Journaling Reads:
I read a lot of blogs and I have to admit that I don’t often take the time to comment when the content really speaks to me. Partly, it‘s because I use an RSS reader so it takes several more clicks to actually be able to leave a comment, but mostly it’s cause I am lazy.
The thing is, just like most people, I imagine, I love getting comments on my blog. I love reading people‘s opinions, advice, thoughts and kind words in response to my words or photos or art. One of the reasons I blog is to connect with others and comments are the ultimate way for me to see and cherish that connection.
So I want to thank each person who takes the extra time to make sure to visit my blog each day and leave a few words. I know time is very precious and we only have a limited amount of it so the few minutes you share with me are most appreciated.
This is also a reminder to me to take a few minutes each day and leave kind comments for others, too.
Today was much better. Since I was done with my last minute layout project, I felt a lot more relaxed and finished a whole bunch of personal todos and I did almost all my work catching up so it was a good good day!!
While I worked in the morning, Nathaniel looked at his book. You can’t see it well in the photo, but it’s there hiding behind the pillow.
Today was the short day at David’s school and Jake’s parents came here early to come with me to the bus. And, of course, we practiced smiling some more. This looks like progress.
But then I get this.
Ugh. 4 days to picture day. We’re not doing so well. Then the kids did some playing in the backyard with their grandparents. And some hugging.
Jake’s mom had gotten me some gifts for my upcoming birthday and David helped me open those.
Nathaniel came to help, too. He likes to do whatever David does.
Some hugs and goodbyes and they are off to dinner with Jake and then the airport. I have still a good 30 items on my todo list and my class started today, too, and I have too many unanswered emails still. So off to tackle some of that!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that life will go back to “normal” tomorrow. I will finally hopefully get to establish the fall routine. Let’s see if I do.
2. I am grateful that the kids got to spend so much time with their grandparents and they all got along wonderfully. We’re blessed with great grandparents on all sides.
3. I am grateful that I got so so much work done today. It’s a big load off my shoulders.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. coloring my apple for school
2. watching a movie with papi
3. making a banner in art class (even though I didn’t get to finish it)
This is using the A Million Memories September Kit.
Journaling Reads:
The way your eyes shine and your face smiles big and wide always makes me so happy to see. I hope that you’re always happy to be together. I love you.
Details:
There is so much buzz around Little Bee that I just couldn’t decide if I wanted to read it.
I knew it was going to be sad. But several people said they loved it. Others said they couldn’t get through it.
I finally decided to pick it up and see.
I read it in one day. It was a quick and painful read. And there were parts I loved. But overall, I wasn’t sure how much I liked it. The characters, I thought, weren’t very well developed. The story was very unbelievable in parts and got more so towards the end. I have no doubt the horrific events are similar to ones that actually happen and it did make me cringe, feel the horror, and devastation. But I don’t like reading about such terrible things and maybe that makes me ignorant. I am ok with that. I would have liked some more warning. I know the publisher didn’t want to disclose but I think that was a ploy and unnecessary in this case.
All in all, I cannot say I recommend it even though I am glad I read it.
Fair warning: a lot of photos ahead.
I’m still under some kind of crazy off-schedule schedule where I get nothing on my todo list done. Nathaniel woke up at 4am again but then I just ignored him and he went back to sleep until 7 but by then I was awake so I couldn’t fall back asleep even though I refused to get up from bed. Didn’t start the day on the best note.
We dropped David off to the bus and then I had to finish a deadline so I worked while Nathaniel played. He’s loving the play table and being home without David for a bit.
I worked, he napped, I worked more, we ate and then it was already time to pick up David. When we got home, Nathaniel started taking the “outdoor” toys out.
And David decided to have fun with them, too.
We then practiced the smiling. He looks sweet here but oh so fake.
The kids were in such a good mood. Nathaniel kept hugging David.
And they would fall on the floor together.
And then he’d start to climb all over him.
David made a happy granparents’ day card at school this week.
Who knew my birthday was also grandparents’ day.
Then Jake’s parents came over and since they’re leaving tomorrow, I wanted to get som shots of them with the kids. Nathaniel and Meme first. Look at that smile.
And lots of love.
Then it was David’s turn.
I tried to get all three but it was quite the challenge.
Then it was Papi’s turn. Love the smiles here, too.
David wouldn’t give a non-fake smile so I told Papi to tickle him.
And then snapped this, too.
After the kids went down we went to see Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. It was absolutely fantastic. Now it’s 11pm and my class starts in one hour! You can still sign up!!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a few awesome hours at the movies. Laughter and happiness.
2. I am grateful that my tight deadline assignment is finished and will be mailing tomorrow.
3. I am grateful that after tomorrow I can begin the business of establishing a new routine for the year.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. making my grandparents card
2. wrapping presents for mommy with meme
3. learning a new song at school (it’s about going in and out of bluebells, he said.)
Thanks to my little boy, I woke up at 4:15am this morning.
I spent the whole day in a daze and exhausted. This also meant that I was much crankier than usual. As I am sure it’s true for others, too, I tend to be quite negative when I am cranky. A few hours into my day, I was already tired, whiny, and angry. And I still had quite a few important to-do items on my list.
Mid-morning, my older son called me from school to say that he’d lost his backpack and, with it, his lunch. I could tell he sounded really sad. I told him I’d be right there with another lunch and snack for him. I raced over there. All the way there, I was worried about the bag and its contents. Now we’d have to buy a new bag, lunch box, water bottle, jacket, and book. Not to mention an afternoon trip to Target which I really didn’t want to make.
When I got there, I knocked on the door and gave the teacher his new lunch. And then I looked around and found his bag on one of the hooks one class over. I then knocked again and took the new lunch back and drove back home. On the way back, I was annoyed that I had to make the trip there for nothing and thought about all the time and effort I wasted.
Then I stopped myself.
I obviously needed a good talking to and there was no one else to give it to me so I gave myself a short, snappy lecture. I told myself that for the rest of the day I didn’t get to be cranky. Instead of looking at it negatively, how about turning it around and finding the thing to be grateful about?
For example, I could be grateful that I was home when the school called and grateful that we live close enough to school for me to be able to deliver him another lunch. Grateful that we had some more of the same food he loves. Grateful that I had a spare lunchbox. And on the way back, I could be grateful that I now wouldn’t have to make a trip to Target or spend any more money. Or that David now gets to eat his original lunch. I could even be thankful that I now had tomorrow’s lunch mostly packed.
For the rest of the day, I forced myself to change perspective and turn my negative conversations around. It didn’t make me any less tired but it did make me enjoy my moments more. And considering how precious each moment is, I figured it was the best gift I could give myself on a day like this.
The following is cross-posted from the Weekly Gratitude Blog. I will post there every Tuesday and decided to post those posts here, too. For those of you who read both blogs, I apologize in advance. Some weeks the content might be different and other weeks, exactly the same.
Last night I had trouble falling asleep. Possibly because I’d made a list of 42 to-do list items. And then Nathaniel decided 4am wake up was as good a time as any. He wailed and wailed so I finally gave up and just woke up.
big mistake.
it meant that my whole day was exhausting. It also meant that this little one napped at 7am to 9am and then not again.
Then David called from school and said he lost his backpack and had nothing to eat. So I packed another lunch and rushed to his school. After I delivered it, I then found his bag so I brought it back home. Then I had to drive to Michael’s to buy a punch I needed for an urgent scrappy project I am doing. I scrapped a page. And I can barely hold my head up.
Then we picked up David from school and practiced smiling some more.
Yes, not really getting close. Honestly, I am too exhausted to write more. More tomorrow, I promise.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that my husband agreed to pick up some medicine for me instead of making me drive all the way there with two kids.
2. I am grateful that I found David’s bag. It would have been a shame to have to buy a new one this early in the year.
3. I am grateful that it was less stressful at work than I anticipated so I can do my work slowly and carefully.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. going to PE and racing like cars at school
2. watching more of scooby-doo two
3. getting to put a piece of paper in people’s cubbies at school (each of the kids have cubbies)
After three nights of only few hours of sleep, I finally felt way too exhausted and worn out this morning, so I spent extra time on the couch as the kids played at their new table.
I love this table and I think they do, too. Legos, logs, trains, it holds them all.
And Nathaniel grabbed David’s legos the moment he left the room, of course.
Then we practiced smiling some more. We’re still working on that. We need more work, don’t you think?
Mid-morning, Jake’s parents came over while Nathaniel napped, they took David to the children’s discovery museum which he loved. And I got to stay here and work on my art book which was also great. When they came back, Jake and his dad went to meet with a neighbor and Meme and David played some more dodgeball.
And Nathaniel watched nearby.
When Jake and his dad came back, we went to the Elizabeth Gamble Garden over in Palo Alto. We walked around as I snapped hundreds of flower photos. Yep, got many many many to post. And I snapped one of my mother in law. Isn’t she beautiful?
And here’s the little boy, trying to touch (yank) one of those pretty flowers.
After we came home and put the kids down, I got back to work on my art book which I wanted to finally finish. So I did that and I am now off to bed. I need another six days of rest but this week promises to be super hectic and then my birthday is in six days. Oh well, rest is not crucial, is it?
Happy Monday!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for some wonderful play time in my art book.
2. I am grateful for a wonderful leisurely stroll in the flowers gardens. Flowers make me happy.
3. I am grateful for this amazing, full, and wonderfully joyful weekend.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. Going to the discovery museum
2. Going to the flower gardens
3. watching Scooby doo
There are many many photos today. We’ve had a very full two days so feel free to skip this and the next post.
Today was my husband’s birthday. 3-6. I wanted to make it extra special. So it started with my giving him his present the night before at 1am. I made him this book of stories from all of the people he’s had in his life. (more on the book later this week.) I had been working on it for months and I was worried he wouldn’t like it or it wouldn’t work ok. But he loved it. The only bad side effect was that he couldn’t fall asleep after getting it so he ended up staying up until 4am. But we let him sleep in, in the morning. We got up early and set the table and waited for him.
When he got up, I made pancakes and the four of us sat and ate. Amazingly, this was the best photo I could get of the three of them.
Before we began, David gave his card.
the inside of which he wrote all by himself. And on the back it says “2010.”
He then opened his friend Kendall’s present which was a boba fett sweater. I have no idea what that means but Jake was really happy and that’s all that matters.
As we finished having our little family breakfast, Jake’s parents showed up. David rushed to open the door and Nathaniel followed him.
I’d asked Jake’s parents to get a cake on the way and some candles. That’s a lot of candles, eh?
We ate some cake and then it was time to open more presents. David was all too happy to help open them.
Once Daddy’s presents were open (and there were many), David, Meme, and Jake went to Target to get David some legos and a playing table (I’ve had enough of having legos on my dinner table.) We then took a little break and went to a late lunch at a nearby cafe. When we came back, Jake setup the table and Meme gave David another present, too. So they went outside to play with it. David threw.
Meme’s jacket caught.
Meanwhile, Nathaniel woke up from his nap and saw the Lincoln logs Meme bought so he had some fun of his own.
Look at the way he’s crossing his legs, my little boy.
I made the house and he attacked it with vigor. It took many minutes to make and seconds to come down.
And David put his new legos together in split seconds too.
After a bunch more playing, it was finally time to put the kids down. They had dinner, bath and bedtime. We had reservations at Gary Denko (a fancy restaurant) in San Francisco so we got dressed and left for the city.
Our delicious dinner lasted a long time and we finally made it home around midnight and I basically crashed in bed. An amazing day and one I will remember for a long time.
Happy Birthday, my love. You make each of my moments brighter.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for my husband. Love and adore him.
2. I am grateful for all the friends and family members who contributed to his book and enabled me to give him such a wonderful gift.
3. I am grateful that today went smoothly and with utmost joy.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. My new legos
2. playing dodgeball with Meme
3. eating ice cream at the cafe
4. daddy’s birthday!!
When I got the news that I made it to Tim Holtz’s team, I didn’t want to wait until my goodies got here. I had this idea of a white on white layout, this amazing photo of my husband and a lot of Tim Holtz goodies I’d already been hoarding so I sat to put it all together.
This is a perfect example of a layout where there’s a generic photo coupled with a story I wanted to tell. It’s something I was able to put together thanks to my Book of Stories. You can still sign up for the workshop for a few more days.
Journaling Reads:
Maybe it should come as a surprise to me that after sixteen years, looking at this photo still makes my heart flutter, but it does. I am still as in love with you as I was when I first fell for you. Actually, no, it’s so much more now. You’ve given me so many gifts: your patience, understanding, and support. So many adventures together. Laughter and courage. Not to mention our amazing kids. I love you more and more every single day.
Tim Holtz Products Used:
Word Keys
Film Strip Ribbon
Ruler Ribbon
Muse Tokens
Black Soot Distress Ink
Foliage
Alphas Grungeboard
Details:
This is with the February Kit from A Million Memories.
At almost nine months old, you still make me swoon.
Your smiles are magical and your giggles even more.
You crawl into my lap several times a day and all I want
to do is hug you and kiss you and hug you and kiss you
some more. I love you so much Nathaniel, there are no
words to express the love you brought into my life.
ps: these are some of my older layouts that I never shared which is why they might look different from my current style 🙂 The stories are still authentic and they are ours so I am going to post them even if some of them already make me cringe a bit. (Not this one, I love this one.)
again from the aquarium. not a fan of this one, but don’t have anything better at the moment.
It was a short night but it didn’t take me as long to wake up today, maybe I’m getting better about being a morning person after all. After we all woke up, David played some Wii and Nathaniel napped and then Jake’s parents came over. While Jake went out with his mom, David played with his dad.
And Nathaniel and I played outside.
After they came back, we all went out to lunch and while there I got David some beginner reading books. when we came back, he read it with Jake’s mom as Jake and his Dad went out to chat and I rested while Nathaniel walked around.
He found the fabric ball I made and literally played with it and entertained himself for hours and hours with it. Giggling and laughing.
And laughing.
Jake’s mom snapped some photos and I snapped photos of her snapping photos.
And then they played legos.
And now we’re off to see Salt. I hope your Saturday is going well, too.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for some more date night.
2. I am grateful a quiet day that was relatively productive and restful.
3. I am grateful that I have a few great books to look forward to, always love having a stash.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. going to lego.com with meme
2. playing legos with papi
3. looking through the kid section of ikea catalog with meme
|
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
|
