Smash*Booking with the kids!

Phew!!  What a crazy couple of days!!  Or I should say: What a crazy couple of weeks!
Sadly, my nieces left yesterday.  Yes, I was able to hold back the tears until I got home.  I blamed it on the most recent episode of True Blood  while we were catching up but seriously, I was missing them so much!
We had a BLAST while they were here and I picked up a couple of Smash*Books for them to make of their time here because I read a GREAT review on them here.  In my hunt for the original blog post that sold me on the books, I found two other great examples of Smash*Books here: the Wreck This Girl Blog and this Memory Works post.
Keeping the Smash*Books in mind, we tried to keep EVERYTHING we could think of to put in their books.  Originally, I had wanted them to start on them the day they arrived and add to the books nightly but we ended up not getting to them until it was closer to the day they left - which actually turned out a bit better since we could reminisce about the earlier things we had all done together.  There were some pockets of downtime since Georgia has been having crazy rain all Summer!  :(  Kind of a downer but it made Smash*Book time more fun.

Here's Amaya's book that she made herself - including a few memorable stories.





The cover with the super-awesome pen+glue / The very first page with a hilarious story about macaroni and cheese. The girls LOVE accents and this one was about them hearing a very Southern accent / The day we went to the movies / The day the grandmas took them to Sky Zone (I wish I had gone!!) / Cotton candy at the fresh.iam pop-up shop with my sister / Adventures at North Point Mall / Adventures at Mall of Georgia / A great story about Amaya's intro to Disney Vinylmations.  Tess at the Disney Store at Mall of Georgia is WONDERFUL and she is the one Amaya is talking about in her story / Photobooth fun and bungee jumping / Medieval Times!!  That was so much fun! / The girls at their fort / Pancakes at IHOP plus some cute images from our Captain Underpants-themed birthday party / It wouldn't be Amaya's book without some Skylanders stuff included (she LOVES them) / Oni got Amaya the coolest 3D puzzle of a swan / We took the kids to Bone Garden, the Cartoon Network store (which will be in another post) and we TRIED to get a ride on the newest addition to ATL: the Sky View ferris wheel but the weather rained us out / Pool time (there was A LOT of it) and our fun night at Ru San's for sushi!

So much fun!!  I highly recommend these books if you're looking to document special events - especially with kids.  I mean, the kits are a little pricey but since they come with tabs, mini journals, a pen / glue stick, tape and a bunch of other things, it's DEFINITELY worth the money because they'll have something they'll remember forever and it's all self-contained!  You don't need to buy anything extra - unless you really want to.  I'm thinking about starting my own to document my time with the girls this Summer so I can not only share with the fun but to experiment for the next time we get to make these!

Everything all at once!

Here I go again being a bad blogger...sorry folks.  It has been relly busy at work and it feels like I haven't done anything too exciting since I made that coffee video!  But seriously - things are going CRAZY.  My friend from high school is moving to Japan for a year, we upgraded the studio cameras at work to HD and I'm trying to get VERY familiar with them so that I feel comfortable using them, the old man and I are preparing for two very special house guests and yes, I heard the news about Cory Monteith.  Who didn't, right?!
I heard the news via Tumblr while I was uploading my coffee video.  It sounded like a Twitter death hoax for about 15 minutes and then, The Hollywood Reported confirmed the reports.  So tragic!  I think the Glee crew was supposed to start filming at the end of the month or something.  So crazy.  I've been trying to write a post about it since last Monday but I can't seem to find the words...

In other news - my sister is on the cover of the most recent Creative Loafing! You can read the cover story about +Fresh.i.Am+ here.



Oh - and because John is moving to Japan, he bestowed upon me the greatest collection to archive for us to enjoy forever:



Yep - there's WAY more than just those VHS tapes - there are quite a few mini DVs as well. I was hoping to have them all captured by the time our guests arrive so that I don't have to worry about capturing them in stages but sadly, I'll have to put this project on hold until I can get more free time.  Here's an Instagram video of one of the first tapes I was able to capture.  Too bad I can't figure out how to embed those things yet!  Oh well.  I'm hoping to at least get one more captured before my nieces get here!!!

That's right - our two very special guests are my nieces that live in New York!  They'll be staying with my Mom and my Aunt for about a week and then the old man and I get to take them for a few days.  I'm stressing because we've never had the kids stay with us and I'm a little freaked out.  If I wasn't freaked out, I'd be worried.  Ha!  But seriously - we're getting ready for them to stay with us and we are so excited!!  I bought them their own personal Smash books so they can journal while they're here and since I'll be able to go with my Mom to pick them up at the airport tomorrow, I'm hoping to snap the first photo for their books!  I'll try to stay updated but with the plans we have for them - like going to the pool, going to the mall (A's request), checking out the World of Coca-Cola (I haven't been since I was a kid...),  Amicalola Falls (I hope!) and a bunch of other stuff - I might not be able to.  Maybe I'll make a Tumblr for easy posting?  Or maybe I'll just keep the one I have ^__^

Now - I'm off to help out with moving some stuff.  Happy Monday!!

Happy (belated) Birthday to Nathan Williams!

 

Last week, Nathan Williams celebrated his 26th birthday with the fine folks over at Spin.
Nathan streamed back into the front of my stream of consciousness via HereKitty's Instagram when she posted this lovely cover photo:


Because the photo was so small in my IG feed, I almost passed right over but I'd recognize those two anywhere.  How cute are they?!  I am now on a mission to retrieve this particular issue when it comes out!  I toyed with downloading it via the Spin app on my iPad but I'd much rather hold it in my hands (and tear out the photos). I mean, how perfect would it be to have this photo on my wall?


That would go perfectly with my Summer is Forever iPod playlist...And since I've been playing nothing but Wavves and Best Coast exclusively the last few days, it seems fitting.

I feel like Summer is passing me by at a rapid pace and even on the trip I'll be taking next month, I know I won't be able to really relax because I have to hit the ground running once I get back.  Ugh.  Maybe I can relax in the tail end of August.  Maybe get some West Coast air...

A little Wavves for your afternoon enjoyment

Since I'm in a Summer mood, I'd like to share that with you all by posting this video of Wavves performing King of the Beach at the Drunken Unicorn on September 30, 2010.  You'll have to fast-forward to around 3:06 or feel free to watch the first song as well!


September 2010, huh? That's an awful long absence from Mr. Williams in the ATL. I wish I had the chance to see him on the Weezer Cruise but I had to miss it because of work. I also won't get a chance to see him at the Primavera Festival (for geographical and monetary reasons) but I'm hoping that Nathan decides to come back soon and rock our faces off. I'm dying to hear Poor Lenore live!!  And maybe by then I'll have Poor Lenore all finished up to *possibly* bring with me in a feeble attempt to try and show or give it to him, maybe.  We'll see.  I don't want to look like a total fangirl / tool...