are all the writing that I’ve been doing for now. And August was dismal in journaling but I have a commitment (and even a class that promises to be of help) for September.

Learning
August was 21 Secrets, Christy’s Color class and Dina’s art journaling classes. I have already signed up for two for September. Nothing on the iPad front yet or the stop motion movie.

Community (This is a particularly hard one for me.)
Mom’s group is on hold for now but we did have dinner guests. I also went to work for lunch and breakfast. This area is moving slowly but it is moving.

And that’s it for August. Overall, I think I did okay. Lots of good goals met. Let’s bring on September! It will be interesting to see what stays and what goes with the new fall schedule.

Daily Diary – September 3 2011

Lovely, quiet day full of laughter and hugs and playing and art. Family photos, too, of course. David’s lips are purple cause he’d just come from swimming class.

pointing at the camera.

laughing.

getting daddy to laugh.

and tickle time!

David working on his gratitude journal.

and giving me a smile.

little boy smiling, too.

i love love love this one.

and one more smile for mama.

I apologize for not getting to the comments yet. I have about 17 blog posts that I am supposed to schedule. And a few layout assignments still to be done. And all I want to do is read. MY jaw is still hurting so I am taking it slow. I will get to them, I swear.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I started a new art journal.
2. I am grateful that Jake and Nathaniel got us some fruit. Love having fresh fruit in the fridge.
3. I am grateful that this weekend is quiet so I can take a lot of downtime.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I watched Sonic. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that mommy gave me a diary (I got my first one when I was his age).
3. I am grateful that I had swimming class.

Us Right Now – September 3

jake
Jake had a quieter week this week. Not too many meetings and a family day in the middle. He was still working a lot but it was nice to have him around a bit, too. It was so nice to have him and the kids all day at the golf course and hearing them laugh. He’s got a few rough weeks coming up and some travel, not to mention how much he’s going to have to help me in the next few weeks. I am hoping that after next week, September will go well for both of us.

karen
This week was not one of my favorites. I made two trips to work and I had a day off in between. But even with those, I was just feeling off. My jaw’s been in a great deal of pain and my moods are unpredictable and unpleasant. I wish there was something I could do to just turn it off and go back to a happier place but I think it’s somewhat due to the changing of seasons and I am hoping the new routines of September will settle soon enough and I will go back to my happy place.

david
David spent the week playing with his legos, watching movies, and just relaxing. I’ve been more lenient than usual this week because I knew it was his last week before school starts. He doesn’t appear to be anxious about going to a new school and having to make new friends. Maybe he hasn’t registered it yet. I am truly hoping that it works out for him and he makes some amazing friends.

nathaniel
Nathaniel is also starting school this week and, of course, he’s unaware of the whole thing as well. I am a lot more nervous about him since he’s never been without Jake or me. We’ll see how he responds to being left at school. I am hoping he’ll be excited to play with others and new toys and won’t mind not having me around for a few hours. We’ll see.

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

Daily Diary – September 2 2011

I am so happy it’s the weekend. This has been a tough tough week for me. I am still feeling dazed, off, frustrated, overwhelmed, tired and stressed. Both my kids start school next week and the new schools, routines, alarms are making me stress even more. But it is what it is.

This is a common scene in my house. David playing with a toy and Nathaniel wanting it immediately.

Nathaniel looking at me as if to say “mommy make him give it to me.”

then the drama.

david looking at me to see if I will cave in into the crying.

me asking David to please sit next to Nathaniel so he can at least watch David.

the little boy finally calming down.

happens several times a day. there’s lots of loud complaining to mommy about how the other one grabbed the toy or is playing with the “favorite” toy. Life with two…

today was also the last of the recent art journaling pages I’ve been working on so I stacked them all up and took photos. It’s nice to see a stack like this:

Today I start a new journal. A slightly different size and medium. I am completely in love with art journaling and so thankful I’ve finally found a way to incorporate it into my day. I hope that with our new schedules it doesn’t go by the wayside. I will have to do it even if I don’t finish a whole page each day.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I finished two huge todo list items today.
2. I am grateful for a productive day at work.
3. I am grateful that it’s a 3-day weekend. I really need it.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I watched Kipper. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I have swimming tomorrow.
3. I am grateful that I played with my legos.

Healthy For Life – Week 35

Even though I’ve lost no actual weight this week, I am feeling considerably more optimistic. I think that’s because I finally quit both coffee and the graham crackers. Even if they were not actually adding to my weight, they were both unhealthy to consume and I am grateful to be rid of them. I have made sort of a new routine with tea and peanuts and raisins. At least they are whole foods and have no added sugar or chemicals. With the exception of a slim bagel and cream cheese, I eat only whole foods all day long now. No chemicals for me. Everything I eat is also fresh with the exception of an Amy’s burrito which is vegan and gluten-free. So I would say my eating habits have gotten considerably healthier. Even if this doesn’t have a numerical effect on my body, it will definitely have an effect on my health.

The exercise is still going, too. I won’t lie; it’s been hard. Even though I do it, I have been dreading it and sometimes barely making it through. But I am still doing the incline and the 5K a day, etc. I am still taking walks, too. I took the week off from the sit-ups because my jaw was acting up badly and I wasn’t sure if it might be related but next week they’re coming back. So here we go. Onward.

and here’s this week’s card:

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

Love Without Condition

This canvas was for the Maya Road booth at CHA. I used tissue paper, pan pastels, and several wonderful Maya Road products.
Details:

Art Journaling – Strathmore – A True Friend

Here’s the next page:

I originally made this for creative therapy but decided not to go with it. I don’t like this page for some reason.

The full text reads: A true friend can shine light even on the darkest days. If you have one, make sure to hold on to her forever.

Here are some details from the page:

If you have questions about anything specific, just leave me a comment and I promise I will respond.

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.

Daily Diary – September 1 2011

Today started crappy and just got crappier and crappier. And I’ve learned it doesn’t help to harp on it so I am just going to move on. I just feel worn out to bits lately and wish I could find a solid way to recharge (at least so it lasts more than 24 hours.) Alas, some days are just crappy. And the good days always come, too so I’ll wait for that.

I was at work for part of the day so I snapped photos when I came home. Nathaniel played with diapers.

David came down for a few minutes so I snapped a photo while I could.

Nathaniel organizing the diapers more and admiring his work.

then he moves on to legos.

the one catch while he’s looking at me.

and then smiling at the ceiling.

there we are. I have things to do and less then zero energy so I am going to go do those things. I hope your day was better than mine.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I went to work and it was productive.
2. I am grateful for some art time tonight. I really need it.
3. I am grateful that my jaw does seem to still be getting better.

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 played with my Nathaniel.
3. I am grateful that I played with my legos.