{happy} 2016

This last year just flew by and I have been slacking on my posts....sorry!  I'm hoping to get back into a blogging routine in 2016.  I was looking back at past posts and realized that next month I will have been blogging for 8 years!  Where has the time gone!?  Here is to a happy, healthy and more crafty year!  ;)

 {source}

{PINK} boots

This week has been a getting back to normal week around here.  Being gone for 11 days on vacation is awesome but exhausting!  We had a wonderful time at Disneyland and exploring Southern California.  One of the highlights was horseback riding in Topanga Canyon.  It was Little Bit and my first time.  The people at Los Angeles Horseback Riding were wonderful and our guide Hailey was great...especially with Little Bit.  This was the only place we could find that would let a 6 year old ride.

Little Bit had a blast...she couldn't stop talking about it the rest of the trip...or now that we have gotten home.  Here she is with her horse Jacob.  ;)

This brings me to the pink boots!  These were our treasure of the week.  We were shopping at Goodwill yesterday and she found these pink cowgirl boots and fell in love!  They are a little big and have a few flaws so I wasn't sure about them.   She proved to me that she could walk in them...several times...all over the store...lol!  So I said ok...oh the life of a 6 year old! 

She wore them today and just looked so darn cute.  She has even been lassoing and holstering her guns...OMG!  She really thinks she's a cowgirl!  ;)  Some much joy for only a buck!

Now her goal is to get back on a horse in her new pink boots!  

Project Life update & {Elle's Studio features}

I mentioned at the beginning of the year that my Project Life goal was to print pics at the end of the month and get them into layouts before the next month was over.  So far so good!  I have been keeping up with this goal and it makes me want to do a happy dance!  ;)  I just love that I have a space were I can leave my projects out and work on bits here and there. 

I use several Project Life kits when creating my pages.  I also love incorporating Elle's Studio products.  If you haven't checked them out yet, why not?!  ;)  Head over to their blog for some inspiration and browse their shop. 

In the past week I have had 2 of my layouts featured on their blog.  This one was a member gallery spotlight for April.  These were beach pics from our spring break in Myrtle Beach.  My focus was the shadow family picture and just went from there!

This layout I had posted on instagram and was highlighted here.  It shows off more spring break fun!

How are you doing with your scrapbooking goals?  I would love to hear!

hello 2014 album...

Hello 2014 project life album!  I love project life style scrapbooking, drop photos in, drop in accent cards, journal and add a few embellishments.  Sounds easy enough right?!  My problem is I start off good but then fall behind.  I love the idea of capturing every day life as opposed to only scrapbooking the big life moments, birthdays, holidays, milestones, etc.  But I have come to realize that I don't like to be boxed into weekly scrapbooking either.  I do scrapbook a week at a time occasionally, but some weeks I hardly have any pictures and other times I have a gazillion!  ;)  So I've decided to not limit myself and just see where the layouts go.  

 

I did not do a very good job of staying on top of my 2013 album.  I would fall months behind and then play catch up.  I did have a couple scrapbook marathon weekends in January and got my album finished.  

 

Here is my title page for 2014.  Loving 5th & Frolic by Dear Lizzy! It is a Michaels exclusive core kit.  Did you know that you can use competitor coupons at Michaels?!  I used a Joanns 50% coupon and scored this kit for only $15! 

 

For 2014 my goal is to print pics at the end of each month and get them scrapbooked before I print the next months pictures.  We will see how that goes....so far so good! 

happy mothers day!

I feel so blessed to be a mom to my wonderful Little Bit!  She always knows how to make me smile... and often laugh hysterically.  There are definitely trying times but I love every moment!  

I also am so lucky to have the best mom and mother-in-law!  So thankful for this weekend and the time we had together! 

Girls road trip!!!  My mom, 2 sisters, Little Bit and I drove to Paducah Saturday morning to visit with my grandma & grandpa.  We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Olive Garden and a teensy bit of shopping before heading back home.  

 

Then I joined my mother-in-law and sis-in-law at the movies to see The Great Gatsby that just opened this weekend!   Here is my mil with her favorite character.  

 

Becca and I had to get our turn by the adorable Leonardo!   We had fun dissecting the movie as we enjoyed dinner at Panera!  Thanks to all my favorite ladies for a wonderful day!  

Wishing you all a happy day...enjoy every moment!  :D

organizing memorabilia for project {life}

I love to be organized but for the past year I have failed at organizing my memorabilia that I want to include in my project life album.  :(  I just kind of stuffed everything in a manilla envelope, not in any particular order....oops.  So when it would come time to put a particular week of photos together I might leave out something I wanted to include, like a receipt, tag, coloring page, etc.     

So this 2013 began and I decided it was time for a better way to organize those bits and pieces.  

I had an old 12x12 accordion paper organizer that I wasn't using anymore and it had just the right amount of pockets...one for each month!  So I labeled one section for each month....

Now I can drop stuff in to the appropriate month and know right where it is when I'm ready to scrapbook that week.  

The great thing about this organization project is that it didn't cost me a thing!  I already had the folder and labels!  Remember to peruse your stash before you head off to the store to purchase something.  You never know what you might already have that you can repurpose!

project {life} 2013 intro page...

I am totally not done with my 2012 album yet but I was so excited to use my new Project Life kit that I got for Christmas....so I jumped right into it and completed my intro page for 2013! 

I loved the little cardstock people used on this layout that I decided to create my own.  I added each family members name and our ages at the beginning of 2013. 

I love this process!  Just drop in pics and accent cards, add a personal touch of my own and done! 

Look for some upcoming posts on how I've recently reorganized some of my Project Life supplies and memorabilia!  ;)

happy birthday princess!

My Little Bit is 5 today!!!  These last five years have gone by so fast.  I can't believe how big she is getting and what a sweet little lady she is becoming.  I love you precious girl!

project {life}...weeks 18-21

I'm still playing catch up with my scrapbooking.  I'm loving my new craft room, it's just that not much scrapbooking is getting done in there yet.  I'm trying to get a new routine figured out now that school has started...slowly but surely!

In the meantime here are some pages I had done before the move...

 Our house went on the market this week, we sold a couch, got a new one and got new dishes!

 This week brought several showings already, Mother's Day and Mark ran his first 5K!!!

Little Bit did a Mother's Day recital for me!  ;)  It was so cute, she drew her dance moves and then preformed them for us!!!  I love this girl!

 My sister graduated from 8th grade this week, Gracie's last soccer game and last day of school!

Our 1st week of summer!...lots of outside time!

project {life}...weeks 14-17

I am so far behind on posted and actually putting these pages together.  With the move and starting a new job, I have just put scrapbooking on the back burner.  Well school is in full swing now so I'm ready to get back to my pictures!  Since I haven't posted any pages in a while here is the month of April!...

It's Easter time!  I included an insert this time that had vertical slots for 4x6 pics...love this! 

 

This layout is weeks 15 & 16 combined.  I have done this before when I don't have enough pictures from one week.  

And week 17....soccer, garage sales and a family visit!

I'm hoping to scrapbook tonight and catch up a bit...we will see!

new house!

Well, don't know about you but it felt to me like I had deserted this blog!  Moving sure takes a toll on you!  I am still trying to catch up on sleep loss from staying up way too late from before and after the move.  But we are finally in our new house and starting to feel settled.  So I thought it was about time I checked back in and showed you a few pics...

 

We went with a craftsman style for the house.  I just love how the stone and siding turned out!  And I love our front door!  Loving the color we ended up going with too...{concert hall, Allen & Roth from Lowes}

Here is Little Bit's room...she wanted purple walls.  So I picked out a color that coordinated with the bedding she already had.  It is Mood Violet by Pratt & Lambert {although we had it color matched and used Benjamin Moore paint}.  We just picked up the print above her bed yesterday at Hobby Lobby....it matches great!  We also have a big vinyl tree decal ordered that we are going to put on the left of her bed...she is super excited to get it decorated!  {She is definitely her mamas girl! ;)}

Our living room is great....It is one of the first rooms we put together.  Nice to have a place to just sit (haha) and relax during all the unpacking.  Plus it was nice to have the tv set up for Little Bit to have some entertainment, listen to music and/or watch the Olympics!  The color on the walls is Almond Toast by P&L{also a color match to use BM paint}.  

Here is our bedroom.  I am liking the more muted color pallete in here.  Before we had orange as an accent color.  While I did like it, I was tired of it after 5 years.  So we decided to go with a nice blue for the walls and then more neutral bedding.  I found this great khaki quilt at TJ Maxx for half of what I was going to pay at Target, so glad I shopped around!  I picked up the accent pillows at Big Lots and Meijer.  The wall color is Bracken Architrave Blue {Williamsburg by P&L, colored matched to BM paint}.

Mudroom!....I am loving this entrance off the garage.  We got this bench from Wayfair and it has been a great catch all.  We keep our keys and backpacks on the hooks and the bench is a great place to sit to put on shoes before heading out the door...or catch all the library books and reusable bags!  ;)  I'm waiting to put down my runner until all the workers are done coming and going.  There are still a few odds and ends that need to be finished up.  But overall we are loving the new house and having a great time making it our home!

less than {3 weeks}...

That's how long until we have to say goodbye to our current home.  We are moving all of our furniture in 2 WEEKS!  I can't believe that it is already time.  This process has happened so quickly.  We have been very fortunate to have a great crew and wonderful weather to move things along so well.   So needless to say, with less than 3 weeks til we have to be out of here, our house is looking like this these days...

Shelves and closets are slowly starting to be emptied and boxes are accumulating everywhere!

But on the bright side...

 

Our new home is starting to look like home!  Our tile flooring has been laid, cabinets are in!!!, lights are being installed, doors, trim and hardwood go in this week, countertops and appliances come in another week!!! 

Just love how the cabinets turned out! 

Even though we will miss our current home, we are so looking forward to settling in to the new place and making lots of wonderful memories there.  {In between the packing, swim lessons, bible schools and just life in general...I'll try and post some more progress updates for ya!} ;)

HOUSE {updates}...

Well it has been awhile since I have posted anything on the house SO I thought I would share a few pics of the progress made so far....we are really closing in on the home stretch!

Drywall is up and they are in the finishing process of that now.  I love the rounded corners and how the archways are turning out!  We are working on picking out paint colors now...think we are getting close to having them all picked out.  A big part of the house is going to be contracted out to paint but we thought it would be fun to do a few rooms ourselves.  Little Bit can't wait to start painting in her room! 

On the outside...stone is done and siding is getting close to being finished up!  We are loving the way it is turning out!!!

As for our current house.....WE HAVE A CONTRACT!!!  Closing the end of July if everything goes smoothly.  We are so excited and feel so blessed to be on this journey right now!

project {life}...weeks 12 & 13

 Week 12...

This was Little Bit's spring break week and the end of our long weekend getaway! 

On the way home from Branson we stopping in St. Louis at the zoo.  It was super crowded and a little on the warm side but we had a great time.  Little Bit loved going from one animal to the next, discovering all that were at the zoo!  We also kept seeing progress on the new house....stud walls went up and Little Bit got to stand in her room! 

We enjoyed some time at Chuck E Cheese with good friends celebrating a birthday, looked at scrapbooks with my girl, mommy got a haircut, more items were purchased for the new house, and yummy lunch at Noodles & Co. {one of our favs to eat!}!


Week 13...

Lots of fun this week and some firsts!

Little Bit recently informed me that her favorite hairstyle was curly...even though she has only had it done once...lol.  So I curled her hair for school on Monday!  Fun times at the park and shopping with friends {we found out our Gap store was closing, boo} and had a fun night out with some girlfriends.

Library storytime, first time camping!!! {in the backyard}, egg hunt at Little Bit's preschool, trying out our new sponge rollers for curly church hair!, and trying out a new restaurant.

project {life}...weeks 10 & 11

Week 10...

I am trying to get caught up, really I am.  It has just been hard to find time to craft lately with being out of town some and keeping our house clean and picked up for the showings!  When I drag out all my stuff I like to be able to leave it out for a few days.  But I've been itching to craft so I might just have to clean up after myself!  These 2 layouts I did at a crop I went to a couple weeks ago.

This layout shows some lunch with friends, playing paper dolls, measuring furniture and our basement walls! 

I got my first order from Elle's Studio this week {and am using a few of the snippets and pennants on this layout ;)}!   It also highlights a trip to visit family and see my sister play volleyball.

Week 11...

Fun play times and a spur of the moment weekend getaway! This is the layout with an insert.

Here it is without the insert.

A little bit of this and that...just like the title says!  Basement floor and plumbing, approved!  Kite flying and park play with daddy.  Fun with friends!

Here is the insert....playing at the park on the left and trip to Branson on the right!

This layout highlights more pics from the Branson trip....Silver Dollar City, mini golf and a fun show!

I really like to include things that I collect from our trips, or even just the day to day happenings of life.  Here I have shown 3 things I used to help tell the story of our Branson trip...part of a paper sack, paper from the condo we stayed and the mini golf score card!  I save receipts, brochures, business cards, paper menus, coloring pages, etc...anything that I think might come in handy when I'm documenting our memories!