Project Life 2013: July 7-13

Today I have the first spread for Project Life 2013's Book #2.  Since I know I can't fit an entire year in one scrapbook, I like to divide up the year with the first six months in one album and the last six months of the year in another.  This year, because of how our 4th of July activities were, the first week of July is in the other book.  Volume 2 starts out with July 7 - July 13th.

The first half of the spread is about Brad's 36th birthday.  I included the card our kids worked on together in one pocket and a card featuring a technique called tatting, in another.  The bottom card is from Brad's mother, it's a blank card his late Grandma Emma Jane made by attaching pieces of flower like tatting to.  The actual tatting is by Brad's Great Grandma Lulu.  I thought it was a nice touch to include both since they are handmade.

The rest of the week is all on the right side of the spread.  At the top are pictures from the last summer speech group we went to.  Next to that are some of LB playing with a balloon he got at the grocery line check out.

In the middle and bottom left are photos from the performance that marked the end of a week of theater camp.  She went with a good friend and the girls ended up doing a duet together.  They were really cute and so brave, just seven and standing up to sing in front of an audience!

A picture from a friend's Chuck E. Cheese birthday party rounds out this quick to assemble week.  I hope you enjoyed seeing how I incorporate Project Life into my family's memory keeping.  I'm linking this up with The Mom Creative's weekly linky party, which is a great place to find more ideas and inspiration!  If you have any questions about the products or techniques used, please leave them in a comment and I'll be happy to reply! 

Sports Illustrated Kids’ SportsKid of the Year - Now Taking Nominations!

Disclosure: Our blog is participating in a sponsored blog ambassador program from Sports Illustrated Kids. As a part of this program, we have received paid compensation and a year subscription for placement of digital advertisements and specific postings related to SI Kids.

One of the reasons I think Sports Illustrated Kids is such a great publication is that not only do they provide quality content that inspires, encourages, and teaches...they also recognize outstanding kids too!

Right now they are looking for a special kid between the ages of 7 - 15, who exhibits strong sportsmanship through his or her accomplishments on the field, in their classrooms and in their communities.  They need your help; this is your opportunity to nominate your favorite kid athlete!  Simply go to the SportsKid of the Year page and fill out the form by October 7, 2013.

The winner of the 2013 "SKOTY" award will be featured on the cover of the December 2013 issue of Sports Illustrated Kids, receive a special SportsKid of the Year jacket, and a trip to New York City to accept their award at the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year ceremony.

Sounds pretty cool, doesn't it!   I love it when kids are celebrated for being shining examples and role models for their peers.  I think it encourages other kids and reinforces what a difference one person can make.  It's just awesome that SIKids is looking for kids to inspire us all and focus on the positive.

This year's SKOTY winners, brothers Conner and Cayden Long, made an especially big impact on me personally because like little brother Cayden, my younger brother also has cerebral palsy.  While my brother's is not as physically limiting, he has to wear leg braces and use two canes to walk and can't drive so my family knows how limiting a physical disability can be.

It was very heartwarming for me to see that Conner has found a way to overcome his brother's disabilities to compete with him in 14 races and with more to come!  I couldn't believe the determination and spirit both boys have and the amazing bonding this shared dream has helped them have.  It truly is a wonderful story!

To learn more about this inspirational family and the brothers, watch this video.  Hearing Conner talk about his brother, brought tears to my eyes.  Then go nominate your own SportsKid of the Year!

To subscribe to Sports Illustrated Kids, visit www.sikids.com/subscribe.

Project Life 2013: June 23-29 & June 30-July 4

Despite my best intentions, I didn't finish Part 3 of our vacation, because we were off enjoying our last week of summer vacation instead.  I don't feel too badly about neglecting PL in favor of a last minute beach trip and overnight stay with my parents.  Best to be out living life!

Big events and trips often tend to take me longer to finish adding to Project Life.  While I've been working on that here and there, I have still been moving forward with the weeks so I still have three spreads from my book to share. 

Here is June 23-29.  This was the week my husband Brad was away on a business trip to NYC.  I am planning on doing a spread with pictures from his trip but haven't had time to sit down with him and figure out what all his pictures are of.  That will be coming soon.

On the left half I have pictures from our week at home without Daddy.  The top photo is a picture has my daughter and her neighbor friend in their bathing suits, enjoying the slip n' slide.  I thought it would be best to just leave that one out when sharing. 

Next to that at the top are two pictures showing how my son's new thing is pulling off the couch cushions.  I forgot to use the left one of him and his sister from earlier in the month on a previous spread.  When I took the one of him with the tan cushions it seemed like the perfect opportunity to still include a picture I'd overlooked before.

The middle row has a cool cell phone pic I took of E after we got caught in a downpour.  I love the look of sheer delight on her face.  The page is rounded out with a collage of photos from the Kids in the Kitchen class E took and the pizza cones we made from a fund raising kit.

While Brad was gone, my mom came out to help me a bit and spend the night.  We got up and surprised the kids with a trip to our local bakery for donuts and a trip to the park.  The second half has pictures from this outing. 

{June 30 - July 4}

The week is really through the 6th but since I always take a ton of pictures on the Fourth of July, I knew I'd be ending the week to fit in a spread just on our celebration.

Even though this was an abbreviated week I still had two inserts.  The first one, seen above is of a family picnic we had with my mom's family.  Underneath it is the birth certificate E got when she went to Build A Bear with Grandma Norma for an early birthday present.

I was part of a blog promotion for the Disney Channel movie, Teen Beach Movie and we got a lot of cool supplies to use for a family movie night.  The kids loved getting to eat on towels in the family room and I thought the little photo props were so cute on the kids. 

The right side covers July 2-4.  Most of the pictures on this side are of a trip to a local kid's play center made to look like downtown Detroit - complete with the classic white and blue Motown building.  It was neat and perfect for the little guy.  After we went there, E went with Grandma Norma for a few days at her house.  The collage on the bottom right is about that visit.

We picked E up from Brad's mother's house on July 4th and I included some pictures from her house on the back of the insert.

{4th of July}

After getting E we all continued on to my friend Margaret's house where we had some fun festive food and the girls got to set of pop 'ems and do sparklers.  It was E's first time doing sparklers and she was very excited.

I still need to fill in a few details on the journaling card.  I just love how all the red, white, and blue all came together for this patriotic page spread! 

Thanks for coming by to see how my Project Life album is progressing.  If you have any questions about the supplies I used, please leave them in the comment section.

Linking up to The Mom Creative.