Project 365

I like to call myself a scrapbooker. The amount of supplies gathering dust in my bedroom tells a different story. Except for an occasional card or school project, I haven't used the paper, glue, stickers, etc. I have collected in over a year. I'm really missing that small part of my life because a.) me and my family love looking back through the books that I have completed and b.) it's a hobby I enjoy.

A few months ago, I took advantage of a free photo book offer from Snapfish. I put together a quick book of my favorite art work from the kids along with pictures of them. They LOVE seeing themselves in a real book, and it is a great way to have all those cool art projects in one place and not have to keep the real ones. So completing that book has relit the fire within. I am pumped and ready to document some memories dangit!

I am excited to share the answer to my dilemna. It's called Project 365 designed by Becky Higgins, who is a long-time scrapbook designer. Basically, you take a picture every day for the year and journal whatever you feel is important for that day. Anything.

I know what you're thinking. That seems like too much work to remember to take a picture every day. It may be hard for some, but I'm a girl who has the camera out by the computer or on the piano all the time. Since I sit at the computer at least once a day to check email, I try to take that time to jot down my journaling for the day before, or that day if I'm on top of things. I go through photos every couple days. I love the way it has changed my perspective. I am more aware of little milestones the kids reach, the things I enjoy, fun moments or conversations I share with people. I do miss days taking a photo, but I just go back and take a picture of something that represents what I want to say or remember for the day. I've noticed the kids getting involved in too. They ask me to take pictures of things or let them take pictures. It's become a fun project.

I have yet to do so, but I will buy some of these.Just google 12x12 sheet protectors, 4x6, and a page of places to buy them comes up. They might be at a local office supply store, but I haven't checked yet.

There was an entire kit for sale designed by Becky Higgins but it is long gone. I would have bought one if I had known about it when they went on sale. The $40 was well worth it for what you have at the end of the year. She has offered a free download of some of the items from the kit since it was grossly under-produced. I downloaded the freebies here and use them in photoshop to type out journaling.

Here's one week I did all digital in Photoshop. I will probably just print out lots of journaling cards and write on them instead of typing. I need that hands on stuff and I like to see my handwriting change through the years. Embrace your handwriting right? It's a part of you after all.
This week was kinda travel-logey (yep, it's a word now). I have done other weeks of spotlighting each member of our family, writing down funny things the kids say, etc. It really is a fun way to scrapbook without the time-consuming parts of scrapbooking. I love it!!

How do you cope??

I've been such a bad blogger. I've started three different posts in the last few weeks and haven't finished any of them. One would think that being cooped up in the house with all this rain would give me time to keep updated.......

Speaking of all the rain- I'm thankful for it. I do love the rain. I don't love how stir crazy it makes the kids. I have major cabin fever. What do you do when the rain, or snow, keeps everyone cooped up inside?

I have been forced to stare at my blah rooms and decided to spruce them up with some color. Paint is cheap, especially when you score some bearable colors at the $5 section at Home Depot. It has been just the pick-me-up I needed and the kids love the change too. Dave? He is kinda indifferent to those kind of things, which is fine.

I painted the kids room a straight-out-of-the-can dark blue. Definitely out of the box for me. The kids love to show everyone who comes over their "new" room.

My brother Tom replaced our kitchen countertops and sink last week, finally. The old countertops were crumbling away under the Formica, the sink was scary, and the cold water was down to a trickle. I won't even mention the scary things Tom found in the wall. He worked on the kitchen while I mixed up a paint color I could live with from a garish gallon of teal ($5!) some brown (you guessed it, another 5 bucks) and ivory. I don't know why I waited so long to just paint the walls. I am loving the color. Thank you Sami for watching my kids while I worked with Tom. I really appreciate it. We were in a state of chaos for about 3 days but the end result is worth it. The kids had a hard time leaving Uncle Tom alone so he could work. They love playing, teasing and jumping all over him. Most of all they love him to throw them around and wrestle. Even little Syd lights up when Tom comes in the house now. She would toddle over to him and dance around or smile then turn away so he could chase her. We also had a heck of a time keeping them out of all the fun tools that covered every inch of the kitchen/dining area. Thankfully, no children were hurt in the making of this quick renovation. I want to get some before and after shots up soon just for fun.

I am done with take-out for awhile. I couldn't cook for a couple days, so we (begrudgingly) ate lots of In & Out and chinese for dinner. The kids loved the In & Out part. Since it was the last week of February, I had decided on Sunday to play a little game with myself and not spend any money all week. Then we got the word that the kitchen could be done this week and that shot my plan out the window. We ended up spending a lot of money. :)

I miss thee little blog. I am kinda in a funk lately and don't feel like I have much positive to say. I'll be back soon.

randomness

I have a lot running through my head lately and need to vent a little. I'll probably regret it. Oh well.So here's an example of why Valentine's Day, though a nice sentiment, is kind of a trivial and definitely over-commercialized holiday. First, let me say I do have a few fond memories of making special Valentine's for family and friends in elementary school, and making and decorating cool boxes to take to school. It is also nice to plaster happy red hearts around the house in the middle of winter to chase away the blahs. For me, Valentine's Day is a time to think of special friends and family and give them a little something if so inclined. Does it really warrant 3 full aisles at Walmart or Target of candy, stuffed animals, trinkets, Valentine's in any cartoon or TV character, and dollar-store items that get thrown away after a week? We bought the kids Valentines cards to give out to their classmates at school. I'm not sure why. They like making them for much cheaper and they are more meaningful that way. Each kid came home with a cute Valentine holder made in class filled with Valentine's from classmates with the now traditional piece of candy or toy attached...................
They haven't opened them yet and it's been a week. All the junk at the store is overkill, and according to my kids, not that important. They have kept the Valentine's from good friends and the rest is sitting on my dresser collecting dust. Just saying.

My attitude towards sweets has to change. I am a sweet tooth, big time. Whether it be inner conflict induced or from outside things, the first thing I do when stressed out is head for sugar. So apparently I am stressed out lately because I can't stay away from sweets (I'm not getting good sleep either), and now I have a huge cold sore to prove it. I feel stifled by the rain because getting out to pound the pavement is really my only mode of exercise right now. It's frustrating. It also seems like as soon as I get motivated to make an exercise routine I get sick. Aaaahhhhhhhh!

I am feeling so uneasy and conflicted. I think it's God's way of telling me that I need to change some things, my routine, my habits, etc. I am a creature of habit and it's slow going, but I'm working on improving myself.
Just
need
to
find
the
motivation
first.

Healthy again

After being cooped up with sick kids the last 2 weeks, it was refreshing to sneak out on a lazy morning yesterday to go on a walk by myself. I decided to make it a complete ME field trip and take my camera to play around after I walked. Well, 'after' turned out to be in the middle of the walk because I happened upon a few critters that wouldn't be there when I came back.
I don't know what came over me with the spider. We watched Charlotte's Web with the kids last night, and I think I had a little left over empathy for Charlotte. As I type now, I can say those feelings have passed and I'm back to my usual disgust of anything eight-legged.It made me happy to get out early to enjoy a beautiful morning, talk to God, and exercise my shrinking muscles. Thank goodness we are healthy again!