Before I share my Project Life pages, I’d like to take a moment to thank Laura from luckpennylove.com for this gorgeous capture life canvas.  It is beautiful and fits perfectly into our wall collage of photos.

And now … onto Project Life!

This is the new home of my Project Life album …

I found this typewriter table while riding around the neighborhood with my guys.  It fits my Project Life album perfectly — and it makes a great sewing table too!  The bench on the left is a perfect little spot for Samuel to sit and read/draw/work while I’m doing my creative work.

Here’s a look at my Project Life Pages from April 22 – May 27.  Warning:  this is a photo heavy post. Enjoy!

Week 17 (April 22 – April 28) :: Spirit week at Merryhill.  We were also documenting a week in our lives at this time. I kept this spread simple and picked some of my favorite photos from the week to include here.

Week 18 (April 29 – May 5) ::  Played with the Silhouette Cameo the first time this week.  It is such an amazing tool — and really easy to use!

Close-up of a cut-out from the Cameo.  Oh, I’m so in love!

I adore this boy so very much.

Week 19 (May 6 – May 12) ::  Samuel turned 15 months old this week!  Our little baby is growing up too fast — he is looking more like a boy and less of a baby everyday.  I love the photo of him looking at the “big” kids play basketball.  He wants to join in on the action so badly that day — he gathered up enough courage to take a few steps toward them, clapped in excitement and then ran toward me.

A big week around here — Samuel flew to Portland (for the second time — and was an awesome traveler), said “night-night” (more like “ni-ni”), visited the a Children’s Museum for the first time, showed off his fine motor skills by putting coins in a piggy bank, and attended Thao & Marsh’s wedding.

It was also the Week of the Teacher, so in addition to making a 70-page guestbook for my sister’s wedding, I made gifts and cards for Samuel’s teachers.

Week 20 (April 13 – 19) ::  We were in Portland for 6 days and celebrated Mother’s Day with my mom, sister and my friend Laura.  It was a big week for Samuel as he experienced more firsts — visited the Oregon Zoo, rode the train, and said “choo choo.”  We love celebrating firsts!  Oh, he also learned to roll his eyes and give a mean glare at his auntie Thao — this was all her doing of course!  She did it to him and he learned to do it to her — and only her (thank goodness).

We also celebrated the end of the school year with a party and Samuel celebrated with a chocolate chip cookie (another first).

Week 21 (May 20 – 26) :: Hello summer vacation!  Our last day was on Monday, May 21.  We are so grateful for summer vacations.  We need this time to refresh and reenergize ourselves for the upcoming school year.

Being a teacher is a big part of my life and each year, I include many photos of myself at my workplace.  It is interesting how my focus has completely shifted since Samuel arrived.  As I flip through this binder, I see less than a handful of photos of me at work.  There is no picture on this page to indicate the last day of school (as in previous years) — just a simple note to say “goodbye to the 2012 school year.”  I love that this Project Life Edition is simply focused on my thriving family.

Auntie Jo has been present in Samuel’s life since he was born, however, he has never taken the time to play with her like he did today.  To document this story (and several other firsts on this day), I typed up the journaling and placed it underneath the photo.

And because we did not get to celebrate Mother’s day with Jim, we celebrated a belated Mother’s Day during this week.  I got one of the best cards ever …

I love that Samuel is beginning to pick up colors and actually scribble (rather than gnawing).  I save the artwork from our Mother’s Day breakfast.

Summer vacation is in full swing.  We started the vacation with a Mother and Me date at Raley Field.  And then we attacked our garage — Samuel is becoming quite the helper.  He can follow simple directions and is a total neat freak!  The other day, he moved 10 water bottles from one box to another, lining them up very carefully (like an OCD person that I know).  And then we went to a toddler dance class where Samuel was not interested in dancing or singing — he sat with me during most of the class and when he felt comfortable (which was the end of the class), he ran around chasing balloons with his buddies. We ended the week with lots of outdoor play — I think I may have a future basketball star.  Check out his form — and grip on the ball!

Thanks for visiting.  Hope you had a great Memorial Day with your loved ones.