Daily Diary – December 9 2010

Fair warning: this post has a LOT of photos. Feel free to skip 🙂

On October 1, I had bought tickets for the four of us to go on the Polar Express train ride in Sacramento. We’ve never done this before and I’ve wanted to for a few years so this year, I put a reminder on my calendar months before and got tickets as soon as they went up for sale. Even then, there were no weekend spots left so David had to cut school and we both had to take days off work to be able to go.

Sacramento is about a 2-hour drive from our house. So after Aurelia woke up from his nap, both the kids got into their Christmas PJs we’d bought just for this occasion and we all got in the car. Thanks to Jake’s awesome driving, the trip was much faster and painless. As soon as we got there, the first thing I did was to ask Jake to take a photo. The kids, however, didn’t care to play along. This was the best shot we got.

David was so excited and happy to be there.

We had an hour extra before Will Call opened up so we took the time to eat some lunch. David was feeling very emotional and kept hugging his dad again and again. Telling him how much he loved him.

Aurelia was just being cute. Sooooo cute.

After lunch, I went to pick up the tickets while Jake parked. We tried to get a photo of the kids together, but as always, Aurelia wasn’t having any of it.

We then had to wait in line for them to open up the train. David was being quiet and watching everyone.

Aurelia, on the other hand, was playing with the line separators and being all excited and squirmy. But sweet, of course.

As soon as we got on the train, we asked one of the volunteers to take a photo. It’s not all that great but we’re all in it and that’s all I care about.

The kids were very excited and looked out the window as the train moved to the North Pole. They gave us hot chocolate and cookies and they read the Polar express book out loud and the conductor even signed our book. They also played Christmas songs and songs from the movie.

We finally arrived at the North Pole and elves and Santa were there to wave to us. (Just in case you notice Aurelia’s clothing change in the next photo, we took his fleece pajamas off cause he was really sweaty. We just happened to have a cotton Christmas pajama set, too, so we put that on. Thank you mom and dad for getting these great PJs for the kids!)

The kids were overjoyed and kept looking out the window to watch him.

After a few moments he disappeared. Just as we all wondered where he went, he showed up on the train. Aurelia couldn’t take his eyes off of him.

And Santa gave all of us the first present of Christmas. The jingle bell. Just like in the book. Jake and I were both quite choked up by now. Seeing our kids so happy and excited was so wonderful for both of us.

Aurelia watched the elves waving as the train rolled back out of North Pole.

I tried to capture the joy of the boys but there was too little light and too much movement. Sometimes those are the best photos.

When we pulled back into the station, everyone clapped with gratitude and Aurelia joined in with vigor.

We then got back in the car and the amazing Jake drove us back home. Aurelia fell asleep in the car but the rest of us listened to music and just felt grateful for such a full and amazing day.

Now I am really tired and will crawl into my bed with my book. A lot more to come tomorrow. I hope your day was full of bliss and family, as well.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for so much today. For this magical day. For wonderful family time. For seeing my kids so happy. My husband so emotional. I am such a lucky person.
2. I am grateful that my parents arrived home safe and sound. It was a harrowing trip with a 10-hour layover in Germany due to a storm. But they did make it home and I am deeply grateful.
3. I am grateful that we’re safe. We saw four traffic accidents today. Pretty bad ones and while I was sitting in traffic, I reminded myself that it’s much better to be in traffic than to be the cause of the traffic. I was just glad to be safe and with my family. Sometimes we lose perspective and I am trying to work on that.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. going on the polar express train {* his pick for the journal}
2. getting a present from santa
3. getting to have chocolate milk, hot chocolate and a cookie!!

December 9, 2010 | Daily Diary - 2010, DPGallery | 7 comments

December Daily – Day 8

For the front, I just wrote a little title and left it at that. I liked the way it looked.

For the back, I wrote about the two rings I bought at the beginning of the season. I love love love these rings. I bought them right here in case anyone else wants some.

The journaling reads:
My favorite purchases this holiday season are these stacking rings. Jake & Karen and David & Aurelia. I originally sized them to fit my right hand’s thumb and index finger but for now I’m wearing them both on my left index finger. I look at them several times a day and touch the letters often. I love my family more than anything else in the world and these little rings allow me to carry them with me at all times.

And that’s day eight.

December 9, 2010 | DDG10, December Daily 2010 | 2 comments

A Book a Week – The Pillars of the Earth

A few months ago, I was in my friend Kathy’s house and my other friend Nicholas told me to read The Pillars of the Earth, giving me a copy of her book. It was huge and in tiny tiny text. I mean 979-pages long.

So I took the book but then put off reading it for weeks, actually possibly for months. On another book club meeting, they asked me if I’d read it already (they wanted to have all of us sit and watch the miniseries) I told them it was soooo long. And that I would likely only read it if it were chosen for book club.

And so it was.

And, of course, being a good student, I began to read it that night. And for the next week, I basically was out of commission. I read and read and read. I kept thinking, this book is so long, I might never finish.

But of course I did finish. And when I did, all I could think of was: I’m so sad it’s finished.

It was an awesome tale told beautifully. My only complaint was that at times the author kept summarizing what happened as if I hadn’t been reading all along. Which was odd. But other than those little passages, I loved this book. It was full of interesting characters. The story moved at an excellent pace and you were so caught up in it, it was impossible not to wonder what came next. Each character was interesting and worthy in his/her own right.

Well, well worth the read.

December 9, 2010 | Books Read in 2010, Literature | 2 comments

My Free BPC Class – Embrace Imperfection

I have a new class with Big Picture Classes.

It starts on February 10 but you can sign up right now

Have I mentioned it’s FREE?

Yep. Costs nothing.

I’ve been so lucky and so grateful that I wanted to thank everyone who’s supported me for so long. I don’t want to oversell it. It’s a two week workshop talking about all the areas of scrapbooking where we seek perfection and how that gets in the way of preserving our memories. There’s a long downloadable PDF, a slide show, and a small project that you can keep as a reminder to embrace imperfection.

I am keeping mine on my desk because I need to be reminded of it myself frequently. Especially when I feel stressed about getting something done.

It’s a two week workshop with message boards and galleries and even a chat. I hope you’ll join me so we can all remind each other that scrapbooking is about preserving our memories above all else.

I hope to see you in class!

December 9, 2010 | Big Picture Classes, Scrapbooking | 6 comments

Daily Diary – December 8 2010

Aurelia’s really into these big legos lately. Plays with them for a long time. He’s also into zippers and opening them on his pajamas.

After dropping off David, we went to my parents’ hotel this morning to sit with them before they left. Aurelia found the TV remote and demanded that we turn it on immediately. I tried to take the opportunity to snap a photo of him with my mom. But I wasn’t so successful.

I did a little better with my dad.

Lest you think I forgot about David. Here’s one while he’s eating. It’s been hard taking photos of him because he comes from school when it’s almost dark. He’s going on vacation in one week so things will get much easier then.

My parents left this morning. I came back home put Aurelia down, exercised and worked. I’m sad to see them go. It’s been really wonderful having them around and the kids were so happy too. We will all miss them dearly.

We attempted to go to Vasona Park tonight but it’s been pouring and traffic is horrible so we turned around and decided to do it another night. Tomorrow we plan to go to the Polar Express train. It means 4+ hours of driving but I am hoping the kids will like it. I am also working hard to go through my todo list so I can relax and enjoy my daytime with the kids and Jake. I love the holiday season so much and even the rain can’t put a damper on my mood.

Here’s to hoping you’re doing great too!! 🙂

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I took two days off work so I have a 4-day weekend.
2. I am grateful that we got to spend so many wonderful moments with my parents. I hope we see them soon again.
3. I am grateful that I get to spend the whole day with my family on a wonderful adventure tomorrow. I hope I can document it and be in the moment as well.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. (almost) going out tonight {* his pick for the journal}
2. getting a new sticker book
3. singing in music class

December 8, 2010 | Daily Diary - 2010, DPGallery | Leave a comment

December Daily – Day 7

I originally had journaling spots on this overlay but I didn’t like them so I took them off and added some Making Memories letters.

Another look.

For my stories, I added the one photo I got with my dad and Aurelia (my ink is starting to run out I think which might explain the off coloring on this.)

The journaling reads:

Since we took some great photos with David, I really wanted to have some photos of you with my parents, too.

But it wasn’t meant to be.

Or more like, you just refused to stay in one place for more than a second. Of the forty photos I took, this is the only one where you don’t look like a blur.

At first I was bummed that the phone is covering half your face but then I reminded myself that this is life. This is how it is.

Not perfect.

You’ve been obsessed with opapa’s cell phone for the last few days so it’s perfect that it’s in the photo with you. When we look back, we will remember how much you enjoyed playing with his phone and we will laugh all over again.

Life is so much more wonderful than perfect photos. Thank you for teaching me that once again, my son.

I love you.

And then on the back, I put this photo of David’s gratitude journal:

Journaling reads:
David’s been writing one thing he’s grateful for everyday for the last few weeks. Seeing these fills me with joy and gratitude. I am so thankful for you, my son.

And that’s day seven.

December 8, 2010 | DDG10, December Daily 2010 | 5 comments

December Daily – Day 6

The last few days I’ve been unmotivated to work on this project and, of course, once I start falling behind, it gets worse with all the stress and pressure so I decided to just work with what I had and move on. For day 6, I put the only photo I had lying on my desk and added some sequins.

Another look.

And on the back I journaled about how even during the season some days are on and other days are off. Life. But I am still very grateful for my very ordinary days.

All about trying to keep it simple and one particular day is not important in this project. It’s the whole project that matters.

And that’s day six.

December 8, 2010 | DDG10, December Daily 2010 | Leave a comment

Catalyst 125 – Love

Catalyst One Hundred and Twenty-Five is: Write a love letter.

Thoughts:
My love letter went to my husband for father’s day. It was long and deep and I worked hard to express the depth of my love and gratitude for him. I love and adore my husband and the life we’ve created together. I consider myself very very lucky. And I wanted him to know this. I made this little card and put my letter inside the card. On the back, I stamped “love.”

December 8, 2010 | CGallery, Creative Therapy Catalysts | Leave a comment

Weekly Gratitude – No Place like Home

There are many places that inspire me. Beaches, mountains and redwood trees. Places with childhood memories. Places with college memories. Places I haven’t been to yet. Places where people I love live.

I am grateful for all of them. Thinking about them brings a smile to my lips and fills my heart with joy. But, for me, none of these places can surpass the place that I love most of all:

Home.

I am a homebody. I love being in my warm, cozy house. There are things that drive me insane like the crumbs my little one leaves in his trail. The tiny legos strewn all over the living room. The scrap table that never seems to stay neat. The dishes that pile up. The books that are constantly teetering on the edge of falling. The mountains of mail. And more.

Yet, despite all that, I love being at home. Sitting in my corner, snuggling under the blankets with my cup of coffee and my children. For the last few days, my parents have been visiting and we all sat on the very long couch in our living room. Mom reading the Turkish newspaper, dad dozing off or playing with Aurelia, David playing with mom’s ipad, and me working on my photos. I loved looking down the couch and seeing so many of the people I love. Feeling safe and cozy.

But most of all feeling deeply grateful. Remembering that there’s truly no place like home.

December 7, 2010 | Weekly Gratitude | One comment

Daily Diary – December 7 2010

Even though I had a very productive day (or maybe because of that) I didn’t do a very good job of taking photos today. I got this one of Aurelia eating his toys.

Since we had shots of David with his grandparents, I wanted some of Aurelia, too but he would not cooperate. This was the very best I could do.

He would not stop playing with my dad’s phone. He thought it was the greatest thing ever. And David was playing with the ipad so they were both happy.

My parents are leaving tomorrow. I am really sad. I know that I will now get more stuff done but I’ve really enjoyed having them here and will be sorry to see them go, especially since I don’t know when I will be seeing them again.

I am a little behind on the December Daily. More coming tomorrow.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we all went out to dinner tonight and both the kids were very well behaved and it was really lovely.
2. I am grateful that I finished a surprise present I have scheduled for a friend, I’m about to order it in a few moments.
3. I am grateful that we’re done with Christmas shopping. Except for the kids, who are easy, we are done done done.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. playing with amore’s ipad {* his pick for the journal}
2. learning math at school today
3. going out to dinner

December 7, 2010 | Daily Diary - 2010, DPGallery | One comment

Holiday Project – Tag Advent Calendar

One of the holiday traditions both my son and I look forward to each year is the advent calendar. He loves having something to open every day in December and I love watching his anticipation each day.

I’ll admit that for the last two years, we’ve been using calendars that are simple and have a piece of chocolate behind each door. This year, I wanted to do something different. Something more personal. I know he likes the little treat every day and I am happy to still give that to him but I wanted to make sure he doesn’t grow up thinking that opening an advent calendar just means getting chocolate.

So I decided to make a tag with pockets for each day. In each pocket, I put a card with a little message. Every night, he will take out the appropriate card and do whatever’s on it.

Here’s what one tag looks like:

My tags are constructed very simply. Since there are 25 days, I decided to pick 5 different color schemes for the tags and pockets and I repeated each five times. Here are the basic steps I followed for each tag:

1. Take manila tag, adhere to background paper, cut.
2. Ink edges with dark brown chalk ink.
3. Cut pocket, ink its edges using the same ink.
4. Stitch around the tag, stitching the pocket in place in the process.
5. Embellish.

That’s it. Simple as pie.

Here’s how they look altogether.

If you look carefully, you can see that the color combinations repeat but because I embellished each slightly differently, they don’t look exactly the same.

Here is a closer look at each tag:




All of the papers and embellishments are from The Girls’ Paperie. Almost everything is from the Tinsel and Twig line but there are a few items from the Toil and Trouble line.

For the insides, I made a 2×2 square which says “celebrate the season” in tiny font. (You can download it here.)

I then printed them out and punched out the squares. I stapled ribbon to the back of each square.

Finally, I wrote each day’s item on the tag.

Some of the items are purely for him (like the one in the photo) and others are family-related like “give your brother a hug.” And yet others are more community-wide. Like helping a friend at school.

Here’s what the tags look like with the papers in them.

I’ll admit that this project was a bit time consuming, but mostly because I spent a lot of time picking the simple embellishments on each tag. I love the fact that I can keep the same system year after year and even use the same squares. Or I can change them around as my kids grow up. I can even put two squares in one pocket so each of my kids can draw one.

Flexible, simple, pretty.

And here is the list of all the items on the tags:

S=self, F=family, C=community

1. You get a new book today (S)
2. We make paper snowflakes and hang them around the house (F)
3. Donate a book to someone (C)
4. Make a card for your teacher (C)
5. We play cards or any other game you want today. (S)
6. Give a present to someone at school today (C)
7. Pick one toy to donate (C)
8. Read your brother a book. (F)
9. You get to have some hot cocoa today. (S)
10. You get to stay up for one extra hour tonight (S)
11. Family movie night! (F)
12. Create a piece of art for a sick kid at the hospital. (C)
13. Leave a present on someone’s doorstep. (C)
14. We all go for a walk in the neighborhood and look at the lights. (F)
15. Make a card for one of our neighbors. (C)
16. Pick a book for mommy to read to you. (S)
17. Help mommy wrap presents. (F)
18. Let’s have a picnic under the Christmas tree! (F)
19. You spend one hour however you like. We all do what you want. (F)
20. Make a Christmas surprise book for your daddy and read it to him. (F)
21. Family game night tonight. (F)
22. You get 30 mins extra wii time today. (S)
23. Bake cookies and deliver to local police station and fire station. (C)
24. Open one Christmas present (S)
25. WE love you. Open all your presents!! (Christmas Day.)

This was originally posted at writeclickscrapbook.com for the holiday season.

December 7, 2010 | Scrapbooking, The Girls' Paperie, WriteClickScrapbook | 7 comments

Daily Diary – December 6 2010

Another week. Another Monday. Even though some days are harder than others I really really wish December crawled. I don’t want it to pass quickly as I cherish the season so much and I have so many more things to do before I am ready for 2011. So let’s all slow down this month. I wish that could be so!

Aurelia and I went to David’s class today to help with Monday journaling. It was so much fun to be there and to see all other kids. David was so nice and when he was done with his journaling, he sat with Aurelia and read him stories and hugged him and kissed him. It was wonderful.

He is still writing his book daily so today’s entry was about how we went to his class.

My angel.

Then he got to play with my mom’s ipad. He was in heaven.

The little one ran around and laughed and laughed.

I snapped another photo but the color was really off since we had no light and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t correct it so I converted to black and white.

And that’s it from here. Tonight is our last date night before my parents leave. I will miss them but I am also tired and have a really long todo list so it will be nice to stay home and get some of those done the rest of the week. I hope your monday was great!

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I signed up for Misty’s class. I really want to learn to draw/paint in 2011 so I am looking forward to kicking it off with this class.
2. I am grateful that I took care of something annoying but important at the bank today.
3. I am grateful that I get to have a little more together time with my hubby. I cherish this time so much.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. playing with opapa {* his pick for the journal}
2. watching amore play cards on her ipad
3. watching a movie with ece

December 6, 2010 | Daily Diary - 2010, DPGallery | Leave a comment

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