tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-93165902024-03-07T14:52:20.342-08:00it's not a phone callBen S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.comBlogger1285125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-30936169856610096422013-06-25T11:26:00.003-07:002013-06-25T11:26:27.606-07:00week 17<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-KzU_P9iXmrbGPkEvDOrKNOjtuuAfZ975KpO7fyrPEdkhWJkH7pCBsUBwLwGPOFYd45EOHSGM9HnC0WApXK7ES7QK9Z4sNreHFhRb6dEO78mTrwRZ6ZvKEXvTojX2s79Q74is/s1600/IMG_5049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-KzU_P9iXmrbGPkEvDOrKNOjtuuAfZ975KpO7fyrPEdkhWJkH7pCBsUBwLwGPOFYd45EOHSGM9HnC0WApXK7ES7QK9Z4sNreHFhRb6dEO78mTrwRZ6ZvKEXvTojX2s79Q74is/s320/IMG_5049.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the colours within the first half of the week's photos have a lots of orange/red and i think i should have probably gone with different paper colours...but the second half looks great! you just can't see it behind my 3 vertical insert!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8ZuE49S6ht7T5zzqf-ZJ9O062URZ896EIi6wAEhYHxYuDMk1wqUrUCiGWBPyKJ9c3JDm0xWRqPKRHPLmp4AZMUegQxEQIvaWL5ZSOBRJ9TMQUXZ2woQ_aVCdvZvJYNT7uRVf/s1600/IMG_5051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8ZuE49S6ht7T5zzqf-ZJ9O062URZ896EIi6wAEhYHxYuDMk1wqUrUCiGWBPyKJ9c3JDm0xWRqPKRHPLmp4AZMUegQxEQIvaWL5ZSOBRJ9TMQUXZ2woQ_aVCdvZvJYNT7uRVf/s320/IMG_5051.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6pbYHryOVAaMcywehj1ass5owWk7QlYzrWcjZ-FStkXYWgLRrcfqAScgt1-rLVtkdrwu4VKt9Ob78vj-oiHmf4qQYWq7VdAft5l1w2RT7xDuawJKkuC3Y1uN_iGW1o9btmTLr/s1600/IMG_5052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6pbYHryOVAaMcywehj1ass5owWk7QlYzrWcjZ-FStkXYWgLRrcfqAScgt1-rLVtkdrwu4VKt9Ob78vj-oiHmf4qQYWq7VdAft5l1w2RT7xDuawJKkuC3Y1uN_iGW1o9btmTLr/s320/IMG_5052.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i had way too many pictures for the second half of the week so i wanted to have an insert but that meant finding something to put in the front half! i was trying to get some red/orange/blue tie in with the paper insert. but definitely sparse.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZGOFcdW7ON7k_owBDHVtj87tIErxG9H_Qg4i0goZk4qqSEQ6PlaFZIZBF5PdBNlPyNs_iDtsXEQwQkgD12egVDXruZ5j4KorO0b_0SFApSOqeK0XWfDxPh-a_hgaSQi15L2N9/s1600/IMG_5053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZGOFcdW7ON7k_owBDHVtj87tIErxG9H_Qg4i0goZk4qqSEQ6PlaFZIZBF5PdBNlPyNs_iDtsXEQwQkgD12egVDXruZ5j4KorO0b_0SFApSOqeK0XWfDxPh-a_hgaSQi15L2N9/s320/IMG_5053.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">doesn't the second half look better with blue? :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQI4KTe93kTHnfffjpHQCB9_xGPs_xSS1RsKBgSv343EEO4WjJsK8S52qll457VJVsQnyrInJNbd6wtSDThs-6vH2BwJ8wndWaVZjoRIloy_3Ym1CxXRZvV6jB5NfWEnIlu-IQ/s1600/IMG_5054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQI4KTe93kTHnfffjpHQCB9_xGPs_xSS1RsKBgSv343EEO4WjJsK8S52qll457VJVsQnyrInJNbd6wtSDThs-6vH2BwJ8wndWaVZjoRIloy_3Ym1CxXRZvV6jB5NfWEnIlu-IQ/s320/IMG_5054.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">back of the insert.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiig7G6Jy_BA__g5kZ3hmy7uaYxhso16vg9kVgwXTiM34Z6Gz5PgwP5EkhsIikPmyaurRrr4s3CGczGB6WJwWkYpQvMOXGpqC-yGj21sVXEpwtfxmqxGmbV2RNtMHjjeDQeyj3y/s1600/IMG_5055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiig7G6Jy_BA__g5kZ3hmy7uaYxhso16vg9kVgwXTiM34Z6Gz5PgwP5EkhsIikPmyaurRrr4s3CGczGB6WJwWkYpQvMOXGpqC-yGj21sVXEpwtfxmqxGmbV2RNtMHjjeDQeyj3y/s320/IMG_5055.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i am always wanting to add captions to every photo in my PL but really, i need to remember that sometimes they can speak for themselves. no captions on most of these beach pics. it was a fun afternoon. </td></tr>
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Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-22447325633469689512013-06-25T09:55:00.000-07:002013-06-25T09:55:37.217-07:00week 16<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCjHtKLJ2He5l8uQ5f5GViZGHiJvN8UF1GvhphIXP8x70qDPAAevGHurowV9f5rIPzShc1I_minsVDWTew819FXYUGoL2f1OzRD4-RC2gnIVE0kyYghqIIRc8Zxqt2U9Za62hv/s1600/IMG_5045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCjHtKLJ2He5l8uQ5f5GViZGHiJvN8UF1GvhphIXP8x70qDPAAevGHurowV9f5rIPzShc1I_minsVDWTew819FXYUGoL2f1OzRD4-RC2gnIVE0kyYghqIIRc8Zxqt2U9Za62hv/s320/IMG_5045.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this page layout really did not turn out great but sometimes you've just gotta leave it and move on. the gray and turquoise didn't jazz together or something. and then i wrote that huge journal card in red ink which doesn't work that well. oh well. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLqgUU7JV0Dn2tuWy6BKW0RkEa8EzrA0cb_ERy1oBH72AvDE2ZrxQHTt99kIUW2qwzND38_cra_-HZsVmw0ZTvdzTr4xe_bhWZYX9FRGC2XEVWrVtnzLKB5UfvXBy64ks_5wTL/s1600/IMG_5046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLqgUU7JV0Dn2tuWy6BKW0RkEa8EzrA0cb_ERy1oBH72AvDE2ZrxQHTt99kIUW2qwzND38_cra_-HZsVmw0ZTvdzTr4xe_bhWZYX9FRGC2XEVWrVtnzLKB5UfvXBy64ks_5wTL/s320/IMG_5046.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i got caught up on this project called Worldwide Culture Swap - i signed up to send a package to 4 others about Canada and they would send me a package about their country. i put way too much work into it, it was so expensive overall (shipping to autralia and france?) and i was disappointed with the packages that we received. oh well. now i know!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyKdgRcRuhnGLLbP1X_NIiP__FMvKXRW2uBzkU-TWhqmSGN3S3WqCLNpQ1yww8DNtGTJ5PE49Rs8gf64H75nXPmTPjFBkkmUQVnyf-lbJpY9wJrlbKZEMB3u5bJQriEWM06sGS/s1600/IMG_5047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyKdgRcRuhnGLLbP1X_NIiP__FMvKXRW2uBzkU-TWhqmSGN3S3WqCLNpQ1yww8DNtGTJ5PE49Rs8gf64H75nXPmTPjFBkkmUQVnyf-lbJpY9wJrlbKZEMB3u5bJQriEWM06sGS/s320/IMG_5047.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and just when i thought i'd printed all the instagrams that i needed - i hadn't. so a yellow sticky holds it's place for the next printing. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi55-wmTjNyQZYLy7DrXj-MDZ29jxvFcUP4u4FyDC0tgC3opTxEOZKOsH3HGPsLsl9Fa1a_LRDwsqndvc-wWMW0Ee1VTuyrJ3E0djUpzfrXaoQWFHft3nwl9RNjwr7kQvFfMNN4/s1600/IMG_5048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi55-wmTjNyQZYLy7DrXj-MDZ29jxvFcUP4u4FyDC0tgC3opTxEOZKOsH3HGPsLsl9Fa1a_LRDwsqndvc-wWMW0Ee1VTuyrJ3E0djUpzfrXaoQWFHft3nwl9RNjwr7kQvFfMNN4/s320/IMG_5048.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i still have plans to journal on that half gray circle but this pic is to show that i have an extra pic behind the front one with a tab that says "pull" so that i could include a bonus photo. i like having that option.</td></tr>
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<br />Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-5731334994921121812013-06-25T09:46:00.002-07:002013-06-25T09:46:38.760-07:00week 15so i'm quite behind in posting my PL pages and i'm quite behind in CREATING my pages. shoot. the busy time of report cards arrived in May and i lost my PL making mojo. <br />
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the good news - i printed a bunch of instagrams to finally finish off some pages that have been finished for a long time but simply waiting for the final pics. let's start there. <br />
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i bought a pack of jade card off of someone online and started using them this week and they are prominent in my pages for the next while. they're such great colours and i love the font and quote cards. i remembered how much easier it is to PL with kit cards so while my pages are simpler, they were faster. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRX155rzdlh2W1uEXrXzDMHWyNZ7yc4vPUhROIIUu2nrpBjZ4QaCffZPsxMun36dX0PDeAmjDMfuem7wgQYCwzCbLoNk1zSuWRqfKOaDU7xIRbtFsLWRiYSjicYxEQZS-Ia-qI/s1600/IMG_5041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRX155rzdlh2W1uEXrXzDMHWyNZ7yc4vPUhROIIUu2nrpBjZ4QaCffZPsxMun36dX0PDeAmjDMfuem7wgQYCwzCbLoNk1zSuWRqfKOaDU7xIRbtFsLWRiYSjicYxEQZS-Ia-qI/s320/IMG_5041.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">again - haven't quite figured out how to take a good photo of my pages. remember to click to make a bit larger.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1hVVdToni23hhDhBCaRnAmbcS5MjTE-vil7IUXuMDzNid_7ncTeUd8UGMuS6PQajDqCDLS-2YlI8x3P3CYEPLljtoW1RUkhyhs6Y4LVdySSCwj4laLkZTh5NiwcLnK70Uqqoa/s1600/IMG_5042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1hVVdToni23hhDhBCaRnAmbcS5MjTE-vil7IUXuMDzNid_7ncTeUd8UGMuS6PQajDqCDLS-2YlI8x3P3CYEPLljtoW1RUkhyhs6Y4LVdySSCwj4laLkZTh5NiwcLnK70Uqqoa/s320/IMG_5042.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i'd planned on journaling the TERRIBLE day that we had this week beside the pic of the kids holding hands but decided i'd rather not remember so i just used that great handwriting card. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaz3VSgLtcl3lwTRK58gdIlXohGfV05sYfKKV_DciFGrWa2JepxkzjhKRGhwH2I9QTgHIi5v_gf2oyE0xDs6GfviKThjGuxEyjLURc3LKDhju1PoGmU49KENHGY_MhLEPYgVy/s1600/IMG_5044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaz3VSgLtcl3lwTRK58gdIlXohGfV05sYfKKV_DciFGrWa2JepxkzjhKRGhwH2I9QTgHIi5v_gf2oyE0xDs6GfviKThjGuxEyjLURc3LKDhju1PoGmU49KENHGY_MhLEPYgVy/s320/IMG_5044.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">here's a close up of ben's clothing changes in one day - TEN different outfits! hilarious. i'll be glad that i documented this.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3thZu9ISHBVagVcNnTGQ04_u6jH8Pq6Nd_nRTzjKjCY4_JdBwy4CtZisADrTUHUI5-Jl62QTzG1eOpwI3iDb27hfbVBTCSMHZ6j5WdoG-v9bGXMG1qO2xm139VgUut5YZTn2/s1600/IMG_5043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3thZu9ISHBVagVcNnTGQ04_u6jH8Pq6Nd_nRTzjKjCY4_JdBwy4CtZisADrTUHUI5-Jl62QTzG1eOpwI3iDb27hfbVBTCSMHZ6j5WdoG-v9bGXMG1qO2xm139VgUut5YZTn2/s320/IMG_5043.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">top left : can't forget to take pictures of the grumpy days, right? i printed a couple pics off tim's phone from hockey to include. a good reminder to incorporate his stuff as well even though i'm not there. </td></tr>
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Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-7093274480649203372013-06-10T08:11:00.003-07:002013-06-10T08:11:47.755-07:00blue skies and ice cream<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
this visit to Birchwood Dairy (for the most expensive ice cream in Abbotsford!) was a mommy response to a busy work week of babysitters. i got home after another day of meetings and drove out to the dairy on a hot afternoon. </div>
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<i>an aside: my camera is on a weird setting where the pics are extra wide...i haven't taken the time to figure out how to change this yet...</i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPHx0VsoJkhUfazSnx8VWVmTwbO4Jp6UqvqdLiCHrflPPuj59ILPad9o2bKJfX8c6R5LXNkMvMdheEPTtEqXXkiGXTwf7gmbmKIIiU7dP8bAUjVUw0lnZoAl5mVzJFnSMWYjiv/s1600/IMG_4949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPHx0VsoJkhUfazSnx8VWVmTwbO4Jp6UqvqdLiCHrflPPuj59ILPad9o2bKJfX8c6R5LXNkMvMdheEPTtEqXXkiGXTwf7gmbmKIIiU7dP8bAUjVUw0lnZoAl5mVzJFnSMWYjiv/s320/IMG_4949.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">it was my cone but A was determined that only she could hold it!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxX1L_TofKpGotcNb-0aB14l8_aFMIOfMyEKCIfRyfvLOLMiHtCVg7qHOqI28ClpYUllj1P8ddemWkl8-yzx2milPftQvMcD2stanmCQ_Ei7WfUfZ1GBl7pupU7y1MQNtkN9y/s1600/IMG_4951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxX1L_TofKpGotcNb-0aB14l8_aFMIOfMyEKCIfRyfvLOLMiHtCVg7qHOqI28ClpYUllj1P8ddemWkl8-yzx2milPftQvMcD2stanmCQ_Ei7WfUfZ1GBl7pupU7y1MQNtkN9y/s320/IMG_4951.JPG" width="180" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tSCoqa8EEnXhZeEb7Rvv3ZRWT3it54F0f6gcBFcvD_5un8rBPUv1UVsKmzPBfaVhDwtG0izkeETHIHfcVy267v2eFA29Gc3G4m5zJYVBPA3fT3_9lYN2nCLlNL0WnlaJU1ea/s1600/IMG_4955.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tSCoqa8EEnXhZeEb7Rvv3ZRWT3it54F0f6gcBFcvD_5un8rBPUv1UVsKmzPBfaVhDwtG0izkeETHIHfcVy267v2eFA29Gc3G4m5zJYVBPA3fT3_9lYN2nCLlNL0WnlaJU1ea/s320/IMG_4955.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A was terrified of the animals and burst into tears in the cow barn! i guess we haven't visited the farm with her as often as i did with B!</td></tr>
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<br />Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-30800151429432454052013-06-07T20:11:00.001-07:002013-06-07T20:11:09.165-07:00too excited...the last post was a fake out. this morning was a 5:40am. sigh. one day, i won't be able to get her out of bed before noon, right? i'll be blogging about how ridiculous it is. Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-130847684994910792013-06-04T08:55:00.001-07:002013-06-04T08:57:09.807-07:00hellooo sleep!<img height="320" src="http://distilleryimage8.s3.amazonaws.com/00f42436c60611e2813a22000a1fb833_7.jpg" width="320" /><br />
two or three months ago, A started waking up earlier and earlier. at the beginning, a 6:30am wake up was waay too early for me. i just kept telling myself, "it's just a phase. it'll change in a month or so." but she kept waking up earlier and earlier. and the weeks were dragging on and on. the phase never seemed to be ending. by the end of her early waking, 6:30am was a sleep in. i was exhausted. have you seen this commercial? i burst into tears the first time i saw it. it's me.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R6vdMhz5pqY" width="560"></iframe><br />
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B's sleep always ebbed and flowed but this seemed like it might be the new normal. i tried going to bed at 8:30 or 9pm to try to get more sleep but it's hard to get anything done when you're going to bed that early! we tried letting A cry it out but this always woke B up. we tried earlier bedtimes and later bedtimes. we tried one nap and two naps. we theorized about her not having enough to eat, about having allergies, about being too hot or too cold, and maybe too bright in the morning. ugh. <br />
<br />
and then...a few days ago, A woke up at 6:20am. i was ecstatic! a sleep in! then the next day, 6:50am. then today - 7:10am!!! could this be it? are we finally "flowing" back to sleeping a normal amount? i'm afraid to even be this excited after only 3 days. but after 3 days, that bear seems to be gone. let's cross our fingers that it doesn't come back! Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-2964611720897165452013-05-23T13:42:00.002-07:002013-05-23T13:42:16.964-07:00robots in disguiseMe - "let's go to the library."<br />
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B - "can i wear this out to the library?"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWQwfG1Ahlzll1Xuq7JV-QblH0m03J43dnfIcOWc4Y0gnDj7N_CEeR-Kcc1Gaoqi7edxkz1QLB473H_hwcQ6GwmqHWd8mMreQY68N27I1XxqeWtuGs7e64YujLlw-5GaiDtaZb/s1600/IMG_4848.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWQwfG1Ahlzll1Xuq7JV-QblH0m03J43dnfIcOWc4Y0gnDj7N_CEeR-Kcc1Gaoqi7edxkz1QLB473H_hwcQ6GwmqHWd8mMreQY68N27I1XxqeWtuGs7e64YujLlw-5GaiDtaZb/s320/IMG_4848.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
Me - "no. you can't wear your costume out of the house."<br />
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B - "why?"<br />
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Me - "everyone would see you and be afraid that transformers were here."<br />
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B - "no, people LOVE transformers!"<br />
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Me - "they do?"<br />
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B - "yeah! people love little transformers that hug them!" Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-37812112318195173502013-05-23T12:06:00.001-07:002013-05-23T12:06:18.264-07:00happy birthday, tim<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
the 19th was tim's birthday and after church, tim suggested that we drive (an hour) to Bridal Falls for a "hike". it's really not a hike but more of a short walk to a big waterfall but this is the extent of our family hiking at this point! so far, we've only had somewhat negative hiking experiences with B - he's a big complainer when he has to walk anywhere so even just walking home from the park brings moaning and groaning. when tim made this suggestion, i thought, "it's rainy. that's an hour drive with crazy avery who hates the car. then we'll get there and B will moan and complain the whole walk. let's <u>not</u> go." BUT it was tim's birthday so my reply was, "sure. let's do it." </div>
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when we told B what we were going to do after A's nap, we got him all pumped to pack up his backpack for the hike. he seemed excited. while avery was a little grumpy on the drive as per usual, we got to Bridal Falls without many tears. we tried putting her in our baby-carrying-backpack and she was having no part of that so we took her out, left the backpack in the truck, and set out on our "hike". </div>
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apparently, all you need to do to get B excited about hiking is have him bring a backpack! he did great and there was not one complaint. A was a little sketchier - she walked some parts and tim and i took turns carrying her. she mostly just wanted to get in the water.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">checking out the river</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">unpacking his backpack</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8zjzIsUnAHotwMSemd7H58W8bFe82bIkSh6ZrkV81YP5Kdb8Jmh6OobTS3fEmaSJneeYuGPrpPvKGVwB7rhpnm-WOwYFKrM2TawF7gysIcqAD3WFWMoZDADPv0PCaexn2yp9a/s1600/IMG_4829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8zjzIsUnAHotwMSemd7H58W8bFe82bIkSh6ZrkV81YP5Kdb8Jmh6OobTS3fEmaSJneeYuGPrpPvKGVwB7rhpnm-WOwYFKrM2TawF7gysIcqAD3WFWMoZDADPv0PCaexn2yp9a/s320/IMG_4829.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">that white light at the top is Bridal Falls - the camera couldn't adjust to both levels of light</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMLVJRE2KyrLvRsfHfW65gAJx4eghhxQKtRy7uEdzPvD4xO46tSgL8pOxqGaldqyfU9nV0JT_-i0GeaSTZ5SNFR2CDbNckYyhF-7uxVvq4rQsdbxUlkKyeuhbyo_vhUKH2J5Y/s1600/IMG_4832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyMLVJRE2KyrLvRsfHfW65gAJx4eghhxQKtRy7uEdzPvD4xO46tSgL8pOxqGaldqyfU9nV0JT_-i0GeaSTZ5SNFR2CDbNckYyhF-7uxVvq4rQsdbxUlkKyeuhbyo_vhUKH2J5Y/s320/IMG_4832.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">see backpack contents: spiderman and an apple</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMcfFfx-pu5WNc2_SGeGRIXa6GJeeU9xAypBZBCY3fw6JBgrE4ZwfK7Ttfk01rgH_tEkOTMR2_tgdNoWoVbvoHkvTQWycZ7BpjelVzPsvGlX4DF5myzEJB_zBwBDhyYzHH2K7/s1600/IMG_4836.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMcfFfx-pu5WNc2_SGeGRIXa6GJeeU9xAypBZBCY3fw6JBgrE4ZwfK7Ttfk01rgH_tEkOTMR2_tgdNoWoVbvoHkvTQWycZ7BpjelVzPsvGlX4DF5myzEJB_zBwBDhyYzHH2K7/s320/IMG_4836.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A got her hands on the apple and B never got it back</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66oBBEoJPcWSnWJujanMhc52RsagTV7b-GelZAROAmfPYr1qVPwnzp6d7rAghxpkTK0Im_S6wpZ2vHFl5buQ8gNmnaoxUbX597kyllMtvIuLhEXe9jNN_0agUi4PGyDwPuM1l/s1600/IMG_4843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg66oBBEoJPcWSnWJujanMhc52RsagTV7b-GelZAROAmfPYr1qVPwnzp6d7rAghxpkTK0Im_S6wpZ2vHFl5buQ8gNmnaoxUbX597kyllMtvIuLhEXe9jNN_0agUi4PGyDwPuM1l/s320/IMG_4843.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">that's Tim and B at the top by the falls in the "no climbing zone" that EVERYONE climbs - <br />A and i stayed in the safe zone.... </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx9RibJdqCtx_0AIsxy3BwqbCFKELKBJ97QLlnSivHA3Nfh8EGMsDK8JrKJvfVJbNq17KVcCpVwTDR4Pq0lcJu8L6D0lJ7L0LDRo5xLOUlVhAJxeJyeNiDBWp5lhu9_lHw2rfF/s1600/IMG_4844.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx9RibJdqCtx_0AIsxy3BwqbCFKELKBJ97QLlnSivHA3Nfh8EGMsDK8JrKJvfVJbNq17KVcCpVwTDR4Pq0lcJu8L6D0lJ7L0LDRo5xLOUlVhAJxeJyeNiDBWp5lhu9_lHw2rfF/s320/IMG_4844.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">family selfie</td></tr>
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Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-52056179467100259402013-05-04T10:17:00.004-07:002013-05-04T10:17:53.426-07:00the fresh 20unlike the freshman 15, T<a href="http://www.thefresh20.com/">he Fresh 20</a> is not about weight gain. it's an online meal plan that i recently heard about from <a href="http://alyssamaya.blogspot.ca/">alyssa</a>. she'd been following the plan for 3 weeks and was describing how she logs in each friday to get the next week's meal plan complete with shopping list and prep guide. my first question was, "why would you pay for that when you could just create your own mealplan for free?" well, it's $5 a month - $1.25 per week's meal plans essentially. and the more she talked about the pros, the more i was intrigued. because though i say, "why not do it for free yourself?", i've been TALKING about meal planning for about 2 years now and have not done it once. well, that's not true - one time i sat down to do it and realized that i dislike most of the meals that i even make. <br />
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i signed up THAT night. and our lives have completely changed for the better. <br />
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okay - that sounds so dramatic but i'm completely serious. i make meals that have a only a handful of ingredients. is there a spice in the recipe? if it's not already in my pantry, i skip it. onions and garlic? i don't need to put those in since i don't like onions and that garlic smell stays with me for days. fancy ingredients? that recipe is not for me (<a href="http://becshulba.blogspot.ca/2011/03/not-that-simple.html">see proof here</a>). and half the days of the week, i forget to thaw the meat so i don't want to make dinner. or i let meat go bad in my fridge - a serious waste of food. essentially, i hate making dinner but i do want to eat. <br />
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enter The Fresh 20. 20 is the number of ingredients that you need to buy for the week (though there are 20 pantry staples that they assume you have on hand). they incorporate seasonal fruits and veggies so that you don't have to break the bank to buy asparagus in the middle of winter or something like that. also, while there is always one fish recipe (good for your brain!), they give you an idea for a substitute if you're anti-fish. (but we love fish and just didn't know how to cook it differently) then, they give you a prep guide so that you can chop all the veggies or cook all the rice or quinoa that you'll need that week and store it til you're ready for it. easy to do on a saturday or sunday afternoon. the meal plans are enough for 4 which is great for us because that means leftovers for tim's lunch the next day. <br />
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i got my first week's shopping list and it looked fairly straightforward. it took me awhile in the store to find all the right ingredients but my shopping was done for the week! meal #1, make bbq chicken (in the oven), then save half of it in a container for meal #3. i probably used more spices this first week than in all my years of making dinner combined. the first meal was bbq chicken with a warm corn orzo pasta salad. it was awesome. there was also salmon in there and there always seems to be one vegetarian meal on the last meal of the week (because how long is that meat going to stay good in your fridge, right?).<br />
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then week 2 - kind of a mexican theme to the week (because if two of your 20 ingredients are black beans and tortillas, more than one meal needs to use those) and it looks a little harder. in fact, the first meal had tomatillos in it. i didn't even know what tomatillos were. my initial feeling to this first recipe (chicken chili verde) was that i didn't want to make it BUT i needed half of the chili to add to my mexican lasagna on meal #3 so i googled a photo and went to find them at the grocery store. for the chicken chili verde, i had to fry the whole tomatillos, chunks of onion, and garlic in olive oil then BLEND them in a BLENDER until smooth. this is WAY too hard for the likes of me. but i did it. and it worked. and it actually wasn't that hard at all. a revelation! <br />
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week 3 was this past week. an italian theme. looking at the recipes, i was like, "i don't want to make any of these." (creamy basil polenta with an italian sausage ragu, tilapia with red pepper, caper, and mushroom sauce with brown rice, turkey scallopini with ricotta and spinach linguini, etc) Polenta? that sounds awful. red pepper, caper, and mushroom sauce? yuck. what is crazy is that i still went an bought the ingredients and made all the meals. because The Fresh 20 had not yet let us down. tim and i were loving the food and could not believe how good we'd been eating (the kids are a different story - after years of bland food, everything is too much flavour or strange looking). AND while the polenta wasn't my favourite, it WAS edible with the ragu. the tilapia with the pepper/caper/mushroom sauce was my favourite recipe that i have made so far. The Frech 20 comes through again! <br />
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so yes - next week will be week 4 for me and i'm love love loving it. that said, it's not as easy as i had first thought it to be. the first week was easy enough but many recipes are very involved right before serving which is always hard with kids. last night, i was boiling pasta, browning turkey cutlets, and trying to zest a lemon with avery hanging on my legs and ben rolling around on our teeny kitchen floor. then i had to get the turkey off the pan, and cook red pepper, spinach, and garlic while making the ricotta sauce which was lots of measuring spices and squeezing lemon juice. these things are definitely more difficult with the kids going squirely. by the time i sat down to dinner, my pasta was cold and neither child would eat more than one bite. so there's always those nights...HOWEVER, if i'm alone in the kitchen, most of the meals only take about 30 minutes to cook completely which is awesome. it means that i can wait for tim to get home to hang out with the kids and still eat at a decent time. we've been eating at 5:30pm most nights which gives us time for a walk to the park or to play with the kids before their bedtime at 7pm. (and really, my kids didn't eat many of my old meals either.)<br />
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this week's menus includes Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Roasted asparagus in balsamic brown butter and Spicy Mango Shrimp with coconut sauce and brown rice. who knows? after years of categorizing myself as a non-foodie, one of these days, i could surprise myself! Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-791317437083703992013-04-24T13:46:00.002-07:002013-04-24T13:46:36.718-07:00week 14<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Please excuse the messy table around my book! This is where my PL binder usually sits - at a skinny little table in our kitchen. It makes for handy access when I want to work on it here and there throughout the week but it's often a big mess (much to tim's chagrin)! </div>
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<i>Don't forget to click on the pics to make them larger! :)</i></div>
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The floral date card has been a theme for the last couple weeks! This week, I was aiming to try out a black and white theme but gray and pink snuck in there too. <br />
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A regular week. I love that pic of the kids helping my mom make pizza in the top right. Too cute. <br />
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All the black and white cards here are from the BH Seafoam edition - I bought a handful of cards from someone's kit. I have instagram pics for both B&W cards but I have to wait until I have 25 instagrams before I can print them. Those will be added later. Some new black washi tape though - love that!<br />
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Again, waiting on an instagram for the black and white striped card but the floral will stay as is in an attempt to unify the layout! <br />
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On the bottom right photo, I worked and worked to make that photo work with some writing on it but it was such an unbelievably frustrating process getting to look "right" on ipiccy.com and then when I got it printed, it did not come out as expected. I may change it but it's in there now to finish off the week! <br />
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That said, let's focus in on the bottom left picture of B doing sit ups. There is a "work out" park right next to a playground at Mill Lake. We went to the playground this day and all B wanted to do was "exercises" at the workout area. I dragged A away from the swings so that I was close enough to watch B and A ended up loving running around in this area as well. But seriously? What 3 yr old wants to do exercises more than play at the playground? <br />
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Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-6608010368010535602013-04-17T08:26:00.002-07:002013-04-17T08:29:35.559-07:00the pour-overconfession: we've slowly but surely developed into coffee snobs over here our house. <br />
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5 years ago, i didn't drink coffee and neither did tim. when B was born, we didn't OWN a coffee maker so we took an old one from a friend to have in our house when my mom stayed with us to help us with B. and so began drinking it in the morning but tim wasn't totally on board - didn't really like the taste. </div>
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i can't even really remember how it start but in the last year or so, tim started drinking starbucks and he put less and less cream and sugar in. Then he started refusing the coffee that i was making at home. "it's not strong enough" he'd say. i bought the starbucks beans. "this doesn't taste the same." i cleaned the coffee maker with vinegar 3 times. "it didn't help." i continued to drink my coffee alone.</div>
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i started hanging out with a new friend who also loves coffee and she had bought her husband a burr grinder for his birthday. a burr grinder grinds the coffee more uniformly and makes better coffee. i asked for one for christmas and we got it! "it's still not strong enough." oh. my. goodness. forget you, tim. i'm going to stop trying to make a better cup of coffee. haha. but really, i didn't want to be alone in my addiction so i hadn't totally given up my quest.</div>
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but then, last week on a playdate at this same friend's house, she made me this stellar cup coffee. it was so good. when i commented this, she described the pour-over. of course, i know the pour over but she does it straight into her coffee maker and flicks the on switch to keep it hot. how to do it? grind your coffee, put it in the filter, but instead of measuring and pouring out the water into the coffee maker water area, pour it into your kettle. bring to an almost boil then pour over the grinds in your coffee maker. turn on the on switch to keep hot. </div>
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i started making coffee like this last week. tim says, "you like this? it's so strong!" i put way less sugar in even though he says it's stronger. and would you believe it? he LIKES it! he took a mug of it to work this morning. YES! addicted together. what i've always wanted. ;)<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this is our coffee maker <br /></td></tr>
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Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-76393448026476856762013-04-16T13:31:00.001-07:002013-04-16T13:31:31.637-07:00week 13 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The whole first page is Monday's day at the park! It was such a gorgeous day! <br />
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I reorganized all my PL papers and cards which makes it easier to pick out a colour theme and stick with it for the whole layout and I'm loving the way the cut photo in the bottom left works with the journaling around it! We checked out another new park on Saturday so in the bottom right, I have a little "pull" tab and there's another pic behind the one displayed. <br />
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I find that I struggle with honest journaling with these albums because you have such a small space to write or you have too many pics to have a space for a 4x6 journal spot. I don't figure out what I want to say before writing, I just start and hope I can fit it on the card! I want to remember that the day to day can be hard sometimes and this week, B was especially cranky so I wrote a little about it on the cream card in the center. When I'm keeping up with blogging, I can always print those and add them. <br />
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To be added later: I'm going to print my <a href="http://www.becshulba.blogspot.ca/2013/04/dessert-night.html">blog post about Dessert Night </a>and insert the pic collage of the 4 of us plus a close up of Ben's face! Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-26120097104272665502013-04-16T13:15:00.001-07:002013-04-16T13:15:58.621-07:00week 12/13 : easter weekend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Two pages with a 2-5x7 insert. On weeks where I have so many photos, I tend to forget about the embellishments and just get the pics and stories documented! </div>
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I tried out some overlays for this layout - AE word, hunt, in the top right and the picture frame in the bottom right is a little hard to see with the reflection but it says hello spring and describes our afternoon in Bellingham.</div>
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Too many cute photos not to add an insert of the kids hunting for eggs!<br />
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On the reverse of the insert - Sunday's decorating eggs. I think I'll add some words about Sunday to the egg dipping photo but I haven't done that yet. <br />
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There's still a blank as I need to check my mom's camera and see if she has a photo of dinner on Sunday. I was sad that we didn't think to get a photo of our family dressed up for Easter Sunday's church service but on the pink card, I've included a quote from B at church. :) <br />
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Monday, we spent the morning at a park and I took so many pics that I included most of them on the next week's layout! <br />
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<br />Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-25721406810152764802013-04-16T12:59:00.001-07:002013-04-16T12:59:12.331-07:00week 12<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WJt6UR2QybJbUqZWxvJzIhqVanVa-13ign6M1clAVVhcNN4tR-bMUhKRSuuYYDbNj7qULoItjyqgP9MwXu3WcpnY99W99sQ3lI3pI2bgcxuXXjOWbggooKeJ3_1s5iTkR184/s1600/IMG_4485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WJt6UR2QybJbUqZWxvJzIhqVanVa-13ign6M1clAVVhcNN4tR-bMUhKRSuuYYDbNj7qULoItjyqgP9MwXu3WcpnY99W99sQ3lI3pI2bgcxuXXjOWbggooKeJ3_1s5iTkR184/s320/IMG_4485.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I covered the week from Sunday to Thursday and then did another layout for the Easter long weekend. <br />
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Mostly Sunday pics - we were happy to have M, K, and baby L home from Mexico. Gotta document when we see that girlie!<br />
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We checked out two "play place"s this week - we've never been to the Abbotsford one before because it sounded too expensive to be worth it when usually B doesn't like the noise that reverberates through these plastic tunnels and such. BUT we met up with friends and B and his buddy had a GREAT time! (top two pics) I couldn't believe he was willing to go down the huge slides! The toddler area was great too so Avery had fun and when she got tired, she sat on my lap for awhile with her soother and bunny. <br />
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In the bottom two pics, we went to our friends' son's 4th birthday party - they rented out the whole Captain Kid's in Langley! Woah! Fun! The toddler area is way smaller than Abby so A kept daddy busy crawling through the tunnels and going down the HUGE slide. The slide is so steep and fast that, at one point, I got to the top with A and wussied out! Too scary for me! :)<br />
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I used some new hot pink washi tape on 3 of the pics but it's not super cohesive with the floral. Sometimes, you just can't spend forever trying to fix up the pages or I get stuck and never return! Haha. Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-87335276167661599052013-04-16T12:48:00.001-07:002013-04-16T12:48:33.053-07:00week 11<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Lots of fun this week! One extra half-page insert and I threw in one of Ben's watercolour paintings as well. <br />
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Friends from up north were visiting over Spring Break so we got to spend Monday afternoon and evening with them. Lots of pics to document. <br />
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This is the back of the half-page insert - just playing at home pics. Ben's painting was a picture of "a ladder store". This is his favourite thing to paint right now. <br />
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Last page documents mostly a fun playdate in Bellingham at a "play cafe". I used these gold letters from my most recent Citrus Twist PL kit but I find the little square letters are difficult to keep straight! Oh well - gets the idea across! :) Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-52696893989035719852013-04-13T09:59:00.003-07:002013-04-13T09:59:48.114-07:00week 10<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
a rough week with FEW pics. ugh. and what's crazy is that we did so many fun things this week seeing as i was pumped to have finished report cards. PLUS, i had this ridiculous page layout to deal with from week 9. but we see lots of gray and turquoise again! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhku585DmTdSGvA-XpCh4RFaFb8EVNYmO7oYo3tB2EsheSfaqDJFADM75U_gSA4qqgSWCYiIB4lE8DVkTW11faav7oU8woI0F9mGK1rPgLhPhcA0pCz9JbwL69SITMswxxm1eog/s1600/Rebeccas+photos+004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhku585DmTdSGvA-XpCh4RFaFb8EVNYmO7oYo3tB2EsheSfaqDJFADM75U_gSA4qqgSWCYiIB4lE8DVkTW11faav7oU8woI0F9mGK1rPgLhPhcA0pCz9JbwL69SITMswxxm1eog/s320/Rebeccas+photos+004.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">not my fav looking 2 page spread</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the sandbox and A's legs pics are actually from week 11 but i journalled about "regular" life along with those pics so that they were relevant to this week's layout. the bottom gray card is waiting for the one instagram from this week to get printed.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0KczPLOUArC0ZGKSQ731egNmtdFFjLOQUtxGHW5Ktk0wlr5K3-pH15ZrWRgQwuTvDOQe1x7dRo5SW0fnqfFBZvZm89UENbb4BS1mmVnPb_ujwO9Dw_y9wsubt-ZfRLxINlDyR/s1600/Rebeccas+photos+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0KczPLOUArC0ZGKSQ731egNmtdFFjLOQUtxGHW5Ktk0wlr5K3-pH15ZrWRgQwuTvDOQe1x7dRo5SW0fnqfFBZvZm89UENbb4BS1mmVnPb_ujwO9Dw_y9wsubt-ZfRLxINlDyR/s320/Rebeccas+photos+006.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">aaaand all these pics are from saturday - the day i realized that i no pics from this week! haha. at least we had something going on on saturday with friends! i also geekily journalled about our latest favourite board game in the top left 4x6 spot.</td></tr>
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it's weeks like these that would set my back in my 2012 book because i wouldn't want to document the week so i'd leave it and fall far behind. 2013, head down, power through.<br />
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Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-6636598377919081452013-04-13T09:52:00.000-07:002013-04-13T09:52:11.324-07:00week 9 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
if i didn't care that every layout looked the same, i'd use gray and turquoise for every page! even so, you see these colours a LOT already in my PL binder. i bought a handful of the Becky Higgins Seafoam Core Kit cards from another PL-er on facebook so this was my first chance to use some of them. (see "True Story" and "Recorded" cards)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i love the washi tape days of the week for my two instagram pics</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-_VTxc3VIHoiOnYsGdq429IYif7hhP76PEHZp0hU12FDA1fz0hzVwJfOtyIuv5P1zL8P2tJicyJ70ZyswGj3MyH9suGg78HuIbjzinczaCmtE0W0a_GlB0AYZsLfa2VN-ELr/s1600/Rebeccas+photos+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-_VTxc3VIHoiOnYsGdq429IYif7hhP76PEHZp0hU12FDA1fz0hzVwJfOtyIuv5P1zL8P2tJicyJ70ZyswGj3MyH9suGg78HuIbjzinczaCmtE0W0a_GlB0AYZsLfa2VN-ELr/s320/Rebeccas+photos+003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i had a few vertical pics that i really liked and wanted to have as 4x6s instead of the 3x4s so i delved into my stack of OTHER pages... but i always find that i don't like these layouts as much.</td></tr>
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Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-15963218354671955722013-04-06T19:57:00.004-07:002013-04-06T20:02:48.574-07:00dessert night...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
everything you read in parenting mags says that forcing kids to eat everything on their plates in order to get dessert is wrong. it's teaching them not to follow their instinctual hunger/full cues. when B was two or so, i would say, "just eat three more bites" or something to that effect, patting myself on the back for knowing that he shouldn't have to finish his meal.</div>
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and then he started eating less. getting pickier. demanding dessert. augh. so i started putting less on his plate and saying he had to eat it all. "am i done yet?" "finish all the food on your plate." i was going against everything that i'd congratulated myself on a few months ago. and i was tired of dinner time. i was tired of arguing over every meal. i was tired of meltdowns after we'd say that he couldn't have dessert. <br />
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new plan! no dessert. maybe that was an easy solution for all you healthies out there but tim and i love dessert. we grew up on ice cream after dinner. but really, it's not a<u> right</u> at the end of the night. we made the new plan that friday and saturday would be "Dessert Nights"! <br />
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all week, if B asked, "am I finished?", the answer was, "if you're full." B probably ate about the same amount of food that he'd eat if we were arguing about it. but dinner was much less stressful for me...and likely for him too. <br />
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then friday got here. B cheered that "tonight is Dessert Night!" he even ate all his dinner anyways. and the ice cream tasted better than usual. i think this new plan could work for us!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">our attempt at a family selfie with our cones...but check out ben's face:</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpm1WYmWk3VfTinBG2dwzh60szViRBzgTiC5L1ZESeyCUOAmjFUgh7Hwd_Lt0FRKWX-zL7HoWJFHTswFU_KRv3yKcO6vkRnkAsmKnPIfyq6t7OKEtl8edZobyjCQnNl-w2R1ki/s1600/Rebeccas+photos+045+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpm1WYmWk3VfTinBG2dwzh60szViRBzgTiC5L1ZESeyCUOAmjFUgh7Hwd_Lt0FRKWX-zL7HoWJFHTswFU_KRv3yKcO6vkRnkAsmKnPIfyq6t7OKEtl8edZobyjCQnNl-w2R1ki/s320/Rebeccas+photos+045+2.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">he had accidentally poked a hole in his cone - horrifying.</td></tr>
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Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-16061551989962467922013-04-04T18:37:00.003-07:002013-04-06T20:03:06.701-07:00a sneak peek...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
can you believe that i'm currently working on LAST WEEK's PL layout? i'm caught up! i'm behind in posting however...will aim to do that tomorrow - make sure to check back. but until then...here's one of the photos i worked on adding an Ali Edwards overlay to today. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQSdQnyHVeVdOoOd-yAd06DyeEkQeeCEHxBrq8A8AXso8glDE1GxvsveAK3JZtDXhUcemXLMo5e8DD1yLQjKIr9AZdxNIEnpBpn14dNCRaAH5I0j2EisAoXkInAXSFFQQ7cm2/s1600/hunting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQSdQnyHVeVdOoOd-yAd06DyeEkQeeCEHxBrq8A8AXso8glDE1GxvsveAK3JZtDXhUcemXLMo5e8DD1yLQjKIr9AZdxNIEnpBpn14dNCRaAH5I0j2EisAoXkInAXSFFQQ7cm2/s320/hunting.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i><i><span style="text-align: center;">(can't take credit for the photography though - my friends over at </span><a href="http://vancouverphotobooth.com/" style="text-align: center;">Photobooth Vancouver </a><span style="text-align: center;">had the camera out during the egg hunt on Easter weekend AND they supplied the candy!)</span></i>Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-44137569864325902762013-04-01T09:15:00.002-07:002013-04-06T20:03:21.228-07:00it's all about crispcrisp is one of my kryptonite desserts - i can't resist it. however, MAKING crisp has always been an experiment that just is never quite right. i'm always trying new recipes and they're never quite what i was looking for. last night, i found the one that i will make all summer: <a href="http://sugarandspice-celeste.blogspot.ca/2010/06/scrumptious-strawberry-crisp.html">http://sugarandspice-celeste.blogspot.ca/2010/06/scrumptious-strawberry-crisp.html</a><br />
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i made strawberry rhubarb (rhubarb that was saved in my freezer from last summer!) and it was fantastic! fruit crisp gives the illusion of being a healthy dessert (fruit and oats!) but don't be fooled. especially if you break this recipe for 7 servings into only 4! heehee. </div>
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but it's worth it! </div>
Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-25186209473082667682013-03-29T08:58:00.000-07:002013-04-06T20:04:03.300-07:00a swing fiend<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga8jgsHflpZ3S2xbI5gEvjFpDbqM0j1Mc-gjRVs28kOxiQ2QRPIWylsVlngs5cOlUq44FdKFGIsIZ4csPHwqmr7voHCcq5Zc9mzFXv4MPgGsCe5BVyQsggPODVlp6QPNX4S2im/s1600/avery+growing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga8jgsHflpZ3S2xbI5gEvjFpDbqM0j1Mc-gjRVs28kOxiQ2QRPIWylsVlngs5cOlUq44FdKFGIsIZ4csPHwqmr7voHCcq5Zc9mzFXv4MPgGsCe5BVyQsggPODVlp6QPNX4S2im/s320/avery+growing.jpg" width="279" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a's first time on the big swings!</td></tr>
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A loves to go on the swings at the park. LOVES. as soon as we arrive, i try to distract her by taking her to the slides or a ladder that she can try but no. she makes a toddler-waddle, arms outstretched beeline for the swings. and no matter how long we are at the park for, when we begin to pull her out of that swing, she starts to cry. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhk31fEH9NKykdvTqYy4_zaaStYpgqu3DyoyvAy5_1g3KZYEMApIyhpyl8goWoc5W-apN-t6R98FDjarXYmTt0y45Orf5A4ited3wSgbDpPmqsz7UzigyUPIZqS_ttIGfXE2a/s1600/mar+5+-+sad+face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhk31fEH9NKykdvTqYy4_zaaStYpgqu3DyoyvAy5_1g3KZYEMApIyhpyl8goWoc5W-apN-t6R98FDjarXYmTt0y45Orf5A4ited3wSgbDpPmqsz7UzigyUPIZqS_ttIGfXE2a/s320/mar+5+-+sad+face.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the post-swing face</td></tr>
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A doesn't have too many words yet and she's morphed our sign for "thank you" (tapping her chin) into meaning "more please". whatever works, right? well, lately, she gets on the swing and starts tapping her chin. at first, i thought she might want to get out so i started to take her out but that set off some major crying. i put her back in and started pushing her again and off she goes, tap tap tapping her chin. i pushed her higher and higher but it didn't seem to be good enough so she's screaming crying while swinging. i looked like a crazy parent pushing a kid who looks like she doesn't want to swing. as it turns out, i think she just wanted to swing as high as possible. once i had her almost flipping the swing over the bars, she was happy. what a girl! (keep in mind, she was in the baby swing - not these big swings in the photos!) so i guess we'll keep her swinging until she gets interested in something else at the park. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYrfXUQgvYwt3PjUCK560ZGoq5mo1eN24c7fehXS7EFm2OZHnoDU8YiJc0aC5HRuM_n5gSIeX9rtrGC3Wf7p_LBS9H2a5t-84ZkwZowcIaXDPOjO231qfn9nVAr1QaY_fCqsh3/s1600/IMG_3864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYrfXUQgvYwt3PjUCK560ZGoq5mo1eN24c7fehXS7EFm2OZHnoDU8YiJc0aC5HRuM_n5gSIeX9rtrGC3Wf7p_LBS9H2a5t-84ZkwZowcIaXDPOjO231qfn9nVAr1QaY_fCqsh3/s320/IMG_3864.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLvyxLQXht_PulHGu31pEEwHC7RRG5YzA92SI8ZGeGAbP0Xif8NWgdLC4k7OEElQNiF6oddZ7NuMGc5Pq6KoBDmJmTuB6Vc5eMWpUxCdaIdGZu2d_WlocxK4QKiTzNgc0cPRso/s1600/IMG_3866.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLvyxLQXht_PulHGu31pEEwHC7RRG5YzA92SI8ZGeGAbP0Xif8NWgdLC4k7OEElQNiF6oddZ7NuMGc5Pq6KoBDmJmTuB6Vc5eMWpUxCdaIdGZu2d_WlocxK4QKiTzNgc0cPRso/s320/IMG_3866.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-90608484222992864752013-03-26T09:10:00.001-07:002013-04-06T20:04:29.538-07:00superheros are good guys...right?i'd like to think that i haven't been <u>overly</u> protective of B but the concept of guns has not yet entered our house. he usually watches shows like Mighty Machines and Sesame Street and his encounters with other kids is mostly parent-involved playdates (with the exception of Sunday School and kids at the park). <br />
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somehow, B got interested in knights. it must have been an episode of Curious George or something but he asked to be a knight this past halloween. while i tried to talk him into being a lion, i couldn't pass up the cute knight costume that i found at superstore. he was convinced that he was a bad knight and i tried to tell him that knights were good guys. we've taken a couple knight related books out of the library since and, as it turns out, knights are a complicated story. "why are they burning down the walls of this castle, mommy?" so now the story that i'm sticking with is that some knights are good and some are bad. but we know that they all use swords. <br />
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we recently had dinner at mcdonalds (a new and incredible discovery that the play place is the perfect destination after a very long day) and in ben's happy meal was a scary looking Transformer. this Transformer shoots some blue thing out of his arm. "is this a superhero?" asks B. hmm...i have no idea. what makes a superhero? it's really a deep and thought-provoking question that i choose not to worry about at the moment. ;) "how does he fight the bad guys? does he have a sword?" well, transformers are complicated. <br />
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as we walk through the toy aisle at Winners or Walmart (we always make a detour to check out the toys), B gawks at the superhero packaging and scary looking dudes behind the thin plastic window. "are these good guys, mommy?" "umm...yep." the one that he's mostly drawn to is The Incredible Hulk. "why isn't he wearing any clothes?" "is that his underwear?" "why is he green?" "is this a good guy?" "why does he look so mad?" "where is his sword?" and while i do my best to answer these questions, ("well, he is usually wearing clothes and then he gets angry at the bad guys so he turns green and muscley and all his clothes rip off...?") the Hulk is complicated. <br />
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are you picking up on a theme here? why are all these guys so hard to understand? i think it's possibly because i'm trying to describe them to a three year old. and i know nothing about superheros. so while i'd like to keep him watching Mighty Machines for the rest of his life, he might be an odd 18 year old. i guess i should start figuring out my stance on all things violent before i actually need to send B to a time out for pretending to rip all his clothes off in anger, hit avery with a sword, and then burn down the walls of a castle. Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-61141273418374492132013-03-25T15:02:00.001-07:002013-04-06T20:04:47.813-07:00week 8 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
i started doing family visits on Thursday so my photos are lacking as i spent Monday - Wednesday prepping for my student assessments. i need to remember this next term and ask my babysitters to take some photos for me! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzoi2nqrJ2VagmCPNYQY5g36FPr4XONoqrIXmDPPdXe8f-ZkQELOsX4Zk2x-iQIwOpoLL_6qUkJ6jknOKct3bkXWXhUxb5LBAO4Bvh0fc1vKubrxjM1kaBaEZ0gtya_-r01gi/s1600/IMG_4061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzoi2nqrJ2VagmCPNYQY5g36FPr4XONoqrIXmDPPdXe8f-ZkQELOsX4Zk2x-iQIwOpoLL_6qUkJ6jknOKct3bkXWXhUxb5LBAO4Bvh0fc1vKubrxjM1kaBaEZ0gtya_-r01gi/s320/IMG_4061.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLkA8y0RpeU563uq_9ceTH_cYTzWhWG-9ACnBMz7NAcKVn3dM5j1CMWhJD_y4xS5b7p7JYRJbHqw8JvOMr4od1yRWGsc-KslfXG_x1UMcVl4RLkfMhre0SlKqy_EVGADIRRQSu/s1600/IMG_4063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLkA8y0RpeU563uq_9ceTH_cYTzWhWG-9ACnBMz7NAcKVn3dM5j1CMWhJD_y4xS5b7p7JYRJbHqw8JvOMr4od1yRWGsc-KslfXG_x1UMcVl4RLkfMhre0SlKqy_EVGADIRRQSu/s320/IMG_4063.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">page 1</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgybEGznNOX9HtWtJeR1sJVchK8o8S5YO85Rt4ZkRIuqegj-uXdc44SF2lrAqA49MEMaTOOdmNs9_B1OTYyxMPKo1nS2i6c8L8LK8GKGMY0JutEzgcq2Ct6V0Xd7Y3W7lOUv2Dg/s1600/IMG_4064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgybEGznNOX9HtWtJeR1sJVchK8o8S5YO85Rt4ZkRIuqegj-uXdc44SF2lrAqA49MEMaTOOdmNs9_B1OTYyxMPKo1nS2i6c8L8LK8GKGMY0JutEzgcq2Ct6V0Xd7Y3W7lOUv2Dg/s320/IMG_4064.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">page 2 <br />
i tried the all 3x4 pocket page this week...</td></tr>
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<br />Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-32182326418225283342013-03-25T14:59:00.000-07:002013-04-06T20:05:02.483-07:00week 7<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
we had a full week with BC's first Family Day on Monday and then a fun Valentine's Day playdate on Thursday! i added an extra insert of pics to be able to fit everything in!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2NIHkQsf9wee6OuCuDsG2cELMkk3_v8239ibjTJDAzM1hsmiWACXQ9oY3LrSoGXlirMsSr5wxm0gkbkWXvLLJXpXd-ksJ7htM61SPVDgDyo8SV18-8bMkPS3VDzCFY6XttFSL/s1600/IMG_4030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2NIHkQsf9wee6OuCuDsG2cELMkk3_v8239ibjTJDAzM1hsmiWACXQ9oY3LrSoGXlirMsSr5wxm0gkbkWXvLLJXpXd-ksJ7htM61SPVDgDyo8SV18-8bMkPS3VDzCFY6XttFSL/s320/IMG_4030.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">two page spread</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2sVMCSDHw7JFHsuhvJgKjMBKUpSwmbkQrPBt8PnQBdkgdIuerF793FVYXRxfsxQj2-nHmfLJHupqWPhefLc2TCZeVeYW9Q0JvynrvOvWqydITITJ93gzYzAOIofmdbSEcY9j/s1600/IMG_4031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2sVMCSDHw7JFHsuhvJgKjMBKUpSwmbkQrPBt8PnQBdkgdIuerF793FVYXRxfsxQj2-nHmfLJHupqWPhefLc2TCZeVeYW9Q0JvynrvOvWqydITITJ93gzYzAOIofmdbSEcY9j/s320/IMG_4031.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">page one with front of insert</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD7UfzG63QEGNHyaAFjCfAnVmegxo7HNRqE64Nw9c19eBJre9VYYAJ37J4AcHkgbfnUKPGJqm4KQLgNTSi6g76oI4dgKhZ5pClbBhJUOtTTBtWo4g5NgnIEwdjRRuZhKHadSZF/s1600/IMG_4033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD7UfzG63QEGNHyaAFjCfAnVmegxo7HNRqE64Nw9c19eBJre9VYYAJ37J4AcHkgbfnUKPGJqm4KQLgNTSi6g76oI4dgKhZ5pClbBhJUOtTTBtWo4g5NgnIEwdjRRuZhKHadSZF/s320/IMG_4033.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flipping the insert over...</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWk6VufjPngBYP89seLwxtRt9mwt7we95hYqcvnK33WFyU1nihE6fIRFhNJnAnOj5ilTVCR7tozYXxuFoy1AGDlDJqSUPvjl6L8BIL1f-81qdVzwqrxvuA6hIY1tlGHl-j9N_W/s1600/IMG_4032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWk6VufjPngBYP89seLwxtRt9mwt7we95hYqcvnK33WFyU1nihE6fIRFhNJnAnOj5ilTVCR7tozYXxuFoy1AGDlDJqSUPvjl6L8BIL1f-81qdVzwqrxvuA6hIY1tlGHl-j9N_W/s320/IMG_4032.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and page 2 with the back of the insert</td></tr>
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Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9316590.post-38751978267774906582013-03-25T13:45:00.001-07:002013-03-25T13:54:36.946-07:00tutorial: using .png overlays in ipiccy.com my PL-ing cousin, <a href="http://rachelannrunnalls.blogspot.ca/"><b>rachel</b></a>, sent me a link to <a href="http://www.avegasgirlatheart.com/2012/06/tutorial-using-png-overlays-without.html"><b>a tutorial</b></a> on how to use .png overlays on my photos using a free software called, fotoflexer.com. i've been wanting to start using more digital in my <a href="http://becshulba.blogspot.ca/2012/01/project-life-2012.html">Project Life </a>layouts forever but thought i needed fancier software. <br />
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i spent some time trying out this website and while i found the tutorial great, i didn't love fotoflexer.com as i'm used to using <a href="http://ipiccy.com/"><b>ipiccy.com</b></a>. i figured ipiccy must have the same overlaying abilities so i checked it out. they do! and it's more user-friendly in my opinion. <br />
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if you want to start adding .png overlays to your photos - i thought i'd try my first tutorial post!<i> (please click on the photos to see them larger!)</i><br />
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first, head over to <a href="http://ipiccy.com/"><b>ipiccy.com</b></a> and click the yellow button at the bottom to <b>Start Editing</b>!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLEWsQY3G1W0DBxtcBDiTY9kNVdCkDntMJJWZKNx7tsiQjF7aEfODe_e6E2yyQvqfpcPZHKX9Mox8aqTxVpE6FhfH5_5LReLChRtCQ6qTJu3r8iE4g-IT1so81SZA3sJdqnEyv/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLEWsQY3G1W0DBxtcBDiTY9kNVdCkDntMJJWZKNx7tsiQjF7aEfODe_e6E2yyQvqfpcPZHKX9Mox8aqTxVpE6FhfH5_5LReLChRtCQ6qTJu3r8iE4g-IT1so81SZA3sJdqnEyv/s320/Capture.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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here's what my ipiccy looks like - it has kept all my photos that i've uploaded to it! very handy. yours will be empty. click "<b>Upload photo</b>". <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNRmDJnicB9GYxvpVzfXceTgz96BiV4UjSR9_e-Q7kslkq_C-wex3hZRsBFfCE8tYqQB1nYRT_JeOMsGj2JTWUYZgltMcI3mFnKq2dZDyRbqopiv1iGi_MHMRijt2NtxhuUIIe/s1600/screen+1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNRmDJnicB9GYxvpVzfXceTgz96BiV4UjSR9_e-Q7kslkq_C-wex3hZRsBFfCE8tYqQB1nYRT_JeOMsGj2JTWUYZgltMcI3mFnKq2dZDyRbqopiv1iGi_MHMRijt2NtxhuUIIe/s320/screen+1.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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this is what your page will look like with your newly uploaded photo:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZzwrJW8W39hXQF8CU8ufzm6zptS7sFtSV16VP6qiLM1byKWrS1jqak0KR2Xj15ILWV5JVq2immpzUJleOJTSzFP9d2qWX7-rf8TPDiX-E_mDfRqISYDs2k6khvrc-DxYwML8/s1600/screen+2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZzwrJW8W39hXQF8CU8ufzm6zptS7sFtSV16VP6qiLM1byKWrS1jqak0KR2Xj15ILWV5JVq2immpzUJleOJTSzFP9d2qWX7-rf8TPDiX-E_mDfRqISYDs2k6khvrc-DxYwML8/s320/screen+2.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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to add your overlay, click on the fourth tab above your photo (see below in orange) - the <b>Layers </b>tab. once in the Layers tab, the four buttons will be in the toolbar: Photos, Sticker, Text, and Shape. choose "<b>Photo</b>".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5xgeFdtmyalsyyubzpgmOMKIfMAgtqeYWp1sZd5SdhielNF48dbH9x6259GNLZ1-EsuOMsT-GwRbh8dJfJPutndYmKfktIYjHrBrudunvx3S_4C8q0U2e0G2MWQWRXpmBtM2/s1600/screen+3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5xgeFdtmyalsyyubzpgmOMKIfMAgtqeYWp1sZd5SdhielNF48dbH9x6259GNLZ1-EsuOMsT-GwRbh8dJfJPutndYmKfktIYjHrBrudunvx3S_4C8q0U2e0G2MWQWRXpmBtM2/s320/screen+3.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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a new sidebar will appear full of all your photos previously uploaded to ipiccy. mine is full but yours will be empty. choose "<b>Add Photo</b>" to upload your overlay. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOxlErX4XIjGfBKYRrQ25OhdBxSeVjV4tcRoj00vUZianvLOKIj2nSiFq8wgFkFmrCrk3j-tvSuaJz8XUYcrr1AH93NLkclgLzMYQdMSS8MemNR1u4nQm-keHBd-Zq1h9X8Ta5/s1600/screen+4.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOxlErX4XIjGfBKYRrQ25OhdBxSeVjV4tcRoj00vUZianvLOKIj2nSiFq8wgFkFmrCrk3j-tvSuaJz8XUYcrr1AH93NLkclgLzMYQdMSS8MemNR1u4nQm-keHBd-Zq1h9X8Ta5/s320/screen+4.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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when you downloaded your .png file, it may have been in a .zip drive. your .png files need to be OUT of the zip drive and into the file folder before you can use them here. i'm going to choose the <a href="http://www.designerdigitals.com/digital-scrapbooking/supplies/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=Ali+Edwards+Design&x=0&y=0">Ali Edwards</a> "growing" overlay from my file here and press "open". <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmuIfBuLEuI9S77fOMVuBmzXMoLbWwFksjU9CtAi2cNZBjzjqSC-JFBGCx64aklTkkeyO2VhKEpeN66xot5rnLPIvbA6HWcc3oykH60t8mDxtImkKztq3ToKOnDK6BdE3rGbao/s1600/screen+5.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmuIfBuLEuI9S77fOMVuBmzXMoLbWwFksjU9CtAi2cNZBjzjqSC-JFBGCx64aklTkkeyO2VhKEpeN66xot5rnLPIvbA6HWcc3oykH60t8mDxtImkKztq3ToKOnDK6BdE3rGbao/s320/screen+5.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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here is the GROWING overlay in my sidebar! <i>(next to my cute <a href="http://www.avegasgirlatheart.com/2012/06/freebie-friday-love-this-photoshop.html">freebie overlay from A Vegas Girl At Heart)</a></i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3fC6ue39N-_jq3GcTpgNuXaOYH_oxvFoWdhuX5SWOfbsHZYGahwpip6c3cwF615KwCtSsHvGQrvwtf6Ry9hGCHU0gaI9x7WePRCWhpnVbBj5ELJK7hq_k-dG8n-DkB953qHOW/s1600/screen+6.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3fC6ue39N-_jq3GcTpgNuXaOYH_oxvFoWdhuX5SWOfbsHZYGahwpip6c3cwF615KwCtSsHvGQrvwtf6Ry9hGCHU0gaI9x7WePRCWhpnVbBj5ELJK7hq_k-dG8n-DkB953qHOW/s320/screen+6.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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simply DRAG it over to your photo! easy! a new sidebar will pop up with that new layer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgikGxiwxaSwBWaL2bZ-1yPSj2ku2gUN2R9LszILDtzXQKTSd_IlA7ZbNj3utEUotkaht6QDcO_PFDjD3fppbApNJ4qkhSlKiF9fwsQJxr3ARviPJPItaNAlNv901cxXO-zGYAp/s1600/screen+7.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgikGxiwxaSwBWaL2bZ-1yPSj2ku2gUN2R9LszILDtzXQKTSd_IlA7ZbNj3utEUotkaht6QDcO_PFDjD3fppbApNJ4qkhSlKiF9fwsQJxr3ARviPJPItaNAlNv901cxXO-zGYAp/s320/screen+7.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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to make it see through, select the overlay on the photo (as you see it selected above) then go to the sidebar and at the top in "<b>Blend Mode</b>", it says <b>Normal.</b> Click the down arrow and choose "<b>Overlay</b>". </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiCqEH1DX1i56qCYhKj2IZR7ENhbfhIHNw8zPKlfrDxl3s4CryXB45aUDV_2YAT0CCI2hyphenhyphenJSppcyWNOnXXWkjlpi2vp1GfYGIaUNDJ_RDY72HWBMN1dfpjBASorEThDX82Ig_8/s1600/screen+8.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiCqEH1DX1i56qCYhKj2IZR7ENhbfhIHNw8zPKlfrDxl3s4CryXB45aUDV_2YAT0CCI2hyphenhyphenJSppcyWNOnXXWkjlpi2vp1GfYGIaUNDJ_RDY72HWBMN1dfpjBASorEThDX82Ig_8/s1600/screen+8.PNG" /></a></div>
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Your overlay will be see through and you can use the "Fade" to change this. There are also many other features within this sidebar to play with! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9B9pJL3ICInm7O9uKhrQh8j-MlrCAsZtLIz_m6xQqwL35d10XchMsF5yOMOfl1A2_8MFjrquhXU22VZJC5VEubtMKP8-zEWDa5IePUvVNBGzJsQhlde4fpaQFhM-TuaGa1ngl/s1600/screen+9.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9B9pJL3ICInm7O9uKhrQh8j-MlrCAsZtLIz_m6xQqwL35d10XchMsF5yOMOfl1A2_8MFjrquhXU22VZJC5VEubtMKP8-zEWDa5IePUvVNBGzJsQhlde4fpaQFhM-TuaGa1ngl/s320/screen+9.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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When you're finished in the Layers Tab, click the orange "<b>Done</b>" button in the top right corner and this will take you back to the main photo tab. Now, if you're finished, click the <b>Disk</b> tab (down the row from the Layers tab) <b>to Save</b>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgJ71Pt5KZmkGN1g2U_B3jNpCLjlOkQx6fmApRzHzDSO7JDxUVx_T-ZmjVdt4HK8IIhM1K6-A-sw-toeVXds856CwCUkNAoNFPinaxXCzwanhyphenhyphenIPM3sdUQPGVLmU5hkgZDfPEf/s1600/screen+11.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="77" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgJ71Pt5KZmkGN1g2U_B3jNpCLjlOkQx6fmApRzHzDSO7JDxUVx_T-ZmjVdt4HK8IIhM1K6-A-sw-toeVXds856CwCUkNAoNFPinaxXCzwanhyphenhyphenIPM3sdUQPGVLmU5hkgZDfPEf/s320/screen+11.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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That little disk will take you to this page where you can rename your photo whatever you like and save it into the correct file. And you're finished! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqlJvjpwFkDdO7NQ3ITLRpIONd94_N2I5KmLGtiMeE4bHQqdgjJ0XeaBgBMbowrkval5Yelt0KFmkjbyQEbXwovilrfrHAsEXRwb50JA6LXMmsSq-kJQaxYqkPbWWsTr0H01B/s1600/screen+10.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqlJvjpwFkDdO7NQ3ITLRpIONd94_N2I5KmLGtiMeE4bHQqdgjJ0XeaBgBMbowrkval5Yelt0KFmkjbyQEbXwovilrfrHAsEXRwb50JA6LXMmsSq-kJQaxYqkPbWWsTr0H01B/s320/screen+10.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Ben S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05511086100738637804noreply@blogger.com1