Nihao, Cupcake!

THE CREATURE (a pretty darn funny film by my 11 year old with help from nobody over 7 years old)...

Ella Publishing May Take 12 Challenge :: Stepping Back in Time [China-Style]

It is time for yet another Ella Publishing Take 12 Challenge!!

CONFESSION: My twelve photos are not actually from May 12th. Shhhhhhhhh! I had a very special day on May 11th. I had a very special day on May 13th (Mother's Day). On May 12th... not so much.

Don't get me wrong. We had a fun day, but it was not a day that was conducive to good photos. Nor was I in the mood to force myself to take photos, as much as I tried.

I call myself "The Moody Photographer." And when the mood isn't there, I don't take photos.

So, I decided to do my layout with the TWELVE photos that did inspire me. On the 11th I went on a special tour with a group of other moms who live in Beijing. We went to a village just outside of the city. It is the one place in the world that makes the special glazed tiles (many 3 dimensional) that adorn the buildings at The Forbidden City, the city gates (including Tian'anmen Square), the temple buildings in the parks, etc.

It is a workshop where they mine shale in the local mountains. They turn that to clay and packing molds by hand, they create these amazing decorative tiles.

After which, they dip them in glaze (made from cobalt, copper & iron) and fire them in old fashioned kilns. 

 

I love these mock old Chinese coin brads I got from Michaels. They come with two other Chinese-esque brads that are equally as cool/beautiful.  

One reason this trip was so meaningful to me was that I have taken ceramics classes at various times in my life; for two years while in Japan, one summer in college when the visiting professor told me I should be an artist and in California with my kids at our local community center. [How cool that they had Mommy & me ceramics classes,no?!]

I chose this paper from the Far East (Die Cuts With a View) paper pack because the crackling reminded me of the dried mud turning into clay in huge troughs at the front of the workshop. 

 

I wanted the attention on my photos so I chose a sketch (Template 1 in the Template packet) from the Ella Publishing Take 12 Guided Inspiration Kit. And I LOVE how it turned out. The photos are definitely the stars of this layout. They tell the stoy.

There is more journaling I would like to add, so I might add a 6x12 insert and if there is space, I might add a few smaller accent photos along with my journaling.

I just loved this day. 

I loved interacting with the artisans, being able to be right in the heart of their workshop - literally stepping over the wet clay shapes waiting to go into the drying room (essentially a giant oven).

This is the drying room. Notice how the pieces are different shades of grey? The darker pieces are the wet ones and the lighter grey ones are almost dry and ready to go to the glazing workshop.

It was like stepping back in time to simpler times before over-litigation and the chaos of the modern world got in the way.

A day like this is one of the magical treasures that seem to happen or find you when living abroad. It's a wonderful surprise to find amazing things that still seem undiscovered. Hard to find any more!

Oh! I almost forgot! The best part was that we got to take home some of these amazing tiles. The lady who organized the tour is fascinated with the mythical creatures on the tiles that adorn the roofs of the Forbidden City. 

This is my lion.

It is this fascination that inspired her to arrange the tour. She worked on our tour guide the entire time trying to convince him to let us purchase a tile or two and he finally broke down when she told him, "My life won't be complete until I get to take some of those animals home!" With that, they opened up their storehouse and we had a great time shopping in the dark, dusty (such thick dust you wouldn't believe it) store house, picking out our treasures that cleaned up very nicely. 

This is my dragon.

To see all my Flickr photos from the outing, including photos of the village with a faded painting of Mao Zedong (I'm pretty sure that is who it is) on one of the walls and a train rushing past within mere feet of us as we stood on a bridge, click here.

To see all of my past Take 12 Layouts and the corresponding posts, go here.

More inspiration from the Take Twelve Design Team:

Like the Car
Janette Carter-Kincaid
Scrap Inspired
Scrappy Wife, Happy Life
Day by Day
Right Here-Right Now
The Scrapbooking Haven Diva
Scrapworthy Lives
People of the Scrapbook
My Little Blessings
Life is Sweet
A Swoop and a Dart
Endless Possibilities
Yeah, Write

Visit Ella Publishing Co. to link up your layout or photos for a chance to win this month's prize.

 

THE CREATURE (Directed by THE Nicholas)! Coming Soon (maybe tomorrow?), to a blog near you...

Project Life :: Tips for Staying Caught Up

Most of you know that Project Life is a system of preserving photos and memories created by Becky Higgins, right? The idea behind it is to make it as easy and simple as possible to document and record those memories.

The original concept was designed for a photo a day project, using that everyday concept to document life. But it has evolved beyond that. It is much more flexible. It can be used to pair any photos with any story or word. The idea is to make it easy so that there is NO guilt and NO "caught up".

But, let's face it, some of us have an idea in our head about the way we want to do this project and gosh darn, that is the way we are going to do it! Even if that means putting off working on it until we have the time. We start the year off enthusiastic. We collect everything. We make our layouts extra cute.

But then life starts getting in the way. We go a few days without taking a photo. We forget to write down things the kids say. We stop collecting things. We get behind. And we never seem to get back to the project because

the longer we wait, the further behind we get. And then the task of "catching up" seems overwhelming and unattainable. And some where along the way, we give up and it becomes another unfinished album.

This time of year seems to be the crucial time of year when projects like these start getting lost. Then summer will seal its fate with kids home from school and especially with summer travel and other activities.

Don't let this happen to you! Make a little time to "catch up" and get at least get the skeleton of your album done. You won't regret it. If you find some time in the future, you can go back and "cuten" things up. But if you never end up having the time, at least the "meat" has been documented.

I've learned that I like to work on my projects slowly. It works best for me to get the "skeleton" finished. By skeleton, in this case, I mean the photos and the journaling cards and in my case, the ephemera slipped into pockets.

I typically like to have my journaling written, but as you can see in these last few pages, I have blank journaling cards. Let go of hte pressure that every Project Life spread has to be super adorable or even coordinating.

If you are too embarrased to show it on your blog, do it just for yourself. Something imperfectly documented is better than nothing perfectly documented. Don't you think?

I decided I needed to to that this month. I only did two spreads last month so I had to catch up this month. I ended up being a couple of days late, but it was worth it.

One thing I still need to do is finish dating all of my weekly title cards. I can't tell you how having these prepared ahead of time helps me, especially when I like to throw in ephemera along the way.

I was hoping to do weekly summaries, but that hasn't happened. I did it once and never printed it out. I find doing things by hand, is the most efficient way for me. I've also wanted to print out lots of emails, electronic fliers from the kids' school, Ali Edwards' logo for Week in the Life, but so far, they haven't happened.

But what I do have, is lots of memories saved. And that is priceless.

Do you see that sushi grass stuck in the journaling pocket? My son saved that for our book. It is from his new favorite restaurant, Sushi Express (it's a conveyor belt sushi place). He is borderline obsessed with this place. It is on our same block and is cheaper than eating at home, so in the last week, I have taken him three times! Oh, and since it is sushi, it is healthy too. Anyway, I told him if we put that grass along with the menu he grabbed in the PL book, he had to write a journaling card about the restaurant. He agreed. Now that is worth finding just enough time to fill in a few journaling cards and setting up some date cards, don't you think?

[EDITED: May 9, 2012]

Decided to take the plunge and buy this because it is such a great deal. $3.99 per pack AND you get entered in a give away on Becky's blog if you purchase by Wednesday (US time).

Project Life Cardstock - Clementine Collection

You could also buy this, also on sale at 50% off.

Project Life Cardstock - Cobalt Collection

 

 

TIPS FOR KEEPING UP WITH PROJECT LIFE

I'll reprint my tips for making Project Life easier to keep up with, originally published in this post.

Participating in this project for the past two & a half years has taught me a lot and this is what I have been doing to stay caught up most of the time:

1) Create a space where my Project Life album can lay open at all times so I can slide in bits and pieces from the week. This took me several attempts and some rearranging to find a place where it wasn't in the way. 

2) Keep all my Project Life supplies together. I keep mine on a wooden tray with two inch sides. It contains several baskets that hold the cards and one that holds pens and stamps. Currently I am looking for a place in my home where I can keep the tray so it isn't taking up so much of my desk space. I would like to put my sewing machine on top of my desk.

3) Label each week well ahead of time so that it is clear where items from the week go. This way if I do fall behind, and a week doesn't get completed, I can still slide in things from the current week. (I lost my place this year and didn't have new cards labeled to mark the weeks and the weeks started getting away from me so I have a bunch of ephemera and it is not organized, so that will take some work to get that sorted.)

4) Get photos printed regularly. I am not sure yet how often I will get my photos printed. Ideally, I will do this once a week, but at the least, it will be monthly. At first I was printing at home using my own photo printer, but printing ink here in China is outrageously expensive, not to mention, I cannot get any photo paper so it must come from home (Calif). That means if I run out between visits, I'm out of luck. [EDITED 4/7/2012: I print my photos as soon as I have 100+ to print as delivery is free.]

5) I've purchased the Snapfish add on for Lightroom, that way I can set up a smart folder for my weekly Project Life uploads [upload them directly through LIghtroom to Snap fish] and it will make printing photos that much easier, more automatic and less time consuming.

6) This year I am going to WRITE THE DATE (or stamp it) on my memorabilia before I save it. This way if something happens to Plan #3, it will be easy to figure out which week the memorabilia belongs to. (This is a good back up plan for those unforeseen busy times when all the best laid plans go awry, i.e., kids are home for summer, winter holidays when we are busy, busy, busy, family vacation, extended trip home to the States for my family, beginning of the school year, etc.)

7) Saving stories on 100 Journaling Cards - 3" x 4" with Grid Design - I started doing this a few months ago when I started getting behind on my album. The kids would say funny things or I would notice something and I would grab a Journaling Card - 3" x 4" with Grid Design from my Project Life tray and a pen from the journaling basket that sits inside and jot down the antecdote, stamp the date and put it in my tray for the next time I work on my album. 

Do you have any great tried & true Project Life tips to share? Post them in the comments. I'd love to hear.

PROJECT LIFE BLOG HOP PARTICIPANTS

 

Margie You are HERE.

Devon http://www.youhadmeatneurotic.com <--- Go here NEXT.   Nikki www.inkyart.com.au

Laew www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Lois http://loishouston.typepad.com/thoughts-along-lifes-highway/

Helen www.helen-mills.blogspot.com

Jennifer http://vogtstories.blogspot.com

Brighton www.dearbrighton.wordpress.com

Week in the Life :: Day 2 Photos

 

I just lost the last 5-6 photos I was posting. Slow internet sucks! I've got to publish this and go to bed! Thanks for stopping by.

Ella Publishing Take 12 Challenge :: The Best Part Layout & Another Story from the 12th

I had so much fun with this layout. We had a party for my youngest son on the 12th of this month so it was easy to get 12 photos. There was more to my story than a birthday party. It was all about how the party came together. It was truly a family event. I could not have pulled it off without the help of my entire family especially my two oldest sons. 

I wanted a layout that allowed me to tell the story I wanted to tell and I found it in the Ella Inspiration Kit. The design you see was perfect! I could show the highlights of the party on the left and BEHIND the SCENES on the right. BEHIND the SCENES is also one of the themes suggested in the Inspiration Kit and I love how it inspired me to tell this deeper story of my son's party.

JOURNALING READs:

The best part of this party was behind the scenes. Even Dad remarked after it was over that this was one of his favorite birthday parties because we all worked together to make it happen. And now that it is all over, I wish I had more of those photos. If I could do it all over again I would take some photos of Reece drawing each treasure hunt clue in amazingly accurate detail (I did save the clues), Reece & Nicholas planning out the treasure hunt and planting each clue, Nicholas planning secretly to be the Birthday Santa, hiding in the ayi closet ready to give out the goodie bags at the end of the treasure hunt, Mom searching the internet for the perfect Superman “B” image to print out and trace for the birthday cake, Mom printing out Superman & B logos to wear for the “photobooth”, Reece helping mom set up the backdrop for the photobooth, our neighbor Kristin stopping into the store to look for balloons after mom texted all of her friends to be on the lookout, Dad cutting up the yellow paper for the scrapbooking we ran out of time for, Mom planning out the cake with Braden and making the design happen with chopsticks and frosting.

 

The journaling spot is also from the Ella Inspiration kit. Isn't it cute?

Visit Ella Publishing for more information! And don't forget to go to this Ella Blog Post to add your layout or 12 photos to the linky party and your chance to win (linky closes on the 18th - see end of post for exact time it closes).

Visit the rest of the Take 12 Design Team:

Alizia

Amy

Angela

Jennie

Stephanie

Van

Valerie

Monika

Lisa D

Janette

Lisa O

 

ANOTHER STORY FROM the TWELFTH

There was also another amazing story to be told on the 12th of this month but for privacy reasons I cannot share the photos. I had the amazing privelege of meeting the new family of one of the children I care for at the orphanage I volunteer at every week. The family who had just adopted her, was in town an extra week or so waiting for their new daughter's passport and they asked to meet with some of us volunteers. I was so excited. She had been away from the orphanage for only one week and the first thing I noticed when I walked through the door was how she was a completely different child. She was animated, instead of sullen, she was smiling instead of somber, she was affectionate, instead of crying, she smiled and laughed and giggled more in that hour than I had ever seen her do in the year+ I had known her at the orphanage. She looked at her new parents and big sister with such love and adoration, it was astounding. I couldn't believe a child could bond with their new family so quickly and that she could so quickly become the child she was always meant to be. I had always felt so strongly, if this little girl could just have her own family, she would blossom. But I had no idea she would blossom so quickly and that she had so much potential to ever be that child I met just a week later. 

Many of the children at the orphanage have special needs. We don't always know all of their details so we often wonder. We had said that she was so somber and rarely interactive in a distinct way that we wouldn't be surprised if someone said she had special needs and yet we wouldn't be surprised if they told us she was perfectly normal. After that meeting, it became clear to me that she is perfectly normal and she is now exactly where she should have been since birth! What an amazingly lucky little girl to be with a family so full of love! It warms my heart to think about her sleeping safely in the loving arms of her new family in her fresh PJs, squeaky clean hair and adorable rosy red cheeks.

If only her little friends still at the orphanage will be so lucky.

 

Just Reece & I

We took this photo, after we returned from our lunch, just Reece & I. He chose the new Burger King near our house. Special time spent together with some good conversation. I can't believe he is a teen. He's so grown up. I never could imagine when he was the active toddler, that we would ever make it to this stage in life. IT seemed so far away that it was too hard to imagine. And yet here we are! Life is amazing. He is a truly remarkable child. So smart & creative and committed. I can't wait to see where he goes in his wonderful life.

I am linking up at Anderson Family Crew because I think Embrace the Camera is one of the best blog ideas ever. Thanks for hosting!

Blog Hop x 2: {FAMILY x 12} + {Project Life}

Today is another busy day at the blog! It is the 5th of February which means it is time for our monthly FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop.

Do you take enough pictures of you with your whole family? Neither did I until I started the FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop! We support each other in taking at least one photo of our whole families during each month. We then post them on our blog and visit each other to offer support and encouragement. Does this sound like something you would like to do too? If so, email me (link in sidebar) and I will email you the details.

(If you had emailed me in the last month and I didn't get back to you, please email me again as I had some problems this month and couldn't locate all of my emails. Thanks.)

Here we are enjoying our very favorite winter activity in Beijing, ice chairs. Our local park (only two large city blocks away) offers these to rent only a two or three short months out of the year. The little lake freezes over and out come the wooden ice chairs and the big dangerous looking stakes you use to stab the ice and propel yourself across. The boys had SO MUCH FUN! We hope to do it again once more before the ice begins to melt. We wanted to go today but it was too warm. Maybe next weekend if it isn't too busy.

To see everything FAMILY x 12 on my blog, click here.

Monica is next on the hop. She always has some cute photos to share of her lovely family.

Feb 5 FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop Participants

Margie  http;//xnomads.typepad.com/blog

Monica http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

Jill http://jillconyers.com

Ruth http://www.chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com

 

PROJECT LIFE

And now it is time for the Project Life part of the blog hop.

This is my latest spread. I am posting my current photos every Monday and then the following week I plan to post my completed layout on Tuesdays. I did not do that last week, so I am now a week behind. But I will catch up. 

I do not print my photos at home. I do not like the quality compared to using an outside lab and it takes up so much ink. Living in China, printer ink is outrageously expensive and high quality photo paper is non-existant, actually photo paper is non-existant, so if I run out, I'm out of luck.

Luckily, Snapfish is here in China and delivers high quality, matte finished (my fav) photos free to your door. That is the service I use but it does take a few days for them to get here. THerefore, I typically can't finish my layout until my photos arrive. That was until I came up with an interim solution! 

This week I started printing out photos in low quality black and white on regular printer paper to use as place holders - hurray! Pressure off ordering the photos and I can still do most of the work. 

Here is the other side of the spread. The label on the bottom right photo I placed on top of the page protector. The other labels/cards I plan to add directly to the photos, I will do that when my photos arrive (obviously). I usually staple them on or use adhesive depending upon my mood or what is available.

The Kavli crispy thin is a new cracker my oldest son has recently discovered that he loves and is actually fairly healthy (he typically only likes things that are really bad for you!), so it warranted being included! I do want to add journaling about that, but I have to figure out where - perhaps right on the back fo the packaging but it won't be visible. Or I may just leave it as is.

The number journaling card is a free download from Becky Higgins from three or four years ago. It is the original Project 365 KOTM design. AFter it was sold out, she was able to give some of the journal cards and other date cards away as free downloads. You'll see more showing up in my PL album in weeks to come.

I was hoping to share screen shots of my work flow for PL - mostly my photo work flow from camera, to blog & album, but I ran out of time. I think I will plan that for next month and start getting my screen shots now! So watch for that next time!

Thanks for stopping by! How are you doing with your Project Life album? Are you doing a 366 project or a weekly overview or an altogether different approach? Are you finding it easy to stay "caught up"? What is your best tip to stay current with your album?

Thanks Jill for hosting. I can't wait to see all the other Project Life eye candy on the hop today!

To see everything Project Life on my blog, click here.

Next on the blog hop is Donna B.

A complete list of participants is below in case you should get lost along the way.

 

Jill http://jillconyers.com/

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com

DonnaB  http://donnasprojectlife.blogspot.com/

Sharon  http://projectsofmylife.wordpress.com/

Noelia  www.noeliaevangelista.typepad.com

Jen  http://vogtstories.blogspot.com

April http://capturethememories.blogspot.com

Brooke http://everysnapshot.com/

Lynn www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Donna www.joyfullydonna.blogspot.com

 

Did you see that the instructors for True Scrap 3 have been announced? It's going to be another awesome event! Go check it out!

Red Chinese New Year Dragon Cupcake Cake with Chocolate Pretzel Wings

My youngest son's birthday landed on Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) this year. And as you may know, it is the year of the dragon, so what cake is more fitting than a red (color of celebration) Chinese dragon cupcake cake for the occasion?

My middle son was born in the year of the dragon, so this is his year too! Quite a serendipitously special year for our family since we are living in China, to boot! And this is supposed to be the best year of the dragon as well as the best year of the 144 year cycle (12 cycles of 12 years). Not bad!! 

I'm especially proud of those chocolate pretzel wings that I came up with an hour before we had to leave the house to take the dragon to school. My original idea was a horrible failure, in fact, I knew as soon as I opened the package of the fruit tape that it wouldn't work, so I didn't even try. When in doubt, turn to melting chocolate - it is so easy and you can make anything you want. 

I drew the outline and bones of one wing, put the drawing under waxed paper, I traced the three bone areas with a thick line of chocolate and then placed the pretzel sticks down, Then I filled in the wings and coverd the handle pretzels with a lot of chocolate. Then I flipped the drawing over, traced it through to the other side, followed the same steps as above to make a new wing that was the mirror image of the first wing. Then I placed them in the refrigerator for around 30 minutes and they were done! I did have to saw off the ends with a serrated knife because the handles were too long to stick into a cupcake. But otherwise they worked perfectly! PHEW!

And here he is with the goodie bags he made for his class. (I'll post more details about these in a future post.) That is his drawing of a dragon dance complete with lanterns. THe back side says Happy New Year inside a latern surrounded by fire works. I did not coach him on these drawings but based on the amount of detail they include, there is no mistake he has spent half of his seven years in China!

There's nothing like making a cool dragon cupcake cake (special cakes made by mom are one of our family traditions) and putting together some homemade goodie bags to make a little one smile! It is all about the simple things, isn't it?

I'm linking up at Simple Things Sunday today.

True Stories from The Jing {Bikes & Italian Food}

Tonight we rode our bikes to the new Annie's just south of Central Park & east of The Place for dinner. We parked our four bikes directly in front of the restaurant door & 2-3 meters from a guard box. The area had two security cameras pointing at it.

We had a wonderful, leisurely dinner at Annie's (a local kid friendly Italian place with consistently good food & reasonable prices - hard to find in Beijing) with impecable service including free make your own pizzas for the kids, fresh bread basket and extra special treatment to the kids.

The manager checked on us more than once, but the service was not agressive or pushy, just attentive.

When we left to get our bikes, the one bike that was locked to itself and not locked to a tree was gone. The manager at Annie's immediately came to our aid and accompanied my husband to the building's room with security cameras. After 20 minutes of looking around the lost bike area and talking with the security guards, it was determined that the camera was too dirty to find any footage of our missing bike.

It seemed illogical that someone could take a bike that had a lock around the tire past the two guards directly next to the bikes and make it past both security cameras without being seen. And funny that both security cameras were too dirty to view any footage.  Hmm...

The kind manager at Annie's never left my husband's side and they walked around the property to see if they could figure out what happened.

Just when they had given up, they spotted the bike, hidden behind a wall! Who knows why it was there or how it got there, but the lesson learned is:

1) Lock your bike to something when in the CBD (About 15-20 bikes weres stolen in broad daylight (all parked together) about a year ago right outside The Place.)

2) Eat at Annie's because not only is the food good, but the service goes above and beyond expectations. And in our experience, they look after their customers. A big thanks to the manager at Annie's!

 

I posted this story to our Yahoo group (for foreign passport holders living in Beijing) as a warning to neighbors and as a thank you to a local business for helping us out. I couldn't pass up a good story that we will want to remember so I copied and pasted for the blog today. Our oldest son is so excited that we found the bike. He loved the excitement and you could feel it when he came to report to me that they were checking the security camers to see if they could locate the bike. I'm so glad this story had a happy ending or else it would be the third bike our family had lost in Beijing!

I'm linking up at Sian's blog for Storytelling Sunday. She hosts it the first Sunday of every month. Do you have a story to tell? Post it on your blog and join us!

And since I totally forgot to link up last month, I wrote my story a couple of weeks later when I realized it. Here it is, if you care to read.

Just Me & Nicholas...

The kids have the week off of school for Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) - just when the temps start to drop for some reason the lunar calendar tells us, it is spring! Go figure! But I digress, the kids had the week off school and on this day, Nicholas and I stole away by ourselves and took a walk (a coule of miles each way) to a restaurant for some one on one time. Priceless! Now to make sure I get the same one on one time with the other two before the week is over.

I am linking up at Anderson Family Crew because I think Embrace the Camera is one of the best blog ideas ever. Thanks for hosting!

Project Life :: 366 {Photos for the Week of January 15 - 21}

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Studying all the Pokemon in his Pokemon book.

 

Photo #2

Braden loves this pic because he looks like a tornado.

 

 

Tuesday, January 16

Doing homework on the computer - Mathletics.com.

Wednesday, January 17 - NO PHOTO

 

Thursday, January 18

Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) Assembly - 1st Grade

Photo #2 - 5th grade at Spring Festival Assembly - the first batch of Dragon dancers.

 

Photo #3 - Dragon puppet purchased at school "Temple Fair." This was Braden's dragon for the year. Each child gets to choose one animal from the year during each New Year's holiday. Braden chose this marrionette.

Photo #4 - I found Braden playing quietly in his room building this mosaic. He has always loved this activity. I can remember him doing these (with the guide) the few weeks before we moved to China, the summer of 2008 when he was only 3.

 

Friday, January 19

Braden decided to spend his own money to buy ice creams for the whole family. I took him down to our shop and he did a great job picking out the ones everyone wanted.

Photo #2 - Braden had a twenty kuai note and a few one kuai notes. The price of all the ice creams together was 20 kuai, so after he handed the man his entire wad of money, the man just took his 20 kuai and handed him back his ones. Braden was shocked and disappointed because he was looking forward to getting some "real change." It was hard to explain to him why he didn't get change this time. So cute!

Saturday, January 20, 2012

 As we were leaving the house to go out to dinner, Reece haphazardly threw a dart at the dart board and it went straight into the BULLSEYE! Awesome!

The Brady Bunch was my all-time favorite TV show!

On our recent trip to the States for the holidays we took a road trip from California to Durango, Colorado. I did this many times during the summer with my father and my brother. My father was born and raised in Durango and loved to go back in the summers. We would drive through the hot desert sun in the blue VW bus.

My dad made some of his own alterations to that van to make it somewhat of a camper. He used bungee cords to strap a Coleman cooler, that sat upright and was designed like a refrigerator, to the back of the passengers seat. Then on top of that sat a heavy plastic gallon water tank that when laid flat worked as a sink. It was a pretty ingenious invention. The sink was molded into the side of the water tank. I hope you can imagine what I am describing. The faucet was a pump and it even had a little soap dish molded into it as well. It also had a drain with a plastic plug. My dad took a clear PVC pipe, hooked it up to the drain and threaded that through the back of the seat (but not through) and down through a hole that he made in the bottom of the van. When we pulled the plug, the water would drain out into the street below. He never allowed us to use it while he was driving, though. We were only allowed to use this when we were safely parked at a campground.

That was back in the day before it was law to wear seatbelts, so we never did. If one of us kids were sitting in the front seat and he had to slam on the breaks, out would shoot his arm to prevent us from lurching forward. Of course, if it were a real accident or emergency, his arm really wouldn't have done much. But out it went anyway.

I also remember curling up in the shade and falling asleep because the desert sun was so hot. It was the only relief I could get from the smoothering heat. The van had no air conditioning.

My dad was a huge napper. One day when we were in Durango and it was pouring down rain. My dad decided he needed a nap. So there we were parked on Main Street, Durango with my dad asleep in the back of the van and the rain pouring so hard against the van windows that we couldn't see out. 

At this time I was a huge fan of the Brady Bunch and had taken my trusty tape recorder and taped one of my all-time favorite Brady Bunch episodes. The one when the Brady kids (Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby & Cindy) became a music group and sang in a contest to buy their parents a silver platter for their anniversary. Anyone remember that episode?

Anyway, I brought my tape recorder and that tape on this trip, so the way my brother and I passed the time while my dad was sleeping was to write down all of the words to those songs and memorize them. I can still sing almost every word to those songs to this day. SUNSHINE DAY.... everybody's laughing! SUNSHINE DAY... everybody's singing! SUNSHINE DAY.... everybody seems so happy & gay! It's a Sunshine Day!

How did you pass the time when you were a kid before the age of endless gadgets we are in today? Though, I guess that portable tape recorder was the very beginning of the gadgets we have at our disposal today, huh?

I wanted to link up to storytelling Sunday (the first Sunday of every month at Sian's blog), but I keep forgetting to have my post ready by then so I decided I would publish this to my blog any way and if I forget on the first Sunday of February, I can link this story up anyway since I love the idea so much!

Ella Publishing Take 12 Challenge :: Layout & Jetlag

 

I can't tell you how much I love a project like this. Take twelve photos on the twelfth of every month of the year and then make 12 layouts, of course! Give me a photography challenge and I am there. And taking everyday photos is my favorite.

On the 12th of January this year the boys and I had a 13+ hour flight across the Pacific to be reunited with their Dad who was back in Beijing, China. Not the most exciting activity to take photos of. But there in lies the challenge, no?

We take this flight four times a year - twice there and twice back. It has been a big part of our lives for the last three and a half years. This should be documented. I try to take one or maybe two photos every time we fly but I have never tried to "tell the story" of the flight. I am so glad that I did! I love how so many of the photos turned out.

I used template #12 from the Ella Publishing Take Twelve Template Pack. It was so easy to use! I am still suffering from jetlag - there is a 16 hour difference between California and Beijing - so I didn't want to spend a lot of time on my layout. (I need more sleep!) This template was perfect and it's so cute! I used digital papers and ribbon from Tracie Stroud Designs to add some color. The simple text is Arial.

 

DID YOU TAKE TWELVE??

Did you Take Twelve and make a layout? Join the link party at Ella Publishing! There are prizes. But hurry, you have to link up today (Jan 18).

Do you want to Take Twelve but didn't do it on the 12th? Not to worry, it isn't too late! (Link party for prizes closes today but feel free to link up next month and/or leave me a link in the comments [here and/or at Ella's blog] and I'll come see your page.) In fact, Ella Publishing has a discount on their TAKE TWELVE Inspiration Kit just for procrastinators. Angie Lucas even gives tips on cheating on the blog. I'm all for cheating in scrapbooking if it gets another story told and a memory documented! It all counts, right?

Don't forget to check out the Take Twelve Flickr group and post your photos & finished layouts.

Check out the blogs of the other Ella Publishing Take Twelve Design Team:

 

Like the Car

Nihao, Cupcake!

Janette Carter-Kincaid

Scrap Inspired

Scrappy Wife, Happy Life

Day by Day

Right Here-Right Now

The Scrapbooking Haven Diva

Scrapworthy Lives

People of the Scrapbook

My Little Blessings

Life is Sweet

A Swoop and a Dart

Endless Possibilities

Yeah, Write

 

PROJECT LIFE

I loved the photos my boys and I took on the 12th so much that I came up with a way to integrate more of them into my Project Life album. I'll post that tomorrow (Beijing time) along with my finished Project Life layout from week one that was meant to be posted on Tuesday. (Jetlag is a killer!)

 

It's almost time for life to go back to normal...

So I might not be posting much over the next week. I'll try to post some Project Life completed pages before the chaos of preparing for a 13 hour flight with 3 kids and one me ensues. I got a few pages done tonight! I'm very excited since it is hard for me to focus on any kind of memory keeping while I am a visiting. But I finally did it so hopefully I can find some good light tomorrow to take a few decent photos & I can share with you!

Let's Put the "Scrap" Back in Scrapbooking, Project Life Update & A Giveaway

Another big day at the blog! I wanted to take a blog break (I have so much to do to get ready for my trip home), but there is just too much going on to stay away.

It is the first Project Life Tuesday of 2011. With my committment to keeping up with PL this year, I couldn't miss the first one. So, I am posting my photos from the first week and some layout updates from 2011. I'll post my first layout of 2012 next week with this week's photos. That is my plan for 2012.

I also just realized it is TEN on TEN over at Shimelle.com. I missed December, so I can't miss January, too! My original plan was to list my top ten favorite online scrapbook classes, but I totally forgot about it until a few minutes ago, so instead, I thought I would feature my TOP TEN pages in the photo album of my six months in ENGLAND in 1990-91.

While I am visiting from China, I am staying with my mom. She is kind enough to store all of my beloved photos so my only opportunity to revisit these wonderful treasures is during these trips home. This album was the last album I made before I 'discovered' archivally safe scrapbooking. I was excited about my new hobby, but wasn't about to take apart the album that took me so long to finally complete (five years). I'm still not ready. Yes, the photos are probably disintegrating, but I don't want to disemble it until I know how I will preserve it in its next home.

The FIRST photo above is from the top of the World Trade Center in 1990.

2 This was our visit to New York City in 1990 on our way to London. It was the second visit of my life. This day we were meeting up with my friend who was visiting her friend who worked at the World Trade Center. Little did we know what would happen at this location 11 years later. I did not stay in touch with him, so I have always prayed that he was not working there (or escaped) by the time 9/11 happened.

 

3 I love all of this memorabilia that I collected from my trip there. LOVE IT! I was able to work in Britain for six months as part of an agreement our governments had (and may still have). Any student can automatically get a six month work visa.

 

4 Did you notice what is missing from this album? Yep! Journaling. Not one ounce of it. I need to fix that, don't I? This is my friend from college who grew up in England. He happened to be visiting for the first time in ten years and was nice enough to meet us first-time international travelers at the airport to help us navigate this new big city. I was beyond nervous. My friend had HUGE suitcases. I had suitcasees too but not as many and not as big. Anyway, I was so nervous we wouldn't get them on the Tube in time for the doors to close.

Here is lots more memorabilia. I love including maps! LOVE IT! You can also see the business card and receipt for our hotel in the Merlyn Court area. It was known for being slightly dodgy and for having a lot of Aussies. They are a dodgy sort, you know! (Of course I am only teasing!)

 

5 More amazing memories come flooding back. It was my birthday and we were doing whatever we did in London (looking for a job or maybe exploring the city) and I just happened to run into two friends from college! This is the only time this has ever happened to me while traveling or living abroad. My husband, who went to a significantly smaller school, is always running into people from his university. He may not know them, but he meets them. I NEVER do. But that is another story. It was a great surprise running into these friends on my birthday so far from home! WHat are the chances? Do you see the note tucked under the photo? That is the note they left for me arranging a meet up later that day. I love that I still have it.

This page isn't beautiful but if that is not scrapbooking, what is??

 

6 My rental agreement, my rent book, my checkbook (from a foreign country, no less - such excitement for a 21 year old who had only ever been to Mexico, which to a So Californian feels like an extension of California), my bank card, etc, etc. I only had the cash that I earned and a few hundred dollars I brought with me. It was quite a lesson about living within my means!

 

7 My best friend from college came to visit me (She is the only friend or family member that has come to see me every place in the world I have lived. And she just called me today to tell me she has purchased her ticket to visit me in China!! HURRAY! Her record will be 4 for 4! I feel a mini book coming on...) Another map!

 

8 Don't you love my text on this page? I used to do this all the time - collect letters and phrases from magazines, save them in envelopes and add them to my photo albums.

 

9 Our work Christmas party. Don't you love my Eddie Bauer sweater? I worked there part-time in college. This was my first introduction to the English Christmas cracker. I love then and think they are so fun. Now we can buy them in the States and my kids got to pop some on New Year's Eve (only because I forgot to bring them to our Xmas celebration).

 

10 And here I am with the other employees in the home department at Debenham's in Cambridge. I went back in 2008 but didn't find any recognizeable faces. It was fun to have my photo take in the home dept with a pan and in front of The Grafton Center, the mall where this store is located. So many memories there...

I love adding memorabilia to my beloved photos. It tells a richer story even without journaling. That is why I am loving Project Life! Not sure I would have continued the project for the third year if I didn't start adding all the goodies. It is so easy to do. Much like the magnetic albums I used before my discovery of the scrapbooking we know today.

 

PROJECT LIFE

 

I only managed to complete three total pages. I was so poud of myself and thought I was so creative, but when I woke up the next morning to see what I had gotten done, it all looked so plain! (I'm saving my Amber kit to use on my 2012 album so I only brought the grid journaling cards to the States with me. I'll be reunited with the rest of my supplies on Friday.) But nevermind, plain means done and lots of stories told, right!?

 

 

I am using the date cards as a filler because I have premade date cards waiting for me at home.

 

Here's a glimpse into what I have started for my 2012 album. I've stuck it into a broken three ring binder temporarily until I am home so that I can keep it organized while I work on it. As you can see, I am slipping memorabilia into the pocket that corresponds with the day. At this rate, I won't have any room for journaling cards! I may take some of these things out, but right now, they stay. See the brown tag? I put the plastic string around the middle ring. I kept that because it goes to a fun water bottle and it is significant since I haven ot been drinking enough water lately and the fun bottle is meant to encourage me to improve on that.

The Sound Bites card was also put on the middle ring. My son bought that toy with his own money and he has been annoying us all wiht it ever since. It makes fake sound effects and each sound effect is listed on the back of the card. ON the front of the card, I plan to glue a photo of my son where he is holding the toy.

 

 

I cut up the Trader Joe's CC Joe-Joe's box because my son kept sing a little ditty about the cookies and for about a day we assumed he had made up the words until we noticed them on the side of the box! So typical of him. Such a jokester! And his favorite gum is Big League Chew.

 

See? I saved a Christmas cracker crown from our New Year's Even crackers this year. See a connection with my photo from the album I shared above? I feel a scrapbook page...

 

Of course I saved that adorable picture my six-year-old drew. I need to ask him who and where it is. I am including the page I ripped from Family Fun magazine because I might want to make the project next Xmas. I am more apt to see it and remember it for next year, if I stick it in my PL binder! And it shows the craft trends of the times.

To see everything PROJECT LIFE On my blog, click here.

I'm linking up at The Mom Creative for Project Life Tuesday.

Oh, and here are my photos for the week:

 

No dates today. I need to get to bed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and helping keep me accountable with my PL album. I still ahve to post the last three photos from 2011 and my seventh photo from the first week of 2012 and my title page for my 2012 album. That will all come next week! Along with more PL inspiration around the web.

 

I have a great giveaway today (Tues). I was going to include it in this post but this one ended up so long, I decided to put it in a separate post. For details on my TAKE TWELVE Inspiration Kit giveaway, go here.

It's almost time for life to go back to normal...

 

So I might not be posting much over the next week. I'll try to post some Project Life completed pages before the chaos of preparing for a 13 hour flight with 3 kids and one me ensues. I got a few pages done tonight! I'm very excited since it is hard for me to focus on any kind of memory keeping while I am a visitor. But I finally did it so hopefully I can find some good light tomorrow to take a few decent photos & I can share with you!

 

2012 Project Life :: 366 {Catching Up with the Photos}

I haven't posted any daily photos since we left Beijing on December 15, so I am catching up today! ENJOY!

 

December 10, 2011

This seemed to me like the sweetest horse. He was a bit leery of me but at the same time seemed sweet. Once I was close to him to take a few photos, I notice how tired, and mangy he looked. Then I noticed his back left foot. Do you see how he isn't putting any weight on it? Poor guy. It means his food is injured and he obviously has a long way to go to get home. This photo was taken at the very center of Beijing. It takes a long time to get out of the city from here by horse!

 

December 11, 2011

Looking over old drawings they have saved in their three ring binders especially for favorite drawings.

 

 

December 12, 2011

We decorated the gingerbread house the night before (and waited until morning for the good light, to take the photo). It is always a very fun family activity. We got the kit at Ikea. It was the first year they offered them at the store in Beijing. Christmas stuff gets more plentiful every year in the capital.

 

 

December 13, 2011

Braden has several friends who ride on his bus and who also live in our apartment complex. Therefore, we often have friends come over to play after school. If I have some extra cupcakes in the freezer, I sometimes let the boys do some DIY cupcake decorating. Braden's friend had already eaten his cupcake, and the one he is holding he made lovingly for his little sister.

 

December 14, 2011

The first grade curriculum included exploring other cultures so on this morning, they invited parents to come to the school and teach the children about their own cultures through games, songs and other activities. The morning was finished off with a huge spread of foods from all over the world. Braden asked me to bring Rice Krispy treats to represent America.

 

Photo #2

It was the night before we left for the month to visit friends at home in the States for the holidays. We HAD to eat the gingerbread house before we left. This is what was left after the three little pigs, I mean, boys huffed and puffed and ate their way through!

 

December 15, 2011

On the way to the airport after picking the boys up early from school.

 

December 16, 2011 - no photo

The kids took a ton of silly photos on the plane with their own camera, so I need to get one of those. I do think they took several photos of the very strange airplane food they served this time. It was true mystery meat!

 

December 17, 2011

Early Christmas celebration with Grandma. We were all going to Colorado to ski and most of what she got them was warmth and snow related. Here Reece is wearing his little borther's new hat and the "garish" (Grandma's words) Christmas sweater she got him for Xmas that he doesn't like at all. He says it is "geeky" or "dorky" - I can't remember which term he used. But he couldn't remove that sweater fast enough. How quickly they change. There are so many things he just refuses to wear these days. He often comes home off the bus with a short sleeved t-shirt on, his winter jacket stuffed in his backpack and it is 32 degrees F outside and WINDY! So glad I am not a teenager any more. Brrrr!

 

 

December 18, 2011

We got an early start and drove all day long (sun-up to sundown) to reach our destination of Durango, Colorado. The drive itself wasn't as bad as we were anticipating, but the mood of our children was a different story! Jetlag, 14 hour road trip two days after 12 hour trans-Pacific flight equals a lot, I mean ALLLLOOOOOOTTTTT of bickering, teasing and picking on the youngest brother.

 

 

December 19, 2011

The long drive was worth it when we woke up the next morning to find the view from our condo was this! THis photo taken by one of the kids using one of their digi cameras.

 

 

December 20, 2011

I have found myself surprised at home amazed Reece has been by the natural beauty we have seen on this visit home from Beijing. But then I realized since we live in the city 10.5 months out of the year, he doesn't get to see much of it. I was lucky growing up to visit Colorado at least every other year and as a young child we did lots of hiking and spent our summers at the beach. Although Reece's earliest years were spent mostly outdoors, hiking in some incredible national and state parks right in our own neighborhood (literally), I didn't realize how little he has seen of this in the past 4 or 5. He wanted to take photos of every gorgeous view and then when we returned to So Calif, he has taken photos of several beautiful beach sunsets already. Makes me want to move home even more so we can take this kid camping.

His one request on our trip was to take him to a National Park.

 

December 21, 2011 (I think this date is Beijing time so it is really 12/20.)

Our second day of skiing. Braden took a rest day and hung out with Grandma. He took this photo for us. Not bad, huh?

 

Photo #2

This cabin belongs to my father's cousin. My brother and I stayed here with some collge friends one year when we came to town to ski. This cabin is on the way into town from the ski resort.

 

Photo #3

We had to squeeze in our visit to Santa before it was too late! We found this guy at the local Durango mall. It was a fundraiser for the local 4H. Reece didn't want to visit Santa this year - it was the first time he had no interest. He really is a teenager.

 

December 22, 2011

It snowed ALOT during our last day of skiing. So much beautiful fresh powder. It was like skiing in powdered sugar. It felt exactly like powdered sugar under my feet. But the top of the mountain was FREEZING!

 

Photo #2

We skiied until the slopes closed, stopped for a yummy Mexican dinner and then it was back on the road until after midnight.

 

December 23, 2011

Our hotel in Utah, just outside of Zion National Park, touted that their restaurant had the "best food on Route 48" (I think that is the right number.), so how could we go any where else? Not to mention, the hotel and restaurant were run by a very nice family. The hotel was nothing fancy and slightly thread-bare but it was clean and had nice acoutrements, nice soap and lotion in the bathrooms (better than our hotel in Petaluma), a microwave and good TV, a family suite with two bedrooms and one bathroom, to boot. For only needing a 7 hour sleep, it was the perfect place. The food wasn't bad either, but I wish I took a photo of the fried bread they called a scone! All of my English friends would laugh. Despite that, everything else was tasty and nicely made. THey even gave all three kids free hot cocoa with a huge dollop of whipped cream on top! If we ever pass through that way again, we will be sure to stay again.

 

Photo #2

We spent the morning exploring a bit of Zion National Park, a lot by car and a little by foot. We even managed a visit to the visitor's center.

 

December 24, 2011

Christmas Eve dinner prepared by my brother-in-law who is a studied chef! The food is always delicious in this family. There is a professional chef, a dietician and two other siblings who love to cook (my husband included) at a close to gourmet level.

 

December 25, 2011 - Merry Christmas!

Despite playing with a hammer and nails when he wasn't supposed to and incuring these horrible injuries, Nicholas was all smiles on Christmas day. Lots of playing with cousins - all five of them were in heaven. My sis-in-law wants them all to come up in the summer since she said her kids were entertained the entire time we were there.

 

December 26, 2011

We stayed the morning and then it was time to get back in the car again to go see my 85-year-old aunt & 90-year-old uncle and some cousins before heading home the next day. Here Nicholas was saying good-bye to his uncle.

December 27, 2011 - No Photo

My cousin is sending me some. I did a terrible job of taking photos even though I carried both of mine every where I went. I just never used them. What was I thinking? I probably wasn't! :(

 

Dember 29, 2011

We had dinner at one of my very favorite places. The best part of this visit is that a branch of this restaurant opened right near my mom's house. It is so close, that we can walk there. Perfect! The other perfect thing is that it is in the same strip mall as Trader Joes and Yogurtland. Ahhhhhh! Angel's are singing. And they ahve THE BEST Shrimp Tacos EVER!

 

PROJECT LIFE INSPIRATION on the WEB

I happend upon this blog today and I really liked her style. Her album or her blog posts are not up to date, but I thought her unique style warranted a look. It is simple, engaging and attractive.

http://agnes-and-family.over-blog.com/categorie-11771067.html

 

I might update this post later today with some PL album updates, but no promises.

Some exciting news to share...

It has been a big week for me here at the blog! I have an exciting personal annoucement to share tomorrow (I've left a hint on my blog) along with some of my Project Life photos (haven't posted since I left China) and hopefully an update on the progress of my 2011 album and a glimpse at 2012! WHEW! I hope you will come back.

Oh, don't forget! I will be posting the winner of the spot in the Ali Edwards' ONE LITTLE WORD class giveaway tomorrow too so if you left me a comment, you'll definitely want to check back to see if you won! Comments close at 9 PM PST tonight - so hurry!

Classroom Volunteer

Here I am volunteering in my youngest son's classroom last Friday. We made ice cream in a bag. It is really quite fun if everything goes according to plan but it can also be quite chaotic which it was this time. We had 28 students, not quite enough ice and we started off not putting in quite enough salt to melt the ice. There are so many factors that can throw things off a little - afterall it is a science experiment/lesson. Though we did it as a cultural/food activity.

It was fun, none-the-less, and I always relish the opportunity to be with my kids at school every once in awhile.

And you probably wouldn't notice unless I pointed it out - like the patch of gray in my hair? That is due to the awful hair cut and color I got a few weeks ago. The colorist gave me the foreigner price for permanent hair color (almost 4 x what I pay at home) and yet the color is already coming out! Apparently it was actually temporary, not that he did a good job of covering my gray in the first place. Total rip-off! NEVER AGAIN! I have said that before, but this time I really mean it. My hairdresser at home is going to wonder what on earth happened to me this time. I already have an appointment made for the day after I land.

 

ProjectLife :: 365 - Weekly Photos {November 26 - December 2} & Finishing up 2011 to Be Ready for 2012

THIS WEEK'S DAILY PHOTOS

Saturday, November 26

We had friends over for a Thanksgiving dinner. It was ultra-casual, embarrasingly so, but we pulled it off. We were the only Americans in attendance so the staple traditional foods, were ours to make (sweet potato casserole, cornbread stuffing, pumpkin pie, turkey, pecan pie, mashed potatoes). It was fun to share our traditions with people who had never experienced them. This is a photo of Braden while he was playing around with our neighbor's toddler son during the meal preparations. I have other photos, but I won't share them here because they have other peoples' children in them.

 

Photo #2 - cleaning up after all our guests had gone home.

 

 

Sunday, November 27

We had our very own shop in the playroom selling ice cream and toys.

 

Photo #2 - The signage

 

Monday, November 28

Reading my book club book for book club on Wednesday: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I enjoyed the story. I especially found it fascinating to get a glimpse of what life might be like to come from generations of uneducated people. I have never thought about it or imagined it to the degree that this book caused me to do so. I loved getting to know Henrietta and her daughter through this book.

 

Tuesday, November 29

Nicholas took this photo with his camera. I am going to assume he was so excited I let him pick out this peanut butter that he had to take a photo!

 

Thursday, December 1

This photo will have to count for Wednesday since we did our Christmas decorating Wednesday night. We decorated the tree and had some hot chocolate. Early Thursday morning you can see the storage boxes are ready to be put away.

 

Photo #2 - Nicholas read Braden his bedtime story tonight.

 

Friday, December 2

Today was the Upper Elementary Winter Concert. Here the fifth grade is performing a song from New Zealand. That's Nicholas on the left spinning his thingy on the end of the braided yarn that is twirled during this native song.

 

Photo #2 - Later that afternoon, I was invited to Braden's classroom to share how to make ice cream in a bag. Their umbrella unit studies different cultures and their foods, so this was the basis for the activity. I told his teacher we often do this activity at home as a science project in school or for fun in preschool or in summer school. This was the largest group I've ever shared it with - 28 students (two 1st grade classes) and it was quite an ordeal. We didn't have quite enough ice, the ice probably should have been crushed rather than cubed, our recipe didn't require enough salt and our large Ziploc bags started leaking half-way through!! But in the end, most of the ice cream did eventually freeze and the kids reported the taste was delicious! Luckily Braden's teacher was helpful, understanding and totally went with the flow! Phew!

 

Photo #3 - Later that evening, the kids and I walked the two blocks to China World to see their Christmas decorations and have dinner at Fatburger! We ran into another first grade boy that Braden knows and who was in the other class that made ice cream with us earlier in the day. He is from Pakistan. It was a pleasure meeting his family and chatting briefly with his parents.

 

PROJECT LIFE ALBUM UPDATE

I completed four layouts this week. They are all from the summer.

This one is the rest of the layout I shared last week.

 

As you can see, I'm keeping it very simple to speed up the process. I'm varying my handwritten text a bit for some variety and visual interest but I have not added hardly any embellishments. I've attached a few notes to some of the photos and tucked in a few bits of memorabilia. I have tons more memorabilia in a drawer that I will add at a later time. It will take me some time to go through it and organize it but I don't want that step to slow me down right now.

At this point, I would rather get the foundation of the album complete. If I never add any other memorabilia, I will still be more than happy with the end result.

 

Still keeping it very simple. What could be easier than punching a hole in the tag from a brand new sweatshirt and throwing it in the album? I didn't have a photo for the last day of the week so I tucked in the packaging for a book set I bought for my youngest earlier in the week.

 

Ideally, I would like more variety in each spread than you see here, i.e., a few 4x2 photos in place of journaling cards in every pocket and more ephemera tucked in the pockets or added in additional page protectors of varying sizes, but my priority at this point is getting the project done. And as I said before, this is a lot of great documentation as it stands, so I am happy with this layout as is if I never get a chance to return to this spread and add to it. (The BCIS graphic is cut from a shopping bag they gave to new students at orientation day.)

Well, that's it for this week. I haven't had a lot of time to search the internet for recent album inspiration. I will post later in the week if I find anything. And again, if you post finished album pages on your blog, leave me a comment and I'll link to you next week.

Thanks for stopping by! What are you doing to finish up your Project Life 2011 and/or get ready for Project Life 2012?

December FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop

Hello All! And welcome to another FAMILY x 12 Blog Hop. When did we start this tradition? I can't remember now. Perhaps it was March. I will have to check. Regardless, we are at the end of a calendar year and despite it being crazy, busy for some of us, we are here sharing our photos.

Unfortunately, our family does not have any super special photo to share this month, in fact, we cheated again and took this photo tonight just in time for the blog hop. Can you believe that? If you'll notice, I am still wearing my winter hat. Belive me, you would not want me to take it off. My bangs (fringe) were completely STUCK to my head. I've been wearing that hat all day. I left yoga this morning, walked briskly home (more than a mile), rode my bike to the kids' school, back again and then walked half a mile to the mall and was frightened when I looked in the mirror. So back on it went! I hope you don't mind.

Even though this photo is nothing special, I love it just the same. I love that our family takes a moment just about every month to gather together and take a photo as quick as it might be. We had some grand plans for this month's photo, but they didn't happen, so this quick self-timer-on-the-couch photo will have to do. After all it is better than no photo, right?!

If you ever would like to join along (we do this on the 5th of every month), please send me an email. We'd love to have you!

To see everything related to FAMILY x 12 on my blog, click here.

Now, on to our other participants for the month. Jo is next.

Margie  http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog

Jo          http://www.mrsbeee.blogspot.com

Melissa  http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com

Monica  http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

 

 

At Our Thanksgiving Table

I saw this idea on my friend, Kiley's blog, so I am copying it. Check out her cool blog, here.

• Ten adults and thirteen children from ages 1 to 13.
• Americans, Swedes, British, Kiwis, Italians
• Turkey, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, lemon broccoli, arugula salad, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, falafel
• Pumpkin pie (baked in a square casserole dish), pecan pie (made by 11-year-old Nicholas in a proper pie plate), chocolate cream pie (made from scratch because all stores were out of chocolate pudding mix and baked in a square cake pan) & custard cake with pine nuts
• Savignon Blanc, Merlot Malbec, Budweiser (brought by a friend because "Americans drink that on Thanksgiving"), and a variety of yummy wines brought by our guests
• Apple Juice, Orange Juice, Sprite & Coke for the kids  

I cannot say the day went off without a hitch. It was a last minute Thanksgiving and the hour or two before dinner was served was noticably chaotic as we tried to get everything on the table while it was warm. I don't think we succeeded but with all we had going against us, I think things turned out pretty good.

Afterall, we didn't decide to have Thanksgiving at our house until late Sunday night (just 8 days ago). We didn't send out the emails until Monday or Tuesday. My entire week was booked, Paul was in Singapore Tuesday & Wednesday, we have a small oven that barely fits a turkey and a stove with two burners, so the fact that we pulled it off at all is something to be grateful for. 

The plates were borrowed, we didn't have quite enough cutlery for a matching set for all of our guests, we borrowed wine glasses (we only had four), I forgot to plan plates and silverware for all of the kids but luckily I had paper plates, no fancy napkins, and no two coffee cups were alike (they've all broken since we have kids and a tile floor), dinner was served 90 minutes late but in the end the food was tasty and the company divine!

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a wonderful day!

Discovering the Power of Written Communication...

Braden surprised himself last Sunday by reading his very first chapter book all by himself. I loved when he told me he was finished with chapter 2. I could tell by the way he said it that he hadn't believed he would be able to do it until he actually did it.

So exciting to witness an emerging reader. He makes such an effort and is reading every word that he sees. He is also constantly asking me how to spell words.

Discovering the power of words and written communication is such an exciting time! 

Chopschticks – Beijing {Chicago Improv All-Stars}

via chopschticks.com

We went to this event last night: The Chicago Improv All-Stars in Beijing at the Hard Rock Cafe. I wasn't sure what to expect because one never knows what kind of quality you will get in Beijing. Even if the price is high, that is never a guarantee the show, the food, the product will be good.

Luckily, we were pleasantly surprised. The show was excellent. The laughs were plentiful. And the drink prices quite reasonable. I'm so glad we went. Apparently many SNL stars come from their improv troupe (2nd City) in Chicago.

Last weekend, we attended the Chi Fan for Charity event and I bid on one of the silent auction packages. The improv tickets were in there. And I feel like I really lucked out. If I didn't have three kids who needed supervision, I would probably go again tonight! I LOVE a good belly laugh.

What makes you belly laugh?