This is a layout I made for the August My Mind’s Eye newsletter.
Journaling Reads:
Little boy, you absolutely love stickers but instead of sticking them on paper like you should, you like to stick them everywhere but. You especially like to stick them on your shirt and then you take them off and put them on the paper and then back to your shirt. Which of course doesn’t work since they don’t stick anymore and I end up picking them up from all over the floor. You’re lucky you’re so cute.
Today I was too lazy to take more photos but we, of course, have the family ones. I snapped a good one of the boys today.
David is super-seriously focusing on taking the photo.
we spent most of today’s session laughing.
Even before the tickling.
Though the tickling was super-fun too.
and made for some awesome expressions, of course.
I was a quiet day here: my favorite kind. I did some art, some scrapbooking, watched some TV and just relaxed. Now it’s game night time and then we go out for date night. A wonderful way to end a great weekend. I hope yours has been so, too.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for more art time. I need to take some time and think about all this art i am doing but I am having too much fun doing the art.
2. I am grateful for fun TV to watch while I work.
3. I am grateful for family night and date night. Yey!
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we will play Blokus * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played soccer with Daddy.
3. I am grateful that we will also play connect four.
The first thing I did for this week’s art journaling page was to use the dried-up baby wipes from the last two art journal pages. I cut hearts out of them and lay them on my page.
Then I colored the whole background with pan pastels and added some tissue paper. Some gaffer tape, a canvas shape (that i colored with pan pastels), a lot of stamping and here we are again.
i was out of the “e” and “o” so I substituted numbers instead. I stitched like crazy. The wings are old old old melody ross stickers.
on the upper right corner is a thicker with a bling and The Girls’ Paperie stickers that says “you love you.” Some stamping and a lot of stitching.
on the bottom right, i added a flower, stitched through the hearts, a bling heart, and my favorite stamp saying “be you.” And some leaves.
I like this one. It’s not my favorite but I like that I tried some new things.
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 says:
I gave this story one star because I thought it was boring. I didn’t like that Harriet was spying on people and going into their houses. I also didn’t like that she wrote down mean things about people.
She went into places without permission. Ole Golly was also mean because she would make Harriet do things right away. I did like the part when she and her boyfriend took a walk together.
I thought it was cool that Sport wanted to be a ball player. I felt bad for him though because he had a hard life having to take care of his dad all the time. I liked Janie because she likes chemistry and likes to blow things up.
Overall, I didn’t like this book because, nothing interesting was happening in it and I didn’t like Harriet and how she was being mean to people and doing things without permission.
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.
Saturday means family photos. I love this one cause David’s sitting on Nathaniel’s lap.
David didn’t want to smile (he has a boo boo in his mouth.)
but he was willing to make faces.
This is how most of the photos are. Both kids looking in different directions.
Nathaniel’s getting in the mood of things (but David not so much.)
So we resort to tickle time.
cause it never fails.
then it was time to play, eat, and then nap. I made some art journal pages, a layout, and some more art and some sketching. Then it was time to go a BBQ so we all got dressed up and I asked Jake to snap some shots of me with the boys. (David still won’t smile.) I actually just wanted a photo with David but Nathaniel saw Jake taking the photo so he just came in and sat on me.
They both laughed when I tickled them of course.
My boys.
Love my boys. Long day today. Highs and lows. I need some mental and emotional quiet time. So grateful for another day off.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for some wonderful art time today.
2. I am grateful for good, solid friends.
3. I am grateful that I am feeling ahead of my todo list.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we went to a party. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played playstation with daddy.
3. I am grateful that I played wii.
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.
