Project Life Tuesday: Week 4

My hope is that one week I'll actually have some time to work on these albums more than just one day. But so far, I've managed to carve out an hour or so to get the layouts done on Tuesday. I did both kids February layouts this afternoon.

Here's a breakdown of my process using Sophie's album.
1. I go through and figure where the pictures should go. Note the bottom right photo will get cut in half to accommodate the page.


2. Then I crop the photos and round the corners. I've been rounding the corners because the journal cards are rounded.


3. Then I put in the journal cards. I'm using these sideways to see how it works. I hate to be confined to just one orientation for my photos.

4. And finally, add the journalling.

Here's some of Logan's layouts:

I used the number stickers to create a list,

The artwork pocket page.

The bottom left pocket has some memorabilia from Logan's preschool.

Cutting the photos in half worked really well with these.

I am linking up with the Mom Creative. Check it out for more layouts.

Project Life Tuesday: Week 3

I spent a lot of my time today choosing pictures to print for the kids Project Life albums. Logan took this picture of me.

I did finish the journal cards for Sophie's first month.

Trying to work within the limits of the pockets is definitely stretching my creativity. I guess that's why I generally use large, blank pages for layouts. But I did find that some photos worked to just cut them in half and put each half into a smaller pocket.

I used the arrow stickers from the kit to direct the writing to the specific photos.

Meal Plan January 23

Check out more menus at Organizing Junkie.

Here's what we had the last 2 weeks.
Monday: Chicken Boxed Meal



Tuesday: Fish and Veggies

Wednesday: Sessler Salads

Thursday: Meatloaf and Potatoes

Friday: Crockpot Pot Roast

Saturday: Dinner Out at Chinese New Year Celebration

Sunday: Kids and I are out-of-town so we had hotdogs over the bonfire at my parents place.

Monday: Pizza (We got back into town too late to fix something so we went to Cici's.)


Tuesday: Homemade Gourmet Panko Parmesan Chicken Casserole

Wednesday: Soup and Quesodillas

Thursday: Tacos and Burritos with Rice (I added burritos since the kids have been boycotting tacos lately, but of course they ate the tacos and asked for more.)

Friday: Dinner out at Chapps (burgers, salad, and chicken strips)

Saturday: Chinese Chicken Stir-Fry

Sunday: Frozen Pizza (I was gone during the afternoon and wasn't very hungry so we just did a pizza for the kids.)




Here's the plan for the next week or so:



Monday: Onion Butt Chicken

Tuesday: Breakfast for Dinner

Wednesday: Sessler Salads

Thursday: Eckrich Sausage

Friday: Fish & Veggies

Saturday: Chinese New Year Dinner Celebration

Sunday: Dinner out (we'll be at the Stockyards so we'll probably eat there)

Monday: Box Meal

Tuesday: Chicken Alfredo

Wednesday: Pizza

Thursday: Enchiladas

Friday: Homemade Gourmet Crockpot Meal

Saturday: ??

Sunday: Superbowl Goodies

Visiting the Grandparents

The kids and I went to East Texas to visit Maw Susan and Paw Briggs over the long weekend (MLK Day). The place they are living is really peaceful, with several acres and a wooded lot. Logan and Matthew spent most of the time collecting trees limbs and sticks for kindling on the bonfire. There are cows and horses next door and the little girls enjoyed watching them.

We had hot dogs for dinner (cooked over the fire) and smores for dessert. Logan like getting to roast the marshmallows.

The boys would gather the sticks in the wagon and wheelbarrow and then dump them in a pile near the fire.

Paw Briggs very graciously watched the kids so Mom, Kelly and I could go see "A Joyful Noise" at the movies. We had a great weekend, just wish Dad Paul could have come with us.

Project Life Tuesday: Week 2

So, I have started to put my stuff back into the dining room hutch. Hopefully next week it will be filled again.

I pulled out my Project Life boxes for the kids. I had started them last year, with the expectation to do a couple of pages for each month. I had already done January for Logan, and had printed pictures for Sophie's first month.

So for this first week, I worked on Sophie's album. One thing I learned is that Logan's journal cards can be used either horizontally or vertically but the ones in Sophie's kit really only work vertically. I have 2 different layout design pages and had planned to mix them up in each album, but it looks like I'll be sticking with just one for Sophie's album.

Here's the Title Page layout for Sophie's album.




Here are some pictures of Logan's first few layouts.

I used one of the folded journal cards to write about Logan's surgery. It allowed me to journal more without taking up as much space.

I am including an 8.5 by 11 page to put artwork in.



I love these calendar cards, but wished Sophie's kit also had them.

I spent part of my time getting a little more organized so that it would be easy to pull these out and work on even if I just had a little bit of time. Everything I need is kept in the box (except tape runner and paper cutter). The large plastic envelope is for the artwork once I pull it down from being displayed. The one criteria is that it has to fit in the 8.55 by 11 page. (I have a box for larger artwork that I want to keep for each child.)

Project Life Tuesday: Week 1

I'll be linking of with the Mom Creative so if you want to learn more about Project Life and get lots of ideas check her out.

I got the Project Life kits last year, one for each child, with this grand plan to use them as their own personal albums. The plan would be to include not only photos but also use it for their school work too. I didn't get very far. I was probably be too ambitious since I had a new child and was trying to figure out how to be a mom of two. I've decided to link up with Jessica so that I can stay motivated. Hopefully at some point I'll get caught up but for now I'll just post about wherever I am in the process and also show some layouts (even if they are a year old).

I have done my scrapbooking in just about every room of our house (with some rooms being specifically set aside for that purpose). But I finally figured out that I prefer to scrapbook in the great room. So a few years ago I moved my scrapbook stuff to my dining room hutch and just use the dning table when I work. I do keep some stuff in the spare room but it's the larger items that I just pull out when I need them.

The problem with this setup comes during the holidays when I want my hutch for Christmas decorations.

I pull all the scrapbook stuff out and store it in the spare one. Unfortunately, this is what the hutch looks like right now and it will probably be a couple of weeks before I get everything back in.

So, come back next week and we'll see if the hutch looks any different, plus I'll post a couple of layouts from last year.

Meal Plan January 9

Check out more menus at Organizing Junkie.

I got a couple of pictures and changed a couple of days but mostly stuck with the plan.
Monday: Harvest Soup with Chicken

Tuesday: Eckrich Sausage with mac & cheese
Wednesday: Crockpot Lasagna
Thursday: Homemade Pizza

Friday: Taste of Asia for Paul and I, kids were at Grandma's
Saturday: Pork Tenderloin
Sunday: Chili





I have decided to try and do 2 weeks of meals at a time. I think that will make shopping easier. With Paul working some late nights, I'm trying to make the meals a little more routine so I don't have to think about it as much. Here's the plan for the next 2 weeks.





Monday: Chicken Boxed Meal


Tuesday: Fish and Veggies


Wednesday: Sessler Salads


Thursday: Meatloaf and Potatoes


Friday: Crockpot Pot Roast


Saturday: Dinner Out at Chinese New Year Celebration


Sunday: Kids and I are out-of-town so hopefully my sister will make us salmon patties


Monday: Beef Boxed Meal (See the pattern, Monday's are probably my most stressful day, so something very easy is planned. All I have to do is remember to thaw the meat the night before.)


Tuesday: Chicken Alfredo Pasta


Wednesday: Pizza and Salad or Wings if we get delivery (Also part of a pattern, sessler salad one week, pizza the next)


Thursday: Tacos and Burritos with Rice (I had to add burritos since the kids have been boycotting tacos lately)


Friday: Crockpot something or other (I'll see what ingredients we have on hand earlier in the week and decide. Although this may change because we have plans in the evening, so we may decide to get something while we're out.)


Saturday: Chinese Chicken Stir-Fry


Sunday: Dinner out or Friday's crockpot meal

Meal Plan January 2

I didn't get pictures from last week. Let's face it the week after the holidays, we were eating lots of leftovers and using up stuff from the pantry. Of course, this week doesn't look much better. I'm still off work (until Friday) and once Paul starts back on Tuesday, he'll be working late most days. But here's the menu:

Monday: Harvest Soup with Chicken
Tuesday: Eckrich Sausage with mac & cheese
Wednesday: Crockpot Lasagna
Thursday: Tacos and rice
Friday: probably dinner out
Saturday: something from the Chinese cookbook
Sunday: CORN

Random Pics of 2011

It was a very good year!

Sending Aunt Kelly some Love

"Swimming" at the mall

"But why can't I go to speech with Logan?"

Grandma, here we come.

Helping his little sister.

She doesn't need any tokens, she'll play anyway.

Born to Ride

"Want some pepper on your roll?"

He never lets me pull it.

She cooks better than she eats.

 

Shaving cream painting.

Guacamole in San Antonio

New outfit from Maw Susan.

Another Maw Susan original.

THS Homecoming Parade

That's her "cinnamon roll".

Special Halloween decor from Ms. Gail.

Won't let Daddy pull either.

 

"Daddy, can I have a pink motorcycle?  Pleease?"

Say "Cheese!"

Her new pet puppy from a garage sale.

Fake Snow

This is how she watches TV.

Crayons...the new favorite.

Stick out lip to help with concentration.

Wrestling Siblings

"Where? I've used the napkin already."

 

I'll get 'em.

Feeding horses some carrots.

Sophie didn't get to go to VBS with Logan.

Strike a Pose

Sam's Club Tantrum of 2011 

Where's the Baby Jesus?

Wanna a hug?

No, really, I just want to give you a hug!