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Feeling Creative
03.04.10

Scrapbooking and Strawberries

One of my favorite things about living in California is the amazing produce that’s available. I went to the grocery store yesterday and strawberries were on sale. Big, beautiful, huge strawberries. I love strawberries. It made me so happy! Seriously put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. Funny – it really is all about the little things, isn’t it!?

Several of you have asked me various scrapbooking questions after my Project Life posts so I wanted to take a minute to answer them.

1) Where do you print your pictures? Do you prefer glossy or matte? I always get matte pictures developed just because they don’t show fingerprints and with little ones looking at my books (and occasionally pulling pictures out), fingerprints are inevitable! I’ve tried so many places to get my pictures printed (Costco, Shutterfly, Snapfish, etc.) and haven’t been super impressed with any of them so I’ve been developing my pictures at a professional photo lab that is close to where I live. They charge more (.29 cents per 4×6…$5.00 per 8×10…), but the picture quality is a lot better. This last batch of pictures I ordered on-line at a scrapbook picture site. I’ve heard they do a good job and they are cheaper than the place I’ve been going so I’m hoping the quality is as good. If they are good, I’ll let you all know and give you the website as soon as I get them back. I would always rather just pay a little more and get pictures I’m happy with since we’ll have them forever.

2) What size did you cut the photos to fit in the smaller slots in your Project Life Albums? How do you print them? The smaller vertical slots in the Project Life book are 4×3 (exactly half of a 4×6). I always collage two 4×3’s together to get one 4×6 developed. It’s cheaper and easier that way. To collage the two pictures I either do it in Photoshop, or I make a collage in Picasa (Picasa is a free photo service that is SO EASY to download and use…just type in picasa.com and it will walk you through it). In Picasa you can choose the two vertical photos you want, hit “collage”, and then save it in your picture file and it’s ready to develop – just like a regular 4×6 straight out of your camera.

3) How do you store your albums? Mostly on bookshelves all over the house.

Some of the girls’ albums are on the bookshelf in their room…

and a lot of them are on the bookshelves in our guest room.

I’m hoping in our next house I’ll have some sort of scrapbook/office room that I can store them in all together, but for now the girls love having their books close by to look through.

I thought I’d share a few pages from the album I made that has been the most popular with my girls. I made this simple ABC book for Ellie when she was 18 months old and my girls love it. They loved it as babies and they still love to look at it now. It just includes pictures of Ellie and other random things that start with each letter of the alphabet.

I’d love to make one for my other two kids someday just because it has been such a hit with my girls.

4) What will you do for your new baby? What other albums do you do? How do you organize everything? These are questions I’ve struggled with for a long time! I scrapbooked so much until baby #2 came along. Then life got a lot busier! Ellie has three baby books and poor Addison doesn’t have a thing yet. There is a side of me that loves to just be creative and scrap what I’m in the mood to scrap when I’m in the mood to do it, but there is another side of me that has been craving some sort of organization. A system so that I can stay on top of scrapbooking the pictures I care the most about.

This is what I’ve recently come up with:

– {Baby Books} I’m going to do a baby book for Kole (the new baby) using Becky Higgings baby kit. I actually ordered the kit for Addison hoping it would motivate me to get hers done but now I have it set up to use for this baby and then I’ll go back and do Addison’s later (realistically when all three of my kids are older and in school!). My goal is to have at least one baby book for each of them (traditional scrapbooking).

– {From toddler to high school graduation} The Project Life Albums will be the way I do my kids’ albums after their baby books. Yes, I plan to just keep ordering new kits as long as Becky keeps making them! If she ever stops, I’ll just buy a binder with divided page protectors and keep doing the same type of thing. It’s doable and easy to stay on top of. I’d love to get to where I could fit more than a year in each book (maybe two years per book?). I don’t know if that’s realistic because of all of the pictures I take, but it would be nice just so my kids don’t have too many albums to take with them when they leave! (Yes, their baby books and Project Life type scrapbooks are for them to keep. They will all go with them when they grow up and move out.)

– {Family books} I did traditional scrapbooks for our family up until 2008ish. Around that time I started blogging and I’ve decided that my blog will be our new family albums (the ones I keep forever with me). Someday I’ll get around to printing my blog posts into books by year. The books will be thinner digital books so they will be easier to store.

– {Additional just for fun books} I still love scrapbooking and wanted some books to make where I could use my supplies and be creative, but that wouldn’t take up too much time so I’ve started a Halloween and a Christmas album. These books will be easy to stay on top of because I’ll just do a few layouts each year. The Halloween book will be pictures of October activities, along with costume and trick-or-treating pictures. The Christmas book will include all of our fun December activities, pictures on Santa’s lap, Christmas morning, our family Christmas cards, and Christmas cards from family and friends. (You can go here to see how I organize all of the Christmas cards we get from family and friends.) I think these books will be fun to always keep with me and pull out with our Halloween and Christmas decorations each year. It’s always fun to look at and remember past holidays while you’re enjoying the present one.

SO! That’s the system I’ve come up with and I hope it’s one I can realistically stay on top of. Sorry this post is a book! Hope I answered your questions ok. Have a great day! :)
xoxo, Erin
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Feeling Creative
03.02.10

Project Life (Ellie’s Book part 2)

Just sharing a few more pages from Ellie’s book. I’m finally caught up! Now hopefully staying on top of it won’t be too difficult. (If you’re new to my blog, the first half of her book was posted here.)

I added 8×10’s to a couple of layouts. A fun, easy way to highlight special pictures like these from Halloween.

I had an extra 4×6 slot at the top right so I had Ellie draw a picture of her and Addison in their poodle skirts. I think the blue faces add a nice flair. :)

I used some of the extra matching 12×12 paper that came with the kit as a background for Ellie’s turkey.

I also used it as a background for the pictures I printed from this blog post on “Our Tether Ball Rules.”

Smaller page protectors work great when I don’t have as much journaling.

These journaling inserts were printed from my “Photo Shoot Gone Bad” post. Then I had Ellie write some journaling on the 4×6 cards. I asked her what she thought of when she saw these pictures and she said, “daddy acts funny when the Chargers win.” :)

Our minute in the snow and some random things Ellie loves.

Ellie’s 6th birthday at home…

and at Disneyland.

These are February pictures including the mail truck her grandpa made for her Kindergarten class. I also added the hearts she made her daddy and a letter she wrote us for Valentine’s Day.

Since one of the random pictures on this page was of Ellie doing homework, I added her first Kindergarten homework packet. This is one of my favorite things about this book. I finally have a place to store pictures AND additional artwork and memorabilia. Everything is all together – organized in one place. Love it!

I’ve been keeping her book out on our living room coffee table and it has been viewed many times.

The girls LOVE looking through it (especially because it’s full of recent pictures) and Ellie is so excited that it’s her own book. Seeing how much she loves it totally motivates me to stay on top of it and continue to do this for my kids. Now I have one month before the baby comes to get caught up on Addison’s. I’ll try to post some progress each Tuesday to keep up with Jessica Turners Project Life Tuesday. Sorry to those of you who get tired of this topic! When I set a goal to start these books I said I would post pictures of my progress on my blog along the way to keep me motivated… and it’s working!
p.s. Thanks again for all of the nice comments on Ellie’s book when I first posted it. You have all been so kind! Several of you have asked me questions about my scrapbooking system (what I’m doing for family books, etc.). I’ll answer some questions in my next post since right now I’m in the mood to watch Chuck. Kenny keeps laughing so it must be a good one. :)

xoxo, Erin
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Holidays
03.01.10

Happy March!

YEA! It’s March. Time for Spring. My favorite time of year.

This weekend I did a little “Spring Cleaning.” (wiping down things I don’t usually wipe down)

and got out some of my Spring decor.

Then I took this basket of jars that sits on my dining room table

and added some Easter candy. Isn’t Easter candy the best candy!? I wait for it all year. The Cadbury Eggs are in the cupboard (they just didn’t look as cute in the jars). :) Wonder how long this little centerpiece will last? Chicks Ducks and Bunnies will be the first to go.

Happy March! Bring on Spring.

xoxo, Erin
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Ramblings
02.26.10

Smart or Not Smart?

I’ve always believed that my husband was a pretty smart guy.

-He was a straight A student who graduated from two colleges (Dixie and SUU) as the Valedictorian. Smart.

– He then went on to do great things at a highly ranked law school and is now an attorney at a top law firm. Smart.

– Kenny is great with finances. He’s frugal, plans for the future, and has even found a way to successfully contain my spending. With him in charge I know we’ll never stress about money and our family will always be taken care of. Smart.

– He always knows the right things to say. When I asked him to proof read one of my posts the other night I added, “It’s a lame one” and he answered “None of your posts are lame.” Smart. When I asked him last week if he was excited for me to be thinner again he answered “You’ve looked great pregnant.” Once again – Smart.

– He gave me two pregnancy massages (one of which I’m using this weekend and can’t wait!) and a pedicure for Valentines Day. Smart.

– He comes home from work and immediately engages with the kids. Smart.

– Then he reads them stories and puts them to bed. Smart.

See. Smart guy.
Or so I thought.
I had a doctor appointment today and my doctor, based on the size of the baby and her schedule, suggested inducing me on March 30. MARCH 30th!!! I was ecstatic. March sounds much better than April. I’m all for having this baby as soon as possible. So I’m sitting there just beaming and Kenny says “I don’t know…I’m closing an IPO at work around that time…wouldn’t it be better to wait until closer to her actual due date?”

WHAT!!?? Not smart.

I shot him a look with eyes that could kill, sweetly smiled and said “You know babe, you don’t really need to be here for the birth of this baby.”

Then he sweetly smiled at me and said, “You know babe, the April birthstone is a diamond.”

Crap.

Now THAT was smart.
xoxo, Erin
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Mom Adventures
02.25.10

Slow week…

Slow week for me. I can’t believe tomorrow is only Thursday. It’s felt like it should be Friday for at least three days now. Probably because Addison has pneumonia and I’ve been home bound a lot. Or because I’m heading into my last month of pregnancy and I’m really feeling it. Or because I’ve stopped drinking root beer. Yup. I bet that’s what it is. I’m missing my root beer.

I’ve been drinking Lemonade instead. Remember this post and how I was going to squeeze my home grown lemons to make lemonade? Right. Must have been feeling really good when I had that little notion. Instead I gave my lemons to a friend who will actually follow through and make homemade lemonade. For us, I bought some pre-made, ready to drink lemonade. Erin style. I’m sure its actual juice content is about 2% and the rest is sugar, but I can’t be sure because I didn’t look at the label. I don’t look at labels when I’m pregnant. But I did feel like the root beer obsession was getting out of control, so instead I’ll drink my 2% juice pre-made lemonade for one more month. And then it’s back to water.

Poor Addie – she’s been so sick for the last few days. She’s been pretty much just sleeping or resting on the couch (we’ve watched Cinderella four times now). So I’ve had some time to work on a few projects. I’ve started the nursery, found my crib bedding (thanks to my mom and one of my blog commenters!) and the room is starting to look a little more boyish. Here’a a peak…

and I’ll post a picture of it when it’s done.

This is my “Project Life station” which will soon be transformed back into a “diaper changing station.” Now why is that not sounding quite as appealing? I am excited though about all I’m getting accomplished on the girls’ books. Ellie’s is up to date and I’m starting Addison’s tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who has been so sweet and encouraging about Ellie’s album! You have all totally motivated me to keep working on these books and it will feel so good to have them both up to date before the baby gets here.

I’ve also started dragging out all of the baby girl clothes I saved in case #3 was another girl (still shocked it’s not!). I’ve been getting rid of baby clothes and already too small pregnancy clothes like nobody’s business. It feels so good! I’m excited to go through each stage ONE MORE TIME with this baby and then I’m excited to get rid of all of my baby stuff. It takes up so much space! The high chair is one thing I’m especially excited to be done with. I might have a ceremony and burn it. I really hate the high chair. Maybe I’ll feel differently when it’s actually time to part with everything, but right now, in my last month of pregnancy, being done with all this is sounding pretty appealing. I’m so ready to get my little boy here!

I’m not the only one who is getting ready for the baby. I walked into the playroom tonight to find Ellie busy taking care of her babies. They all had their own little blankets. And their own little toys.
And their own little bowls and spoons.

I may just turn this next baby right over to her!

{*side note – just watched Joannie Rochette ice skate – the darling Canadian who lost her mom. (It was recorded. I know we’re a bit behind.) Now I’m BAWLING. Just great. Tomorrow I’ll wake up to puffy eyes. Guess they’ll coordinate with my already pregnant puffy cheeks which are seriously starting to resemble a squirrels cheeks. One who’s storing nuts for winter. Oh well. I’m so proud of Joannie!}
xoxo, Erin
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Ellie and Addison
02.23.10

Meet Snakey

We have a little friend.
He lives in our bathroom.
He comes out to visit most mornings.
His name is “Snakey.”
And he is a curling iron.

“Snakey” came to life one morning when Ellie was old enough to get her hair curled and styled, but decided she was a bit scared of the curling iron. On a whim I upped my voice a few octaves, gave it a bit of a screech and introduced myself as “Snakey the Curling Iron” who was a beloved and trusted friend. He was hungry and wanted nothing more than to munch on Ellie’s hair for breakfast. Within seconds her tears were gone and she was asking Snakey all kinds of questions like where he slept, who he was friends with, if he liked getting so hot, and why he loved to eat HER hair so much. Over a year later, Snakey is still a major hit each morning. Ellie shares things with Snakey that she doesn’t tell anyone else. Their conversations are simply classic. Other friends (friends of Snakey) have made their presence known -like Straighty the straight iron and Lotialina the lotion (Snakey’s long time girlfriend). But no one will ever take the place of Snakey. He will always be the favorite. Even Addison is close buddies with him, despite the fact that he has no desire to munch on her hair (too many curls give him indigestion).

Kenny also enjoys himself immensely when Snakey comes out to play. He teases Snakey about the way he talks and likes to ask questions that catch him a bit off guard. Luckily though, Snakey is as smart as they come. Much too smart for Kenny’s sarcasm.

Snakey puts a smile on our faces each morning. He is a close and trusted friend of Ellie’s. One I hope she never forgets. And one I hope she doesn’t outgrow for a long long time.

xoxo, Erin
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Uncategorized
02.22.10

Honest Scrap

My good friend Jessica gave me an “Honest Scrap” award on her blog which basically means you are asked to share 10 honest things about yourself. Well, if you’ve followed my blog for a while, you probably know me as well as I know myself! So for those of you who are in this category, feel free to skip this post and carry on with that Monday to-do list you’re avoiding by blog stalking. I know how it goes. If you’re new to my blog and are incredibly bored interested at all, here are 10 past posts that tell a little about me…

1) Here’s 25 Random Things about me. Doesn’t get any more straight forward than that.

2) Currently I’m 33 weeks pregnant. Here’s the latest update and here’s how we announced the news.

3) I love to decorate. Especially for the holidays. Here is my home decor getting ready for Fall and Christmas.

4) I hate to cook, but here are two things I do make often because they are so yummy and simple: Tri-Color Pasta and my Summer Salad. Try them – you won’t be sorry. (I’m actually just really proud of these posts because posting recipes made me feel incredibly chef-like. Until evening rolled around and I threw together another batch of Kraft mac-n-cheese for dinner.)

5) Here are some things I’m fond and not so fond of. (Or check it out if you just want to see a pic of Edward Cullen and picture him with his shirt off which, compared to Jacob with his shirt off, leaves a lot to be desired.)

6) Kenny, my husband, and I are completely opposite. See here how opposites attract. (Or check it out if you just want to see a terrible pic of us acting like idiots in High School.)

7) I think I’m Irish. At least Irish at Heart.

8) Here are some really dumb things I’ve done. Have you ever?

9) I love being a mom. Here are some things I suppose someday I’ll miss. (A favorite post of mine because of the way I captured exactly what my girls were like during that moment in time.)

10) I love Spring. It’s my favorite time of year. Here is a fun craft I put together last year when I was Inspired by the Weather.

There you go. You now have enough reading material to avoid that to-do list for quite a while. :)

Have a great Monday!

xoxo, Erin
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Feeling Creative
02.19.10

Project Life

Hi everyone! I was featured on The Mom Creative blog today for Ellie’s Project Life album. So fun! Thanks Jessica! Check it out here and you can also see some other fun ways to do your album. (I’m almost caught up on Ellie’s and will hopefully have some more pages to post soon)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

xoxo, Erin
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Ellie and Addison
02.18.10

February Randomness

Just some random pictures from this month I never got around to posting…

Addie’s first time bowling. I’m not a big fan of bowling, but I loved the way she was rockin’ the shoes.

Ellie’s class Valentines Party

On the way to a Valentine Party with friends. She’d only hold still long enough to admire her tights. It’s very clear which of my daughters is going to be my future shopping buddy. Ellie only cares about comfort. Addison has learned early on that there are many times you have to sacrifice comfort in the name of fashion. She may look more like her daddy, but she’s got a little of her mom in her too.

On Valentines Day we surprised Kenny with some hearts on the pantry door. We all wrote things we love about him. Similar to the Father’s Day book the girls made him. He loved it. Last year I heard of another cute idea that I wanted to start and never got around to it. You start at the beginning of February and each day tape up a heart saying something you love about someone else in the family. Great idea I want to make a tradition… as soon as Addison can write. For now she just dictates and signs her letter “A”. My favorite one she told me this year was “I love daddy because he gets our favorite babysitter for us.” Yeah…that’s one of my favorite things about daddy too. :)

Speaking of Addison and her daddy, she sure is becoming a daddy’s girl lately. My girls seem to be all about me until they get close to age four…then there is a switch and all they care about is their daddy. Good timing for another baby. I need some love around here. The above picture of Ellie is a favorite of mine because it shows her life long obsession with grapes.

With temperatures being in the mid to high 70’s this week, we’ve been spending a lot of time at the park. Last weekend the girls had fun at a b-day party doing sack races. They were prepped for this little game from all the hopping they’ve been doing around the house in my pillowcases.

What’s a sack race without a victory dance afterwards?

Typical evening doing homework. Ellie always has a little “helper” that’s never too far away.

And as for me, I’ve been doing lots of cleaning. My energy level has been dropping big time lately and my back always hurts. Once a day I have to take a mini break and sit down and just rest for a minute. My girls are great to entertain themselves and each other, I just have to be prepared for the tornado that is the result of this little rest period.

Like when they turned my hallway into a “boat filled with treasure.” Just like in this post, they’ve also been doing a lot of pretend play on my bed. It’s never made these days. I love that my girls are creative. I just need a creative way to make the ‘after’ messes disappear.

Speaking of messes, the girls were supposed to be picking up their room last weekend and when I came up to check on them, this is what I found. Bless her little heart. Can’t blame her really. This looks a lot more appealing than cleaning to me too.

xoxo, Erin
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Mom Adventures
02.16.10

Dear Erin

{**Preface – I’ve made no secret of the fact that the “newborn stage” of motherhood is not something I look forward to. I really struggled through this three month phase with both of my girls and am trying to mentally prepare for it one more time. So this is a little note – to me from me. Something that I can pull up and read when I’m in the thick of it. Hopefully it will help.}

Dear Erin,

This is a phase. You will not always feel this way. You will not always look this way. Repeat those three sentences five times. Take five deep breaths. Now read on.

Before you know it your days and nights will be two separate entities once again instead of one never ending black hole. It feels like forever away right now, but in the big scheme of things, it really is such a short period of time.

Be nice to Kenny. Try not to snap at him. Everything isn’t his fault. You’re just tired. In the night, when you’re up with the baby for the fourth time – and he rolls over and half asleep mumbles, “gee babe I’d love to help, but since you’re nursing” …snore snore snore… do NOT smother him with a pillow. This will be tempting, but you need him around to take Ellie to school the next morning.

If you’re feeling depressed, do one of the following. These things always make you feel better.
– Call family or a friend (you have several great friends close by)
– Organize something. A drawer, a closet, the fridge.
– Step outside. Even if it’s just into the backyard for a few minutes. Sunshine works wonders.

– Do NOT go shopping. Retail therapy backfires when you’re still carrying around baby weight.
– Do NOT eat away the blues. This is only a temporary upper that will result in more depression later on. (Besides you ate enough junk food during pregnancy to sustain you forever. And then for a week after that.)
– Do NOT make a drastic change to your hair. Color, cut, OR style. Chances are, you won’t love it and because of the hormonal state you’re in, the consequence of this little decision won’t be healthy for anyone.

Don’t stress when the house is a mess. Don’t stress when the girls are going to school with “daddy ponytails” once again. Don’t stress when at the end of the day you don’t have a nice hot meal ready to serve the family. (Ha! I put that last one in to make myself smile since I rarely have a nice hot meal ready to serve the family.)

Hang in there. This too shall pass. And before you know it, you’ll be going through your pictures on the computer – maybe for a blog post, or scrapbooking, or because you enjoy just looking at them – and you’ll see pictures of your newborn baby boy. He’ll look so unbelievably small and sweet. And you’ll wish so badly that he could be that small again. Just for a few days. So you could smell his cheeks and kiss his little feet and rock him to sleep one more time. Remember this when you feel tired and when the baby is fussy and when the house is a disaster. And try to enjoy every minute you have with your precious newborn boy.

Love, Erin

xoxo, Erin
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Ellie and Addison
02.12.10

It’s Friday!

Well, not technically since it’s 10:30 on Thursday night right now, but for some of you on the East Coast…it’s Friday!!! Valentines weekend. Does everyone have fun plans? Plopping on the couch with a good flick like You’ve Got Mail sounds ideal to me.

Whatever you’re up to, I hope you have a swingin’ weekend! ;)

(**Yes, I know I’m getting a little cheesy in the last two posts with the play on words, but it’s Valentines – and I’m pregnant… and tired. Enough said.)
xoxo, Erin
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