Project Life {Weeks 5-8}

Hello.
I promise to post more than just my project life pages, such as Lo 7.0, Easter, MWs first soccer "game" and just general catch-up things. However, my focus is trying to catch-up on my scrapbooking. I have said this 100x but this is just one of my main priorities to stay on top of, so a lot of other things get put on the back burner, while I am on project scrapbook catch-up.

So without further ado PL2016



First gymnastics meet.











Someone turned 7 this week.


I have always wanted to make videos on how I scrapbook and how I get it accomplished quickly, stay on task etc...hopefully I can get that going sometime soon. I know I find myself watching lots of different youtube videos learning tons of great ideas from organization to just daily living.

I am really loving my process this year and after nearly 7 years of digital scrapbooking I feel like I finally found the perfect system and flow. Insert praise hands.

Coming soon scrapbooking videos.

Project Life 2016 {week 1-4}

Project Life 2016 edition has commenced.

This past Christmas I spent weeks making a book called Kids Say the Darnedest Things. It was a dream of my to compile of the funny, crazy, witty things my kids had said over the years into one easy to read place. It was a feature on my blog once upon a time when I blogged routinely. Once I finished that little project to give as gifts to the GPs I found my old project life scrapbook that I had never taken the time to print. Persnickety Prints was running a promo for their little 5x5 books and so I decided to go ahead and print the PL2013 book as a 5x5. I fell in love with it and it inspired me to do PL once again. {Which I will show you sometime in the future}.

And after 7 years of scrapbooking I think I may have come up with the perfect system. PL PLUS detailed and focused pages. Now with Instagram I have so many fun memory photos but they just get lost...now they go in my PL spread and if a more focused event occurs during that week that gets its own spread. I am hoping this new system will keep me caught up and make for a more well-rounded scrapbook of our story...of course it is week 10 and I am way back on week 5.


Here are the pages thus far:

Week 1 and 2




Week 3












Week 4


I am hoping by posting these it will keep me motivated to finish the year strong.

Anyone else love doing PL? What is your system?

Happy Birthday MW and Lo! {Party Style}

Hello.
I am back to share about MW's Fifth Birthday and Lo's 7th {early} birthday party.
I decided on a joint party because two different family parties within weeks of one another is a lot of work for me and our schedules. Thankfully they don't seem to mind.

Lo went low key this year with just brownies. I asked if she wanted anything special on it and she kept saying "No, just brownies and ice cream." Thankfully I found this cute little bunting at Target to dress them up a tad, along with a name candle. She was thrilled. I love you baby girl for being so simple and easy!!

Next up was MW's cake. He requested spiderman. He wanted a red cake with a web, but I didn't realize that no matter how much red dye you add to white frosting you still get pink! Apparently I learned later that you have to buy a special red dye to get the desired red...who knew...cake people that's who. Thankfully MW was so sweet and said "That's ok mom, I still love it! Thank you for trying." Oh my sweet boy and THAT is why I love you. Your tender and understanding heart.

I have to include this--we ran to Dollar Tree a few days before the party for supplies and we saw these balloons. I mean how do you say No to a $1 balloon for the birthday kids? You don't. So we were talking about his party and the following transpired--

Touche buddy. This kid cracks me up. His wit is on point like his father. 

{Shhhh don't tell Chad I said that. ;) }

On a side note---we still have Lo's balloon going strong a whole month later. Her real birthday is on the 15th. We wanted to see if it makes it. So dollar tree balloons are where it's at for future reference.

The party consisted of family going out to eat at Chick-Fil-A, a little play place fun; finishing off with cake/brownies/ice creams and gifts at home. The party stage is set.

These two are just two really great kids. I couldn't feel more blessed.

Ready to sing Happy Birthday!

This boy was surprisingly not interested in cake, only presents---actually I am not at all surprised. He loves to get gifts. I feel like he gets a "high" from receiving stuff. He could care less what it is, just that he gets something...

Now this girl loves gifts, but she {mostly} cherishes what she gets. When she wants something you know she really wants it. Like this puppy dog. Last year, she wanted another Our Generation tiny puppy. I said not right now, for your birthday. Well, when her birthday rolled around it was out of stock--EVERYWHERE! She was heart-broken. She eventually found another one she liked just as well. Fast forward this year she finds another Our generation puppy she really wants. I said no, we need to wait for your birthday...only this time I got smart and had Chad distract her while I sneaked it to the checkout. Over the month she would go and check on her dog at Target---he was gone. She was so sad---and then this happened on her birthday!!  She couldn't believe I "found" her dog...well, let's just say baby I learned a lesson last year.

The carnage...they made out like bandits. 

Playing Legos with Auntie Meg. 

Lo made MW these worksheets. Such as tracing his name, a color by numbers and a connect the dots. She is just so clever and sweet. 

Back to MW and his love of getting stuff. He wanted this Jake Skull Rock/Ship thing we found at Tuesday Morning. He begged for it. I said no--maybe for your birthday. Unlike Lo I knew he wouldn't be disappointed if it were gone. He moves on to the next thing like a butterfly. But as his birthday rolled around he asked again--I really tried to say "no." I knew he wouldn't play with it. So we got it. He doesn't play with it. Look for it in my garage sale for $5. ;) And now I learned another lesson about trusting my gut. HA!

We have very limited family time due to crazy work schedules. So when we are together we try to have a game night or movie night. Lo really is into Monopoly. We taught her how to play the adult version--but as you know that takes for-evah to truly complete. So she asked for this for her birthday--the Jr. version. We have spent many an evening playing. She is so good at it and somehow usually wins!

Well that sums up their party. Next Monday on her actually birthday we plan on going out as a family to celebrate more. I just can't believe they are 5 and 7. I can't even handle this. MW is going to Kindy in the fall. Lo is reading Junie B Jones all by herself. Stop growing. 

I love you both so much! Happy Birthday to my two favorite kids!!!

Leighton Turns SIX {Party Time}

This precious baby girl has turned 6.

It's weird.
She is just growing up so fast.
Full of life and passion.
I still have a hard time believing I am a mom. Let alone a mom to two kids.
I remember when she was born thinking when are her parents going to come pick her up, this is the longest babysitting job evah. No one was coming. I was it.
And here we are 6 years later. We have all survived. It is just astounding how one or two little people just change the way you do everything. Being a mom to her-- well it is really all I ever wanted. I prayed so hard for a daughter and I got her.

Moving on...

For her party we kept it low key. I have never really liked big birthday parties too much pressure for me. HA!

The invite also had to be pink with flowers and butterflies.

Leighton may have a future in some kind of design. She is always designing something. She had big dreams for her cake and I think I pulled it off. Her requirements were as follows: Pink, purple, flowers and butterflies. The cake could not be butterfly or flower shaped. I had to have butterflies and flowers on the cake. Tall order for me who has zero cake skills.

So here is the completed cake. She loved it. It was ombre pink flowers with purple sparkle butterflies.

In lieu of a big party, we have been letting the kids pick a fun activity to do as their birthday fun. She choose a trampoline park. The kids and I had a blast. 1 hour of jumping will wear you out!

 Mommy may have had too much fun. Note: don't wear skinny jeans to a trampoline park...yoga pants are a must. :) you are welcome.

 Still got it...mostly...made those little pre-teens take notice. hA!

Then home for pizza and cake...and of course presents.

You would have thought that it was Sarah's {aka the "AG" doll's} birthday. Thankfully since she got some big ticket items the gifts stayed to a minimum. I am so over gifts at this point. The playroom is full and they need nothing.

 The "AG" doll haul!

 Mommy and daddy got her a new gym bar since the one at Christmas was a fiasco. Of course the head monkey has to test it out. Best investment ever. Wish Santa would have just trusted his big ole jolly gut and did that in the first place...

So there's her party in a nut shell.
Now I just need to get her 6 yo interview loaded...but that would require me to download my phone first. Stay tuned.