Week in the Life, Completed

Wow, what a project, I can't believe its done and off to the printer.  I spent the past two days glued to my desk chair really wanting to get this project done.  I had a goal of finishing by the end of last week and I did it.  Having the templates that Ali designed really helped me along but it still took a lot of time choosing the photos, figuring out how I wanted it laid out and writing the text. 

I ended up using a 4 page spread for each day, the title sheet and then 3 additional sheets for the photos.  I wanted to complete the project 100% digitally and on this first attempt at the project I wanted it to be about the words and photos and nothing else so I opted not to use the divided page protectors like Ali was doing.  I did incorporate my favorite moments from the day and my favorite thing overheard on the first page of each day.  I really liked having these memories documented.  I had planned on documenting the weather but I found that my photos told the weather story for me, same for what we ate each day.  I did a pretty good job of highlighting our meals here and there so I decided not to include specifics on that.  I had never done a 8.5 x 11 project before so it was fun trying something different and I really think for this project it was the perfect design.

I really enjoyed participating in this project, I was also very happy to put my camera down for a few days and only shoot what I had to to stay current with my Project Life album.  There was a bonus however, I really got a lot of time in with my DSLR camera and feel like my shooting did improve a lot over the course of the week, bonus! 

I am now 100% completely in love with this project and I'm so happy that I did it.  I look forward to doing it again and again.  Truthfully taking that leap really was the hardest step for me.  I don't  know what I was so afraid of, doing it proved to be fun and very enlightening.  

I'm really loving Orange these days so when I found the paper in my digital supplies I new I wanted to use it for my cover page (the paper was in a freebie pack from Persnickety Prints called Summer Sorbet). I opted not to use a photo on the cover because I loved the paper so much. Once I had that paper chosen I found this Orange We R Memory Keepers album which seemed perfect for my completed pages.

Now on to the finished product...click any to see larger.  Enjoy!

Try this project, you won't be sorry!

Week in the Life

Wow, where has the time gone.  July has come and gone and no posts from me.  It's been crazy, it's been fun and there has been a ton of swimming in between.

This past week saw me embark on a project that I've never done before, it's called Week in the Life.  Week in the Life was created by Ali Edwards, my scrapbooking idol.  She has that perfect blend of amazing photos and heart felt words and her design style is absolute perfection.  Watching her document her life though those photos and words has taught me to step back, see the heart of things and really focus on what I say just as much as how I place the images on a page.  Week in the Life is all about becoming an observer of your own life and documenting your day to day routine.  This is not the first year she has done this project and I usually watch from the sidelines too afraid to jump in and try it but this year the energy that was generated online was just the push I needed to dive in.  Late last Sunday I was scrambling to make sure my camera batteries were charged and ready to go.  Below is a glimpse of some of my favorite photos from the week.

Monday...

Tuesday...

Wednesday...

Thursday...

Friday...

Saturday...

Sunday...

What a week its been!  I'm so happy I finally took the plunge into this amazing project.  I took 903 photos over the course of the seven days.  I will probably only us 10% of the photos in the finished album but once you get used to snapping away at everything the photos really start to add up. I'm a bit worried about Wednesday the 27th, I only took 70 photos that day so I hope I can still pull it together.

I'm so thankful Ali created pages to keep track hour by hour what was happening and key memories for each day.  While I can generally conjure up the essence of what happened just by looking at the photos I definitely appreciate having the detailed descriptions and memories documented on the sheets. 

My goal is to have this project done by the end of this week, so its time to buckle down and get started.  I really can't wait to see how it turns out and I'll be sure to post photos once its done.  You really should look at Ali's blog at some of her completed albums, they truly are amazing.

Last Day of School

What a difference a year can make. 

I remember dropping Simone off that first day of Toddler Time, completely unsure how it was going to go.  Was she going to cry when I left?  I had never left her before, would she understand that I was coming back?  It turned out fine, I was the one that cried and she was super okay with me leaving her.  Having this time each week really has been great for all of us.  Mom and Dad have had a few hours to themselves each week and she has had a chance to meet some new friends and learn how to be a good girl for her teachers. 

There have been many changes for Simone this past year besides the obvious physical growth; she's taller and her hair is longer.  I am shocked that she can still get those shoes on, seeing as they are a good two sizes smaller than what she is wearing now.  I had hoped she could wear the same dress today that she wore on the first day but it was a no go, a bit too short these days. 

Simone's vocabulary has changed so much since that first day.  She has blossomed into quite the talker instead of just a head nodder.  She is super funny, loves to laugh and has the highest pitch squeal I have ever heard and I am convinced that she could talk to dolphins because of it.

She goes to the art table first thing now instead of having to be begged to sit down and make a picture.  We do make a pretty big deal about the stuff she brings home and she does like seeing it out on display.  Either way, I'm very happy that its a favorite activity of hers now.

She's learned a lot of really fun songs and she loves to sing them.  Her favorites are Slipper Fish, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the ABC song.  She just about has the ABC song down, we just need to focus a bit more on character recognition. 

It helps to have two really great teachers guiding her this past year.

Ms. Susan (r) is the teacher and Ms. Miryam (l) is the aide.  They are so great with the kids and work so hard at what they do.  They really care a lot about the kids and Simone really loves both of them.  It was hard to say goodbye today, we will miss them both very much!

Simone only has the month of July off for her summer break and seeing how most of that is taken up with swimming she will be back in school before she knows it.  Next year she is headed to Tiny Tot Pals preschool and her teacher will be Ms. Robie.  The classroom is a bit closer to our house and 3 kids from her current class will also be there.  Her new school will still be two days a week but it will be 3 hours instead of an hour and 45 minutes so Larry and I are super excited for the extra time we will have.  Getting a gym and shower in within and hour 45 has been tight.  We may actually have some time to relax.

Anyway, back to Simone and how proud we are for what she has accomplished this year and how much she has grown into a big grrrrl as she says. 

We love our Simoney Baloney....

P.S. in case you picked up on it in the picture from today, yes she has a giant fat lower lip.  She fell off one of the bar stools in the kitchen on Tuesday night and landed on her chin.  She's fine but has quite the boo boo.