Project Life - Week 35

This week was a busy week for us.  It started with church on Sunday morning, and while I was getting ready for church in the bathroom, Maddie climbed up on the toilet with George to read a book.

 Our Sunday School class was in charge of bringing breakfast before Sunday School that morning, and Drew and Maddie enjoyed eating their donuts in the gym before going to their classes.

Drew started first grade this week.  I blogged about it a few weeks ago and shared pictures here.
Both Maddie and Drew had well-visits at the doctor this week.  Maddie's was on Tuesday morning.

 Drew's was Thursday afternoon after school.  They are both healthy and doing great!

 As we walked into the house after Maddie's well-visit, she threw up all over herself, the floor, and me!  We both had to take baths, and I had to clean the landing right inside our back door.  Maddie had a little bit of a fever that day but didn't throw up any more.  We stayed in for the rest of that day and the next day, and Maddie was doing better by Thursday.

 She was a little bit more sleepy and cuddly than normal those couple of days, so we enjoyed the extra snuggles.

 Our three tomato plants have been producing tons of tomatoes!  Jim and Drew go out several evenings each week to pick them.

 We went out for dinner with friends on Saturday evening.  After dinner, we went to play at a park.

 Here's what I did for Project Life this week.  I made a little insert about Drew's first day of first grade.

 This is the front of the insert.

 Here is the back of the insert.

Here is the main page for the week.

I am linking up at The Mom Creative again this week.  I am hoping to post another Project Life layout this Friday since I didn't post one last week.

A Few New Pinterest Ideas

I've shared before about how our Sunday School class provides meals for families in our class who have had new babies.  A couple from our class just had a their first baby last week - a little girl named Olivia, and this past Monday was my night to make them a meal.  I always like to include a little gift with the meal, and I almost always make a flannel baby blanket.  This time, I also embroidered the baby's name on a onesie.

 I used this tutorial that I found on Pinterest, and I was so pleased with the way it turned out.  To get the cute lettering, I typed Olivia's name in a cursive font in Microsoft Word, and then I enlarged it until it was the size I wanted.  Then I held the onesie up to the computer screen and traced the name onto the onesie with a disappearing ink fabric marker.  I used embroidery floss to stitch her name over the marker.

 I am horrible at making French knots, so I decided to dot the "i's" with little buttons.  I really liked how the buttons ended up looking!  Olivia's mom loved the little onesie, and I loved how simple, but still very special this little gift was.

 This week I also tried a new recipe I found on Pinterest - this Blackberry Pie recipe.  Jim loves blackberries, and when I saw that Aldi had blackberries on sale last week, I knew that it was time to make this pie.  It was delicious!  There is a caramel layer on the bottom of the pie that makes this pie SO good!

I love trying new recipes and crafts, and Pinterest is just full of fun inspiration!

Project Life - Week 34

I mentioned last week that Drew's transition from (almost) daily afternoon naps to no naps was a struggle.  Drew's sleepiness caught up with him again late one afternoon this week, and he fell asleep on the couch.

 Maddie got up from her nap and was quite intrigued to find Drew sleeping.  She kept climbing up to see him and was even pulling at him.  He slept through it all!

 Drew did another week of golf camp at Jim's course and had a lot of fun.

 Maddie and I ran errands several of the mornings while Drew was at his camp.  One of our favorite stops was Trader Joe's.

 Jim's car started making some loud noises this week, and Jim asked the mechanic at his course about the noises.  The mechanic said that it was the water pump and that Jim needed to take the car in.  A water pump, some belts and hoses, two new tires, and a lot of money later, and Jim's car is back to being in pretty good shape (at least as good of shape as a 13 year-old car can be!).

 Jim and Drew have started a new nightly routine before bed - "R and R," pronounced "er and er," and short for "Reading and Wrassling."  They read a few verses from the Bible, discuss them, pray, and then wrestle.  They love this time!

 As one last little activity before the end of summer vacation, I took Drew and Maddie to the zoo on Friday.  I was a little nervous about all the walking and pushing the stroller so soon after my surgery, but I felt good the whole time, and we had fun.  We got to see the penguins being fed.

 A lot of the animals were pretty lethargic while we were there, so I didn't get many animal photos this time.  Maddie enjoyed having her stroller surrounded by ducks.

 The seals were swimming quite a bit, and we all liked watching them swim around the tunnel.

 We rode the train back to the front of the zoo at the end of our visit, and we were able to see Jim as the train went past the golf course (the zoo is right next door to Jim's course).  He came out behind the club house and waved to us as we went by.

Here's what I did this week for Project Life.  I am linking up again this week at The Mom Creative.

 I was shopping at my favorite thrift store this past week and was so excited to find two big boxes full of Project Life journaling cards!  There are cards from many different Project Life editions, and I have lots and lots of journaling options now!

I will be back again on Friday with a few new Pinterest ideas I've tried lately.

Project Life - Week 33

We usually stop and pick up a quick dinner after church on Sunday night, and the current family favorite place to stop is the Taco Bell/Pizza Hut near our house.  Maddie likes the bread sticks, and this time, she decided to try the tomato dipping sauce.  It was a little spicy, and she was not happy about that!

About a week out from my surgery, I finally felt strong enough to leave the house a little bit.  If I am outside my house these days, I pretty much always have a scarf around my neck!

 Jim took me to my post-op appointment with the surgeon, and then we stopped at a new (to us) location of our favorite fruit and vegetable market.  This store was even bigger than ours and had some fun things that our regular store doesn't have.  We loved it!

 Jim has been talking about a Detroit donut shop called, "Dutch Girl Donuts," for years.  He brought some home this week, and we all loved them!

 They were delicious!

 My friend, Kristen, stopped by with a basket full of scarves from the girls in my Sunday School class.  It was such a kind gesture and such an encouragement to me!

 Drew and Maddie can play so nicely together sometimes.  I found them watching a movie together like this one morning.

 Drew has also been reading to Maddie a little bit.  Maddie loves books, and she brings them to whoever is around.

 She read with Grandma Esther one morning while Jim and I were at an appointment.

 I drove for the first time post-surgery on Saturday of this week.  The kids and I went out to the golf course to eat lunch with Jim.

I started trying to wean Drew off his afternoon naps this week since school was coming soon, and he wasn't going to be able to nap any more.  He got worn out a few of the afternoons, and I would find him lying down in some strange places.

Here is what I did for Project Life this week.

I am linking up again at The Mom Creative.

Project Life - Week 32

This week started with a pajama day at home on Sunday.  Maddie had a rash, and I was afraid to take her to the church nursery, so I kept her home.  She loves bananas, and she brought a couple bananas out to the living room that morning.  She had gotten them off the counter in the kitchen.  I went to put them away and found the remainder of the banana bunch scattered across the kitchen floor.

 Drew had water night at church that Wednesday night.  He loved it!

 My thyroid surgery was on Tuesday.  It went well, and I loved having my own little room to recover in that night.

 On our way home from the hospital on Wednesday, we stopped at Sonic, and Jim got me an orange cream slush.  It tasted delicious, and it felt so good on my throat!

 I came home to find some beautiful flowers from my parents.

 My sister and brother-in-law sent me a package later in the week.  My sister makes beautiful cookies, and she sent me some to cheer me up.

 My parents spent the week with us, and they were such a help.  Mom did lots of cooking, cleaning and laundry, and Dad ran lots of errands and cut our grass and Drew's hair.  They both spent a lot of time playing and reading with the kids.

 Maddie loves gadgets, and she enjoyed watching little videos on my mom's Kindle.

 Every time my mother's phone rang, Maddie got very serious, and said "Uh-oh!"  We kept calling Mom's phone just to hear Maddie's reaction.

 Maddie loves to drape clothing around her neck, so I let her try out my new scarf from my sister.  She looked so elegant as she played with Drew's light saber.

 Here's what I did for Project Life this week.  I used all 3x4 inch photos and a little journaling card right at the beginning.

I am linking up again this week at The Mom Creative.

Drew's First Day of First Grade

Drew started first grade on Monday, and he was so excited about it!  He has been counting down the days for the past few weeks.  Drew has really been looking forward to being a "full-day" student and getting to eat lunch and go to recess at school.  I was the first grade teacher at Drew's school for seven years (until Drew was born), and I am excited for Drew to be a first grader this year!

We did a very quick photo shoot on the driveway before we left for school that morning.  I pulled out our little chalkboard easel, wrote a quick title and date in sidewalk chalk, snapped a few photos, and we were off to school.

Here is Drew with his first grade teacher.  We have heard a lot of good things about her, and we are looking forward to a great year.

 We were able to go into Drew's classroom for a few minutes that morning, and we got to see Drew's room (my old classroom) and his desk.

 Maddie was thrilled to find a Curious George in Drew's classroom.

 Drew had a great first day of school!  After school, we met some friends for ice cream at Culver's.  The boys were extremely hyper after their long, busy day at school.

I had Drew lie down to rest for a little while that afternoon when we got home.  He was exhausted!

 We tried to get him up after about an hour, and he did not want to wake up - even when Maddie climbed up on the bed with him and started getting into all of his stuff.

This has been a great first week of school, and we are looking forward to getting into a routine and having a wonderful school year!