And here’s #28. Had fun with circle punches today.
Nathaniel doesn’t like his leg to touch grass so when we sit in the backyard, he holds it up the whole time. I wanted to make sure to capture his funny quirk.
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Journaling Reads: And while there are several things I am stuck with, like my crooked nose or my sunken eyes, there are also a plethora of things I can change about the way I look. And recently, I decided to do exactly that. I cut and dyed my hair. I put on some jewelry I love. I decided to wear more of what I like and put a little bit makeup, just to make myself happier. There are also longer-term things I can do like working out more so that my body is shaped better and eating healthier which is good for my skin, too. I can moisturize more and give my skin some of that water it craves. The list goes on and on. The thing is, while I can’t be someone else, I can be the best me and I can be grateful for what I have and make the most of it and that is my goal now. I can also wear a smile more often because I think a smile is the prettiest thing anyone can wear.
From the Academy of Sciences. I am a bit obsessed with butterflies. I love watching Nathaniel and David, especially Nathaniel being so curious and getting in David’s business. So far, David’s quite kind with him.
And there’s much rejoicing when Daddy comes home.
Especially from this one.
And then tickling and laughing.
And more hugging and love. It makes my heart swell.
May 27 already? Another ok day but I can’t remember much of it. I am so tired most of the day. Some emails, a bunch of work, taking care of the kids, and poof the day is done. Tonight I hope to read some and work on my BPS class some, the deadline is coming fast. Note to Self: And this movie about the surprising truth of what motivates us is also awesome. All of them are worth your time. And food for thought and soul. Three Things I’m Grateful For: Two Things David’s Grateful For: I am doing a layout a day in May and this is number 27.
Journaling is about how I hate having my photo taken but I know my kids would love to have more photos of me and I love looking at photos of us so I promise them that I will let people take more photos of us together. Details:
Four days left! This week’s download is some todo list themed printables. Here is what they look like:
You can download it here: Todo Lists download. You are welcome to play with these as much as you want and use them anywhere you’d like. You are NOT allowed to sell them ever. You don’t have to but I’d appreciate a link back if you do use them. This is part of a weekly digital download series. They are posted every Thursday. You can find all of the ones that were posted here. If you like my downloads, please click here and give me ideas/requests for 2010. I would like to continue this feature but I am not sure I can come up with enough ideas on my own.
More of my anniversary tulips. There will be more. I love these tulips. We had quite a wonderful day today. I worked on my layout, Nathaniel and David ate and then Nathaniel napped while David was at school and then played by himself while I worked.
And then we went to get David.
After lunch, the kids Skype’d with their cousin Maya and their paternal grandmother and grandfather. Nathaniel is really into Skype. As soon as he sees the ringing tone, he looks for the screen and gets all excited. He also loves loves loves music and instantly starts to dance when there’s any on.
And then Nathaniel did a bit of this.
And then we put him on his chair while David and I did some crafts.
I also wanted to capture this little gem. He always likes to put his foot under the tray. He straightens his leg and sticks it right against the back of the top of the tray. Love these little quirks.
And now we’re winding the day down. I am about to go put the kids in the tub and we start our night routine. Daddy will watch some iphone movies with David and then they sleep. Then I get a few hours to unwind, read, and relax. And then bed. What a wonderful life. I am so grateful. Note to Self: Three Things I’m Grateful For: Two Things David’s Grateful For: Here is day twenty-six:
I wanted to try to do something that had a tone on tone feel so I picked shades of yellow and orange for the whole layout. Went a bit punch-crazy and stitching crazy. The journaling Reads: Details:
My latest audiobook was Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track . My husband introduced me to Richard Feynman over fifteen years ago and I’ve been a huge fan ever since. I’ve read both Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman and What Do You Care What Other People Think?. I read The Pleasure of Finding Things Out and I read Tuva or Bust! which is about his last trip. I even read QED which was absolutely fantastic. There are still a few more books of his I would love to read and plan to as well. The thing about this book is that it’s a compilation of many of the letters he sent during his lifetime. They are compiled by his daughter and the audiobook is fantastic. Well read, really really well told. I enjoyed all of it. The great love he had with his first wife, his days in Los Alamos building the bomb, his teaching days, the Nobel prize, talking about his kids and his father and his letters to his mother. I loved all of it. I was moved. It was thought-provoking. And I even laughed out loud. He was obviously an amazing man and it comes through and through in this book. I cannot recommend it enough. I really loved every single moment of this book and was truly sad to have it end.
Flowers from the love of my life. They didn’t bloom yet but I wanted to capture them anyway. Tulips of all colors. Makes my heart swoon. Today is my eighth wedding anniversary with my husband. We’ve been together sixteen years and married eight. We had a lot of different ideas on how to celebrate today but finally settled on going to the California Academy of Sciences as a family. At this stage of our lives, I cannot imagine having had a better way to honor our marriage than a day as a whole family, loving each other and having fun together. (We will go out to a fancy dinner, too, I promise, Mom, on our next date night. But we didn’t want to drag the kids to a nice restaurant. We wanted it to be fun for all of us.) So we drove to the city and we first went into the rain forest. I even put shoes on Nathaniel in case he wanted to walk. (He didn’t all that much and he wasn’t a fan of the shoes so I took them off pretty soon after this. And his pants are all bunched up cause Jake was carrying him most of the time up till then.)
David loved the rainforest, seeing all the frogs and the lizards and the butterflies. And he liked being able to hug Nathaniel too since Daddy had put him down.
Here’s a green basilisk lizard for you.
And a frog.
We then went to the aquarium where I asked Jake to get some shots of me with the kids. I promised myself I would do that more. Even though the kids don’t seem to care much. That’s ok.
Here’s David showing Jake some fish that he saw. They had a lot of fun looking at everything.
We then took a break for some food since I knew Nathaniel was starving. And he was, poor guy, he devoured everything I gave him.
After “lunch” we went to see the penguins. Because there was no way I wasn’t seeing the penguins.
Some more food, a bunch of games, some more sightseeing and it was time to come home. David fell asleep on the way home but not the little one. He really does not like to nap in the car. I came home to the beautiful tulips and fed the kids, put them down and here we are. About to watch Glee. A wonderful ending to an incredible day. And, of course, here’s the love of my life.
The father of my children, the owner of my heart, soul and my best friend in the whole wide world. I love you madly, deeply, and with every single part of my being my amazing husband. Thank you for choosing me. Thank you. Note to Self: Three Things I’m Grateful For: Two Things David’s Grateful For: Day number Twenty-five.
The journaling is about how my favorite thing in the world is watching my two kids play and laugh together and how David is the best big brother and loves making his little brother laugh. Details:
This week I wanted to focus on me. I mean you. I mean I want each of us to focus on ourselves. I want us to practice some gratitude towards ourselves. Appreciate ourselves. I want you to think of how hard you try so much of the time. How you give it your best and sometimes you fall short and sometimes you hit the mark, but each time you try. How you love wholeheartedly. How you fill the dishwasher and empty it and do the laundry and cook and clean and put make up on and fit into clothes that hurt a little bit or shoes that hurt a lot just to look a bit better. How you smile sometimes when you want to scream. How your patience is tried day in and day out but you still give the baths, read the stories, hug, kiss and love. Maybe you don’t have kids but take care of your mom. Or do both. Maybe you have a sick friend. Or a high maintenance lover. Maybe you work too hard at a job where you’re not appreciated enough. Maybe you study a lot and still get mediocre grades. Maybe you try and try and try and don’t always make it. Maybe you don’t have as many friends as you’d like. Your art is not as amazing as you wish it were. You would like to read more. Eat less. Exercise. You’d like to keep in touch better. You want to write that novel already. Or take that course. Visit that country. Quit the job. Start your dream business. You have dreams. You have frustrations. Ups and downs. Don’t we all? Even the happiest among us has hard days and the saddest among us has good ones. That’s life. And while you work everyday to make it better for yourself. Or even while you’re wallowing in your ice cream in front of the TV, just cut yourself some slack today. Pat yourself on the back. Take the day off. Wear the comfy clothes, grab a book you love or a TV show you’ve been looking forward to and allow yourself the pleasure. Stand in front of the mirror and take a good look at yourself. Give yourself a hug. You deserve it. You really do. Just for today, make sure you really appreciate yourself. I have a friend who always told me that if I said enough bad things about myself, others would start seeing me that way and I really believe her. It all starts with you. If you don’t appreciate yourself, how can you expect others to? The following is cross-posted from the Weekly Gratitude Blog. I will post there every Tuesday and decided to post those posts here, too. For those of you who read both blogs, I apologize in advance. Some weeks the content might be different and other weeks, exactly the same.
Happy, relaxing day today. After last night’s LOST finale, it was hard to get up at 5 but the little one wakes up when he does and there’s no stopping him. So we woke up, we hugged, nursed, and just lay there until I felt awake which is when I started my layout. Took a bit longer to get going than usual today. But I had taken the day off so it was ok. I pretty much lazied around all day. Read my book, surfed, etc. Then I played legos with David while Nathaniel explored everything around the room.
And in the drawers.
David and I built a lego restaurant that was on fire so the fire-woman came to put it out.
And then I made dinner for the kids while David continued to play.
A little glimpse into a life where I don’t work. Quite different, at least stress-wise. And now that the kids are sleeping, I plan to write tomorrow’s gratitude post and spend the rest of the night reading my book. I have tomorrow off, too so it’s another relaxing day waiting for me. I can’t believe there are only 7 days left in May. It passed way way too quickly. Note to Self: Three Things I’m Grateful For: Two Things David’s Grateful For: |
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