I don’t know if it’s all the sickness or lots of work but I’ve certainly been in a funk for the last ten days. Not productive. Not inspired. No art. No nothing. Ugh.
Besides working, I have been spending a lot of time with both of the kids. I’ve been reading with David and looking for some math puzzle books for him, too so if you know of any, please let me know. Anything that encourages math learning. He’s really interested so I want to cultivate it. And Nathaniel and I have been snuggling a lot. Laughing, hugging, and just being together. I am really glad to enjoy all this time with him.
He still loves shoes and the backyard. Trying things on and taking them off.
Here, he’s actually bending down to put the shoes on. Crazy boy.
David laughing at him.
And me.
See how it looks like Nathaniel is hugging him?
And yet. Truth is different.
More laughter.
All around!
It’s getting to be fall here. A little chilly but not cold. Almost perfect weather if you ask me. And I am so excited about the holiday season. Ok, not so much for Halloween but for all the others. Especially December. Still thinking about the blog, of course. I wonder about all the range of content. Should I break it up? Is it hard for you to find things? Are you finding it hard to navigate?
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for all the snuggly time Nathaniel and I have been having lately. He’s so so so much fun.
2. I am grateful the 5+ miles I’ve walked in the last three days.
3. I am grateful that it’s promising to be a low-key week.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. playing games on mommy’s computer
2. being the star of the day at school
3. checking a Biscuit book out from the library
4. Playing outside with Nathaniel
It’s been a lethargic weekend. I kept feeling like all I wanted to do was lie on the couch and doze off. David’s school had a celebration today so we went over for a while and David got to go down slides and bounce around.
I still remember the days he was so afraid of these things.
And now he slides on his tummy, even. My how the time passes.
Then we went to see these pets.
Lizards. Snakes. He didn’t want to touch them but they were cool.
So he and Daddy took a close look.
Starbucks was there and giving away mini-donuts. Nathaniel held on to his for a long while. but did not eat it. I wasn’t a big fan of mine either.
It’s Sunday night. Not my favorite. I’ve been thinking so much about 2011 that I am sort of done with 2010. I even picked my word for 2011, isn’t that weird. We still have a quarter of this year left!
I do have a plan for October and I’ve begun it even. A long term project that I’ve been putting off for years. Time to start. I also have plans for November and December is December daily of course. I’ve been thinking about how next year, I will do these monthly projects. I’m brainstorming ideas. Excited and looking forward. I love fall. I am happy it’s here. Despite the short days which are a bit depressing. But being in California means cool breeze mixed with sunshine and that’s just perfect.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that this weekend’s rough start calmed down.
2. I am grateful the joy of planning for 2011.
3. I am grateful that I’ve been making progress on myself. I am putting an effort to work on myself and I am grateful that I am doing that.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. going down the bouncy slide at school
2. eating a minidonut and vanilla ice cream with chocolate on the outside
3. buying books at school (and a lego since he did such an amazing job with reading. he’s on lesson 81 out of 100)
I have always been a huge fan of snap dragons. Especially as a kid. Love them.
This photo is actually from last night but I loved how Nathaniel kept playing with these interlocking cups for a good thirty minutes. He was amazing to watch.
As I was snapping photos this morning, David ran under the table to prevent me from taking photos.
And of course Nathaniel went to “check out” what was going on immediately. Laughing at the smiling David.
And then played with the Tim Holtz containers again and again.
And more. Endless fun.
And laughter.
And here’s a good catch of the big boy who played Wii most of today.
Long day today and yet unproductive. But, I made a trip to Michaels to buy some more punches. I cannot resist those punches. I even got some Halloween ones despite by abhorrant feelings towards the holiday. Too tired today, still thinking about the blog, got words about October. Will write it all tomorrow.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for the few punches I bought. I can’t help it, they make me happy.
2. I am grateful for a fun, sweet book I’m reading. Rare to get one of those these days.
3. I am grateful for date night. Any night at the movies is a good night in my book.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. playing wii
2. getting to pick what to carve on the pumpkin with mommy (skulls, ugh!)
3. reading the books I made at school to daddy
Happy Friday!!
I am normally very against putting diaper photos but this was way too cute and accurate representation of the little boy right now. Here he is, pants off cause he will not wear them, shoes on cause he is obsessed with shoes, same for the headphones with the dragging cord, chewing on a lego wheel. That’s pretty much my boy right now.
He’s been playing with the plastic containers of my new Tim Holtz goodies.
He likes opening them, putting little legos inside and then closing.
And then opening again.
I cannot believe this big, wonderful boy is my son. My son.
David’s nose was dripping so I told him to blow it and minutes later this is what we saw little boy doing.
He loves to imitate his brother. And then we all went out to the yard and played ball.
Well the kids did while I read. David also read his “Biscuit Goes to School” book to me. I still cannot believe that he can read. It’s like magic.
Thank you for all your feedback from yesterday, I truly appreciate it. I’m still thinking and planning it so please feel free to give me more feedback. I am also trying to figure out if I will do something for October. I am thinking of trying out journaling daily. I’ve done this before several times but had almost no success each time so I am not entirely optimistic. I am thinking of taking on daily projects for a month like I did in May and June. Despite the struggling in August, I still think this is the right method for me. So I am thinking of things I might want to tackle. Suggestions welcome 🙂
I must say that despite the fact that I love it and my kids are wonderful and easygoing and most days I manage it all well, there are days when I snap at my kids and husband way more than necessary and then I look back on it and I am embarrassed for myself. For the way I behaved. It’s setting a terrible example for my kids and my marriage. I want to work on this. No reason to treat anyone with disrespect especially since I would not like to be treated that way myself. Just felt like I needed a slap in the hand today.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that it’s the weekend!
2. I am grateful that I scrapped last night and this morning. Lately I’ve been doing 80% of a layout at night and then leaving the stitching to the morning and this makes me feel happy both days and gives me something to dig in to in the morning.
3. I am grateful that David can check out a book from the school library all on his own and read it all the way. I am truly truly amazed and thankful for the progress he’s made.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. helping avi color his castle shapes
2. coloring my eagle at home
3. having matthew choose me as the star of the day for monday
When Jake came back from picking David up from school, he walked in with a big box of flowers. He said “somebody loves you more than I do, they’re not from me.” I had no idea who they could possibly be from. And to my amazement and incredible delight, they were from the My Mind’s Eye team!!! That company and Amber are absolutely amazing! Not only have they sent me all these incredible products and given me the opportunity to guest but now flowers, too! I am deeply deeply grateful. Thank you Amber and thank you My Mind’s Eye. You have truly spoiled me silly.
The little boy awoke feeling much better thankfully. He was in good spirits for most of the day. Still coughing some and wheezing some but overall much much better.
I had a ton of catching up at work since I took a personal day yesterday so while Nathaniel napped I worked like crazy and got a huge amount of work done. Jake was home today so he took David from and to the bus which really helped me so much. David’s favorite activity lately is to color and he’s amazingly good at it.
He’s my stunning boy with the amazing eyes.
I love this shot of Nathaniel with the smile even though he won’t look up at me.
And a fast catch.
He loves sitting at David’s table now and David mostly sits at the dining table so I guess this table’s Nathaniel’s for the most part.
I also finished my 979 page book today and caught up on my class at BPS and tonight I hope to finally reply to comments and emails and then I can start on some of my longer term projects like writing the 2011 BPS class and figuring out the blog plan for 2011. Any ideas? Are these diary entries annoying you? Should I continue them? I was thinking I might bring back Digital Downloads. Continue with the books and layouts. Some posts on non-scrappy crafts like sewing, embroidery, painting, etc. Maybe some more longer written pieces like the gratitude entries? Are those boring? I’m told people don’t like to read long things but i like writing them…I can’t decide if I should do another 52 things. All these thoughts on my mind. Any ideas? Suggestions? Criticism? I’m open to hearing it all.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Nathaniel seems to be on the road to recovery.
2. I am grateful for the amazing, stunning flowers from My Mind’s Eye
3. I am grateful that I got a ton of work done and feel more caught up than I did in weeks. Much more to go but i feel progress is now being made.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. coloring
2. playing secret i spy with maggie at school
3. doing my reading with mommy
So the little boy woke up at 4:20am this morning, crying and burning up and coughing and miserable. I was exhausted but also a little at my wit’s end. I almost took him to the urgent care. After I gave him some medicine, he was better but still very lethargic. He couldn’t hold his head up so I put him back down in bed where he slept for a tiny bit and then woke up coughing. We even drove over to the hospital but then thought better of it. At this point, he was much more himself so I knew it was better to be calmer and more organized. Jake took David to the bus, I came home for the cleaning lady and waited for the doctor’s office to open. They were awesome and gave me an appointment quickly. We rushed over there and yes he has something like croup. Throat is sore and inflamed. Poor little boy.
We came back home and he was so tired so I put him down.
We had a lot of these sad faces today.
But he was much better as the day wore on. I decided to take a personal day from work and rest, too. I did end up working more than planned but it was still good to stress less. We picked up David who’d had a good day at school and came home to rest and eat dinner.
I snapped this odd photo of Nathaniel that’s blurry but it’s the only non-crying photo I have from today so I want to put it here so I can remember that it wasn’t all crying.
By the evening, he was in better moods and even played outside a bit. I am overwhelmingly exhausted and behind in so many tasks but just hiding behind my book. It will all sort itself out soon.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Nathaniel isn’t too sick or having huge coughing fits. He’s a strong little boy and hopefully will be much better soon.
2. I am grateful I was able to take the day off and rest a bit and grateful that despite my day off, made some progress at work and set the space up for a good day at work tomorrow.
3. I am grateful that while I am letting things slide, people have been so kind and understanding.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. making my P puppet (penguin!)
2. playing road game with my friend Hassen at school
3. creating rhymes with words that end with “en” at school
I’m still in this odd funk. It shall pass. They always do. But sadly, the little boy is sick. He’s got a low grade fever and definitely something off with this chest. Nurse said it might be croup. What a bummer for him. He’s losing his voice and you can hear his throat when he breathes. He’s lethargic too. But he still has some happy moments in the day. He loves doing this pillow game where he throws the pillow on the carpet and falls on it. He likes doing it again and again.
And he still likes to collect things and randomly distribute them in the house.
A few weeks ago, I ordered some gelaskins of my favorite image from this year. One for my laptop.
and one for the kindle.
you don’t even see the back since it’s in a cover, but i still love it.
And here’s a wide, happy smile from the big big boy.
Not feeling motivated at all. Maybe cause I am so tired. But I am enjoying my book and my kids and hugging Nathaniel a lot hoping he will get well. Those keep me busy enough…
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a walk and quickie breakfast Nathaniel and I took with my friends Nicholas and Ty and their dog Peaches this morning. It was really fun.
2. I am grateful for happy mail from Tim and the Gelaskins.
3. I am grateful for some good conversations at work today and a great long chat with my awesome friend Audrey last night. There’s nothing like an old friend.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. making my O puppet (octopus!)
2. folding laundry with mommy
3. catching the mouse in the cat and mouse game at school!
This morning, we drove David to the school bus and then after a brief stop at home, we drove over to his school to volunteer for an art project. I helped and took photos of the kids (I am also helping with yearbook photos for the class.) Nathaniel was well behaved almost the whole time and it was fun to see the variety of art projects in the class. While we were there, a woman came to assess each of the kids on their math skills one by one. She was amazed by David’s interest, excitement, and knowledge. She said he was the best she’s assessed in all of kindergarten. And she loved that he was having so much fun with it. Yey for David!
We then rushed home and I put the little boy down. He slept for a short time and woke up all cranky. It took a long time but he did finally relax. I got a bunch of work done and watched him play a bit.
Then we went to get David. Since I showed you some Nathaniel faces a while ago, I thought it would be fun to do some David faces, too. Like this one.
And this one.
Thinking hard.
Nathaniel wasn’t sure how he felt about the whole thing.
But David started making funny faces.
And funnier faces.
And won the little boy over, of course.
I am still indescribably exhausted. Besides work, David’s school and some reading I did not do one thing all day. And my plan for tonight is sleep and then some more sleep. Maybe a tiny bit of reading squeezed in there.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Nathaniel is in a good mood again, he had me worried for a while today.
2. I am grateful that David’s so good at math and more importantly likes it.
3. I am grateful that my work was on the twopeas blog today and also on crate paper’s blog. I am so so honored.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. making nathaniel laugh
2. doing homework with mommy
3. checking out a new book from the library (biscuit goes to school)
I’m not exactly sure what went wrong but I woke up feeling really tired and almost sick. So was Nathaniel. So instead of accomplishing more and going out, I stayed at home all day and lay on the couch feeling sorry for myself. Little boy was sad and whiny in the morning, too.
But seemed to get his bearings back later in the day.
And the big boy was as awesome as ever.
He even gave me some deep smiles all the way in the eyes.
In the afternoon, we gave Nathaniel some crayons and paper and he went to town. It was his first time but he scribbled like an old pro.
Some short backyard time, some lounging on the couch and it was time for the little ones to go down. I am planning on sitting with my book a bit more (almost 300-pages in) and then hoping that tonight’s rest will make me more useful tomorrow. I volunteer at David’s class tomorrow so I will need to be solid.
Hope your weekend was great!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Jake covered for me so I could take a long nap in the middle of the day.
2. I am grateful that Nathaniel doesn’t actually seem to be sick. He was all well even at bedtime.
3. I am grateful that even though I was too tired to do anything today, I didn’t have anything crucial due and i have a great book to curl up with, what more do i really need?
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. getting ice cream during dinner
2. watching some tv
3. getting my old markers (we had a bag put away, he wanted them back)
I don’t have a huge todo list for this weekend. I had a few things I wanted to make sure to get done and I finished the most time consuming one. Or at least the one I was most worried about. I can now relax and read the rest of the weekend. We started the morning with a bunch of reading exercises. We’re on lesson 76 and it’s amazing the amount and kind of progress he’s made. He really can pretty much read at this point. It’s stunning.
In the middle of the day, David decided he wanted to stop playing Wii and play soccer outside. Of course it only took Nathaniel seconds to join him. So I took the chance to grab my camera and snap photos.
Nathaniel took a while to get the hang of it but he enjoyed himself the whole time.
We kept cheering him to take the ball to David. Go, Nathaniel go. To David.
He totally got it.
But then David would throw it back out and he’d get so upset.
And then there were two balls and he got even more confused. He sat down and thought for a long time, and then picked them both up at the same time. Cutie pie that he is! I snapped my closeup of course.
Jake went to get us some light lunch and we all ate together. Then he played Wii with David while I worked on my minibook. Nathaniel walked around and made a huge mess and gave his dad regular hugs. Dinner, bath, hugs, milk and it was bedtime for the little ones. I finished my mini and after this I plan to spent some hubby time and then bed with my book. I’m only on page 103 of a 975 page book. Long long long time to go. My goal was to finish it this weekend but I am thinking it’s not likely.
All in all, wonderful day.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that the kids love the soccer post and have been playing so much.
2. I am grateful that I finished my mini and I love it. I love doing these artsy minis.
3. I am grateful for some cuddle time coming up with my amazing, awesome husband. I am so in love with him.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. doing reading lessons with mommy
2. playing wii
3. playing soccer outside
These photos were actually taken last night as Jake put together the soccer goal he bought for the kids.
They had almost as much fun putting it together as they did playing.
But playing was a lot of fun for both, I foresee many happy days in our future.
I have some closeup shots of the boys today. Those are always my favorite.
Those piercing eyes.
The hugs and love.
Crying for food.
Laughing.
Looking angelic.
And cleaning up. There’s a lot of cleaning up all day thanks to the little boy.
We spent our night doing the moonlight walk. More on this soon. In the meantime I am wiped and off to bed.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a wonderful family walk in the moonlight.
2. I am grateful that I got to see the moon rise tonight. I’ve never seen that in my life before.
3. I am grateful for the good ache in my legs. The one that comes from moving my body.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. making my minnie mouse puppet at school
2. going on the moonlight walk
3. sitting next to maya on the bus
I love color but white flowers have a special spot in my heart.
This morning Nathaniel wouldn’t take his nap on time. Thankfully Jake was picking up David so I could let Nathaniel go to sleep later than usual and then I had to wake him up or he was going to go past his bedtime. When he wakes up he has the wonderfully angelic look with flushed cheeks and so much happiness radiating from him. So I snapped some photos right then.
So happy.
And then I snapped some of David when he came, too.
So so so love those eyes.
Good day over all. Lots of work, some scrapping (and not white but kraft page even!) and a lot of dozing while trying to stay awake. Can’t believe this week’s over almost. Went by too quickly.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful sitting here and listening to my boys running and playing soccer in the backyard with their daddy. Giggling.
2. I am grateful that I finished my layout and paid the taxes. I always get sad paying the property taxes but then remember how lucky I am to have a home.
3. I am grateful for a little time out tonight with a mom from David’s school. It’s not pure fun but it’s still time outside.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. making my johnny appleseed cup (they made a pot with seeds)
2. playing soccer with daddy
3. getting to see maggie’s ladybugs
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projects for twenty twenty-five
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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