Nathaniel had been waking up at 6am for the last three days so I was hoping this meant that he had moved his schedule. But, I find out this morning that I was not so lucky. 5:10am and he was crying. So, reluctantly I got up from bed and dragged myself to his room. Which definitely didn’t start my day on a sad note, but then something amazing happened. At 5:30 my phone rang. After I got really scared, I answered it and it turned out it was Margie Romney-Aslett calling me to give me amazing news! I was so shell-shocked I think I didn’t say anything about how excited I really was. If you’re reading this Margie, I am so sorry! I absolutely adore Girls’ Paperie and I am so excited and honored to have the opportunity to design for them.

Yey!

So that turned my day of course. Then I sat down and did my book cover and a little bit of my BPS class project while Nathaniel played. I was stunned to take this shot because his face here looks exactly like David at that age.

After we dropped off David, I worked, Nathaniel napped and then we went to pick him up, ate lunch and I got back to work. David drew some pictures and I acted all scared (those are ghosts and dynamites there.)

Then the two of them started to play together. I know these photos are crooked but they are so much fun.

And here’s Nathaniel actually playing peek-a-boo all on his own. We were both shocked when he did this.

After the kids went down, I finished my BPS project and now I am off to work on some more BPS work.

Note to Self:
I’ve been feeling really grateful and peaceful lately. I still remember those bunch of blah days a few months ago and now that I have the opposite, I am trying to ride it as long as it’s here. I feel driven, excited, motivated and inspired. I don’t stress much, I sing a lot, I smile, I hug my kids, I create without too many conversations in my head (a bunch but not so much that it drowns me like it usually does.) and I get work done and try to not let that stress me out either. I love my family, my parents, my husband, my kids, my sister and everything. I feel like that girl Jessica in the YouTube video. (here’s the link again cause you can never watch this enough.) Just full of love and happiness. May it last as long as possible.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Girls’ Paperie of course! What a wonderful first manufacturer to work for, I am thrilled and grateful.
2. I am so grateful to work from home and get to watch my kids run around and laugh while I work. It’s a true luxury.
3. Grateful for Glee tonight!

Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. daddy daddy daddy of course.
2. playing legos with daddy.

I wish I’d gotten a better photo of this frog. It’s quite something to look at.

I still get so much joy from watching him walk. It makes me happy.

Yep, drooling.

David loves tickling him.

And chasing him around the house while Nathaniel giggles.

And then finally they both got quiet. (for like three seconds)

I know this photo has Nathaniel blurry but I love that they are both reading. Look at my boys.

Good day! Layout done, lesson four completed, pedicure and eyebrow wax, some more crochet practice, Skype with mom, playing with kids, taking photos. And now it’s time to put the kids down. We will be going out to a work party for our date night tonight. I’m not a party-person so let’s see how I like it.

Note to Self:
Today, I’ve been thinking about how sometimes things come to you exactly when you stop craving them. When you stop seeking and just go on with your life, things just stumble in. I wonder if that’s cause you’re just being authentic or if it’s completely unrelated. I do notice this pattern a lot and wanted to make sure to capture it so I can think about it some more and be mindful of it.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Grateful to be done with the first versions of all four of my lessons for BPS. Big step for me.
2. Grateful that I do seem to be getting the hang of crocheting finally
3. Grateful that I get one more day of vacation. Yey.

Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. Daddy (of course!)
2. and Mommy (shocker! tho he said it’s cause i let him play a bit more wii today.)

Another one from the academy of sciences.

Today kept feeling like Sunday. I’m glad it isn’t. And it was a relatively productive day. I did my layout, finished my book and when Nathaniel woke up from his nap:

we went out to lunch to this French cafe we discovered that we love. We then went shopping for some of the items we needed to stock up on and as Jake and the kids were unloading, I snapped these photos.

David helps his Dad by carrying the grocery bags to the kitchen.

And Nathaniel likes to just hang out by the door when it’s open.

My sweet boy. Love him and those blue eyes.

It was David’s Wii day so he played while Nathaniel played with his toys.

And I practiced more and more of my crochet. Getting better at it. Still got a loooong way to go.

I had a hair appointment today but my stylist got sick and had to reschedule, then I made an appointment for a pedicure only to show up and find out they were closing. I had to reschedule that. too. It was one of those kinds of days. Now the kids are playing in David’s room while I sit with them and type this up.

My plans after they go to bed are to write my third lesson for the upcoming Big Picture Scrapbooking class. I want to get most of the content down this weekend so that I can perfect and tune the class in the time left. Let’s see.

I’ve already started the next book: East of Eden. It’s 1450 pages on my reader. Ugh…. but I’m told it’s really good.

So some writing, some reading, some June planning, choosing the photo for tomorrow’s layout, and then bed for me tonight.

Note to Self:
I’ve learned that, for me, doing an activity for at least 30 minutes is necessary. It takes me that long to get in the groove. In programming, we generally call this being in the zone. It’s one the reasons meetings are evil (amongst many others) because it takes a while to get into the zone and then you perform at your highest when you’re there until you feel like you rode it all the way through. For me, this applies to doing scrapbook pages or art. It applies to writing. That’s why I plan and then sit and write the whole lesson in one shot. It works much better for me when I have the flow. It also applies to reading. I get into a book much more after I’ve focused on it for over 30 minutes. (so 10 pages a night might eventually help me finish a book but I don’t really ever get into it that way.) It even applies to learning something new. When I’ve been crocheting for over 35 minutes, I am much better at it and at picking up new things than I am if I do 10 minutes a day. So this means that I need to set aside at least an hour per activity to really do well and get enjoyment out of it. Good to know.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. A delicious lunch (goat cheese, salad, and pesto panini), on a beautiful day, with my wonderful family.
2. Finishing my book. I really loved it. Rare for me to love a short-story collection this much.
3. The sense of calm and peace I am feeling. I am thankful for that, I am not taking it for granted.

Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I’m grateful for the Wii-time.
2. Going out for lunch.