Annual Vacation in Washington State | 2018

Welcome, friends! I can't believe it's been a year since my last blog post. My life has been a wee bit hectic this past year and the ol' blog took a permanent back seat. Hopefully I can make time for most posts in the coming months. 

The kids and I traveled to Washington for a quick visit earlier this month and I am thrilled with the photos I took, both at parent's house and at Mt. Rainier National Park. We stayed at a beautiful resort near the Crystal Mountain Lodge for two nights. The boys loved hiking, the fantastic onsite pool, and of course the beautiful views of Mr. Rainier. 

We also spent a lot of time with Abby and Carter. Evan and Jack are so good with their cousin and Carter adores them, too. I love this photo of the three cousins together. So sweet. 

Evan and I brought a huge box of toys with us for Carter and he LOVED his new Switch and Go Dinosaurs. I think they were Jack's from when Jack was 4 or 5. Carter is a huge dinosaur fan and these dinosaurs are perfect for him. Before we flew home to Washington, Carter had convinced his mom to buy him another dinosaur to add to his collection. He is so hard to say no to! 

We had a wonderful time and the boys are already talking about our next trip to Washington. 

I still have a ton of photos of edit from our trip, then I need to send them off to the printer so I can scrapbook them! I'm thinking about making a mini album, but I'm also considering making individual pages plus a digital photo book for the boys (and one for Carter) so they can look at the photos whenever they want to. 

Thanks for stopping by! I promise to be back soon... much sooner than a year. :) Have a great week! 

B&N Night | Traditional Layout

A couple of weeks ago the kids and I participated in Barnes and Noble Night in support of their school. I took a a bunch of photos of Jack running around the store, filling out his scavenger hunt sheet, and several of him reciting the Preamble with the rest of the 2nd grade scholars. I picked the best four photos, printed them to 2.5 x 3.5 inches, and trimmed them keeping a white border around each photo. 

I pulled out the Studio Calico Roman Holiday scrapbook main kit for my layout. This is such a versatile kit and I used bits and pieces from most of the embellishments, plus two pieces of patterned paper. 

My favorite element of this layout is the adorable chipboard pencil. How cute is that?! I added an aqua enamel heart on top and adhered it to the bottom right corner with two other elements. The black phrase stickers are from Ali Edwards' Read Story Kit, and the plastic stars are from the Studio Calico Smalls kit.

A few things to note:

• I am loving white borders around my photos right now. I use a Canon Pixma photo printer and I adjust the pictures so I have a thin (or sometimes not-so-thin) border around the edges. 
• Scrapbooking the boys' school events has become a priority. Their school has so many wonderful programs and activities and I want those events represented in their albums. 
• In 80% of my photos, the boys are wearing their school uniforms. I need to make sure to pull out my camera after they have changed into street clothes... all of my photos look the same! 
• This basic grid design is super easy to replicate and works with virtually any photos (everyday, birthdays, holidays, etc.). 

I'm hanging out in chilly Washington this week with my family. I haven't been able to celebrate my birthday with my parents in almost a decade, so when my parents offered to fly me to WA for a week as an early birthday present I jumped at the chance! My birthday is mid-March but I'll take what I can get. 

Have a great week!

Evan | Right Now

Reading | so many wonderful books at school and he just finished the Harry Potter series at home. He received Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for Christmas and read it in two days. This kid is a super fast reader and flies through books almost as fast as I can buy them.

Playing | soccer, football outside with his friends, board games and card games, Roblox on the computer, and occasionally Legos. 

Wearing | a uniform to school, with little complaint. This kid is not too picky about his clothes, although he prefers basketball type shorts and t-shirts to long pants and long sleeved shirts. He doesn't like wearing bulky or heavy clothing at all and hates wearing a jacket, even in cold temps. 

Studying | math, history, English, science, and Latin. He is doing really well in school and made the A/B honor roll for the second year in a row. PCCA has a much more difficult curriculum that he has adapted to beautifully. 

 

Loving | his friends and play dates. This past year he has made some new friends in our neighborhood, plus he has buddies on his soccer team that he likes to hang out with. Friends are extremely important to him at this stage in his life. 

Not Loving | rice, the color pink, waking up early, brushing his teeth, and sharing the computer. 

Watching | mostly YouTube and videos of people playing video games. I must admit I don't understand the appeal of watching other people play video games (why not play them yourself?), but he loves it. He doesn't watch any TV shows except sports (Seahawks, WSU football, and baseball).

Anticipating | his birthday and birthday party. He has already decided to have his party at the Field of Dream park with his school friends and his soccer friends. This park has so much for the kids to do and will be the perfect place to throw a birthday party. It should be a great day for him.

Thriving | at school and home. Yes, there have been some bumps in the road and yes, we are dealing with some preteen/tween angst, but I've seen my sweet, loving 10 year old during winter vacation, and I love it.

Week in the Life | Wednesday

Wednesday was not a day I was scheduled to work and it was also an early release day, so I didn't have much planned. The end of the school year is so busy for the kids, and I finished up my spring semester last Friday. We were all looking forward to a day of relaxing, watching (or, as it turned out, listening) to the Mariners, and hanging out as a family. 

A few thoughts about today: 

• My DSLR is working again and the more I work on this project, the happier I am when I pull out my "big camera" vs. my cell phone. Don't get me wrong, cell phone photos are fine, but there really isn't a comparison when I take shots with my DSLR. 
• I need to get into more photos! I am terrible at this and my goal for Friday is to be in at least five photos. We'll see how that goes. 
• I'm not sure how many photos I'm going to have at the end of this project, but I'm aiming for 15-20 "good" photos per day. Wednesday and Thursday I won't hit that number, but I'll be close. Hopefully Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I can be more intentional with my photo taking. 

I woke up to Bailey taking up half the bed, per usual. She is a mama's girl and loves to cuddle with me in the morning before I go wake the kids up for school. 

Out the door around 7:40am to get the kids to school by 7:55am. The boys sometimes take cereal or a bagel for breakfast and usually finish eating it in the car. It makes for a messy car (see the fruit loops on the floor of my van?!), but they like having something to munch on while we drive and listen to music. 

Home from school and both boys plunked themselves in front of the television for some Xbox time. They played Minecraft and Sims and only argued a couple of times. It was a blissful hour and gave me time to work on a few projects of my own. 

A little drumming before chores. Lilly, who was asleep on the couch at the time, was not happy that Jack pulled out his drumsticks and started playing. She quickly fled to the laundry room, looking annoyed.
 

Evan has been pretty good about doing his chores after school with minimal complaints. He unloads the dishwasher, takes care of the litter box, and takes out the garbage for me. 

Jack helped his brother out by taking a bag of trash out to the garbage. Wearing one sock?! I'm sure there was a good reason for him to be missing a sock but I have no idea what that reason is. Goofy kid. 

Both Evan and Jack love the books they picked out at the book fair and have spent a good deal of time reading over the past few days. This is how I found Evan after he finished his chores... on my bed, under the covers and reading. Love him. 

Out the door to do some long overdue grocery shopping. We listened to the radio on our drive to Publix and one of the new 21 Pilots songs played. Both boys belted out the lyrics and I couldn't help but sing along, too. Their love of music is something I cherish. 

Half way through our Publix trip. Gatorade, carrots, cat food, gold fish, garlic, crackers, apples, potatoes, and Capri Suns. 

Only three more days to go! I can't wait to start putting the project together next week.

Week in the Life | Monday

I'm breaking back into the blogging world by sharing a few photos from today:  Day One of Ali Edwards' Week in the Life project. Oh yes, I am totally tackling this project this year. I've been "this close" to completing this project in the past but have never finished it. I've taken all the photos or done the journaling (or both!) but haven't completed the album. This year I'm hoping to keep the project up for the full week and finish my album next week.

A few observations from Day One: 

• My DSLR was having some issues this morning and I almost let that discourage me from continuing the project. Unfortunately my photos today didn't turn out quite like I had hoped, but I still got a few good shots. 
• I love black + white pictures, especially portraits. They are classic and timeless and allow the subject to shine. Plus, they hide messy car seats and bad lighting. Win-win. 
•  I need to do a better job of taken photos in the morning, before school. Jack was crabby this morning and Evan and I aren't naturally morning people so I (often) forget to pick up the camera. 
• Teaching in a window-less classroom isn't ideal. The photo of Jack sitting on a desk is lightened, I upped the contrast, then added a filter before running a B+W action. That is a lost of post processing for one camera photo! 
• I forgot to get photos of the kids at the book fair and doing homework. I'm choosing not to stress about it; there is always tomorrow. 

A before school selfie. After a good breakfast and finally getting out the door, we had a nice drive to school.

I didn't tell Jack that I was teaching his class today and he was super excited when he found out. 

I had two teachers tell me funny stories about Jack today. 

First, his math teacher told me that she made an announcement in her class last week about missing an upcoming math class. Jack then said to her "please let the sub be Mrs. Taylor". She didn't get to pick the sub and I was already booked in another classroom so she had to break the bad news to him and he was so sad! I love that he wants me to teach him. 

Then, one of the second grade teachers told me that she made a comment to another student about having a good day and offered a hug. Jack, who was standing behind her, piped up and said "I've had a great day, too!". The teacher asked Jack if he would also like a hug and he said "yes!" and gave her a big hug. He is such a sweet little guy. 

Pizza + salad for lunch, courtesy of PCCA. Yay for a yummy free lunch. 

A little reading on our way home from school. We stopped at the book fair after school and the kids each picked out two books. The spring book fair had an awesome selection for older kids and Evan didn't have any problems finding something. Jack was much more difficult. He wanted bookmarks/erasers/Lego sets and not books. Sigh. He is a great reader but all the "shiny stuff" grabbed his attention. After some back and forth he finally settled for two chapter books, which he has already started.

Pretty Mother's Day flowers from my mom. I posted a photo of them on Instagram yesterday but I wanted to include them in this album as well. I love fresh flowers and this arrangement is especially beautiful. 

Mirror selfie. I was wearing a shirt with tiny horizontal stripes that went a little crazy in the photo. I'll choose a less busy shirt for my next selfie. 

Kitty stretches in the afternoon sun. Lilly found herself locked on the patio for a bit this afternoon and was not a happy cat. She likes to go in and out to the patio but does not like being locked on the patio. Panic sets in and she meows like crazy. She was not amused when Jack accidentally locked her out there for 10 minutes this afternoon. 

A little rest before we head to the pool. Jack was super sleepy today, which probably contributed to his crabbiness this morning. 

Pool necessities: good book + ice water + sunscreen + chapstick + cooling cream + cute pineapple pouch to carry it all + beach towel. I have a "pool bag" that is always packed and ready to go. We go to the pool a lot and having the essentials hanging on a hook by the door cuts down on the amount of time we spend running around looking for stuff. 

Pool time. Evan always brings his football, and Jack brings his goggles and sometimes his rings (if he remembers). 

It was not especially warm out today (for us Floridians) and Jack only lasted about 40 minutes in the pool before requesting a towel, teeth chattering. I wrapped him up and we watched Evan play for another few minutes. 


The boys started working on a Lego set Evan received for his birthday while we waited for the pizza to arrive. Evan's favorite character from the new Star Wars movie is Kylo Ren and I was thrilled to find the Kylo Ren Lego set a few months ago. 

 Winding down before bed. Lilly has claimed the leather chair as her own and Jack wanted some cuddles before heading to his room for the night.

 Before bed reading. Evan gets a little extra time in the evenings to read before I turn out the lights. He looks so sleepy here! He didn't last very long after this photo was taken.

I always have this sense of relief when I've reached the end of the day and I remembered to pick up my camera throughout the day. I have a loose plan for tomorrow as our schedule is a little different, plus Evan is having a play date after school. Hopefully it works out and my big camera decides to cooperate. I did some Googling this evening and I think I fixed the problem. It was user error, of course! 


I was featured on the Studio Calico blog as the Member Spotlight last month. If you want to take a look at the blog post you can click here. Thanks for stopping by!

Trip to Seattle | Holidays 2015

Yesterday I mentioned posting this week's Retro Sketches card, then the Seahawks played this afteroon (and lost!) and I completely forgot to photograph my card! Of course it's dark now and I don't have a good setup for photographing projects at night. So... I swapped a couple of posts around and today I'm sharing some photos from our day trip to Seattle, Washington. The boys and I spent two weeks with my parents (they joined their father for a few days around Christmas) over the holidays.

A couple of days before we flew home my parents treated us to brunch at the top of the Space Needle. If you haven't done this before I highly recommend it. The food is amazing and you can't beat the view!

We had 10am reservations and I was told we could arrive 30 minutes early and check out the observation deck. I'm guessing the receptionist didn't realize the 10am reservation was right at opening because they were not expecting us at 9:30. We were told to hang out in the gift shop until 10am, which worked out great because it was freezing outside. Of course Jack wanted to buy everything in the gift shop and he managed to hit Grandma up for a Seattle snow globe before we left. Even she can't turn down those big blue eyes. 

I admire bloggers who can take fantastic food photos, and I had every intention of taking photos of my amazing meal but I was too busy eating it! The best part about eating at the top of the Space Needle (besides the food, of course) is the incredible 360 degree view. The restaurant rotates while you eat, making one revolution every 45 minutes, and you end up seeing something new every time you look out the big windows. It's pretty incredible. 

After brunch we moved to the observation deck. This is always the boys' favorite part of visiting Seattle, although it was super busy at the top by the time we finished brunch. 

There was a ton of fog on our drive into Seattle and I was concerned about visibility but once we got into the city the fog dissipated and the view was spectacular! 

 

Jack spotted a park while we were at the top of the Space Needle and we decided to check it out when we got back to ground level. It was an awesome playground with a large rope climbing gym, swings, and interactive musical instruments. The boys had a blast and I got some great pictures of them and my parents. 

After about an hour at the park we were all freezing and ready to head home. The kids and I are planning to visit Washington again this summer and we will spend a few days in Seattle checking out some of the other attractions... the Pacific Science Center, Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Aquarium, EMP, and possibly a Harbor City Cruise. Until then this day trip will have to hold us over. 

I used my Canon 70D camera and 50mm 1.8, 85mm 1.8, and 24mm 2.8 lenses for these photos. The 24mm 2.8 was great for capturing all of the Space Needle in the frame and for photos with sun flare. It was such a crisp, cool, clear day and I'm extremely pleased with how these photos turned out. Now I need to decide which photos to frame for around the house! 

I have my Retro Sketches card on my desk, ready to be photographed in the morning. Hopefully nothing will come up and I will have a blog post up in a timely manner. We can always hope!

Right Now | June 2015

He:

Has been a joy to be around this summer. Silly, funny, enthusiastic. Qualities I don't always get from him, and I'm soaking it up. 

Got the biggest grin on his face when I told him about the baseball camp he is going to next month. He is already looking forward to it. 

Is acting more and more like a "tween" and less like a little boy. So mature and articulate at times, but hello eye rolling. Oh how I hate the eye rolling.

Made the A/B honor roll for the fourth quarter, despite four teacher changes this year and our divorce. I am so proud of him.

Is still a healthy eater, when I'm on top of it. He loves cheese sticks, yogurt, carrot sticks, cantaloupe, watermelon, broccoli, and corn.

Is not excited about going to a new school next year.

Totally rocks his new, short hair cut. I love that he's not constantly pushing hair out of his eyes.

Rarely gives me a genuine smile when I ask for a photograph. I'm not sure how I got this photo of him, but this smile? Melts my heart.

Wants to stay up late and watch America's Funniest Home Videos and American Ninja Warrior.

He: 

Totally rocked his "faux hawk" during the last week of school. Complete with green wash out hair dye. He loved it.

Is still into music, and his favorite song right now is All About the Bass by Meghan Trainor. Animals by Maroon 5 is a close second.

Is a master at playing: art projects, imaginative play, Kiwi Crate boxes, Playmobil, digging in the dirt, swimming, coloring, xBox, puzzles. This kid loves to play.

Tasted watermelon for the first time and liked it. For those of you who know Jack, and his struggles with trying new foods, this was huge.

Will still hold my hand, give me hugs and kisses, and loves to snuggle.

Loves the pool and could spend all day swimming. He hated the pool as a baby/toddler, but that changed last year and now I can't keep him out of the water.

Is very excited about going to a new school next year.

Can't wait to go on an airplane next month. Flying to Washington is one of his favorite things, and he is a wonderful traveler.

Is all about play dates these days, and went on his first sleepover a few weeks ago. I received a text from his friend's mother the next day, and she said that Jack announced at 8:45pm that he was going to bed, and he was asleep a few minutes later.

We:

 Have already gone to the aquatic center twice, Pump it Up, Fired Up Pottery, the neighborhood pool, the park, and a Manatees baseball game this summer. It's going to be a great summer vacation.

Are settling into a routine as a family of three.

Need to start eating dinner together again. Our dinner time hasn't been consistent, and I haven't been cooking as much as I should be. That needs to change.

Are counting down the days until we fly to Washington. 

Plan on having an amazing summer together.

Halloween 2014 | Traditional Layout

I have a scrappy confession to make: I don't create themed/holiday layouts very often. Or ever. I prefer to create "everyday" layouts rather than the major holidays. When I pulled out the frames from Studio Calico's Calypso kit, I instantly thought of this photo of Jack and Evan wearing their Halloween costumes. The boys were Steve and a Creeper, from Minecraft, and wore matching Minecraft tshirts while we trick-or-treated. I'm so happy with how my layout turned out, and I can add this page to my very thin "holiday" section in my albums.

I used a bunch of older Studio Calico kits and products on my layout, combining them to create a bright (and very non-Halloween) themed layout.

The red alphabet that I used for the title, and the black numbers for "2014", are part of an Ali Edwards alphabet sticker pack that I picked up a few months ago, and I've used them a lot already. They are a great size for traditional layouts and pocket style pages.

Now I need to tackle about ten years of Christmas, Thanksgiving, and birthday party photos to get all caught up. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!