Project Life: Week 46

Week 46: November 12-18

Justin & I celebrated our 7 yr anniversary with Chinese take-out, so that no one had to cook or wash dishes. We don't really do much to celebrate, the picture of us is from our family pictures in October, but it works well here since I didn't feel like taking a crappy indoor picture of us.



I have 2 inserts this week. The front of the first insert is just a 6x8 picture of Claire that I really liked. Unfortunately some of my pictures this week have a little bit of red streaked across the bottom of them. Not sure what is going on with that, but I'll probably reorder this picture (possibly as one larger picture) and switch it out eventually.

The back of the first insert is of Claire at the park. We took Kwazii (named after the cat in the Octonauts) this time.



The front of the second insert is about my mom's fall party. She hosts a come-and-go party about every couple of years (although she had one last year AND this year). Every year she picks a food theme and this year it was Bundt cakes. She made 8 bundt cakes as well as many appetizers and it was all delicious.

The back of the second insert is of Claire playing in the leaves. We ended up calling our mowers and canceling our last scheduled mowing so that Claire could finally play in some leaves this fall. We'll probably get out there again next week to actually rake them all up and put them in lawn bags. The leaves that you see there are actually the same leaves that I took a picture of last week with the "Hello Fall" written on it, but then sometime during the week they all fell on the ground.



The last page is just more around the house pictures + some decorating for Christmas. Since we had decent weather my brother & dad came over to help with hanging Christmas lights. I don't have a tall enough ladder to do it myself.



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Project Life: Week 45

Week 45: November 5 - 11

The first page is mostly just everyday shots around the house + a few of our dinners for the week. I love having the two views of Justin tickling Claire, particularly since they are in pretty much the same position in both pictures even though that was not planned when taking the pictures. Our evening activities are changing now that it is cooler & we've had the time change. It's mostly dark by the time I get home from work, so we spend the evenings in the living room playing instead of going outside.



I had one insert this week. The front is of board game night at my brother's house + the baby! I love the picture of the board game where the focus was on the pieces in front of me and the board + my parents are out of focus.

The back of the insert has pictures of Claire playing outside on Saturday. It was REALLY windy, but we had to make use of the nice weather. We went to a nearby park and then she wanted to take Kitty for a walk around the block in her baby doll's stroller - so cute!



A few more around the house shots, not sure what the deal is with Claire & laundry baskets, but she loves to sit in them. This time she loaded it up with some of her favorite stuffed animals before climbing in with the iPad. I really like taking pictures where things take up the entire print with words on top of them (such as the leaves on the tree & the cookies). This was election week, so I made up a little graphic on my computer about voting & who won. I meant to get a newspaper on Wednesday to include, but this works well.



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Menu Monday

Last Week

Monday - Pork Fried Rice Pancakes & Sausage
Tuesday - Creamy Chicken Chili
Wednesday - Homemade Pizza (Chicken & Bacon)
Thursday - Thanksgiving with my family / Frito Scramble
Friday - Thanksgiving with Justin's family / Sandwiches
Saturday - Sandwiches / Leftovers Turkey Noodle Soup (made by my mom)
Sunday - Chicken Bake Hot Dogs w/ Mac & Cheese

I ended up coming down with something (cold or allergies or something not much fun) on Friday, still feeling it today (hardly moved from the couch since we got home from Justin's parent's house on Friday evening). I don't actually remember much about dinner on Friday evening. On Saturday evening, Justin was gone taking Anaya to a birthday party at her mom's house, so I went to my mom's house and she fed us Turkey Noodle Soup.

This Week

Monday - Leftovers/Sandwiches
Tuesday - Pork Fried Rice
Wednesday - French Toast & Sausage
Thursday - Crockpot Ravioli Casserole
Friday - Pepperoncini Beef Sandwiches
Saturday - Chicken Enchiladas
Sunday - Leftovers

Since I'm still a little less than well, we're going to go for Leftovers/Sandwiches tonight. I know that the Ravioli Casserole, Enchiladas & Pepperoncini Beef usually has a lot of leftovers (particularly since it is just Justin, Claire & I), so I'm planning on leftovers again for Sunday night.

Project Life: Week 44

Week 44: October 29 - November 4

My nephew was FINALLY born this week. Almost an entire week late! So lots and lots of pictures of my adorable nephew...and a few of my brother & sister-in-law. My grandma was in town as well, so I got the standard picture of all 4 generations.



An insert all about Halloween! I took Wednesday (Halloween) morning off work to go to Claire's Halloween party at school. They had a fun little parade through the building and then had a little party in the room.

The back of the insert is about Halloween night. Anaya was at her mom's house, but I had her text me a picture of her costume since I forgot to take one before she went home last weekend. Claire had so much fun Trick or Treating.



More pictures of the baby! And Claire got a new car seat for my car. I didn't really plan it, but love the fact that I have Claire in her carseat next to Hudson in his carseat - seriously how was she ever that small! Claire & Justin played with Anaya's micro-machines & a racetrack. I love the picture of Claire reading to her care bear that is sitting in Hudson's bouncer. So far, she seems to have liked the idea of a baby more than she is liking the reality of it!



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Thankful for...

So...lots of people were posting their thankfuls every day on Twitter or Facebook. But I just wrote mine all down on a piece of paper.

1. A healthy baby for my brother & sister-in-law.
2. Our house - even if it's not what I want, it is still awesome that we have a house, a house that is technically big enough for all of us & our stuff.
3. Claire is talking more - We've been carrying on entire conversations!
4. Sleeping in, even just a little big (like until 8am)
5. My job, even on Mondays when I don't really WANT to go, I still have a really good job!
6. The right to vote.
7. Hot water for showers on cold mornings
8. Not just one car, but two cars that work and don't cause me to worry about us getting from point A to point B.
9. My family living so close to me - my parents & brother/sister-in-law all live within 4 miles of each other.
10. Seasons - I love it when the seasons change & the leaves turn & fall. When I was in San Diego for 4 years, one of the things that I really missed about Kansas was the seasons.
11. God & Church & the community there.
12. My husband - we've made it 7 years so far!
13. Claire - she is such an awesome little person. I can't even remember what I used to do with my life before she was in it.
14. My camera - I love taking pictures. I love capturing moments that I would otherwise probably forget.
15. Toddler Board Games. I couldn't decide if I was really thankful for these, or if I wished they didn't exist. But Claire loves Candy Land & Memory & Cooties so much that I decided to be thankful that we have something "fun" to do together even when it is dark & cool outside.
16. Starbucks & their Cinnamon Dolce Latte because I love it so so much.
17. Olathe and it's lovely little parks with nice little playgrounds for Claire to play on.
18. My parents - they are so awesome and help us out so much with Claire & with household stuff & just being there to talk to whenever.
19. Amazon - the stuff Christmas is made of this year. I may not be getting the BEST deals, but there is no price on the sanity I am saving by not getting out & fighting with the crowds.
20. My cellphone. It's expensive, and not necessary to life, but it keeps me connected with my family & friends as well as hours of entertainment when I am waiting.
21. Project Life - it is getting pictures off of my computer & into a pretty book.
22. Turkey! Family! Food! Parades! Life!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving (Turkey Time as Claire is calling it). And gets to spend it with their family/friends/loved ones/someone.

Project Life: Week 43

Week 43: October 22 - 28

Love love love love Project Life. So many pictures off of my computer and into albums. Also, Claire asked (almost) daily to look at Picture Books as she calls the scrapbooks. I need to finish up 2008's digital book & 2009's physical book.

This week started out pretty low-key: the food we had, Claire setting the table, Claire playing with her new Tinkerbell music box, Anaya & Claire playing with play-doh, and Claire's blanket fort.



One insert this week, the front is pictures from the Fall Festival at Claire's preschool. Since she started in December last year, we hadn't been to their Fall Festival, but it was very similar to the ones they had when Anaya was in elementary school - although this was obviously for younger kids. Claire did the cake walk forever, she didn't exactly know what the cake walk was, but it was in her classroom and that's all she cared about...until she won a plate of cupcakes.

The back of the insert is mostly about Anaya's surprise trip to the Justin Bieber concert. Along with a bit of the story about getting tickets. She was so excited to be able to go. Also included a few pictures from my weekend baking: Apple Cider Donuts & Pumpkin Spice Donuts.



The last page is just more weekend pictures. It was the weekend before Halloween so we were doing some last minute costuming. Anaya decided to be a fairy, so we got a bunch of tulle together and made a tutu. I got the white tulle from my mom, she had it from decorating for my brother's wedding - 8 YEARS ago. Anaya also wanted to bake Halloween cookies, so we made the batter & she baked the cookies on Saturday. Then on Sunday afternoon, I made the icing and she decorated cookies while I worked on her tutu.



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Menu Monday

This Week

Monday - Chinese Take Out
Tuesday - Shepherd's Pie Hot Dogs
Wednesday - Hot Dogs Marinated Pork Loin
Thursday - Leftovers Shepherd's Pie
Friday - Pork Chops Sandwiches
Saturday - Leftovers / Party @ my mom's house
Sunday - Breakfast Sandwiches

Re-arranged the entire week, but that's okay! Pork chops weren't on sale when I finally went to the grocery store, so I bought one of those already marinating pork loins. It was pretty good. Saturday was a complete mess, we ate sandwiches at 2:30 in the afternoon, and just munched a little bit before my mom's party. Luckily my mom had LOTS of yummy food (bacon wrapped little smokies, sweet & sour meatballs, 3 dips, crackers, meat & cheese, 3 snack mixes and 8 bundt cakes).

This Week

Monday - Pork Fried Rice
Tuesday - Creamy Chicken Chili
Wednesday - Homemade Pizza (Chicken & Bacon)
Thursday - Thanksgiving with my family
Friday - Thanksgiving with Justin's family
Saturday - Sandwiches / Leftovers
Sunday - Chicken Bake

The Creamy Chicken Chili is actually Creamy Apple-Chicken Chili, but I made it before and Justin liked all of it except the Apples. Now it is Creamy Apple-Chicken Chili without the Apples, but that seems a little silly as a name. This is also Thanksgiving week so we'll have Thanksgiving dinner twice (once with my family, once with Justin's family). On Saturday, we'll probably end up at my parent's house for at least part of the day, my mom is usually pretty good about feeding us Thanksgiving leftovers.

Fall Leaf Fun

This afternoon, I walked in the backyard and found out that one of our trees had dropped its leaves sometime in the past few days. Fallen leaves are probably one of my favorite things about fall and I didn't think we'd get to play in any this year since our lawn company has been mulching them all before we have the opportunity.



So I grabbed a rake and starting making a pile while Claire alternated between "helping" and playing with her playhouse (which was actually more helpful than her help). Then once I had a fairly large pile, I told Claire that she could come play in it!



I am actually amazed at how much she enjoyed the leaves. I know they had real leaves at one of their centers at school last week, but I'm not sure if they had enough to jump in them.



I did eventually get a lawn bag and put some of the leaves in it. Claire told me that she wanted to keep 10 to play with. I think 10 in her world is a lot more than it is in my world since she actually wanted to keep the entire big pile.

Past December Daily Albums

I finally finished up December Daily for last year this week. I had all the pictures ordered, I just needed to cut down & sew some page protectors, write a little bit of journaling for one page and do something with the cover. December Daily is a mini album project that Ali Edwards created (or at least made popular). I actually still need to punch holes in four pages and put them in, but I can't find my cropadile. It was on my desk...but now it is MIA.



2011 was my 4th year of December Daily. Each one is a different size. Different binding. None of them were actually done in December (of their respective years). In fact, when I was working on the cover for 2011, I also finally put together a cover image for 2009. 2008 was a 4x6 book with metal rings for binding. 2009 was a little larger (maybe 5x7) using my binding machine. 2010 I used embroidery floss to bind it and it was a little bit bigger than 2009's book. 2011 I used an actual scrapbook with lots of randomly sized page protectors.



Why do I do December Daily? It really makes me think about all of the traditions that we have and new ones that we might start. I like how I was able to find the same events in all of my different books and seeing how we have changed. For example, our advent velcro & felt tree, visiting Santa, decorating the tree & baking cookies. 2008 was when I was pregnant with Claire, so in addition to the Christmas events, I also have some pictures about my pregnancy. That was also before I started Project Life, so a lot more everyday stuff made it into that album.



However, I'm not entirely convinced that I should do it this year actually. Since I'm doing Project Life and I don't like to include the same pictures/stories in December Daily & Project Life that leaves Project Life rather lite on Christmas stuff. I noticed that last year and I didn't like it. In fact, I've been thinking about going back and adding to Project Life. If I do it this year, I am going to do it as a Blurb book...maybe.

Finishing 2011's DD was one of the things on my 31 before 31 list, so YAY!

Fall Family Pictures

Back on October 20th, I finally did something that I have been trying to organize my family enough to do. We took family pictures. A couple of these pictures are proof that if you hand a teenager a nice camera with a fairly good lens on it, you will actually end up with acceptable pictures. (Any that include me but not Anaya are ones that she took.) Ones that include all of us were taken using the timer or a remote depending on if the remote was working at any given time.

I ended up with a total of 91 pictures after deleting the ones that were completely blurry or otherwise unacceptable. When I use the timer, it takes 5 pictures, so some of those are duplicates. I ended up getting a pretty good picture of all the different groupings that I was hoping for.



Now, while this experience was fine. There are definitely things that I learned to make it easier the next time I decide to do this.

1. Definitely have a list of the poses/groupings that you want. I did do this and it helped so much. Particularly since my husband was NOT really into the idea of family pictures anyways.
2. Plan for longer than you think it will take. By the time we were done, we were out of sun light. I have a beautiful picture of the sunset that I took as we were driving out of the park. I would've liked to try one more pose, but it was just too dark.
3. Scope out the location before hand. This is common sense, but I didn't really do it. I knew that there were multiple shelters are this particular park, but I didn't really know which one we would use (we ended up in my first choice area). And even though I had been there multiple times with Claire & Anaya to play at the park, I hadn't ever really looked at the area with the idea of a photo shoot.
4. If you are including a toddler, possibly have another person along to help corral the toddler so that you can take pictures of just the adults. My husband didn't drive over there with us because he was still getting ready, so I had Claire & Anaya there for the first half. Which means the pictures of just Anaya involved me holding Claire with one hand and the camera with the other. The one of Justin & I is one that Anaya took while holding Claire's hand as she was trying to run away.

These pictures were taken using a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens. I actually borrowed it from my co-worker but now I have my own. It is an nice portrait lens. Definitely not the BEST one, but good cost/quality ratio. Particularly since mine is purely for me & my friends & family (I'm not a professional, nor do I want to be).