Project Life 2012: Week 34

Week thirty-four consists of two 12x12 multi-pocket pages, a 6x12 multi-pocket insert, and an 8.5x11 insert. Lots of washi tape was used this week, mostly orange, as well as some American Craft letter stickers.

The top right photo is a screenshot of Elijah's wallpaper on our family computer. He went through a long Minecraft phase...actually, I think he still plays it once in a while. The lower left photo - I take so many photos of the sky. Lots and lots of them. I actually have a tag in Lightroom just for sky photos. When I see a gorgeous sky of fluffy, sunlit clouds, it makes me think of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, and then I get chills. 

The front and back of the 6x12 insert. Allan and Elijah went on a Boy Scout camp out at our local minor league ballpark. They were able to watch the game and afterwards set their tent up on the field along with hundreds of other scouts. It was pretty awesome. Neither slept much, but totally enjoyed the experience.

The front and back of the 8.5x11 insert holds information from the camp out, game tickets and some journaling from Allan about their adventure.

While the boys were away, Moya and I watched chick flicks, played cards, and made some awesome coconut chocolate chip cookies which we then devoured! The little wood veneer "So Very Important" is from Studio Calico and the "So Good" alphas are from American Crafts. Oh, and that Vegetable Rice Noodle soup is the main reason I made sure to plant bok choy in our garden this year - it's a family favorite. Yum!

p.s. For those wondering why on earth I'm posting 2012 Project Life pages in 2013...I got a little, okay, WAY behind because of an illness last year, and well, I'm too stubborn to give up on completing my 2012 album.

Backyard Garden: Our weekend planting.

We finally had some time over the weekend to plant our seeds and vegetable plants. We found a pack of cheap wood lath at Lowe's to make our grid. We even had them cut the pieces for us. Our little box is ready for some seeds and plants.

Moya helped me transplant our tomatoes into the large clay pots. We have just three tomato plants (one Heirloom Black Cherry and two Big Beef) this year.

I love tomatoes and am praying for a plentiful harvest.

We planted three sweet pepper plants (Cute Stuff Red) in our raised bed after giving them a good soak in a bucket of water.

These tiny little seeds are bok choy (Oriental Green Ching Chang).

We also planted carrots (Parisienne), cucumbers (Japanese Long), green beans (Blue Lake Bush 274), and zucchini (Black Beauty). All the seeds we planted are from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and the plants are Burpee from a local green house.

Now we wait expectantly.

Project Life 2012: Week 33

Week thirty-three consists of two 12x12 multi-pocket pages, one 6x12 multi-pocket insert and one 8.5x11 insert.

Somebody turned 43 during week thirty-three. The numbers are wood veneer from Studio Calico colored with a Copic marker. The bottom left pocket holds part of an envelope that contained a Newsboys CD that Moya won from a local radio station. I added a bit of blue washi tape to fill in a ripped portion of the yellow envelope. I like the pop of color and pattern.

The front and back of the 6x12 insert. Moya and I did a bit of drawing this week.

The 8.5x11 insert holds some martial arts certificates that Elijah earned.

The final page is pretty much dedicated to Elijah's second belt test. This was his first test that I got to see in person. I was too sick for his first one. I've been to a few of them now, and every single time I'm completely amazed at what he can do and so crazy proud of him!

p.s. For those wondering why on earth I'm posting 2012 Project Life pages in 2013...I got a little, okay, WAY behind because of an illness last year, and well, I'm too stubborn to give up on completing my 2012 album.

Backyard Garden: Just the beginning.

We never thought we'd start a garden. I mean like never, ever in a million years. Why keep a garden when you can so easily get produce from the store? Why keep a garden when everything outside during the growing season seems to make me sneeze? Why battle weeds, bugs, and little furry critters for a few vegetables? Well...what it boils down to for us is this: so we know where our produce is coming from and how it is grown. So we can enjoy organic, non-GMO produce without breaking the bank. So our kids can learn about growing food and take part in the whole process. They may even enjoy their vegetables a little more knowing they had a hand at growing them.

We decided to use the Square Foot Gardening method. And honestly, finding this method is the only reason we decided to give gardening a try. It actually sounded doable for us. It is super easy, fairly inexpensive, and according to everyone we know that uses it - you'll have a great yield of produce. We're using this book to guide us through the whole process, a process which we started just over a week ago.

Rather than build our own raised bed box we went with a kit from Lowe's. Elijah loved using the drill. He now says he wants to do construction when he grows up so he can use a drill all the time. Silly boy.

We're starting small with one 4'x4' box. We plan to add more boxes next year. Being our first year we didn't want to get overwhelmed. I really hope our vegetable harvest is as plentiful as our dandelions.

Allan is mixing soil for our box. We got the recipe from the above mentioned book. This recipe guarantees growing success...which we amateurs definitely need.

After putting down some weed mat, Allan filled our little box with the freshly mixed soil. He trimmed the excess weed mat away once the box was filled.

We opted for some large clay pots to grow our tomatoes on the deck. Since they are larger plants we didn't want them to take up so much space in our little box. We'll see how it goes. We may just continue to grow them on the deck in years to come, or we may decide to grow them in a box vertically using a trellis.

We're hoping to plant our seeds and seedlings sometime this week. We had planned to over Mother's Day weekend, but had temps fall into the 30s. Kind of cold for planting. Here's hoping the weather cooperates for planting this week - I'm excited to get this thing going!

p.s. I'll be sure to post updates on our little garden throughout the growing season.

Project Life 2012: Week 32

Week thirty-two consists of two 12x12 multi-pocket pages. 

The "Our Favorite Snacks:" journaling sheet is from this Smash Journaling Pad. There are several different pads in the Smash collection - lots of fun designs. I'm really loving that there are so many different journaling cards out there that work in the Project Life page protectors.

Love those little wood veneer scissors (see the top left photo). Fun.

I messed up on my journaling and covered the mistake with a wood veneer arrow. Much better than leaving the scribbled out word showing. And way better than trashing the card...that I hand-stitched to start over.

Yes, my Elijah actually asked this. Sometimes I wonder if he's really going for the laugh when he asks questions like this. Either way, it was too funny not to include in our album. I used a card from the Spot on Life digi card kit by Laina Lamb. (I would link up the product but I can't find it. I'm pretty sure it's from Two Peas in a Bucket.) I modified the card a bit. The original said "Oh Yes He Did." I changed "Did" to "Said" to better fit the quote.

p.s. For those wondering why on earth I'm posting 2012 Project Life pages in 2013...I got a little, okay, WAY behind because of an illness last year, and well, I'm too stubborn to give up on completing my 2012 album.

Recently...

Recently...this lovely Christmas Cactus - from my thoughtful friend, Amy - has sprouted some new leaves. Do you see them? They're still on the tiny side. I'm super excited about this because, quite frankly, I usually kill plants. I end up either over-watering or completely forgetting to water them at all. I've had this little beauty since last November and it is actually still alive...definitely a good sign!

Recently...we had a light dusting of snow. Not cool. It's April, almost May! Seriously. We do have some 70 degree weather in the five day forecast, and I cannot wait! I actually took a chance today by packing away my winter clothing and filling my closet with my summer wardrobe. I am so ready for tank tops, shorts and sandals.

Recently...we had water pour through the ceiling during our morning rush to get ready for school and work. Actually, it poured through the track that our hallway closet door slides along. That made for an extra hectic morning. Allan had to take the closet door down and we had a pool of water to mop up.

Recently...this handsome fella found the reason for the water pouring through the ceiling - a bathtub leak - and fixed it. He had to cut a hole in our closet wall as part of the process and boy was it a tight squeeze to get in and out of there. I found it kind of humorous. But seriously, I'm so thankful he was able to fix the problem. Awesome job honey!

Recently...I read this book. Actually, "devoured this book" would be more accurate. Since getting sick last year we've switched to mostly organic foods and have been paying much more attention to what we fuel our bodies with. I've been doing a lot of studying regarding the foods I feed my family and what I've discovered is shocking, angering, and just not right. I highly recommend this book. If you eat food in America you should read it. You can see the author, Robyn O'Brien, in an awesome TED talk via her website.

Recently...I tried this new recipe - Creamy Avocado Pasta. The word "creamy" is what drew me in. My favorite pastas have always been ones with a cream sauce. Since discovering my dairy allergy I have really missed those cream sauces, that is, until I discovered this recipe. It's amazing. This sauce really made me feel like I was eating a dairy cream sauce. No, it doesn't taste like cream, but the texture is something I've apparently been missing. The garlic, lemon, and basil give it wonderful flavor and it's nice and light - not heavy, like cream based sauces. And I've noticed that it works best with soft avocados, which produce a creamier sauce than firm avocados do.

Project Life 2012: Week 31

Week thirty-one consists of two 12x12 multi-pocket pages and one 6x12 multi-pocket insert.

During week thirty-one we visited the traveling Vietnam War Memorial, which was an incredibly moving and sobering experience. In light of this I opted for a patriotic color scheme.

Front and back of the 6x12 insert. More school clothes shopping this week, thus the clothing tags.

An unconventional family photo...of our feet.

The cool London Olympics journaling cards that I've been using were a freebie from Erica Hernandez.

I included the stick and packaging from this super yummy frozen treat. I highly recommend these, especially if you have an allergy to dairy like I do. They really make up for it! Oh, and I should note that I did clean the stick and packaging before putting it into my album. I wouldn't mind the chocolatey smell, but would hate for it to attract bugs.

p.s. For those wondering why on earth I'm posting 2012 Project Life pages in 2013...I got a little, okay, WAY behind because of an illness last year, and well, I'm too stubborn to give up on completing my 2012 album.