David made this ornament at school today. Isn’t it lovely? It was his last day of school until the new year. Since Jake was home today he took David to the bus, and then Nathaniel to his flu shot, and then went to David’s school party. It was nice for me to get to sit and do some of my todos and then read a little and just rest.

As soon as Nathaniel woke up from his nap, he noticed the new addition to the tree.

We then had to move it higher in the tree cause he wouldn’t stop reaching for it. He wouldn’t even let me take a photo until it was too high for him to reach.

And when I finally did put it out of his reach, this is the look I got.

And a similar look when David and Daddy wouldn’t let him touch the computer.

But then, later, when they were waiting for Jake, the touched each other’s feet on the couch.

and laughed.

and laughed.

and then they cuddled up with daddy.

my angel.

then David and Jake made some legos together while Nathaniel ate and I worked on a craft.

and they finished it. It was a motorcycle with a sidecar.

We had planned on going to Fairyland today but it’s been pouring buckets so, once again, we didn’t get to go. Let’s see if the rest of the weekend has some dry moments so we can go. Also, at least eight boxes of Christmas presents showed up today so tomorrow is going to be all about wrapping, it seems.

But not tonight. Tonight I plan to finish off some bits and pieces and read more and cuddle up with my hubby. I’ve been really really exhausted so rest will do me good. I hope you’re resting, cuddling, and safe and sound wherever you are.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we had such a perfectly ordinary day today. A lot of rest, all of us together, hugging, laughing, and just being present.
2. I am grateful that David doesn’t have school for two weeks. No more having to set the alarm.
3. I am grateful that I am still exercising. It’s been hard and tiring and painful but I’m at it. Day after day. Let’s just hope this works.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. grateful that daddy came to the school party today {* his pick for the journal}
2. sitting with mommy and playing on the computer
3. making legos with daddy

Today we went to David’s school for the Winter Sing. The photos are not good but I still love them. Here he’s dancing with his teacher’s son. They are good friends.

Nathaniel loves watching them.

And David was so happy.

i must be honest, I’ve been so grouchy that I dreaded going there and I am really glad I did. It was wonderful to be there with David and see all of K-2 sing. Tonight I get to go to book club and then I have a list of things I want to do when I come home but the chances are I will be way too tired. I spose that’s what tomorrow is for, right? Thank you for all your kind comments from yesterday. I feel so much better knowing I am not alone. Thank you, thank you.

Also thank you for signing up for my newsletter. I appreciate that, too! I promise you will be glad you did!

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I went to David’s school and watched him sing.
2. I am grateful that I have book club tonight. Even though I feel tired and worn out, I know I will enjoy it.
3. I am grateful that I get to have most of the next two days off. I need downtime. Mentally more than anything else but still, I need it.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. singing at school today {* his pick for the journal}
2. having mommy and nathaniel come to school
3. cleaning up for mommy

One of the many advantages of doing the daily diaries is that I get to see some of the patterns in my life. One thing I realized is that I definitely go through phases where I am unproductive, negative, and uninspired each month. Sometimes they last a few days, sometimes longer. But it happens each time. More significantly, it passes each time. It comes and it goes. Knowing that it will go again really helps me tackle each new one a bit more calmly. I don’t feel as desperate because I know it’s ephemeral.

I’ve been in one of these slumps lately. I feel tired and negative and sad and worn out. Even though I tell myself to rest, I scold myself for resting. For not getting things done. But alas….this too shall pass.

I must say, even in my most uninspired days, I am still exercising every day. I am still taking photos and writing my gratitude down. These things are now ingrained in me. They are not negotiable. And that makes me happy.

It also makes me happy that Nathaniel’s learned to smile at the camera. He’s going through the terrible twos lately so these photos are that much more precious to me.

I spent my day working and trying to let myself mope. Jake was home so he went to get David and it was library day so they read his book on minerals together.

Then we did some paper snowflakes. I’d been meaning to do them with him for ten days and we finally managed to do it. I followed the five point instructions here.

While mine turned out to be nothing like these amazing ones, they were cute.

Especially after I cut them down.

While I did the others, David wrote in his gratitude journal and then ate his veggies.

I did four of them and they all turned out differently as is the case with these projects.

Nathaniel was jealous so I gave him some paper and crayon and he went to town.

David then started his project of coloring/decorating them any way he wanted.

Tomorrow we hang them. I must admit doing this put me in a better mood and I feel less like the grinch. But still whiny. I am going to go work on my December Daily now and then I have more writing to do. I hope you’re less whiny than I am and having a more inspiring day.

oh and I keep forgetting to mention!! I now have a newsletter. The first one will go out on January 31. (I might do a short one for December 31, not decided yet. But definitely one for January.) My plan is that it will only be once a month. It will give you a list/summary of what’s been posted here and elsewhere. It will have som more content special to newsletter subscribers and it will have a free digital download link. That’s what I have planned so far. I might do some photography downloads, too. Like a wallpaper. Not sure yet. If you’re interested in receiving them, you can sign up on my blog, at the top of the right column. If you cannot find it, just email me (karen AT karenika DOT com) and I will sign you up. If you have ideas of things you’d like to see in the newsletter, feel free to let me know!

Also, I added an about page to the left column and I plan to add some FAQ pages, too. On my list. Oh the things on my list.

Happy night to you!

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Jake was home and helped me. He helped me so much both in errands and emotionally today. I love him so much, he’s my rock and my heart.
2. I am grateful that Nathaniel is ok. For one second today we were in the garage and he pulled on Jake’s laptop’s cord and the whole thing came crashing down on him. He has a small gash on his eyelid but he’s ok (thankfully!) and even though this broke Jake’s adaptor he was so kind about it and I felt so very grateful.
3. I am so grateful for kindness. For each of you leaving kind words here and emailing me and saying nice things. I feel so undeserving and yet I work hard to squash that feeling and replace it with gratitude. I am so so thankful. Thank you Marnie for doing all that reading for me and your kind kind words. And Monika for all your generosity. I am a lucky lucky girl.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. getting a book from the library {* his pick for the journal}
2. watching TV
3. doing snowflakes with mommy

A LOT of photos today. A Lot! It appears these things go in waves. I just wanted them all so I couldn’t decide which ones to get rid of. In the morning, there was a lot of hugging. I love that even though he’s engrossed in his Wii, David still hugs him back and doesn’t ignore him or yell at him.

After the hug was done, Nathaniel signed “finished.” He loves signing that.

He also loves yelling and making loud noises and does them both often much to my dismay.

He’s just figured out how to sit up on the chair and loves to do it. Then yells “mama!” so I can see him up on the chair.

At 3pm, we all got in the car and drove down to Gilroy Gardens so we could see the magical lights. If you’re an old reader you might remember last year’s adventure at the park where I almost broke my nose and we had to go to the emergency room. This year, I was very careful but most importantly, it wasn’t raining. In fact it was the first time we were there ever with clear skies. And we arrived well before sunset which was wonderful cause it meant I could get some photos.

Like these of my wonderful kids.

This was the shot I wanted to take last year before I kissed the floor.

And this. See how I am in the photos more? I told you I was going to do it!

Since we’d never been there during daylight before, I wanted to take photos of the trees that make Gilroy Gardens famous. Like this one.

And this one. Isn’t it amazing that they are grown this way and not carved?

David then got to go on his first ride. Which he loved, of course.

While Nathaniel watched.

Then we stopped to eat some quick dinner. After that, we took the train and got to see the whole park. As we passed through dark and lit up tunnels, David kept shouting “awesome! awesome! awesome!” with so much jubilation that I got choked up. Those two minutes or so were worth everything to me. After the train, we went on the carousel. I love the carousel. And so does David.

I took a mirror shot. More photos with me in them!

Jake and Nathaniel sat in a couch/seat thing in front of us.

Jake and David went on race cars after that and David did a few more rides. As the final event of the night, David wanted to this water-gun-racing thing. Jake helped him.

And of course they won.

On the way out, David walked into this “little elf” hut. I know this is a imperfect photo but I love the way he looks sitting at the table so small like that. He’s so cute.

As the final act of the night, I followed through on my promise to get him a light saber. It was the first thing he asked for when we walked in and I told him we’d get one on the way out so we didn’t have to carry it the whole night. He picked a green one, of course.

Jake then drove us home safely and the kids went to bed (Nathaniel actually fell asleep in the car and didn’t even wake up when Jake carried him up to his room.) Jake and I snuggled up together and watched the first half of Eclipse. And now I am off to bed. Another magical, wonderful day when all I can think of is how grateful I am. How very blessed. I love this season so much.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we went to Gilroy Gardens. Before we left, I was grouchy, I hadn’t accomplished anything, my exercise went poorly and I wasn’t sure I wanted to go, but Jake encouraged me and we went. I am so so so glad we did. It was by far our best time in Gilroy Gardens ever.
2. I am grateful that I have another weekend day. I feel so relaxed and happy and I love to extend this feeling. I have a bunch more days off next week but not Monday. I have work and possibly a stressful day on Monday so I am grateful for tomorrow.
3. I am grateful that I get to play with more scrapbooking stuff tomorrow and maybe even get to work on some of my 2011 projects. And I get to do crafts with David. Yey!

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. getting a light saber {* his pick for the journal}
2. going to Gilroy Gardens
3. playing wii

Fair warning: this post has a LOT of photos. Feel free to skip 🙂

On October 1, I had bought tickets for the four of us to go on the Polar Express train ride in Sacramento. We’ve never done this before and I’ve wanted to for a few years so this year, I put a reminder on my calendar months before and got tickets as soon as they went up for sale. Even then, there were no weekend spots left so David had to cut school and we both had to take days off work to be able to go.

Sacramento is about a 2-hour drive from our house. So after Nathaniel woke up from his nap, both the kids got into their Christmas PJs we’d bought just for this occasion and we all got in the car. Thanks to Jake’s awesome driving, the trip was much faster and painless. As soon as we got there, the first thing I did was to ask Jake to take a photo. The kids, however, didn’t care to play along. This was the best shot we got.

David was so excited and happy to be there.

We had an hour extra before Will Call opened up so we took the time to eat some lunch. David was feeling very emotional and kept hugging his dad again and again. Telling him how much he loved him.

Nathaniel was just being cute. Sooooo cute.

After lunch, I went to pick up the tickets while Jake parked. We tried to get a photo of the kids together, but as always, Nathaniel wasn’t having any of it.

We then had to wait in line for them to open up the train. David was being quiet and watching everyone.

Nathaniel, on the other hand, was playing with the line separators and being all excited and squirmy. But sweet, of course.

As soon as we got on the train, we asked one of the volunteers to take a photo. It’s not all that great but we’re all in it and that’s all I care about.

The kids were very excited and looked out the window as the train moved to the North Pole. They gave us hot chocolate and cookies and they read the Polar express book out loud and the conductor even signed our book. They also played Christmas songs and songs from the movie.

We finally arrived at the North Pole and elves and Santa were there to wave to us. (Just in case you notice Nathaniel’s clothing change in the next photo, we took his fleece pajamas off cause he was really sweaty. We just happened to have a cotton Christmas pajama set, too, so we put that on. Thank you mom and dad for getting these great PJs for the kids!)

The kids were overjoyed and kept looking out the window to watch him.

After a few moments he disappeared. Just as we all wondered where he went, he showed up on the train. Nathaniel couldn’t take his eyes off of him.

And Santa gave all of us the first present of Christmas. The jingle bell. Just like in the book. Jake and I were both quite choked up by now. Seeing our kids so happy and excited was so wonderful for both of us.

Nathaniel watched the elves waving as the train rolled back out of North Pole.

I tried to capture the joy of the boys but there was too little light and too much movement. Sometimes those are the best photos.

When we pulled back into the station, everyone clapped with gratitude and Nathaniel joined in with vigor.

We then got back in the car and the amazing Jake drove us back home. Nathaniel fell asleep in the car but the rest of us listened to music and just felt grateful for such a full and amazing day.

Now I am really tired and will crawl into my bed with my book. A lot more to come tomorrow. I hope your day was full of bliss and family, as well.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for so much today. For this magical day. For wonderful family time. For seeing my kids so happy. My husband so emotional. I am such a lucky person.
2. I am grateful that my parents arrived home safe and sound. It was a harrowing trip with a 10-hour layover in Germany due to a storm. But they did make it home and I am deeply grateful.
3. I am grateful that we’re safe. We saw four traffic accidents today. Pretty bad ones and while I was sitting in traffic, I reminded myself that it’s much better to be in traffic than to be the cause of the traffic. I was just glad to be safe and with my family. Sometimes we lose perspective and I am trying to work on that.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. going on the polar express train {* his pick for the journal}
2. getting a present from santa
3. getting to have chocolate milk, hot chocolate and a cookie!!