May 18, 2012   Heather Johnson   Family  
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Week in Review

I don’t know if this is technically going to be a review of the week, more like an apology for being so absent lately! Ever since we came back from California the babe has had really bad teething episodes and has consequently not been sleeping hardly at all during the day. The less she sleeps, the less free time I have! (My absence may also have something to do with the 13 loads of laundry I did all week long too….)

Gearing up for a busy weekend. We have a birthday party in the morning to attend, and then the whole family is heading north for a wedding. Which reminds me…I have to get my camera charged up!

Really nothing else to report this week. Lots of housework, and a bit of scrapbooking. I really do have other hobbies (like quilting) but unfortunately they are taking a back seat to everything else as of late. I have some fabric for a quilt for the girl’s room that I am dying to show off…maybe next week.

I finished up an “ode to the instagram” page tonight which highlights some of my favorite iphone photos from the trip to Disney. I used a template from Nettio Designs–love, love, love her stuff. This came together in less than 30 minutes.

I absolutely love how this came out–you can tell just by looking at all of these little shots in a big circle that we had fun, fun, fun! I hope to get a few more pages done about Disney before I forget exactly what we did when! (Don’t get me started on my Week in The Life stuff–I am stalled out on day two, I REALLY need to get that stuff down or it will be long gone out of this brain by June!!)

Have a great weekend!

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May 16, 2012   Heather Johnson   Project Life  
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Digital Project Life : Week Nineteen

I was on a mission to get this done tonight!

This week’s main theme was meeting up with the family in Anaheim. I tried to make the layouts not all about Disney as I am working on inserts now for the stories of the entire trip. This week I used yet another kit from the daily digi–Daydreamer. I really loved the colors, and the theme seemed to go well with all that went on last week.

The left side:

Here we have the story of Holly’s tonsils and a photo of Marie after she taste-tested her first veggies. I remembered to take a photo while trying on a dozen pair of sneakers before the trip–what an experience it is to find shoes that fit me!! Two of my favorite photos from our weekend are on this page as well….love the backlit one of the girls, as well as the b/w image of my brother with his kids and Holly as we waited for my mom and aunt to arrive. An hour into the trip and they were all already all smiles!

Right Side:

This might be my favorite page of the whole year so far. I LOVE that I was able to get Holly doing her twirling…she absolutely LOVES dresses that spin way, way out. We can’t find any in stores that have enough volume–but thankfully she has a grandmother who is one heck of a seamstress! Holly’s closet is filled with custom made twirly dresses!

Holly had the cutest quote about palm trees I recorded on the card on the upper right, and the Week in Review card summed up our week as usual. The journaling on the card reads:

Sunday Holly returned home from The Farm. It’s always so hard for her to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. ~ Monday Holly had a really sore throat so we kept her home from school and went to the doctor. She tested negative for strep, but we were directed to go to an ENT because of her tonsils. ~  Tuesday we learned that Holly will probably need surgery on her tonsils soon. Steph came over and watched the girls while Mom tried to get some last minute shopping done. ~ Wednesday Mom found the cutest shoes EVER. So ready for our trip! ~ Thursday we arrived in California! While we were waiting to check-in The Gray’s arrived, and Holly was attached to Madison from that moment on. ~ Friday was our first day at Disney. Early favorite rides were The Haunted Mansion and The Thunder Mountain Railroad. Jenny and I were brilliant at working the fastpass system! We all stayed out way too late. ~ Saturday the group was spilt into two most of the day. Vacation is tiring!

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May 16, 2012   Heather Johnson   Family  
1

To Southern California and Back….

Hello. It’s been awhile, and a whole lot of laundry, but I am finally almost back to my normal routine. I was with all of these wonderful people (and then some) at Disneyland. What a fantastic trip!

This is my Aunt Holly with all of her nieces and nephews. I have a photo of this with my mom, too, surrounded by all of her grandchildren. I think it’s safe to say based on the smiles seen here that they all had a wonderful time. I haven’t had the energy or time to go through any more photos yet….I would love to say it has to do with jet lag–but I think it’s safe to say it has more to do with my age!!!

I am working on Project Life layouts for week 19, but it will probably be the weekend before I get them posted. I really didn’t take too many photos at Disneyland, I was too busy riding rides and having fun! I might have an extra insert/shutterfly page or I might not. Not too sure yet. I am working on week 20 simultaneously too. Boy do I NOT like being behind with Project Life. Throws my rhythm off completely.

I ordered Holly’s first batch of page protectors–some design A and some design F–as she is OBSESSED with scrapbooking. (Can’t say as I blame her right?) When I saw Becky’s post on how her 6 year old was using the PL system–I thought why not a four year old!? Little Holly can run the digital camera and iphone on her own…I am sure she can figure out how to decorate journaling cards and photos. My mom had bought her a scrapbook from Target this past winter and Holly LOVED working with it, but I wanted to get her something that was archival quality so that all of the work she is putting into it won’t go to waste. (The target stuff came with a glue stick and no page protectors.) The whole Disney trip she kept talking about taking pictures of this and that for “her scrapbook” so I figured it was high time I fueled the hobby for her. Her dad is going to be so excited. NOT. (Not that he doesn’t love the memory keeping, he sure does, it’s just the constant shopping he isn’t too fond of:))

Holly is definitely a “paper scrapper” right now, and that’s totally fine. I wish I could be….but it just doesn’t work for me. I will get my paper fix watching her! (I still have tons of supplies and tools so it’s nice to know it won’t go to waste.)

I think that will take up a majority of our summer to tell you the truth. I am trying to think of things we can do at home together since I will have a 2x a day napping baby…AND I think we are keeping her home from summer camp.

We did find out that Holly did NOT get into the neighborhood school’s pre-k program starting this fall, we are number five on the wait list. Looks like we are going to be going to Country Day for one more year. I LOVE her preschool, I was just getting excited to go somewhere FREE.

I think that about sums it up. I am exhausted–put together a stroller today, cleaned the refrigerator for the first time in a year, and did at least three more loads of laundry and two sinks full of dishes.

I really do need a vacation from my vacation. Disney is fun, but I think to really do it right you have to do a day on, day off sort of thing. Going everyday early in the morning, and staying til late every night wears you out…even when you DO all go back to the hotel for a 2-4 hour nap in the afternoon.

I will try to check in again tomorrow…..

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May 08, 2012   Heather Johnson   Week in The Life  
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Week in The Life : Monday

I have one page completely finished, and am almost done with page two, so figured the best thing to do would be to share them here. *Hopefully* that will keep me motivated to churn them out. (Actually motivation isn’t the problem, it’s time. Even being all digital doesn’t help with this one. Turns out adding in WITL to Project Life was a bit too much for this somewhat overwhelmed mom!)

This is so tiny, I made sure to copy the journaling down. The journaling reads:

MONDAY MORNING

Our mornings at this point in our lives are filled with activity, chaos, and more chaos! Try as I might, I never seem to be that prepared for finding shoes, packing lunches, making drinks, cooking breakfast, and shuffling everyone out the door in time for preschool and work to start. Lately I have begun to not even attempt to eat breakfast with the family, and instead get things packed and ready to go while Holly enjoys her oatmeal and Daddy enjoys his eggs. It’s easier this way. After Holly is off to school, Marie and I settle into our own routine which consists of nursing and napping by 9, followed by a walk at around 11. While she sleeps I enjoy my oatmeal, read blogs, and pick-up the mess that is the worst on Mondays. Evidence of a fun weekend is left all over the house! This particular Monday was really tough, as I didn’t sleep well on Sunday night. So instead of sleeping I scrapbook!

I don’t know if it will hold true as I work my way through more days, but when I wrote about the day it seemed to come out more like a generalized overview versus what we did exactly at what time. (Honestly, I just couldn’t keep up with that much note taking with the kids being so young and active.) I have decided not to stress about it. It is what it is, and it’s neat that I was able to get it all down. When the girls look at it someday they are not going to care that it doesn’t have time labels, they are just going to enjoy seeing what we did that week.

And that’s all that matters.

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May 07, 2012   Heather Johnson   Project Life  
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Digital Project Life : Week Eighteen

Had fun putting together this week’s layouts with another kit from the digi files–did I mention how much I love the daily digi? I have so many new kits at this point I literally don’t know which one to use each week, let alone what I truly have on hand. (This is, in my opinion, the only disadvantage to digital scrapbooking–I can’t see it all without opening up one too many windows in Photoshop!)

This past week was very, very short on pictures. At one point I wasn’t even sure I was going to have enough, but then I remembered I had taken some photos with my iphone. Love, love, love my iphone. (It’s quickly becoming into the necessity of life category for me…I used to think it a like to have versus a have to have, but now I am not so sure. I would probably be willing to eat bologna and cereal for as long as I needed to in order to keep my iphone!)

Anyhow, I was suffering from a lack of energy and a lack of willingness to even want to deal with writing anything down. I don’t know if I was just burnt out, or if the novelty is wearing off–but it has been really hard as of late to come up with the ambition to work on my PL album lately. Is anyone else going through this?

Left Side:

A few things about this page…don’t you just love the date circle? I stumbled upon this collection at the Sweet Shoppe and just about went nuts. What a great resource to have for labeling! What you may not even realize (I sure didn’t until I opened them) is that you get a layered psd file for each cute tag/circle/etc. I can customize the heck out of that circle with colors and such–LOVE LOVE LOVE! I also am loving digital washi tape. And for the first time I threw on some flowers, which back in the day were my absolute favorite thing about paper scrapping. The Week in Review card is back too. Here is the journaling for week 18:

Sunday was a day at The Farm for the girls. We celebrated Jenna’s wedding shower and enjoyed seeing lots of the extended family. ~ Monday Mom was so burnt out from WITL the week before that no picture was taken, or memory recorded! ~ Tuesday Holly was home from school so we all braved the chillier weather and went to the park. Marie rode the swings! ~ Wednesday was pretty uneventful. Mom spent a large part of the day trying to catch up with her Digital Design class. ~ Thursday a bad storm came through town, making it dark as night in the middle of the morning. Holly had a haunted house in her room with battery-operated candles! ~ Friday was a girl’s night out for mom. A few friends, a few drinks, and a little bowling. Very fun and something to do more of! ~ Saturday Holly was off to the farm to get more dresses and hang with Grammie and Grandpie. Mom, Dad, and Marie enjoyed a quiet house and a BBQ with our neighbors. It was a super fun time!

Right Side:

I was a little tag crazy on this page I can see now! My favorite thing about this page is the princess picture–the girls in our neighborhood are just too cute with their imaginary play. I know that this will be wonderful to look at and remember years down the road.

I am still working on putting together my Week in The Life album. And getting ready for Disneyland in three days. And taking care of a daughter who may have strep throat. (First test negative, but her tonsils are huge so we see an ENT tomorrow.)

Calgon? Where are you …….

———————————————————————-

Project Life is a product and a system created by Becky Higgins. It can be anything you want it to be. To learn more about Project Life check out Becky’s Website. The pieces used in my album are available through Jessica Sprague here. If you live outside the US check Becky’s site for more information on sources. View all my posts about Project Life here.

 

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May 04, 2012   Heather Johnson   Project Life  
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Digital Project Life : Week Seventeen

This is the week that almost wasn’t!

A Week in The Life was so intensive that it truly burned me out of photos, words, you name it. I wasn’t going to do a layout for week seventeen, but I truthfully should be more worried about week 18. I am not sure if I have four photos of this week–week 18–even taken and tomorrow is the end of “my week!”)

Anyhow, I realized that my since my week runs Sunday-Saturday for project life that skipping a week meant skipping over two very fun things that happened in Week 17–a visit to the new soda fountain down the street AND a date night for Justin and I. Date nights are so few and far between that I thought I better record the event down!!!!

Left Side:

I kept it pretty simple. Filled up the 4×6 slots with photos, and really had minimal journaling. I still have to work on The Week in The Life (WITL) album, better save my “brain dump” of memories for that project!

Right Side:

To save time I went with big 6×6 squares. These were some of my favorite photos of the week–and probably will end up in my WITL album too. I have decided to be okay with that. Funny note–the layout in the upper left hand corner is actually a template. I loved the colors used, so I didn’t even clip any patterned paper to it!! (Talk about a time saver.) Received the template from the digi files at the dailydigi.com–I finally became a member and am BLOWN AWAY by all the product you get for $7.50 a month. Totally worth it if you have been on the fence about joining. I have been spending…well let’s just say I have NOT been spending $7.50 a month on supplies!

Here is the journaling for my WITL recap:

This past week I played along online with an Ali Edwards project called A Week in The Life. At first I wasn’t going to do it; I truthfully had tried to follow along on at least three other occasions without much success. What changed my mind? A blog post I read online that talked about motherhood. I knew after reading that post how important it would be to record every little detail of the week, if for no other reason than to give my girls the confidence and support they may need one day as mothers themselves. I wanted them to know how hard, wonderful, exhausting, and energizing it is to be a mom of two little ones. I wanted them to know that when they cry from frustration or feel so proud their heart doesn’t even feel big enough to hold the feeling in, that I understand. I wanted them to know how much they were/are loved. I can honestly say that although taking pictures and recording moments for seven straight days was really a big project to undertake, I absolutely cannot wait to do it again. 

And that’s a wrap. I am so happy I finished this up, I was a bit anxious all week it wasn’t done. I like my Tuesday deadline–and more importantly the Disney trip is sure to create more hiccups so I didn’t need to get any more behind than I already am. Part of me is curious if all of the WITL stuff gets in an album………

Who knew memory keeping was so much work!?

 

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May 02, 2012   Heather Johnson   Family  
1

Update on Project Life, My Life, and Other Topics….

Last week about wore me out! Hopefully this explains the absence from the blog over the past few days. (I truthfully do not even have the time to post now, but thought I better do it so everyone knows I am alive:))

I am working on my Week in The Life pages, as well as trying to finish up Project Life for week 17. And starting 18. And planning a trip to Disneyland in seven days. Yes. That’s right–seven days!

On Friday night my sister-in-law called to tell me that all of them, my brother and kids and her, are definitely coming to the states–and get this, they will be in California to see Disneyland. (Currently they are stationed in Guam, which makes this trip all the more important to make time for. We spent about 36 hours with them before they left after not seeing them for almost two years, and they won’t be stationed stateside again until sometime next summer.) Up until this point the trip wasn’t set in stone, and they were not flying commercial. Now, she said, they are….and I knew at that point that we were really going to do this!

Anyhow, long story short, the past few days have been a flurry of activity. Made plane reservations, hotel reservations, Disney tickets, Disney plans…etc…It’s been quite fun planning it all. We went to Disney World in Dec 2010, and this time around I feel much better prepared for what it will be like when we get there. What makes this even more fun is that my mom AND my aunt Holly will be joining us. As they say–the whole damn family!

Couple all of this with trying to catch up on the digital design class I am taking, and a teething six month old, and I am in a bit over my head.

Good news is that I just bought a few things for the trip, and I am down three sizes. Shopping today was the most fun it has been in years!

I will try to update more soon, but for now I have to heat up a lunch before the baby’s nap is over. May is going to whizz on by!!!

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April 29, 2012   Heather Johnson   Week in The Life  
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A Week in The Life : Sunday’s Photos + Words

I did it, I did it, I did it! Well….at least part of it. I have the photos and words, interested to see if I ever get them into pages! I am going to take a day to think about this, but I do intend on setting myself up with some plans/goals to get this done. I seem to do well with self-imposed deadlines here (heavily influenced by what “everyone else” is doing). I am interested in how Ali plans to share her stuff, and am pretty certain I will follow her lead.

The girls and I spent the day at my in-law’s farm at a Wedding Shower pretty much all day today. And although that was a special event, there was still quite a bit that went on that is representative of a typical day at the farm.

Breakfast

Holly LOVES breakfasts at the farm. Typically they involve waffles, but this morning she enjoyed Grandpa’s super moist coffee cake, scrambled eggs, and lil smokies. My daughter LOVES her some meat! Judging by the pile I see here on her plate, I am guessing she is not all that into eggs anymore…..

There was plenty of time before getting dressed and guests arriving to enjoy some playtime on the floor–

followed by some playtime outside with Grandpa. He scored this great basketball hoop for $8 last week at a Thrift Store. Holly made a ton of baskets, and really liked to celebrate when she did!

Holly changed into her dress, but still wasn’t ready to give up any Grandpa time (she is his shadow for sure) so off they went to enjoy the swing in the big old oak tree–

Guests started to really arrive around noon, so we gathered for a wonderful lunch of taco salad and had a great time looking at all of the gifts. I have decided I need to throw myself a “I have been married nearly ten years and need neat new gadgets and household goods” kind of shower here soon.

During the shower Marie got to try out the family high chair. This puppy has been around since the 70′s! Love how she is looking at her reflection!

My sweet baby was the hit of the party–love my little charmer here:

wearing her first nametag!

Holly occupied herself by playing outside with cousins before it was time to go–

When we returned home, both girls were excited to see their daddy again. He had had a nice 24-hr break from the wife and kids. His review of the experience? That our house can be very, very quiet…

What a great week!

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April 28, 2012   Heather Johnson   Week in The Life  
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A Week in The Life : Saturday’s Word + Photos

Lots of stuff happening today. The day started early, too early for me considering I didn’t go to bed until 12:30pm. I couldn’t sleep–I was planning a last minute trip to Disneyland in California!!!  We go in eleven days–AH!

We had a lot of things to do today, so the camera didn’t make it out as much as usual. I had a big drive, too, so that ate up a lot of time. Here is a little bit of our day.

Morning-

Morning Cuddles

Costco Runs

Birthday Parties with Face Painting. I wish you could have heard Holly giving the artist instructions on what colors she wanted where. I had to apologize for all of the “art direction!” My girl knows what she wants!!!

Getting ready for the long drive to Grandma and Grandpa’s. Don’t I look excited? (I was so exhausted that I promptly fell asleep when I got there. The wake up in a puddle of drool kind of nap…)

Time with Friends

Rounding out the night with a swim in the tub at Grandma’s!

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April 27, 2012   Heather Johnson   Week in The Life  
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A Week in The Life : Friday’s Photos + Words

Friday. Almost there! Today was a bit of a different day….I had another sleepless night and was up from 230-6, only to get woken up at 7am after finally falling back to sleep. (I was too lazy to grab a camera this time around.) When I finally got out of bed it was a scurry to get Holly off to school. Notice the winter gear this AM…weren’t we outside without jackets yesterday?!

Somebody is teething pretty badly right now, so refused to nap at 9am AGAIN–

So while the baby watched my friend Lisa came over and taught me how to make my own baby food. Easy Peasy.

Yes I still have bed-head in this picture. Don’t judge.

That took up our entire morning. When she left, baby and I crawled into bed–

where we stayed until 4pm. (And yes I need, and use, all of those pillows. One under my head, one at my knees, and two behind me as I nurse the baby lying down. It takes a bit of talent I tell you!)

Daddy surprised me and picked up Holly from school, and then came home where he had a chance to bond with his baby girl–

before she tried homemade rice cereal for the first time.

She opened her mouth right up for it, I would say she is ready! Before we knew it it was time for evening snuggles–

but since a mom’s work is never done I made a batch of steel cut oatmeal

and made a last minute run to Target for the gift we need for tomorrow’s birthday party Holly and I are attending.

What’s not pictured:
-me finding Holly playing in her room a full TWO hours after I put her to bed
-me face timing my sister-in-law in Guam about a possible surprise California trip in two weeks (!)
-me realizing it’s now after 11pm and I have stayed up too late AGAIN

See you tomorrow!

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