memorial day weekend. part 1.

we went to the lake this weekend.

and i took a million pictures.

so we're going to tell this story in parts.

part 1/a: learning to fish.

b. was more interested in his caprisun than his daddy working hard to hook the worm.

b. loved the jet skis.

he kept telling us that he was going to drive one "by myself" when he's five.

uh-huh.

yuck.

the first drop. with his new lighting mcqueen fishing pole.

we didn't catch anything.

but i don't think b even knows that you're supposed to.

he was perfectly happy casting & reeling in.

part 1/b: washers & croquet.

brady didn't quite get the concept of tossing it in the hole.

everytime he'd throw it, he'd run up move it  into the hole and scream "i did it!"

part 1/c: the boat.

i relived my glory days on the tube. 

it was waaaay too windy to tube.

in fact, j tubed {i was too busy holding charlotte & drying off from my stint in the water to take pics} and got thrown off. fast.

and brady was. not. happy. "my daddy!!! my daddy!!!" he screamed & cried until jeff got back in the boat laughing.

 my sister came with her friend katie m.

we love katie m. brady had so much fun with BOTH of them. they were great.

and a little sweet bonus pic of miss charlotte. because she's too precious to wait until tomorrow.

i hope y'all had a great weekend with your family. 

and remembering all that was given so that we could spend the weekend like we did. 

free.

project life. yes. you. can!

since starting to share project life with you, i've had many emails on how to start. 

and comments on how overwhelming it looks.

ummm... it's not! i promise. 

but i get where you're coming from. i started there too. that's why i didn't even start until march. 

and then my first set of pictures printed really dark & it looked UGLY. so i stopped for a while again....

but now.... i cannot tell you how much i love it.

it's easy. 

really. no. lie.

you can make it more complicated if you want. on weeks that you have more energy and inspiration.

here, {above} i had a ton of pics from katie's bachelorette party that i wanted to show. so i cropped them all and stuck them in a baseball card holder {that i already had from my coupon binder}. i cropped some scrapbook paper for the back. 

this week was when we had our impromptu 'photo shoot' in our back yard. so i wanted to include a lot of pictures of that. so i put that in a sleeve & sewed down the side. using my regular sewing machine. 

on the back, i put a few conversations i had with brady that week. 

that's why i love this format. i can include a lot or a little journaling. {or none at all!}

i get to keep artwork in a format where i will actually flip through it, instead of in a box that i need to get out to look through.

the best part is that brady loves it. he loves flipping through it and saying "member i made that last week?" etc. etc. we point out our friends and talk about what we were doing. 

and, really..... he can't mess it up. unless everything falls out {which would be hard to do} it's pretty stable. {except for gooey finger prints that get here & there from peanut butter, chocolate or popsicles....}

so.... if you're on the fence...

get off it!

or, as nike puts it, just do it! just start where you are. this week. 

don't even approach it as something to get caught up on. just take it day by day and go with it. 

i've found that keeping my actual book downstairs on our dining room table helps me to just slip things in from the week. a receipt, a special card, a news article, a piece of artwork, etc. etc. 

and then when i finally get around to printing my pictures on tuesday or wednesday {from wolf camera for 5 cents each}, i can take it upstairs and whip out a week in 30 minutes {or less!}

here's your supply list if you're getting started:

+ a 12 x 12 three-ring binder scrapbook {these go on sale at hobby lobby & joann. or you can use a coupon.}

+ 2 sets of these 12 x 12 photo insert pages. {i WOULD recommend getting these ones specifically, as they have the four inserts for 'journaling' or whatever}.

+ 1 box of these journaling cards.

+ 1 4 x 6 matte stack of your choice {available at hobby lobby, michael's, joann, target....} these make it super easy to matte your pictures if you get the smaller kind like i do - OR fill in a photo slot with some journaling OR cut out a smaller journaling card from this... and so on.

***if you don't already have a paper cutter, i'd recommend getting one. i have this cheapo one that i got from target. i'm pretty sure you could find one at joann or hobby lobby on sale... or with a coupon.

***i also just recently added a corner rounder to my stash. they're $9 or so, but you can get them on sale also. {can you tell i like sales??}

so.... what are you waiting for???? get it done! i know you want to!

and here's a BIG PS - all of joann's scrapbook stuff is 40% off. i think they have a really good selection too.... so there. now you have NO REASON to not get started!!!!

danna & jay.

ahhhhhh..... this weekend was SO much fun.

we took off early saturday morning for south texas.

it was muggy. and cloudy. and we thought we could take our time because there was no reason to get there early.

then, halfway through our trip - around hico, texas - an amazing thing happened.

the sun came out! yaya!

we stopped at bush's - and ate in the car. yumm.

so then we could put the pedal to the metal to get to the pool at horshoe bay.

 

uh - yeah. it was niiiceee.

 and beautiful. and romantic. and fun. 

we got to see old friends from college. and celebrate new friends. 

the wedding was so sweet. 

jay & danna shared a passage of scripture that they picked out as a part of their vows to each other. danna's {proverbs 31} brought me to tears. their love story is a beautiful one. full of the lord's sovereignty & grace. and we are terribly happy that they found each other.

i've only just recently gotten to know danna... and she. is. awesome!

we ate yummy food, and danced all night. literally. 

{the hubbs even danced with me!!!! a lot!}

we washed our yummy cake down with little 'shots' of cold milk!

super duper cute!

 let me just tell you, that we shut that wedding down! 

we even led the 'train' out the door to the sparklers!!!!

three days later, my feet are still suffering from blisters - dancing in your high heels will do that to you! 

that's me. in the middle. the blurry one!

and lindsay in the yellow dress. 

and jo on the left in the black.

all. dancing.

we had some much needed time offfor less than 24 hours.

and then we went home bright & early on sunday. 

back to reality. 

to a still-somewhat-sick bug and a little muffin of a baby girl that we missed terribly {but were so happy to be away from temporarily}.

marriage comes first, kids. it's the first rule of child-having, in my opinion.

happy wednesday. 

i hope it's productive. as i hope mine is. 

much to do around here today.

well... not so much that there's "much to do" as it is "much to catch UP on". 

oh well. at least we have fun trying, right?

bag makeover.

it is no secret that i love these bags.

i've even gushed about them on this blog.

i think they. are. fabulous. 

they are the perfect diaper bag.

pockets for bottles, sippy cups, rattles, diapers, etc. etc.

they're canvas so they are super durable {and even though it says not to, i've stuck mine in the washer and let it air dry}.

i love them.

so.... when i saw this, i knew that my already-so-cute bags needed a little makeover to put them over the top. 

what do you think?

and you want to know the best thing? 

it's 98% new sew. 

for my first one {an old bag of brady's that i don't use anymore} i made a ruffle - and i did sew to make the ruffle. 

but the flowers i made were all scissors and hot glue.

and i just discovered button cover kits. so - instead of burning the ends of my fingers until i say words that are not appropriate, i can use this! i found them at joann for $2 and they are EASY PEASY.

was your monday happy? 

mine was. i hung out with a new old friend and her little muffin. 

love. her.

see you tomorrow!

project life. april.

watch out!

i'm {almost} caught up in project life. 

that is, if you don't count going back prior to march and putting something together for january and february. 

but i will do that. sometime. i will!!!!

i have sicky three year old this morning. we're waiting to get into the doctor. he's so pitiful. i hate that i can't do anything for him. is it weird that i'm praying for an ear infection so that we can get an antibiotic?

anywho. without further delay....

here's project life. 

the april/may edition.

i blew up this pic of charlotte to 8 x10. i just loved it so much that a 3.5x5 didn't do it justice. 

that little pic of the old ladies is from a card joanna sent me in the mail a few weeks ago. i don't think it was actually from this week, but it was appropriate since i was talking about her last day of maternity leave. 

{again - i have had to get over the 'technically correct' aspects of scrapbooking. i've give myself the freedom to not be entirely accurate regarding dates...}

on the back of her picture, i printed out my little psalm 23 print.

it's too pretty not to include.

this is the week that pops passed away. {i am historically accurate on that fact}.

i want to print out his beautiful obituary that darlene {& her family} wrote for the lubbock paper. i'm currently out of ink, so it remains unfinished.

this week was my birthday week.

we went to la hacienda so i included a snip it of their menu. 

oops. this one is waiting on ink too.

love this page. 

from the lake.

okay. so this is why i love project life so much.

because it lets me document stuff like this.

will & kate. 

and all that went with it.

this is my us weekly that comes in the mail.

i actually cut off the cover and then tore out the article{s} that had to do with the wedding.

now i have all of the pictures to share with the little lady when she is into fairy tales.

the dress. the car. everything. i wrote a little blurb about how charlotte & i watched together. so sweet.

see? the aston martin. isn't it so fun?

and there you have it. 

in case you were wondering, we just got an appointment with our pedi. yaya! hoping the sever weather will hold off until we're home. and that a sick little boy will be on the best behavior he can be while we're out. {insert pouty mommy lip here}. 

i'm so super duper excited about our weekend.

we're going to a weddin'. i heart weddings. and this one is going to be fu-un. 

happy happy friday.