David says:
I gave this story five stars because it was cool that Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle could cure everything.
My favorite story was the Waddle-I-Doers because they find a treasure in that one and I liked that they found six of them because it meant Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle could have money for a long time. I also thought the Never-Want-To-Go-To-Schooler story was funny because Jody got dumber and started speaking funny. I also thought it was funny that he couldn’t count higher than three. The bad-table-manners cure story was silly because the pig sat with the boy. I thought the Thought-You-Saiders Cure was the silliest of them all because the kids thought of funny responses and I liked them all.
I thought the whole book was really silly because all the cures Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle had were over the top. There wasn’t a story I didn’t like.
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.
Our weekends don’t seem much different than the weekdays here (with the exception of work, of course.) I still wake up at 6am and exercise. But on the weekends, we get to take family photos. Here’s me snapping a few while I set up.
And then one more.
Nathaniel was in charge again.
And he was really happy about it.
Really happy.
then it was tickle time.
I just love every single tickle time photo. All of them.
I can never seem to get enough of them.
I then did some art, journaling, sketching, and the kids played. I snapped a few photos of David whose eyes are finally less red.
He kept laughing as I took photos.
Nathaniel totally ignored me and wouldn’t let me take a photo.
And yelled a few times, of course.
And would NOT stop eating as I snapped.
But then I looked at him and remember how very very grateful I am for my little boy.
Rough week here for all of us. I feel spent and tired and overwhelmed and a bit broken. I need time to heal and rest. I hope to do some of both tonight. I hope your weekend is glorious.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for medicine today. I need some Advil to take the jaw pain away.
2. I am grateful that I did some more art today. I find it healing and relaxing to add all the color and play with the mediums.
3. I am grateful that despite my recent moodiness, life is really good to me and I have so so so much to be thankful for and I am sitting in that pool of gratitude right now and letting it wash over me so I can remember it better.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I feel better. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played on the computer for a bit.
3. I am grateful that I worked on my new workbook which is so fun.
jake
Jake had a relatively uneventful week this week. Just a bunch of paperwork, meetings, and checking off todo list items. He’s been working a lot and setting up appointments. He’s also been around to help with the kids a lot and they are so happy to have him around. It’s a highlight for me to see all the joy in their faces.
karen
This week is officially art journaling week for me. I have started and I cannot stop. I don’t know what’s going on but I am loving and cherishing making all the pages I’ve been working on this week. Maybe it was because I got some wonderful supplies to play with or it was just that something finally clicked. I am not sure but it’s definitely been the focus of my week. Other than that there’s been a lot of being tired and back pain, so we’ll focus on the art since it’s much more fun.
david
David is almost done with school. He had a breakfast in class this week where they sang to all the parents and each of the kids got their Kindergarten graduation documents and their memory book. It has photos of David in the classroom from the whole year and a lot of his work month by month. I am so proud of all that he’s learned this year and I cannot believe he’s going to be in first grade soon. He also managed to get pink eye on Thursday, which was considerably less fun.
nathaniel
Nathaniel also had a sick week. He scratched his cornea earlier this week and then got a never-ending runny nose which has caused many scabs in his nostrils. Most of these have also made him quite cranky this week. He hasn’t had his veggies once and he’s been super-whiny when it’s nap time or bedtime. He has been loving watching TV (especially Sprout) and makes sure to turn it on as soon as he wakes up. I tolerate it just for now because he’s so sick but we will have to go back to being stricter next week.
Us Right Now is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
So David stayed home from school today but it’s pretty clear to me that he doesn’t have pinkeye. He did, however, have a slight fever last night so he would have stayed home either way. His eye is still super-bloodshot but I have no idea what it is. The nurse said it might be allergies so tonight we put some allergy drops in his eye. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.
Little boy has been in a better mood (though still not eating his veggies.) He’s smiling at me here cause he knows I am taking his photo.
I love watching him play. Pretty much all the time.
Here’s David. If you look carefully, you can see his eye is really bloodshot.
And here’s the little boy having fun while David and I are busy doing things.
He’s quite good at entertaining himself.
I was grouchy most of today so when Jake came home, he took the kids upstairs and they danced and played while I waited on the phone with David’s doctor. Then we all went to the art store (because you know I had to buy just a few more supplies. yes, I appear to have a problem.) And we had a delicious dinner, bought David’s eye drop and came back home. Jake put the kids down and I settled in to make a layout which took most of the rest of the night. Now I am exhausted and the day’s over. But, I feel considerably less grouchy. So, yey!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for more art supplies. I bought a few more ink!s and some pastel sticks and a large watercolor journal. I also bought a watercolor set for David and some watercolor tubes for me.
2. I am grateful that we went out to dinner. It was so nice to sit as a family and eat and laugh.
3. I am grateful that I made a layout. I’ll admit I wasn’t in the mood but as soon as I started I loved the process and I loved how it turned out.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I was home today. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that we went out to dinner.
3. I am grateful that I got some candy.
Three weeks ago, I started taking Christy’s She had Three Hearts workshop. In the first week, Christy had 29 videos. Most of them showed different products and how they can be used for art journaling. While I had several of the products, there were a few I’d heard of but never tried and I ended up buying a few of them after watching the videos.
I’m a firm believer that talented people can work with whatever they have at hand. You do not need expensive art supplies to create great art. However, I’ve also come to believe that some mediums work better for some people. For example, I don’t like working with acrylic paint most of the time because I am impatient and don’t like to wait for it to dry and it never comes out the way I like. But I love watercolor (on watercolor paper). So I decided that I wanted to experiment some and find my favorite mediums. Christy’s videos not only prompted me to buy some new supplies but they also were the catalyst for me to sit and do some art journaling.
The first thing to do was pick a book. I didn’t want to buy something new and I’m already using the A4 watercolor moleskine for my weeklong pages so I had a few large Sketchbook Moleskines I’d bought earlier this year (for the portrait drawings) and I decided to repurpose one of those.
My goal was to just play so I can find my way of creating art journaling. I also decided my colors are happy colors. I like bright, strong colors on my scrapbooking so I thought I might like the same in art journaling. I slapped a bunch of color on my background using the watersoluble crayons and then I drew some hearts and just went from there. I ended up with this:
The amazing quote stamp is from cat’s life press and the doily one is from My Mind’s Eye. Everything else is just sequin waste and random texture.
I was pretty happy with this page. Didn’t adore it but felt much better than my previous pages. Two days later, I received my Graphtint pencils and wanted to try them out, so the background here is created by those pencils. I then added some handwriting, some lace, flowers, etc and a lot of journaling. I ended up with something like this.
I stared and stared at the page, worked on it for a long time and just did not like how it turned out. I really really disliked my handwriting especially. So, the next day, I covered it up with book paper, recreated some more background, added some more flowers, layers, etc and ended up with this.
which is still not great but i like it so much more. So much.
The next day, my long awaited panpastels arrived and I was in heaven. I had waited so long to get these and I was suddenly so so glad to have them. I love and adore this medium. It’s like it was invented for me. I created this simple page right away. Back to my happy, bright colors.
I used my cricut to cut a bunch of shapes so I could use them as templates and it worked like a charm.
I loved this medium so much that I did two more pages that same night. One of them is now saved for another project but here is the other:
This page also uses the Crafter’s Workshop template I bought. See those bright penpastels? I love them!
And then I used another new medium I adore, the Liquitex Acrylic Ink! to create this page. I had also resisted buying these but I adore them. Even though I don’t usually like acrylic, these are wonderful in that they are very pigmented and very vivid and they dry right away. I love them.
And that’s it for now. More pages coming next week. I haven’t stopped making pages since I received all these products and I am so happy. I love these happy pages. I love creating and I am just enjoying the process for now. Thank you for letting me share.
As much as I know the Wii is unreliable and can be off anywhere from 0 to 5 lbs, it’s annoying to see that I’ve gained all the weight I lost and more. I tried to weigh myself several times this week and the numbers just stayed like that. Oh well. I am still working and eating better and taking at least 10,000 steps every day. That’s the best I can do for now. I have faith that things will turn around. In the meantime, I walk down my path and stay focused.
I’m still eating my salads and chicken and trying to do a better job. With the exception of the last 48 hours, I’ve also done better on the graham crackers. I’ve been only eating them with breakfast and eating more nutritious food for the other meals. The coffee is still on three times a day but it’s going to stay that way for a while. It’s too ingrained in some of my other rituals so I am not willing to walk away from it yet.
When I look back upon the last eight months, I cannot believe I’ve been exercising for that long. I cannot believe it’s a part of my life now. It’s a priority and something I consistently put first. I am quite proud of that regardless of what the Wii says.
and here’s this week’s card:
Healthy for Life is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
This morning David had a breakfast/show thing at school so I got up at 6 and did my exercise first thing so that we could all go to school together. The classroom was really beautiful and all the kids were wearing PJs (it was also pajama day) and they sang to us and got their kindergarten certificates and memory books. It was wonderful to watch. Then we came back home and Jake went to work and I got to work too. A few hours later David’s school called (which always scares me) and told me he had pinkeye and I had to come get him.
So I did. You can see it a bit here but I’m still not 100% sure it’s pinkeye. Nonetheless, it looks really red. (though he says it doesn’t itch or hurt at all.)
Little boy is still a bit cranky and his nose is still dripping like crazy. Here’s the I-m-watching-tv smile again.
And a few more.
Just for me.
I love him so.
I am still feeling worn out and a bit rough on the edges. Maybe it’s hormonal. No idea. Just wish it would go away. Also still art journaling like crazy. I’ve done 12 pages in less than two weeks. Truly enjoying the process. No plans for tonight. None of the todo list items are getting done cause I am too tired and don’t feel inspired to do anything (except art journal apparently.)
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for my sister’s wedding anniversary. 17 years! That’s a long time to be married! I love you both so much.
2. I am grateful that I work at home. I was thinking about that as I drove to school to get David today and how flexible my schedule is that I could drop everything and go get him right away. I am deeply grateful.
3. I am grateful for my husband and my kids who always ground me and who are constant reminders of what I have to be grateful for in my life and that my life is so very full.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that it was pajama day. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that daddy will spend some time with me.
3. I am grateful that it’s one more day to my wii day.
Here are the sketches from this week. In my opinion, this week’s sketches leave much to be desired. I was just not in my element this week. Oh well, at least I still did it daily.
On Wendesday, I started with a quick girl.
right after, I did another one the same artist. First I drew a quick outline:
then i colored it:
Thursday I did this sweet girl.
Friday was this boy and girl. I love this artist and have some of her artwork in my home.
on Saturday I made the gothic tree. I wanted to go back to graphite.
on Sunday, I tried to do this amazing painting and failed miserably. Especially with the face.
Monday, I went back to graphite and drew the houses:
and Tuesday I drew this girl. Like the hammock one, I drew it first:
and then colored it in:
and here we are.
I am finding myself a little rough around the edges for the last few days. I am tired and worn out and this morning as I picked up Nathaniel from his crib, I injured my back a bit so that didn’t help. Nathaniel’s still super cranky and has a runny nose. That’s not helping either. But such is life. Some days are great and other days you just get by. I have so many things I want to say and write about but I find myself too exhausted.
Here’s the little one watching some Calliou. He’s been getting to watch TV only cause he’s sick. I am a bit more lenient cause it’s been a rough week but things will turn around.
Here he is giving the camera a smile as he watches.
And, David writing his journal.
And giving me a smile while watching TV, too.
I am still doing a lot of art journaling and I am enjoying it tremendously. More than just about anything else right now. All I can think of is making pages in my journal. I know I will slow down soon but I am making the most of playing with paint for now. Tonight’s a quiet night and I think I will curl up with my Soul Restoration 2 homework and a good book. And maybe, just maybe, a little art.
I hope you are doing well. Sorry I’ve been mopey lately. I’ve been thinking about the blog a bunch, too and not sure if I should add more, different content. Is there something you’d like to see here?
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a quiet night. I need the rest.
2. I am grateful for public television. That it has good, high-quality shows for my kids to watch.
3. I am grateful for honesty and candidness and connection.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I got some polished rocks at school because of Lia’s birthday. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I we finished our book.
3. I am grateful that tomorrow is pajama day!
Here’s this week’s truth cards:
ninth card [inspiration]
and tenth card: [inspiration]
and eleventh: [inspiration]
and here’s the twelfth: [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.
I read Matched because someone in my young adult book club recommended it. She said she read about it in the New York Times Magazine so I got it and read it.
I will admit that it was a fast and good read. However, I still didn’t like it as much as Graceling or Fire. Even though it was more science fiction than fantasy which would normally be more appealing to me. But the characters weren’t as deep and developed. I don’t even know how to explain it except to say it felt more elementary to me.
With that, I still really enjoyed it and look forward to more books from this author.
I just realized that I didn’t do a checkin for May. So here we are. I will make this sort. You can see the original goals for 2011 here.
Family
I have been reading regularly to David and loving it so much. I’ve also been great about keeping up with weekly family shoots, daily diary, gratitudes, and family night. I finally signed up for a mommy and me class for Nathaniel and it starts in two weeks. We will be going to music class and I am hoping he will like it. Jake and I have been doing well with date nights as well.
Health
Going strong on the running and walking. Did 3.0 miles a day every day in May. I’m not doing strength but I did leg lifts and crunches daily. I’ve begun tracking the food at the very end of the month and have been working on reducing the graham crackers. I use the fitbit religiously and have been getting 7 hours of sleep most nights. I’ve also continued eating veggies and salads regularly. I’ve added an afternoon walk with David which takes my daily walk count to 10K every day.
Art + Photography
Sketching daily every day. Still doing weeklong art journaling and loving it. I have yet to go on a photo excursion but I do take my camera with me on my walks with David occasionally and that will have to do for now. I am not writing photo articles mostly cause I don’t feel any urge to so that’s that. I do still have an idea for an etsy shop product but I haven’t felt a need to work on it yet. Maybe in June or July. I also started doing the truth cards in May.
Scrapbooking
May was a busy month for scrapping. I did a lot of layouts for Margie’s new company, Pink Paislee, Maya Road, Jenni Bowlin, My Mind’s Eye, and Little Yellow Bicycle. I also had my creative therapy and write.click.scrapbook layouts done and ready to go. I did some projects for CHA even. I also prepared all the content for June’s Masterful Scrapbook Design focus (photos). Since Jenni Bowlin and Little Yellow Bicycle were both guest design spots, I even ended up working on that goal. I have not been submitting to magazines but might start working on that again soon. After CHA, likely.
Reading
Reading my weekly book regularly. Stuck on young adult but nonetheless. Reading to David, too. I attended both book clubs in May. Even hosted one.
Writing
This month hasn’t been strong on thoughts-posts. Mostly cause I’ve been so busy. I will bring these back, I like writing them. I do have some class ideas in the works but I don’t seem to want to work on them just yet. I’ve been diligent on the newsletter and happy to hear feedback if you’re getting them. I did attempt to briefly start writing fiction daily but it was short lived and didn’t leave me all that excited for a NaNoWriMo possibility but we’ll see. I’ve been journaling up a storm and do it every weekday and sometimes even on the weekends.
Learning
Learning to draw, sketch, paint. In May, I had Christy’s She Had Three Hearts class. I have two more coming up in June. Nothing on the iPad front yet or the stop motion movie.
Community (This is a particularly hard one for me.)
Going strong on the mom’s group and we had guests over in May (and it was lovely). I did meet up with a friend too and that was wonderful, too. I’ve been reaching out a little less in May, will need to do more in June.
And that’s it for May. Overall, I think I did pretty great. Lots of good goals met. Let’s bring on June!
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projects for twenty twenty-six
projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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