Happy Halloween!   Tonight we are sitting inside as we watch rain pour--- and feeling thankful that all of Indianapolis and the surrounding areas rescheduled trick-or-treating for tomorrow night.  Yay!

So I thought I would share a spread I created for Jenni Bowlin Studios using their October 2013 Historian Kit (sold out).   I hope you were able to snag this kit-- first of all because it's adorable, and second because it's perfect for Project Life!

This week's PL covers the week of September 30-October 6.   Hard to believe this was almost a month ago- WOW.

We had an apple orchard/pumpkin patch field trip, friends over, teachers conferences, and just the everyday loveliness that I had a great time documenting this week.

I included an insert this week.  I focused a little on using aerial photography shots this week.  I loved the ariel shots of us bowling and at putt putt on the same day.

The journaling cards by Basic Grey found in the kit were just perfect.  I loved playing around with them and using the table setting card for when we had a large dinner party this particular weekend.

My kids are really into the Geico "Hump Day" commercial.  On wednesday of this week we had to swing by the mall for something and I let them throw a penny in the fountain.   Jordan then announced that she wished that "every day would be hump day".   I about died.  Then at the risk of looking crazy, I stood on the fountain ledge to get an aerial photo of their little hug.   I just adore this page.

Thanks for swinging by!  Linking up with The Mom Creative today!

Project Life was created by Becky Higgins as a way to simplify how you document life and preserve memories. Photo pockets used in my Project Life are created by Becky and can be found here. You can read all of my Project Life posts here.

Project Life Week 39: Think Outside the Pocket.

 

This week's Project Life covers the week of September 23-29.

This past week I was able to sit down and start catching up on my Project Life.  I had gotten about a month behind due to a busy schedule, working on other projects, and Jordan's tonsil surgery.    It felt great to get all my photos printed and get back in the swing of things!

For this week's spread I used a variety of Elle's Studio tags, the Midnight Project Life Core Kit, and the Project Life Wellington kit.

Lately I have enjoyed placing embellishments outside the pocket pages.  It's a neat way to overlap the pockets and to avoid glare if an embellishment is bulky.   On the right side I adhered a circle tag in between to pockets and stapled it in place on the seams of the page (so it wouldn't interfere with the photos/tags on back side).

On the right side you will see I hand cut arrows and adhered them outside the pocket as well.   I love how it points from the "Boys will be Boys" tag to Jonah and his friend and Todd and his high school friends.   I stapled the arrows on the seams.

Be sure to stop by Elle's Studio today to see my PL post.

Also linking up with The Mom Creative today!

Project Life was created by Becky Higgins as a way to simplify how you document life and preserve memories. Photo pockets used in my Project Life are created by Becky and can be found here. You can read all of my Project Life posts here.

October 2013 Kit	Noel Cutouts	Saltwater Paper	Cameron Tiny Tags
Cameron Tabs	Cameron Tidbits	Cameron Cutouts

InLinkz.com

why hello there.

why hello there.

i am finally coming up for air after jordan's tonsillectomy and realizing that i have neglected my blog for a full week.

OH.MY.WORD.  what a week.    and actually she did REALLY well with having her tonsils out.  the pain was minimal, thank goodness.   It was just .... a tiring experience.   and a long recovery.

Oh, and sleeping in a trundle bed?  not very restful. (i'm talking about me here;)

But i was glad to be right beside her this whole week to take care of her, snuggle with her, play legos, and watch movies.

Speaking of movies... after the kids were in bed, todd and i started this series:

Seriously HOOKED.

And we would watch like 4 episodes in a row (which did not help with said "lack of sleep" issue).   We have made it through Season 1 and now are mid-way into Season 2.

But we had to take a break from Homeland because Todd and I were both having crazy dreams at night. :)

Another late night we had recently was the Colts and Broncos game.  Okay, i won't bore anyone with sports/football comments but OH that was a great game.

We let this little guy stay up late to watch it (it was fall break the next day) and he was a blast to watch it with.  I never thought i would cheer against Peyton Manning---- bittersweet win!

Well, that's about all that's new around here--- what's new with you???

Happy Friday!

the first place pink ribbon

This past Sunday was Jordan's very first equestrian show!

She has been riding since August-- she LOVE it.  It requires a lot of concentration and direction-following for her little 5 year old brain.  It's been fun to watch.   When her stable decided to have a beginners horse show, we of course wanted to sign up!

She was super nervous beforehand.  Much more so than when she had dance recitals.   We kept reiterating to her that this is for FUN and not something to be nervous about.

But that is when she shared with us that she had her heart set on the PINK ribbon.

Yes, that would be 5th place.

Jonah could hardly comprehend why she wouldn't want first place, but this rough and tough girl of mine had her heart set on pink.

The day of the show was lots of fun.  She enjoyed showing her Papa around the barn and finding a barn mouse named Ben.

The nerves set in a little right before her turn.

Jordan and her pink boots hopped on a horse named Pinky.  Could this be fate??

She was in the youngest age bracket-- they basically had to walk, halt, turn right/left, reverse, walk backwards, and walk over a pole.  She rocked it!

Jonah was so proud watching her.

They gave everyone in this youngest age bracket a first place ribbon.  However when they announced Jordan, they said....

The winner of the FIRST place PINK ribbon, Jordan Hufford!!!

that is when she had the biggest smile ever on her face.

She was so excited and proud of herself.   So fun to watch.

that's my little girl with the first place PINK ribbon.

bye bye tonsils

Yesterday, October 15th, had been circled on my calendar for awhile now.   

Since last spring we have had multiple strep throat cases in our family--- and it seemed that our sweet Jordan was the source/ strep carrier in our family.   Having her tonsils and adenoids removed seemed to be the best solution.

I know this is a very common procedure but I was crazy nervous yesterday!   We had a wonderful family friend ENT that took care of us (and even prayed with us before hand).  As she turned the corner to go to the Operating Room, the tears began to fall (my tears, that is).  Watching your child walk into surgery, no matter what kind it is, rips at your heart.

She did wonderfully.  We spent about 4 hours in recovery.  There was only one time she was in hysterics from pain-- it was right when she was due for her medicine and right after we took the IV out.  Don't blame the girl.   She's been doing great at home too--- we are keeping up on the pain meds and she is eating/hydrating/playing better than what I was anticipating.   (and yes i am preparing myself for that 4th or 5th day when it's supposed to get worse).

But for now she is soaking up the ice cream and extra mama time.

Jonah starts fall break tomorrow so we are looking forward to a long weekend at home together recovering.   Thanks for all the encouragement yesterday via Instagram and Facebook!  I appreciate you all. xoxoxo

Project Life Week 37: School Days

Today's Project Life covers the week of Sept 9-15th.

I had a super busy week this past week and didn't have a chance to blog my Project Life (or anything for that matter)  Goodness these weeks seem to be flying by.   I loved the effect of enlarging a photo for half of the page from Week 36 that I decided to do it again with a photo from Jonah's first sleep over.

For the majority, I used Elle's Studio's Cameron collection for this layout!   I love the bright lime green and the primary color base.  It's perfect for documenting school activities!

A friend and fellow Project Lifer (hi Jan!) gave me a great idea recently to scan kid's artwork and print it out as a photo.   I LOVE this idea and incorporated it for this week.   I am trying to scan as much art work as I can these days because i feel like i am living under piles of backpack papers and not quite sure how to manage it all (especially when one little girl is deeply hurt if i throw ANYTHING away).  I think this is a great solution!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I have more blog posts lined up for this week-- however, Jordan is having her tonsils and adenoids removed tuesday morning.  Would love your prayers for a safe surgery and a speedy recovery!

Be sure to stop by Elle's Studio today to see my PL post.

Also linking up with The Mom Creative today!

Using Maps in Scrapbooking

Yesterday I made my first layout in what feels like months--- it was so great to just sit down and PLAY with inks, paints, punches, Elle's Studio tags, and a Disney Animal Kingdom map I saved from our vacation last May.

I created a layout a few years ago (below) using a map from our zoo and wanted to duplicate the concept with our Disney map :)

I love using maps in scrapbooking-- it's a fabulous way to merge photos/words/and found objects within a traditional page.  These fit super well within a Project Life album, and it's just fun to see a map (and maybe note later how the zoo/parks/Disney expands or changes).

For the "AK" layouts I used the black chalk paper from Elle's Studio's new Noel Collection.  I used white paint to create spots to include the photos-- it works kind of like and anchor for these layered bits.

I used various smaller tags from Saltwater and Cameron as my journaling spots around the photo.

Another idea is to place your map in a Project Life pocket page-- this is the perfect item for a smaller insert "filler" or backside item.   Here I used a Magic Kingdom map with a simple badge OVER the pocket pages, and called it done.

These are just a few ideas for using maps in your documentation!!!