Every Day Matters

Grandpa Vanderburg comes for a visit

Well it has been a while since I last posted... Life has just been changing for us and I wasn't sure how I wanted to document everything. I have just decided that these moments are special and they pass so quickly. I want to capture the boys' lives and share it with you because before I know it, they will be growing up. They are only little for just a few years and I dont want to miss a thing.

So this past weekend, Grandpa Gary came down to visit. The boys were so excited to see him. We had a great time.

I love this picture of them... we spent most of the weekend at home but we did venture out to Barnes and Nobles and out for lunch. Grandpa got them each a book and Chase and Knox played on the train table for almost an hour. The boys love Barnes and Nobles. It must be our favorite place to go. I love that Riley and Wills love to read. I want them to have an active imagination and I believe reading is the foundation for learning.

Riley had a strong attachment to Gary when he came. Riley constantly wanted to sit in his lap and just be near him. I wish we lived closer to family so the boys could spend more time with them. I grew up in a family where we were so close and I want that for them.

Gary, we are so glad you were able to come down and visit. It was a great weekend and the boys absolutely loved it!

Change is always difficult but sometimes necessary

This week I shared a layout I made on the WOW Blog about change. I spent a week at the end of January with my cousin Matt and his wife, Rachel. We spent time talking about our childhood and reliving funny moments  that we remember. It was nice to catch up with him. However it made me realize how much has changed in the last 10 years. We went from teenagers with active imaginations to adults with families and lives of our own. I think this change has been good. I believe that this is what life is about... spending time with those that you love. While a career is nice and financial stability helps, family is the most important thing in my life. This is what I want to spend my time doing. I want to look back on my life and not say that I had a great career or I bought the things I wanted... I want to say I spent it with the people who really matter in life - my husband, my children, my parents and siblings, with friends and family.

Journaling: It is amazing to see how much we have changed in ten years. We have grown from children, full of life to adults with families and children of our own. Matt, this is what life is about… spending our time with the people we love. We are so lucky.

I love how the embossed brocade adds so much dimension and texture to my layout. I used the WOW Brocade stamp along with the Platinum Sparkle embossing powder.

Sometimes I think it is easy to get caught up in the little things like house work, making dinner, laundry, work, or other priorities in our life and I just want to stay focused on the important parts of my life. These moments might not always be the biggest but it is the ordinary moments that are truly extraordinary. Ali Edwards posted on her blog today about an interview with Alexander Payne on NPR. It really touched me, especially with how I have been feeling over the last few weeks.

I have been feeling a little overwhelmed and lost. It has been emotionally draining and change can be scary. However sometimes, change is necessary and we just have to move forward.

“Well, that’s what life is — this collection of extraordinarily ordinary moments,” Alexander Payne says. “We just need to pay attention to them all. Wake up and pay attention to how beautiful it all is…If you were falling in love and you could go back in time and relive a day and see the banal things you did that you’d forgotten about, you’d weep, looking at that day,” Payne says. “Somewhat dramatic things happen, and you don’t even always notice them — that’s what life is.”

I want to stop and take in these moments. I want to be present in my life and see how special the ordinary moments are. So take a moment today and just breathe in the goodness around you. Surround yourself with love and the people who matter in life.

Love this picture of Riley...

Earlier this month when Dad was here we took a trip out to Solvang, California. It was a cute Dutch community. While we were there, we stopped off at this park and I took this picture of Riley. I love how it turned out. It just captures who he is right now.

I made this layout for his album... I just can't believe how fast he is growing up. He will be nine in April and I just feel like he was a baby yesterday. 

I used the following products : Earthtone Olive Suzy West Collection, Primary Bark WOW, Bazzill Basics White Orange Peel Cardstock, Basic Grey Chipboard Block Alphas, Maya Road Wood Bingo Motifs, Kraft Scroll Frame Journaling Tags, and Prima Marketing Inc Flowers.

Chipboard letters embossed

Technique: I embossed each of the chipboard letters with Earthtone Olive and then restamped the letters with the Call Me stamp and embossed with Primary Bark. In addition, I embossed the Maya Road Woof Bingo Motif with Earthtone Olive. To help add color to the project I used packaging materials to stamp little circles on the left hand side. This pattern was embossed with Earthtone Olive. On top of the little circles I stamped with a Call Me stamp and embossed with Primary Bark embossing powder.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the WOW blog... check it out.

Project Life Week 4

Since I was out of town over the last few days at CHA I am catching up on last week. In previous weeks, I have really concentrated on the boys however this week was more about Cory and I. I think I will be adding a layout in of Chase's first day of school though. It is just kind of nice to change things up a bit every week.

Cory sent a few photos from Afghanistan over facebook and the boys were so excited to see him. It is hard to believe he will be home soon. It has just been such a long deployment, we just can't wait for him to get here. We are still waiting to find out where our next duty station will be. Cory was just notified that he has a graduate school billett, but now he has to apply somewhere. He has several options, so we may be here for the next few years or we may be moving this summer. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

So last Wednesday was Chase's first day of school. At first I was so nervous about him going, but he seemed to love it. He ran straight over to the paint and started painting. They also have a train set in his room and loves to play with that when I first drop him off in the mornings. I really think this program will help him adjust to being with other children and he will be seeing an occupational and speech therapist every week while he is there. We will continue seeing our private speech and occupational therapists every week just to keep promoting his development and growth.

I think part of me is just sad to see him growing up and already going to school. I don't think I was ready for it. I just wanted him to stay little a while longer.

This week was CHA. This is a semiannual conference where all of the manufacturers debut their new collections. It is a great time to catch up with friends in the industry and see all of the creativity. It was so inspiring!

I did get to spend some time with Teresa Collins on Thursday. It was great to catch up and hear what she has been doing lately. We had a great lunch over at Moonshadows in Malibu. The weather was great and I loved it!

I picked up Kendra Wiggins on Friday at the airport and we headed over to the show. Kendra has been an amazing friend and I can't say enough how wonderful she has been. She has really helped me cope with Cory being gone over these last few months. I don't know what I would have done with out her. I dont think there are many people out there who really care and aren't judgemental. They are just there for you to support you and help pull you up. Kendra thank you so much and I am so lucky you are my friend!

We also made a quick stop on Saturday over to Disneyland. We had a great time. We only rode a few rides but it was exciting. While I wish the lines were a little shorter it was fun just getting to talk to Kendra and enjoy the evening in the place where dreams come true! Thank you Matt and Rachel for the tickets. It really made the week special.

We ended up staying with Matt and Rachel for a few days and while they work crazy schedules it was nice to see them. I am happy for Matt that he found someone the he really loves and who loves him back just as much. We spent one night reflecting on our youth and it amazes me that here we are... 20 years later and we are starting families of our own. It is hard to believe Matt, but we really have grown up. I am proud of who we have become and who I know we will be.

Project Life - Week 3

So here we are, through another week. The boys and I had a busy week last week. Between work, Chase's doctor's appointments, keeping up with the house I was tuckered out. So a few times this week we went to dinner at the mall and played for an hour in the play area. It was nice because it gave me time to just rest and watch them play and it wore them out in time for bed. They loved it.

We spent a lot of time with Dylan, Jaden, and Katherine. It was great. They have turned into amazing friends. It has definately helped this deployment go faster. I hear Wills talk about Dylan and his eyes light up. Dylan is his first best friend. It is exciting watching them experience that type of friendship for the first time. I think best friends are important in life. They remind you that you are not alone and they bring out the best in you.

Chase also had a doctor's appointment at the Children's Hospital this week in LA. It was a crazy drive and it took us almost 3 hours to get there. I will not be scheduling a morning appointment again. I definately do not want to compete with rush hour traffic again. They have decided to increase his medications to help decrease the numbers of  seizures he has been having. If that doesn't work they have also given us a prescription for  clobazam. It was just approved by the FDA and hopefully this will help.

We finished up the week with a trip to Ventura Harbor. We walked the boardwalk and stopped to play at the playground by the pier. The boys loved it. We should do it more often.

Project Life - Week 2

I am so excited to share this project with you and I am hoping that I will be able to keep it up through out the year. I love the idea of capturing the every day moments and I am hoping to be able to share just a little bit of our daily lives with you.

Since we were out of town visiting my Dad through the first week, I haven't had a chance to catch up with week 1, but I plan to over the next few days.

This week my Dad was here with us and it was great. During the last month I feel like the boys have had an opportunity to really bond with him. He is just such an important part of my life and I want that for them. I want them to know that they have family outside of me and Cory and have a strong sense of family.

Most of the pictures from this week were from our trip to Solvang, CA. It was a great day trip however there were definitely a few "bumps" on the trip there. Dad and I took this shortcut and it turned out not to be very short at all. We went over this mountain pass and eventually the pavement ran out and it was just a washed out dirt road narrow enough for just one car to pass. We got to the top of the mountain and there was a sign that said, "Pass at your own risk. We are not responsible to property damage or personal injury from this point further." We kept on going and we winded down the path with huge dropoffs. Finally we made it to this little Dutch community and we have a great time. The boys loved seeing the windmills and looking in all of the toy window shops. We stopped for lunch and headed to the park. Definitely a fun trip and I am glad we went!

I also included a few photos that Cory has emailed home. The boys and I loved getting these. Chase would look at these forever and just keep saying Daddy and pointing at the screen. It was adorable. I know they miss him just as much as I do.

Since I didn't have a photo of me to include this week, I included two cards about my week and insight into my resolutions for the year.

I love this project by Becky Higgins... I just bought the new black signature binder and I am thinking that I may need another. I also just got the Clementine collection this week and it is amazing. My favorite part are the journaling tags. LOVE THEM!

 

Merry Christmas To Those Away From Home for the Holidays...

 I was reading through Becky Higgins blog and I am excited about the decision to create a project life album for 2012. I came across this video and it really touched my heart! As all of you know Cory has been in Afghanistan since July and is not expected back until March and he will miss the holidays. This is the first time since we have been married that he will not be home for Christmas. The boys and I miss him so much and they ask for him all the time.

I know that what we are experiencing is not unique... there are families everywhere missing their spouses, mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters. So I just wanted to share this video by Eric Raum, who is extremely talented and currently lives in Afghanistan working for the USO to help boost morale for our troops. 

For all those serving the nation and away for the holidays... thank you for all you do and everything that you sacrifice to serve our nation. We are so proud of you!

 

Family Photos - One of my Favorite Moments

One of my favorite moments (looking back - at the moment they are usually pretty stressful) when getting together during the holidays is family photos. We took the little ones over to a friend of my sister from high school, Joel Hall. He graciously offered to take our photos. 

So after about 45 minutes, about 70 photos and a few tears we were able to get a several family pictures.

Message from Santa

So today we stayed home with the boys and just adjusted to the time differences. Robin came over and we had dinner and we opened the messages from Santa to the boys. They loved it! It definitely made them feel so special since Santa knew exactly what they wanted and had pictures of them.

Santa reminded Riley to eat his vegetables and Wills to keep his room clean. He told Chase and Knox to be nice to their brothers. It was absolutely adorable how excited they were. Their eyes just lit up as they listened closely to what Santa had to say.

CJ also came over for a few hours and it was so nice to catch up with him. It definitely made me feel good to see my sister and CJ happy. The girls didn't leave his side the whole time he was here. You can definitely tell they are Daddy's Girls. So cute!

So since I am in Virginia Beach for the next few weeks, I will not be finishing up my December Daily until after I return home on January 6th. But in the meantime, we are taking lots of pictures and soaking up all of the holiday cheer! Christopher gets here tomorrow and we are heading out looking for a family Christmas tree... The boys can't wait!

December Daily - Day Three

Today was a pretty ordinary day. We worked on laundry and house cleaning most of the day with a short event out for dinner at Cheesecake Factory for dinner. However I wanted to concentrate on one of the advent calendars we are doing this year.

Journaling: I love advent calendars. We do several in December. This is an ACTION advent calendar. I love that it encourages the boys to think more about the spirit of Christmas. Each day prompts thinking about others, the gift of giving, and how little actions make a big difference in the world.

On the transparency sheet I included a list of all the prompts for the 25 days of December.

Here is a better view of each one.

Action Advent Calendar

1. Help Mommy pick out a Christmas tree. 2. Create a christmas ornament. 3. Cut snow flakes and send them to Daddy (he is currently deployed to Afghanistan and will miss the holidays). 4. Help Mommy make cookies. 5. Make a card for Grandma. 6. Make a special card for your teachers to say "Thank You". 7. Call Grandpa and tell him you love him. 8. Read a book to your little brothers. 9. Tell a friend at school how cool they are. 10. Make hot cocoa with marshmallows. 11. Draw a picture of our family in the snow. 12. Make a treat and bring it to a neighbor. 13. Make a list of 10 things you are thankful for and share them with Grandma. 14. Light a candle and say a prayer for Daddy. 15. Make a list for Santa. 16. Go see Santa. 17. Drive through the neighborhood and look at Christmas lights. 18. Make thank you notes to send out after Christmas. 19. Watch a Christmas movie with popcorn. 20. Go with Mommy to pick out a present for your brothers. 21. Send Daddy a Christmas card. 22. Sit by the fire and Mommy will read you a story. 23. Hang Christmas stockings. 24. Put out snacks for Santa and his reindeer. 25. Make Daddy a video wishing him a merry Christmas! 

Be merry and spread holiday cheer...