Today began crappy but then turned around (more on this tomorrow) but it also meant that I took a little break from my July projects. July’s been a challenging month so far as it turns out. But that’s ok. It’s life.
I decided we would have some ice cream and a ton of fun. Nathaniel refused to take his nap at his normal hour so he slept much later and when he woke up, I decided to take a little break so we could all play in the backyard.
David brought a bunch of legos with him, of course.
Nathaniel wasn’t sure at first but then decided to give it a go.
He even ran around with his brother while they chased each other.
Then Jake came home and Nathaniel went begging for some grapes. My favorite part was that when he finally got one, he walked over to a bowl David had left on his table.
Grabbed the bowl, took it back to where Jake was, put the grape in it, and then took it out and ate it. He watches, he learns.
Then they played legos for a while.
I truly love watching them play together and next to each other.
Nathaniel loves legos almost as much as David..
But I think David loves them more. And I love him. So much.
In the end, it was a good day. Tomorrow, back on the horse.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Grateful for some kind people who are helping me put together something I’ve long wanted to do.
2. I am grateful for all the kind comment you leave here. I know I’ve said this before but i cannot say it enough. it touches me deeply.
3. I am grateful for some silly TV to watch today as I relax and embroider and let my troubles go.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. Nathaniel.
2. playing with his legos.
3. daddy.
Since I don’t have a craft project for now. Here’s another one of my Lily Bee layouts I did recently.
I love all the things David does to make Nathaniel laugh. And how much we both love to hear his laughter.
details:
Today started with pancakes and then Jake putting together David’s new bike as both kids watched excitedly.
Then he went to the videogame conference and we played until it was Nathaniel’s nap time. When he woke up, we thought it would be fun to do a picnic in the backyard so I got it all ready and got the boys to come outside. Nathaniel was quite hesitant to step on the grass.
David had to go hold his hand and help him realize it’s ok to move.
Neither of the boys were super-crazy about the picnic so we had a quick one and then went back inside.
Nathaniel spent most of the day fascinated by David’s toy. He put the pins in and took them out.
And when he got stuck, he woud bring the whole thing over to ask for help.
I love love love this face. Love him.
Love my boys so much.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. A quiet day where I spent most of my me-time diving into a wonderful book. It had been a while since I read an engrossing book.
2. I am grateful for my little boys, and for how well they get along most of the time.
3. I am grateful for air conditioning these days. I randomly feel like I am going to melt and this is the first house we’ve lived in the Bay Area with air conditioning so I am very grateful for it.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. having pancakes for breakfast.
2. reading books with mommy
3. daddy.
This is with the July Kit from A Million Memories. Love this kit!
Every day, right at 4pm or so, Nathaniel starts getting grouchy and whiny and unhappy. It’s how I know we’re getting close to the end of the day. We then eat dinner and start preparing for bedtime.
Details:
Months ago, Jake signed up for this weekend-of-video-games thing where they bring old and new arcade games (hundreds of them!) into this convention center and you can go play all weekend. It is this weekend, so he’s been going there on and off all day. And since I remember my Atari days so well and loved Space Invaders, I had to take a photo of his wristband.
And here’s David, who’s focusing really hard on his lego wii game.
So for the rest of the day, my only subject was Nathaniel and I took photos of him liberally. I love how while he sucks one finger, he uses the other hand to support the hand he’s sucking.
The hands are still reaching for his back when he walks.
Focusing.
I spent my day embroidering while I watched hulu and then i did a layout and back to embroidering.
I cannot get enough photos of him.
He’s so so cute.
And he’s still chewing on his lips. Not sure why. Though he’s got lots of teeth coming so that could be it.
Wii, legos, embroidery, layouts, tv, homework, and food was pretty much all of our day. I did work in the garage some (a big slow project here.) and after this I plan to sit and read a bit tonight before I am off to bed. Good, quiet Saturday here. I hope yours was just the way you like it.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Embroidery. I am really really enjoying it so much.
2. Hulu. So awesome to get to watch TV when you missed it the first time around.
3. Nice, quiet days with no deadlines or lists of todos.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. getting a gold star (he got one for writing today).
2. playing wii.
3. daddy.
Early this year, I’d planned to teach a completely different BPS class but for some reason I kept putting it off and struggling to sit down and write it which is why I put this item on my list:
43. Put together and teach my BOS BPS class
But then I got the idea for this other class. A class where I could help people collect their stories and create a place to hold them so that when they want to sit and scrap, their stories are right there for them and they never have to struggle to find what to write about. If you know me, you know that I care about storytelling and about making your pages meaningful through telling stories.
And once I had the idea for this class, I was on fire. I wrote the whole thing in just a few days. I love teaching for BPS. I love teaching so much. Especially when it’s on a topic I care deeply about. So I am really really excited about this class.
I love teaching process classes way more than anything else because it is so customized. The goal is not for you to copy me but to come away with a skill of your own. With something that you can make yours, adapt to your life and use over and over again. It’s like the giving a fish vs teaching to fish thing. I like to take classes like that so I like to teach classes like that.
Have I mentioned I am really excited about this class?
And now it’s finally open for registration:
register here
This class focuses on four aspects of story organization:
1. Collecting: finding where your stories come from, what inspires you, how do you generate more stories?
2. Organizing: how do you sort your story ideas, what details do you want to make sure to get down on paper?
3. Storing: What’s the best way to store all these stories and details? Will you have a mini book to hold or do a system on the computer?
4. Using: Now that you have your new system, how do you use it? How do you make sure it’s a living, breathing system and doesn’t get stale. When you sit to scrap, how do you find the story you need or want?
I want you to know that I love reaching at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I love teaching. I pour my heart and soul into each of my classes. I try to make sure I am fully engaged and there and that each of my students walks away with exactly what they wanted out of the class. Money and time are both scarce resources and I don’t take either of them for granted one bit.
If you find yourself struggling with story ideas, having the stories around when you’re scrapping, having more stories, having better stories, or if you just want a good organizational system, I hope you’ll consider taking my class. I really tried to give it my very best. I think your stories are really important and they deserve to be told.
I am really excited about this class. I hope you are, too and I hope you come and join me.
Somewhat of a blah day here for no good reason. It was a mediocre day where I felt unmotivated and thus accomplished little. But I did rest. I’ve been trying to make sure to focus on rest. I can tell my mind and body both need it. I also know school and life and adjusting to new routines will be starting up really soon and so I am trying to enjoy the “nothing to do” and not rush myself through it.
I don’t usually like to post photos with diapers in them but I love this one of Nathaniel trying to put the ipod just like he’s seen David do it millions of times.
This is what David often does when I ask him to smile. Sigh.
David loves playing with Nathaniel. Making him laugh, surprising him.
Here’s Nathaniel, moments before he puts his finger in his mouth. I love catching moments like this.
Here’s another one of my favorite things that I am glad I caught. As I prepare food for him, Nathaniel likes to watch me through the holes in his chair. I love seeing these tiny eyes peering with anticipation.
A super-blurry shot but there’s something about the joy in David’s face and the entangled arms that speaks to me.
Here they are playing more. Wrestling. Laughing.
In the afternoon, David played with his squirt gun outside while Nathaniel watched and he wanted to wear his glasses for it. Missing teeth and all.
So thankful it’s weekend. And I have nothing to do. I plan to embroider, read, maybe scrap….no big plans is exactly how I like it. I hope yours is great, too. Come back tomorrow for some details on my new Big Picture Scrapbooking class.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for the weekend. For some rest.
2. I am grateful for the yummy Turkish food in the fridge.
3. I am grateful for my relatively empty to-do list.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. playing with legos.
2. playing with my bug.
3. daddy.
Journaling Reads:
I met Jake sixteen years ago. What are the chances that the man I met in my third year in the United States would end up being my husband? What are the chances I’d find someone who completes me so fully, so perfectly, so quickly? Or ever.
Jake is everything I am not: funny, confident, happy. And he is everything I am: computer-savvy, kind, curious. And he’s so much more. He’s loving and generous. He’s always there for me right when I need him an exactly in the way I need him.
I’ve always wished I had a best friend. One to sit with in silence. One to go on adventures with. One to laugh with and one to cry with and I’ve always been sad that I never had one.
But then I realized I had one all along.
Jake is my best friend and more. He is the person I talk to when I am trying to make a decision and I need advice. The person I go to when I need to vent or cry. The person who hugs me (and his hugs are the very best!) when I need to feel less alone in the world. And how lucky am I that he also happens to be my children’s father, my life partner, and the person I will get to spend my forever with?
Still working on most of these diligently.
David:
1. Try one new food every day – He’s tried orzo (so so), chicken (no go), wheat breat (like it!), and today some new crackers which he of course loved.
2. Do 30 minutes of work daily – We did reading with g, h, j and k letters. Single and doubt-digit subtraction and writing l, m, n, o, p, q,r , s. He’s doing very well.
Art:
1. Draw 100 faces -I haven’t been very good with this. Only one more face so far and not a great one at that.
2. Make one art journal page daily – I made an art journal page today. And I am still continuing to embroider my sample.
Health:
1. Exercise for 15-20 minutes 3 times a week -36 mins on Monday and 30 mins on Wednesday.
Productivity:
1. Do one nagging task daily – I sent my CHA layouts, reserved my parents’ hotel for their upcoming trip, replied to my comments and am working on catching up on email, and I cleaned up my desk and the house for the guests coming tonight.
2. Start and End each day better – For the most part I am still doing great here.
Soul:
1. Write a thank you email every day – I wrote to Lia and Dina and have Severine and Rachel coming up.
That’s it.
I am still going strong on exercise, working with David, my thank-you letters, and the nagging tasks. I do wish I were doing better on the food but I am pretty proud of myself so far.
Today went by too fast. This whole summer is going too fast. How come we’re in the middle of July already? No no no. I wish it would slow down, I am really enjoying our summer. Not rushing, no schedules. Enjoying moments of life.
I love watching the kids play.
Sit on the couch and read lego magazines.
Some photos of my little boy. Weird light, but still.
love those smiles.
What? his look says.
He is still obsessed with the bottles and putting their caps on.
He’s pretty good at it, too.
And my favorite. The wonderful, wonderful smile that lights up both his and my faces.
I love my life. I have deep frustrations some times. I yearn for things I don’t have (not items as much as friendships, talent, etc.) and I find myself comparing, feeling inadequate, being frustrated way too often. But I am also very grateful. Very very grateful. For what I have. Because I know it’s a lot.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful today that our bedtime routine is smooth and easy. David makes a little bowl of legos and he grabs his pull up, puts his jammies on, pees, brushes teeth, and is off to bed with a hug and a “good night my love.” That’s it. No crying, no whining. Nothing. He plays until his time is up (he has a clock in his room that he can read) and then he’s off to sleep. I know this is a miracle and I am not taking it for granted for a second.
2. I am grateful that my kids are homebodies like me and can play with legos for hours without getting bored. I am grateful that they don’t need me to run around and take them from activity to activity. I am also grateful that despite this, they are also social and make friends easily. I am deeply grateful for what a lucky person this makes me.
3. I am grateful for that besides my family, a good book and a warm drink are all I need from life. This makes life quite simple and easy to live. And I am thankful for that.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. watching TV with mommy.
2. my legos.
3. daddy.
Last Week, while I took a break waiting for the new CHA products from The Girls’ Paperie, I did a few Lily Bee layouts. Here’s one.
Since the papers were so happy, I thought it’d be fun to use Kraft as my background.
Details:
When we read When You Reach Me for book club, the little girl in the book carries A Wrinkle in Time and I had never read the book as a kid so I thought there’s no better time than now to read it. I read the whole thing in one sitting and loved it to bits.
I think I might want to go looking for more kids’ books, lately they are giving me a lot of literary pleasure.
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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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