a little bit of me.

{Friday Phone Favorites} xTWO

x two tonight.  :)

Since i missed posting this last week - here's the recap of what my phone captured two weeks ago...

1. First time in the pool since last fall.  2. What spring break SHOULD look like.  3. Finding the afikoman hidden outside on the first night of passover.  4. "happy cracker day" says Evan.  5. What spring break actually looked like for us.  :(  6. bathtime.  7. Ready to watch the sweet 16!  8. Bubbles!  9. Ev's favorite part of Build a Bear.  10. Muffin tin lunch - the spring break PEEPS edition!

...and then on to this past week.

1. Flowers to replant my planters.  2. Carrots and a sweet note left for the Easter Bunny.  3. Easter Morning Baskets.  4. Ready to egg-hunt.  5. The "take".  6. Easter Brunch Beachside.  7. Easter night back at the beach.  8. Howdy Partner there's a snake in my boots!  9. "Play Play-dohs!"  10. Lego Lego Lego time.  11. Teeball game night and our matching style!  12. Fridge shopping after out freezer died.  13. Kindy car-line for pickup.  14. Rainy Day umbrella fun.

:)) Happy Weekend!

{the start...}

...of a new project.  finally.  :)

The Start - the pulling and selecting and matching and pairing of fabrics has always been one of my very favorite parts of quilting.

AND then the browsing of blogs and pinterest and flickr while choosing JUST the RIGHT pattern to show off those fabrics, while hopefully also still giving me a bit of a challenge in order to keep my interest while piecing and placing fabrics...

Well... I just miss it.  And that's how I knew it was time for a new project.

I started by wading into my long-ago abandoned "office & craft room" (it has since become merely a dumping ground for tupperwear storage bins full of outgrown little boys clothes and the occasional box of photography packing supplies) -- and then digging my way into the closet to pull out all of the fabric bins that I'd crammed in there almost 3 years ago.

This little stack of pretty aquas and cobalts and greys is what first emerged.

And then I added in some greens...

....But now I'm thinking less green - and more summer ocean hues - might be the perfect way to go.

And I broke out my KONA Cotton swatch book (my favorite solids!) to start pairing colors to go with this assortment of prints...

...I think Candy Green (it seems like the perfect aqua!) is a must!

I can't wait to see where this heads - & I'll be sure to share more of this project here.

:)

{SC's April Kit: Spencer's Revealed}

Studio Calico's April Kit - Spencer's - is now live!

I worked with the Main kit - Spencer's - this month, along with Addon #1 Front Porch Blend, and Addon #2 Daily Grind, and the Card Kit and Project Life Kit.

This is what I made...

"KEFF" - Created entirely with the main kit Spencer's - I wanted to use the alpha print SC paper to document Noah's cute little name he made up for the letters that he's not quite sure of >> "keff".  We kinda love it.  ;)  I took this pic especially to fit the page after i had the design in mind.

"Hello Hits" - I blogged these photos a few weeks back.  Evan's been a hit machine this season and i thought it deserved a page.  I wanted the large photo that I snapped through the gate to be the focus.  :)

"You" - Noah is ALWAYS attempting to make us laugh, or do something silly >> like he was in these pics of our favorite play glasses.  I used one of the project life kit cards as part of the title here.  The photos are printed as 3x4's - 2up on a 4x6 print.

:)

{There's Easter in the Air}

Easter has officially started at our house, with preschool and Kindy parties happening this past week...  & I wanted to share a bit of it here.  :)

This year I updated a little Easter treat that I first made (and blogged!) a couple of years ago...

Updated "Cracker Carrots":

...this was never my original idea, I just saw someone else do it (through pinterest i'm sure) with goldfish (which I first used two years ago) and then updated to Noah's beloved Cheddar Bunnies this year (THEY ARE SO GOOD! #getinmybelly)...

These little guys are so simple to make and beyond cute.

I bought the cone shaped cello bags at Hobby Lobby this year.  These bags would easily work just as well - or these!

You can put as much or as little as you like in them - and then tie with any type of green ribbon, trim, twine, or rick-rack that you have.

*******

I also assembled some last minute decor for Ev's class party with leftover decorative Queen & Co paper straws and PEEPS!!!  :)

Mason Jars (taken from my stash/mantle) + jelly beans as filler to hold + peeps stuck on straws (tip: trim a few straws down for varying height!) = instant Easter decor.  EASY PEASY.  (that's as much as i can handle these days!)

*******

And now that the parties have wrapped, along with Evan's third year sporting the same - yet updated yearly! - Easter hat for the school Easter parade...

...we are officially on Spring Break.  and i love that.

here's to hopefully at least one sunny & warm beach day next week and a break from the chilly weather!

{Friday Phone Favorites}

actually on friday this week.  :)

1. Noah's mad coloring skillz while out to dinner on Sunday night.  2. Mid-week train playing and minimal figting & bossing. :)  3. N's handprint Easter artwork.  4. New Organic Bloom frames that just arrived.  5. N's school Easter party.  6. Easter Egg cookies I picked up (that were DELISH) for N's party.  7. One of my favorite instagrams this week (from Margie) - i screenshotted it and so it came up in my photo roll for the week.  8. E's class Easter party!  (it was party week!!!)

Happy Weekend!

{Friday Phone Favorites}

thinking i should maybe change the title of this to Sunday phone favorites...?!  ;)

here we go.

...1. Ev's first teeball game of the spring season (he was 2 for 2, no tee needed!).  2.  Our neighbor's flowers!  ;)  3. My return to the gym.  4. Date-Night.  5. Out to dinner with friends and trying to get Vijay Singh (seated at table behind us) to photobomb a pic!  6. The best bread pudding known to man (#andidontevenlikebreadpudding) part 1 - white chocolate & cherries.  7. Mid-week drawing.  8. Grandparents day at school & Chapel.  9. My new favorite resto.  10. Hello Fried Green Tomatoes.  11. The best bread pudding known to man part TWO (this week!) - white chocolate & cranberries.  12. Gramma's Birthday celebration.  13. Cutie Noah.  14. N showing me his rainbow made of fruit loops at school pick up on friday.

:))

{spring teeball}

documenting...

...the start of a new season of teeball...

...and lots of evenings to be spent at the field...

...and a little boy who's come SO far since this time last year.  We are so proud of him.  :)

(...If you look close you can see the ball from his first hit of the evening in the upper left corner of this pic -- he was 3/3 with no tee needed!)

I've decided that the start of teeball games means that it's officially spring.

:)

all photos taken with my canon 5D Mark ii and canon 50mm1.2L

{Friday Phone Favorites}

on Sunday... oops.  ;)  here we go!

...1. UF mascots on campus.  2. Our own rowdy reptile cheering section!  3. Evan's first Gator Basketball game.  4. Noah and my dad.  5. Mid-week McD's drivethru for a diet coke (me) & Cookies (boys).  6. What N looks like after eating a chocolate chip cookie on his own in the car.  ;)  7. Look Momma, It's a hat!  8. "Hungry-Potomas" Playing.  9. Antique Market Morning Me.  10. Sunset on the beach Friday night.

{Project Life: Weeks 4, 5 & 6}

I'm officially caught up through week 8, just need to blog 'em.  So here we go - Weeks 4, 5, & 6 all at once...

WEEK 4 was Evan's half birthday...

...and lots of just everyday stuff.  Everything on this page (below) is a phone pic, other than the bottom left shot of noah in the bin.  :)  I'm getting better at incorporating those into my week.

...

I used a 5x7 Vertical protector to include a shot from Ev's 5 and a half pics, and added lots of text about what he's like at five and a half.

...the backside of the 5x7 Vertical protector is a cute little handprnt art piece that Noah brought home that week.  And there's also a second insert - a Design H insert that I cut down for more 5 and a half pics. 

...

A Design F page protector was perfect for including lots of shots from Ev's half birthday celebration (we do the "half" at school since he has a summer bday).

WEEK 5 was Noah's ENT surgery and potty training!

Again lots of phone pics here from the surgery day...

I included his hospital bracelet on one of the "For the Record" cards from the Seafoam Edition Core Kit.

The first insert is a 6x12 Protector that I cut down - the packaging from N's mickey undies fit perfectly.  And another Design H insert cut down as a second insert (there were too many shots that I wanted included this week!).

...backside of the cut down Design H insert.

And the Right side of Week 5.

WEEK 6 was super simple.  Wanted to keep it that way after the previous two weeks of multiple inserts.  ;)

Two Design A page protectors.  Easy-Peasy.  And that's ok.

I don't think I even really got the camera out much this week - other than snapping a few shots of the boys while they were being silly and taking it along to the beach - so I just made do with what I had and added in phone pics and an instagram/tweet that I loved.

Oh!  and Evan's first loose tooth.  THAT WAS A HUGE DEAL that week.  Bottom right photo documents it - I made his take a few snaps with me once we discovered it!

Products Used on Weeks 4, 5, & 6:

 

InLinkz.com

{Friday Phone Favorites}

Here we go again.  I'm loving that posting these is prompting me to get the pics OFF my phone in a timely manner - and I even ended up using five pics from my phone for last week's PL spread (out of 12 total photos for the week).  >> I'm officially caught up on project life - just need to find some time to photo and blog it to share here!

...1. A walk on the beach before dinner last Sat night (I'm trying to include more of Eric and I in the PL album!).  2. Sandy path.  3. Lunch this week 2x: strawberries, avocado, cucumber, & gorgonzola.  4. Eric was in shock when i ordered a beer (I'm such a wine person!).  5. Beach football.  6 Toby turns 11.  7. Noah's cute alphabet flashcards - I love that he calls this one "hungry-potomas".  8. Trophy day on the last day of the winter YMCA Bball league.  9. Sushi lunchdate.  10. Noah rocking HIMSELF to sleep one night this week when it took me too long to get there.  :)  11. Time out for hitting Evan.  I think I was texting this one to the hubs!  12. The birdfeeder N made at school this week.  I'm pretty sure a racoon stole it off our tree last night...  oops.  13. My coffee combo.  14. Blooms in our backyard (SO early this year).

:)