Phoenix Art Museum

Over spring break last month a friend and I decided to share a little culture and art with our kids by taking them to the Phoenix Art Museum. Fun tip: It's free admission every Wednesday from 3 - 9 pm and first Fridays from 6 - 10 pm.

One of our favorite pieces of art was Mass by Cornelia Parker. I loved that I captured a quick moment when three of the kids in our group were looking at this art piece.

It is a 3D piece where pieces of charred wood are hanging on strings from the ceiling. It has a really cool effect.

The kids were less than excited about going to the art museum, but once they were there, they all seemed to enjoy themselves. I thought that might happen.

Plus, afterwards, we checked out a new (to us) restaurant, Short Leash Hot Dogs, in downtown Phoenix for dinner. I am not normally a hot dog fan, but this place was pretty gourmet and delicious. I had the Sunny and definitely recommend it.

You + Me

Happy Friday! Hope your a looking forward to a fun filled weekend.

One of our current favorite things to do around here is to ride our bikes around the neighborhood. The nice weather is holding out and we are enjoying lots of sunshine without too much heat yet. So it's the perfect time to enjoy being outside!

I snapped a selfie style photo (although I've learned that a selfie only includes the person taking the photo, not more that one person! - what's a two person photo called?!?) while Hannah and I were riding bikes around the neighborhood. Here's a look at the photo on a layout.

The background was really fun to create. I used the Let's Go Scrapbook Circle digital cut file to create the cutouts. I then pull most of the pieces out, left a few in and flipped some over. 

I love that bike riding is something fun that I can do with my kids that we both enjoy. Sometimes it's not easy to take the time to spent quality time with my kids. 

This year, one of my goals is to connect with others in an intentional way and bike riding with my kids is one way I can connect with them.  Got to love that!

Spring Break 2014

Well, I haven't been busy writing here on my blog, but I have been busy keeping up with and enjoying life. We had a great spring break in March and I've documented the highlights here on this layout.

The girls and I stayed in town and our boys took a short weekend trip to Vegas to see a basketball tournament. So we had a lot of time to play and explore close to home most of the week.

We went to a spring training game (my first one!) to hear Audrey sing the National Anthem with 3 other girls from her choir. They did such a great job. Then we stayed to watch the game, eat some overpriced concessions and enjoyed some beautiful AZ spring weather.

The kids had an all day play time with friends, dentist visits, a trip to the Art Museum, a visit to the movies to see Frozen and ice skating. Such a fun week. We all enjoyed a break from the usual busy school routine.

All of the layout supplies came from the April Scrapbook Circle Kits. Have you been thinking about signing up for a subscription? Now could be the perfect time because SC is offering a free past kit with every new subscription starting with the April kit. You can find all of the details here.

Project Life 2014 >>> February Part 1

I'm continuing to fill a spread in my Project Life album every two weeks and I love the flexibility and time saved by not doing a spread a week.

Lacrosse Tournament /// Grandma's Sugar Cookies /// Gilbert Temple Open House /// Cross Country Banquet /// Babysitting Cousin Vincent

This spread has two insert pages which may seem like I ended up doing a lot more than just one spread, but really it just gave a space to share a few more photos plus a few Valentines.

Valentines /// Phoenix Suns Game /// Cross Country Meet /// Boy Scout Fundraiser

On a Run /// School Valentine Party /// More Suns Game

Success! Another two weeks documented. Love this project!

Playing Suspend

Last month Ward and I went out to dinner with another couple and then back to their house to check on our kids who were all hanging out at their house. We ended up staying and playing Suspend which is a cool balancing game with metal rods and some clever piece placement.  I love that this little moment in time was captured. 

The circle design on the base paper inspired how I used the paper on this page. I used a compass to trace circles to fit fit inside the pattern on the background paper. I love how it creates pops of color on the page!

We've had a very busy month around our place. We are doing a major backyard renovation including a new pool, patio and deck. I love watching the progress take place. The trigger for all of this work is the old pool turned cactus garden by our previous home owner. She had 18 holes drilled in the bottom of the pool so it would drain which also permanently damaged the pool.  Here's a look at the cactus garden pool...

Seriously, who would do this to a pool in Arizona!?!

Here's a look at what our yard looks like today...

The pool has been excavated and a new hole is in the same general location. The long cinderblock wall that divided our yard in half is now gone too and I love how our yard has opened up. Our deck has all new wood and we are working on the roof to the deck. Progress!

Love Vincent

Happy Saturday! Just wanted to stop in and share a layout I created with the just released Scrapbook Circle Portobello Road kit. I really loved playing with this mix of paper and embellishments.

This has two of my favorite Instagram photos from this year with Max and Hannah holding their sweet new nephew. He is such a sweet baby!

On this page I mixed a black and white photo with a color photo and mixed some fonts for the title. I'm loving this mix of products.

Want a look at the Portobello Road kit?  Can you spot the 5 exclusive Scrapbook Circle products?

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Here We Go

Almost a year ago my husband and I made a big decision to move to a new home about 30 minutes away from where we were living. This meant lots of changes for our family. New schools, new neighbors, new church congregation, etc. We have always felt good about our decision and haven't had any regrets. But still, I worried that the kids would have a hard time finding new friends and making the adjustment.

The photo in the layout captures why I feel so happy about our move. Here is Hannah last month riding her bike off to her friend's house just around the corner. I love that she is happy. I love that she loves the neighborhood. I love that she has friends nearby. I love that she is settled in with our move.

I must say that I love our new neighborhood too. There is a close sense of community and we know many of our neighbors. Just today I got a group text from a neighbor asking six of us in our neighborhood if we wanted to start a protein ball trade on Mondays. How cool is that? I'm thinking I'll try out this recipe for our first trade.

Feeling thankful that the move has been a success for everyone in our family.

Layout Supplies /// Portobello Road Kit /// New Goods Add-on /// Street Market Add-on