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.
Good day! Mostly because I decided to take it easy today. David woke me up in the middle of the night last night, saying he had a headache. After the second time, I got worried so I got up to see if he had a temperature and just as we walked into the bathroom, he threw up on me.
Thankfully, it was the only time and he seems to be totally alright today. But it made for a rough night so I woke up tired and worn out. Not Nathaniel, though. He was all happy.
I love watching him play and explore and have fun.
In the afternoon, we finally went for that walk and one of David’s friends from the neighborhood joined us. We played I Spy all the way. I snapped photos of them.
They waited for me while I snapped photos. (not always so patiently, I love David’s stance here.)
I wanted them to smile but they both gave me fake smiles so I told them to tickle each other.
And snapped one of the little boy, too.
And one more of David, I don’t photograph him enough these days.
And Nathaniel getting a bit fed up.
It was really really hot so we rushed back home. I did some more work and then Jake got home so I could rush and get my blood tests done (just for yearly checkup.) And now it’s time to put the kids down and then I am off to my reading group. I am feeling good today. Rested. I hope you are, too.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Book club tonight, I always look forward to it.
2. Grateful that I gave myself permission to rest. I am not always good with that.
3. Grateful that despite the insane tiredness I felt, I still exercised. Go me.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. His new robot bug (in our house the tooth fairy brings little toys for now so that was his little toy this time, it’s quite awesome, I’ll have to photograph it.)
2. Still grateful for yesterday’s legos.
3. daddy.
Believe it or not, I still haven’t managed to go shooting. Tomorrow I will take a long walk (ahem, I know i’ve said this before!) and take photos.
After yesterday’s disastrous ending to my day, today was absolutely wonderful!! It seems we all wake up a little cranky and tired in the mornings. Here’s Nathaniel when I tell him he can’t have something. The face, the pose, the kick, and then finally calming down and giving up on being whiny.
We all got to work relatively early today. The kids played while I worked and then we took a break to talk to Jake’s mom on Skype. In the middle of the talk, David was showing his grandpa how his top tooth fell off and just as he was talking, his bottom one fell, too. It was amazing and we both laughed out loud. No pain at all and it came off clean without any blood. I tried to snap a photo right away.
You can’t see it that well from there so I tried to get him to make just the right face but he couldn’t. Here he is fake-laughing but you can see it better.
David spent some of his day digging up legos for Nathaniel. He loves teaching his brother how to play with them and he even said “I love Nathaniel so much.” which of course made me cry.
And here are a few shots of the little boy.
Just cause they make me happy.
He has so much personality. He loves playing with empty bottles, putting their top on. He brings me water bottles and his sippy cup to tell me to fill it several times a day. When he’s hungry he points to my box of graham crackers. When he’s tired, he comes and puts his head on my lap or asks to nurse. Lately, he chews on his lip. He loves playing football with my fabric ball.He is emptying all the drawers in the kitchen. When I say “pis” (means dirty in Turkish) he puts whatever he’s holding in the trash and then claps to congratulate himself. He claps every time I say “good job.” He loves cream cheese in anything. If I give him a cream cheese sandwich, he splits it open and eats the cheese. He loves when Daddy comes home and runs to him saying “dada” and he loves David, too. When I sit in the bathroom, he takes his toys and comes to play in there with me. If we leave the bathroom door open, he will touch the water in the toilet or throw things in it. He will also go in the pantry and touch everything. He loves looking through books, playing with musical toys, and legos. He loves music and will immediately dance when some is on. When you look at him, he smiles. He loves hugging his brother and will do so several times a day. He is the delight of our days.
Right around dinner time, David got his box of legos (that I had ordered last week) in the mail and he’s been ecstatically putting it together. He’s so happy and so overjoyed. He’s thanked me 100 times already and is truly, deeply so happy. I love seeing him like this. I love that he’s so kind and so appreciative. I love that he loves legos so much and his imagination is amazing. I am so thankful for this boy, the little one has big big shoes to fill.
I found the thing I lost yesterday. It was part of my checkbook. Made me stress out way way too much and all along it was sitting in a quiet little spot. Some days are just like that. And then I got some more amazing news. I often say things happen for a reason and I got to experience that first hand today. Just feeling grateful for everything today.
And for those of you who come here often and read my life, there are two things I want to tell you:
1. Thank you. For taking the time to read, and share wise, kind, generous comments with me. I truly cherish each. Truly.
2. I know it might look like I do a lot, and I do, but I want you to know that there’s a lot (A LOT) I don’t do. A lot. I don’t clean my house. I don’t go to the grocery store. I rarely run errands. Laundry has been sitting in my room for days, unfolded. Beds are unmade. Dishes need to be put away. I don’t cook. I can go on and on. There are millions of things I don’t accomplish in my day. Some days, I sit and watch TV for hours. Hours. And do nothing. So please don’t think that I am some super-over-achiever. Don’t ever compare your life to mine in a negative light. I do that all the time and I wanted to make sure that in case you’re doing it, too, you should know things aren’t what they seem. I fight with my husband, too. I yell at my kids. My kids drive me insane. I do things I am not proud of. I struggle. I try hard to make it through the day sometimes. I am just working a little bit harder than usual to focus on doing the things that bring joy into my life and capture the good moments so on tougher days I can come back to them and draw strength from them. Just so you know.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for finding my checks! woohoo!
2. I am grateful for a great opportunity that came my way, unexpectedly but so happy for it.
3. I am grateful for my July project. It’s proven to be tough and it’s kicking me in the butt most days and it’s like that quiet annoying voice in the back of my head, telling me all the things I need to do but every day that I exercise or draw or eat veggies, I am actually happier so I really am grateful for it.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. mommy for getting me legos
2. putting together my new legos!
3. daddy.
|
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
|
