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Monthly Archives: September 2012

9/27/2012

Digital Project Life : Week Thirty-Eight

Late again…but once again…I had the pages completed days ago. Seems like it’s just hard for me to sit down, resize them, and get them posted. If you are here because it’s Thursday, and really should be Best Twin Cities Playground day, never fear. I will be writing that post in a moment and it should show up tomorrow. We went to the Hyland Park Reserve in Burnsville–coolest park I have ever seen! You’ll definitely want to come back for that.

Onto Week Thirty-Eight.

Left Side:

Every single photo this week was taken with my iphone. (Or my husband’s.) Last week I dropped my Nikon on our cement basement floor and now it’s in sunny Southern California getting fixed. I wish I was in Southern California.

Two big events this past week–Salted Caramel Hot Chocolates are back at Starbucks and Marie went to her first Baby Storytime at Red Balloon. I also remembered to get a photo of Holly and her dad reading stories together. I had been wanting to do this for awhile, along with writing out a list of her favorite books. I still really struggle with the journaling part of this project, I feel a lot of times that what I write doesn’t sound as good as I would like it to. (I had thought this would get better, and easier, as the weeks progressed…but unfortunately it still seems just as hard.) Oh well. I will carry on…..

Right Side:

The Week in Review card made a comeback this week, and I was also finally able to introduce a “currently” journaling card. I see them in other’s Project Life layouts and I am always wanting to do one myself. With so few pictures this week, it worked out to be the week for it!

That’s a wrap for Week 38.

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Project Life is a product and a system created by Becky Higgins. It can be anything you want it to be. To learn more about Project Life check out Becky’s Website. The pieces used in my album are available through Jessica Sprague here. If you live outside the US check Becky’s site for more information on sources. View all my posts about Project Life here.

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libbywilko - I think you do a great job of the journaling, there’s the facts, the emotion and the story all included in each weeks layout. And you just get it done , which in itself is awesome :) I hope your camera is all better now :)

9/25/2012

Summer Session at The Lake : Minneapolis/St Paul Family Photographer

This summer session is probably one of my most favorites, ever. I met this family at their home on the lake, and I truly think the photos captured who they are–and the feeling of summer. Here are some of my favorites from their session:

Thanks Sampson Family for a wonderful summer night!

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nicole prather - found your blog ! love reading your pl stuff and your pictures are amazing !!

you are super talented !

-nicole

9/21/2012

Digital Project Life : Week Thirty-Seven

Better late than never!

I actually had this done last weekend, but it took me until now to post it. Life is pretty busy right now, it’s high-season for photographers, my baby crawls at about 90 mph, I have a cold, I’m tired….the list could go on and on! If you are a mom of young kiddos reading this, I know you can totally relate.

Right Side:

Week Thirty-Seven brought us lots of scooting thanks to our neighbors, and a visit to Hyland Regional Park in Burnsville for another installment of Best Twin Cities Playgrounds. Oh my goodness, wait until you see how cool that park is. (The best part? It knocked my no-napping five year old out for the count for THREE HOURS last Friday afternoon!!!) Marie is really into shaking her little rattles and crawling. Lots and lots of crawling. Boy do I miss the stationary baby!

Left side:

I tried out a new template page, Design C, for the first time. I was really low on photos this week for some reason–kind of like I am for this coming week too. I am just not in the groove right now…..but I did enjoy working with a different type of page. I actually had to get two photos out of the archives to help fill it up. (I never put the visit to Teddy Bear park in the book, just blogged about it on here.) Didn’t technically happen last week, but I am completely okay with it. That’s the beauty of Project Life–you do what you want how you want!

Soccer started last week, and we had an all day playdate on Saturday that was a lot of fun. (And provided pics/detail about yet ANOTHER park!) My favorite picture of this past week though? The one on the lower right of this page. There’s Holly playing with crafts at the kitchen table in her princess dress. She wears those things all of the time, no matter what she is doing, and I am so glad I captured that. I know there will come a time that she doesn’t want anything to do with them anymore, and we will only have photos like this to remember it by.

I am linking up at The Mom Creative again this week. Check it out for tons of Project Life inspiration!

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Project Life is a product and a system created by Becky Higgins. It can be anything you want it to be. To learn more about Project Life check out Becky’s Website. The pieces used in my album are available through Jessica Sprague here. If you live outside the US check Becky’s site for more information on sources. View all my posts about Project Life here.

 

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Stephanie - Had to catch up reading after my return from Michigan. LOVE it! Holly telling you she wants to make the rules when she’s a grown up made me laugh out loud! She cracks me up.

Susanne - Hi Heather! Just got your link from Jasmine Star. Looking forward to meeting you at the workshop in a couple of months! Your kiddos are so adorable… makes me feel motivated to catch up on my own scrapbooking (which I am WAY behind on!). :)

9/13/2012

Digital Project Life : Week Thirty-Six

Caught up for now. WHEW. It really is much harder going backwards like that…I found I remembered virtually nothing AND I was very unconcerned with how cute it looked. I just wanted to get it down…and move on.

Week 36 was a big week around here as it was the first day of school for Holly. (And the beginnings of my new obsession with extreme couponing–but we will save the details of that for another blog post!)

Left Side:

So glad that I grabbed the camera and caught Holly with her “long hair.” This is a game of pretend that has been going on for months, so it was nice to get a record of it. She is obsessed with acting out movies!!

Right Side:

Made a highlight of Holly’s first day of school pics–LOVED how that turned out! (Those are Ali’s 6×12 templates.) Marie also had a big week, finally holding her sippy cup herself and eating snacks without assistance. Where has my baby gone!?

That’s all I wrote for week 36. Now to get to Week 37…no pictures for that yet. It’s seriously starting to feel like the third trimester around here…everything is getting to be too much effort!

But I will plug on. I have gone too far to quit now, even if I am completely wiped out!

I am linking up at The Mom Creative again this week. Check it out for tons of Project Life inspiration!

———————————————————————-

Project Life is a product and a system created by Becky Higgins. It can be anything you want it to be. To learn more about Project Life check out Becky’s Website. The pieces used in my album are available through Jessica Sprague here. If you live outside the US check Becky’s site for more information on sources. View all my posts about Project Life here.

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libbywilko - Love Holly’s smile and her green and blue spotty dress. Keep going you make such beautiful pages of memories for you family. Take care and be gentle with yourself.

9/12/2012

Teddy Bear Park : Minneapolis/St Paul Children’s Photographer

Welcome to the third edition of Best Twin Cities Playgrounds!

During the last week of August I found myself driving along interstate 694 after a visit to one of my favorite fabric shops. My Aunt was in town and she, like me, is a major crafter so we spent a lot of time on the road looking for stores to visit. I lost count how many different places we visited that week; on this particular day we decided to go to JoAnn’s in Woodbury after our trip to Rogers. Talk about exploring the metro! I am not sure we could have chosen two places more far apart.

Anyhow, there I was on 694 thinking I was so smart for remembering I could circle around and get to Woodbury from the north. HA! Construction foiled me, and there was no exit for interstate 494. In either direction. I so rarely find myself that far north and east near Stillwater that I looked in my rearview mirror and said to Holly–”We are going to Teddy Bear Park!” I had a photo session there earlier this summer and had been looking for a time and reason to go back.

For directions on how to get there, click here.

Unfortunately I only had my little point and shoot camera with me this day, but the photos still tell a pretty good story of how unique the park is. I only wish it wasn’t so warm the day we were there. Boy am I excited the fall is upon us and I can start really enjoying these park visits instead of barking for water and shade the whole time!

This is the view when you first go through the gate. Completely adorable right? I love how colorful everything is, and how cool the rocks are on bare feet. (The artificial grass? Not so much–it get’s really hot!) While a lot of equipment is right out in the sun, there is a shaded bench pavilion for parents, and a cliff rock wall that provides a lot of shade as well.

Note the brick building in the upper right. From what I understand it’s rentable for special events. Wouldn’t this be a cute place for a birthday party!? (Information on how to rent it is found here.) We were there at high noon on a Thursday so it was pretty vacant, but I did visit earlier in the summer around 10am and it was a complete zoo. There must have been 200 kids there and 50 strollers…it was crazy. And a Friday morning. I can’t imagine what the crowd could be on a Saturday.

This area is to the right of the main entrance and stretches all along the east side of the park until it reaches the brick building seen in the earlier photo. The amphitheater and building host children’s events all summer long. (Events are over for the year now, but look here for a list of events once the summer of 2013 draws near.) Holly loved climbing in the spiderweb net and along the cliffs. Marie, of course, really was into the sand!

The equipment near the front of the park looks to be geared more towards the three and under set,

while the rear and east of the park were more for Holly’s age group 4-6.

Kids do, however, just like to play. Holly spent just as much time running through the trains and on the little slides as she did the big one!

Holly gave this park two thumbs up, and I would have to agree. It truly feels magical there, almost as if you are in the technicolor world of OZ. Some things I want to make sure to mention are tables available near the cliff wall perfect for picnics, water fountains to keep you hydrated near the entrance, and bathrooms accessible at the rear of the brick building for use.

And that wraps up this week. I will leave you with the obligatory, yet oh so needed for my scrapbook, shot of the girls on the big teddy bear at the front gate. At times nothing makes me feel more like a mom than having my kids sit on big stone statues as I  frantically call for them to “look at me!” “Keep smiling!” “Wait Holly, your sister’s not looking–look at me again!”

For the record, this isn’t how it goes with clients. For some reason getting other people’s children to look at me is 100x easier than my own!

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