taking flight

She's been waiting for this day for weeks (months really), and she finally gets to tell everyone that she is officially a Kindergartner!! 

As for me, I'm still processing my own emotions: excitement, fear, disbelief. But one thing I am sure of, is how proud I am of my baby girl. She is brave and smart and kind and sassy and curious, and even though it is sometimes hard for me to watch her fly.....I know she is ready!

a quick little photo shoot before heading to Meet the Teacher

On the big day, she was definitely excited, but she was also very tired & had a tough time waking up at 6:30a.m.

Sweet Sienna with sleepy eyes :-)

waking up a little

the one & only shot I could get of the 2 of them

she walked right in, put away her backpack and got right to work

and this is how I left her.....before I walked out into the hall & felt the tears start to fall

We said a little prayer this morning on the way to school for her teacher and her classmates, and we asked God to keep her safe, to help her learn, to make lots of new friends and to be a good friend. I just know this is going to be a great year!!

Preschool

Well, today was the BIG day for our sweet little boy. He woke up with a big smile on his face, jumped out of Mommy & Daddy's bed (he snuck in there at some point last night & I didn't notice until about 5:00am), put on his new uniform, grabbed a quick breakfast, and headed to his very first day of Preschool.

And I must say, he was a very good sport, and didn't complain AT ALL during our mini-first-day-of-school-photo-shoot!

Once we arrived at his classroom, the nerves started to get to him just a bit, but the meltdown was quick and relatively painless. Daddy was able to get him to hang up his backpack, and put away his nap mat, and then I could tell it was time for us to make our get-away.

He still looked a bit nervous when we left, and there were definitely no smiles for Mama's camera, but I just know he is going to have a wonderful first day!

LOVE YOU BUDDY!!

back to school

With one starting Kindergarten next Monday, and one starting Pre-K(3) on Wednesday, we are officially in "Back to School" mode around our house. We are buzzing with excitement, preparing for the first day, getting our calendars in order, and thinking about how to stay organized while maintaing our sanity (and by "we" I mostly mean "me")!

There are a thousand great back-to-school ideas floating around blog land these days (and I'll admit to checking out most of them), but in keeping with my goal to simplify this year, I have chosen just a few to incorporate into our back to school routine.

Of course the all-important Kindergarten backpack and lunch box have arrived:

via Pottery Barn Kids

I've printed out this super cute Back to School Photo Checklist:

via Rebecca Cooper

I'm in the process of printing out these cute "1st Day of School Printables" for our annual photo shoot on the front porch:

via How Does She

But I also really like these???:

via I Heart Nap Time

I've read through this article on establishing a Back to School sleep schedule:

via I Heart Organizing

And I have a few ideas on cute Teacher Gifts for the First Day:

Like this one......

via Eighteen 25

or maybe something simple like this......

via Rebecca Cooper

and I really love this:

via Eighteen 25

I absolutely LOVE this time of year! Stocking up on fresh school supplies, making lists, clearing out the clutter, getting organized, making memories, and creating traditions......what could be better than that!!

good stuff

A few things sparking my interest on this lovely Friday afternoon:

(1) I am planning on ordering 2 of these little beauties to store school work, certificates, cards, etc... for each of my kiddos this year. Now, if I could only decide which photo I want to use????

Ali Edward's Memory Boxes from Paper Coterie

2. I've mentioned my love of the Instagram App before, and I recently got a big batch of photos in the mail from Postal Pix, so I'm thinking I need to do something like this ASAP:

via Rhonna Farrer

(3) With the end of Summer looming & the start of the school year just around the corner, my mind is spinning with thoughts of lists, routines, schedules, work/family balance.......I came across this online "class" a few days ago, and I think it might be just the thing I'm needing to start the school year off on the right track!

BonjOrganization Guide

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend. We will be celebrating a special birthday, enjoying Supper Club with sweet friends, school shopping, and soaking up our last Summer weekend together before our littlest one starts pre-school next week. Enjoy!

Project Life - a sampling

I have been a "scrapbooker" for as long as I can remember. I have several yellowing, magnetic page albums filled with newspaper articles, class pictures, notes from friends, and magazine clippings from my childhood. I also vividly remember covering entire walls of my bedroom as a teenager with pages from teen magazines. I've filled numerous sketch books with collages, I have more journals than I can count, and I even have a scrapbook that my sweet friends put together for one of my bridal showers.

When my daughter was born, I would spend hours making layouts while she napped or played next to me in my "studio." I loved the entire process (the shopping, the stamping, the creating), and I loved that I was able to spend time documenting our memories. By the time our son was born; however, my excitement had begun to wane. Instead of feeling inspired, I felt overwhelmed, inadequate, and a nagging sense of guilt about the lack of layouts for my little boy. I had a closet full of scrapbook supplies that sat virtually unused for over a year.

Enter Project Life.

This project has re-energized me, and given me a renewed excitement for documenting our memories. It's simple. It's do-able. It's fun. And it's a great way to document an entire year's worth of memories with a very minimal time commitment.

As promised, here are a few shots of my "Project Life 2011" album so far. These aren't necessarily in chronological order, just a sampling of how my pages are coming together throughout the album.

I've included 12 x 12 photos throughout the album

 a layout with Instagram photos

 81/2 x 11 page protectors with digital layouts fit right in

I also included an envelope filled with birthday blessings for Grant on his birthday

a 12 x 12 Birthday layout

and a few pages I printed out from blog entries and placed in 81/2 x 11 page protectors

I love having one central place to collect and store our family's memories. Along the way, I've included special school work, certificates, receipts, movie tickets, programs, etc... little bits of life that help to tell a more complete story of our year.
This is my second year doing some version of Project Life, and I have to say it is my favorite project to date!!

Week In the Life - my process

Today, I am spending a little time putting together my Week in the Life project for 2011. I decided this year that rather than creating an entirely separate album for this project, I am simply going to create a digital page for each day of the week, put the page into a page protector along with the corresponding daily sheet, and add those pages to my ongoing Project Life album.

I will take photos today of my album in progress, but for now, here is my layout for Monday, July 25, 2011:

i used Cathy Zielske's template from here

Cheerleading

I was never a cheerleader. I tried out once in sixth grade, didn't make the cut, and devoted my life to dance from then on.

My little girl, on the other hand, has been interested in cheerleading from the time she could walk. She has owned several pair of pom-poms in her day, she can often be found walking around the house in her Dallas Cowboy or University of Texas cheer outfit stopping to "perform" in front of the mirror, and I will never forget the look of awe on her face when she saw the real Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders for the first time!

This week, she participated in her first cheer camp, and to say she enjoyed it would be a major understatement. Who knows if this is just a phase or something she will continue to be passionate about years from now? For now, she is jumping in with both feet!!