fabulous friday finds

my friday finds post today is going to be all about project life.

i am really excited about this whole concept because i, of course, love to scrapbook! sometimes, though, i am just too busy or too unmotivated to decide what i want to scrapbook, what products i want to use, what photos i want to use, etc. like most people, i have piles of pictures just waiting to be scrapbooked or put in albums. in the meantime, they just sit in closed containers--no one even enjoying them. when talk of this kit started, i had already been taking a picture a day for a year. so i knew i would use my daily pictures of 2009 for this kit. and i am loving the way it's turning out! taking a picture every single day really makes you see things differently. you notice little things you might not have before and i just love looking back through seemingly ordinary pictures and remembering our year last year--not just special events that happened but daily life that we might forget about in the years to come.

if you want some more information about the kit, you can go here (for the kit version) or here (for the digital version). the digital version looks really cool--i might try that next year. you can play around with it for free. you only have to pay if you want to print it out. it may seem much more expensive, but when you figure in getting all your pictures developed it equals out in the end. if you don't want to do a picture a day, there is a monthly option where you pick out several pictures that represent that particular month.

here is everything you get:

the colors are really pretty and the design is very modern and trendy.

here is how i did my front page:

the cool thing is nobody's book will look the same. you can decide which cards you want to use in which slots. the best thing is all you need is the kit, your pictures and a pen. there is no cutting, gluing, etc. and you really feel like you're getting something done.

this is my first week of 2009:

here is my second week:

and here is my back page:

i don't mean to sound like an infomercial :) i am just really inspired because of this and wanted you to know what it's all about in case you're interested!
have a fabulous weekend~~i hope it's cold and rainy all weekend so i can cozy up in my scrapbook room and work away!

Project Life Tuesday-Week 3

wow! the weeks are going by so fast. here's week 3...

1.20.10
wednesday
mckinlee was still coughing a lot and tired, so i let her stay home from school today. most of the day was spent watching tv and resting.

1.21.10
thursday
today was my first mammogram. fun, fun. it actually wasn't as bad as i thought, although they found a cyst and a benign tumor that i get to have biopsied this friday. more fun.
1.22.10
friday
bath and body works redesigned their soaps and i just love them. since i had a coupon, i also tried a new scented body wash-twilight woods-and i love the smell!


1.23.10
saturday
we went to waco for the weekend and mckinlee finally got to hold her new cousin, sadie. she was in heaven.

1.24.10
sunday
here's miss sadie trying out her pretty pink activity mat for the first time!

1.25.10
monday
we got to tour the middle school orchestra department. mckinlee has decided she wants to play the viola (like a violin, but a lower sound.) she got to try the violin, viola and cello. she played "jaws" on the cello and thought that was pretty cool. with those long fingers she has, she's a natural with a stringed instrument!

1.26.10
tuesday
i've been reading the flylady book. while i'm not going to sign up for all those emails you can get everyday, i am going to adopt some of her philosophy--the main one being your whole attitude can improve if you have a clean sink. before 8 this morning, my sink (and whole kitchen) was already clean and i am really feeling good!


thanks for stopping by! see you next tuesday :)

the monday update

this past weekend, after we visited a congregation on saturday for chris to give the talk, we went to waco. this was "uncle chris'" first time to see sadie and he thought she was cute! he held her for a long time (and looked pretty comfortable doing it--even though it's been a long time since he held a baby that little before!), then he went to spend the rest of the weekend with his mom and dad while mckinlee and i stayed to visit with sadie.


since mckinlee was sick when sadie was born, this was her first time to hold her and she was so excited!
she didn't want sadie out of her sight! this was sadie's first time on her activity mat--she just kept looking all around.
look how pretty danielle is! (a shower and make-up can make you feel like a new woman, right danielle?)
here we all are before we left to come home.
mckinlee could have sat on that couch holding sadie all day long!
today was spent buying groceries and running a few errands--including going to one of my "happy places"...the library.
these were the books i had on hold: 2 phyllis whitney books i had never read, 2 scrapbooking mysteries (never read this series, but how can you go wrong with scrapbooking and a mystery?), organizational expert, peter walsh's guide on clearing mental clutter (we'll see how that goes!) and a flylady book on organizing, establishing routines and cleaning. guess i'll be busy for the next few weeks!
these are two i bought. at our library they have a little section where people donate books and you can buy them really cheap. i don't if these will be good or not, but for $3 i couldn't pass them up (like i need another book!)
we are headed to the 6th grade center where mckinlee gets to go to the orchestra department and check out instruments if she decides to do orchestra next year! will try to take some pictures there.
happy monday to you all!

Project Life Tuesday-Week 2

here's week 2 (and i'm only 1 day late!)

1.13.10
wednesday
finally got my project life kit. i've really been waiting over a year for this--since i wasn't able to get the project 365 last year, this kit is for all my pictures last year!
1.14.10
thursday
i don't have a picture for this day. i was at home sick when danielle called and said her contractions were 5 minutes apart. i raced to jump in the shower, get packed and on the road. as i was driving my mom texted that they were sending her home from hospital, but i decided to go anyway sure that sadie would be born that weekend sometime. (i will write out her birth story instead of using a picture.)

1.15.10
friday
mckinlee has not been sick in 2.5 years and she wakes up throwing up with fever and congestion today. poor thing. bad timing. my mom got us an appointment with her doctor. she doesn't have the flu--most likely strep or tonsilitis. she has felt so bad and is so upset that she won't get to be around sadie if she's born this weekend.

1.16.10
saturday
sadie isabella is here! danielle's water broke at 11, she got her epidural (by a jerk of an anesthesiologist) at 1:30, starting pushing at 4 and sadie was born at 5:20. she is the prettiest thing i've seen (and i'm not just saying that because i'm her zia!)
1.17.10
sunday
here i am with my precious new niece
1.18.10
monday
she has the most perfect nose and mouth and look at those long eyelashes!
1.19.10
tuesday
isn't she the cutest?

i'm a zia!!!

sadie isabella
7 lbs. 9 oz.
20.5 inches

born 1.16.10

she is absolutely beautiful and danielle did the greatest job!

if you wondered if danielle was serious about assigning me bronzer/lip gloss duty....




she was! she gave birth looking better than i did standing beside her!
here i am with this sweet bundle of love.

doesn't she have the prettiest face?
here she is right before mckinlee and i left to come home.
it was all we could do to leave her.
...and look who looks gorgeous 3 days after giving birth!
this is only the first of many posts with this beautiful baby in it! stick around...

Project Life Tuesday-Week 1

i thought i wasn't going to do this again, but it was so much fun last year, i decided why not? what is this, you may ask. project life or project 365. it's basically a photo-journal of your year. you can learn more about it here. i wasn't able to get the kit last year, but kept up with taking a picture a day and a quick little note about each picture. this year, ordering a kit was much easier and it should be on my doorstep this afternoon. yay! it's neat to look back at ordinary things and see your year all spread out in one book.
anyway, this year i found this blog-the mom creative-where every tuesday her blog will be on project life and you can see how other people are documenting their year. it will be a good source of inspiration when you need ideas on some interesting pictures to take. so here are my pictures for the first week and a half of january.
i'm sorry for the 5 people who read my blog--most of these will be repeats for you! :)

1.1 friday
finally got all my winter decorations out
1.2 saturday
going away party for jade
1.3 sunday
mckinlee and amber playing dolls. mck was "french" remember?
1.4 monday
cleaned all my kitchen cabinets with murphy's oil soap--they look so nice now!
1.5 tuesday
finally decided on and ordered our family pictures.
1.6 wednesday
washed an old blanket that disintegrated in my washer.

1.7 thursday
no school because of ice. mck and i had breakfast in bed.
1.8 friday
first step to organized scrapbook room--cleaned off my desk.
1.9 saturday
dinner and football at michele and kevin's
1.10 sunday
lentil stew--made just for my husband who loves lentils.
1.11 monday
i popped out my old lenses and let mckinlee wear these glasses. she said "i've never had a disability and i'm sad about it!" i have never met a child who wants to have something wrong with her as much as mckinlee does. she wants to have crutches or a cast, glasses, braces--anything. she sometimes pretends she has no legs and goes up and down the stairs practicing just in case. my strange child.
1.12
tuesday
i went to the doctor because i have had a sore throat for over a week. it hasn't been too terrible-- just uncomfortable. he said i had tonsilitis and put me on antibiotics. go figure.
so that's my first few days of project life. tuesday's posts will now be on project life and i'll combine thoughtful tuesdays and thankful thursdays--just in case anyone was wondering. :)