Jennifer Woodbury

2012 Photos | Week 3 | Jan 15-21

Ready for karate.

Lucy has had a hard time transitioning into her naps lately. She really hates to think she's missing out on something that Claire is doing downstairs, so I have started taking both her and Claire upstairs after lunch to read together before putting her to bed. It has become one of my favorite parts of the day, even if neither one of them ever actually lets me read to them (they are far too busy "reading" to themselves).

All of my errands seem to revolve around the locations of my children's activities. Claire's ballet studio this year is right around the corner from Trader Joe's, thus Trader Joe's Tuesdays were born. Claire dances while Lucy and I go grocery shopping.

I joined a gym in January... how cliché is that? It wasn't because of some grand New Year's resolution though. Basically I just needed access to a treadmill. It finally got too cold (by my own admittedly weak standards) for me to run outside.

Except for a fresh coat of paint and a new rug, Lucy has had a mostly hand-me-down room her entire life. But after a trip to IKEA for a new picture frame, it’s finally clear who this room really belongs to.

It's amazing how inspiring a cardboard box can be to kids. This one, which was by the door waiting for me to drop it off at the post office, was hijacked by the girls to make an imaginary lemonade stand on a snowy Saturday morning.

Finally, it snowed!

On Friday night, when the snow was supposed to start falling, Ella got out of bed and called down the stairs for Matt. I impatiently asked her what she needed, thinking it was just one of the usual bedtime stall tactics. "Never mind" she quietly replied and turned to get back into bed. I softened a bit and asked again what it was that she needed. "I just wanted to ask Dad if I could help him shovel tomorrow," she said. It was the sweetest thing. Ella has been Matt's shoveling buddy since she was two years old.

Of course, Ella did help shovel in the morning, as did Claire. We even gave Lucy a little plastic beach shovel to carry around. I didn't think Lucy would last long in the snow but she was one tough cookie, taking determined little robot steps in the snow with her clunky boots. She even went sledding with me in the backyard and didn't start crying to go inside until it looked like her nose was about to freeze off.

Momento

I have always struggled to find a good way to keep track of small moments, like those funny things the girls say or other little memories that I don't want to forget. Sometimes I use Twitter and Facebook for this, but I tend to only share things on social media that I think other people will relate to or also find humorous, so a lot of stuff ends up not getting recorded that way. I have also purchased books which inevitably ended up collecting dust in the back of a closet, and when all else failed I resorted to just keeping an e-mail in my Drafts folder that I accessed when I wanted to write something down. It was better than nothing, but not ideal by any means.

Then at the beginning of the year a few friends told me about the Momento app for iPhone. This app is exactly what I have been searching for. I always have my phone with me so it is easily accessible and I love how it keeps everything so organized. Here is a screen shot of what it looks like when I open the app with all my "moments" nicely arranged by date:

I also love how you can connect the Momento app with your Facebook and Twitter feeds so your status updates and tweets automatically show up in your calendar. I now have easy access to all of those posts going back several years. And if you include an Instagram or other photo when you post to Facebook & Twitter, a little thumbnail of the photo shows up in your entry as well. You can add photos to any of your own private moments too. Here's an example of how Momento displays my New Year's Eve post from Twitter:

Another feature I love is the search option. So for example, I can search for "Claire" and pull up everything that includes her name, thus remembering that at one point in time she was actually a rascally one-year-old:

Momento has been a great resource for recording things to include in my Project Life layouts, but I really think this app would be great for anybody who is interested in journal keeping. I initially balked at the $2.99 price tag (which seems fairly expensive in the app world, but is not a lot of money when you really think about it) but I think it was worth the small investment. Check it out! I'd also love to know: how do you record the small moments in your own life?

2012 Photos | Week 2 | Jan 8-14

Sisters on a Sunday morning. Claire saw this picture on my computer screen and declared, "Mom, I think you get the goodest pictures ever."

Lunch playdate with Claire's best preschool friend, Hope.

Artwork by Claire.

Lucy plays dress-up before bedtime. ("I want dess!")

Lucy was up first on this particular morning (usually she is the last one to wake up). I caught our reflection in the kitchen window as I was pouring her a cup of milk, just as the sun was starting to rise.

Waiting for the bus. This week Ella and I had a conversation about what she wants to be when she grows up. "I'm not sure, but I have a few ideas" she told me. Her current top career aspirations? Mechanic at the Costco tire center and elementary school teacher. Love this girl.

My dress and leggings loving girl has been asking for a pair of jeans for quite a while and this week I finally bought her a pair. She was so excited to wear them with her new purple top. She looks so different (and older) in pants, although of course she manages to be adorable in anything.

2012 Photos | Week 1 | Jan 1-7

The last two years that I have done a "photo a day" (2009 & 2011), I have used a calendar template via my blog provider Typepad to keep track of my photos online. I love the visual organization the calendar offers, but most of all I love that I have journaling for all my photos in an easily accessible place.

This year I am trying to relax a bit and aiming for more of a weekly approach in my Project Life album. I will still do one two-page spread for each week, I just might not necessarily have a photo for every single day. I do still very much want to focus on capturing our daily lives (which is what I truly love about the photo a day concept), so I still plan to try to take a photo on most days, I just don't want to feel quite so pressured to feel like there has to be a photo for each and every day.

This means that the calendar format won't necessarily work as well for me this year. Yet I still want a place to post my pictures + journaling for each week. So instead I am going to try having a weekly post dedicated just to the photos I plan to use in my main Project Life spread for that particular week. Here's Week 1...

Week in Review: We rang in 2012 surrounded by extended family in New Jersey, and then as our holiday break drew to a close we spent the remainder of the week easing back into our regular school + work + everyday life routines.

The girls with Matt's parents (Grandma Kathy & Grandpa Beau) on New Year's Day.

Waiting for Claire outside the ballet studio.

Cold day, hot chocolate. I made a little after school treat for the girls on Wednesday, the coldest day of winter so far. By the end of the week though, temperatures were pushing 60 degrees... and we still haven't had any snow! But I can't complain after our overdose of the white stuff last winter.

We love these Swedish moccasins during the winter, although in our house we have always called them mukluks. Each of the girls has at least two pairs and they wear them to bed every night during the cold months.

My jewelry lover trying on my necklaces.

 Thursday morning. Lucy can be such a ham when she feels like it. If she sees the camera she will tilt her head just so, smile, and say "cheese!"

Project Life: Getting Started

Happy 2012! Who's ready to get started with Project Life?

Just before Christmas I got my Clementine Core Kit in the mail, which is what I plan to use for my 2012 Project Life album (I absolutely love this design by the way!). Almost immediately, I started putting together my 2012 album. Of course, this is not something you have to do, but I really think that having my album put together and organized ahead of time was key to my success with Project Life in 2011. For those embarking on this project for the first time, I thought it might be helpful to share exactly how I put my album together. The whole thing took me a couple of hours. I basically did it in the space of one evening after the kids went to bed, with everything spread out on the living room floor and half of my attention on the TV in the background. Not a lot of effot, but totally worth it.

I was going to type up my process step by step but then I realized that Becky Higgins has basically already done that for me but in video form, so it's even better. You can watch her video here. Just note that she is using one of the older Project Life designs. Things are set up a little differently now, so you won't have the colorful monthly dividers in your kit, for example (although if you want something similar these Scrapbook Dividers will be back in stock this month). Once all the title and journaling cards are in the album, this is an example of what a layout will look like:

(Just to note, I alternated the Clementine journaling cards with the basic grid journaling cards).

Of course I can always change things later on, but it is so helpful to have the framework set up ahead of time.

One additional step that I take is to add the dates to my title cards in advance. Of course, you'd only want to do this if you're sure you are going to do one layout for each week of the year (or you could always just use sticky notes instead if you're still not sure exactly what your plans are). Having the dates already on the layouts was so helpful this past year as I was adding extra items to my album because I knew exactly where to put them even if I was behind on printing pictures or journaling. It was just one little thing that really helped keep me on track.

(The date stamp I used here was something included in a previous version of Project Life, but you can find something similar in almost any office supply store.)

My biggest piece of advice to anybody starting out on this project in 2012 is to keep it simple. There is a lot of amazing inspiration out there, which is wonderful, but sometimes it's easy to get overwhelmed with ideas (I speak from personal experience here). Just remember that the beauty of this project is its simplicity. Don't overthink it. Just do it.

(See additional Project Life posts here and here.)

merry & bright

 

(Card design by Minted. Original poetry by Matt.)

Us

Have you ever looked at a picture of yourself and thought "Is that really me?" because it just doesn't represent the way you see yourself? It happens to me all the time.

Five years ago, when Ella was Lucy's age, Tara Whitney took our family photos. I'm continually amazed at Tara's ability to truly see people and relationships with her camera. It's why her work draws so many people in, and also why she can never really be duplicated. So when she mentioned she was coming to New York City for Thanksgiving, I knew I had to have her document us again five years and two new little people later.

The weather in the days leading up to Thanksgiving was not optimal. Tara and I had to move dates around, push the time up, and even so we just barely missed a downpour that started almost exactly as our session was ending. It was chilly and windy with a smattering of raindrops here and there, and a certain one-year-old had better things to be doing (but what one-year-old doesn't?). But we just went with the flow, had fun despite the weather, and Tara managed to capture this:

Of course, there were cupcakes involved.

And a taxi cab. You may know that Ella has a thing for cars, and for taxis in particular. So towards the end of our session, we approached a taxi driver and asked if we could borrow his cab for just a minute. I was surprised at how happy he was to oblige. I love running across people like this in New York.

After we said goodbye to Tara and as we warmed ourselves with some Hale & Hearty soup in Chelsea Market, Ella casually said, "So your friend Tara... is she a photographer?" It was adorable. I love that she didn't even think of this as a photo session.

Tara says, "My purpose is to show you what your love looks like, and how the world sees you – and have fun doing it." And she did exactly that. Thank you Tara for truly capturing "us"... again (more here and here).

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Matt and I have celebrated 13 Christmases together since we got married, and we have never once had a real Christmas tree. I have always been somewhat ashamed by this fact, like it is some dark secret akin to having a dozen cats living in my basement (which, for the record, would never happen since I am violently allergic to cats).

Matt grew up with fake trees, so it was never a big deal for him. But me? Well, just to give you an idea, the first line of my high school's alma mater was: "In the land of tall green fir trees." Oregon is the top producer of real Christmas trees. Growing up, cutting down your own tree was just what you did. I didn't really even realize fake trees were an option. Sort of like when we moved to Manhattan back in 1999 I didn't realize that living in a place with no actual bedroom was an option ("Excuse me, studio apartment? No comprendo.")

Last Christmas, our lovely fake pre-lit Costco Christmas tree was starting to show its age. The base was broken and cobbled together with packing tape. Some of the lights stopped working. And I declared then and there that this would be the last year for a fake tree. In 2011, we were going to go out and chop down our very own live Christmas tree.

And so it was.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving we drove up to the tree farm and picked out the Woodbury family's very first real Christmas tree. It was a gloriously sunny, 65 degree day (no coats required). I'm still trying to figure out where I sign up to get that kind of weather in late November every year.

We brought our measuring tape to make sure we got a tree that was just right.

 

Lucy mostly just walked around and looked cute. She's really good at that.

At this point, let me just say that picking out a Christmas tree is stressful for somebody like me who has decision-making issues. Now, if I do say so myself I am pretty good at the big, life-changing decisions. I analyze the facts, make a choice, and very rarely regret it. But give me a small, inconsequential (in the grand scheme of things) choice to make and I absolutely fall apart. Picking a paint color? Paralyzing. Deciding whether to send Claire to Pre-K A or Pre-K B next year (the difference of just a few hours a week)? Matt is still wishing he could get back the hours I spent debating those two options. 

Deciding on a Christmas tree operated in a similar fashion. Is this one too fat? Too skinny? Too bare? Too full? Leaning 7 degrees to the right? Funny on top? There were just too many trees to choose from (funny how that happens at a tree farm).

But eventually we found just the right one.

We strapped it on top of the Volvo, brought it home, and we are now treating it like a fourth child to make sure it stays alive until Christmas.

Our Elf and 24 Christmas Books

Our Christmas elf Buddy arrived last week on December 1st. In the past he's come as soon as our tree went up, but I think he realized this year that if he comes too early, it gets hard to think of unique hiding spots by the time Christmas Eve rolls around. Smart elf.

Like Buddy, I am also really trying to enjoy this holiday season without completely burning myself out by December 24th. It helps that I've realized I can't do everything, and that's okay. I have adopted for myself this saying (from this blog): "Life is Long." Most people - myself included - are so wrapped up in thinking that life is too short. But it's good sometimes for me to step back, take a deep breath, and realize that I can do all the millions of wonderful Christmas things that I want to do with my kids. But I don't have to do them all this year.

That means that sadly, I may skip gingerbread houses this year. Just thinking about how I am going to manage a project of that magnitude with an 18-month-old who gets into everything frankly exhausts me. I'm picturing her climbing on top of the dining table, sticking her hands in the icing, and dumping the bowls of candy upside down (but not before eating a few handfuls first). And that's just in the first five minutes. So we might just stick to cookie baking and decorating this year... something we somehow didn't get around to last year.

One thing I did want to try this year was the idea of doing a holiday book advent calendar: wrapping 24 holiday books and opening one on each day of December leading up to Christmas. Our elf got the memo on this one and helped me out. When he arrived last Thursday he brought with him a basket full of wrapped books and a letter for the girls:

Dear Ella, Claire & Lucy,

I am so happy to see you once more,
This Christmas many fun things are in store!

I love to read and I know you do too,
So I wrapped up a few holiday books just for you.

You can open just one on any given day,
The numbers on the back will show you the way.

Some books are old favorites and some are brand new,
But you'll enjoy them all; I know this is true!

Remember I am watching so be good as gold,
So that only nice things to Santa will be told!

Love,
Buddy

These are the 24 books we will be reading (I was able to get an advance copy of the list), just in case you are looking for some fresh holiday-themed books. There's also still time to do something similar (a "12 Books of Christmas" countdown maybe?) if you've been wanting to do this but couldn't quite pull it together by December 1:

1. A Wish to be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe & Michael G. Monroe
2. Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner & Mark Buehner
3. Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney
4. Olivia Helps with Christmas by Ian Falconer
5. The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet & Allan Ahlberg
6. The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown & Jim Lamarche
7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess
8. Angelina's Christmas by Katharine Holabird and Helen Craig
9. Babar and Father Christmas by Jean de Brunhoff
10. Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett
11. Toot & Puddle I'll be Home for Christmas by Holly Hobbie
12. Olive, the Other Reindeer by Vivan Walsh
13. Christmas is Here adapted from the King James Bible & illustrated by Lauren Castillo
14. Olivia Claus by Kama Einhorn & Jared Osterhold
15. Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner & Cristopher Silas Neal
16. Santa Claus by Rod Green, Carol Wright, Simon Danaher, & Jon Lucas
17. Snow Angels: A Christmas Story by Andrew Glass & Kathy Nausley
18. The Carpenter's Gift by David Rubel & Jim LaMarche
19. It's Christmas, David! by David Shannon
20. Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck and Mark Buehner
21. The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers
22. A Christmas Goodnight by Nola Buck & Sarah Jane Wright
23. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
24. The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore & Cheryl Harness

About one third of these books are new, and the rest are ones we've collected over the past few years. If you know of any must-read Christmas books that we don't have, I'd love to hear about them so we can add them to our list to check out!

Why We're Not Traveling for Thanksgiving This Year

Around this time every year for the past five years, we've been getting ready to board an airplane and spend Thanksgiving with Matt's parents in St. George, Utah. My kids don't know this holiday any other way. To them, Thanksgiving is always spent with cousins, aunts, and uncles they don't get to see very often. It's about making gingerbread houses with Grandma Kathy. It's when Matt goes golfing with his dad. And even for me, Thanksgiving is now about enjoying a little desert air before heading back to face an East Coast winter and stuffing myself with turkey and Cafe Rio. It's also about figuring out how in the world we're going to get a full-sized gingerbread house through airport security intact on the trip home.

So I'm a little sad to report that we won't be flying west for the holiday this year. Part of it is that the trip just seems like a lot of effort considering we can't stay as long as we used to now that Ella is in school. But most of the reason has to do with this:

This was Lucy on the plane as we were getting ready to take off to Orlando for our Disney trip back in September. She looks angelic, doesn't she?

Well, this was her after that flight on the Magical Express bus to our Disney resort:

Yeah, that bus ride wasn't so "magical" for me or anyone else who was lucky enough to be on board with us.

So this year, instead of flying for five hours we'll be driving for two to spend Thanksgiving with cousins, an aunt, and an uncle who we luckily do get to see fairly often. We won't have Grandma Kathy to help with the gingerbread houses but we will have Grandpa Paul (aka my dad) visiting from Oregon. Maybe Matt can play pickleball with him instead of golf? Sadly there's really no replacement for Cafe Rio, but there's always my old standby Panera Bread. And at the very least, we won't have any gingerbread houses stuffed into overhead bins this year... or screaming and belligerent one-year-olds sitting in a window seat.