Thursday, September 29, 2011

Inspiration hits!

I've thought about scrapbooking a lot lately. I've kept up with my Project Life diligently. However, inspiration to do an 'actual' page has been escaping me. I've spent countless hours staring at my photos but not really finding anything spectacular that hadn't already been documented in some form in my Project Life until... I stumbled upon a photo from last year taken in the same exact location I had photographed my kids just a few months ago. This year's photo is posted on my Week 18 here 

Here is the resulting layout using some stuff from Flergs and some stuff from Ali Edwards. Life is good all over again!

I love how I was able to include the growth lines on the side. I made sure that both photos were the exact same scale before putting them side by side to do my 'virtual measuring stick'. (In PSE I stacked them and then lowered the opacity of the top photo in order to see through it while resizing the other to match.)

Happy Scrapping!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Project Life: Week 19 (6/12-6/18)

Changed it up a bit this week and used another piece of the Build A Bear ad featured in last week’s post as the week opener. When it came in the mail, I knew exactly what I was going to use it for and was even more excited when it fit!
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School’s Out!
The long awaited and anticipated first week of Summer is finally here. We are in full swing with playdates, sleepovers, s’mores & sleeping in. Looking forward to some fun time with the kiddies & the sun. 
Summer enjoyed her very first campout in Brooke’s backyard. The two of them slept in a tent by themselves all night long. Pretty cool stuff…I don’t know where she got the camping gene? Not from me! *Sleeping under the *STARS*
I {heart} my Teenage Boy
It seems he’s growing up & getting taller by the minute. He has quite an entertaining personality. Just when I can barely see the little boy inside the ‘man’ he’ll do something adorable & silly just for me {love this kid!}
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My weekly visit to the dry cleaners…
Love this little tag that came on some shorts. It even had a little square printed on it that just begged for a cute photo and this one of my son is perfect!
This week was all about getting Bryce ready for Boy Scout camp. Fitting everything in his pack was quite a task! Let’s hope he has everything he needs! /{below} Summer sunbathing with Ashley & Allison
Summer & I went to see Mr. Poppers Penguins with Jim Carrey. He’s hilarious and certainly did not disappoint.
After seeing Bryce with his backpack on, I’m so glad it was a camping trip and not a hiking trip!
Don’t you just love the Andy Warhol pop art photo of Bryce – the debonair attitude he had when he asked me to snap the photo just begged for a special photo treatment :-)
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Another week of life captured, life is good :-)

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Project Life: Week 18 (6/5-6/11)

Week 18 and I’m still here! Whew, well as you can tell I’ve gotten quite a bit behind, but that’s only on the blogging part. I still am totally in love with my Project Life. It’s keeping me centered in the everyday and is definitely taking care of the urge to scrapbook. (Possibly a little bit too much as I haven’t really done much other scrapbooking). But I’m ok with that for now.

  • Empty laundry baskets equal laundry done! :-)
  • (19) Anniversary wishes & breakfast in bed
  • Wishing my sneakers could provide motivation
  • The puppy love continues
  • Yummy lunch at Katherine’s
  • More puppy love

 

We enjoyed dinner together at Pancho Villas to celebrate the many awards both kids received. A’s & B’s all around! Go Bryce & Summer. We are so proud of both of you! Love Mommy & Daddy

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So proud of our creative little girl for getting the Art Award for the second year in a row!

{Adorable dressed up puppy is from a Build A Bear ad}

Fun times on our progressive playdate with Ben & Alex. We went from the bouncy house, to the McDonald’s playland, wandered around Michael’s craft store for a bit and then back to our house to let the fun continue for the kids and the adults!

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As you can see, I still keep my supplies at the ready right on my desk and that is helping me keep up.

School’s out for summer – yippee! Let the fun begin :-)

Insert not shown can be viewed here regarding some medical issues Bryce has been having.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

I was kidnapped yesterday…

It was for my birthday and my two great friends, Julie & Katherine, made my day incredibly awesome. It started immediately after getting the kids on the bus. A beautiful white limo, disguised as a mini van showed up in my driveway at precisely 8:30 am. The only instructions I had been given in days prior were clear your calendar for Friday, September 23rd, make sure your husband can get Summer off the bus and dress casual. I followed all instructions, and when my smiley chauffeur picked me up, I was ushered into the car and the first thing I saw was this on the passenger side floor.

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Not that I had any doubts, but I knew immediately that this was going to be a special day indeed. I was then given a choice of breakfast locations (much to my delight because in the excitement of the morning I had only remembered to walk the dog, but not eat breakfast!). We ended up at Panera and were greeted there by the heavenly scent of fresh baked bread. After ordering a yummy sounding sandwich of bacon, egg & cheese on a ciabatta we looked around for a booth to sit in, but unfortunately they were all taken. Katherine took it upon herself to take one of the comfy chairs from the sitting area and have me perch upon it at our table as if I were royalty. What a great feeling to receive the red carpet treatment!

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The breakfast sandwich was delicious as promised and the mango tea warmed my belly in preparation for a fun day ahead. The rain didn’t dampen our fun, although as I was told later it did provide a great deal of stress for my poor friends because the original plan was for us to spend the day having a picnic at the beach. Our next stop was the mall, I was completely in the dark as to our true destination until I was ushered into a quaint little nail salon and they announced that we would all be having spa pedicures. AAAAAAAHHHHHH :-) Is all I can say about that. We had great fun picking out polish colors and listening to the employees chat in Vietnamese as we enjoyed our massage chairs and the pampering that ensued.

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It was mostly relaxing except for the part where they brushed the bottom of our feet as both Katherine & I are very ticklish. We howled and laughed and contorted our faces and laughed some more until the requisite brushing was finished and we could get onto the business of enjoying ourselves. I begged Katherine not to video tape me and put it on You Tube. She acquiesced but managed to snap this photo anyway.photo-4

I appear to be in the midst of torture, but I assure you it was all worth it in the end. We were all happy with the service and vowed to return. We’ve tried many places before and each of us didn’t like something about it so this was a feat unto itself :-) The prospect of pretty toes is enough to make any girl smile and we were certainly no exception. If the day had ended here I would’ve been perfectly content, but that was just the beginning.

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After leaving the spa I was told there was still more to come and I still had no idea where we were going. They surprised me at every destination, I truly had no idea what they were up to next. About two miles before we reached our next destination, they had me close my eyes until we arrived. At the grand unveiling I realized, although it was pouring, we were indeed at a beach. I gasped as I saw the big expanse of water, some fisherman off the shore line, and 4 beautiful white swans. They had thought of everything and managed to bring me to the beach despite Mother Nature’s best efforts to thwart them.

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It’s certainly hard to appreciate the view based on this photo and I’d love to go back when it’s not raining cats and dogs in order to appreciate it more. The thought was definitely heartwarming. I LOVE water. Living where I do, I get to feeling a bit landlocked often, as the ocean is 3 hours away. But this spot on the bay was a perfect respite for my water-loving soul :-)

Silly me thought that this was just a short visit to enjoy the view for a little bit and then we’d be on our way and then they both began rattling around in the car for stuff. Out came the cooler…

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and then Katherine started preparing the food, here she is with a cutting board and knife, chopping up some delicious Honey Crisp apples…

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and then came the cheese and crackers and before you know it we had our own little picnic going on in the car, with a great view of the water!

 

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After we nibbled on our picnic spread I was asked if I had saved room for dessert! Really, there’s more?! I was astounded, and then speechless when this delightful, homemade display was handed to me.

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And to make your mouth water, here’s a closer look :-)

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Oh my goodness – homemade chocolate covered strawberries and Ghiardelli chocolate homemade brownies – I didn’t dare ask if it could get better than this! They of course tasted as divine as they looked. As so as not to miss a moment of making this special…

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I was given my own faux-glass platter with an arrangement of strawberries just for me and to top it all off a pink candle to blow out and make a wish! I think if I had smiled any more at this moment that the bottom half of my face would’ve fallen off!

We thoroughly enjoyed our dessert and then changed venues once again and went to see the movie Contagion. It was a little slow in parts, but overall a really good movie. Little did I know that we were just doing that to kill time until the Oktoberfest at the Blue and Gray Brewery started. So once again I was informed to close my eyes and we made the last turn off so I could be surprised again. This time Mother Nature won as the event was outside under a tent and it was cold and the parking lot was full of water. So after standing in puddles in our sandals we decided to go someplace at little more comfortable.

We ended up at The Chatterbox and had some great food (I got the nachos that I woke up craving for some odd reason) and we had a few drinks and more than a few laughs. What a great day, with my great friends. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making my day feel so special.

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Not willing to let the fun end, we all got together at Katherine’s to watch a chick flick called Life as We Know It which was great warm-fuzzy kind of movie. Katherine’s husband. who makes the best guacamole in the world, whipped us up a batch to munch on with some chips while we watched the movie. Julie actually managed to stay awake the whole time, so that was a plus as well. A great way to end a great day.

I may not actually be royalty, but yesterday I felt like I was. It truly was a red carpet experience from beginning to end.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

On days I workout...

I feel stronger
I stand taller
I accomplish more
I set a good example for my kids
I am proud of myself
I am happy
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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

A B C - D S L R ?

My love of taking pictures and documenting our lives has caused me to start fantasizing about having a better camera. Don't get me wrong, I love the camera my hubby got me four years ago (the 28,000+ photos can attest to that)...but a girl can dream and drool, can't she? :-)


Saturday, September 3, 2011

I feel the earth move under my feet

1:51 pm Tuesday 8/23 - the whole house started shaking and we panicked. I didn't know what to do so I grabbed the kids and the dog and ran in the basement. I guess it was the tornado warnings of the past that prompted me to do so. Thankfully, the earthquake did not crumble my house...if it did I would have been successful at getting my whole family crushed (not a good thing to think about). So now we know what to do in the future - go outside!

1:51 pm A 5.8 earthquake rattled my house and my nerves (epicenter 30 miles away)
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2011/se082311a/

Two aftershocks of 2.8 and 2.2 that I didn't even feel. I thought it was over

4.2 Aftershock or another quake? Confusion as I've never been through this before
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/last_event/states/states_virginia.php

Summary of quakes on 8/23 and consequential aftershocks. I became obsessed with checking this site every hour for the first few days. Then Mother Nature gave me something else to worry about... Hurricane Irene. Fortunately that wasn't nearly as bad and we had some warning to prepare.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/US10/32.42.-85.-75_eqs.php

Now I jump everytime a door slams or there is a loud noise in the neighborhood. I wouldn't never make it in California! What a week!