Daily Diary – June 27 2011

We had music class this morning for Nathaniel. David got to have a new book to read since he has to come to class with us and be quiet. He was a total angel, completely quiet and perfect. Before we left, they were both in a fun mood.

Nathaniel played with the pillow.

And just made himself laugh and laugh.

I just snapped photos and let him play.

Then we came back and they played more and then it was naptime, then walk time, then more play time. David and I also read our book and watched some Khan Academy movies and did exercises. He played on the computer and I worked. Nathaniel played quietly.

And sometimes less quietly.

David was great all day and I felt bad for not snapping enough photos so I snapped one more. I need to snap more of him in action. I’m going to work on that.

Jake comes home tonight and I miss him so. I am feeling tired but content like most days. I have worked a bunch, did a bunch of art, played with my kids and exercised. Life is full.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Jake comes home.
2. I am grateful that David and I are spending some great time together where I read to him, he reads to me, we do math, we take walks. I am so thankful.
3. I am grateful that Nathaniel and I are finally taking a class together. However small, it’s good to spend some time focusing just on him.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I watched addition four video. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that Daddy’s coming home tonight.
3. I am grateful that I played with Woody’s round-up lego.

June 27, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | One comment

Critical Thinking and Discipline and Intellectual Curiosity

This was designed with the beautiful Lime Twist line from My Mind’s Eye.

Journaling Reads:
I know it’s frustrating to work instead of play but I think discipline starts at a young age and there 3 things will serve you well at school and in life my son.

And some details:

June 27, 2011 | Layouts, My Mind's Eye, Scrapbooking | 3 comments

Daily Diary – June 26 2011

I am always sad when the weekend is over. Even though I love my job and am really lucky and grateful to have it and to get to do it at home, I still love being with my kids and doing art and getting to just have fun. Alas, all good things must come to an end. Anyhow, our day was wonderful and uneventful. We played in the morning. I am still working on Soul Restoration 2 and Nathaniel is playing with his stickers.

David spent the whole morning building his last lego set.

And then when I asked him to pose with it, this is what I got.

We didn’t really do much else. We took a walk, read together, played together, played on our own, and laughed a lot.

Then they took baths, read a bit, giggled a bit and the little one went down. Then David read some of his new book to me and it was so wonderful to hear him read out loud to me. I am so grateful. Now they are in bed and I have just a little more to do in my Soul Restoration book. I also have to do my July newsletter and free downloadables. A few more items on my todo list might ideally get done tonight. And maybe, just maybe, the huge pile of laundry upstairs might get folded, too.

If I am lucky.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that David read to me. It’s amazing to get to hear your son read. I love it.
2. I am grateful that I’ve had a lovely weekend filled with art and family time. I feel so very lucky and thankful.
3. I am grateful that I did none of my todo list items this weekend but I still feel fulfilled and calm and happy.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I built the Woody’s round-up lego. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that Daddy’s coming home tomorrow.
3. I am grateful that I read four chapters in the Magic Tree House book to mommy.

June 26, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | One comment

Reading with David – Charlotte’s Web

David says:
I gave this story five stars because I love that the pig and the spider became friends and that there were more spider friends later in the book.

I thought it was really sad that Charlotte died. But I liked that she had new babies coming and that Wilbur got to live.

I liked the beginning where Fern saved Wilbur and fed him with a bottle. And I liked that she came to visit him everyday and was friends with the animals in the barn.

Even though Templeton was sort of mean, it was nice that he did a lot of favors for both Wilbur and Charlotte. I liked the part where the little goslings hatched. I thought it was wonderful that Charlotte tried to save the pig’s life and the pig saved all of her children. And I liked that he won the medal and how they were best friends.

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.

June 26, 2011 | Dbooks 2011, Family, Reading with David | Leave a comment

Daily Diary – June 25 2011

I stayed up way past bedtime yesterday which meant I woke up groggy and tired this morning and it took me all day to catch up. Slowly I did but I couldn’t shake off the tired feeling all day. After I exercised, I sat with David so we could fix his lego ship as promised.

Then we all listened to music and played and laughed. I’ve been spending a lot of time on my Soul Restoration book. It’s been wonderful. David played with his ship, Nathaniel drew some and played with cars some and we all laughed a bunch. Then Nathaniel napped and I sketched and did my art journal and David played wii. Then when he woke up, it was time for our walk. As I told David he couldn’t have candy, this is the look I got in return.

So I snapped one of Nathaniel instead.

And one more.

When we came back home, we all decided it was a good idea to go out to eat so we went to our favorite place and here’s the shot I got then.

And when we came home, it was play time for a while more. Little one gave me one of his big smiles.

I love how he shows all of his teeth.

Now they are in bed and I am wiped. I plan to go to bed early tonight. No, really, I will!

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful I am finally working on Soul Restoration art. It’s profound as I expected it would be.
2. I am grateful that I’ve now completed 29 art journal pages. I love them all in their own way, too. It’s so wonderful to get to do it.
3. I am grateful that I went out to dinner with my boys. I almost didn’t but it was so wonderful to sit in the sunshine and enjoy each other’s company.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful tomorrow is family night. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that we went out to dinner.
3. I am grateful that mommy helped me fix my ship.
4. I am grateful that I played wii.

June 25, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | 2 comments

Us Right Now – June 25

jake
Jake worked hard all week to get things in order before his trip to D.C. We spent a bunch of time together working on his paperwork and some of his technical setup. Preparing the website, etc. He’s also been working with the interns and getting them set up and working on finding new office space, etc. Busy but good which is exactly how I hope all of his weeks go.

karen
It was a relatively full but uneventful week for me. I spent a lot of time carting David back and forth between Lego camp and his several classes and home. I also worked a whole bunch and did a bunch of art as always. I finally started on my Soul Restoration book as well and have been spending a lot of time painting it and embellishing it and making it my own. I love and adore the class.

david
David had his first full week of summer. He spent every morning at Lego camp and then also had swim class and soccer class last week. Thankfully, he loved all of them. When he wasn’t in class, he spent time with our neighbor Ece who just left for her summer trip abroad. He also did some Legos on his own and got some new puzzle books for the summer. And reading books, of course. He’s been having fun and we’re working together on things I want to do for my life which are paying attention to the good and living with joy.

nathaniel
Nathaniel is also had his first class last week. His music class started and I think he liked it ok. He spent the whole class playing with all the instruments and listening to the music. He also has been talking more putting two-three-word sentences together and speaking his mind more often. While he can be frustrating at times, it’s wonderful to see his progress in this area especially after our journey with David. He and I read a bedtime story every night now and we play games before he lies down for the night.

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

June 25, 2011 | Family, Us Right Now | One comment

Daily Diary – June 24 2011

And here we are at the end of another week. Our first full week off school was hectic cause there was lego camp and swim class and music class and soccer class and Daddy went on a trip so mommy had to do most of it and she also has work and a lot of art and on and on. But, alas, we survived it. This morning when we came back home from dropping David off, Nathaniel found this hat and put it on. He wore it for most of the morning.

Then he looked through a lot of choo choo books.

He really likes them the most.

After we picked David back up, we ate, Nathaniel napped, I worked, David played and then it was time for soccer class. I managed to only snap this terrible shot but it’s better than nothing of course.

and then I snapped a nicer one when we got home.

Now we’re relaxing and getting ready for bed. My plans this weekend involve making a few layouts if I get lucky. Working a lot on my Soul Restoration 2 homework/book and doing some art journaling and sketching and journaling of course. And tons and tons of playing with my kids. Hope your weekend is wonderful!

And, most importantly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!! I love love love you so!!

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful we made it to the end of this week. It was a tough one for me.
2. I am grateful that David loved soccer, too. So far, we’re doing well with the classes, I am very grateful.
3. I am grateful that I have been putting the time into SR2 class. I have some things I want to think about more and I’ve been working a lot on painting my pages, enjoying the process, making the most of it all. These two classes have been truly transformational for me and I am very grateful.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful I got a sticker at the end of Lego Camp. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I started soccer class.
3. I am grateful that I got to build my police car lego set.

June 24, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | Leave a comment

Healthy For Life – Week 25

So here we are a perfectly uneventful week. I must admit that the last two months have been bleh. No considerable weight loss or change even though I’ve been working diligently and eating relatively well. Alas, I might have hit that infamous plateau finally. But I am not ready to give up just yet.

The good news is regardless of whether I lose more weight or not, I have definitely changed my metabolism and I am much healthier now. I take an average of almost 11,000 steps a day from a mere 2,000 before I began this journey. That’s a considerable difference. I stopped eating crappy food like take-out or chocolate (I stopped eating a lot of chocolate, I do still eat some occasionally of course.) I eat salads or veggies daily and fruits, too. I could definitely do better on the food front but this effort overall has been really good for me.

My hope for the next few months is to take it up one more notch to get myself over that plateau. I am already doing a lot exercise-wise and I don’t want to change or add so I will work on the food. Eating healthier and more whole foods. Let’s see if it makes a difference.

and here’s this week’s card:

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

June 24, 2011 | Health, Healthy for Life | Leave a comment

Truth Cards – Set 5

Here’s this week’s truth cards:

seventeenth card:

and eighteenth card: [inspiration]

and nineteenth: [inspiration]

and here’s the twentieth: [inspiration]

that’s it for this week.

Truth cards are ATC-sized cards I am creating as part of my homework for Soul Restoration. You can read more about it here.

June 24, 2011 | Art, Mixed Media, TCG | Leave a comment

Daily Diary – June 23 2011

Happy Thursday. We had a relatively full day here today. We got up and I exercised and then Jake took David to lego camp and I worked and did art and Nathaniel played. When Jake went to pick David up, he took a photo of David and one of his creations. Which made me super-happy even though the quality of the phone picture is not so great.

Then I took a nice photo of David just for me.

In last night’s webinar, someone asked why I don’t scrap my kids’ outdoor photos and why it’s always the ones at home. The sad fact is we’re home way more than we’re out. I work full time at home so most of our days look like this. Pajamas, and relaxing.

playing with David’s books. (and his toes)

or other fun toys. still in PJs.

On a rare day like today, we got all dressed so we could take David to swim class. Here’s Nathaniel, annoyed that he’s in the stroller.

And finally out.

And here’s the big boy, loving every minute of swim class.

And someone here asked about all my books so I took super-quick, lazy shots around my table just to show you, I can do a longer, more detailed post if you’d like. The first photo has two books.

The big blue one is a journal I picked up at Borders and it’s what I am using for Soul Restoration 2. I will show more of it in some other post.

The red one is my daily book. It’s a moleskine with graph(square) paper . I love graph paper. It must be a European thing because I grew up with it and it’s much easier to find in Turkey than it is in the US for some reason. Anyhow this is my main book. Hold my todo lists:

and the daily sketches:

and the daily journaling:

I just started coloring the background with colored pencils, just for fun. so the pages are all filled with happy color. This is my second of these notebooks this year. The first one was painted blue and I just ran out of pages so now I have this one that I painted red.

Here’s another pile:

The book on top there is my daily art journal one I started a few weeks ago. It’s a Moleskine sketchbook and the pages are cream-colored and thick and about 5×8 inches.

The next two books in that pile are the Soul Restoration 1 book which was another random journal that I converted. And below that is the Strathmore Watercolor journal that I started in the beginning of the year for art journaling. It’s also around 5×8 and I just bought the large size of this journal. I’d like to explore watercolor more but for now I am doing a lot as is. I will use this book and the bigger one more soon.

Behind those books is this:

the ATC holder that’s holding my truth cards. And finally:

This is the big A4-sized watercolor moleskine that holds the weeklong daily art journal pages.

And there you go. Those are all my books at the moment.

Tonight’s plan is to work on SR2 homework and possibly go to sleep early. I need to get more rest than I’ve been and maybe even read a bit. Oh, and, you can see a recent layout by me on the Pink Paislee blog today, it’s made using the most awesome, brand-new mistables collection.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful Jake made is to DC safe and sound.
2. I am grateful that David loves swim class. I was really worried but it worked out great.
3. I am grateful that I got work done today without stressing and I managed to do some art, too.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful I played military with Nathaniel. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I built a car in lego camp.
3. I am grateful that I had swim class.

June 23, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | 6 comments

Daily Sketching – Week 11

Here are the sketches from this week. I drew a few more portraits but then I had enough so here we go:

Wednesday, I tried to make a portrait like this wonderful girl and my terrible version:

the next day, I did another girl. a little better this time:

Friday I did this girl I’ve admired for a long time and while I messed up the hair, i think the face turned out alright.

on Saturday I got sick of the portraits and did something different with this girl.

on Sunday, I tried a girl again and i can’t find the source anymore because it appears I forgot to pin it 🙁 I will find it but trust me when I tell you my version sucks:

Monday, I decided I’d had enough of faces so I tackled a violin:

and Tuesday I drew these cute houses.

and here we are. as always some are ok others not so great. let’s see what next week brings.

June 23, 2011 | SG, Sketching | 2 comments

Daily Diary – June 22 2011

Well today started chaotically and way off schedule so as I played catch-up, the kids played together so of course I had to stop and take photos. I absolutely adore watching them play together. Might be my very favorite thing in the world to watch.

Then we took David to lego camp and I sketched and did my art journal as Nathaniel played with his stickers.

When David came home, I snapped a photo, read his book to him, and he was off to his friend’s house.

Nathaniel napped, I worked on my Soul Restoration work and a few other loose ends. When Nathaniel woke up, we walked over to David’s friend’s house and all six of us took a walk together in the neighborhood and then we went to hang out there for a bit until Jake came home. Then there was dinner and chaos and now I have to put the kids down cause my webinar for The Masterful Scrapbook Design series is about to start. Feel free to join us if you’re around!

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that some of my art journal pages are on the Crafter’s Workshop blog today. I absolutely adore their templates and can’t wait to see their upcoming CHA release with Julie’s new templates. You can also see another one of of my Little Yellow Bicycle layouts on their blog.
2. I am grateful that I had the day off. I think I need a few more.
3. I am grateful that I am working on my Soul Restoration work. It’s bringing up a lot of questions and possibilities up for me. Exceeded all my expectations again, of course.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful I played Legos with Ece. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that mommy glued my lego together.
3. I am grateful that daddy picked me up from lego camp today.

June 22, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | 2 comments

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