Then & Now

Yesterday was Simone's last day of preschool.  So much has changed for her this past year.  While the physical difference isn't as obvious as it was last year, she still looks pretty much the same, just taller.  The main differences are in her personality.  She definitely found it this past year and has no problem expressing it, awesome but frustrating as well.  This girl is not lacking in confidence which is great but it gets her into a bit of trouble from time to time.  She has become a pro at writing her name and seeing that growth has been wonderful.  She loves to write all the time and is always asking how to spell things so she can write them down.  She has also really wants to read so we bought some books to start working on that this summer.

For the last day of school her teacher planned a family party and pot luck at the park where her school is.  Everyone brought food to share and we had a nice time visiting and let the kids run and play.  They were allowed to bring bikes or scooters and there were a few crashes but thankfully no one got hurt too bad.  The park has a mini spray park in it so I bet you can't guess who got soaked down to her undies....poor planning on mom's part, I should have dressed her in her swimsuit.

There was a group gift for Simone's teacher and we also gave her a little thank you as well.  That's Simone standing by as she reads our card.

Simone will only have one month off and is back at it again the beginning of August.  Next year she will go three days a week instead of the two she had this past year.  The emphasis next year will be kindergarten prep and it's amazing what kids are expected to know before they step foot inside their kindergarten classes.  Lots of new and exciting things ahead for sure.  Hopefully all of these kids will continue next year, I guess we'll see when class starts.  Luckily Simone will have the same teacher and be at the same location. 

We are looking forward to our month off and need to seriously get started making some plans before the month disappears on us.

Happy Summer everyone!

Project Life - Week 25

I was finally able to document Father's Day, our great day and night up in Tahoe.  I opted not to make an insert and just give more slots to our day.  I love the way it came out.
Here's the full spread and the left side.

I actually placed this piece in last week so I would remember to use it and I'm glad I did I had been thinking about doing something else because I had forgotten about it.  It was the envelope for the card Simone gave Daddy for Father's Day.  I just cut it out to 6 x 4 and slide it in.  The veneer Remember is new from Studio Calico the veneer people are from them as well.  I inked them to color them with Jenni Bowlin chalk ink edgers.

Here are some photos of the morning and the gift we gave Dad.  The back of the key chain has the birthdates of his three kids engraved on it. 

I'm going to show these two together because the photo booth photos carried over to both slots.  I really wanted to keep it in a strip as much as I could so I just cut thru the middle to line them up on the two slots.  We took these photos at the arcade at Harvey's.  Simone has wanted to do it for awhile, it's always fun to get in a photo booth but a little cramped for three.  The other slot on top was of our road trip to Tahoe and the bottom is my favorite shot of Simone from that day.

A really great photo of Simone and Larry playing on the beach and one of him with his yummy sandwich. 

I really wanted to tell the story of the trip so I added a double sided journaling card, you can see the tab above and slipped it in the little bag that I used as a pocket.  I attached the bag directly to the protector so I could get at the pull out. 

Some shots from Tuesday of my mess and the awesome shelf Larry made for my Cameo to pull out.

Here is the right side

The First Day of Summer deserved a mention and some sunflowers!

A few shots from my day of running errands last Thursday.  What a deal, only $3.7495 per gallon for gas...!

I found some awesome chair cushions for our backyard barstools, they fit perfectly.  I also did some shopping at Trader Joe's and I now know to always ask them for stickers, they have some really awesome ones for summer.  Two sets were scratch and sniff so I added one to the outside of the protector so you can scratch and sniff!

A screen shot of my now 200 followers, wow!  The other slot is of Simone chair dancing to our song of the summer.  The QR code leads to the music video.

Some shots from Friday of Simone and Grandma and a clock I cut for her with my Cameo.  She's expressed interest in learning to tell time so I made it so the hands move.

Saturday morning we had McD's for breakfast and on my way there I spotted a firework stand all set up, can't believe it's almost July already.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you liked my week!

Catching Up

It feels like its been forever since I shared any layouts here.  I finally had a chance to sit down for a few hours and get some done and this past Saturday and I finished fourteen, which is a lot.  Some took more time than others but it was nice to check some stuff off my list.  These were all for Simone's book which I was really behind on and they are all done digitally.  The good thing is I'm now caught up to September 2011 in both the family book and Simone's book.  Yes, I'm behind but at least I'm catching up.  I have quite a few to send off for printing now which is always a good feeling.  If you are looking for an amazing photo processor especially for scrapbook layouts I use this company, they are top notch and do an amazing job.

This layout comes from a very early blog post that I wrote about how Simone loved to help fix her own breakfast.  She doesn't do that anymore, she prefers to be waited on now...

A fun Easter party for her class

Easter morning and day

I started to notice that Simone was pronouncing some words the correct way one day and I wanted to document a few that I had come to miss. 

Our little flower girl

Swim lessons

These pictures were too good not to scrap

Someone loves our new pool

Disneyland with her cousins

Some more photos too good not to scrap

I hope to continue plowing through my list.  The last half of the year is always filled with activities so I really don't want to keep getting more behind.  Hopefully I'll have some more to share very soon.

Five on Friday

Friday already, this week is flying by.

1.  Our amazing hot, swim weather has been exchanged for windy cool mid-70's which I realize for some is hot but for us, its rather cool. Especially this time of year and especially on the first day of summer this past Thursday.

2.  I made my first mess on my new work space this past Tuesday and I loved it.  Standing and working was awesome, so much easier that sitting cramped in a tiny bit of desk space.

3.  Shocking but somehow I've managed to acquire 200 followers on Instagram.  Thanks everyone for wanting to look at my pictures.

4.  My stupid printer has broken for the 2nd time in a year and my fairly new mouse and keyboard have also crapped out.  I'm using the keyboard and mouse right now to write this post and its totally annoying.  I have to repair the wireless connection after about every 2nd sentence.  Stupid thing!  Thankfully the printer came with a 5 year warranty so they can keep sending me printers every time it breaks and the keyboard and mouse came with a 3 year warranty, Crazy!  Replacements for both are en route and will be here next week.

5. I stopped by Nothing Bundt Cake yesterday when I was in Roseville.  They have a seasonal Lemon Cake right now that we love.  This ought to keep us busy for the weekend!

Enjoy your weekend everyone!  We'll be hanging in doors it appears.

Project Life - Week 24

Another week in the can, I cannot believe we are almost to the half way point of the year.  Crazy!
Surprisingly I didn't have a lot to choose from this week, I think I had the least amount of pictures for this week so far this year. It ended up working out.  Oh and there may just be a freebie this week...!

Here is the full spread

and the left side

As usual, this spot was done last and I had no idea what to do.  I knew I needed to balance out some of the pink on the right hand side so I started with the cute pink Amy Tangerine paper.  I had purchased the Studio Calico veneer frames recently so I pulled those out.  I cut a piece of white paper to fit behind but that wasn't right so I went fishing for a scrap and came up with the gray paper that I love.  I added the veneer people to represent us and done.  I think this is my new favorite title card.  Love!

Who knew that the In-N-Out burger wrappers would fit perfectly into the 6x4 slots...

I had some really great pictures so I decided to put them inside on a little pull out.  In case you can't read it here is the journaling:

Larry was finishing up the last bits of work on my cabinet and Simone wanted to have lunch at the place with the yellow check mark. We had no idea what she was talking about until she drew a picture of it. Smart girl, that’s exactly what the logo looks like.

My stamps arrived for the July Studio Calico Summer Stamp School so I snapped a shot and put it on Instagram and Twitter.  Studio Calico RT'd my comment and photo.  Awesome!

Monday Larry painted my new cabinet, he had to set up his tall ladder to reach the backside.  Love that he can turn any idea I have into a reality!

The other slot was a photo I took while I was in the pool with my phone.  It was for the photo a day prompt, 'from a low angle'.  Risky move but worth it.  The tag is from the new Elle's Studio summer line.

Monday I took Simone out while Larry was painting to see the new Madagascar movie.  We have been cracking up and signing along to the Circus Afro song from the trailer so it seemed appropriate to put in in here.  Click on the QR code if you can, so funny!  I stamped the background on this slot with the stars border that came in the Epic Stamp set from Studio Calico, the Laugh out Loud is from that set as well.

Happy mail from both Birchbox and My Glam bag in the same day!

Here's a look at the right side

Some shots I've already posted for my move in to the new space.

My favorite photo from Father's Day at preschool.

She loves to play in my jewelry box and found some of her baby bracelets.  She can't quite say jewelery so it comes out jewelee.

I saw that sign out at the mall, I had to take a photo.

The glitter sign inspired me to make something for my new craft space so I made myself a Keep Calm sign.  I posted it on Instagram and offered it to anyone that emailed me.  If you would like a copy too, I'll post the link below.

We had our first super hot day on Saturday!

My nephew graduated from High School on Friday.  I'm so sorry we weren't there to see it.  I cannot believe he's off to college in the fall.  Time is whizzing by!

Saturday I took off for a bit for a mani pedi and couldn't resist the neon trend any longer.  I'm officially hooked.  Simone is bummed she didn't get hers done too so I'll have to pick some up and paint her nails too.  I used Zing Neon Pink embossing powder here on the stamping.  I believe its discontinued but you might be able to find some out there.

So if you would like a copy of my Keep Calm sign, you can find it here.  Enjoy!