karenika

Weekly Gratitude – My Husband’s Hugs

Journaling Reads:
My husband gives the most amazing hugs.

They are truly amazing. He opens his arms wide and envelops you in them just like a little kid. He hugs will all of his soul and regardless of how sad I might be, the hug will instantly make me feel better.

I remember the first time he hugged me and all the times after that how much joy and peace I felt every single time. Even today, my two little kids’ hugs are special but Jake‘s are more so. Maybe it’s cause he’s a grown up, I don’t know. All I know is that I love them all the same.

Because I know the special power of these hugs, on days when I know I am being unreasonable and taking my frustrations out on him, I tell him that all he needs to do is hug me. Sometimes I want to hear advice and have him help me find solutions to my problems but other times I just want to feel one of his amazing hugs and secure and safe in the knowledge that everything will be ok.

There’s nothing one of those hugs won’t cure.

Daily Diary – September 2 2010

A few leftovers from the aquarium.

This week has been a whirlwind and I don’t think it will let up soon. Jake’s parents arrived today which is great for the kids and for us too since we get to go on dates every night. But it also means that I am far from my regular schedule and thus everything piles up more and it takes me that much longer to go back on schedule. But oh well.

Here’s a snapshot I got while David was telling me about something.

And here’s Nathaniel playing with the alphabet bug. He loves any and all toys that make noise. He’ll get them to sing and then play with other things while he listens to the music and then when it stops, he goes back, presses whatever buttons he needs to so the song restarts and then he’ll walk away and play with other things again.

Which of course drives me absolutely insane.

but i do love him so.

So today was hectic at work, i went to a kindergarten coffee early morning for a tiny bit, nathaniel napped, i worked, craziness ensued, we went to pick up david, went to the doctor, rushed back home, in-laws came, played with kids, i made a layout, dinner, bathtime, bedtime, and then jake and i went out to a quickie (and bad) dinner and then came home to watch a little tv together and that was the end of the day. phew! Now I am about to head to bed so I can wake up at 5:45 and do it over again.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that my in-laws are here and Jake and I will get some date nights.
2. I am grateful that I had some time to play with scrappy stuff today. As much as I love paint, I love scrapping even more.
3. I am grateful that I got another stitching sampler in the mail today. Nothing like happy mail.

Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. making bubba the bear
2. coloring my green dinosaur at school
3. reading the lego catalog with meme (jake’s mom)

A Book a Week – The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

I wanted to read The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake as soon as I read about it. Not sure exactly why. But something about it spoke to me.

I am not really into magical realism really. (Though I adore Kundera who is supposed to write in genre too)

But I loved every little bit of this book. I loved the characters. I loved the voice. The story. The way it was written. There were some holes for me (like the brother’s gift) that I wish were better explained. But I liked the book so much that I didn’t even mind that.

Aimee Bender has a way with words. Her simple sentences are absolutely perfect. I highly recommend this very very unusual book.

Daily Diary – September 1 2010

Oh I look at this photo now and wish so so much we were back in San Diego already. So calm, so happy. So peaceful. Not that I am not now but it looks so nice, doesn’t it?

I’ve been doing a mediocre job taking photos. I try to snap some of Nathaniel in the daytime while David is gone but we’re also struggling with naps since he seems to be taking them later now but I am still confused, so I put him down, I pick him up, then try again. So I forget to take photos.

Then I take ones of David when he comes home and today we practiced smiling again (yes I know, we’ve got a long way to go) and he showed me his Ali the Aligator. And they made a September calendar so we picked out Daddy’s birthday and Mommy’s birthday and MeMe’s (Jake’s mom) birthday, all of which are in September.

And now I am rushing to get it all done before I have to run out to go to book club. Phantom Tollbooth tonight. And I still have to prepare questions. ugh….

But let me also tell you this amazing news!

I love love love My Mind’s Eye products and their team is wonderful and they are also amazing people to work with. I am so truly blessed!

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for my guest spot with My Mind’s eye. Yey..
2. I am grateful that David and I are reading books together and enjoying it.
3. I am grateful that I have this great artsy hobby and a love of reading. Both of these things are for me and they are good for my soul and make me so happy.

Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. tracing the numbers on my calendar at school
2. Reading tales of a 4th grade nothing with mommy, the part where he wins the turtle
3. cutting out grass during craft time

Catalyst 119 – Sssh! It’s a Secret

Catalyst One Hundred and Nineteen is: Who was your first kiss? How was it?

Thoughts:
My first kiss was my then best friend. He and I had been inseparable friends for quite some time and it took us a while to realize that we liked each other a bit more than friends did. The night we finally kissed had more to do with me than him since I was the one holding back for so many stupid reasons. We didn’t tell anyone and our relationship was a secret for quite some time. He is still my best friend and I remember that night quite fondly.

Daily Diary – August 31 2010

Nope, I am not out of photos. Just wanted to post something different today. For a brief time, I painted today. For no particular reason. Well with a goal in mind but not cause I have something due or something that I owe. I just wanted to sit and play. So I played. Nice to play for no reason at all. I am not so good with paint and kept chanting in my mind as I painted “Just have fun. it doesn’t have to be perfect. Let it go.” And it worked cause they’re far far far from perfect.

This morning, I drove David to the bus again and we sat and read some more of Phantom Tollbooth. Then I drove back and worked while the little one played. I love watching him play, quietly, engrossed in his play.

In the afternoon, we went to go get David and then he and I read more of the Phantom Tollbooth which I had to finish today since it’s being discussed at book club tomorrow night. And so we sat and I read. Nathaniel got super jealous and kept wanting to come up on the couch. So we sat on the floor and he kept coming and sitting between us and putting his head on David’s lap and whining and trying to get attention. It was a bit annoying but also so very cute.

Then Daddy came home and David was overjoyed.

And they hugged and laughed and played.

Baths, bedtime, dinner, chatting with Jake and here we are, at the end of another day. Perfectly ordinary. Perfect day. Full of gratitude.

Still pondering my September project. I know I haven’t written about July and August, but I promise I haven’t forgotten.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I feel much better now. Still coughing a bunch but otherwise well on the road to recovery .
2. I am grateful that David’s had no punching for two days in a row now. He still loves school and is very excited to be there.
3. I am grateful that I made a little time to paint today.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1.coloring a schoolbus at school
2. daddy for playing legos with me
3. finishing phnatom tollbooth (we’re starting tales of a fourth grade nothing tomorrow)

Weekly Gratitude – Ten Years of Ordinary Life

August marked the ten year anniversary of blog.

Ten years.

That’s a little less than a third of my life. Ten years ago, I was single (but dating and living with my now husband). I was living in New York City. I was working at Goldman Sachs. I was a programmer. I worked pretty much nonstop. I was trying to write novels. I had a bird. Since then, so much has happened. I went part time in my job and volunteered in several places. I then quit it got married and did Teach For America. Then we took a 3-month trip where we went to the Caymans and drove across the US. We moved to San Diego. I got a job programming. We had our first son. I started scrapbooking. I started a photography company. I learned to drive. We moved up to the San Francisco Bay Area. I got another job. We bought a house. We had another kid. I changed my job to work from home. My son started school.

During this time, my blog went through many changes. In the beginning I wrote about nothing. Then I wrote longer pieces. Some months I wrote a lot. Other months nothing. For a while, it was a photoblog. And then it became all about my kids. My art. Kids. I went back and forth over the years about whether it should have a focus. Whether I was alienating some of my “readers” by writing about me too much. Or not enough. Putting too much about scrapbooking. Or not enough. Too many photos. You get my point. In the end, I gave up worrying about it.

The greatest thing about my blog is that it’s a testament to the last ten years of my life. So many of my feelings, my thoughts, my ordinary life is in there. I love going back five years and reading about an ordinary day. I love seeing what my life was like then. What I worried about, what I was grateful for. I love having records of my past-self. And I love that as I changed, the blog changed. It holds so many stages of my life. So many of my milestones. When I was a little girl, I wrote diaries for years. But then at 18, I suddenly stopped. And this blog has been a form of diary for me since my mid-twenties. And I am deeply grateful for it.

The reason I stopped worrying about my traffic, my content, my focus is that this blog is primarily for me. I love the visitors, the kind, insightful, encouraging comments. But it’s my way of tracking my life, my thoughts, my emotions. Most importantly my ordinariness. I’ve learned over the years that what seems very ordinary now is absolutely not so years from now. The “ordinary” part of life changes the most with time. I might live in this house ten years from now but the day-to-day life here will be significantly different. And by capturing these moments, I get to cherish them forever. This is the same reason I scrapbook. But blogging is simpler, faster, and easier to backup digitally.

If any of you are struggling with what to put on your blog, what to write about, I hope you find a way to talk about the ordinariness of your life. I promise you it’s anything but ordinary.

Daily Diary – August 30 2010

Well I woke up at the obscene hour of 5am cause Nathaniel would not go back to sleep. So off we went. After a while he relaxed and played while I tried hard to wake up fully. Since I am still sicker than I’d like to be, we drove David to the bus stop and while waiting, I read him some more of the Phantom Tollbooth. Then he went off on his bus and Nathaniel and I came home. Soon after the cleaning ladies showed up and our house really really needed it. As soon as they were finished upstairs, I put the little boy down who was yawning like crazy by this point. After he woke up and ate a bit, we went off to the doctor for his thumb. Good news is, doctor thinks it was normal staph so nothing to be scared off. Some 1% cortizone, some more of the antibacterial cream and we keep working on it until it disappears. He also checked his ears since Nathaniel has had a runny nose for days now. But clear clear. Yey.

We came home and I tried to work some and Nathaniel played around. He loves these headphones.

And taking them off.

And dragging them along.

I was so tired and spent most of the day. Soon, it was time to get David, so we drove to the stop and I read a bit while we waited and then he showed up. No punching today, yey! But he had fallen down and hurt his leg a bit. So he was sad about that. When we came home, he took out the raccoon he made at school and told us that his homework was to sing to us. He put the puppet on and sang.

He was loving it. He only remembered a few words but I loved watching him and so did Nathaniel.

Picture day is coming up at his school so I practiced smiling with him and we have a long way to go….

Then he decided to sing to his brother.

Who was so happy, he gave him a hug. Look at the love in David’s face.

And more hugs.

These all look like the same photo to normal people I bet. But to me, they all carry subtly different emotions and I adore them each uniquely.

And now they are in bed and I am wiped wiped wiped. I have a bunch more work to do, too. But it’s ok. The doctor was good news, David got no punches, and I survived it all. I’ll consider this a good day!

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Nathaniel does not have an infection.
2. I am grateful that David likes his school. I hope he makes some new, good friends he likes.
3. I am grateful that the house is all clean and nice. My inlaws are coming this week and I am glad that while it may not be tidy always, at least it’s clean. Gotta start somewhere, right?

Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. reading the phantom tollbooth book
2. making my puppet at school
3. reading a book about ponies at the library at school

Daily Diary – August 29 2010

Still sick as a dog here. Aching all over. Sore throat. Whine whine whine 🙂

Little boy work up at the crack of dawn. He was sad too so I just came downstairs with him and gave him some love. We all just relaxed and tried to wake up in our own way. I have to say, it’s a lot of work but so much fun to have two kids. I love watching them together. Especially when they show love.

And friendship. Cause that’s always the hope when you decide to have any siblings.

Here’s Nathaniel exploring David’s legos. While David colors. Look at those toes!

I spent most of the day lying in pain and reading my book while the kids played. In the afternoon, Jake took the kids to Walmart and Safeway and I decided it was time to get off my tush. So I finally did my snack bag sewing project. I’ve wanted to make this ever since I first saw tutorial. It’s so simple and lovely idea. Since David loves green, I picked a green, happy fabric. And it turned out wonderful. (btw, the sticky velcro did totally gum up my needle which later broke so be warned.)

I’d also wanted to make another bag like the one I just recently posted about. I wanted to make one that was deeper with a bigger pocket. I don’t have a lot of big chunks of fabric so there wasn’t a lot of option. I finally came up with a goldish fabric for the lining and a simple gray linen for the outside. And a little cord in gold finished the bag. I love it. I thought I wouldn’t and I broke TWO needles while I made it. But i do love it. Yey. I even put a small patch of velcro inside so I can close this one better.

When they got back, I put the groceries away, fed the kids and then we went out for David to ride his bike. Nathaniel just loves being outside, doesn’t care what we’re doing.

And his brother rode like a champ.

Which made him laugh. Laugh and laugh.

I love love that face. That happy, contented smile.

On the way home, Nathaniel got a chance to ride the bike too.

My three boys. I love how protective and loving David is of his brother and how much Nathaniel looks up to and loves his brother. And they have the most amazing Dad ever. I am a lucky lucky gal.

little boy went to sleep right after that. David and I did some more reading. We’re in chapter 65 now. It’s amazing. I then read some more Phantom Tollbooth. He’s really enjoying it. And so am I. Love that book. Then he went to bed and here I am on the couch again, watching the Emmy’s and in pain. I did finish my book today which makes me happy. I am halfway through Phantom Tollbooth and that makes me happy, too. And I stitched. Good. good day. Let’s hope pain is gone tomorrow.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I made my new bag, really excited about it.
2. I am grateful that the 1300-page book is finally finished. It was looooonnngggg.
3. I am grateful that Nathaniel’s hand does seem to be responding to the medicine, let’s hope doctor says it’s nothing!

Two Things David’s Grateful For:
I’ve been working with David so he can be more specific with his items.
1.daddy cause he helped me ride my bike
2. that we went shopping and bought things i like like bread and bagels
3. for my snack bag and your bag

Weekly Layouts – Three Boys

This one is for fun. For me. And a layout I made months and months ago which is why the stitching is a minimum and no white background 🙂

I love this photo. The journaling is about these three boys whom I adore and who are the best part of my life.

Daily Diary – August 28 2010

I woke up all sick and congested today. Expected but it still sucked sucked. I can’t take anything for it cause of the nursing so I just whined and felt sorry for myself. Until I saw David’s face and realized that he had a shiner under his left eye. (it’s subtle but I swear it’s there.)

then i felt bad for him. his best friend at school punched him twice this last week. i wrote to the teacher about it and talked to david and told him to make another friend. i am really upset about it but trying not to talk about it so much since it puts his focus on the bad stuff and right now he still loves school a lot. let’s see what the teacher says. I then dragged myself to my hair appointment cause rescheduling is a nightmare. When I came back, David was playing wii and Nathaniel was not napping in his bed.

so I picked him up and gave him some food and lay on the couch, feeling some more sorry for myself. Then I realized that Nathaniel’s thumb was getting infected again so I put the cream, wrapped it and called his doctor.

It turns out the sample they had taken ten days ago shows staph in the bacteria so it’s not such great news. he’s going back to the doctor on monday to see if we can do more tests. and so then i felt bad for him, too. Especially since he was back to being sock-arm-boy.

He didn’t care. He just wanted to be like his brother. So when he saw the extra Wii remote, he was in heaven.

So went our day. I talked to my mom, I napped while Nathaniel took his afternoon nap and David played. I tried to read more of my 1300-page book which is really boring me. I read the Phantom Tollbooth out loud to David. We then did some more reading exercises. And it was time for them to go to bed. I still have to read 700 pages for this book to finish. Ugh.

Long day.But at least I didn’t have work and spent the day with my boys. Grateful.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that my boys are so sweet and when I feel terribly ill like now, they are mostly easy to take care of and when they are not my husband is amazing.
2. I am grateful that I got my hair done, always makes me feel like a star.
3. I am grateful that I did all my must-get-done items and so I can just relax and be sick this weekend. This week is going to be rough at work so it’s best to rest as much as I can.

Two Things David’s Grateful For:
I’ve been working with David so he can be more specific with his items.
1. I’m grateful that I got to play A Boy and His Blob on the Wii.
2. I’m grateful that I played with Nathaniel on the big bed at bedtime (they wrestled and laughed together).
3. I’m grateful for Daddy cause he gave me peanuts while mommy was napping.
4. I’m grateful that Mommy read the Phantom Tollbooth to me.

52 Things – Sew something for myself

I did this one during my June Projects:

32. Sew something for myself

I thought a lot about what I wanted to make for this project. I would love to have made something to wear but my sewing talent really doesn’t extend that far. Then I wanted to make a tablecloth but I promised myself I wasn’t going to buy more fabric and I just don’t have enough large pieces to make a tablecloth, and it’s a huge project. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that I have no patience so I needed a quick-ish project.

I found this bag and really wanted to do it but it looked complicated and I wasn’t sure I had enough of the fabric I wanted to use. I definitely didn’t have enough interlining and interfacing.

But now I was very interested in making a bag. I have this large camera bag but it’s huge. And I have this tiny bag that I carry my cash and cards in but it doesn’t hold my book reader. So I needed something in between that just held my small purse and my book and my keys. So I searched and searched and when I stumbled upon this tutorial I was in heaven!

Being impatient as I am, I did the whole thing in just a few hours and made SEVERAL mistakes. But I still love the way it turned out.

In case you do plan to make this bag, i will note that the measurements aren’t fully accurate! the distance on top on either side of the handle should be equal and I should have figured that out but I didn’t until I’d already cut everything. So I had to cut off the handles and sew them back on in the middle. And let me tell you they do not meet on top properly. One is considerably wider than the other. I could have fixed that but it’s a reminder that it’s ok for things not to be perfect.