Another lots-of-photos post. Nathaniel woke up with a runny nose today and he was miserable all day cause you could tell he couldn’t breathe through it. Oh, and, he woke up at 4:50am. Oh yes. God help me.
Here he is with the little word-book we made for David. We’re not using it as much as we should. We’re about halfway through.
And then David decided to entertain him.
We won this hat at the Sunset party.
And Nathaniel laughed and laughed.
And laughed.
His cheeks were extra-pink from being sick but I love this photo of him.
And I took one of the boy with blue eyes, too.
Another favorite from today. They look like they’re whispering secrets to each other and smiling. I love them so.
David entertaining him more. He’s just the most amazing brother.
Nathaniel was hungry all day, too cause he didn’t want to eat what I gave him. He went into the panty, found these puffs, brought them to me to open and then walked around munching on them. (until he dropped a whole bunch on the floor which is when we took the bottle away.)
And then there was a lot of lying on the floor resting. (Needed I’m sure when there’s no napping happening.)
And now they are both upstairs, one sleeping, the other playing. I am overwhelmingly tired. I apologize for no blog posts today. I am feeling really really tired and could not muster up the motivation.
Note to Self:
I decided today that I need to take a retrospective moment tomorrow. A little time to myself to get my bearings a bit and restructure. I am way too exhausted and need to find a way to get some energy back. I also want to plan for David’s summer a bit now that it’s about to start and sort of make a schedule for us so I can make sure to reserve special time for each kid, each day. more coming on this…
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for David. Despite the fact that he can be too loud and overzealous at times, he puts up with a lot of my yelling and lack of patience and he forgives me each time and he’s so good to Nathaniel. I am so thankful for the little boy.
2. I am grateful for my super-hero husband who saves me each time i need saving. And more.
3. I am grateful to have finished my long long book. It was great but oh so long.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. watching lego movies with daddy.
2. i’m grateful for playing.
Last night was rough on all of our family. David woke up with nightmares at 11pm. And then I woke up around 2am with a startle and freezing. And then Jake rolled over to me soon after with his own nightmare. And finally at 3am, Nathaniel cried out and had peed all over himself and the bed.
That made for a great start to today.
But I had begun my layout last night so I got up and completed a layout I made for Ali’s Summer-themed call. I turned out sort of the way I imagined it so I was happy but also drained. But then I sat and started planning my project for the BPS August promotion and that took a whole bunch of time, too. Between the two layouts, I used 47 photos. Amazing eh?
In the meantime, Nathaniel decided he wasn’t going to nap today. So he didn’t sleep despite my patience. When we finally picked him up, I got a lot of this:
and this:
here he is staring at me while I am at the stair landing between the two floors, taking photos of my layouts.
And here he is after some food that he chose to wear instead of eat.
Then David came back home and he was in a fun mood, too. So gave me one of his special faces.
While Nathaniel tangled himself up in the headphones and got exponentially more frustrated. Cause he also skipped his afternoon nap. (Oh, yes he did.)
So by the time I put him down, he was in full melt down mode. It was pure joy. I finally got him bathed, dressed, nursed and in bed and he just about collapsed into sleep. Here’s to hoping it’s a better night.
I have a feeling tonight’s tasks aren’t going to get done. I have to write up my project and that will take precedence and then I will be too tired to function. So that’s that.
Note to Self:
One of the things that’s been falling through the cracks lately because of all my designated projects is email. I have not been so good at responding to email. I always mean to but then forget or tell myself I have to finish my task first. And then more of it comes and the one I wanted to respond to gets buried down. It’s a bad cycle for me cause it still nags at the back of my mind so I need to find a better system for email. And as I say this, I think I found something that might work. Creating some sort of “Respond” folder or something that I can regularly clean. Not sure if that’s just creating more process. Well I will give that a try for a few days and see if it works. In the meantime, if you haven’t heard back from me, I am so sorry, I swear I am not ignoring you. I don’t think I am too important to reply. I am just completely disorganized. I apologize.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful to have completed my project. I wanted it to be interesting and i think (hope) I accomplished it.
2. I am grateful that my hair dresser had to cancel so I can stay home tonight instead of drive while I am so exhausted.
3. I am grateful that Jake was home today and took David to school and picked him up. Lucky me.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. daddy.
2. my friends joseph and jace.
A lot of photos today. It’s funny how each day I worry I don’t have enough photos only to find I took so many. Love my boys.
Nathaniel is still playing peek-a-boo with anything he can find.
And cracking himself up, too.
And then there’s the joy of seeing Daddy come home. Here’s David showing him his book.
And here’s Nathaniel wanting in on the action.
full-on Daddy love.
Some smiles for Mommy.
And trying to get Daddy’s attention.
And David being all silly just to make them laugh. (and succeeding)
And finally reaching for mommy. love my boys. all 3 of them.
I am a bit less organized than usual tonight. Not sure what to do for tonight’s art since I have two things I would really like to get done and I’ve been up since 4am and feeling a little too tired right now. Oh well. I trust I will sort it out.
Note to Self:
Due to my crazy busy schedule i’ve been doing things a bit more last minute lately. It does stress me out a bit but it also means I am more in the moment and I think that’s a good thing for me. I guess the trick, like most things, is to find the balance…
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Grateful for a quieter than expected work day.
2. Grateful that Jake will be home tomorrow and will drive David to school and back. yey!
3. Grateful for how good Nathaniel is when he’s not sleeping and how he walks around and plays and lets me do work. Cross fingers that this stays the case next year when David has a longer school day and I can be more productive.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. daddy
2. mommy
3. the craft project
4. all my family
5. nathaniel
6. the whole world (lol!)
Today started with me tired as always. I went to bed too late last night trying to finish off my BPS work. So I lazied around more than usual this morning after I did my layout. I read a whole bunch of East of Eden which I am halfway through. We then went to the neighbor’s for lunch and the kids played a lot and then when we came back home, I was so tired and drained that I lay on the couch and Nathaniel played peek-a-boo while David played legos.
He’s really good at entertaining himself.
Those are my pajamas, by the way.
And here’s David entertaining him. Look at the way he looks at his brother.
I’m about to put them down and then have some more BPS work and have to get working on that catalyst. Hope your weekend was great!
Note to Self:
I meant to mention that we went to see The Secret in their Eyes the other night for date night. Great movie. Made me realize it’s worth taking the time to see good movies just like it’s worth reading good books. They take more mental energy but they are worth it.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am really enjoying my book now, love being at that part where you’ve really gotten into the story and feel like you know the characters in real life.
2. I am thankful for a great weekend with lots of quiet time and lots of family time.
3. Thankful for finally feeling like my BPS class came together well. I hope others will like it too. Always worry about that.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. Mommy and Daddy
2. Playing with Ece’s legos
Some of the last of my photos from the academy of sciences.
Today we had free tickets to the Sunset celebration weekend so we decided to check it out.
David really liked the Tillamook cheese minivan so I took a photo of him in front of it. (He woke up with pinkeye today!)
Then he and I made a lay and I put it on. Nothing like wearing fresh orchids. (and wonderfully fuzzy hair. it was really humid.)
then we came back home, ate lunch and I put Nathaniel down and David played Wii while I played with my crochet hook and some yarn. Then Nathaniel woke up and walked around chewing stuff.
I love watching him walk.
And I love it when he comes to visit me.
And how he offers to share his toys. Love this boy so much.
We then went back to the Sunset celebration, ate some free food and walked around. Came home to have dinner and bedtime. I have to put all the finishing touches to my BPS class tonight and I am really excited. Though I have quite a bit of work to finish it all off and I am tired and in pain so I am going to try to do it fast and productively. Wish me luck.
Note to Self:
I’m quite amazed how much I’ve been enjoying my projects and making layouts lately. I really did think I would be burned out after May but I really am not. Amazing how sometimes a lot of work just makes you want to do more work. I have around 20 more layouts or so to do this month (4 for AMM + 13 creative therapy + 3 for a BPS project) and I am not dreading any of them. And I am so thankful for that. I am sure the dread or lack of mojo will come at some point but I am just thankful for the joy and pleasure for now.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Spending some time walking around as a family. I love being with my family so much.
2. A great audio version of East of Eden that I can listen to while I do some crocheting
3. I’ve almost maxed out my vacation allowance at work so I am going to have to take some time off and I am grateful for this rule cause it forces me to step back and relax.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. daddy and mommy.
2. sunset celebration weekend and getting to eat cheese and ice cream and going in the silver trailer
3. And wii!!
And after days of waking up at 5am, today we hit the jackpot with 4am. Yep 4am. God help me.
I nursed the boy, watched some tv until I could open my eyes and then got up to do my layout while the kids ate breakfast. Of course, Nathaniel was completely wiped by 7:30am and wept and cried so I put him down and that meant David missed school. Not the perfect day. He slept, I worked, David played. When Nathaniel woke up, he played peek-a-boo with the blanket again.
And again.
Cracked himself up.
And then we put him down for another nap, played quietly while I worked and after he woke up again, we went for a short walk but it was way too hot. David let me take a photo and he even smiled.
And now they’re playing ball in the backyard while I type this up so I can go on a date night. All’s well that ends well.
Note to Self:
I’ve been thinking so much about how strongly attitude effects everything. Feeling good gives you the energy to do more, do be more, and to be happier, which is annoying since feeling bad does the opposite. But it also means that you can work to change your attitude and that can change your day and that can then have a snowball effect.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Watching my boys play ball together. It’s so much fun to see them playing together.
2. Grateful for another date night. Just the two of us. A rare luxury.
3. And grateful for a relatively quiet weekend. Yey.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. daddy daddy daddy.
2. nathaniel.
Long day here. I think I’m just exhausted and having a hard time catching up on sleep. Tomorrow’s Friday and I am hoping I will get to rest a bit this weekend.
Uneventful day here for the most part. Jake was home so he took David to school while I went to a kindergarten information session at his new school. They showed a little movie and I got all teary eyed. My son’s old enough to go to kindergarten already?
Then I came home and got to work. Jake got David, I fed the kids, put Nathaniel down and went back to work. The mailman brought the June kit from A Million Memories. An absolute stunner. I lay it all over my table and worked to match my photos with the papers as I always do.
Nathaniel woke up from his nap and had that tired look. I love that look.
Here he is still out of it a bit.
And then he woke up and smiled.
I caught him sneaking a few snacks behind the cabinets.
And walking away with them.
We played around for a bit and then the kids had their baths and just went down. A little later than usual today cause of the late afternoon bath.
A few things:
1. Several of you asked about my new BPS class. It’s a process class about putting together a process that will help you collect, track, organize and use your stories. I am a firm believer in telling and preserving your stories. A lot of people tell me that once they put their page together, they never know what to write about so my goal with this class is to create a process that’s custom made for you that allows you to have your own stories at hand at all times. This way, when you sit to scrap, you always have a story idea waiting for you. Feel free to ask questions about it if you want in the comments and I’ll make sure to respond. It’s scheduled for early September as of now. I’ll make sure to let you know when it’s open for registration. Thank you so much for asking. I haven’t taught much in 2010 so I’m excited to teach this class. I’m also hoping to teach more in 2011 so if there’s a particular kind of class you’re interested in taking (especially one you want to take from me.) let me know and I will do my best to put it together.
2. My plans for June are actually right on schedule as of now. I haven’t posted my projects yet mostly cause I am tired and busy and working on the projects. If I can finish my todo list early tonight, I’ll come back to post them. If not, tomorrow. I just got another project added to my list so I will have to adjust three days around a bit.
3. Apologies on the delay on the digital download. That’s likely coming tomorrow, too.
Thank you for your kind words on my opening images. That was one of my goals for 2010: to take more non-family photos and I’m enjoying them so far. I really appreciate your kind words.
Note to Self:
I listened to a book on tape today while I worked and I have never done that before and I really enjoyed it. It was fiction even! This was a reminder that sometimes I should try new things even when I think I already know how I feel. I don’t always know how I feel. Lesson learned in the nicest way possible.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I’m grateful that it looks like David will be attending a good, happy school. I am thankful that we have good public schools where I live.
2. I am grateful for everything I’ve already accomplished this month. Some important things I wanted to get done are already done.
3. I am grateful for the nice, beautiful weather we’ve been having. it’s a little bit too hot but I love the sunshine and I am trying to enjoy every moment of it.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. mommy (yey!).
2. nathaniel.
Today started on a really badly. Nathaniel woke up at 5:10am and I felt like I didn’t get sleep all night. Likely I only got an hour or two. And I couldn’t get out of the funk all day. I did the invitation for Cheryl and she liked it (yey!) and then the day just dragged here and there. Nathaniel was so tried he whined loudly and kept crying so I had to put him down which meant David missed school and of course that messed stuff up, too.
But the kids did play together.
And I adore watching them play together.
Seeing how curious the little boy is.
And how kind the big one is.
And they are rough housing already. I shudder to think what will happen when they are older.
My sweet, sweet boy.
And later I tried to get them to relax but it lasted for about 4 minutes.
Our neighbor came over with her son for a bit and then Nathaniel started melting down so I put him down and I am doing this so I can get ready for book club tonight. And now gotta work hard for the next hour before they get here so I can get some BPS work done.
Note to Self:
This process of making a list of things to do and then doing them for the month seems to be working so far. I know it’s only been two days but I am already thinking of all the items on my list and figuring plans for how to move them forward. It will be interesting to see if this whole month works as I hope.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Doing some more crochet. Getting the hang of it now.
2. Finishing Cheryl’s invitation. I wanted to make sure I could help her. I love Cheryl and I am so happy I can do something for her, even if so small.
3. I am thankful for how well my kids play together.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. mommy (yey!).
2. my whole house!
3. also my daddy.
Nathaniel had been waking up at 6am for the last three days so I was hoping this meant that he had moved his schedule. But, I find out this morning that I was not so lucky. 5:10am and he was crying. So, reluctantly I got up from bed and dragged myself to his room. Which definitely didn’t start my day on a sad note, but then something amazing happened. At 5:30 my phone rang. After I got really scared, I answered it and it turned out it was Margie Romney-Aslett calling me to give me amazing news! I was so shell-shocked I think I didn’t say anything about how excited I really was. If you’re reading this Margie, I am so sorry! I absolutely adore Girls’ Paperie and I am so excited and honored to have the opportunity to design for them.
Yey!
So that turned my day of course. Then I sat down and did my book cover and a little bit of my BPS class project while Nathaniel played. I was stunned to take this shot because his face here looks exactly like David at that age.
After we dropped off David, I worked, Nathaniel napped and then we went to pick him up, ate lunch and I got back to work. David drew some pictures and I acted all scared (those are ghosts and dynamites there.)
Then the two of them started to play together. I know these photos are crooked but they are so much fun.
And here’s Nathaniel actually playing peek-a-boo all on his own. We were both shocked when he did this.
After the kids went down, I finished my BPS project and now I am off to work on some more BPS work.
Note to Self:
I’ve been feeling really grateful and peaceful lately. I still remember those bunch of blah days a few months ago and now that I have the opposite, I am trying to ride it as long as it’s here. I feel driven, excited, motivated and inspired. I don’t stress much, I sing a lot, I smile, I hug my kids, I create without too many conversations in my head (a bunch but not so much that it drowns me like it usually does.) and I get work done and try to not let that stress me out either. I love my family, my parents, my husband, my kids, my sister and everything. I feel like that girl Jessica in the YouTube video. (here’s the link again cause you can never watch this enough.) Just full of love and happiness. May it last as long as possible.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Girls’ Paperie of course! What a wonderful first manufacturer to work for, I am thrilled and grateful.
2. I am so grateful to work from home and get to watch my kids run around and laugh while I work. It’s a true luxury.
3. Grateful for Glee tonight!
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. daddy daddy daddy of course.
2. playing legos with daddy.
Butterflies. I love them.
Last night, after I wrote up my post, we got dressed up and went out to Marissa’s birthday party. It was the first time we’d been out and not going to a movie in a long time so I decided to try on this dress I’d bough before I had David that I loved. Simple, light, black dress. It fit like a glove. Well, it was a bit tight on the top since I am still nursing, hence the scarf. I dreaded the party but as it turned out we had a lot of fun and played mini-golf and won two prizes for David.
But it also meant I went to bed later than usual and woke up really tired and I feel like I didn’t recover from that all day. It’s 7:30 and I am still overwhelmingly tired. Will go to bed early tonight. Because I was so tired, this morning lagged a lot and the layout took me a lot longer than usual and then my sewing machine died (it turned out I had threaded wrong, so it was totally my fault.) By the time I was done it was almost 11 and Nathaniel was up from his morning nap.
David put together one of the prizes we won last night (a puzzle.)
And of course, Nathaniel wanted to check it out.
When he started destroying them, David literally guarded it with his body.
So Nathaniel found some other forms of entertainment.
And David made some angry faces at me. Cause aren’t they more fun than smiling?
We were invited to Jake’s boss’ 40th birthday party, so we got the kids dressed and I snapped some photos of Nathaniel in his Istanbul shirt.
Doesn’t he look so cute?
Then we headed to the party which was wonderful fun. Two parties in two days, that’s more than we’ve been to in the last three months. And now I am going to organize some things for this month and maybe write up a post for tomorrow explaining some June plans and then hopefully hit the sack with my book. Here’s to a great June.
Note to Self:
Despite working on it a lot, I find myself still telling myself “I should do” this and that or “I should be” like this and that and that I need to change somehow. Yet while growth is good, the ability to accept myself as I am is also good and I am getting closer but not there just yet. If awareness is half the game, though, I am halfway there. Getting more and more away day by day.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. This has been a full but wonderful weekend. I am grateful for so much time and laughter with my family.
2. I am excited for my plans for June and grateful that I feel ambitious and creative right now.
3. I am thankful to all of you for cheering me on this month and all the nice comments I got at 2peas and amm and facebook. I feel really thankful for all the kindness and generosity of spirit.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. Daddy. (He’s really into his dad lately.)
2. The birthday party and playing with Nico and Geoff.
I wish I’d gotten a better photo of this frog. It’s quite something to look at.
I still get so much joy from watching him walk. It makes me happy.
Yep, drooling.
David loves tickling him.
And chasing him around the house while Nathaniel giggles.
And then finally they both got quiet. (for like three seconds)
I know this photo has Nathaniel blurry but I love that they are both reading. Look at my boys.
Good day! Layout done, lesson four completed, pedicure and eyebrow wax, some more crochet practice, Skype with mom, playing with kids, taking photos. And now it’s time to put the kids down. We will be going out to a work party for our date night tonight. I’m not a party-person so let’s see how I like it.
Note to Self:
Today, I’ve been thinking about how sometimes things come to you exactly when you stop craving them. When you stop seeking and just go on with your life, things just stumble in. I wonder if that’s cause you’re just being authentic or if it’s completely unrelated. I do notice this pattern a lot and wanted to make sure to capture it so I can think about it some more and be mindful of it.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Grateful to be done with the first versions of all four of my lessons for BPS. Big step for me.
2. Grateful that I do seem to be getting the hang of crocheting finally
3. Grateful that I get one more day of vacation. Yey.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. Daddy (of course!)
2. and Mommy (shocker! tho he said it’s cause i let him play a bit more wii today.)
Another one from the academy of sciences.
Today kept feeling like Sunday. I’m glad it isn’t. And it was a relatively productive day. I did my layout, finished my book and when Nathaniel woke up from his nap:
we went out to lunch to this French cafe we discovered that we love. We then went shopping for some of the items we needed to stock up on and as Jake and the kids were unloading, I snapped these photos.
David helps his Dad by carrying the grocery bags to the kitchen.
And Nathaniel likes to just hang out by the door when it’s open.
My sweet boy. Love him and those blue eyes.
It was David’s Wii day so he played while Nathaniel played with his toys.
And I practiced more and more of my crochet. Getting better at it. Still got a loooong way to go.
I had a hair appointment today but my stylist got sick and had to reschedule, then I made an appointment for a pedicure only to show up and find out they were closing. I had to reschedule that. too. It was one of those kinds of days. Now the kids are playing in David’s room while I sit with them and type this up.
My plans after they go to bed are to write my third lesson for the upcoming Big Picture Scrapbooking class. I want to get most of the content down this weekend so that I can perfect and tune the class in the time left. Let’s see.
I’ve already started the next book: East of Eden. It’s 1450 pages on my reader. Ugh…. but I’m told it’s really good.
So some writing, some reading, some June planning, choosing the photo for tomorrow’s layout, and then bed for me tonight.
Note to Self:
I’ve learned that, for me, doing an activity for at least 30 minutes is necessary. It takes me that long to get in the groove. In programming, we generally call this being in the zone. It’s one the reasons meetings are evil (amongst many others) because it takes a while to get into the zone and then you perform at your highest when you’re there until you feel like you rode it all the way through. For me, this applies to doing scrapbook pages or art. It applies to writing. That’s why I plan and then sit and write the whole lesson in one shot. It works much better for me when I have the flow. It also applies to reading. I get into a book much more after I’ve focused on it for over 30 minutes. (so 10 pages a night might eventually help me finish a book but I don’t really ever get into it that way.) It even applies to learning something new. When I’ve been crocheting for over 35 minutes, I am much better at it and at picking up new things than I am if I do 10 minutes a day. So this means that I need to set aside at least an hour per activity to really do well and get enjoyment out of it. Good to know.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. A delicious lunch (goat cheese, salad, and pesto panini), on a beautiful day, with my wonderful family.
2. Finishing my book. I really loved it. Rare for me to love a short-story collection this much.
3. The sense of calm and peace I am feeling. I am thankful for that, I am not taking it for granted.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I’m grateful for the Wii-time.
2. Going out for lunch.
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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
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