Well, as this week comes to a close, we had a sweet and lovely day here. It started with exercise of course and then some family photos.
My sweet husband made me laugh today. He makes me laugh so often and so much. I adore him for that.
Then we tried to get one with all four of us looking at the camera.
Alas, that never happens.
See the zit I have? I didn’t photoshop it out. This is about life. Real life.
And then tickle time. Nathaniel’s started kicking and headbutting during tickle time recently hence me holding his head.
And in case you think I don’t laugh during tickle time too. I do.
I love tickle time with my heart and soul.
I wanted to do something for family-time so we decided to go to San Jose Children’s Discovery Museum. We drove all the way there only to discover it was closed for another two hours. After feeling terrible we changed route and went to Happy Hallow Zoo instead. We saw the lemurs.
Fed some sheep.
had a little attitude.
climbed.
ate a yummy lunch and watched more animals.
on the way out, the kids held hands.
inspected all the dinosaur paw prints on the ground.
There were many many many.
And the boys touched every single one. (Until I had enough and we aborted the project. But it was super cute seeing them holding hands and laughing.)
Then we came home and it was naptime for the little boy. David played on the computer a bit and then with his legos. I sketched, art journaled, and journaled. I also prepared most of my newsletter which will hopefully go out tonight. Then we played and laughed a bit more. David and I started a new book. Ate dinner, watched a bit of TV, and read stories for bedtime. The boys are in their beds, both reading now. I cannot think of a lovelier way to end the day.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for our family photos. If you’re not doing this, I cannot recommend it enough. It has become my very favorite project.
2. I am grateful for a wonderful family trip to the zoo and some great time with the kids.
3. I am grateful for a few more quiet hours before the day is over.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we went to Happy Hallow Zoo. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played with my legos.
3. I am grateful that Nathaniel and I touched all the paw prints.
It was a relatively quiet day here today. We started the day late but still did the same routine of exercise+shower and then family photos.
I adore, love, cherish these three boys more than anything else in the world.
We took family photos. And I adore, love, cherish these photos. Even when they are so imperfect.
Even when they are trying to squirm out of my arms.
And especially when we are all laughing unabashedly.
We then rested for a while. Sketching, art journaling, and so forth. Then we took a long long walk and I am off to read to my boy and then date night tonight. A quiet, lovely weekend day here. Hope yours was as well.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we have date night. I love going to the movies.
2. I am grateful for our nice long walk. I love talking a stroll with the whole family.
3. I am grateful that I started journaling again, I missed it.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful mommy and I are going to read my book. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played wii.
3. I am grateful that I am copying one of my books (he’s writing all the words in the rocket book into his own notebook.).
And we’ve come to the end of another week. They’re passing all too quickly lately. And I’m feeling antsy because I feel like days are passing without my using my time well but I am not exactly sure what I want to do with my time which puts me in an unpleasant conundrum.
The little boy has been playing legos a lot lately.
The big boy, too.
Here he is watching Nathaniel put something together.
And then Nathaniel rushes over to get another piece.
And talks his brother into helping him.
David leaves for soccer and Nathaniel is left playing all by himself.
And now it’s dinner time. It’s the end of the week. I am tired. But this weekend is wide open. And I will not put any pressure on myself this weekend. No art journal pages, no todo lists. I will just relax. Let’s see how it goes.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I made another art journal page today. Even though I don’t like it, I am thankful to take time for art no matter what.
2. I am grateful for Jake who does the grocery shopping.
3. I am grateful for the quietness of life right now. I love quiet.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful I have soccer. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played with Nathaniel.
3. I am grateful that I read some of my library books.
Another quiet day here. I have been feeling tired so I am taking things slowly, being more deliberate and trying to slow down. Especially since summer will end soon and morning rush will come back into our lives.
I love watching Nathaniel look through books and magazines.
Which he loves to do.
I took both kids to the library today and David checked out a plethora of books and was super-thrilled. He thanked me like 40 times. And I tried to make sure I got at least one photo of him today.
Now he’s in swim class and I am about to put the little boy down. I feel tired. Worn out. So my hunch is I will just lie on the couch tonight and not be super-productive. The items on my todo list will have to wait just a little bit longer.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I I signed up for two more online classes today. I love taking classes.
2. I am grateful for our trip to the library and seeing both of the kids love books so much. Libraries are magical.
3. I am grateful for the lack of time-sensitive todo items. I am grateful that I can just relax because I know I need the rest.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful I went to the library and checked out books. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that we got three comic books too.
3. I am grateful that I played with my legos.
Last night, I went to the movies with a friend and when I came home I found two pages of notes on my bed:
says “I love you very much. turn page over.”
the back says: “I really missed you and I had a bad night.”
second page says “And I peed like you told me to. Turn page over.” He’s supposed to make sure to pee before he goes to sleep since he’s not wearing overnight diapers.
there you go. My super super sweet son. How can I not love him to bits?
Today was a quiet day. The kids played.
and I decided to take some shots of David.
he’s so beautiful.
and sweet and kind.
the little one was less accommodating but that’s ok. It ebbs and flows and that’s life.
Uneventful day. Work, meeting, walk, sketch, exercise, play. Same wonderful life as always. Just basking in gratitude.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I am letting myself be lazy. I know I need to rest so I am resting. Reading. Not judging. Just being.
2. I am grateful for a sweet box containing some new product and some of my CHA layouts back. love seeing them again.
3. I am grateful for a clean house and a quieter rest of the week.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful I had ice cream for breakfast. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I finished the Pokemon movies.
3. I am grateful that I watched a few lego movies.
As annoying as it was, today was a useful day. We woke up early and I exercised so that we could get out the door cause both kids had dentist’s appointments. It all went well, thankfully. Our dentist lets the kids take a little toy home so David came home with a tiny water gun (and Nathaniel picked a car.) He wanted to play with it immediately so went in the backyard to play. Nathaniel watched, of course.
Here he is filling the watergun.
I love watching him watch David. I love his focus and concentration.
And I love watching David play and be so happily involved in his own projects.
Then it was nap time. While Nathaniel napped, the repairman came and fixed our dishwasher (yey!!) and then Nathaniel woke up and we took a super-quick trip to buy me a pair of pants (I literally had none that fit.) And when we came home, my new fitbit was waiting in the mailbox. So all was ok again. I caught up on my work while the little ones played some more.
And I quickly just snapped two more photos. One of him.
and one of him.
Then I had meetings, Jake came home, fed the kids and now they are doing their nightly activities. I get to go to the movies tonight with a friend and I am really looking forward to it.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I get to go to the movies tonight.
2. I am grateful for an amazing gift I got in the mail today, more on this very soon.
3. I am grateful for a new pair of pants. Nice to finally have a pair that fits.
4. I am grateful my machine is working and I got a new fitbit. Life is going back to normal.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful I watched some pokemon lessons. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I got a watergun from the dentist.
3. I am grateful that I played with my lego men.
This morning, David decided he didn’t have enough Lego-men so I recommended we go through all of his bins and see how many he had. So the boys got to work.
Here’s Nathaniel smiling at me cause he knows I have the camera out.
A short moment for a nice hug. Love these.
Working hard, playing hard.
Nathaniel was excited to find so many toys for himself.
After naps, Nathaniel was in a super-good mood. Laughed and laughed.
and laughed.
here’s a typical shot of David lately. Smiles but will not look at the camera. Doesn’t even know he’s not looking at the lens. I have to ask him 3-4 times to get it right.
A pretty quiet day here. Working, playing, resting. I found out this morning that one of the Chrome team members in Seattle passed away in a car crash. One he had nothing to do with, just happened to be unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had two kids; 5 and 7 and now he’s gone. I didn’t know him but all the people who worked with him say that he was amazingly kind, generous, bright and a true joy to work with. The world is a bit dimmer without him in it.
Which of course made me smack myself for worrying about the stupid dishwasher or fitbit. Worrying and pouting and being a total spoiled brat about stupid things when the whole world can end in a moment. Who cares about the stupid machine. Who cares about most anything I spend most of my time worrying about?
I was also reading this list I saw on Pinterest and I noticed that the very first thing that jumped out at me was “Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.” This is what I want for myself. This is what I love most about Jake. He is that person for me. He’s my light and joy. And I want to be that, too. I want to be positive, enthusiastic, exuding joy.
Not the whiny PITA I’ve been lately. I believe it’s crucial that I focus on this with all my might.
If I owe you an email or comment response, I apologize, I’m going to catch up super-soon, I promise.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for two beautiful dresses that came in the mail. Dresses I ordered online without trying and from a store I’d never purchased from before. They fit like a glove and looked super nice. Color me happy.
2. I am grateful for my kids and all the time I get to spend with them. I’m the luckiest person in the world for getting so much time with them.
3. I am grateful for a new set of three books I’ve been reading. I normally don’t read series in a row but I haven’t wanted to put this book down for a minute since I picked the first one up.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we sorted my legos and got lego men. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that we’re reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books.
3. I am grateful that I played with Nathaniel.
When I woke up this morning, the kids were playing together.
They’d lined up all the cars and made tracks.
Nathaniel was so excited to see David play with him.
he kept watching his big brother.
And David concentrated a lot.
Nathaniel copied him.
and watched him make corrections.
he then got up to get more parts.
then I went to exercise and shower after which it was picture time. I snapped one of my boys as I set up.
We got a bunch of sweet photos.
and a lot of tickle-time ones.
I love all the different kinds of laughter we get during tickle time.
as we were done, I snapped a few more. One of the love of my life.
And one of my big boy kissing and hugging his Daddy.
The rest of the day went downhill from there. The fitbit broke and then the washing machine broke. I’ve learned over time that I do not handle these things well at all. Small things go wrong and I fall apart. I feel overwhelmingly annoyed and tired and frustrated at relatively small hiccups and ones that can and will be fixed. Which is super frustrating and even though I know it, I cannot seem to help myself. So the rest of the day was spent pouting, grouchy, and trying to just make it through. What a waste.
Now the kids are down and I will sit with Jake and watch a movie because I need to step off this stupid mood. This week will pass, I will get a new fitbit, the dentist and other appointments will come and go, the dishwasher will be fixed somehow, and life will resume to normal and I will be happy. So I might as well try to embrace it all now. It’s all a part of life and ruining my days and precious moments is a stupid choice to make.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for some sketch time today. Despite the grouchiness, I did sketch and exercise.
2. I am grateful that Jake washed the full load of dishes by hand. He’s always too kind to me.
3. I am grateful that a new fitbit is soon to be on its way to me. So, so grateful.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that mommy downloaded my pictures * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played cars with Nathaniel.
3. I am grateful that I got to play on the computer today even though I was not supposed to.
David says:
I gave this story five stars because I thought it was interesting that they stopped criminals from stealing a valuable treasure and robbing a bank.
I didn’t like the villains were too smart and they weren’t caught. I thought it was creative of the midgets to hide the belt in the air conditioning! They also disguised themselves as Cub Scouts and gnomes. I couldn’t guess either of those.
My least favorite parts were the thieves robbing the bank and when they put Jupiter and Pete in the burlap sacks. My favorite part was when Jupiter figured out where the belt was and gave it back. I also liked the part where Hans threw Rawley in the water.
I also liked that because Jupiter found the belt Taro’s dad will now get to keep his job and not feel ashamed.
Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
We had a quiet but lovely Saturday here. It started with sleeping in a bit and then exercise of course. Then family photos. Here’s a shot from when I was setting up.
Here the kids are negotiating for the remote.
some laughter.
an almost-perfect shot.
and tickle-time!
after that, David set up his legos in different settings and took photos of them.
and Nathaniel watched him of course.
then there was napping, art journaling, wii, and working. when Nathaniel woke up, we went out to lunch/dinner. And picked up David’s car that we’d painted last week.
I took the opportunity to capture those amazing eyes.
and the car turned out pretty cute, too.
Nathaniel went back to playing with his current-favorite toy. A fire truck we’d bought years ago from Costco (that David had broken long ago.) He loves to press the button that makes the “raising ladder” noise and lift up the ladder is the noise plays.
Between that toy and the two huge Tonka trucks, Nathaniel is super-happy. He’s playing with them right now as I type this and David’s enjoying his last moments of the Wii. Jake’s taking a quick nap in his office and I am watching Bones on the computer as I type. Life is so very wonderful when it’s simple like this. My plans to night are to art journal a bit, to help Jake with some work, journal (which i REALLY have been neglecting) and to read, of course.
Happy Saturday!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for good books. I’ve been reading a lot lately and it makes me so happy.
2. I am grateful for the yummy goat cheese sandwich I eat when we go out.
3. I am grateful for our simple yet truly wonderful life. Others might think it’s boring but I am so content.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I played the Mario Party 8 game on the Wii * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I got my ceramic car.
3. I am grateful that I played with my legos, setting them up and taking pictures of them.
And we’ve made it to the end of another week. Time is passing so so quickly, I am constantly flabbergasted at how quickly the days go by.
I didn’t snap as many photos as I’d like today. This morning the boys got to watch a movie and they were snuggled up on the couch together which was soooo cute..
Nathaniel is more and more obsessed with trucks. He says “truck truck” all day long.
and picks them up and takes them along with him everywhere.
and i did manage to get this stunning shot of my David. I love this boy so much.
David’s at soccer class with Daddy now and I am taking a quick break. Back to work for me. No plans for the weekend however which means a lot of resting and relaxing. Yey!!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for the weekend.
2. I am grateful for good, fast-paced books that have been keeping me so happy lately.
3. I am grateful for the kindness and generosity of my family. I am so blessed and I really am focusing on remembering that more and more often.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I watched a lego movie * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played on the computer.
3. I am grateful that I had soccer class (and there was no one there but me!)
I am in an inexplicable blah mood today so I will keep this short. My boy got to spend extra time on the computer today just cause I wanted to make him happy.
in return I got silly faces.
little boy was in a great mood.
did a bunch of drawing.
and smiling.
and that’s about it. my plans for tonight is to find a way out of my crap mood…
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful tomorrow’s Friday. Maybe the moodiness will dissipate.
2. I am grateful that I am reading one of those books you just don’t want to put down.
3. I am grateful for my life which I am not appreciating today nearly as much as I should, so let this be a reminder karen!!
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I got to play on the computer all day. * {his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played a game called pusher.
3. I am grateful that I listened to music on the phone.
|
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
|
