Just Two Things This Friday

 I meant to post a lot more this week but life threw me a slight curve ball and I've never been very good at baseball...or softball. SO...let's just pretend that I posted this on Tuesday, but be thankful that it's Friday. :o)

1. I started doing a little homeschooling with the boys this week. I pretty much thrive on disorganized chaos...so organizing a basic lesson plan is proving painful, figuring out a schedule might have caused my brain to explode. We were kind of all over the place. But I think the boys both benefited. Yay! Next week will be a little better...I hope.

2. HUGE plus of starting "school" with the kids was starting Bob Books with Munch. We've been doing work sheets and worked on reading the first couple books. Munch is picking up on it so much faster than I could have hoped and he's even been helping me with story time if we come across a word that's in his books. I am so SO proud of him.

Okay...maybe a quick 3rd thing...

Have a fantastic weekend!

Project Life: Week 33

The closer I get to finishing 2012 the more and more in love I'm getting with this project. I've found my groove, the layouts are coming together quickly and nicely. LOVE it. 

 The colors this week are purple and teal, with a little cream. 

 page one:

Pretty fun week. Batman paid a visit, Munch took some family portraits and we had entirely too much fun at Party City.

insert:

My insert this week is some pictures Munch took on a 

walk. I wrote a little about his love of photography (at age three) and how much I love to see the pictures he takes. Super proud of him. 

page two:

Dinner with friends. Purple shakes at The Purple Cow to "celebrate" Munch growing out of 3T...not really celebrating for me...my heart breaks every time they grow out of a size. Lots of wonderful rain to break up the heat of summer and random silliness. 

I kept my spreads pretty simple this week. Used lots of washi, stickers from my stash and a couple silhouette cuts. Love it. :o)

I'll be linking up with The Mom Creative tomorrow:

First Day of Summer

I hope everyone is having a glorious 1st day of Summer. I did have some outdoor fun planned for this morning, but our backyard is a jungle at the moment and I get eaten alive, so we skipped that. 

In celebration of Summer I thought I would make a list of things I would like to do...in no particular order.

Step outside the borders of Texas…even if it’s only to take a U-turn in Oklahoma….it’s been 5 years since I left the state. Thankfully, Texas is massive.

Maine 2007 - not happening this year, but I'm allowed to dream. 

See fireworks with the boys

4th of July 2010

Dallas World Aquarium

2011 - look how teenie Munch is!

Water fight

June 2010

Tie-dye day

Our last day was in July 2010!

$1 movies

This week...but not actually a $1 movie...Epic was awesome though :o)

Frisco Discovery Center

Last Year

Enjoy a 1st Saturday in Dallas Arts District

Last Summer

Write letters to my favorite girl

Little Sis and I, last weekend. 

Lots of reading and learning with the boys

Update my summer reading list. Almost done with A Dance With Dragons. I want easy and fun reads. Any tips?

Take the boys bowling…I don’t bowl…where is a good place to bring a 4 and 2 year old?

Make a summer wreath for my front door.

Make my Mimi’s Strawberry Shortcake.

Ice Cream Social

And apparently I need to work on scrapbooking, because it's driving me nuts that all the old photos I used in this post haven't made it off my computer. :o/

What do you have planned for the summer?

My Little Sister

My little sister is moving from Dallas to St. Louis today. It's a hard goodbye for me, but I knew it would be.

Ari and I have been through a lot together. We have lived in 3 different countries and 2 states. We have traveled the globe together. No matter what my little sister was usually at my side.

She was the Maid of Honor at my wedding.

She was my sidekick at Munch's birth.

At Nox's birth she kept a sharp eye on Munch and was there shortly after.

She knows more of my secrets than anyone else. She is my best friend and at times has been my only friend in the world. And she really hasn't ever been that far...except college, but that was pre-kiddos when I could just run away and visit for the weekend.

So yeah, it's hard to say goodbye and my heart is just a little broken today.

At the same time, I am SO excited for her. I know she loves Dallas, but I know she will find joy in exploring her new home. We were trained well in the art of adventure (thanks Daddy) and I know she'll like that part. She'll make new friends; faster than she realizes...because she's always been able to do that.

She also has the best partner a girl could ask for. My brother in law is THE most amazing fit for her.

If ever two people were meant to be together it was them. I have watched them become a boy in a beanie and giggling college grad, to a strong, fantastic couple, that could take on the world together. I could not have picked a better person to be with her on this new exciting chapter. I am so happy she found a guy that I know will take care of her and grow with her and be there through anything. Plus any guy that Munch insists is Superman is okay by me...even if he did break the door. ;o)

Safe travels little sister. I expect Skype dates once a week and lots of postcards and letters...even if they just say Hello. The boys and I are excited to have a new pen pal :o) We picked out plenty of stamps this morning!

I love you. Hope we see each other sooner rather than later.

Project Life: Book Two Title Page and Weeks 31 and 32

Forgive the fuzzy photos. I will get it right eventually. 

So SO excited to get to work on Book Two....even MORE excited that 2012 photos are ALL printed. 

Book Two 2012 starts August 1st and will run through to the end of the year. 

I'm really loving this spread. The picture of John and I was taken by Munch. LOVE it. 

Week 31:

I've noticed that more and more of my spreads have got color themes for the week. I'm really loving that. It feels like I have FINALLY found my style. 

Week 31 Page 1:

This first spread is all about John's birthday. Fun day. Presents, a trip to The Gaylord Texan and a little party to end the day. 

Week 31 Insert:

 Munchman helped me make a banner to celebrate. He had just started learning how to write. SO SO proud of him. 

Week 31 Page 2:

Pretty average rest of the week. John got contacts for the first time in forever. Until this week I had only seen him with glasses. It took some getting used to. The last column is at my the in-law's. Munch and Nox love hanging out with their cousins and this particular time up to "The Land" included meeting the quail and gathering their eggs. John did the journaling, since I wasn't there. :o)

Week 32:

Greens, Blues and Grays to kinda work with the Olympic stuff. 

Week 32 Page 1:

John found a site that told you which Olympian you were most like according to height and weight. I matched up with a weight lifter, which I still find hysterical because I have ZERO upper body strength. Nox developed a VERY strong love of Buzz Lightyear and started blaming things on Kaiser. 

Week 32 Page 2:

I took pictures for Nox's second birthday party invite. I remember thinking how heart breaking it was that my baby was turning two. Now he'll be THREE is just a couple months. 

Munch is turning into a HUGE tree hugger. Super cute. John took Munch to a Lowe's Build and Grow AND did the journaling. 

linking up with The Mom Creative:

Five Things Friday

1. Working on getting myself back on track. Last week was national running day...so I ran, for the first time in a while...not pleased to say it was more than a little apparent that it had been awhile. SO, Monday I decided to get serious about my mile a day plan that I had at the beginning of the year. This week went really well. I had to force myself out last night, but I went and felt much better after my two mile walk. Next week I need to really focus on getting all my water...I figure with the Texas summer heat getting stronger every day that won't be a problem.

2013 Starting Weight: 165

Last Weigh In: 165

Current Weight: 170

Lost This Week: +5

Total Lost: +5

Last Mile Count: 145.59

Miles logged this week: 16.33

Total Miles Logged: 161.92

Not happy with the weight gained, but I AM pleased with the miles logged. I already feel so much better this week. The pounds will follow, right now I'm just focusing on feeling a little better about myself. 

Linking up with Angie!

2. Yesterday I realized that Munch is too old to be put in the class I was planning to put the boys in this summer, which is a pity, because it's a drop off class and that would have been wonderful to have 40 minutes to myself every Friday. Today I'm going to plan our summer. We aren't going anywhere and that's okay...but I refuse to stay at home waiting for something interesting to happen. So, I'll be researching and planning...Marking up their Rupert calendar with fun stuff. 

3. I think there should be a support group for people addicted to Washi Tape....cause man, do I have a problem and I KNOW I'm not the only one. Right? Right. I've been using it a lot in my Project Life album, but have plans to dress up happy mail, make some art projects with the boys...there are an insane amount of good (and easy) ideas on Pinterest. I may put together a collection of my favorites. 

4. I really discovered my silhouette yesterday...I've had it for two years now...and really haven't used it. It's just so much work to pull out and set up and put away again....but yesterday I HAD to use it and the project I was working on had some unused space...so I thought, why not? I made a ton of little cut outs for my Project Life album. Why the heck didn't I do this in the first place??

5. I am insanely behind on reading blogs, but know that I love my readers and I love reading!! 

Welcome Home Wednesday: Munch's Cave: After

A little late tonight, but I'm finally getting my post up! 

I found a WAY before picture of Munch's room. This is the room as we first saw it. It looks so small. (You can see more before pictures and read more about it HERE.)

Here are the after shots. It's pretty close to his rooms in our other homes, but it's still a big change from what it was and the blue is a little lighter and less bright than what we had previously gone with.
Munch loves to sit on his book case and look out the window.

 Hubby made the art board for all Munch's projects. We haven't switched them out for a while, because Munch remembers doing those particular ones with his Gigi and he LOVES them.

The window looks so dirty in this picture. It's clean, but old. One of the big things on our list of things to do one day.

Had to show a close up of Munch's bed. We started having trouble with him going down for naps, so we would give him a book to read until he fell asleep. At some point he started placing them next to his mattress. He knows exactly what books are there and EXACTLY where he has put them. Don't try to move them...he'll notice.

I'm pretty pleased with how the room turned out. Munch likes it and really that is all that matters.

My Happy Thoughts

For some reason I'm having a hard time this week...not sure why, there is plenty to be happy about. Just a little scatterbrained. 

Last Thursday we met my sister and a bunch of her friends at Deep Ellum Brewing Co. I've never been a huge fan of beer, but it was lots of fun and some guy at the bar INSISTED that I try their Double Brown Stout...turns out I actually do like beer...NEVER would have thought it would be a stout though. It was such a fun night, it's sad how little we hang out with other adults.

We got a better one, but this one cracks me up.

This weekend I rode the train into Dallas for a girls night with my sister and her friends. We had an amazing time, but it was kinda bittersweet because she's moving soon and I hate that. 

I promise, I am NOT as angry as I look. 

I went for a run. It felt fantastic. I actually decided to just go ahead and give myself a fresh start. Started C25K over and decided that I would start my Mile A Day challenge again. Don't care if it's walking or running, I want to travel at least one mile a day. Feels good. 

I'm linking up!

Project Life: Week 30

Well I did it!! The rest of the pictures for 2012 are in line to be printed. SO SO excited. I can't wait to be working on just 2013. CANNOT WAIT. Yay!

Here are the final pages of Book 1 - 2012

Week 30:

Really nothing impressive this week. Really, I was more concerned with just getting it done, so I stayed as simple as possible. 

page one:

Almost all the paper I used for this week came from my old Club Scrap stash. Love the blue with the circles. 

The label on my date card came from The Dollar Store. Just a basic few days. Nothing exciting happening here. 

page two:

More normal stuff. We watched the opening of the Olympics...which was nearly impossible with Nox and Munch running around like mad men, but we managed. Mr. Bean was my favorite part. I have a huge soft spot for Rowan Atkinson. He never fails to make me smile. I MIGHT come back and add a journal card, but I got tired of thinking about it, so I didn't when I was putting the page together. 

final page:

The pictures on this page are actually from July 29, but it was still the last week of the month. We went into Dallas to celebrate John's birthday a little early with my sister and her husband. I created the C.S. Lewis card in photoshop. Kinda love this for the final page of Book One. :o)

I'll be linking up with The Mom Creative tomorrow: