PL2014 - Weeks 17 & 18

I have been terrible about blogging lately. Not just lately. I've been terrible for not getting to it, for quite awhile.

I'm envious of all the people out there, who seem to have their act together. The ones who have multiple kids, and have jobs, document their lives, and have time to blog. I started blogging, back when I did, to remember all the little things. The every day stuff, that I knew I wouldn't remember if I didn't write it down. Though I never blogged daily, I did keep fairly current. When I began creating my project life albums, the blogging slowed down considerably. Because that was where I began to document the little things. The every day stuff I knew I wouldn't remember if I didn't write it down.

I'm not sure if I just don't manage my time well... I've been a stay at home mum for 9 years. 9 Years...  I worked full-time for 11 years before Mason was born. I got a one year maternity leave after he was born and when I went back to work, I worked part-time, for 2 years until Miss Madelyn was born. I haven't been back to work since. Do I miss working? Nah. I don't. What's to miss? The commute downtown each and every day, in a city that is getting more and more congested with traffic? Nope. Looming deadlines? Absolutely not. Four weeks of vacation a year? Uh-uh, think again. I don't miss working at all. What I do miss is the socializing that went along with work.

However, I think being at home has sadly affected my ability to 'get 'er done'. From what I remember about my 'working days', I was fairly organized. Stuff got done. Now... If something doesn't get done on Monday, I've got Tuesday. If it doesn't get done on Tuesday, I push it over Wednesday. You get the picture. Cleaning bathrooms, washing floors, doing laundry etc, doesn't have quite the same time constraints around it, as say, getting a well package finished and sent off to partners...

I'm grateful. I'm not complaining. I love being a stay at home mum. Even though the kids are both in school full-time, I love it. I love my house, I love my kids, I love my life. What I don't love is my inability to get tasks done in a timely manner.

I am going to work on that, starting in September. The kids have 7 and a half days of school left. We are going to have an awesome summer. It's going to be intentional. Then, come September, I'm going to work on being more accountable to myself.

Now, with that said, here are my project life spreads for weeks 17 & 18:

Week 17:

This week:

- It started to look a little bit like spring.

- Kids did some backyard clean up, and we got out the scooters.

- Mace was chosen to attend the Young Writer's Conference in Calgary, he was one of fifteen chosen to attend from his school.

- Seeing work along our river banks and praying that this spring we don't have any flooding problems.


Week 18:

This week we:

-Went in search of the crocuses on Nose Hill , and weren't disappointed.

- Went on a field trip to Fish Creek Park with the Grade 6's, both Barry and I.

- Celebrated Miss Madelyn's birthday

Keeping with the one page layout, I've been cutting up page protectors so that i can 'flip up' and have a little bit more room to either journal or add a few extra pictures.  

Sahlin Studio Products Used:

Week 17

P.S. I Love You

Week 18

Life is Better with You - mini kit

PL2014 - Week 16

This week was all about Mason's performance in Treasure Island, as Jim Hawkins. This kid has been in rehearsals every lunch hour since the middle of February. He dedicated so much to his role, and he did fantastic. So, so proud of him for taking this on and following through with it. He even had to sing a solo, and he did amazing. He didn't appear nervous at all, and to say the house was packed, is an understatement. I don't know how he did or, or any of the kids for that matter. It was awesome.

Using some washi tape, I created my own flip pocket. The last photo includes dying Easter Eggs, Easter Morning and Easter clothes. A lot of people have been using the flip up method. I like it because with my one page format, it allows me a tiny bit more of space to include stuff. 

This is what's under the flipped up part. They both got dressed up fancy for Easter Dinner at Ama & Baba's place.

Project Life Weeks 14 & 15

Madelyn and I were talking the other day, and she said something along the lines of "Gee Mummy, I can't believe the school year is just about over already. Time just seems to go by so fast"  I thought, wait until you hit your 40's little girl... Then we'll talk about time going fast...

We are well into May. And yes indeed, time goes by fast. I'm so glad I've captured all these every day things. I love how a photograph can immediately take you back to something.

Looking back at this layout, to some it might seem shocking to see snow... But we saw snow just last weekend... We're still waiting for spring.  I'm pleased to say, that we've had a handful of warm seasonable days this week, and thankfully, things are beginning to green up.

Week 14:

This week we:

- Got [hopefully for the last time this year] some sledding in.

- Cut 10 inches of hair off a certain little girl. She's been wanting to do it for over a year, and I managed to hold off this long.

- Had a lunch date with Madelyn, we went to... You guessed it, Tim Horton's.


Week 15:

This week 15 we:

- Went to meet a breeder. We're on the wait list for a Miniature Schnauzer... Eeks...

- Picked up Jim Hawkins from dress rehearsal after school.

- Went door to door selling Girl Guide Cookies with our Brownie Group.

- My M&D came home from their trip to sunny Arizona.

Sahlin Studio Product Used:

Week 14 & 15:

Worth a Thousand Words

Arrow paper clips

Also, on Week 15 used:

Reflection

PL2014 - Week 13

Gosh, week 13 took us back to spring break. We planned a little ski get away. After spending a lot of time hoping that the snow would disappear, we actually wanted to see more of it.

I decided to create a 2 page layout with this week.  Aside from Miss Madelyn selling Girl Guide cookies, the Saturday after we got back, this whole spread was photos from our little get-away.

I apologize for the quality of these pictures, it's not great this time around. But I'm not re-taking them.



I also included a couple of inserts.



Week 13 - Left Hand Side:



Right Hand Side:



Insert 1 - Side A: [I cut down a Design A page protector]

Insert 1 - Side B:

Insert 2 - Side A

Insert 2 - Side B

I rarely add memorabilia, though I love it. I included a couple of our ski tickets, adult and kids. We picked up discount adult tickets at Costco, which was a great deal. I also included a map of the hill. The kids love to look back at the map, to check out the runs we went down.  I sewed an 8x8 page protector to hold what I wanted it to.

We rented a condo in Radium, and drove back and forth to the ski hill each day. It was a little bit more driving, we had a 3 bedroom condo. We were able to put kids to bed, and then enjoy some time alone. I don't know about anyone else, but staying in a hotel with kids, is not really that much fun... For our little family, it generally means we all go to bed at the same time. Because my kids are NIGHT OWLS, that will stay awake as long as there is something going on. I digress... This was awesome, and although Barry didn't love the drive back and forth each day, I thought it was totally worth it. 

Sahlin Studio Product Used:

Worth a 1000 Words
Arrow Paper Clips
Freebie Stamp Set

PL2014 - Week 12

Here is my layout for Week 12:

 These are a few of things that happened this week:

-We celebrated St. Patrick's Day, I got up early and made the kids green waffles and green milk. Mad told me it "grossed her out..." Sometimes you try to be fun and create a surprise, and likely a bowl of cereal would have sufficed.

- Mason had an ortho appointment, and his appliance is on track. Madelyn got to see a presentation on Skunks, called "Why Skunks Make Good Neighbours" and even got to meet a skunk named Gulliver.

- We saw grass on the ground, at the park.

- The boy and I had a lunch date.

- Mad finished her hockey. Alecia came and spent the weekend with us.

- We went to visit Gigi.

Sahlin Studio Product Used:

Melon Sorbet

24 Hours Was All it Took

We looked forward to Easter last week. The kids got 4 days off of school. I'm always thrilled, when there are extra days off school.

Friday, being Good Friday, we had a lazy morning, we debated going on a picnic. Or rather, I debated going on a picnic. We haven't been to Elbow falls in a while, and I think we need to get there, before it's inundated with people...

Mason took one look at me, and one look out the window, and suggested we wait until the weather was a bit more willing to cooperate...

You see. It snowed.
Again.
A lot.
Again.
But this time, it was okay, because we only had the white stuff on the ground for 24 hours. It was a mixture of rain and snow for quite awhile, it wasn't really accumulating. Perhaps a bit on the grass, but the roads were fine.

Until they weren't.

We made a trip to Home Depot, Barry tells me that's his happy place, but I'm only good for about 20 minutes...[Thankfully we had a Tim Horton's run to look forward to after I endured more time than I wanted to at Home Depot] By the time we got home, it was snowing. Like. Crazy.

Again.

Little girl, was in her glory. She loves the snow. [Though I promise when I say, she's actually physically said, OUT LOUD, "Enough already"] It was the kind of snow that was the perfect consistency for snowmen. It was quiet and serene. It wasn't too terribly cold. So she put on her boots, got a hat and mitts, and created her masterpiece:

 The next morning, was bright and sunny. The snow began to melt almost immediately. You could hear it running down the house, in the eaves, down the gutter. You could hear it dripping from all over. That's such a joyful sound... Birds chirping, snow melting... One of my favourites for sure.


By dinner time, less than 24 hours after this wonderful creation was made, this was all that was left of it.

First off, there was that precarious tilt backwards... Surely he was going to fall over. Nope. Just his head fell off... And then he was gone. Just like that.

We're now well into April. So ready to be done with the snow. Want to see green grass, and lovely coloured blooms on trees. Ready to see flowers begin to emerge from gardens. We get so ripped off when it comes to spring.

Keeping our fingers crossed that this is the last snowman of spring.

PL2014 - Week 11

Here is week 11, from my project life album.

Week 11:

This week included a certain little boy, highlighting his lines for his, fairly substantial role as Jim Hawkins, in the division II performance of Treasure Island. Daddy also put him to work vacuuming gravel out of cars. Madelyn's hockey puck bruise from the week before, looks a lot like an 'S'. A quick shot of me at Yoga. Madelyn helping me make brownies, and realizing she's nearly too big to stand up on a chair. Lunch date with my girl. And Mason's last hockey game warm up of the season.

Sahlin Studio Product Used:

Refections
Project Mouse Days Washi Tape
Arrow Paper Clips