flashback friday...Bid Day 1997

I was an Alpha Phi in college (and, technically I still am, but it sounds silly to say it!). Those were definitely some of the best times of my life.

I think I did this layout sometime in 2003. Right before Becky Higgins' sketches became popular. But I had a book of her, My Creative Companion, I think. I was just starting to plan pages based on a sketch, rather than the photos I had. And I was finally narrowing down the number of photos I used from an event.

let's go rivercats

Brandon's baseball team went to a Rivercats game in May. I was inspired by a layout I saw on the Jillibean Soup blog, though I can't find the exact layout now, of course! 100% of this layout was from my stash...such a great feeling to not buy one thing for a layout, you know? I came close...

I love these flocked thickers from American Crafts. So sporty! I used some old Making Memories rub-on letters for "rivercats".

I journaled in one of the Jillibean Sprouts I had sitting around. I got a bunch in a kit a while back, & love how they look though I hardly ever use them. The baseball is part of the American Crafts Junior Varsity line (as is the patterened paper). I bought a few things from that line when it came out, then stocked up later on. I love the colors & know I'll use it on a few sports layouts.

This was my trouble spot. The layout I scraplifted had two large brown "cool beans" buttons in brown, and one in green. I was using different colors on my layout, so no biggie, I decided to use red. Except I only had one red cool bean. Okay. And I knew I wanted to use one of the "buttons" from the JV line. Now what? Use another button? Nope, want some for an upcoming soccer layout. Buy more buttons? Nope, not finding what I want. Use an old red button from Making Memories that I've had for a LONG time? Yup! And it totally matches...yippee!

flashback friday...vintage 2003

I love when I can look back at a layout from seven years ago & still love it! I took these awesome grape photos at my sister-in-law's house in San Martin. They're just table grapes, but dang they photographed nicely!

The grape accents are Jolee's...remember when those were so "in"? And the title was made from the metal letter charms that Making Memories used to make. You could "hang" them on a page with a brad, or snip the loop off (which is what I did here). I also aged them by sanding them a little bit, inking them with brown ink, and then heat embossing them with clear embossing powder. By holding them over a burner on the stove. While David was at work :)

Project LIFE 9/5 - 9/18

   

Sunday morning donuts with Daddy.

Olivia & Kathy giving Chopper a bath in the front yard.

Abbie, Olivia, & their friend Mara, playing at the park while Brandon was at soccer practice. It's so nice to have other "siblings" at practice for the girls to play with!

Olivia's first day of school!

She's now in pre-kindergarten at Stoneridge, and for the first time she DID NOT CRY (!) when we dropped her off! Woo-hoo!

Our stash on the sidelines: backpack with snacks & diapers, gatorade for Brandon, iced tea for me, and my purse.

Abbie wearing Olivia's & my shoes. While her feet are still smaller than ours :)

Picking out watches at Nordstrom.(And for those who care, I set the camera on the table for this one.)

(Another "on the table shot.")

Brandon put his Prince of Persia Legos (from his Brickmaster Club) together all by himself!

I just went back to work three days a week. I provide in-home speech therapy services for children aged birth to three. I *love* my job! I hate that I spend half of my day in the car.

 

flashback friday...play (2006)

With school starting up, I thought I'd share this from the end of summer, 2006.

Four years ago. Wow. Brandon just started kindergarten, along with all of the other babies here. One of the little girls is in his class. Amazing.

Project LIFE 8/22 - 9/4

 Star Wars pancakes for breakfast. Took forever to make, and of course they were gone in a flash. I must be a good mom!

 This is how Brandon & Olivia helped me pick out new glasses :)

Olivia was so excited to finally get a booster seat! And it's pink too :)

When the boy's away, the girls will play!

(And how much do I love the new blue walls! David painted our room this color last fall, so this year I decided that the whole interior should be this color, since he only painted "some" of it taupe!)

 

Margarita Friday! Okay, that isn't the best caption for *this* picture, lol! But while the adults were enjoying their beverages, the kids were eating pizza :)

 

 We went to the Rivercats game with our neighbors and had a blast out on the grass.

 Unfortunately, David did not agree that the entire house should be repainted blue. Boo! I don't understand, lol! So taupe it is. At least the playroom is blue (and not that hideous mauve anymore!)

 

I got to volunteer in Brandon's class today. It was so cute watching him learn.

 

 I am probably the last speech therapist on earth to get Mr. Potato Head! I've just always worked where there was one to use. And now that I travel from home to home, it's time to have my own. Of course Abbie had to test it out first!

I got these fun square bowls at Walmart after reading about them on the Pioneer Woman's blog. They are so fun, and the smaller ones can go in the oven! Score!

I love watching Abbie play on the mornings I'm home with her. I get so few anymore, now that I'm working three days a week.

Yeah, it's out of focus. And the color was awful (that's why it's now black & white!). But I think it's one of my favorite photos. I may even frame it.

I love how it captures my children having fun. You can see the laughter, the movement, the joy. I want to bottle it all up & keep it forever. But I can't.

But I can frame it. Thank you, David, for capturing this moment while I was at work.

Pool party at my Aunt Brenda's house in Oakdale. Brandon & Olivia played in the pool until it was time to get out. Abbie still isn't sure of the of the water...crazy baby!

Project LIFE 8/15 - 8/21

 

Brandon & Olivia love taking random photos with my camera. I love that they are learning to use a camera, and since it's digital, I really don't care what they take pictures of. I think it's so cool that Brandon got this shot of our entertainment center, with Phineas & Ferb coming on the TV. The kids love watching this show, so it's on all the time!

Abbie loves to eat apples (well, any fruit!). It's one of her favorite after-nap snacks.

Date night for me & Brandon. We went to Starbucks for hot chocolate to chat before his first day of kindergarten. I had been really sad the night before, realizing I was going to be at work all day, his last day "home" with us before heading to school, so I took him out on a date to make up for it.

Brandon's first day of kindergarten. Heading off to Oakhills Elementary in Granite Bay, CA.

(side note: how funny that I'm in two pics in a row, when I'm hardly in any!)

I used to give directions to our house in San Jose like this: exit 87 at Santa Teresa, make the first right by the mall. Make the next right by AAA. Make the next right onto Chynoweth. Keep going under the overpass, make the first left by Gunderson onto New World. Go to the end & make a right on Narvaez. Make another right onto Massachusetts & we're the house on the left with the big orange boat in the driveway.

(Gosh it takes me back to say that!)

(And by the way, yes, it did suck to have to learn how to spell Massachusetts in first grade when we had to learn our addresses! But it was fun to let other people flounder when they needed to write my address down .)

The girls with their matching Twinkle Toes bling shoes from Skechers, chillin' in the cart at Costco.

Girls' night out: Shopping at the Galleria followed by dinner at Tres Agaves.

Project LIFE 8/7 - 8/14

 

8/7: One of Brandon's Lego Clone Troopers, found in the entryway.

8/8: New backpack & lunch box for kindergarten. We bought him the Darth Vader set at Pottery Barn Kids as a surprise & he LOVED it!

8/9: Whole Foods Market.

Honestly, when it opened I was like, oh, cool, we had one Los Gatos. Now I do most of my shopping there. I like that in this crazy, uncontrollable world, I can at least (partially) control what goes into our bodies.

8/10: First day of soccer practice for the Crocodiles, with Keaton & Coach Leif.

8/11: Getting frozen yogurt for a special treat after dinner at Nuyo. The kids get to pick out which flavor yogurt and one topping, and then we put a cherry on top :) Fun new family tradition.

8/12: Another day of testing in Natomas until my contract is up. I have given these tests so many times I can recite them by heart. Which is kinda funny, because I end up zoning out while reading them sometimes!

8/13: Friday night picnic at the park. We got Chipotle & met mom, dad, & Kathy for dinner at the "rocket ship park" (Highland Park).

8/14: The kids & I found these fun little canvases to paint at Beverly's for $1!

Disneyland, June 2010

Three months after we got back & it's scrapped!

I used a Becky Higgins' sketch that I've used before. I love it because I can fit quite a few photos on it, and still have ample journaling space.

I used my fun spiral notebook punch again. I just love that look, and I'm sure 10 years from now I'll look back at my layouts & laugh.

I'm not big on using "themed" stickers on my layouts, but come on, it's a Disneyland layout! I originally had different colors picked out, but then Mickey didn't match. I was going to ditch the mouse, but my husband then pointed out that it just looked like any other layout. And it's not like we go there all the time. Besides, the Mickey sticker came with three epoxy Mickey heads, perfect for here: