PROJECT LIFE 2015 | WEEK OF 4/13-4/19.

 Still loving this weekly documentation.  Keeping it super simple is what's most important in getting these pages completed.  I spend approximately 2 hours a week on this project.  That includes printing my photos from home, rounding the corners with a Fiskars Corner Squeeze Punch.  

This is the week of:  4/13-4/19.

Remember, I keep my album super simple.  Just photos and words.  Not a lot of extra embellishments because I love a clean look and it cuts out a lot of time I don't have.  I'd rather spend that extra time blogging my process and sharing my layouts so hopefully I can inspire others to do this simple form of weekly documentation.

 Left side of the album.

Right side of the album.

My daughter participates in track at her high school.  I'm blessed that her coach takes photos and shares them on the internet when I can't be there.  Her teams scores are posted on a website, where I can cut and paste them into Photoshop and then print them to 4x6 and slip it into a pocket.

 I'm a huge fan of adding journaling directly on top of the photo when I feel it's necessary.

 Tools used:  Studio Calico printable journal cards.  Badge buttons found here. 

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins.   I use photos, text and stuff to document our life weekly. 

PROJECT LIFE 2015 | WEEK OF 4/6-4/12.

I'm so glad I transitioned  back to the weekly documentation with this album.  I love taking photos and telling the stories that go along.

 This is the week of:  4/6-4/12.

The main thing that keeps me working on this album, is keeping it super simple.  Photos and words.  I don't add any extra embellishments because I like a clean look.  

Left side of the album.

Right side of the album.

Using white space to add text directly onto is one of my favorites.

McKenzie ran in the Pear Blossom Run and I saved her bib.  I folded it just a bit and tucked it into a 5x7 sheet protector.  The bottom photo is the reverse side of her bib.  

Tools used:  Studio Calico printable journal cards.

 Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins.  I use photos, text and stuff to document our life weekly.

DEAR 10 YEAR OLD CALLIE.

Dear Callie,

You are turning 10 on Friday. 

Your life has been a roller coaster of emotions that I have had to deal with or I should say our family has had to deal with. It's had many ups and downs. I've cried, I've laughed, I've felt terrified and numb at times for what your life will be like in another 10 years. But most of all you have taught me how to love in a way I never thought I could. 

My one wish for you is that you grow into a young women who learns to be confident and proud of who you are. I hope you learn to navigate this crazy world we live in with grace and dignity and confidence that will keep you growing and learning at your perfect pace and I'll do my best to keep up. I pray that one day you will be able to find love with someone who will treat you with respect and love you for the beautiful person you are. I'm proud to be your Mama and I'm marveling at you everyday and loving the blossoming star, who will someday outshine us all. 

Yours forever, 
Mama

I'M A LITTLE OBSESSED WITH MAKING MOVIES NOW.

So I succeeded with my first video and now I want to make more.   Part One didn't quite cover her entire tour, so I continued where she left off.

I hope you're a Pharrell Williams fan because I'm pretty sure this one is going to make you "HAPPY."

Enjoy!

The entire video was shot using the iSupr8 app on my iPhone then put together and set to music in iMovie.  Song my Pharrell Williams.

Cannot wait to give this app more use on some upcoming adventures.

CALLIE'S BACKYARD TOUR & A HIGH FIVE FOR iMOVIE 10.0

My Mac updated iMovie months ago and it's been forever since I played with the new version.  It took a little time learning how to navigate the program, but with a little bit of help from YouTube videos and Google I figured it out.  Insert high five here because I'm not to techy but I'm learning.  I recently heard this song "Magic" by Rabbit and now I have it playing on repeat in iTunes.  I also found this super cool app for my iPhone called iSuper8 (I think it's available for Android users) and now I feel like making some super cool videos and playing around with iMovie.

Callie wanted to give me a tour around our house the other day, so I thought this would be the perfect time to take video.

I turned off the volume in the video so you could only hear the music and not her talking in the background.  I wasn't so sure I could accomplish this but insert another high five here for figuring this one out too.

Now go pour yourself your favorite beverage and unwind to this cute 3 minute video.

5 LITTLE TOMATO PLANTS.

When I got home from work, these 5 little tomato plants were sitting on our porch.

Matt went to the grange and purchased:

1 - Pineapple Tomato
1 - Sungold
2 - Celebrity plants &
1 - Purple Cherokee

We've never grown the Pineapple variety before but I here they are supposed to be pretty sweet to the taste.

Around here, it's still been pretty cold.  As a matter of fact, we had a dusting of snow the other day.  Matt's building a temporary greenhouse to cover our little plants until the weather warms up.  That probably won't be until mid to late May.

I'm really looking forward to our second growing season in our garden.

YOU GOT THIS.

I've been up since 5am and I really should be napping right now.  I tried to lay down around 1:30pm but the noise from the television (because my husband is watching the Masters) and my youngest daughter is coughing every few seconds because she has a cold and I have these very long winding thoughts in my head that I need to write down before I forget.   So... here it goes...

Let's go back to around 2015 when my oldest daughter was 5 years old.  My husband and I wanted her to get involved in a sport.  We both thought soccer would be a good fit for her, so we signed her up on a team at our local YMCA.  I remember her being super excited that she could hardly stand the wait for her first practice.  That first practice came and I was so happy to be in the background with camera in hand taking pictures and cheering her on.  And then it happened.  That soccer ball was kicked in her direction and she ran.  Not towards it but away from.  So terrified that it was going to hit her in the face.  She finished the season and got a medal for participation.  You know... every kids a winner and they all get medals.  She was just so happy to be part of a team.

We signed her up for soccer the next couple of years thinking she would toughen up a bit.  You see, when it comes to the game of soccer, you have to be a little aggressive.  You have to run to that ball, you have to want to kick that ball away from the other team so you can score that goal.  My poor girl was still so terrified that ball was going to hit her that she would run away from the soccer ball.  Not a good winning tactic when it comes to the game of soccer.

My husband and I decided that soccer was just not going to be her thing.  In fact, any competitive sport where there was a ball involved was not going to be her thing and we were o.k. with that.

Let's fast forward to 5th grade.  In the spring, her school introduced a new track program for any fourth and fifth grader who wanted to participate.  I thought, that sounds like a good fit for her because there's no physical contact with a round object.  So, she started running.  And she loved it.  That girl loved running laps around that school track.  It wasn't a legal sized track but that didn't matter to her.  She had such a fierce competitiveness to run as many laps around that track as she could.  And this mom and dad were thrilled that she had found her sport.  When she lined up with all her team mates and that gun went off that signaled she could start, she was off.

She signed up for track when she was in the fifth grade and she loved it just as much.  She had that desire to run as many laps around that track as she could.  With each meet, she wanted to improve her time.  She had that desire to win and her mom and dad were so proud of her when she crossed that finish line.

Let's flash forward again to when she entered 6th grade.  Her school offered cross country and track and she was ready to run.  She got her first sports physical and I signed all the permission papers to get her registered and bought her a good pair of running shoes.  She still had that fierce competitiveness to do her personal best.  Her coach would take them on 3 mile runs so her team could build their endurance.  She was tired and out of shape from a long hibernation of not running.  Every day she got stronger.  Every day her time would improve.  Every day she could hardly wait to tell us her running story of the day.  She was excited.

She continued running throughout her middle school years.   That would be 6th, 7th, and 8th grade for Ashland.  She loved it.  She had a passion for running.  She had that desire and fierceness in her to do her personal best.  Long distance running had become her "thing."

A few months ago I asked my daughter if she wanted to compete in the Pear Blossom Run. "Heck yeah!" she said.  Let's do this!  And so, I signed her up for the 5K.  I picked up her first race bib the other day and pinned it on the front side of her favorite running shirt.  My husband picked it up a few years ago and on the front it says "VICTORY."  Very appropriate don't you think?  It looks really small on her now but she loves it.  I have a feeling that girl is going to wear that shirt until it won't fit over her head anymore.

We arrived a half hour early.  The race started at 7am and I wanted her to have time to  warm up.

There were over 1,300 participants for this race and I wanted her to have a good start.  So, I had her get as close to front of the line as she could.  I wanted to be able to see her take off amongst the crowd of people that filled the starting line.

She was all warmed up.  "You got this" I told her.  She was ready for that gun to go off so she could do what she loves to do.  The gun went off and she was gone.

I knew it would take her about 20 minutes to finish this race.  I was so nervous for her.  I watched the clock with anticipation.  10 minutes.  Ok, she's about half way here.  15 minutes. my heart was racing.  17 minutes and the first runner crossed the finish line.  In fact, the first runner was a young man from her school.  A 15 year old crushed through that ribbon at 0:17:59.  I was so proud of that young man.  So proud it was one of her team mates from her school.  20 minutes and I could barely stand myself as I watched the flood of runners cross the finish line.  And there she was.  I saw her with her "VICTORY" shirt and I cheered her on with tears in my eyes because that was my girl.  That was my girl who had found her passion.  That was my girl who had found her nitch.  As she crossed the finish line, the announcer (who happens to be her coach, how cool is that) said her name, "MCKENZIE MOORE FROM ASHLAND HIGH SCHOOL" and I was flooded with emotion.    She finished at 0:22:49 and I was so proud of her.  She finished 65th out of 1324 runners.  Not to shabby for a 15 year old and I was one of the happiest mothers around filled with such pride for a girl who is growing into a young women who loves to run.

She said she was satisfied with her run.  She said she didn't hit her personal record but she was so happy to have participated in her first Pear Blossom Run.

You go girl, because "you got this."   I will always be there to cheer you on.

Love,
Mom

PROJECT LIFE 2015 | WEEK OF 4/1-4/5.

I have been missing the weekly documentation of this album.  Lately I've just been collecting my favorite photos with journaling for an entire month at a time.  This kind of story telling is so flexible and I can make this album be whatever I want it to.  

This is the left side of my album.  Keeping it super simple and I would have to say I can journal and print photos from home and complete this layout in about 45 minutes.  It totally satisfies my creative self.

And this is right side of my album.  The 3x4 cards came from Studio Calico printable journal cards.  I'm loving these lately and I'm so happy they've made them available in digital format.

PROJECT LIFE 2015 : MARCH.

This year, I'm taking a less traditional approach to Project Life.  My process includes documenting the photos that mean the most to me for each month and then including words to complete my layout.

Here's a complete look at my layout for the month of March.

Here's a closer look at the left side.  I used the Project Life Photo Pocket Pages Design F.

Here's a closer look at the right side.  I used Project Life Photo Pocket Pages Design A.

I used the downloadable Project Life cards from the Studio Calico Odyssey kit.  Can't seem to find the link for that but here's a link to the physical kit.

I also used Ali Edwards downloadable 3x4 cards from the Great Story kit.

I can't even begin to describe how cute that face is.  That's our guinea pig, Brownie.

The 3x4 "currently card" was from the Project Life Seafoam edition, which is no longer available.  If you have any questions about this layout, just shoot me a message and i'll be more than happy to answer.