here are some great moments from this week:

for three years, now, we’ve been celebrating Nathaniel’s birthday with our neighbors so this year we did the same.

at the little park by our house. david brought along his paper airplanes.

i love that Nathaniel sang along with the others.

and then he blew the candles.

and dove right in.

those cupcakes were delicious.

one of the presents Nathaniel got was these moustache stickers.

the kids loved them.

and i loved the photos.

nathaniel’s potty training is pretty close to done. it does mean he gets to spend a lot of time with his underwear tho. And here he is using it as a pillow.

and sleeping on it.

here he is working on his letter book.

i snapped some good photos of david this week, too.

those eyes and freckles are so perfect.

the highlight of his week was getting the lego club magazine.

i snapped a photo of the little boy, too.

he’s so very cute.

both kids spent time on the “computer” this week, too.

especially nathaniel, who loved figuring it out.

he also had a doctor’s appointment for his third year. he’s all healthy! yey!

and then there were some faces.

and some laughter.

and then my favorite: tickle time!

and here we go. i hope your week was wonderful, too.

Weekly Diary is a project for 2012. You can read more about it here.

here are some great moments from this week:

boys hugging is always the highlight of my day:

i love the look Nathaniel’s giving me here.

We went to the park and the kids had so much fun.

asked me to take photos.

he’s saying “hi mommy” here.

of course he got dad to join in, too.

he also helped the big boy climb high.

and then he had to help the little one, too, of course.

they were so grateful for his help.

While David was at school, Nathaniel discovered some of the toys in his room.

and then watched as David showed him how to use it.

and then he recruited daddy, too.

weather’s been amazing here, and the kids have been playing in the backyard a lot.

the kids love it.

they run around and laugh.

and play ball.

so i had to take photos, of course.

because what’s cuter than kids having fun?

nothing. that’s what.

oh well, maybe kids hugging might be a bit cuter!

I love how Nathaniel’s totally doing his own thing here.

this week’s photos had a long pause where we just all gave each other kisses, it was quite wonderful.

there was much laughter. even by me.

and, of course, tickle time.

and here we go. i hope your week was wonderful, too.

Weekly Diary is a project for 2012. You can read more about it here.

I am grateful to say that things are getting better. Slowly but steadily. And I am working hard to get back into my routines, keep my spirits up and move forward. The kids are doing great and so is Jake. I promise I will start writing more detailed weekly updates soon again but for now, keeping it short and sweet and letting the photos speak.

with that, here are some highlights from last week:

Nathaniel really likes me to take photos lately and will tell me to take a picture often.

and then pose for me.

paper airplanes are still big here. Making, coloring, and throwing them.

I love this shot but can’t really explain why.

i love how Nathaniel has to imitate all David does so now he gets his own Wii remote (without batteries) so he can “play” too.

happy face!

of course, he plays with airplanes too!

I was getting my hair done last Sunday night so Jake and David had their own “family night” playing monopoly.

Nathaniel had no school all week and despite a low grade fever all weeklong, he spent a lot of time drawing and then coming over to show me his drawings.

he’s showing me specific colors here. (or trying to.)

the high point of the week was the whoopie cushion Jake brought home.

There was much laughter.

and hours of enjoyment.

Nathaniel is also really picky about what he wears recently. He likes polo shirts with buttons and the pants with zippers and buttons. Nothing but fancy for my boy.

I got David a limited edition Lego Moleskine and he loves writing in it and drawing in it.

Since Jake was leaving town we took family shots early this week and I love getting one of just my boys. (Nathaniel had just woken up from his nap.)

and love tickle-time of course!

I played “What doesn’t kill you” this week a few times and this is what Nathaniel likes to do while he listens. Cracks me up.

David reading his school book. This one was about Alexander Graham Bell. He’s really into nonfiction and science and space lately.

And here’s Nathaniel sticking crayons into an empty thread spool. Yes, they got stuck in there, of course.

The boys colored on Thursday while I worked and Jake was gone. Mommy cannot tolerate noise so we do quieter activities when it’s just me around.

We turned the play table’s top yesterday so the kids could build a city. You can’t really see it here, I have to take another shot.

and just at bedtime, one of David’s top teeth finally fell off. Not the super-crooked one but the other one. Now he has two teeth missing on top and two on the bottom. Very soon the crooked one will fall too and he’ll have almost no front teeth, my boy!

and here we go. Here’s to hoping things still keep getting better.

Weekly Diary is a project for 2012. You can read more about it here.

Alas, another not-so-great week at work. So I will keep this brief. I am hoping things will start getting lighter soon. In the meantime, here are some photos Jake or I took this week and they make me happy. And grateful.

here are some highlights from last week:

Nathaniel playing with David’s Batman computer. He loves that thing.

Over the weekend, both kids got some legos. I loved watching Nathaniel follow instructions and try to put his own together.

he even managed a few things all on his own.

and then called in daddy to help.

David’s front tooth is all crooked because the next ones are coming but this one isn’t ready to fall off just yet.

The best thing I get to see every day. The best.

David had pinkeye on Sunday. Here he is with eye cream on Monday. He was really worried about the cream but it turns out it didn’t hurt (which I told him it wouldn’t but alas he wouldn’t listen.)

love my boy.

this one, too. He loves his new Star Wars pajamas.

he’s so happy.

I feel so grateful that I seem to have such happy kids. I was pouty as a kid.

The boys cleaned up while I was at work, too. Love my boys.

I am the luckiest girl in the whole world. Just to have these three.

Nathaniel just refused to look at the camera. He thought it was funny not to.

And here’s the tickle-time.

and here we go. Like last week, I am extra grateful for my family. I want to hug them tighter and closer. Here’s to hoping things are better next week.

Weekly Diary is a project for 2012. You can read more about it here.

This was a rough week for me. Work-wise, emotionally and mentally. But alas, it’s ending really week. My weekend so far is peaceful, kind, and restful. I am deeply grateful for the kindness and laughter of my family. My boys had a good week. They went to school, played at home and laughed a lot. My husband also had a good week. It was productive and mostly quiet for all others but me. Here’s to hoping next week is a little less rough on the edges for me.

And, here are some highlights from last week:

Nathaniel is really good at finding joy in the small things.

And his joy is contagious.

hugging. I love to see them hugging.

chatting with jake’s parents.

more hugging.

i used to love doing this as a kid.

David gave up on waiting for Nathaniel and went ahead of him.

Nathaniel kept going.

until he saw a crack and got scared to step on it.

then we practiced tying shoes. David’s proficient now!

for family night, we made paper airplanes.

which the kids colored the next day.

nathaniel really likes coloring now.

David put some grass seeds in the backyard, as Nathaniel watched.

while he was doing that, I finally buried the letter I’d written to my younger self (part of body restoration class.)

David took a good look around and took his job seriously.

another one of Nathaniel’s creative and joyful moments was when he looked at his legos through the binoculars.

here he is, laughing at me.

and then playing with his legos. making sounds.

writing stories in his mind.

and laughing about them.

the boys posed for me as we setup the family shot today.

Nathaniel told daddy to sit and read to him. So daddy obliged.

all of my boys. I adore them so.

Nathaniel was in a funny mood as we shot the photos. He kept being mischievous.

and tickle time!

see how David’s reaching over to Nathaniel?

and here we go. Another wonderful week gone. So grateful for my family. Here’s to a great week next week!

Weekly Diary is a project for 2012. You can read more about it here.

I am quite tired at the moment so I will keep this one short. It was another lovely week in the karenika household. David had no school all week so he was home playing, relaxing, and reading. Nathaniel had school only Wednesday and Friday but didn’t get to go Friday because we all left for a two-day vacation to Tiburon. The kids also went to the dentist this week and we ran errands and worked, of course. But the week ended with our vacation in Tiburon and 75degree weather. It was truly perfect and even though I feel wiped now, it was exactly what I needed to get the grouchiness out of my system. I am so thankful.

And, here are some highlights from last week:

David with his long hair.

Nathaniel watching a movie (with no sound).

The boys built a big “city” all over the living room.

The worked on it for two days straight.

It was really sweet to watch them build it.

here are the beginnings. the parking lot, construction, cars.

then there was a break to do some reading.

and then more city building. this special city has batmobiles.

and here it is finished, traffic jams and all.

here’s another point of view, also shows you the graffiti on the buildings and the helipad.

on his one school-day this week, Nathaniel made a crown and he loves it to bits.

the kids posed for some photos for me.

we took our family shots right before we left.

Nathaniel wasn’t in the mood so daddy tried new tactics.

which seemed to work.

then we left for Tibruon. It was just over the water as I’d wished and the weather was absolutely perfect.

the kids snuggled in bed as we relaxed.

as we walked and sat to overlook the wonderful water, the kids ran.

Raced and laughed.

took a little break.

then some more racing.

which the seven-year-old won of course.

we walked around a lot, watched the birds, pelicans, seals, and had delicious meals.

our hotel was right next to a toy store and a candy store. There was a lot of window shopping.

and some fun coloring.

some last minute sightseeing and we were back on our way home.

and here we go. Another wonderful week gone. So grateful for my family. Here’s to a great week next week!

Weekly Diary is a project for 2012. You can read more about it here.