Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking

Cuteness at 9: 2012 Talent Show

I'm playing along with The Scrapbook Challenges Blog - Sketch #469.

Supplies: We R Memory Keepers, Crate Paper, Dear Lizzy, Heidi Swapp, American Crafts, Basic Grey.

Here's a link to the scrapbook process video that you can find over on You Tube:

 

Sweet Moments

I'm playing along with The Scrapbook Challenges Blog: Sketch Crew Crush Mandi challenge.

Notes:  Sometimes we bring Eevee downstairs during homeschool and today we decided to give her a first taste of milk.  Of course she loved it.  January '16.

 Supplies:  Dear Lizzy, Crate Paper, Shimelle, American Crafts.

Here's a link to the scrapbook process video which  you can find on You Tube:

 

Tribute Scrapbook Part 4: Scrapbooking a Document without a Photo

This scrapbook process video is part of the Creating a Tribute Scrapbook series.  In this video, I put together a scrapbook page using a document only without any photos.  Since it was an important document - in this case, it was the letter home from the Marines in WWII saying that Charlie had been injured - he would later be awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for sustaining injuries during batter - so I felt like it could stand on its own without a photo.

 

I used a copy of the document for the scrapbook - I would never slap stickers on the original.

Do you ever make scrapbook pages of documents?  If you have, I'd love to see what you've made - please leave a link.

Tribute Scrapbook Part 3: Words + Photos Layout "Memo"

We are now at the fun part of making a Tribute Scrapbook:  Making the layouts and I'm making scrapbook process videos in real time as I make the scrapbook pages. 

 

Remember it has been a while since I've been scrapbooking or making videos - it will probably take me a bit to get back into the groove on both fronts.  I'm happy to be back to creating and I'm happy you've stopped by!  Please leave a comment to let me know what you've been up to.

Creating a Tribute Scrapbook Part 2: Selecting and Sorting Photos

The second video in the Creating a Tribute Scrapbook series is up over at You Tube.  This video is all about how I gathered and sorted the photos that I may use for the album.

 

The next several videos will be scrapbook process videos showing me making scrapbook layouts - stay tuned.

 

New Scrapbook Process Video Series: Creating a Tribute Album

My favorite father-in-law - yes, I do only have one father-in-law, but he is still one of my favorite people of all time - passed away on December 30, 2015.  We are hosting his celebration of life this Saturday.   As a scrapbooker and family historian, my mind instantly goes to making a scrapbook for the memorial.  So I decided to create a short series of videos about how I am throwing together a Tribute Album in 4 days.  

Here's a link to the first video which shows how I pulled together the bare bones of the album from scrapbook layouts that I've already made:

 

I hope you will enjoy it and bear with me - it's been several months since I've made scrapbooking videos - or even done any scrapbooking at all - so I'm re-learning all of my video skills - rough as they are.  This video is about an hour but many of the process videos will be lots shorter - so hopefully there will be a little something for everyone's video length preferences.

Thanks for stopping by and please let me know what scrappy things you are up to and whether you have ever made a tribute album.

:) Katie.

P.S.  If you are interested in more family history scrapbooking videos, check out the "Family History Scrapbooking" playlist on my You Tube Channel - here's a link: FAMILY HISTORY SCRAPBOOKING PLAYLIST

Sunday WITL 2015

Today is the last day of Week In the Life 2015 and I wanted to share a comment I left on Ali Edwards' blog: 

"I've been loving the WITL project all week - I've done it in the past - but I think this time has been my favorite. My family has only been mildly annoyed with the photo taking overload this week. Until - just now - I was uploading photos to my own blog to document WITL & my 12 year old daughter came in to see what I was doing and then I showed her my blog posts and then your WITL video and your blog posts and then she said "Awww - now I get it" and then after a few minutes she lit up and said "Mom! When does this end?" And I told her today was the last day. And she said "We have to go take more pictures right now!"

Thanks for all this inspiration this week. It has been awesome."

Today I took lots of pictures for the 7th day in a row.

Today we went to church so Allison could see old friends and her old favorite teacher and afterwards we walked through the graveyard so I could show  her where her great-grandfather is buried.  We actually had church in a different room but I did talk a picture - so I used this old photo from the chapel to bring home the fact that we were at church - I didn't take photos during the service today and the old photo was from a school concert last year.

 

Today she and I have lunch at Lime - her favorite - and she shows me the rap songs she likes on my iPhone.  This week we've taken all of their devices - iphones, ipads, laptops - away so they can get back into the school mode.  We aren't sure how long we'll have the devices on restriction but everyone - even the kids - are on board with this plan.

Today Mac is frustrated about the locked up junk food pantry and fridge.  Allison helps him out with the locks and shows off her Manga drawings.  Later her puts a lock on my bathroom faucet which doesn't at all interfere with how it works.  It is just a little symbol that he's not a fan of the locks.

Today the whole family goes over to the little island in the boat.

Today I manage to get a photo of the whole family with the self timer while we explore the mangroves on the island - there is a tree fort that the kids sometimes go up into - I've set my Canon point and shoot to self timer and put it on one of the ladder slats of wood going up the tree.  We didn't make the fort but someone maintains it pretty well so the kids feel safe going up there - I've never gone up but my sister did when she was here.

Today Jessie is a happy dog - she's been to the island.  We've learned that if we are planning to go out to dinner on the boat - which means she can't come - we have to bring her for a short ride first so she doesn't go pout in her crate - which she once did for an hour after we didn't bring her on the boat - it is very clear that she is sensitive and has feelings - so we are now careful to make sure she gets a ride whenever we take out the boat.

Today she is mastering the art of the rooster tail.

Today she is into posing for pictures.

Today it is a tight squeeze to get into Sea Critters and it is a family effort to dock the boat.

Today we had dinner at Sea Critters - a restaurant I've been going to since 1988 when it was called Mermaids and where we've taken just about everyone in our families - my dad, my grandfather, my mom, her husband, his parents, and on and on and on.  Lately, the prices are higher and the food isn't as good - I used to get a lobster roll here but the last one I had was so underwhelming that I get the salad now.  Even so, we still love it here.  It feels like a tradition when we eat here.

Today he tried to make me laugh - this is his main mission in life.

Today he and I snuggled and held on tight while she drove the boat home really fast - in this photo she's just slowed down because we saw a pod of dolphins near a man and his dog on a paddleboard - and since we do that sort of thing and don't like it when boats go by us fast - she slowed down.

Today we saw the sunset from the boat.

Today she jumped in the pool - he did too but I got a photo of that earlier this week.

Today they played together in the pool - and I tried to get one of those poolside photos like Ali
Edwards takes - but he made a goofy face - which I guess I should just embrace already - notice she is finally on board with this photo taking thing and is smiling.  I don't ask them to smile - I just say "put your faces over here" so I can take a picture - the expressions are all their own choices.

Today I took underwater pictures of Mac - he can stay underwater for so long despite that he has asthma.

Today we ended the weekend with a family swim.  Afterwards Mac played Wii games in his room, Allison drew Manga at the kitchen counter and Charlie and I watched the Bachelor in Paradise.

***

That's all for now on Week in the Life.  I'll hopefully order prints or a photobook this week to put all of these words and  photos into a story book.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Saturday WITL 2015

Saturdays are for sleeping in.  I keep the curtains open so I don't sleep all day long.

Saturdays are for hibernating in your room and watching You Tube videos on the Wii.  Saturdays are for drawing even more Manga.  Saturdays are for watching Simpsons marathons.  Saturdays are usually for scrapbooking - but not this Saturday.

Saturdays are for visits from Grammy.

Saturdays are for kayak rides to the island with Jessie our flat coat retriever.  She couldn't wait to go - the rest of the family said it was too hot out to go - so it was just Jessie and me.

Saturdays are for hanging out on the island - I've been rowing or paddling to this little island for the past 20 years now.  Those big puffy clouds mean we can't stay long - we need to beat the coming storm.

Saturdays are for finding things like driftwood, minnows, tiny horseshoe crabs and peace.

Saturdays are for checking on the backyard plants - birds of paradise, hibiscus, cactus, rosemary - and the spider plant that Mac was given at school at the beginning of 6th grade and he was to turn it in at the end of 8th grade - last year while he was going to school we kept the plant inside and it didn't do well - and then when we started home schooling I put the plant outside and since then it and he have thrived.  (I've got to remember to do a scrapbook layout about that at some point).

Saturdays are for swimming - Jessie's swim is a bit of a forced swim - I make her clean off in the pool after going to the island - she hates it and then goes crazy running around the backyard and rolling in the grass afterwards - it is so funny and so much like our old black lab, Duke.

Saturdays are for underwater photos of my beautiful girl.

Saturday afternoons are for hanging out in this new little seating area that I created at the beginning of the summer.

Saturdays are for checking out what kind of Lego creations Mac has made.

Saturdays are for seafood dinners: stuffed scallops and clams.

Saturdays are for setting the table.

Saturdays are for family dinners.

Saturdays after dinner are for letting Jessie out of the cage, sitting in the backyard with Grandfather, and doing dishes.

Saturday evenings are for bike rides with Grammy and looking up at the puffy clouds which are unusual tonight.  Later Charlie and I watch the movie "This Means War" with Reese Witherspoon.

 

 

 

 

TGIF WITL 2015

Happy that it's Friday!

The story of this photo:  It's been a fairly boring week for this flat coat retriever - no walks (it is still pretty hot for walks - but when it cools off a little more she'll get 1 or 2 daily walks around our island), no boat rides (so far).  She has been pretty successful at begging for chewy bones and at sleeping in Allison's room and sitting on counters and dining room tables.  She is happy that it is almost the weekend since she usually gets a kayak or boat ride over to the little island to explore without a leash and chase minnows and find stinky things to roll around in.   But meantime she's  happy to take naps all over the house.

I got out the "good" camera for some of the photos today - my Canon Rebel that is 10 years old now - please leave a comment if you have an opinion about whether I should upgrade to a more current DLSR?  I'd love to know whether I should keep using the current old one or to ask for a new one for Christmas.

The story of this photo:  Another day, another day of home school.  If I ask him how homeschool is going he'll say "terrible" but if you ask if he wants to go back to regular school he might say "no" or "maybe next year" - if someone else asks him how home school is going he tells them he loves it.  Here, we have just watched the second  hour of the History Channel program "America: The Story of Us - Westward" and I have written down key terms like "Daniel Boone" and the "Erie Canal" and "Lewis and Clark" and he has to describe the terms in a few lines - either from his memory or by using 2 US History texts that we have for home school - one text is the same one that my daughter used in her 5th grade US History class and the other text is geared more for the high school level.  We use both of the books.  He is getting better at looking up things on his own - I am working with him on study skills and note taking this year in home school.  There is progress.  I feel good about that.

The story of this photo:  Using the teacher planner has been a God send for me - I really enjoy having everything in one place and visually being able to track our progress - and not having to make up what we are going to be doing on the day that we do it - I need to sit down with the planner over this weekend and flush out next week's plans.  All that said, I think we only stuck with the hourly schedule on Monday - by Tuesday we were making up our own schedule - and that was just fine with both of us.

The story of this photo:  It rained just about everyday for the last month of summer vacation.  Since school started, it hasn't rained, until today.  Mac stopped for a moment and looked outside and told me to stop too and just look at the rain - "It is so peaceful Mom - I love it when it rains - I wish it would rain harder - just stop (running around cleaning the house in between homeschooling) and look at it for a minute."  And so I did thanks to Mac - my little Budda / Zen Master.

The story of this photo:  I got a typewritten note from Charlie this morning - which reminds me of my Dad who used to write me typewritten notes.  Both of their notes are to the point and slightly abrasive to the untrained eye - but I've learned not to take them personally.  And in a weird way I find them comforting.  Plus, Charlie has a flair for exaggerating that is both annoying and endearing.

The story of this photo:  5 days of the new school and 5 days of me in the car circle line after school - I think this is funny since Charlie made sort of a big deal about him picking up Allison after school - that he likes to do it and that he wanted to do it this year.  And I said ok sure, and so far, it hasn't worked out for him to pick her up after school once.  He does, however, get up super early and drives her to school - which I am more than happy to let him do.  I am not a morning person, he is.

The story of this photo:  She's had another great day at her new school.  She tells me stories about her teachers and new friends and what happens at lunch and recess.   I tell her that her descriptions of her teachers were really accurate - I met them last night at open house.  We talk about why she isn't trying out for volleyball today and will be doing it on Monday instead.

The story of this photo:  I stop at Tuesday Morning to check out the scrapbooking aisle - sometimes I find a million bargains - today is just meh.  Allison hates Tuesday Morning or any kind of discount store (like TJ Maxx or Marshalls) (I tell her she'll start liking them when she starts paying) - she takes a seat and has a snack and patiently waits for me to check out all the bargains.  I leave with nothing.

The story of this photo:  She doesn't mind when I take a selfie in the car - I think she knows that the light is especially good - I think she is completely adorable.  She likes wearing the plaid skorts and is finally happy with them after all of the #skortdrama this week.

The story of this  photo:  An unexpected benefit of homeschooling Mac is that Mac and Allison get along better than ever since we started.  They watch tv together, play video games together and tell each other funny stories.  Today they'll draw manga together.  I love seeing them being friends.  A few years ago they hit a rough spot and fought all the time for a year or two - I was afraid that would be the way they would be - I am so happy that is over and they are friends again like when they were little.

The story of this photo:  Daddy is home for about 2 hours to eat and then he's off again to "band camp" - he's been playing drums with his cousins for several years now - most every Friday night - he brings a snack pack and his drum sticks.  He is getting tired of the same old songs they play and has been talking about starting a new band.

The story of this photo:  After saying goodbye to Charlie, Allison and I walk over next door to Grammy's house in our bare feet.  We have to ring the bell and then wait for several minutes while Grammy figures out how to open the door - since Grandfather Charlie's heat stroke about a month ago she's been keeping the doors locked so he can't get out without her knowing.  She lets  us in and is delighted to have a visit from Allison.

The story of these photos:  We visit with Grammy and Cousin Sally and Allison tells them all about her new school.  Grandfather, with his caretaker, Denise,  have walked next door through the backyard to our house - he thinks that his dead brother TA might live at our house and he comes over to see if he is there.   The water birds are here this time of day for their baloney dinner - they come right up to the backdoor and practically knock. 

The story of this photo:  I picked up this book at the new school open house.  Allison doesn't tell Sally, who is a very vocal born again Christian,  that she's thinking about becoming Jewish - but Allison tells me all about how she'd like to become a Jew.  I tell her we can go to synagogue tomorrow and we watch some videos about how to convert - she says, maybe she'll just go next week and this week she'll be a Lutheran because she misses her old friends - but maybe, also next year she'll get "crucified" (she means confirmed) and become a Catholic.  I tell her she can make her own choices about her religion and God and that if she becomes a Jew I'll have to be even more s-mothery - she likes this idea.   I like the idea that she is learning about many religions and that she thinks about God and her own spirituality.

The story of this photo:  Grammy is 91 years old and she goes for a bike ride every single day - most days Charlie goes, some days I go, and Allison almost never goes so this was a special treat.  Allison sang songs during the ride and Grammy was thrilled to have Allison along for the ride.  We only did 2 miles tonight because Grammy's asthma was acting up.

The story of this photo:  Grammy is an artist and so is Allison - and Allison shares her new drawings with Grammy who is delighted to see them.  She mentions that Billy and Benjamin are into this type of drawing too - and I mention that so is my nephew, River.  I think about how strange it is that Grandfather/Charlie fought against the Japanese in WWII and now his grandchildren are fascinated with that culture.  I also think about all the other artists in our family including my Nana Ruby, Grandpa Allen, and me.

The story of this photo:  Grandfather sits in the backyard swing (the most recent one was made by my husband Charlie) every night to watch the sunset - we notice how many birds are over on the mangroves on the island and see a few dolphin.  We talk about how homeschooling with Mac is going and Sally mentions the concept of "management by walking around" and I tell her that Andy Hines, the former CEO of Florida Power, told me all about that when I used to have dinner with him once a month while I was at Eckerd College and I speak louder to Charlie and say "remember old Andy Hines" and he perks up and says he does remember him - after he got back from WWII, Charlie worked his entire career at Florida Power.   Alzheimer's has made the current stuff hard for Charlie to remember but the olden days stuff is still as clear as a bell in his head so we often talk about the good old days and it is obvious he loves the interaction and feeling like he knows what's going on.

The story of this photo:  Grammy and Grandfather play backgammon every night for the last 30 years  - they've been married for over 70 years - I think maybe 73 years.  Allison performs yoga tricks for Grandfather.  Grammy says goodnight to Denise.  We ask if she wants us to stay for a bit to watch Charlie while she takes a shower - she tells us she's got it under control and he should be going to bed soon.

The story of this photo:  Allison said she wanted to try sushi - which is my favorite dinner - for the first time so we found a sushi restaurant on St. Pete Beach and he loved it - she didn't like the sushi but did like the udon noodles and tempura shrimp and learning how to use chop sticks.  He loved that his can of Coke said "sis".  I loved the wasabi and getting out of the house with my kids.

The story of this photo:  Whenever anyone comes home, Jessie is the first to welcome them.  This is one reason I love having a dog.

The story of this photo:  Mac is a really great artist too - he's enjoying drawing again since we started homeschooling - when he was in regular school he almost never drew or he'd just draw stick figure cartoons - now he draws dimensional figures and  he really loves it.  He's also memorized Twinkle Twinkle.  / We all finish the day watching the movie Zombieland and it is funny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday WITL 2015

I want to remember how much inspiration I'm getting from Ali Edwards' blog.  I think it's been a while since I've really followed a scrapbooking project or class and this is really amazing.  I'm digging it completely.

***

Here's what I want to remember from our Thursday:

I want to remember that having a dog means that I vacuum the house every single day - and that Jessie is afraid of the vacuum - and that Jessie finds comfort in Allison's room even when she isn't here.  The two of them have a special bond.

I want to remember that even though Mac doesn't want to be snuggled most of the time that he likes to be snuggled some of the time and that he desperately wants to be able to snuggle with Jessie - and that Jessie would barely let us touch her when we got her from Florida All Retriever Rescue and that she's come a long way and will tolerate petting and even a tiny bit of snuggling now.  She likes to be near us but she is skittish about truly snuggling or being held down in any way.  But when she feels like you want to pet her, she'll roll over on her back and fold her front paws and let you pet her belly.

I want to remember that this was the summer that he grew to be taller than me and he wants me to know that he can now touch the part of the ceiling that goes down lower than the rest of it - and that he's always wanted to be tall enough to touch this part - even though he wishes he weren't taller than me and he wishes that he could just stay a little boy.

I want to remember that we've made a lot of progress since we started home school last January and that it was a decision that we thought about for years before we made it.  I want to remember to be patient with him and that he is trying really hard since doing school work is an enormous struggle for him despite that he is a naturally very smart kid.

I want to remember that eating breakfast and drinking coffee in the morning prevents migraine headaches in the afternoon.  Although lately, I do get one horrible migraine a month no matter what precautions I take.

I want to remember that everyone in the entire house - even Allison - loves Boar's Head Honey Maple Turkey - and that we go through at least 2 pounds of it every week.  I also want to remember how adorable Jessie is. 

I want to remember to take photos with me in them - even if I don't have any make up on, even if I'm still in my pajamas, and even if I don't like the wrinkles on my forehead or the dark circles under my eyes.  I want to remember to look past my own vanity issues and see the amazing love that my son and I share.  He is amazing and he is full of love.   And I want to remember that this was the photographic proof that he is taller than me.  We had a whole discussion about it.

I want to remember that this was the week that he learned to play Twinkle Twinkle on the keyboards and that I taught him - even though I don't consider myself to be very musical and his Dad is a very accomplished musician.  I also want to remember to get Daddy on board with the lessons in a bit because he can seriously teach the kids so much more about music than I can.

I want to remember that he needs time to chill.  He is an introvert and I don't always understand the way his brain works or that he prefers to just be alone sometimes.  I mean I get it but I don't always remember to really understand it.  I also want to remember that computer and game time is best in small time limited doses with him.  I also want to remember to clean up his room - he has asthma and is especially sensitive to dust.

I want to remember that I actually like car circle - it gives me a deadline to get dressed and made up already, to listen to podcasts and to see my girl.   Today is 4 for 4 for me by the way.

I want to remember that Allison decided to try out for volleyball on her own this year; last year I insisted that they both do team sports - and she ended up loving volleyball - but over the summer she was on the fence about whether she'd do sports this fall and I desperately wanted to insist on it again but I refrained and let her make her own decision.

I want to remember that driving around is a great way to have really excellent discussions with her.  We had to drive to Clearwater to get uniform skorts - there's a whole skort drama this week that I don't necessarily want to remember - but the time with her - today 3 hours in the car - I do want to remember.  Just the two of us.

I want to remember our next door neighbor who has lung cancer, Hospice is here everyday and we understand that it won't be long.  My husband and his parents moved to this neighborhood when he was six and he became best friends with the boy who lived one empty lot over - we now live on the empty lot that my husband and his friend, this woman's son, played on when they were kids.  I've known her for the last 20 years and they've been good neighbors and we are close with the entire family.  It feels like the near end of an era.  This is one of the many roses that her husband grows between the property line.  

I want to remember that these two are polar opposites in every way but that they are also the best of friends.  They both love the shows on Cartoon Network and they bond of these, Minecraft, Wii games, and probably talking about what meanies Daddy and I are.  We aren't actually mean - they just have no idea what mean is actually - I try to tell them about walking uphill to school in the snow and both of them think that sounds awesome.

I want to remember that he is making home school possible.  I worked full time as an attorney since I was 25 years old - so for the past 20 years I've been a full time worker (actually probably more than full time); and I didn't stop working when we had kids, I never really took any maternity time, we've always been able to incorporate the kids into our busy work schedule.  That all came to an abrupt stop last winter when we decided to homeschool Mac and homeschooling is now my full time job.  Charlie keeps the office running and we have a good team but it is no doubt harder without me there.

I want to remember to ask him how his day was even though he almost always answers in the negative.

I want to remember that family dinners at the big table are important - even if we eat on paper plates.

I want to remember that Allison is on her 5th school - here's to hoping that this one is good - I have an optimistic feeling and she adapts to any situation - it's just that the schools where we live aren't all that awesome so private school is sort of necessary.

I want to remember that my baby is now in middle school and this is her very first locker.

I want to remember to stop and look up at the sky and appreciate the clouds - even on a busy day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday WITL 2015

Some days we get to the good gym - today Mac did 8 miles on the bike and I felt good about doing the stepper and weights.

Most days it is still super hot here in August and it feels good to jump in the pool after a workout.

Some days I jump in too - the kids love it when  I swim with them.

Some days there is a mountain of laundry and an unmade bed.  Most days Jessie the flat coat retriever is in the middle of whatever I'm doing.

Most days I shower after the workout and before car circle - so something like 2 pm.  I don't think I've ever taken a selfie in the shower before - this one was inspired by the one on Ali Edwards' blog.

Most days I spot a dolphin or manatee from the window in my shower.

Most days we have turkey sandwiches for lunch, most days Jessie the flatcoat sits on the counter while I make lunch and we eat it.  She politely begs for a bite - but she never takes food without permission - our late yellow lab Dandy never got physically up on the counter, but he could stand up with this paws on the counter to eat the entire sandwich without permission if I wasn't watching. 

Most days I pick up Allison from school even though Charlie says that he'll be picking her up every day - this is day 3 and I'm 3 for 3.  Most days she is happy to see me and tells me all about her new friends and her day.  Most days she controls the radio and most days we like the same kind of music.

Some days home school happens upstairs if we get a late start aren't done when Allison gets home.

Most days he is cooperative about homeschool but most days handwriting is a struggle - this is actually one of his better handwriting samples.  We are working on writing this year.

Most days she does drawing all on her own - lately it's been Manga.  She is talented and she practices hard and often.  She is an artist at heart.

Most nights she gives Daddy a better hug than she gives me and lately she puts herself to bed.

Most nights Jessie sleeps in Allison's room.

Most nights I read Harry Potter to him in my room and he gets a case of the giggles at some point and I have to tell him to settle down already or I'm going to stop reading and just go to sleep.

Most nights it is hard for me to actually fall asleep.

***

A few notes about the Week In the Life Project:

Blogging about Week in the Life fell off my to do list for Wednesday so I'm getting this done on Friday morning - I think getting the journaling portion done the night or the morning after is probably best but I'll take what I can get and have to trust my two day old memory. 

I'll also say that getting and printing photos from my iphone and ipad is not very easy - but taking photos with these devices is - so I'm thinking that I should go back to when I used to used my Canon point and shoot for the majority of my everyday picture taking.  I still keep it in my purse but I just don't use it.  Mental note to start using my Canon point and shoot again.

Also (while I'm waiting for the photos to upload), I think I'm going to make a Week in the Life photo book on Shutterfly.  I'm pretty sure I did this several years ago and it worked out well.  I also think that I'll order my favorite photos as prints.

 

Tuesday WITL 2015

Hello Tuesday:  I got a lot of inspiration from Ali Edwards' blog post about Week in the Life.  I have to admit, it's been a while since I've been super excited about scrapbooking and taking photos - I still love it, it just hasn't been a burning source of excitement - this WITL project might be the ticket to renewing my passion for memory keeping.

So we didn't get up quite as early today as we did yesterday.  Since Charlie drives Allison to school - this year earlier than ever before; and Mac and I are homeschooling, we can sleep in a bit.  Sometimes I let him sleep while I get work done around the house.  This morning I let him sleep while I wrote the blog post - I felt really rusty with my blogging skills - ie. uploading a photo and linking to things - it's been a while.  And now, even uploading the photos from my iphone from yesterday - everything is taking longer than normal because I haven't done these photo things for so long - it's time to get back to having the photo processing and blogging as part of my regular routine. 

He loves to sleep in - all day if possible.  I love to have the chance to take photos of his eyelashes and toes like I did when he was a baby - Beverly Goldberg from the TV show The Goldbergs has a scrapbook of photos of her kids sleeping, I can appreciate that - although I usually just taking the sleeping photos on Christmas Eve.  His feet are now bigger than mine and he is taller than me.  And he is still my baby.

Today I wanted to make sure to get some photos of homeschool since I didn't get any yesterday and it is a huge part of our day.  This year I got planners for both Mac and me.  Having a plan written down ahead of time is good for both of us - we deviated from the plan and started with a science experiment instead of English - but having the plan all written down is a very, very good thing - especially when he tries to frustrate me - yes, he does this intentionally sometimes - he'll kick the table and make screetching sounds and then ask if he is annoying me - he says he finds it amusing to see me freak out.  So I really try really, really hard to not let the intentionally annoying behaviors stress me out on the outside.  I'm not sure how we are going to fix this little phase, but we will get through it.  Notice my my reflection in my ipad?  That was unintentional but pretty great.

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I'm trying to get Mac to be more independent so I created a planner for him, this morning he decides to mix it up and start with a Science experiment first.  I've planned to have a reading day for Science followed by an experiment day to keep it interesting.  Yesterday, we read about gravity so today the experiment was the Egg Drop Test which is all about gravity - but he was disappointed because he'd done that experiment before, so we talked about changing the variables and I said I would do it along with him so it would be like a contest.  He filled his plastic bag with water and the egg; I filled mine with last night's popcorn, empty yogurt containers from breakfast and a few bits of cardboard.  Jessie the flatcoat retriever is always close by and usually up on the table with us.

He was less than thrilled when I told him he had to write a science report about the experiment.

Then it was a mad dash for me to get dressed in to car circle approved clothes and make up - Charlie couldn't pick up Allison again today - the default is that he picks her up because he likes to, but if he is too busy at work, then he calls or texts me and I pick her up.  So far we are two for two for me picking her up.  I don't mind, I actually  like to pick her up even though it takes over an hour and the school is only five minutes from the house.  I think I picked the wrong shorts for the top I picked so I ended up feeling quite frumpy - at least in the photos, I didn't feel like I looked too bad in real life.

And then I grab my purse and check the reminders on the door - check out the brother P-Touch label on the top of the door frame - "Go Have An Awesome Day!"  - that's been up there for years, the one that you see when you enter the house says "Welcome Home, Everyone Here Loves You."

We haven't seen Ricki yet but I really, really want to - and for some reason Allison doesn't want to see it even though Meryl Streep is her very favorite actress.  Go figure, I think maybe whatever I think is cool has to be not cool in her world these days.  Speaking of temperatures, it is 97 degrees when I get in the car.  Yeeouch.  So hot.

Then quick over to the office to pick up a check and the uniform skorts that they couldn't exchange at the school office but she has to wear tomorrow which are three sizes too big for her even though she tried them on!  And Daddy explains at length how to hem a skirt.  Ok Daddy, we know, we know.  Got to go to the next appointment, we only have a few minutes.

I usually don't like to see the wrinkles on my forehead or the dark circles under my eyes, but in this photo they really do capture some of the challenges we've been facing recently.  But today is optimistic, we have figured out the problems and we are working on solving them.  Everything is getting better.  Oh, and take a look - it got even hotter - the car thermometer now shows 105 - it was 106 when I got in.  And then we're off to pick up Allison's sports physical form so she can try out for a sport, maybe tennis.  That she wants to participate in a sport makes me very happy.

And then we're off to the grocery store to get french fries, gravy and a turkey for Mac's "Traditional Canadian Dinner" as part of his social studies class.  Allison takes advantage of this time to stock up on her snacks which we now keep locked up in a pantry cupboard and the other fridge; Mac doesn't have an off switch when it comes to food so we recently installed the locks we've been talking about for years.  It is working to keep him from overeating and to keep some food available for Allison.  The kids were actually very helpful with the groceries and taking in the trash.  Good kids.

Dinner for three - Allison already sort of ate in front of the tv - we watched Victorious on Teen Nick together while I cooked dinner.  Charlie's home late again and he and Mac and I eat dinner while Allison abstains and does her homework.  Jessie helps with clean up and the dishes.

And I have to capture this sweet snuggly moment:

And then it's time for our daily bike ride with my 91 year old mother-in-law who lives next door.

Sunset and there are three dolphin a ways off our dock between us and the little island.

The kids watch some tv together in the kitchen - rootbeer and Hank Hill.  While I fight with the sewing machine and the uniforms.  Poor Jessie didn't get her walk tonight - she follows me around closely at a particular time of day when she thinks I might take her for a walk.

Allison watches the movie Superstar in her room and I read Chapter 11 of Harry Potter to Mac.  Charlie is already asleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday Words + Photos / Week in the Life - August 2015

We were up early today because it was Allison's first day of sixth grade at a brand new school.  We checked the Student Handbook dress code online one more time to make sure she was wearing the right kind of socks.  She refused to let me take a first day photo.  So I did the next best thing and took a photo of her backpack and lunchbox and of course our flatcoat retriever, Jessie, jumped up and got in the photo - she is a dog who acts a lot like a cat and she loves to lay on counters on the dining room table.  And yes, I tried to get her to stop doing this but my husband encourages it so I finally gave in and we have a dog who lies on the counter.  She is pretty sweet and she gets down when I ask her to.

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I didn't even know about Week In the Life until this morning when I got up early at 5 something am and started working out while listening to the Scrap Gals podcast.  This put a kink in my husband's day since I'm not usually in the home gym this early - he sort of stayed grumpy about it for the rest of the day which might explain why he isn't in any of the photos today.

I shot all of these photos with my iphone 5 and I'm uploading them to my computer to write this blog post - something I almost never do - one of my current goals is to get my photos process back to a better more organized place - so that I can have more current photos available for scrapbooking - and to get scrapbooking back into my daily routine.  I did make a scrapbook layout in the evening and I made a process video while doing - as is my routine for the last year or so.   I'll put a link to my You Tube channel down at the bottom - my process videos are shot in real time so then tend to be longer than pre-planned process videos - but I usually chat away and some people like to feel like they have a virtual scrap buddy while watching and doing their own thing.  Anyway, I'm happy that Week in the Life started today - the first day of school so that I could get the scrapbooking and photography in as part of the new school routine.  

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Mac was cooperative about getting up early and out to the gym which is all part of my master plan this year for home school.  I didn't actually take many photos from homeschool today - mental note to do tomorrow.  We did 15 minutes treadmill, 15 on leg weight machines, 15 minutes of bike, and 15 minutes of arm weight machines.  We felt pretty good about this and it was a fun way to start 8th grade home school. 

Even though this photo is blurry, I wanted to include it because Mac told me jokes pretty much for a whole hour while we worked out - which is both delightful and a little bit exhausting.  And then we went home and plowed through my ambitious homeschool schedule, had a turkey sandwich lunch, took a break swimming in the pool and then I got a frantic call from Charlie saying he couldn't pick up Allison so I was off to car circle.

I made sure to do my hair and put on cute clothes so I didn't embarrass Allison in front of her new friends.  She doesn't like it if I show up to car circle in gym clothes.

Car circle and picking her up and getting her home took over an hour!  Wow.   I did have time to listen to the rest of the Scrap Gals podcast about Week in the Life and watch the clouds blow in.

 She had a great first day and allowed a first day photo:

She told me all about her day - the kids, the teachers, and the cussing in the lunch room.  I made her a turkey sandwich and she did her homework and talked me in to taking her to Justice at the mall for a few more school supplies - socks and sneakers and a few other things.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and a little homework.  And I was super excited when Ali Edwards liked this next shot that I uploaded to Instagram:

Before we left for the mall, Mac gave us a recital after learning Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the keyboards today in home school:

While I'm getting used to blogging and photo editing again, it occurs to me that I should make more of these little collages in Picasa so that when I order the photos I'll have some smaller photos too to use in my Week in the Life mini album. I'm planning to put the album together next week and I'll refer back to the blog posts for reminders of what happened - sort of like an online diary.

P.S. Did I mention we're still on a Weird Al high?  We saw him last Thursday night and I sort of just needed to mention that here since I didn't get many photos of the boy in today's post.  Also, I'm wearing intentionally Tacky clothes since we did the VIP Mandatory Fun Tour experience and there was a costume contest - this costume was sort of redo of the Beverly Goldberg costume I wore to Comic Con.

And this is what spending one hour in $164.14 looks like:

After we got back, I took some time to do a little scrapbooking and made a process video:

And then I uploaded the videos while Charlie and I watched the garbage that is Bachelor in Paradise on TV:

And my day wasn't over until I read Chapter 10 of Harry Potter to Mac. 

See you tomorrow; meantime, if you'd like to see one of my process videos, this one is a make your own scrapbook kit video inspired by the Counterfeit Kit Blog:

 

 

 

 

 

Create Your Own Scrapbook: Inspired by Crate Paper's Journey Line

 

See my scrapbooking on the go mini kit - and a layout share of the nine layouts I've made so far with this kit.  Supplies:  Crate Paper Jouney; Teresa Collins; Amy Tangerine; Dear Lizzy; Prima; Silhouette Cameo; and lots of other goodies from my scrapbook stash.

Travel Scrapbook Layout: Stop Right There!

 

 

 

This scrapbook layout is all about the ride home from our spring break road trip last year and how we got new tires and averted disaster.  Seriously - we got to the tire shop 5 minutes before they closed.  I had no idea my tires were this worn - the damage was on the inside.  Yikes.

Supplies:  American Crafts Amy Tangerine and October Afternoon Stickers; Crate Paper Washi Tape (that came in the form of a 12x12 sheet); Studio Calico 6x6 paper pad.

And I thought I made a scrapbook process video of this page while I made it but I couldn't seem to find it so here's another scrapbook layout about that same road trip:

 

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