Weekly Diary – February 18 2012

This week just flew by. I am not even sure why. Both David and Nathaniel had Valentine’s Day events. And they both had a good week at school. Nathaniel’s school was already closed on Friday and David’s school is closed all this coming week. So they will get to have a lot of play time this week and I hope that means a lot of photos for me. I worked most of this week. Felt cranky on and off but did some art and journaling. Went to book club and class. Jake had a great week. Got a lot done and we both ended the week in a good mood. Let’s hope for a fun and calm weekend!

Anyhow, here are some highlights from last week:

David working on his book of good memories.

The kids playing on the little, big truck.

Nathaniel was pointing to the letters and reading them to David.

Nathaniel and I made valentines together.

he got to stamp his name and loved it.

they were super-simple.

while we did that, Jake and David were at Alcatraz. As part of David’s birthday request.

Jake tells me he loved the boat.

this photo is actually a few weeks old but Jake just gave it to me and I love it. So cute.

And I adore this one of Nathaniel.

he’s so cute.

especially when he tries to smile.

I snapped a few of David, too.

and then we chatted with cousin Maya who turned three and during the chat David hugged Nathaniel.

I just love these photos.

David’s eyes and skin are so beautiful to me.

Jake surprised me with Valentine’s Day flowers and Nathaniel wanted to touch them.

and smell them (though tulips don’t smell but they are by far my favorite).

then he made funny faces.

while David was at school, Nathaniel colored all of the valentines he got.

I love how he’s sitting on his knees.

he’s into creative forms of sitting lately.

I’ve been having a hard time getting photos of David during the week so I take whatever I can get.

Nathaniel refused to look at the camera during these photos. I love this one cause we’re all laughing even though it’s not tickle time.

and more laughing.

I’m telling nathaniel to look at the camera here and he’s yelling “nooo….”.

and tickle time and David trying hard not to laugh.

after our photos, the kids sat together and colored so I snapped a few more photos.

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.

Weekly Diary – February 11 2012

Wow, lots and lots of photos this week. Partly cause it was David’s birthday and partly cause there are just too many cute ones. This was a big week for almost all of us. I did a lot at work and got the Beta channel out early. Early in the week, I was on Paperclipping Roundtable. I also went to David’s school on Wednesday (with Jake) for his birthday. And I went back on Friday to volunteer with math time. I also saw the trainer on Friday and am doing my exercises every week day. They’re tough but I am hanging in there. David’s had a wonderful week. He got a ton of legos for his birthday and got to celebrate both here and at school. He also got to see Star Wars #1 in 3d at the theatre with his dad on Friday. He got to play Wii today and got his final lego set (actually there’s more coming from his grandmother in the mail) and tomorrow he gets to go to Alcatraz. A full week for the big boy. Jake had an excellent week at work and he was around a lot, playing with both of the kids. Excellent on both grounds. And Nathaniel was super-excited about David’s birthday. He ate some cake and asked for more all week. He asked about his birthday a lot too (which is not until April). He’s doing great and still having a great time playing. I am so so grateful for this super-productive and super-wonderful week.

Anyhow, here are some highlights from last week:

Nathaniel working on his book.

The kids playing outside with the neighbor’s toys.

they both had a lot of fun.

And wrestling inside.

and sitting together. I love this photo.

cute little boy.

and cute big boy.

my boys hugging!!

watching Star Wars.

Nathaniel loves to make me “shoot” him and then fake dying.

he’s such a little poser.

he also loves to draw.

and often admires his work.

he’s really been playing a lot with legos lately. Building awesome creations.

David’s birthday morning.

he blew those candles with gusto.

had to blow a few times.

but got them all in the end.

and there’s the cupcake, almost ready to be consumed.

David built one of his legos immediately.

He’s showing me the little compartment on the bottom.

then during snack time at school, we went over so we could all celebrate with his class. They sang him happy birthday.

and he blew one more candle.

nathaniel showing me his lego choo-choo.

and making creations.

during photo-time, he decided to shoot everyone.

and no matter what I did, he wouldn’t look at the camera.

look how David’s trying not to laugh during tickle time.

but it doesn’t last long.

and Nathaniel tries to shoot Daddy once more.

while Daddy and David are at the movies, Nathaniel is practicing “running” and asks me to take a picture.

he loves it so much.

and then he looks out the window and shows me the birds.

my super-duper cutie-pie boy.

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.

Weekly Diary – February 4 2012

I started this week with a weekend in Anaheim and then crazy/insane amount of work so I don’t have a lot of great photos from until after Tuesday. I’ve been mostly working. Nathaniel’s been enjoying school and practicing his letters and numbers. David’s been working at lego projects and Jake’s having an excellent week. His parents are here now so I will keep this short. We’re all grateful for a relatively uneventful weekend and looking forward to the next one.

Anyhow, here are some highlights from last week:

One Daddy snapped while I was out of town.

I love how David’s in the background in this one.

They’ve been building huge towers of legos while I was gone.

Nathaniel really loves building them up.

and he’s been asking me to take his picture.

even digs up my camera for me so I can do it.

David’s been coming home late so I have bad light when it’s time to capture him.

And work’s been insane so Nathaniel’s been entertaining himself a lot.

and laughing a lot. thankfully.

i am grateful he’s easily amused.

he found this old batman computer david had.

it asks questions about letters and numbers. he listens, and then thinks.

and then makes his choice.

he gets really happy when he’s right.

and cheers himself on.

gives himself a round of applause.

and to me too.

and then there’s more cheering. he says “woo, woo” and “Big boy!” It makes me laugh so much. I love seeing it.

another david I tried to snap before light was totally gone.

tickle-time from yesterday.

I still love and adore tickle-time.

Jake’s mom and dad are visiting and the kids love love love having them here.

i love how Nathaniel’s completely immersed in anything David does. The true definition of a younger brother.

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.

Weekly Diary – January 28 2012

This was another hectic week but I am grateful that everything went smoothly in the end. David had a trip to the San Francisco Symphony with his class which he enjoyed very much. He had no school Friday (and none Monday this coming week either) due to conferences. His report card came and he’s doing wonderfully. Reading at a third/fourth grade level in first grade. Overall everything was great and we’re so proud of him and grateful that he’s settling in ok to his new school. Nathaniel’s school did colors and shapes all week but he’s still not so great on his colors. He is however enjoying every minute of school for which I am very grateful. Jake had a fantastic week with new clients, meetings, social events, etc. I went to class on Monday and a parenting speech on Tuesday. Work and David’s school on Friday and had to do a bunch of prep for work as well as my trip to Orange County. I am at the Craft and Hobby Association Convention as you read this. If you’re coming there, make sure to visit me at the Maya Road booth.

I will say that I am grateful this week is over. And I look forward to a less hectic (but also stressful) week next week.

Anyhow, here are some highlights from last week:

Nathaniel loves this truck.

And gets in on it and pushes himself when there’s no one to do it for him.

I was trying to take a photo of David reading but each time Nathaniel sees me taking a photo of anyone but him, he runs right over and poses. So he interrupted this one, too.

but I squeezed a photo anyway.

Jake got the kids some footballs.

I love this photo because this is such a typical “I didn’t get my way” look for Nathaniel.

he’s still really into the fireman hat.

I got so few photos of David this week that I was sad.

but I did get a few of them together.

I love this one.

Nathaniel surrounds himself with his toys as he plays. He’s so much like me.

though much happier than I was as a kid.

showing me the funny faces and laughing and laughing.

love this boy.

he plays with david’s didj when david’s at school. he likes to invent his own sounds.

we just put batteries in this old train. He doesn’t like it to move but he does love the music it makes.

another one of my big boy.

showing some toys to daddy.

nathaniel loves playing peek-a-boo with my mom and dad over skype.

boy one.

and boy two.

david had to bring a teddy to school on Thursday and when he came home he wanted to sleep with it. At night I caught him reading to his teddy.

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.

Weekly Diary – January 21 2012

A lot of photos this week and they don’t even cover all the craziness of this week. I am guessing it’s more than usual because Monday was a holiday. Each week I fret I am not taking enough photos and then I end up with too many!! Nathaniel’s school is covering colors and shapes this week but he still doesn’t have them down much. I would worry but I am determined to worry less this year. He’s been a joy to have around. He loves wearing his fireman hat and making “bad guys” out of legos and shooting other legos or people. He’s been playing by himself and entertaining himself quite a bit. Still demanding and getting more and more vocal. David’s also doing great. He’s got a really good best friend at school who came over for a playdate this week and it was wonderful seeing how much they like each other. I am so grateful he adjusted to his school wonderfully. Besides reading and writing and chores, he likes to spend time on the lego gallery so he can look at the kinds of things other people built with legos.

Jake’s work is going well, too and I he is maybe finally recovering from being sick for so long. And I’ve had a busy but great week. I had book club (The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet) and I got to go to Cirque de Soleil Michael Jackson. Both were awesome. I also had to move the site over which sucked but now it’s so so much better.

This weekend is going to be a quiet one. I just plan to be with the kids and work on my savor project and maybe art journal a bit. I’ve been not so great at keeping up with the art journaling lately so I want to see if I can change things up a bit.

Anyhow, here are some highlights from last week:

Nathaniel glueing our letters down.

David working on his book of good memories.

David got this circuit set for Christmas and loves playing with it.

And I love those blue eyes.

Nathaniel found this old old minibook I made and went through all the pages, naming all the letters.

Big boy building cool things.

little boy watching.

nathaniel coloring his letters.

my funny boy.

who always makes me laugh.

more circuit fun.

nathaniel invented his own game with them too.

And then they played together.

when it was time to put stuff away nathaniel was not happy.

but as he always does, he got over it.

and then we took some shots with the hat.

i just love these.

and couldn’t pick one favorite.

cause i love them all.

here is the bad guy lego shooting me.

playing with daddy.

who loves him so so much.

we now take photos right after Nathaniel wakes up from a nap. so we get some of these.

but we still do tickle time!

here’s david and his friend playing and Nathaniel playing with them. they we very kind to nathaniel.

they all made art. when i took a photo of the two boys, nathaniel wanted a photo with his photo too!

and here we go. Another wonderful week gone. Here’s to a great week next week!


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

Weekly Diary – January 14 2012

This was a crazy week. I had five appointments on top of my crazy work and assignments for CHA. But it all worked out. I dyed my roots, got my teeth cleaned, went to book club, etc. etc. I still managed to get all my CHA work done and did a lot of work at work, too. Jake helped out a lot so I could run around like crazy and get stuff done and I am grateful for that. The kids were doing great, too. David had a full week at school and is loving his afterschool lego class and his swimming class. He seems to be doing great socially too and I am very proud of him for being a kind boy. Nathaniel’s loving being back at school, too. He decided (or David told him) one of the lego man is “bad guy” so we call him that, now. And he’ll occasionally shoot the bad guy and bad guy will be dead. They both like shooting each other and playing dead (especially the falling to the ground part.) He’s also working on going to the bathroom, now. He likes to sit there for a long time but today we actually made progress which was great. All in all, quite a busy but lovely week for us.

Anyhow, here are some highlights from last week:

Nathaniel’s been really enjoying playing with legos lately. Building things and making noises. I love how he smiles when he knows I’m taking a photo.

David watching Harry Potter.

Nathaniel “driving” his creation.

And, of course, wanting to watch the movie with David.

I can never have enough of those eyes.

even when he makes the faces.

little boy posing for me.

and this is what he looks like most of the time.

i told him no blankie in the photo. he smiled.

he’s been loving the binoculars too.

even when he uses them the wrong way.

I love this photo. He loves being able to put his hands in his pockets.

he thinks it’s so super fun.

And I especially love when they conspire and play together.

more of my blue-eyed boy.

Nathaniel still loves getting inside this box.

more playing together. Legos are just the best toys ever.

and some fun family photos. a lot of laughter.

So very very grateful for my family.

and here we go. Another wonderful week gone. Here’s to a great week next week!


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

Weekly Diary – January 7 2012

Our first week of the year was relatively hectic. David went back to school and Jake went back to work. I hit the ground running on work, too. Nathaniel was home for one more week. The boys are growing up so fast. Nathaniel is becoming more and more vocal and insistent and difficult. He likes to put a teen after all the numbers. So it’s not four but fourteen (even if it’s 4) and then fiveteen. Even if we correct him, he insists it’s not 4 but fourteen. He also likes to whine and whine until he gets his way. The drama level has doubled or so. David’s growing up too and getting bored more quickly. But I am working with him to try and adjust his attitude. He’s still kind and generous and caring in his heart and I just hope that never goes away. Next week we all go back to routine but I have 4 appointments so it promises to be another hectic and full week.

Anyhow, here are some highlights from the first week of the year:

New Year’s Day, David made some awesome lego creations:

This one says “you are nice” and the lego men are building the letters. Isn’t it awesome?

then, around sunset, we went to a bird pond and watched the ducks, and the birds.

it was a lovely time to take some soft photos.

the boys held hands. I love it when they hold hands.

to the right of the pond was a muddy section with some black little birds and some sandpipers.

Nathaniel insisted on holding both Daddy’s and David’s hands.

It was also right by a small airport so the boys watched the planes take off and land.

the next day was the last day of our vacation so we got out the stamps:

and the markers

and just had fun

the boys loved it and I made an art journal page sitting there with them.

after david went back to school and jake, to work, Nathaniel hung out with me and colored while I worked.

when I stopped for a minute to take his photo, he smirked but wouldn’t look up.

but I kept insisting so finally he gave up.

and laughed and laughed.

he also played with stickers to entertain himself.

I snapped this rare shot of David smiling at me that day when he came home from school.

Nathaniel also grabbed the ipod and watched some movies (with no sound) to entertain himself while I worked.

On Friday we took our family shot. but no matter how hard we tried the boys wouldn’t both look at the camera at the same time.

Then Nathaniel got into this tiny box and asked Daddy to push him around.

which thrilled him to bits.

there was much joy

and jubilation

until it was David’s turn and you can see Nathaniel crying there in the background.

he wouldn’t stop weeping until he was back in the box.

despite his brother’s joy, he got up and let Nathaniel have one more turn. Then, this morning while I exercised, the boys decided to take out all their cars and trains and line them up. It was a long, long line.

when David was in swimming class, Nathaniel and I worked on his book so when David came home, he immediately wanted to share it.

and here we go. Another wonderful week gone. Here’s to a great week next week!


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

Us Right Now & Weekly Update – December 31

jake
This was a quiet week for all of us. Even for Jake. After a leisurely Christmas and day after, he only went to work for about a day and a half this whole week. It was such a joy and pleasure to have him around all week. The kids didn’t want to leave his side and I got to have snuggle time with him every day. He even got to play some video games and enjoy his new computer. We’re all calm and rested as we welcome the new year.

karen
I had a lovely week. I had originally planned to work one or two days this week but at the last minute just decided to take the whole thing off. I wanted to rest and be with my family and really take some considerable down time before the craziness of January set in. My work is about to get extra-hectic so I figured I should get some rest while I can. And I am so glad I did. It was a week of snuggling, doing art, reading, laughing, and simply enjoying out lives together. I am deeply grateful for 2011 and ready to tackle 2012 with open arms.

david
David also had a great week. He got the most toys for Christmas and set to build his lego sets immediately. There were a few sets and it took him two days to finish everything. All, Lego Star Wars, of course. He then read his books and started writing in his notebooks. He also used the watercolor paper and waterbrush this week. He even got to sort a lot of legos using his advent calendar plastic. I don’t know if he’s ready to go back to school yet but he certainly had a lovely time off.

nathaniel
It didn’t take much for Nathaniel to get into the Christmas spirit. When he realized he could finally open the presents that had been sitting under the tree for weeks, he was super-thrilled. He opened each gift with great abandon and spent time playing with the toys as the rest of us took our turns. Each time it was his turn, he was thrilled all over again and overjoyed to get yet another present. I think this was a lovely one for the little boy.

Here are some of my favorite captured moments from the last week of 2011:

opening the first presents of Christmas on the eve:

Christmas morning breakfast:

stocking fun for the little one:

and stocking fun for the big one:

opening presents:

playing with new toys:

building legos. there was a lot of building legos this year:

I got Nathaniel some I Spy books and they immediately became his favorite:

playing choo-choo with Daddy.

I love all the expressions he makes:

David finally finished his awesome lego, He did it all by himself:

another fun Nathaniel expression. David reading wikipedia and Nathaniel getting upset cause David won’t lookup trucks:

finally settling down and leaving David alone:

putting together one of the Star Wars models Daddy got David.

despite his expression this is David working on his Book of Good Memories.

coloring with his new waterbrush and paper.

reading another new Christmas present with Daddy. This year, I went to a local library sale and got a lot of great books for $1-2 each. This wonderful book was $3. They made for some wonderful presents for both kids.

Nathaniel loved his legos, too. He got some lego cars.

giving mommy a smile.

my amazing boy and his stunning eyes.

we used the plastic from the lego advent calendar to store sorted legos. I used Nathaniel’s to store my art supplies.

Friday there was some Wii-playing. Despite what this might look like, Nathaniel’s remote didn’t even have batteries in it.

“big tower, take picture” he told me. So I did. Then as I snapped, he decided it was an airplane and made some airplane noises.

today was family photos. Nathaniel insisted on sitting on daddy so we compromised on his sitting on David.

which David loved (but my depth of field didn’t.)

and here we go. Another week gone. Another year gone.

Thank you for coming here and supporting me. Thank you for being a part of my journey and sharing yours with me. I have so much gratitude for this past year. And I welcome 2012 with open arms. Wishing and hoping for a wonderful year and the mindfulness to savor it fully.

Happy 2012 everyone!!


Us Right Now is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Us Right Now & Weekly Update – December 24

jake
After a lovely day at Legoland, Jake’s week started with having to drive 8+ hours to get us back home safely which he did wonderfully, as he always does. We listened to Steve Jobs’ biography on the way there and back. He had a few meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday but I think his week was light overall. That meant more time home which was great. We spent the nights curling up and watching movies together.

karen
I really enjoyed my time at Legoland, too. My favorite part was the 3-d Bob the Builder movie. I remember the first time I ever saw 3-D and how amazing I thought it was. I still feel enchanted by it. I loved watching how happy the kids were and how much joy it gave them to be there. The drive back was long and painful and after another few stressful days at work, this week finally got quiet. The quiet is what I enjoy the most. For many people the holidays are hectic but not here. We relax, we play, we don’t cook or clean or have company. And to be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love the quiet magic and gratitude of this time of year.

david
David has the most fun of all of us at Legoland, of course. He made friends, he ate candy, he built legos, he went on rides, and even got to go home with some legos (thanks Mom!) He was wonderful on the long way home and has been great all week. He’s been playing wii, reading, building with his legos and really really looking forward to Christmas Day. Here’s to hoping it will bring him all the magic he wishes for.

nathaniel
Nathaniel really enjoyed Legoland, too. Way more than I thought he would. He built with his brother, looked at all the mini, moving cars, enjoyed the boats. He was perfect in the car ride both ways. He just looked out the window and sang to himself. He had one more day of school on Wednesday and now he’s out until Jan 9. He doesn’t really get Christmas yet but he definitely wants to open the packages under the tree already.

Here are some of my favorite captured moments from this very week. Again there are several repeats between these and my december daily posts of course. A lot of photos this week:

our hotel in Carlsbad was right next to a local airport. Early Sunday morning, Jake held Nathaniel up high so he could see the airplanes taking off.

a photo of the boys right outside the park. you can see david cannot wait to run in.

one of my favorite lego creations

nathaniel loved playing with these.

david with his favorite characters.

i loved that they had a place for the kids to play with legos while we waited in line for each ride.

most of the rides were david and daddy in one car and Nathaniel and me in the other.

towards the end of the day, we went into duploland so the boys could play. they had a lot of fun.

nathaniel went for the cars

and david for the cash register

he also loved the balcony.

at the end of a long, full day, we waited for the shuttle to come pick us up. Nathaniel is going through the bag to find his little truck book he asked for.

i love love love his light in this photo.

he loves any book that’s david’s.

david reading the Little House in the Big Woods, to me.

nathaniel and his lined up cars. He’s telling me to take a photo here.

the boys reading on wikipedia.

our home right now. the tree, the wii, the little boy’s blankie, my feet under the blankets as i rest and take photos. i love the everydayness of this photo.

my pile of books i’ve saved for the holidays. things i don’t read throughout the year but save for this quiet time.

my wonderful husband, relaxing and then falling asleep. which he does almost every time he stops working and relaxes.

little boy watching bob the builder movies on my computer.

and concentrating.

family shots from this morning. we did it before the movies so it was even darker than usual.

but i got my kisses.

and tickle time and that’s all I needed.

and then this morning we went to see Tintin and took some photos on the way out. Here we are at the booth: (I was trying to get Nathaniel to look at the camera and not the tv that shows us.)

And those are some of the moments from our week. Here’s to another lovely week!


Us Right Now is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

2012 Projects – Weekly Diary

If you’ve been reading Karenika with any regularity, you know that I like to post photos of my family. I used to do these daily but have recently moved to a Weekly format. I like this format better because it gives me the space to write more reflective posts daily. I plan to continue with this project in 2012 as well.

Here’s my plan for each week:

1. A photo of the four of us
2. Quick updates for each family member from that week
3. Photos + words of highlights from that week
4. A few lines on how my healthy for life journey is going

I’ve moved the daily gratitudes to a column on the left side of the blog. I know this means you can’t read them over RSS/email anymore and I apologize.

I love doing these weekly updates and I really enjoy taking the family photos. So I am looking forward to another year of wonderful photos of all of us and a collection of fantastic memories.

Here’s to hoping 2012 is a year to savor for all of us.

Us Right Now & Weekly Update – December 17

jake
Jake’s work has been a bit quieter this week but he’s also been running errands for the family, sorting out our tax situation and still trading, trading, trading, of course. Even this quieter week included trips to the city and several meetings. We were all so happy to get to go away for a few days and have Jake around all day. He is such a joy. And he did all the driving both ways; he’s amazing like that. We love you, Daddy.

karen
Work’s been really hectic this week. More so than I’d anticipated and definitely more so that I would have hoped. I tried to balance it with my personal projects, getting ready for the holidays and our trip and going to both of the kids’ schools for their individual holiday affairs. Luckily it all worked out and I was able to come out from under most of it. Work will be hectic for a while longer but I am hoping things will quiet down even if for a little while.

david
This was David‘s last week of school until the new year. He got to sing lots of Christmas Carols with his classmates and then I went to his classroom where he read me his story (which was about how he plays on the computer.) and then the next day they had a class party. So he ended the week well and was thrilled that his vacation started with a trip to Legoland. He was exceptionally well behaved on the very long drive down and listened to music most of the time.

nathaniel
Nathaniel’s school has one more week but last week was his sharing so he spent some time making his posted and then was excited to show it to his classmates. I was happy to get to be there. He also was very excited for Legoland but I am not sure how much of it he got since he kept saying car each time I mentioned the word Legoland. But we saw a lot of lego cars there so maybe he knew what he was talking about all along!

Here are some of my favorite captured moments from this very week. Again there are several repeats between these and my december daily posts of course. Also, even though this is coming late, I kept to the Sun-Sat schedule for now so Legoland photos will be next week:

nathaniel working on his poster for school:

finished poster:

david lost yet another tooth on the bottom.

family night of playing legos.

i love how excited Nathaniel is:

Nathaniel presenting his poster:

my sweet boy:

David, reading to me:

lovely present from stacy and kayce

Nathaniel with his hat.

he loves that hat!

playing with stickers.

showing me things while i work.

checking out the deer in the backyard.

david showing me his story at school

nathaniel looking through the december daily album

i love him so.

my boys, playing together.

and Nathaniel, excited in the hotel room after 8+ hours in the car.

And those are some of the moments from our week. Another lovely week.


Us Right Now is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Us Right Now & Weekly Update – December 10

jake
As the holidays approach, things are quieting down for all of us, including Jake. Though he’s been working, trading and having meetings all week, he’s still working a lot and systematically. I love watching him work and seeing how into it he is. It’s a gift to get to be with someone who loves what they do as much as Jake does. And what a great example for our kids.

karen
This week was slightly more hectic than I would have liked but it was still calmer than usual. On Friday, I went to volunteer in David’s math class and that was really fun but for some reason my day got out of sync and then I haven’t been able to catch up since. I’ve been feeling very tired. More like exhausted. This next week promises to be a challenging one at work so it won’t come with downtime but the week after should be better hopefully and I plan to get a lot of rest during the holidays.

david
David’s been having a good time at school. Making new friends even now. Preparing for the Winter Event at his school with all the other first graders, and writing stories to share with us. He’s also reading so much and I love watching him read. I love that he’s interested in reading and loves reading the same book again and again. When I was his age, my favorite thing in the world was to read so I am hoping he will embrace the gift of reading, too.

nathaniel
Nathaniel’s week was relatively uneventful. He’s now learning letters as well and loves saying them out loud. He also loves all the Christmas lights everywhere. Tonight we went to ride a Christmas train and on the way there he said, “Choo choo train, Nei Nei happy.” It made us all feel so good. So wonderful to see his joy.

Here are some of my favorite captured moments from this very week. I apologize in advance as there are several repeats between these and my december daily posts of course:

nathaniel shooting david:

and then me:

nathaniel down!

david down!

both up and shooting each other:

and finally quietly reading to appease mommy.

Nathaniel looking through catalogs and telling me what he wants while I work.

David. I love him so so much.

Nathaniel playing again while I work:

He loves this truck:

Can’t you almost hear him making truck sounds?

he went to the fire station this week and loves this hat.

showing off his drawing:

Thursday night we drove around the neighborhood to see all the lights:

My boys!!

I told you he loves the hat!

I woke up at 5 am this morning because I wanted to see the lunar eclipse. Even though I couldn’t get a good photo, it was absolutely magical to watch.

then we took family photos.

And night time was a holiday train:

Nathaniel was so looking forward to it, kept saying choo choo all day and even said “happy” on the way there. He felt so happy. And so did David!

He looked out the window a lot.

The sun was just setting.

and David looked out too, enjoying himself and the chocolate chip cookies!

And here’s our train car:

And those are some of the moments from our week. Grateful and full!


Us Right Now is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.