WItL - Day 2 - Spring 2012

The kids in Daddy's car. He usually takes them to school. (He usually picks them up too, but I did that today.)

Today was an uplifting day. I got word that the San Francisco doctors were not convinced that my brother's MRI results showed growth in the tumors and that they are hopeful they can manage the tumors. This is refreshing, happy news.

After work, I picked up the kids. We got drinks at Sonic and went to "the new park." On our way there, Sawyer told Rosalind - without prompting - that he thinks she is beautiful. I asked him what he said, and he said, "I don't want to tell you." He is such a sweet boy, and this moment made my day.

The big story of the day is that our good friend Adam Whatley won Teacher of the Year for the Carson City School District. This makes me very happy: He is very deserving. Before the school board meeting, I went to dinner with Sharon and Terri. It was exciting to hear his name called. Too bad he couldn't be there for the announcement; he is taking kids to the international robotics competition.

Song of the day: "Brand New Shoes" by the Lazy Eights.

Rosalind brought home a cabbage plant for a school competition.

When I picked Sawyer up from school, all the kids were outside playing.

Sawyer's flower for spring decorations.

Enjoying climbing.

A refreshing Sonic drink - $3 for all three of our drinks.

"Who's there?"

But Rozzie climbs it!

Doesn't she look like a big kid here?

The two Macy girls.

Sharon, Terri and me at my favorite restaurant - The Basil. Going to dinner with my girlfriends is one of my favorite activities. I wish I had more time to do it more often.

Adam's family waiting listening to Mr. Beck talk about Adam. Adam's dad helped him a lot with the robotics team (call Brobotics).

Adam's video saying hello.

Terri receiving her husband's award for him.

Sharon and I were thrilled to hear a previous student Julie was Classified of the Year for Student Support Services. Julie demonstrated her maturity and command over language when she accepted her award.

Week-in-the-Life 2012: Day 1

So I am following along with Ali Edward's week-in-the-life project. I won't have time to scrapbook it for a while, since my master's program is pretty heavy right now. So I decided to use this space for my temporary scrapbook. I wasn't sure if I should post this here or on my reflective blog, but since this is really a form of scrapbooking, it seemed to fit here better.

Journaling:

The main story for today is Rosalind's piano recital. After I went to the dentist and worked out, we went to Tito's for dinner. Since it was her special night, she got to pick the restaurant. She normally gets grilled cheese there, but tonight she got a taco.

Rosalind played very well at the recital. We are so very proud of the hard work she's put into the piano, and she has a special talent for playing music by ear. Sawyer was very tired, so Jason took him home before the recital was over. Rosalind and I decided to go out for a special treat. She picked Dairy Queen. The two of us split a cookie/brownie ice cream sundae. I really cherish having that one on one time with her.

One Year Birthday Card from Sketch

I made today's card from a sketch from Unscripted Sketches. The final card didn't turn out quite as I wanted.

What am I saying? This was one of those don't-plan-just-design-as-you-cut-and-glue projects. It's not my favorite card, but it was too much fun to create. I was trying to make the balloons look like they were all floating at different heights, but the end result looks like I just didn't line one of them up quite right. Makes me chuckle. Anyway, less talking, more imaging:

A New Card Sketch Site

I have recently discovered some new card sketch sites that I added to my blog reader. One of my favorites is Card Positioning Systems. After having received my new order of stamps in the mail, I quickly went to work using one of their sketches, CPS 234. I wasn't pleased with my first attempt, but I was somewhat satisfied with this one:

Happy crafting, everyone.

Summer Crafting Update

I always expect to get more crafting done during the summers than I do. It's part of life, I guess. I have finally decided to table sewing as a hobby for a few years. When new hobbies come on board, something has to go. Let's face it: too many projects, too little time. I know this is the same for most people.

Nevertheless, I did have some creative fun this summer. Here is a sampling:

 Roz and I made a seascape box for her dolls.

 Roz designed a card for a friend. The top is the front; below is the inside. She even designed the dog. I love it!

 I had fun playing with Elmer's glue to make a crackle paint background for this card.

 Yummy margarita coconut cupcakes. Various cards below.

 Some of the tie-dying we did. It was a fun afternoon, although I wouldn't recommend using a color remover for a reversal technique. Bleach would probably be better. The color remover creates fumes.

Loving the colors. Hope you have some creative play time soon.

More ICAD

Well, I haven't been keeping up with the card-a-day, but I am not in the slightest bit concerned. I have enough on my plate. Still, I have been playing with the 3X5 cards, and the other night I gessoed up a bunch so they are ready to go. Here are some of the ones I did:

 For the above card, I just wanted to play with my colored pencils. Nothing crazy. I was thinking about the woman who has taken care of our son for the last two years. We really appreciate the love and car she gave our little guy. They bonded, so the goodbye has been hard.

 Playing with a new stamp and my new Stayz-On ink pad.

Just doodling.

Overwhelm

I spent almost my entire day thinking about education - developing materials for my class, participating in a school improvement meeting, and meeting with Milton Chen. All of this, the evening meeting with the educational guru Chen especially, got me really excited about educational innovation and about my classroom next year. Although it is all very exciting, it is also overwhelming at the same time. Hence, today's card.

This card is definitely very cheesy, but it's art journaling at its journalingist. (Yes, it is a word now, thank you very much.) To me, art journaling is about the process, not the final product, although I often like my final products.