An oldie but a goodie... December Daily 2011

In November, I reminded myself just how much I love seeing how much the boys have grown...in something tangible, not on Facebook or online...so I committed to doing the December Daily for our second December together.  As last year's December was a bit more "exciting" than anticipated with Alexander's early arrival...I was excited to refocus and spend a few minutes each day documenting what is happening.

My last full December Daily was in 2010...when we had just one Wee Ski (here are a bunch of pages from it).  I looked at my 2011 files on my hard drive, and realized that I had about 10 pages to finish...and I decided to do just that.  I took my first "free" evening in weeks (since my time at my computer has been nonstop editing and designing for Finian Road)...and made this just for me.

I sent it to Shutterfly, and last night the familiar orange box showed up on my doorstep.

AND I LOVE IT.

They offer lay-flat pages and I upgraded again to the padded cover, and the boys were thrilled to go through things, page by page.  They were pretty confused by how it was John Paul as the baby and not Alexander...so maybe by 2015, I will have last year's done too.  :)  I had read the quote "perfection is the enemy of completion"...and it couldn't be more true than here.  I chose to not worry about missing a day or detail. I just wanted to have it in hand.  I AM SO GLAD I DID. 

This should be a link to the full album. 

It's now a little "blast from the past"!  :)

Project Life: Week Seven

Out of order, but fresh in my mind and I want to share!  Last week was a pretty emotional week from a faith perspective...starting with Pope Benedict's announcement, leading through Ash Wednesday and Stations of the Cross and then to the first Sunday of Lent.
I loved saving Thomas's Valentine from his teacher, Mrs. Johnson, the Valentines from Grandma Sandi, and John Paul's reaction when he saw my mom's latest obnoxious singing plush, the Cupig Shuffle.  It was as cute as the song is annoying.  So incredibly cute.  :)





// RESOURCES //
Digital templates  |  AC Digitals  (some pages modified)
Digital kit  |  bonus love kit from AC Digitals order last week, journaling cards designed by me
Font  |  PMN Caecilia 

Project Life: Weeks 3 and 4

Out of the 7 weeks of the year so far, I'm only behind by two weeks!  I can't even begin to describe how much I am loving this project, even if it's been hard to carve out time each week. So very thankful for the apps on my phone which make it easier -- Dropbox to transfer photos and Day One to keep random notes on specific days...as we all know that pregnancy brain translates into newborn brain that becomes preschooler+toddler+infant brain. None of those include good memory skills.

And since my memory sucks right now, I am loving looking back on these weeks...especially since it reminds me how far we've come as a five-some with three kids that are four and under.  :)

I am also totally loving saving photos of Thomas and his art projects from preschool...with his proud smile and date of when he did it.  He's starting to write the letters in his name, and I LOVE seeing them.  Will be saving the current version in week 8.  

A very full two weeks, finishing with the Mega Event Experience in Seattle.  It is the only training that was on the books for 2013 for the Relay For Life...as the "transformation" of the Society is changing things up pretty dramatically.  We truly had the "who's who" present:  Pat Flynn, Dr. Gordy Klatt (the founder of Relay), Jeff Ross, Adam Schwartz, Marty Coehlo, and the CEO of the American Cancer Society, Dr. John Seffrin.  You will notice that the Wee Ski 3.0 and I did get a self-portrait with him...figuring it was the one time that was possible!  He also mentioned us in his keynote on Saturday evening, a sweet moment that brought tears to my eyes and made me snuggle my little boy that much tighter.

Enough words.  Check out the pages below!









// RESOURCES //
Digital templates  |  AC Digitals
Digital kit  |  Bridgeport Edition Childhood Mini Kit
Font  |  PMN Caecilia  & Slapjack

Project Life: Week Two

Our second week in January. 

I love being able to change up things each week -- adding bits of life from the kids or things that make me laugh (see the nursing comic on the lower left side).  Feeding Alexander has been an adventure, to say the least, and I am extremely grateful for my husband the fact that I have so much flexibility with my schedule, so if I don't get much sleep one night, I can work around it the next day.  And I'm amazed that even with as many struggles as we've had with it, Alexander continues to grow and gain strength and size and is a sweet little boy.

We celebrated Thomas's birthday on the 8th -- he received a phone call from Grandma (just for him!) where she sang to him...had a fun party at preschool (see his hat!), and dinner at Infernos with our good friend Autumn and her nephews Jack & Owen. 

Learned a valuable lesson about self-portraits taken with my iPhone facing me...the resolution is TINY with that camera!  Either way, FINALLY got my hair cut + colored (should have happened 5 weeks earlier, the day Alexander was born) and I felt like a new woman. IT. WAS. AWESOME.

Used about half of one page for the boys' joint doctor's appointment.  Hilarious about what goes into bringing the three of them somewhere.  And some day, when they are grown and aren't dependent like they are now...it will be bittersweet to look back on it. 

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// PAGE TWO //


// RESOURCES //
Digital templates  |  AC Digitals
Digital kit  |  Bridgeport Edition Childhood Mini Kit
Font  |  PMN Caecilia 
Brushes  |  Ali Edwards' Bible Quotes No. 01

Project Life: Week One

Finally getting started with uploading the pages...I am all caught up through week 3 and am looking for a bit of downtime to pull together week 4. 

I am loving this style of scrapbooking. 

Keeping things very organized and simple (using dropbox to sync up my iPhone and my Dell) has made it a breeze.  And I am loving an hour or two to myself to look back over the week and save those memories...since clearly, newborn brain is nearly as bad a pregnancy brain for memories!

This is our first week of the year.  Snippets of our life.

I am letting my type-A-ness of perfect images all the time go, because right now, it's most important for me to REMEMBER this stuff...even if an image is blurry from my iPhone.  And I'm finding that doing that works for me right now...since I am treasuring seeing our lives all in one spot. 

PAGE ONE  //



PAGE TWO  //



// RESOURCES //
Digital templates  |  AC Digitals
Digital kit  |  Bridgeport Edition Childhood Mini Kit
Font  |  PMN Caecilia

See?  Super simple.  

December Daily: Days 7-9

Life right now.  Hilarious with the two boys, and feels so incredibly nonstop. We have been working over at the tree shoppe, baking like mad, and working our way through our Advent Activities book.

On Friday night, we celebrated my Dad's 65th birthday with a surprise party at the fave Mauss hangout -- Spiro's Pizza and Pasta in Gig Harbor.  It's the place that Jonathan and I had our first date, held our rehearsal dinner for our wedding, and now celebrated Dad's big day.  I made a ton of carrot cake cupcakes (his fave) and we toasted him up.  It was a great start to the weekend!

Here are days 7-9 of the album...enjoy!

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The full album is here.

December Daily: The first five days

Loving how this is coming together.

Was glad that I read a little December Daily primer on this project...was good to remind me that the pages don't need to be perfect, that documenting what's happening is what's most important, and that it's okay to be busy and still take the time to be creative for myself.

One of my biggest challenges of this season is what feels like the never-ending creative juices flowing...for other peoples' projects.  I didn't finish our own family's card until December 1 this year -- and there had been more than 50 boxes of different projects that had arrived via UPS in the previous month.  As the crazy deadlines for holiday orders nears, it's so good to take some time for our own family projects.

Without further ado, the first five days of December:

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The full album is here.

December Daily: A look back

It's incredible to think it's already December.  John Paul is seven months old, Thomas is nearly three years old, and Christmas tree season is in full swing.  In the scope of life on the farm, it's a very busy season...in the scope of this year for our family, life is finally winding down.  No travel is on the books, suitcases are being unpacked and put away, and life is returning to normal.  Well, as normal as life can be with a toddler and an infant.

I had last year's December Daily album printed at Shutterfly in January, and I loved how it turned out.  We kept it out for much of this year.  I loved walking into the living room to find Thomas with the album in his hands, turning the pages and pointing out everything he recognized.  Having a great snapshot of our life during this time last year has been so much fun, especially to be able to compare life as a pregnant mommy to life with two little ones now.  I love that it has the things I love: our family, our routines, slices of our life on any given day, and recipes that I was using. 

I started the 2011 album this week.  As quickly as John Paul is growing, I don't want to miss a moment of this first Christmas for him, and our last Christmas with Maggie.  I'll upload the pages as I go into a new album...but in the meantime, if you'd like to look through last year's album, here it is!

A modern Advent calendar

After finishing last year's December Daily album and printing it, I remembered why I love FINISHED projects so incredibly much. BECAUSE THEY ARE FINISHED. I love looking back over the month and seeing how it progressed, with little details throughout. 

I left it out throughout the year so we could look through it, and I was surprised at how often Thomas picked it up and would look through the whole thing.  I think that I'll tuck last year's and this year's (after it is finished) away for next year's Advent as a little surprise.   I love the December Daily concept - and can't wait to start this year's album!

When we were growing up, two elves visited our house throughout Advent with little surprises. Named Sam and Max, they often left notes behind in the shoebox where they slept on the porch. Mike and I were too young to be skeptical about the similarities of the elves' handwriting to our mom's handwriting...but alas, that was back in the day when her handwriting was actually legible. :)  When we were small, Mike and my's favorite gifts from Sam and Max were often McDonalds' Happy Meals dropped off at St. Charles for our lunches...but I digress. The concept was a special way to celebrate Advent, and coupled with our Advent wreath, it brought the fun and sacred together beautifully. 

Back to now.  As a surprise for my mom (and my awesome Grandma -- she received a very similar box, different inscription on the inside) and inspired by our Advent elves Sam and Max, I designed an image box for 5x7 images.  Normally, this size holds 100 images, so I added a riser to the inside so that the finished box holds about 50 printed images -- the perfect size for two Advent seasons. 

I selected 28 images (including Christmas day) to mark the beginning of the Advent season.  The images begin in January and progress throughout the year.  Most are highlights of things that happened or just fun photos that I love.  I printed each as a 5x7 print and slid them into individual envelopes.  Each envelope has a label denoting which day it should be opened. 

During our daily prayers as a family in Advent, we'll be saying a special prayer for BearBear and BearBearMom, for Great Grandma Bottenfield, Great Grandpa Mauss and for all of our grandparents that we've lost: BearBearSki and BearBearMomSki, Great Grandpa Bottenfield, and Great Grandma Mauss...so not only will the two boxes bring fun joy each day as new envelopes are opened, but all of our grandparents will be on our hearts in a special way throughout the season.

Onto a few photos:


The inside inscription to BearBear and BearBearMom from the boys:


And the stack of envelopes to be used.  I didn't seal the envelopes, just closed them with the label...so theoretically, the envelopes could be used again!  :)


And finally, the back, with my two favorite little elves. 


Once we hit the end of Advent, I'll post a collection of the images used...can't wait!

Week in the Life: Tuesday

And today...the first photo of me for the Week in the Life project!

Today's images are downloaded, sorted and renamed.  Today was a frustrating day (gotta keep it real, now!)...from a two hour oil change (with a scheduled appointment, no less, and a service associate who is clearly single without kids), getting rained on with both boys while on a walk to keep Wee Ski 1.0 from terrorizing the dealership, John Paul's teething, and finding a mountain of to-dos that seem to multiply like wet gremlins. 

I found myself prioritizing and re-prioritizing today.

There were definitely highlights -- Thomas still being a joy after two hours at the dealership, Thomas's pure joy at a hot dog + coke + smoothie after Costco, playing outside when we got home, and finding his way to my office after his bedtime for 'just one more sip of water'. 

A few moments from today:

Before walking out for the mail.  John Paul was not happy to be done with lunch.


Thomas's very meticulous way of closing the mailbox.  And he ALWAYS lifts the flag, mail inside or not.


Our beautiful "wild grasses".  :)  It's all in an effort to keep a sustainable yard.  Of course.


Turkey cheddar burgers with tasty delicious homemade garlic buns.  Guess whose burger this was?  A hint? It's a very small bite taken out.


Don't fool yourself -- this sweet handholding led to pinches from 1.0 to 2.0.  He may be out of the running for Big Brother of the Week.

Week in the Life: Monday

I've been looking forward to this year's Week in the Life ever since John Paul was born. Looking back to when Thomas was wee, it's making me realize just how quickly time passes. I adore having Thomas's first month book to look through, especially with all of the details -- most of which I've now forgotten.  I would love to have a book of our ordinary life right now, with Thomas as the Little and John Paul as the Wee. 

:: MY PROCESS ::
To help this project succeed, I decided to follow Ali's advice and shoot/journal this week, and start scrapping next week. If I tried to do it all in this week, the chances of finishing the book (well) would be slim since it's a crazy busy week.

In addition, I printed out the PDFs to jot down journaling throughout the day.  I also picked up the 12x12 layered set to scrap these up next week. 

Every night, I'm downloading my cards and sorting the images.  Picking out the ones I love, copying them into a new folder and renaming them w/the time the image was taken (just to make it easy later).  Each morning, I'll pull a few of my favorites from the day and blog them, but save the majority for the upcoming weeks when I scrap them.   I love realizing little things right now:

• I need to shoot myself more.
• Thomas is mimicking everything that Jonathan does.  Everything.  Some of my most heartwarming images are of Thomas doing his 'best Jonathan' -- reading the mail next to him at the kitchen counter after dinner, reading books on the sofa before bedtime, and reading a golfing magazine while using the bathroom.  
• Having my camera out has helped capture little things as they happen throughout the day.
• I love our family's relationship with meals...and can't wait to document what we're preparing and eating right now.   I think I'll add in some recipes and images as well, since our tastes change over time.

These were my favorites from Monday.

Early morning when Thomas realized that baby John Paul was home from Florida and awake.  JP2 is happy about the hug so far.


But not so much anymore.  :)


Thomas was so proud of helping me with the plants outside this morning, until I realized he had helped one of the entire dill plants right out of the pot and into the house.  We replanted and watered together.


Can't wait for the rest of the week!

Letters to John Paul

One of the things that I never really finished for Thomas was his monthly letters.  As the 8th rolled around each month, I remembered to shoot him, but would procrastinate on the journaling + letter to him.  As time moved on, memories from that exact month faded.  He has an awesome first month book which is finished and in our living room.  And ironically, his last "monthly letter" spread that I have uploaded is from July 2009 -- his six month letter.  Maybe I should just rename it the Monthly Letters for the First Half of Your First Year?

One of the big challenges was that I had originally used one template and wanted to continue using it, but I never customized the changes, so each month I was rebuilding it from scratch.  (Talk about a de-motivator in wanting to continue something!)

So this round, I want to keep things simple (in keeping in line with my one little word for the year: simplify). 

And though I never blogged it, I did John Paul's first monthly spread just after he turned one month old.  And I just finished the two month old spread.

For this round?  I'm just continuing his 'baby book', though I won't use the same template (as I did in Thomas's monthly letters) nor the same kit as earlier in John Paul's baby book.  Each month will look different from the previous month, so that it won't ever feel like it's something I 'have' to do. It won't all match (which would normally bug me to no end), but in the big picture?  IT WILL GET FINISHED.  :)

So far, I'm keeping it simple by using templates and sampling the colors from the images themselves.

Here's the first two spreads.  Specs for the scrapping are beneath.  And as always, you can click on the pages themselves for a larger version to read the journaling. 

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The specs:

• TEMPLATES  |  Adapted from Cathy Zielske's templates.  From "One Month Old" comes the Layered Template No. 83 (adapted to an 8x8 spread) and from "Two Months Old" is Layered Template No. 86 (also adapted to an 8x8 spread) and Story Guide No. 05B (questions adapted to this spread for a two-month-old).  I'm pretty sure his entire book will be filled with Cathy Z's templates BECAUSE I LOVE THEM THAT MUCH.  They can be used in so many different ways. Swoon.
• FONTS  |  Avenir, using different weights. 
• WORD ART  |  "first memories" from Ali Edwards Simple Celebrations Baby Elements.

On the occasion of my 34th birthday

Happy milestone days just scream to be scrapped.  Especially while emotions are fresh and real.

Today, I turn 34 years old. 

And as my Facebook status update says right now:

‎34 years ago, I was born.
On my 30th birthday, my now-husband proposed at the Relay For Life.
On my 34th birthday, he told me that he found my birthmother. I can now tell her "thanks" for giving me the gift of life. ♥ ♥
Jonathan Sprouffske, I never thought you could top my 30th birthday...but you did!
I love you so much!

Adding this page to the "2011 Ski Album", of which I have done no other pages for this year.  And I am totally OK with that.  :)

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The digi-specs of the page:

• TEMPLATE  |  10 Things I Love About My Life from Cathy Zielske.  I am definitely channeling my inner Cathy Z right now.  Loving uniformity and order and clean white space.
• FONT  |  Avenir Book + Avenir Heavy
• BASE COLORS  |  Sampled from my shirt (the dark blue and light blue). Gradient to the center of the page.

Four weeks old.

To add into John Paul's first scrapbook.

Yesterday, Maureen gave us a great gift and had a special date with Thomas. They went on walks, played, and she gave him lots of one-on-one time as Jonathan and I snuck away for a date afternoon. Our 'third wheel' was a great sleeper as we enjoyed an awesome lunch sans toddler.

And when we got home, Maureen took this image of the four of us which I just LOVE.  It's life right now. And with me with no gray hair.  That part is AWESOME, just in time for my birthday!

The second page was later in the day, with both Wee Skis sound asleep on their papa.  He is the baby whisperer, because neither will sleep on me like that. 

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The digi specs:

• First page template  |  adapted from Cathy Zielske's Layered Template No. 79.  The original template is designed for 8.5x11, and I adjusted it a bit to fit a square layout.  
• Second page word art  |  from Ali Edwards' Simple Celebrations Baby Elements. 
• Page element  |  Mindy Terasawa's Tranquility Mini Kit (matches the rest of the book)

John Paul Emeric: His Birth Story

Two sweet pages all about John Paul's arrival into this world.

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The scrappy specs:

• TEMPLATE  |  Adapted from The Bests Template Plus Pack by Cathy Zielske 
• PAPER  |  Tranquility Mini Kit from Mindy Terasawa (used throughout the book)
• WORD ART  |  Bible Quotes No. 01 by Ali Edwards