PROJECT LIFE AND NEW CLASSES

Happy Tuesday everyone!!  It's time for Project Life again and that makes me HAPPY!! I had fun putting last week's spread together. There is some fun little art by me and collages of course. While doing this page it reminded me that for the next few months every week now my pages will be all about SUMMER TIME!!!  I'm hoping to find a variety of photos each week and not have every week be about swimming and reading library books, this could be hard to do though. So here is the full picture of the spread and then some close ups.

Here is the left side, I remembered to add the date this week and added the SUMMER TIME sticker also. This side is full of collages, some days it's just to hard to pick just one photo and I like that a group of them tells more of the story. See the baby piglets, they were barely 2 days old when we saw them, soooo cute and tiny they were. The journal cards are different this week, instead of just writing on them I did some artsy things on them ( will explain more about those at the end). The second card over with the stamped TAG on it is from my new stamps that my dear friend Susan sent me and surprised me with. She also sent me a homemade journal which was so nice of her. See the loom knit thingy from last week, I liked that it can show thru to this week also. Click on images to see better.

Here is the right side, almost all collages again. The top two are from a trip to the park, got some pretty pictures of Summer. The bottom beach one is from our first day at the beach and the water was FREEZING and took awhile for the kids to finally go in and enjoy it. I added to artsy cards to this side. The kids really liked the pictures this week and talked about all the fun they've had already.

I joined up for a CARD A DAY IN JUNE CHALLENGE OVER AT THE CREATIVE PLACE. Everyday this month you make a card any size you want, I went with a small size like she did. I liked the idea of using the journal cards and adding them into my PL each week. My plan is to make some just for fun and the others will be to go with a certain picture for the week. Like the waves/sun one above is to represent our day at the beach. This is a challenge because working on small things is not my thing. I like working on bigger papers, layouts etc. So far though this has been fun and I'm getting more at ease each day I make one. Could see me still doing this even after June is over. 

I also joined a free SCRAP CAMP at May Flaun's blog, need to put her link on my sidebar still. I stumbled across this and was excited because it's FREE and will keep me inspired this summer trying new things and making sure I get some creative time each day. The class just started yesterday and you can join anytime. Everyday is a new project and BPS is having a free community to share our projects/ideas with others. Let me know if you want to join in for this camp or even the CARD A DAY challenge also, it's never to late to jump in. I actually started this one late but caught up quick.

Hope everyone is enjoying their week so far. Thanks so much for visiting and always leaving sweet comments. They make my day and I love hearing from you. Enjoy the rest of your week and remember to let me know if you want to join these classes, would love having you with me.

PROJECT LIFE AND LITTLE COLT

Hello Project Life!!  I've had the pictures done all week just didn't have the journaling done. I have to admit some weeks are hard for me to know what/how to write because of having the collages with titles on them. In a way the title on them explains what it's about but sometimes I feel the need to explain more about it. I also kept as much red/white/blue as I could thru the pages to honor Memorial Day. The right side does have all green pictures but I couldn't help that part. Now for some close ups.

On the left side it's all about Memorial day and the night before it. Remember those red/white/blue hearts I made a few months ago, I pulled them out and added it in, LOVE THIS!!  As you can see I did do a journal card for each collage, it will be nice for the family to read this years from now. Looks like the date is missing on the date card, will have to add that in later.

Here is the RS, all full of green pictures. I love the one of Sam & Rich golfing, it's something they do thru the summer it always makes me smile. The collage in the upper right is all about my obsession with Michelle Obama and her new book "HOMEGROWN AMERICA" I want this book and would love to meet her one day and see her beautiful garden.  I loved that she was on the Rachael Ray show, she is another celebrity I hope to meet one day, LOVE HER!! So these two together on a show just made my day.  The bottom pictures are about FIELD DAY for Sam and niece Camryn. I am going to do a 8x10 collage of all that morning and add that in later, will post it for you to see also. It was a fun time, I even had to babysit so the little ones came along. Sam was sooooo excited about this big event, he is very much into sports and competition. They worked hard but came in last place.
The little woven rainbow piece is what Sam did in art class, isn't it cute. The best exciting news is Renee did awesome at her voice test and made it into a higher choir for next year YIPPPPEEEE!!

I have to share these pictures also. Look how BIG he is, look at that smile and cute cheeks. This little guy is melting my heart all over again. While I was recovering this little guy and his sister didn't come over for almost 3 weeks. Well I was worried that this cutie wouldn't be happy coming back to my house. He was hard to win over and thought I'd have to work hard to win him over again. Thank goodnees he came over and played with his toys, gave me hugs and smiled the whole time. He is now running and I missed that little span of him still learning to walk. He caught on pretty quick. So glad he's back and his big sister who I knew would be happy to see me again. She hasn't forgotten about art and is into making big swirly circles and coloring them in.                                               

We are on day 2 of summer break and it's going ok. The weather is slowly warming up each day and will be hot and in the 90's for Sun/Mon which will warm up the pools and make it more fun to swim in. Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for reading and all your sweet comments, I love them!

OUR LIST OF SUMMER PLANS!!!!!

I can't believe the kids only have 2 days of school left, the days are flying by.  We have been talking about what we want to do this summer and one thing we agreed on is having a schedule. The days just go   by more smoothly if we know ahead of time what the plan is. Last year we'd wake up and I'd ask them what they wanted to do and got 3 different answers, this led to some unhappy days. So a schedule is good for me also and I will make sure some days are free to just play and hang around.

One thing will be different this summer, Renee has a babysitting job and will be gone 3 days a week. I have to be honest and say this makes me a little sad and will take time to get use to her not being here and when we are having fun and going out it will be weird not having her beside us. Would love to turn the clock back to when they were little and all we did was play in the backyard and they NEVER GOT BORED!!!

So here is our summer list: it will include some fun stuff, chores and we always do some school stuff thru the summer. I have always thought kids didn't need such a long break between school years. All that learning, reading, writing, math facts etc. gets forgotten about and the kids get lazy then in the fall they have to start over again. So we do a little bit of school a few days a week.

BEACH/POOL 
CAMPING AND PITCHING TENT IN BACKYARD
GOING TO SCOOTER DOGS
LIBRARY READING PROGRAM
READING BUDDIES AT LIBRARY
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
BASKETBALL CAMP
MAKE ART FOR GIRLS ROOM AND FIX UP PRETTY/PAINT HEADBOARDS
MOVIE DAYS, WE HAVE TONS TO WATCH
GOING TO TRACK 3X A WEEK AND EXERCISE AT HOME, FOR ALL OF US
ZOO
STAYING OUTSIDE AN HOUR EACH DAY
BONFIRES
FIREWORKS
BIRTHDAYS
CHRISTMAS IN JULY ( I SURPRISED KIDS LAST JULY WITH THIS AND WILL AGAIN)
BOWLING
CAPTAINS GAME
MUSIC NIGHT IN OUR VILLAGE, EACH WEEK IS A DIFFERENT THEME
CATCHING FIREFLIES AND MAKING SMORES
WATER BALLOON GAMES/FIGHTS
HEALTHY EATING
DREAMING, WATCHING CLOUDS, DOING NOTHING
GRATITUDE JOURNALS FOR ALL OF US
READING SCRIPTURES, THIS IS NEW FOR US
READ OUTSIDE WITH BLANKETS/ PILLOWS... WE ARE BIG READERS
WATCH SUNSETS
EAT OUTSIDE
VISIT OUR FAVE PARKS AND FIND NEW ONES
KEEP UP WITH PROJECT LIFE
COUSIN SWITCH DAY ( MY SISTER AND I WILL TRADE KIDS FOR THE DAY)
PAINT/CRAFT OUTSIDE

This looks like a lot but will barely fill the days.  These are things I'm hoping we make the time for anything else will be a bonus. I know some of you have made your lists for the summer which I enjoyed reading. For the others let me know what your plans are if you have any, I would love to see them. Thanks for reading and enjoy your Sunday!!!  


p.s. So far our first days of vacation won't be that nice, I'm actually in pants and long sleeves now. Sadly no going to the pool/beach till it gets warm again. 

OUR GREAT WEEKEND IN PHOTOS

It's officially summer once we buy new bathing suits and get the hose out. I love doing this each year with the kids, not sure how many years are left of them playing in the hose. They were excited Friday night and came right home to change and play though, soooo happy for this. Our long weekend was filled with lots of hose time, water balloon fights, laughs, staying up late, cool and HOT HOT temps, time with family and thru it all the kids were good. Sam was extra good and was still going strong till last night before bed. Hoping he wakes up today on the right side again, he has field day at school today and we are both very excited about this big event!!  I also get to babysit today after almost 3 weeks off and I can't wait to have these little munchkins over again and get some hugs and tickles with them.
This weekend had me going back in time and remembering when the kids were little and we did all the same things only they were younger and it was even cuter, like playing in the hose. Their little giggles and Sam being my little boy, oh how I missed those days this weekend but I slowed down and treasured this age and phase right now and want to hold onto these memories tightly. They are growing up so fast and it seems like yesterday they were all in elementary school together. So here's our weekend in photos.

These two ate about 10 popicles a day and constantly played outside together

my dad helping Sam tie the water balloons, LOVE THIS!!

first time to YMCA pool this year, we have been coming since they were in the baby pool and now of course we are in the BIG pool and they do their own thing while I just sit and watch them.

She's afraid of the sparkler, so funny this girl

Summer had the idea for them to catch marshmallows, this was so funny to see them trying to catch them. Renee had the hardest time and one time Rich even fell backwards. LOVE LOVE THESE!!

back to the YMCA pool with cousins and family

It was a good weekend from start to end, hooray for summer time !!!

PROJECT LIFE-3 WEEKS CAUGHT UP

Hooray PL finally caught up, feels good again. So much to love about these pages, click on the image to read/see better. Since there's 3 weeks worth, I'm just showing one photo of the whole spread and not close ups so I can write this fast before the kids need me, lol

This week started off with Mother's day and my getting sick. To be honest I just wanted to skip this week, it sat here empty then with photos only, the words are still to hard to write for me. I've been very emotional this week and just want to hold on to this life/family of mine so tight and never let go. So I sat last night and finally did some writing and pictures, made some collages. The ones of Kristin and kids are my favorite, love that she did this for me. I hardly got any photos this week of her home, too tired and just loopy to do it. There is an added page protector here and this is the front of it.

this is the back of the PP and the right side of pages. The bottom right is for when I will write what happened to me and I stuck my hospital band in there also. Love the one of them at the table. Always told Rich I want enough kids to fill up our dinner table, to me it means everything.  The left is about my adding some new pretty pink flowers to the bathroom, love making my own art. Glad to have this week done and thankful for these photos and for Kristin being home, LOVE YOU GUYS!!

I have a little bit of everything mixed into this week. My favorite is Sam and his pizza, he made it all on his own and ate all buy one slice. LOVE LOVE WHEN HE FINALLY EATS!! Due to the hot weather coming we got new suits and played lots in the hose, can't wait to get our pool up.  I took Lucky for his heartworm pills and he needed meds. so I included his reminder card since it fit .

Just have to say again PROJECT LIFE RULES, PROJECT LIFE ROCKS AND IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE THING.  You might be tired of hearing it but it's soooo true. The one thing I kept going back to while laying in the hospital was THANK GOODNESS I HAVE MY PL AND THE KIDS WILL KNOW THEIR STORY AND HOW LOVED THEY WERE. IF FOR SOME REASON GOD DECIDED FOR ME NOT HAVE MADE IT, THEY WOULD HAVE THIS TREASURE SO FOR THAT PROJECT LIFE WILL ALWAYS BE IN MY LIFE. JUST HAVING THESE LITTLE BITS OF THEIR LIVES IN HERE MAKES ME OVERJOYED EACH WEEK. OK ENOUGH OF THE SAPPY STUFF!!  Let's get serious!!

Coming up this week I will share stories from our weekend which was 3 long happy days and I will be sharing our summer plan list (see Ali Edward's blog) for more info on that. Sorry no art to show really, haven't done to much of that. I hope everyone had a good weekend and want to say a special THANK YOU TO OUR VETERANS AND FOR THOSE THAT ARE FIGHING FOR US NOW. I NEVER FORGET WHY WE HAVE THIS DAY OFF AND AM THANKFUL FOR THIS COUNTRY WE LIVE IN. THANK YOU FOR VISITING AND FOR YOUR COMMENTS, I LOVE READING THEM. 6 MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL LEFT BY THE WAY, HOORAY!!

New Scrapbook Layouts!!! YEA!!!!

I love this layout for the photo, a sweet little pile of piglets about 2 weeks old. We kept trying to make noises and wake them up but they slept. Right when we went to leave suddenly this little runt poked his way thru the pile and came out running to his mama for a feeding. It was the sweetest thing, we all wanted to take him home.  The layout came together pretty quick for me, knew I wanted layers since they were all laying on top of each other, knew I wanted masking tape and different color ABC letters. So glad I made a banner, need to do this lots more!!! I had a 12x12 of burlap from Michaels and cut that down as one layer and a cream colored sketch paper, there is a tag to pull out under it with the number 9 on it to show how many piglets there were. I used the masking tape as the adhesive to hold the photo in place. I also used some strands of the burlap for the banner. You can click on the image to see better.

I'm loving the kraft!! I rubbed chalk on the background to feel sandy. This was from last summer and it was one of my favorite times at the beach. I used a PL journal card cut in half and added a tag.

This is for my sweetie, he loves when I make layouts about his garden

I love this photo of baby Colt, so sweet. Filled it with lots of hearts and love!!

I was happy to scrap the last 3 layouts on mother's day and the piglet one is from yesterday. With me being sick last week, my goal of one l/o a day didn't happen. I'm determined to keep it up best as I can. My last 2 weeks of PL are almost done and will maybe just post them on Tuesday as usual. That whole week kinda thru me off and I don't have much to say or put into the pages.                              

The latest update on my health and what to do next is on hold till next month, my tests didn't come out clear enough to make a good decision the doctor says. For now I'm resting and feeling MUCH MUCH BETTER THEN LAST WEEK AT THIS TIME...HOORAY!!!  Happy Weekend!!          

p.s. thanks sooooo much for all the comments on my last post, loved reading them.!!!

MY MOTHER'S DAY

Dressed up a little for church, see the braclet Sam made me that last Mother's Day!!

                                               I made this card for my mom!! She loved it

                                Rich was excited to plant flowers for me with Summer's help

I finally added new things to the bathroom, PINK!!

I had 3 big chalk messages made by the kids

All the flowers are in, they are tiny but will grow in no time

My sweetie and me!!

So cute these two are, they were watching basketball

I did some scrapbooking, HOORAY

All my kids at the dinner table, LOVE THIS!!

The last Desperate Housewives, saving this tape

Perfect ending to a perfect day

Illness update the problem and solution

I'm soooo lucky to have the best readers in the world. Thanks again for the prayers and thoughts. It worked just in time.
At my doc. appt. Friday morning they took some blood and tested it and to my surprise it was in the danger zone, very very low. I went straight to the hospital so they could start a blood transfusion. All those systoms during the week was my body telling me something was wrong but I didn't get it, NOW I DO!! By friday morning I couldn't walk up the stairs, shower, walk to the car without being wiped out, never felt this tired in my life. My mom stayed with me all day and helped get me settled in and take care of the kids. Lucky to have my oldest home this week to be with me also. After a whole day and night of transfusions they released me today, I have color in my face, the ringing in my head is gone and I have some energy. Will be taking it easy still though, no overdoing it.
Next week I will go in for a ultrasound and talk about my options so that this doesn't happen again. Will prob. try to do something soon before kids are home on vacation, I can rest during the day while they at school.
Please learn from my lesson and all of you take care of yourselves, listen to your bodies, see your doctor for exams and do what you need to be healthy, I never want to go thru this scare again and don't want that for any of you either. I wish we all lived closer also, we could sit and craft or just put our feet up and drink some lemonade, thank you for all the love and prayers that helped me get thru this safely and quickly. I will be on the couch again this week but feel my spirit with you and I will try to read blogs next week.
LOVE AND HUGS AND A THANKFUL HEART!!
Dawn
p.s.  I didn't want to get into the gory details too much but this is from a bad period over the last two weeks. This was hard enough to write already, just want you to be aware for yourselves.