Halloween is not a favorite of mine. I hate all things creepy and I hate horror movies. But I do love seeing how much joy David gets out of it.
Nathaniel got to be a bumblebee this year. David’s old costume.
Doesn’t he look cute?
I couldn’t get a good shot despite how much I tried. I think there was less light than I thought it and I didn’t raise my ISO as much as I should have.
And David was Buzz Lightyear, thanks to my awesome sister who sent us tons of costumes.
Gone are the sedentary days. He’s so mobile. Still not crawling but he is moving around. And he keeps doing this all the time. Trying to stand up. Trying to get his body to move.
I did all my A Million Memories layouts tonight. Four layouts, all with a lot of journaling, and I love them all. It was a rough day, today, but it’s looking better now that it’s almost time to sleep.
This week’s question is: “Wwat were you doing this time last year?”
Honestly, this time last year, I was throwing up. I was quite sick and in the hospital a few times. But I decided to focus on the happy and I made this about how thankful we were to find out that we were having another baby. Our little Nathaniel. He has brought so much joy into our lives.
I covered the tag with fabric and stitched half hearts on both sides. A little piece of fabric on the bottom covers my attempt to stitch the word “family” and I placed some hearts. A bling, some beads and ta-da!
I now sell some of these tags in my etsy store. If there’s a tag you like and are interested in, email me or leave a comment and I’ll be happy to add it.
I am combining Emily Falconbridge’s art journal questions with trying a new technique each week. You can see the full list: here.
Weekly tags are posted every Thursday, you can see all of them by clicking here.
I do most of my work in my bed during the day. I lie here, work on the laptop and watch Nathaniel over the video monitor. Watching him while he sleeps is something I cherish. I often have to stop myself from going into his room and giving him a kiss.
Today, I was watching him play on his bed before he falls asleep and I saw him go on all fours and rock back and forth like he’s been doing for a few weeks. But then he rolled on his side and sat up. All by himself. He sat up and grabbed his two little teddy bears and played and played.
I was so amazed that I broke my rule of never going back in and grabbed my camera to take a shot.
And now he sits up all by himself. This kid never ceases to amaze me.
My boys. Love them. It’s been a long and relatively productive day but I am wiped and want to curl up with a book so I won’t write much today.
I want to leave you with the thought that life is short and you shouldn’t feel obligated to do anything that you aren’t really obligated to do. (sounds weird but so many of us feel a sense of obligation when there’s no actual obligation.)
So have I mentioned that I love Rebecca Sower? And I love the art tags I’ve been doing all year? I have? Yes, I know. There’s something about Rebecca’s art that speaks to my soul. I can’t even put my finger on what it is. But each time I look at it, I fall in love with the fabric, with the art, with the stitching.
So I was telling my sister a few months ago that I want to make these amazing pieces, too. I know they will never compare to Rebecca and they might not turn out all that amazing but I am ok with that, I want to try. And since I need a reason for doing everything I do, I told her that maybe I’d open an etsy store and list what I make.
Being the amazing person she is (and she is so amazing) my beautiful sister went and bought me a ton (and I mean a TON) of amazing things. Fabrics, beads, metal embellishments, sequins. Let me show you some of them:
Aren’t they amazing? And this is not even all. There’s fabric. Stunning fabric. And sequins. Felt. And so much more.
So now I have these amazing goodies. I am scared of not doing them justice. Not doing my sister justice. (She packed all of this stuff into tiny little bags, neatly packed into a 30lbs box and shipped it all the way from Turkey.) I want to dig into them. I want to make things. Conquer the fear. Find the joy.
So here’s where you come in. I need ideas. What kind of things do you think I could make? What are things you might like to buy? This is no commitment to buy anything, I would never expect that, I just need some ideas. Some encouragement. If you have some ideas about the kind of things you have seen that you like, things that you think I could try to do, I would be very grateful.
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 Wednesday. You can find all of the ones that were posted here.
I made this layout for the second week of Yesterday, Today class I am taking at BPS. Here are all the words:
Yona, I want you to know that I forgive you for throwing me into a tub full of water when we were sitting in the bathroom together. I forgive you for taking my five-dollar bills and giving me two one-dollar ones and telling me how I was better off since I had two bills and not one. (Maybe that’s why I ended up being so good at math.) For calling me complaint box my whole life.
For making me write all of your French homework. (It made me an even better student.) Stapling my hand just to see if it would work. Waking me up many nights so you could squeeze in bed with me after peeing in yours and making me get up first so you could make the bed over again. (I still don’t tuck the sheets in.) Pushing me under the radiator. And under the swings, which caused me to split my head open. Kicking me so many times when we slept in the same bed in Israel that I split my head open. Again.
Hitting me. A lot. So hard that I could see each of your fingerprints on my skin. I forgive you for not wanting to hang out with me. For making fun of me. For making fun of my glasses. (It’s karma that you ended up needing them too.) For making fun of my ears. (I still wear my hair down.) For always making me take the shots at the doctor’s first. Just to see if I would cry. For making fun of me. (This one deserves two entries.) For making me feel even more lonely because you were so popular. (Ok, that one wasn’t really your fault.)
Yona, I know that you did so many things to make me cry when I was little and I know that you wished you had a brother and not a sister. I know you were annoyed by so much of who I was and I know that as we grew up and moved away from each other, you came to regret some of the not-so-nice things you did to me. But I want you to know that you do not have to feel bad anymore. You are fully and completely forgiven. I don’t want you to spend one more minute feeling bad for anything you’ve done or regretting anything you haven’t.
I love you with all my heart, my wonderful sister, and I forgive you.
the other side
Yona, I want you to know that I thank you for driving me for hours to the other side of town just so I could buy my favorite English books. I thank you for sending me so many letters and cards from Canada that I felt closer to you than we ever had. For always having faith in me and my abilities. I thank you for teaching me how to read. (It is, by far, the greatest gift anyone gave me.)
Thank you for talking to me until the wee hours of the morning, over and over again until I realized that it really wasn’t just me. Thank you for writing that amazing book about us and for apologizing. (It’s not the apology that I needed, just the acknowledgment.) Agreeing to come with me so I could still go skiing even though mom and dad didn’t. For buying me a present with your first paycheck ever.
For coming to visit me just so we could spend ten days together, just you and me. Leaving your family behind so we could really bond. (Though they are always welcome here.) For cooking those amazing dishes and making the salads and getting my son to eat edamame. For sending me the recipes to both gateaoux salami and the salty biscuits I love so much. For convincing me that we and our kids can be very close to each other even if we’re an ocean apart. (And I know you mean it.) For telling me how proud you are of me and how brave you think I am. Always telling me the truth. Supporting all of my ideas, even if they are crazy. Reading my blog. Loving my kids. (And they love you so much, too, how could they not?)
Yona, I know that with you in my life, I will never ever be alone. I know that you are forever there for me and will always be on my corner. I am so thankful to have someone like you in my life and so honored that you’re my sister. I want you to know that I appreciate everything you do for me, everything you are and I am so thankful for all the moments we get to spend together. And for having you in my life. I am so lucky to have you.
I love you with all my heart, my wonderful sister, and I thank you.
I ordered this little pumpkin because I thought it was really cute. I am not a fan of Halloween. I don’t like scary anything and I am not a fan of pumpkin flavored anything either. But aren’t these cute?
While he was sleeping last night, David kept coughing so I thought it might be best to keep him at home. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea but the two boys played together so much that I was so thrilled and snapped these (far from perfect) photos.
Nataniel had his six month appointment today and he’s doing well except for his weight. He is at 30% height, 50% head circumference but only 10% for weight. He was 25-30% last time (at four months) so this is sort of bad. To be fair, he’s looking and acting all healthy but I will nurse him extra long for a while and give him some daily solids and pray that he gains some weight.
My little boy also got a ton of shots today but he’s such a trooper that he barely cried. I hope David will be the same way when we go back next week for his flu shot.
Today’s video shows you how to put text along a circle.
Photoshop videos are weekly videos that show you how to create digital elements and photography tips on Photoshop. They are posted every Monday. Click here for all of the archives.
If you have questions/feedback click on the “share” link on the bottom right of this post. Thanks!
If you have ideas/requests, please let me know, I am out of ideas.
