David says:
I gave this story five stars because I like that they all became friends and that they want to visit Chester in Connecticut. And I liked that he was famous and there was a crowd listening to him.
I really liked Tucker because he gave his life savings to Chester so he could pay back Mario. I liked Harry because he tried to put out the fire. I like Chester’s story of how he came to New York City. I like that Mario found a house and some food for Chester and he adopted him as his pet. I like that the Chinese man gave Mario a fortune cookie and that he gave him the bell for Chester.
I like that Chester played songs that Mama Bellini liked so he could make her feel happy. I like that Mr. Smedley wrote a letter to the paper so everyone else could find out about Chester. I also liked the ending because even though Chester leaving was sad, he would be happy there and his friends were going to visit him soon.
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.
I had very few things on my todo list today. And as is typical with such days, I got none of it done! I did my exercise, read to David, sketched, and began a mixed media piece but I am not even feeling like finishing it. Oh and we took family shot, too, of course. Right as I was setting up, David said “Mommy take a picture of us.” So I did.
Then he wanted Nathaniel on his lap so Daddy helped him with that.
And when it was time for me to sit, he took them both on his lap so David could continue to have Nathaniel on his lap.
I love Nathaniel’s sneaky happy face here. He’s got the remote and he’s enjoying it.
All of us are fascinated by the remote clicker.
After photos, Jake went to his office, I went to exercise and David was playing Wii. Halfway through, he decided he’d rather play on the phone instead.
When I tried to snap one more photo, I was met with this stare. So I stopped.
Tonight I feel up to doing nothing. Maybe it’s a sign I need to rest. Some days are like this. I am hoping this is a sign tomorrow will be considerably more productive.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that even though I didn’t finish much this weekend so far, I am not behind in anything so I don’t really need to stress.
2. I am grateful Jake went grocery shopping. I love having fresh fruit at home.
3. I am grateful for a relaxing day with my boys. I love love love my boys.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I got to a new level in my game {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I had some apple juice
3. I am grateful that i get to stay up tonight
jake
Jake was the reason I was able to function this week. Not only did he take care of this children for three consecutive days but both Tuesday and Thursday, he woke up at 3am, went to work and then came back home at 10am so that I could then go to work. I didn’t even make it back home until around 6pm on each of the days. And as opposed to my daily crazy, he was calm and happy when I got home. He’s my hero.
karen
I had a long long long week but it was also super productive. I worked really hard all week but especially on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I woke up did my work at home and then went to work for the whole day. I worked, worked, worked. On Wednesday, I had the privilege of meeting and escorting Brene Brown which was incredible and I am so thankful. On Thursday night, I had a BPC chat and on Friday we had one hour when Nathaniel had a friend over. Other than those, I pretty much worked the entire week.
david
David had a good week at school. He’s been playing with his friend Julian most days now and comes home happy from school. He loves music and p.e. and I think he’s gotten more and more used to being there. He still claims not to like it when he hears that he has to go to bed because it’s a school day but I do think he is really enjoying himself. And I am very grateful for that.
nathaniel
Nathaniel is learning more words and now he says “done” and he is paying more attention to every single thing. He’s so happy lately. When I go to get him from his nap, he’s smiling a big, wide smile. When he picks up his plastic phone, he makes the song play so he can dance in circles. He’s also been watching the iPod and eating green beans and graham crackers with cream cheese. Anything with cream cheese to be honest. And he’s also learning to share since we now have weekly playdates over here on Fridays. My big boy.
Us Right Now is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
Work is still going heavy and strong. But thankfully I was home today and it was considerably less stress and more comfortable. I did my exercise and even managed to read to David this afternoon. Everything else is at a standstill. I will catch up on them this weekend.
The house was a huge mess so here are the kids, cleaning up.
And then eating. My sweet boy.
Most days, they are so great about listening to me. I am so blessed and lucky. (ok, I am lucky even when they don’t listen but it doesn’t always feel like it!)
Tonight I plan to relax. I have some more work this weekend so I will take it easy. Relax, go on a date night with Jake, do some art journal (which has been sorely neglected) and watch some of the movies for the two classes I’m in. And then this weekend more art, some sketching, lots of hug time. Bring it on!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I am learning and growing and trying. It’s uncomfortable but also exhilarating.
2. I am grateful for date night. Movies. I love the movies.
3. I am grateful for the weekend. I’ve earned this one even more than usual!
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I get to play wii tomorrow{* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played with Julian at school
3. I am grateful that i get to play wii with daddy for game night on Sunday!
And another two pounds. It feels good to see some progress finally. Even if I know that the Wii numbers are not reliable. Considering the loss from last week, I am inclined to believe that I have managed to lose some weight in the last two weeks.
Increasing to 2.9 miles was really hard during the first few days of March but it’s getting better. I am still really really tired and worn out when I finish but I can do it without feeling like I might fall over. Which is a good sign. And I am still going, 160 consecutive workouts as of last night. Not too shabby..
I’d like to say this is how I’m eating but this photo is over a year old. Since I was at work three days this week, I ate healthy, cooked food for lunch on all those days and didn’t snack at all because I was too busy running around and working.I also walked a lot more steps than usual. And drank less coffee. But in general, I have been doing well with vegetables and fruits. Though I am still drinking 2-3 coffees a day and eating a bunch of graham crackers. Well, at least I am trying to be good most days. Onward and upward.
and here’s this week’s card:
Healthy for Life is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
I did this layout for Pink Paislee blog for today. My focus was tools. I, of course, used punches. Edge ones, deep edge ones, and shaped ones. I also used copic markers to color both “love” and “read” in my title.
I can never scrap enough about my kids reading.
Journaling Reads:
Reading has always been my favorite thing to do. Other hobbies might come and go but I never stopped loving to read in all these years. So one of my favorite things to do is to pass this love on to the two of you. I just taught David to read this past summer and he’s already at level two. Just watching him read makes Nathaniel interested, too. And seeing your love for books makes me deeply happy. It is, by far, one of the greatest gifts I can ever give to you. So I will make every effort to support your growing interest in books. I love you.
Today’s photos were also taken this morning.
Here’s David trying to not smile.
And the cutie pie who wouldn’t take his hand out of his mouth.
I love this blurry photo. Here’s Nathaniel running away from the camera laughing. So Nathaniel.
I worked all day and then had a BPC chat. SO now I get to rest. More tomorrow.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that things are going relatively smoothly at work. Big issues but nothing I can really fix right now.
2. I am grateful that tomorrow is Friday and I work from home.
3. I am grateful for the help and support of my colleagues. They are the best!
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I played with Julian {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that mommy came home earlier than yesterday
3. I am grateful that mommy stays home tomorrow!
Even though I haven’t sketched in a while, I did do some since the last post. Something simple:
more simple.
a little more complicated.
for the color ones, i first draw in pencil:
then i outline in pen:
erase, and then color:
and then here’s a final pencil one. I don’t feel it’s good but I keep practicing. that’s what it’s about right?
and here we are. That’s what we got for this week.
I knew there was a chance I wouldn’t get back home until late today so I took some photos in the morning. Here’s Nathaniel playing with stickers.
I love love love him so.
And here’s the big boy, trying to make more interesting faces.
I asked him to tell me a story so he’s thinking.
Couldn’t come up with one on the fly like that (mostly cause he really wanted me to stop so he could play.)
Then I went to pick Brene up and went to work. As I imagined and knew, Brene is awesome. Truly real, fun, kind, generous and wonderful person. We walked around campus for a while and then she gave her talk which was so so amazing and it made me think, choke up, laugh, and nod so very much. Even though I’ve heard her speak before, it’s a profound experience for me each time. Each time she speaks, you can tell how passionate she is about this subject matter and it permeates your soul. She’s awesome. And I am so so thankful I got to experience this day with her. I will not forget it. (Even the two engineers who were videotaping the event were so impressed that they bought her book right after the talk. Not that I am the least bit surprised.)
And because I was so caught up in all of it, I didn’t even ask her to sign my book or take one single photo! But it’s ok. I have the memories. And those are with me at all times. I don’t think she reads here, but just in case, thank you thank you thank you Brené. You have truly made my day in every way!
After Brene got in her car, I headed to work. And the next minute I looked at my watch it was already four hours later. I made it home almost an hour after bedtime and still have a ton of work to do (as well as a huge headache).
So now I will relax for a short while, then work for a while and then crawl into bed so I can do it all over again tomorrow. But I am not complaining. Today was a good day. I was moved, inspired, and got to meet someone I’ve wanted to for a long long time. I am grateful.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful again that Jake was home, loving and caring for the kids so I could be worry-less at work. I adore him and feel grateful for him so much.
2. I am grateful that Brené came and I got to meet her. And she listened to me talk talk talk all day. And she was so real, so down to earth, so truly wonderful.
3. I am grateful for my job. It’s been a tough few days but I love my job. I love Google and I love our product and I love being a part of it however big or small.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I had music class {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that we played ninjas with julian
3. I am grateful that I got to stay up a little later than usual
I am Number Four was another read recommended by my friend Kathy who reads a lot of Young Adult books. She said it was good and she said there was a movie coming out. I didn’t ask more, I just read. It had so much of what I don’t usually read: aliens, teenagers, science fiction.
But I read it in one day. I loved it.
I got engrossed in the story. And I wanted more. Like the Maze Runner, this is supposed to be a series so not all was resolved. Which annoyed me, of course. (And I did skip a bunch of the fighting toward the end.)
I later found out that James Frey is one of the authors of the book and despite the crazy scandal surrounding his first book, I am a big fan of his writing style so it wasn’t that surprising to me that I liked the book and will be going to see the movie.
Now that CHA is passed, I wanted to share some of my The Girls’ Paperie work I made for the show.
Journaling Reads:
As Kindergarten approached my biggest worry was teaching you to read. Everyone said that you would learn at school but I wanted to make sure it was before. I didn’t learn English as a kid so I had no idea how to teach. Thanks to my friends Deb and Caroline, we used this book and in 30 days you learned to read like magic! Seeing you sit and read your books with joy gives me the greatest pleasure I’ve ever felt as a mom. I am so incredibly proud of you my son.
All products are from The Girls’ Paperie Kitch or Mix and Match lines.
Details:
I expected today to be stressful and it didn’t disappoint. I’ll start with the photos I took last night, this is the ship David and Jake built together. David loves it.
Since I knew I was going to be at work, I tried to take photos early in the morning before David went to school but he was feeling moody.
And then he laughed of course.
Then we dropped him off, I exercised, checked in my class and my work and then Jake was home and I went off to work. I spent pretty much all day working working working. Stressing. Talking. Working.
When I came home, the kids were almost ready to go down. I was surprised to find a package for Nathaniel from my friend Amy and when I opened it, it was Thomas board books. I cannot tell you how incredibly excited Nathaniel was. He grabbed them all and flipped through them immediately.
He was so excited. He lined them all up.
He kept looking at them, looking in them, holding them. Amy, I cannot describe it in words! Thank you so much and so deeply, you have totally made my day. And his day. This was so unexpected, so kind, so generous, so amazing. Thank you!
then it was time to put the kids down, and I still had work to do. At last, I did manage to push the build out (most of it at least) and now I am completely wiped. I will relax and then head right to bed. So I can start working again bright and early in the morning. But tomorrow I also get to meet and escort Brené which I am so so so excited about and a few more days and things will quiet down considerably. Then I just go back to working and working and chugging along as usual. Or so I hope.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Jake has been doing such a great job and being so incredibly supportive. I haven’t worried about the kids one bit today. I was able to fully focus on work.
2. I am grateful I get to meet Brené tomorrow. A major highlight for me.
3. I am grateful for this amazing, unexpected present from Amy. I cannot tell you how very much it touched me Amy. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we ninjas with julian {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that daddy was home today
3. I am grateful that I had PE, I love P.E.!
4. I am grateful that mommy brought some orange juice for me
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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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