Week in the Life - Wed. & Thurs.

Wednesday was all about work, running errands & crossing things off my list. But there were also some wonderful moments along the way.....an impromptu lunch with my hubby at a new restaurant, sitting on our bed with the kiddos and giving each other "makeovers," finishing a great book ("What Alice Forgot").

On Thursday, I fell off the bandwagon a bit & only took about 6 photos for the day. One thing I have noticed is that if I don't start strong in the mornings (taking photos before I leave for work), I usually end up with very few photos for the day.

I am still so very grateful for this process. It forces me to find beauty in the mundane, to celebrate our life even when I feel like pulling my hair out, to capture what our life really looks like & to be grateful for every single minute.

* lots of performing in front of the big mirror
* a clean room
* trip to the vet
* a new haircut (so very handsome)

Week in the Life

I decided to follow along with Ali Edwards again this year, and document one week in our family's life. That means that I am taking the time each day to take photos of our everyday routines and schedules, and then jotting down notes along the way. Words + Photos.

To make it as simple and do-able as possible this year, I am only taking Instagram photos for this project (the "big" camera is waiting patiently on a shelf in the kitchen). And I am using Ali's daily sheets to keep a running list of what we did throughout the day, what we ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner, my favorite moments, things I overheard, the little things I am grateful for, etc...

I really love this project! I know it is something we will all love to look back on someday.....to realize how quickly things change, and how certain stages in our life that we thought would last forever were really just a blip in time.

Photos from Day 1

Photos from Day 2

A few notes about this project:
* I need to get myself in more of these photos = hand the "camera" over to the kids or Johnny or use the mirror
* I like that I am not taking hundreds of photos but rather simply hitting the highlights and getting a good snapshot of what our days really look like at this stage of our journey
* Not sure how I am going to incorporate the daily sheets just yet, but for this week, I am simply focusing on the documenting and will worry about pulling it all together next week

Love is

I came across this yesterday, and it completely took my breath away. I read it and re-read it, and decided it is officially my new favorite quote. Such beautiful words.

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. An when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because that is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself it what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. You mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two." Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Watercolor (part 2...the instagram version)

I (like many others) have recently become obsessed with the Instagram app on my Iphone. The only problem is that since the app is really meant as more of a "social media sharing" device, most photo processors can't accommodate their square size. So in addition to getting the Postalpix app on my phone to order all of my Instagram photos, I was very happy to come across this free Insta love layered template by Cathy Zielske........I have a feeling I will be getting a lot of mileage out of this template for my Project Life book!!

Watercolor (part 1)

Last night, our little family returned from a week long vacation to Watercolor, Florida.

We had a blast! It was a trip filled with everything a good beach trip should be filled with: sandcastles, sno cones, popsicles on the porch, swimming, bike rides and lots & lots of laughs (and of course, a few meltdowns for good measure).

A few of my favorite memories:

1. Watching "Parent Trap" on the big screen movie projector outside on the lawn
2. Watching the kids overcome their initial fear and then riding on the canoe with their daddy
3. Taking a canoe ride with daddy myself
4. Gaga volunteering to watch the kiddos so Johnny and I could have a date night.......dinner at "George's" in Alys Beach (highly recommend)
5. Seeing Grant take off his life jacket on the last day and swim & jump fearlessly in the pool
6. Camp Watercolor (best idea ever & the kids had a blast)
7. Listening to the concert in Seaside while the kids ran around with glow in the dark light sabers
8. Browsing through Sundog Books in Seaside and finding the time to actually finish 2 great books

The week went by way too fast and I am already looking forward to next year!!!

Independence Day

I hope everyone had a lovely July 4th Weekend! We managed to squeeze in 2 parades, countless powdered donuts, a little gardening, several trips to Target, Lowes and Home Depot, a dinner date with friends, one trip to the doctor, and a July 4th bash in our backyard complete with great food, friends and family!