happy monday!!
i love the day after christmas…i always have! it’s still lazy,we are all still together, and there’s just a peaceful feel about it don’t you think? well except for the TORNADO that apparently swept through my house yesterday! i keep telling myself it’s a sign of a happy day and that it shouldn’t stress me out. it seems to be working (kind of?).
christmas was wonderful.
h wrote santa a note all by herself:
dear santa- these are your milk and cookies.merry christmas! we love you.
p.s. be safe!!
santa brought harper an american girl (molly):
and sadie got a “big girl bike”:
we played, laughed, and napped:
watched the wizard of oz together for the first time ever (j and i teared up at the exact same part- when dorothy wakes up and sees everyone she loves…what IS it about the end of that movie??).
and then had a delicous dinner. we all stayed in our pjs all day long. and i don’t think it escaped any of us that we were TOGETHER. such a delicious (and sometimes foreign) feeling.
the only gift i really ever want. and that’s the honest truth. all the other stuff is secondary.
today we are wearing pjs again. eating lots of left over snickerdoodles and rib roast.
and i am working on this:
i’ve decided to do project life this year. and i could NOT possibly be more excited. it’s actually a little bit out of control how excited i am!
jimmy and i were talking about how when he’s deployed (8th deployment coming this year) he never has access to the “day to day”. ever. we have limited time to speak and when we do i’m not telling him the little things.
our conversations are dominated by the big things. news from family, car problems, financial issues, sick kids,pressing issues, etc.
this is going to be a game changer. jimmy will be able to see all the things he misses.
he misses them even when he’s not “gone”…he leaves before dawn every day and often comes back after sunset.
he’s just as excited as i am about this project.
can i get started NOW??? 🙂
happy day after christmas y’all!
xoxo
that is so cute about project life for you guys this year. hope you all have lots of fun with it.
this is such a beautiful post … the last section is so challenging and sobering {ha, you see it as exciting!} i saw it as a reminder that your family sacrifices so much that we tend to take for granted. thanks for being so real that you don’t even notice that you just convicted me of a huge lack of gratitude for the “little day to day things.” you’re just awesome!
Happy Christmas!
And, love your excitement about Project Life.
I too am doing project life. I got all the supplies a few weeks ago and just couldn’t wait! SO, my album is going to be December 2011 to December 2012. I travel a lot for work, so I’m away from my kids and husband a lot. My husband is good about taking photos, texting me pcis and tidbits or posting goodies to Facebook … but I want a place where it all comes together, along with my life on the road, so Project Life was the thing for me.
Best wishes on your project. I love reading your blog. I was in the Army for 14 years, so I can relate to a lot of what you post!
I have to ask… Those doilies in one of the last photos.. Did you buy them or did you cut them with a Silhouette?
they are martha stewart!
I love that project life will be soooooo much more to your family. I’ll be doing it this year too and am really excited. I’m going to take ali’s advice and set up an accessible spot to keep it ready to update. Love reading your posts because they ate so honest. Thanks for sharing.
Really lovely post! You’re getting me more excited for my second year of Project Life. (oh, and catching up the last bit of this year’s!) I must ask about those cool labels — the blue and the yellow with the notched corners — are they vintage? Hoping not, as I’m on the lookout for some of those!
no they were from my absolute favorite label shop twogirlzstuff. sadly its closed now. 🙁
SUPER DUPER LOOOOOVE!!Merry Christmas to you and your sweet loves 🙂 Yes in the mist of the noise wrapping paper the most awesome feeling is seeing us together and the laughs and memories is the most awesome gift ever 🙂
FYI: I am so EXCITED your doing project Life! your gonna love it you’ll see I Was nervous last year when I did it for the first time but now I can’t imagine not having an album each year.
Hi Steph! Love your post about just how much your family means to you. Project Life is a perfect way to share all that Jimmy misses with him! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!
My middle has an Am. Girl obsession!!! We have MANY dolls and I am so glad they opened a bistro in the Mall of America. I am so glad you enjoyed the quiet holiday together. I hear you on missing the day to day stuff. My hubby isn’t in the service, but he does work a full and part time job so I can be home with the kids. He works many, many days in a row without a day off. Long days. He misses out on the day to day as well. Project life sounds wonderful. I have been contemplating it too. I just have to figure out how I would do it, as I know I wouldn’t keep up with the day to day (we really don’t have enough going on). One in middle school and one in preschool, schoolwork pretty much consumes the day. Maybe a week to week would be more fitting for us. Isn’t it so great that you make make it fit for you. You have some wonderful goodies chosen!! I can’t wait to see what you do. BTW, I love the pages pub’d in SB, etc. I just received the latest copy. I remember seeing those on your blog when you made them. 🙂 It was fun seeing them in print!! Way to go!!
This is a beautiful post. Reminds me of all the things that are truly important about Christmas and family life. Have a wonderful Feast of St. Stephen (today).
project life sounds like alot of fun, enjoy!! still in jammies here too and already exhausted trying to clean up our happy mess, but the mess reminds me of how incredibly blessed we all are 🙂
what a great time in your life to do project life!
ps I love “jammies all day” days
Steph,
First, your reason for starting Project Life just about brought me to tears. And why can’t you start today? It’s a Monday, and just as good a day to start as any. How cool to have your day-after-Christmas togetherness in your Project Life book! I started Project Life mid-January this year after seeing Ali Edwards’ amazingness and it doesn’t bother me at all that my book begins mid-month. The book is HUGE at this point anyway. 🙂 Good luck to you in your new PL endeavor…and Merry Christmas!
start PL now! don’t wait – life doesn’t.
love the pics – thanks for sharing.
Ohh..now I’m thinking again about the Project Life project…just not sure I’d complete it fully, the way I would want to….well I still have a few days to decide, right?? Our Boxing Day is always jammies all day and just chill in’. We’re having fun watching new DVD (son) and playing with our new computer and games!!! We have a fire going in the fireplace all day as well:) Looks like you had a wonderful Christmas!
super excited you are doing PL! you will love it. so glad i am doing it– really it’s enhanced the way i view documentation.
did the girls get leap-pads???? i think i spy them in the photos. jonah got one and he keeps telling everyone he got an iPad. then we get weird looks from everyone! haaa!!!
Happy day after Christmas to you and you family Stephanie. Although we didn’t stay in our jammie’s all day, it is a lazy one in every other respect. I LOVE it much! You, with all your talk and excitement over PL are actually gettinge me thinking that I should take the plunge this year. The thought of it scares me to bits though. I’m also feeling like it is way too late to start now if I’ be not gotten anything together yet… Sigh… What to do? I just know that once you get going and sharing I’ll be sad that I didn’t jump in. Anyhow all the best to you as you get going. And happy no schedules day 🙂
do it!!! i havent gotten my cards or page protectors yet!!!
Sent from my iPad
I’m so excited you are doing PL. It will be so worth it!! I did in 2010, and loved it. I didn’t plan on it for this year, and by about February 1st I was so mad and disappointed in myself that I hadn’t started it, so this year I am totally in!!!
Just remember though, if you miss a day, (or 2) don’t stress!!! In the end, it will be so fun to look back on. I would love to be there after Jimmy returns from his deployment and looks through the pages. Oh the memories you are making. Love it!
Steph, do you print your pics at home? I can’t imagine PL if I have to order prints all the time and wait for them. Don’t know if I’d have the stick-to-it-iveness to keep up with that part. I’d love to do it. Maybe I should take a leap.
yes, i do print my photos at home. i dont think id be able to take this on otherwise!
So excited to see your PL! I’m debating when to start mine, have to decide!
I’m so excited to see that your doing Project Life this year, I did it this past year and it has been such a joy to see all the things that have been missing in my past scrapbooks. Messy rooms, dinner together, cooking, shoes left on the floor, kids choolwork/ notes from teachers etc.
A few tips that i will pass along to not get overwhelmed…choose a set time each week to upload pictures and select them for printing. At first you’ll be so excited so you may not need this but as life gets busy or you get overwhelmed you will appreciate having a cutoff time to print things from that week. So my PL pages are on a weekly format. They run from Monday to Monday, so every Sunday night I sit down and upload/ print all my pics from that week. Also, having it out allows you to stick in the bits and pieces of your week or have a page protecter handy that you put things in (receipts, notes, tags from clothes, schoolwork, drawings) and then empty it each week when you print your pics. Lastly, if your doing it weekly pre-label each of your weekly cards with the dates for the whole year, I even insert them in my page protectors and have them in my album already. Have fun and enjoy this new way of looking at life!!!!!
Exactly. My parents have become snowbirds and go south for 5 or 6 months every year. And I treasure my Project Life for that reason – my daddy can sit and look through it with my girl, and soak up what he’s missed.
oh my goodness chelsea, thank you SO much for the encouragement and awesome words of advice!!
I LOVE harper’s letter to santa, so SWEET!
and I cannot WAIT for you to do the project life kit!
I really wish I had done a better job on mine last year, but it’s such a great project and PERFECT for you to share with j! cannot wait for you to do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!
tara
Yay i am starting PL as well next year, wish i had it when my kids were as young as yours. How early did the kids get you up on christmas morning as J looks a bit knackered. (aussie word).
Xx
I am so excited to hear that you will be doing project life this year. I will be doing PL for my 2nd year this year. Can’t wait to see what you do with it, and I just know you will love it! Merry Christmas to you and yours.
I’m still debating about project life, can i actually do it??
but, i had to comment – my girls have the exact same pajamas as Harper and Sadie, and wore them on Christmas eve/day as well. 🙂
Stephanie,
You will begin to live life’s little moments in a “bigger” way once you start Project Life. This was the first year I did the project and up until I started Grad School (in addition to working full-time), I was able to record just about every day with journaling or a picture. I haven’t uploaded any photos yet, but if you want to see any, feel free to e-mail me and I’d be happy to share them.
Please have fun with the project. I think that you will just love the journey – especially with another move in your near future. Best of luck & have a great New Year!
-Cat
I stayed in my jammies all day today too! I was the only one though…hubs had to go back to work and the girls, well, they got so many clothes for Christmas that I decided they will wear an outfit every day whether we go somewhere or not. haha!
Definitely loving the day after Christmas around here too. I loved the photo of the decorative tape and was wondering where you usually purchase it from. Would appreciate any information. Thanks! Oh, and by the way, I did PL for the first time this past year. I knew I would love it, but I wasn’t prepared for how much my husband and two boys would love looking at the pictures as well. It is wonderful. Enjoy.
I too am starting Project life this year. As a mother of four myself I find myself scrapbooking only the memorable moments (Birthdays, holidays, etc.) But feel that a whole different story is not being told. This time in my life is very short even though it feels immense at the moment. I have gone back to school and I’m working on a double major while raising our kids 12, 10, 4, 4. I feel like so much is getting left out of the story being told in my scrapbooks. It would be great to show the odd ball moments. I look forward to growing with you in our PL adventures.
i tend to collect it and not use it!! hahaha! i like the american crafts ones…are you a member of the studio calico community? there are always a TON of washi tape threads over there!
thanks so much cat!!
I can tell you from experience that using project life to help your husband see what you were up to with the kids, all the everyday things is AWESOME!!!
My husband just returned (Dec 8th) from his 7th deployment and your are so right there is no time for the little things in the few minutes of conversation via phone or email.
It can be hard to stick with it and sometimes I felt like I was always catching up with it. But I am SO glad I did it. My husband loved it, and can’t wait for me to get started in 2012. We are finally heading into a stretch of time that he will mostly get to be home and plan to make the most out of our time together.
Hope you love project life and your family has a great 2012.
Beautiful!! Merry Christmas to you! Can’t wait to see your project life!!
Welcome home to your husband!!! And thank you BOTH for all you sacrifice. Xxo
Sent from my iPhone
Is there anything more precious than seeing that daddy holding his babies? 🙂 SO glad you had a beautiful Christmas. I am loving the Project Life stuff, I just clicked over there. I need to hop aboard the scrapping train again, I feel like I fell off and never got back on. XOXO
On Christmas…have not yet understood my buddies that MUST tear down Christmas on Dec. 26. I love the lingering of the holidays, and we love PJs, too! On Project Life…I was so flipping excited about it when BH first unveiled it. Did the first year, but did not hold myself too a photo a day or a weekly layout. Just whatever happened. I got about halfway through the album, and I am pretty proud of that. It helps you just crank the pages out without the worry of design. Well, some people still worried about design, but you can NOT worry about it and still get awesome layouts. I want to snap some pages that have vertical alignment as well…first year it was all landscape, and I take LOTS of portrait shots, especially with the iPhone. Have so much fun! I cannot wait to see what you end up with!
So glad that you are doing Project Life! It seems like just “the thing” to keep your hubby up to speed. LOVE washi tape – use it a lot!!!
I’m so excited for PL too! I regret not doing it last year but whatevs. I’m actually going to start mine this week on the process of starting and a bit of reflection on 2011. Why not? 🙂
what a blessing project life will be to your family… i did my first in 2011 and loved it.. putting all final touches this week so we can go over it new years eve..
How cool! Love how you’re using this project life 🙂 thank you for a beautiful post and for sharing H’s letter to Santa – so precious! Looks like you’ll be using your own stash for project life… Are u ordering any of the cards or other Becky Higgins stuff??
Yes!! Im waiting on clementine cards and A pages!!
Sent from my iPhone
That is AWESOME! Perfect solution. He’s going to love it.
Can’t wait to see your posts on your Project Life.
I started my PL on Aug 1, 2010. Now on PL#2. I LOVE IT!. So do my boys. They both love to sit and look at the pictures. I can not picture my life without PL. Yes, I get behind, yes I feel like it is a burden sometimes. It is SO worth it though.
I use mine in a week-at-a-glance format. It is much easier for me to stay on top of. I love being able to keep the little stuff like the kids daycare art, fortune cookie fortunes, church buletins (esp if one of us is mentioned), etc.
I have no doubt this will not only be a HUGE blessing to Jimmy but to your entire family as well. I can’t wait to see what you do with it! You are such an inspiration to me. And, thank you Jimmy for your service, a million times over!!!
we spent our christmas in PJ’s too, and it was THE BEST, so i can totally relate. 🙂 and can i just tell you – that i am SO excited to see your PL album pages…. SO EXCITED!!!