Soccer and Reading and Mommy School... Oh My!

The last week has been busy. The kids went to a soccer game with their uncle, his girlfriend and Daddy: Liga vs Independiente (?) I can't remember. Anyhow, it was at Atahualpa stadium. It was Nico's first time at a game and I was promised photos would be in my inbox that very same day, but so far...no such luck!

Daddy bought the kids Liga jerseys and they have been wearing them (almost) every day with pride! Nico especially is into his Liga shirt.

Inspired by the game, there has been a renewed interest in soccer every afternoon. Needless to say, there have been a lot of soccer games played in our back yard this week. But for some reason, they always end in tears (You cheated! You lost! I fell and scrapped my knee/check/head/elbow! You hit the ball at my face! That was a foul! Was not! Well, by now you get the picture...)

Nico received a book in the mail from his grandma in MN this week as well, and we have been reading it every night religiously. It is about a girl who has a magic finger and curses a family that likes to hunt. The hunters turn into the hunted, but no worries - in the end it all works out and the hunters repent. :)

Agus has also been into reading a lot lately. Some for school (not seen as so fun usually) and some on his own. Favorites are the Lego magazines, anything science (What Makes me Blink? is big right now) and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He also went shopping for a School from the Black Lagoon book recently and has been reading that. I love to see him just pick up a book and relax...

The kids had last Thursday off due to some political protesting scheduled in the city, so I stayed home with them and got some work done from home. Or meant too. What started as a work day quickly turned into a ... work day! Only this time it was "Mommy school" and Mommy had to play teacher all day long.

We created artwork and turned the fridge into a bird sanctuary,

Nico's birds - drying

mixed time capsules of baking soda with warm water and vinegar in a bag and created mini explosions, then made paper volcanoes and located volcanoes in Ecuador on the map, did some silent reading, practiced our handwriting, had math class, had phy ed (yep, you guessed it - soccer!) and learned how to sweep. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the day, but the kids liked it so much they have requested it continually since then! I am running out of excuses... :)

The volcanoes

Love. Love. LOVE.

Oh heavens to Betsy! Today I had to leave the house to get a passport picture taken (which the girl decided to photoshop - she didn't like my hair and gave me a whole new 'do, no lie! - and I was like, ummmm, you probably aren't supposed to photoshop a passport picture, but well, whatever) and the photo studio was next to my lovely yarn store. Couldn't go by without passing through, and couldn't pass through without spending the twenty that was burning a hole in my pocket.

I am beginning to see the love people have for yarn. Oh yarn! The lady gave me a tour of all the new yarns that had come in, and then I was set loose to look around (and they let me touch them!) and to keep saying, "Wait, just one more," when the lady asked me if that would be all.

So here is the stash I came home with, but oh in my mind I bought so much more.

Next month, next month.

Did you notice that I found a lovely use for both of my thirty-one bags? Yes, pure organizational happiness every time I reach in there to grab something.

Homework to Hell (You know the tune, just switch the words!)

In that last post I tried to do an italics thing-y à la Ali Edwards, but I'm not so sure it worked for me. I probably won't be trying that again.

:)

Anyhoo, even though I had this week off, I have felt like all we've done all week is homework, and it's only Wednesday! Argggghhh. I am having a Charlie Brown moment!

ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!

Ok, now that that is out of my system, here are a few shots of those infamous homework moments from the week.

Luckily, Agustín really does enjoy his homework, for the most part. This week he got to locate coordinates on a Cartesian plane (now wasn't that from like 7th grade Advanced Algebra?! Sheesh!!!); sew a squirrel; do English assignments involving cutting from a magazine (NOT printing from the Internet mind you - teacher's orders!) pictures like hippos and giraffes (not so hard) and other expressions like "taking a shower" & "getting dressed" (hard! No magazine in its right mind would be publishing those kinds of pictures!); and lots and lots of workbook and notebook stuff. Wow. I'm tired just thinking of it, and as I already said: it's only Wednesday!

And, to top it all off, whatever big brother does, little brother must also do.

I don't know, it's like some kind of Jedi/Lego Hero Factory code or something.

No wonder I found myself staring at our bedspread this morning, itching to color in the lines.

PS. Yes, I know that the previous picture is not rotated. It is a Blogger issue that has been pestering me for years - the last picture imported to my computer will never show up rotated on Blogger. We'll come back to it and fix it, no worries. I hope it doesn't bother you as much as it bothers me. :)

Project Life has started!

Last week I started Project Life, and yesterday completed my second week. I am such a fan of December Daily, that I knew I would love the idea of Project Life. So I bought a core kit (Turquoise) and a variety pack of paper protectors (currently unavailable) and figured I'd start with the new year. The new year started on a Sunday, which was just very super convenient, also!

My title page

I absolutely LOVE this project. The days you want to, you can play, but the other days you can just grab your photos, jot down a few words and stick them in the pockets on the protectors and you're done. No messing around, worrying where things should go or how they should be, just words and stories on my perspective of my family at this moment in time - 2012.

Week one

Already I can't stop going back and looking at my pages, already I am reminiscing about the things we did and the things the kids said, already I am anticipating next Sunday when I can sit down and put together this week... Honestly, that is the biggest problem and only complaint I have about this project - I already feel like I'm wishing my life away, and it goes together so quick that I am craving more the next day!

I guess that's not a bad thing.

Other thoughts as I embark on this amazing (creative) journey through 2012:

• I wish everyone were doing this.
• I am embarrassed to keep saying it's so easy, it's so fabulous (but it is).
• I can't think as to why I haven't ever done this before.
• I love my life.

Week two

I was really worried about spending $50 (plus the cost of the album, which I got on sale at Michael's but which has already come apart at one end...) but now I am thinking that that is very cheap for a year full of memories.

I hope I am not eating my words by the end of this year. I really think I can keep this up. And, well, if I can't, I will still have product for 2013. :)

Oh! And I just have to mention that my sister Amy let me take her compact HP photo printer back with me to Ecuador and I. love. it. Makes for a super easy scrapping experience. :) (happy dance!)

Happy Dance

Thank you again for your order from the Scrapbook.com Superstore. We wanted to let you know that your order was shipped today.

Oh happy happy happy!!!!!

I cannot wait to look at (and play with) my goodies.

Project Life will be starting soon and SO super excited.

December Daily is all caught up and I have found a bit of a groove. Going all out this year and printing the photos at home, regardless of price and quality of photo paper. Getting the stories down as they happen is invigorating and makes the project that much more fun.

Love.

December Daily 2011

December has started, and it is also the start of my December Daily album. I have been so excited to start this year, although I feel like I didn't get the base pages finished until just a few days ago (I normally have that part ready to go at least a month ahead of time). It has been getting harder to figure out how to get the pictures developed, as the Kodak place that used to be right up the street has moved to the mall, but I will be trying to use my computer to print out photos a little more. I didn't really like doing the photos each week last year, and proof of that is that it my 2010 album didn't get finished until October 2011... I like having the photo in hand before I figure out what to do with the page.


I won't have access to Internet or my printer for the next few days, and I am not sure I will be able to print photos until next Wednesday. I do worry that will set me back right at the beginning of this project, but I still look forward to it. I plan to just do more journaling those days to compensate.

So, here are the base pages, before anything is put on them. I am following along with Ali Edwards's basic design (pages separated by strips of transparency or photo pockets) and super excited how this will look at the end...!

My cover. I tried to do something more on the lines of Ali Edwards, with flocking and embossing and white on white, but the paper and paints I was using didn't let the flocking and powder set, and so finally I said to myself, no, keep it simple. And that will be my mantra this holiday season. Keep it simple. So white stickers on white paper and a splash of color - red ribbon with blue snowflake. The inside is painted cream and topped with a Christmas-y "tag".

Now for the the inside pages. Remember, there is a photo page protector thing-y or transparency (in some cases vellum) between each daily spread. The first one started with a photo pocket page, but I just put in some fun embellies, no photos here yet. I apologize for the glare. Had a hard time getting the colors and lighting just right - darn low energy lights! - and was doing this at midnight last night.

Here you can see how the vellum is just separating the first page from the pocket protector.

Page 2, two page spread:

Page three. Love this lace cardstock (it was orange on the other side, painted over it in cream and it turned out a little pinkish.)

Page four.

Page five.

Page six.

Page seven. Loved making my own overlays with bits of stickers and rub-ons...

Page eight - pockets that will be filled in that day with pics, journaling, or other odds and ends. Excited to try this this year. Found some business card holders and just cut them up. Super cheap -like 20 cents each!

Page nine.

Page ten.


Page eleven.



Page twelve.




Page thirteen.

Page fourteen.

Got a shot of the other side of page fourteen.

Page fifteen.

More pockets to fill in!

Page sixteen.

Page seventeen.

Page eighteen.

Page nineteen.



Page twenty.


Page twenty-one.

Page twenty-two.

Page twenty-three.

Page twenty-four.

Page twenty-five.

So, that's it! Can't wait to fill it up.

(As I go to hit publish, I am a little nervous. I am having major formatting issues with Blogger. It keeps putting 20-30 extra lines between paragraphs and pictures. Crossing my fingers the post shows up ok...)

Looking back at last year's post, I just realized that I had solved the lighting issue by using my scanner. Silly me!