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We are getting a glimpse of the 'BUSY' that's about to begin along with school. This week school supplies shopping, physicals, school uniforms shopping, soccer practice, haircuts, basketball practice, more school shopping, playdates, and the like.

Project Life Week 14 & 15

While in real time I'm working on Week 29, here's a look back to weeks 14 and 15.  I still can't believe I haven't posted these before now. 

 Week 14: March 31 - April 6

This week included Easter, a drive out in the country and my family's spring break arrival.  

Backpack fodder and a little calendar downloaded free from Write.Click.Scrapbook. 

Studio Calico kit supplies: two 4x6 cards (title cutout), one 3x4 cards, red transparent banner

Ratio of photos taken by M.E. to photos taken by the fam :  M.E. 8, Babe 2 (Mamaw & M.E. working on Project Life)
Ratio of photos taken by iPhone to big camera: 0 to 10.

Week 15: April 7 - 13.  This week started with a big youth group retreat and ended with an 80s prom.  

I really like adding things other than photos and cards.  I like being able to add mail and other tie-bits of life without worrying about it affecting my photos because they are in their own pockets. Love that. 

It seems every Spring the Man gets on the new house search, so I cut out the clippings from a house we looked at.  It was huge and in a fabulous school district, but the floor plan was horrible for our family.  And the back yard was solid mud from their pets.  But I get side-tracked....

We actually had a pretty busy week, a soccer tournament, the 80s prom, decade day at school and a zoo field trip.  Love that its all here. Done and Done. 

Studio Calico kit supplies: one 4x6 card (title card), one 3x4 card (morning cutout)
Ratio of photos taken by M.E. to photos taken by the fam :  M.E. 8.  (Morning shot with the self-timer), Buddy 1 (Bender & Andie), School Friends 2 (Babe and I at zoo and the group prom shot) 
Ratio of photos taken by iPhone to big camera: 1 to 7.

Project Life is a memory keeping system developed by Becky Higgins. And its fabulous. 

What we Did with No Electricity.

As you know we had a major storm roll through last Tuesday night leaving us without electricity for 56 hours.

I had to put lots of things on ice to keep from losing them.  Everything I went to local gas station there was only a few bags left.  Once I went and the guy said he has sold 176 bags in one day.   That's a lot of ice.  

Legos. Lots of Lego ships, forts, buildings, spies, you name it.  

Thanks to Judy we got to go swimming with them and the Kliens. 

So much fun for Babe with his best friend.  

We paused to watch the sunset.  

We played outside most of the time. Thankfully the weather was too hot - only in the low 90s. Just hot enough for some fun int he sprinkler. 

Project Life Week 12 & 13

Here's another very late installment of Project Life from way back in March. 

 Week 12: March 17 - March 23

A fun week of adventures and out-of-ordinary routine and Spring Break. 

Right Side: We had a duck dynasty mini party for LG and his friend on St. Patricks Day. Babe began potty training. 

Left Side: Didn't have a lot of pictures. Sometimes that's just the case especially when company is here. We are just busy. The highlight of the week on Saturday night the Man "kidnapped" M.E. and we drove down to Dallas, TX for dinner at Fogo De Chao, a brazilian steak house that was divine. 

 My favorite part of the layout is the bling sequence in a glue shut pocket.  I like the "see-thru" element of it and its a nice filler. 

Studio Calico kit supplies: two 4x6 card, six 3x4 cards, yellow letter stickers, blue s & j, "live" button and the brown arrow.  Love these kits. 
Ratio of photos taken by M.E. to photos taken by the fam : All M.E. except. The smooch shot was with the self-timer
Ratio of photos taken by iPhone to big camera: 0 to 8.

Week 13: March 23 - March 29

Hello Easter & Hello Baseball! 

Right side: Had to include a snap shot of us at IKEA, love it.  There's also food from the yummy texas bbq joint we stopped at on the way home.  And I think my favorite photos are the two of all three boys in one twin bed sleeping. And see how cool that sequence pocket is from this side. Love it. 

Left side: Easter egg dying.  A must for every year. Some fodder this week, due to lack of photos. There's the chocolate Easter bunnies from Aunt Cream.  There's the receipt from my "great overall search" for Buddy. I even included a picture of all the washed and ironed costumes for the LIVE Stations of the Cross.  It took M.E. and Nana half a day to do it. so I documented it. 

Studio Calico kit supplies: three 4x6 card, four 3x4 cards
Ratio of photos taken by M.E. to photos taken by the fam : All M.E. except. The Easter egg dying pictures were all taken my the Man. 
Ratio of photos taken by iPhone to big camera: 8 to 4. lots of iPhone this week!

TWEET

LG was here! 

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We have POWER! Came on at 8AM.  Right at the 56 hours! 

Project Life Weeks 10 & 11

Okay, its no secret I'm doing project life weekly this year. And well I'm pretty much obsessed with all things Becky Higgins.  The Man puts it more elegantly and calls it my passion. 

Yes,  I'm really passionate about it and so its crazy to M.E. that I don't post my layouts. 

So over the next few days (or weeks) I'm going to be sharing my layouts.  I'm nearly caught completely up and feel really good about that. 

Note some content is "smudged" for my family view only. 

 Here's a look at Week 10: March 3 to March 9. 

 Just capturing the little bits of everyday of M.E. and the boys.   I really like that I recorded little conversation the boys and I had in the van about explorers.  

Buddy: all moneys have presidents on them right?

LG: yep

M.E.: yes, except the gold dollar, it has Sacajewea. 

LG: Whose that?

M.E: she was a famous explorer who helped Luis and Clark (I think).

LG: Oh, like Dora!

I like that I captured one of many funny conversations we have.  

 Left side: All about LG. Sometimes that's just how it happens.  All the photos are from the cubscout pinewood derby race in which he won his den. I really like having the black/white as a 4x8. Its awesome. And the little win button was in my Studio Calico kit.  Perfect. The "things I like" is from LG's back pack. Love going for the backpack fodder. 

NEW:  I like the idea of documenting who took what photos and with what, so I'm going to try and add this to each new PL post like  Elise does on her blog. 

Ratio of photos taken by M.E. to photos taken by the fam : All M.E. except one taken by the Man at the pinewood derby, LG in victory pose. The picnic was even M.E. with the self-timer.

Ratio of photos taken by iPhone to big camera: 1 to 11.

Week 11. March 10 - March 16.  

Right side - not a lot of pictures early in the week, so there's even a blank pocket. Not sure what I had planned, but now its there and I'm just going to leave it and move on. 

The little hearts are cut from some fabric I used in making some clothes for a friend's new baby.  Such a cute way to document it. And on the bottom backpack fodder, this time from Babe.   

Left Side - the weekend saw the arrival of Nana and Popa, so happy to see them, so there's several photos from that.  I also sewed those pennant for the new baby.  Awesome. 

My favorite things are the hearts card and the hello nana & popa card. Several cards were from the Studio Calico kit.

Ratio of photos taken by M.E. to photos taken by the fam : All M.E. 

Ratio of photos taken by iPhone to big camera: 1 to 8.

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. 

Mini-Vacation

At a hotel tonight because we still have no power and the house was about 85 degrees inside and while that's not terribly hot the humidity was high and were we really sticky.  Another front moving in tonight and suppose to storm again big time tomorrow. 

The Man said it was time to relax, so we are in bed with A/C going watching tv at a hotel.  He had to call five different ones to find a single room.

Yep, having myself a mini-vacation! 

TWEET

Pros of having no electricity-- haven't cooked a single thing or wash a load on laundry in two days! 

Still No Lights

Well, we are still part of the 45,000 residents without power this morning. 

Word is there's over 1,400 lineman working around the clock from 5 states. 

I will be making a decision today about the food in the freezer and count all left in the fridge a loss. 

Thankfully, friends have taken us in and helped. The weather isn't hot with more rain on the way, which is a blessing.  With temperatures 10 to 20 degrees below normal, being with A/C is tolerable. 

I'll keep you posted! Meanwhile enjoy pre-scheduled posts. 

A Night without Power

Tonight thanks to our fantastic friends the Sullivan's we are sleeping in an A/C home tonight.  Our house unfortunately is still in the dark! 

Hoping to tomorrow is a brighter day, literally! 

TWEET

What do you do when its a heat index of 110 outside? Lay in bed and play on your iPod. Yep!

Storm

We had an extremely powerful storm move through our area last night. The straight line winds hit our house about 11:45 PM and it was terrifying.  We lost power at 11:55 and are currently still with out. It has been a long time since I've experienced winds and such an intense storm as this one. 

It is estimated that over 85,000 people in Northeast Oklahoma are without power at this time.  There is wide spread damage of roofs blown off and lots of trees down. It is crazy.  We are safe and sound. 

Our local airport recorded a wind gust of 76 mph. The highest ever recorded at that location according to the Nation Weather Service.  

Praying we get electric soon, but in the meantime, I'm going to go scout for ice and save what I can from my frig and charcoal to cook with.  Deep freeze should be good for 48 hours.  I seriously hope we don't lose our meat, but at least our new cow hasn't arrived yet! Whew! 

I will keep you posted via my phone, which I'll be charging via the van. 

one more story

On our last night in Washington, Nana finally managed to get Babe on the horse for a ride.  It was long awaited and worth it.

I have to admit Babe was a little reluctant earlier in the week but that he was ready.  

 He made every step Nana made. 

 There they go. 

 I don't know who had more fun -- Nana or Babe?

 Well, okay, maybe Babe. 

The Man gave it a go and was a little nervous he said.  He didn't really go very far. 

LG decided he wanted a go.  

But once he got up there he suddenly froze.  

He didn't go down the driveway and asked to get off, more scared than he's ever been, but he is older. As for Buddy, he wouldn't even get close.  

Happy Riding Nana!  We miss you! 

TWEET

This box of legos crashed from the bed to the floor at 4:15 AM this morning.  Yes, it woke M.E. up with a near heart attack.

Capturing the Memories

As mentioned yesterday, my job on the 4th was to take pictures and capture the family celebration and I think I did pretty well. 

My goal was to us the Project Life scrapbooking system developed by Becky Higgins and create a 4th of July mini album for Gramma.  

I got the idea from Becky's blog and knew it would be super fabulous for this holiday. 

So first I got a little carried away with creating some journaling cards before we left for WA. 

 Using stamps and a versa pen, I doodled and stamped images before heat embossing them with red glittering powder.  They turned out great. 

Prior to the 4th, I enlisted the help of Poppa and we sent out an email to the family letting them know what I was up to.  

Instruction: Grab a journal card, write a note, doodle a picture or just say HI 

to Gramma on this 4th of July.  

I had a little basket set up with the cards and Becky Higgins pens for folks to write notes.  It was a hit. Everyone loved the idea and participated, even friends who just dropped by.  

Throughout our stay there, I took pictures. Lots of picture.  I really got some awesome ones, like this.  

And super sweet ones, like this.

There was also lots of candids especially good ones like in yesterdays post.  

And photobombs like this. hahaha! 

Then we slipped our cards in the album. Thanks to the Man for actually getting the only picture of M.E. from the whole celebration. The morning of the 5th finally filling out my card.  

In the days that followed, I was able to upload the photos to walmart.com and have them one-hour developed and got them in the album.  (I smugged the names of the innocence)

It turned out fabulously.  

Even though a few cousins weren't with us on the 4th, I managed to see them before the day and got them to write a message.  Therefore all Gramma's children made a card, all her grandchildren made a card and all but one great-grand child wrote a message. SUCCESS! 

 Then on Sunday before we left, I presented Gramma with the album.   It was beyond words.  

I think its safe to say, there was enough content there to last until next year - if not a lifetime. 

We love you Gramma. 

Thanks Becky for Project Life and all you do. 

Samish Island

After we left our campsite, Poppa drove the motorhome to Gramma's and we got to live there for two nights.   Yet another wonderful place in this world. 

We had a blast visiting with so many cousins and friends. Really fantastic to see all of them. 

For the boys is was all about the BEACH, WATER & FISHING.
For the Man is was all about those things + family + friends + absorbing enough of it to last a year.
For M.E. is was about taking pictures.

First thing on the 3rd, the boys headed out for fishing on the dock.  

Its hard to tell who loved fishing more Buddy, LG or Babe.  

Look how calm the bay was. Ahh!  

Lovely Gramma and Uncle Tom.  

The morning of the 4th, the Man when to the fireworks stand.   He still hasn't told M.E. how much he spent and I'm nervous to even check, but we had a great assortment of little stuff for LG, Buddy and D to play with plus some big ones.  They especially loved it when the tide was out and there was little danger of setting the place on fire. 

As always the parade was the highlight of the 4th. Here's D and Babe are waiting patiently for candy.  

And as last year, LG was asked to help carry the marching band banner with our little buddy PF. Well, at first LG said no, but as the band warmed up and the time drew nearer, he headed over there and introduced himself and said he was carrying the banner.  

I know this because when I went to check on him and make sure his plan, the gentlemen he talked to, knew his name, my name, that we were from Oklahoma and everything. Ah, that LG. 

On the 4th, all the kiddos fished and fished.  I'm not sure how many bullheads they caught. Buddy says it was upwards of 70.  Hmm. not sure about that. 

When they got bored with fishing they decided to take the cold water challenge.  And swim from the dock to the buoy. Buddy was the last to take the plunge.  The water was like 55 degrees.  

This is a buoy that the neighbors boat docks to... 

its very buoyant... 

And when you get 5 kids wiggling and jumping around, it turns over, throwing all of them in the water. 

It was so funny. LG had on a lifejacket and about a moment underwater pops right up with a smile on his face and paddles right up to the beach. Buddy emerges terrified. I had to yell several time for him to just stand up.  It was only waist deep.  hahaha.  

A memory they will never forget and that's what its all about. 

Before the hours of fireworks all up and down the beach, a beautiful sunset.  

Morning after - eating waffles on the beach.  

Morning after. 

What another wonderful 4th of July on Samish Island.