Category: Family

365 Days of Pictures

In the spring, I started a project I had been contemplating for several months. 

"Project 365" is designed to help you capture the everyday moments in your life. Not just the big events and holidays that we usually scrapbook, but the everday minutiae that makes your life YOUR LIFE.  I think it is a really cool idea. 

I often think back on my childhood and wonder "Did I do that?" when I'm watching my kids play.  How cool it would be to look back at a snapshot of my life at age 7, for example, and see what I was doing then – and even share that with my kids!

The only reason it took me 3 months to get off my duff and do the project was the thought of remembering to take a picture a day (of what, I thought?) and then actually scrapbooking all those pictures. 

I finally bit the bullet in March and started snapping away.  However, I quickly realized that doing this the "traditional" scrapbooking way was going to drive me to drink.  Too much repetition and too much cutting (the template I was using was quite complicated).

So, I decided to make this a digital project.  Sooo much easier. I created the template and now I'm catching up on my album.  It's so much easier. Just drag & drop the pictures into the placeholders and focus on the journaling and decorative aspects of the page. I've decided to keep the pages pretty simple. I want people to focus on the pictures and the stories, not the fancy do-dads. 

Here's a sample:
 365-1

Here's one with a little more decoration:

365-2

I'm chugging along, and actually enjoying the project, now that I am doing it digitally. I'm less overwhelmed by the thought of cutting all those little squares of paper and photos and focusing more on what pictures I want to take to capture the story of a particular day.
And, you don't have to stick to the layout.

For example, the week of Easter, I decided to focus on two things: decorating eggs and Easter morning. So, rather than having a photo for each day of the week, I just concentrated my photos on those two things to represent that week. 

Here's how it turned out:
365-3

It also gave me a chance to easily handle portrait-style pictures without a lot of cropping:
365-4

Think you want to give it a try? Here's the template (In StoryBook Creator Plus 3.0 format) for you to try it out. You will notice I created it in a StoryBook (rather than page print) file.  That way, I can see the two pages side by side (I love that feature) for lining things up and gaining symmetry.  I can always print individual pages if I choose (and I will) to drop into my existing 12×12 album.

Have fun!

Where’s the handbook, please?

Has anyone seen the handbook?

You know the one….

Parenting your Child: Part 2 (The Pre-Teen Years)

I don’t think I got that with my order…

(or any other handbooks for that matter) But I really, really need this one.

You see, I have this wonderful, beautiful, intelligent child.  And about every, oh, day or so, she is invaded by a creature that takes over her consciousness. You know the creature I’m talking about…  The one who thinks parents are so lame and don’t know anything.  The one who thinks little sisters (or brothers) are stupid and a pain.  The one who has the most irrational reactions (good and bad) about the most mundane of things.

When she gets like this I need to find the switch, lever, or button, that will change her back.  Because I’m not quite sure what to do with this other model.  I’m hoping the handbook will show me where the button is, or how to take the batteries out so I can do a reset. (works on my ipod, why not here?)

So, if you happen to have an unused or extra manual lying around, could you loan it to me?  I’m thinking I’ll only need it for the next, oh, eight to ten years… sigh.

If…

MaryBeth_If

One of MB’s recent school projects was to complete a worksheet entitled “If.”  It is interesting to view the world from the eyes of an 8 year old.   To her, 20 is the ultimate age and Presidents go to Sweet and Sassy to get “butiful.”

I love that she is looking forward to growing up and going to college (crlig) and find it funny/sweet that she thinks at 20 she will have a home on the lake. (but who knows?)

She is clever – and had decided that if she only had one wish it would be to wish for never ending wishes…. wouldn’t we all?

Here are my answers to her quiz.

  1. If I could be any age I would be… the age I am now. because I’m happy here.
  2. If I won the lottery, the first thing I would do is pay off our bills and invest the rest wisely.
  3. If I could have one wish, I would wish for my children to have happy and productive lives full of health and joy-filled experiences.
  4. If I could be the President of the US I would retire. Immediately. That has got to be the worst job in the world to have.
  5. If I could meet any movie star or sports star, I would choose this is a hard one… there aren’t any that I would really care one way or another about meeting.

What would yours be?

If…

MaryBeth_If

One of MB's recent school projects was to complete a worksheet entitled "If."  It is interesting to view the world from the eyes of an 8 year old.  

To her, 20 is the ultimate age and Presidents go to Sweet and Sassy to get "butiful."
I love that she is looking forward to growing up and going to college (crlig) and find it funny/sweet that she thinks at 20 she will have a home on the lake. (but who knows?)

She is clever – and had decided that if she only had one wish it would be to wish for never ending wishes…. wouldn't we all?

Here are my answers to her quiz.

  1. If I could be any age I would be… the age I am now. because I'm happy here.
  2. If I won the lottery, the first thing I would do is pay off our bills and invest the rest wisely.
  3. If I could have one wish, I would wish for my children to have happy and productive lives full of health and joy-filled experiences.
  4. If I could be the President of the US I would retire. Immediately. That has got to be the worst job in the world to have.
  5. If I could meet any movie star or sports star, I would choose this is a hard one… there aren't any that I would really care one way or another about meeting.

What would yours be?

Updates and new photos

Sorry, y’all… have been slack in the updates. It’s been a busy few months in the Houston household! Even though I am working from home, it seems like work never ends.  The line between ‘work’ and ‘home’ is non-existant and I tend to work until Rob says “Okay, honey, walk away and come and be with us now.”  Job is great, but there is a never-ending list of things to do and because it’s internationally-focused, I get emails and calls 24 hours a day. So, it’s hard when you want a clean inbox… there just never is one!

Anyway, here are some recent pictures:

Mary Beth’s 8th Birthday:

Hannah Montana joined us for the afternoon

Had a tree fall in the backyard…

a very big tree!

Updates and new photos

Sorry, y'all… have been slack in the updates. It's been a busy few months in the Houston household! Even though I am working from home, it seems like work never ends.  The line between 'work' and 'home' is non-existant and I tend to work until Rob says "Okay, honey, walk away and come and be with us now."  Job is great, but there is a never-ending list of things to do and because it's internationally-focused, I get emails and calls 24 hours a day. So, it's hard when you want a clean inbox… there just never is one!

Anyway, here are some recent pictures:

Mary Beth's 8th Birthday:

Hannah Montana joined us for the afternoon
















Had a tree fall in the backyard…

a very big tree!

Travelling and stress

Okay, so this week starts the big holiday travel season.
I love to travel. I do. Really.
It's the getting ready to travel part that stresses me out. I hate trying to figure out what to pack, what the weather might be
(what if it changes and an unexpected polar front hits? will I be prepared?)

It's ludicrous really. If I look at it from outside my own brain, it's really very silly.


And yet, I can't help myself. I find myself packing and trying to to account for every eventuality and do as the Boy Scouts – always be prepared.
And what is really sad is the fact that the more time I have to prepare for a trip, the worse I am. I pack, repack, unpack, and pack some more. I wash all the clothes in the house and then lay them out on the bed to analyze, reconfigure, and pack.

The sad thing is, I do this for everyone in my household.

So, you can imagine the size of our duffel bags when I'm done! It's crazy! A weekend trip may involve 6-7 outfits (multiple changes per day, just in case someone falls in a river or something) and a dozen pairs of underwear.

Is this OCD?
Who knows.

My family laughs at me and says we've never been anywhere where there were no stores to buy more things if we need them (as if!).
But, I will tell you this… I've learned it's really nice to have options. And to know when your kid dumps an entire drink in her lap as you drive down the highway that you've got it covered.


Call me crazy, maybe.

Or, call me a Boy Scout in disguise.



Travelling and stress

Okay, so this week starts the big holiday travel season.

I love to travel. I do. Really.

It’s the getting ready to travel part that stresses me out. I hate trying to figure out what to pack, what the weather might be

(what if it changes and an unexpected polar front hits? will I be prepared?)


It’s ludicrous really. If I look at it from outside my own brain, it’s really very silly.

And yet, I can’t help myself. I find myself packing and trying to to account for every eventuality and do as the Boy Scouts – always be prepared.

And what is really sad is the fact that the more time I have to prepare for a trip, the worse I am. I pack, repack, unpack, and pack some more. I wash all the clothes in the house and then lay them out on the bed to analyze, reconfigure, and pack.

The sad thing is, I do this for everyone in my household. So, you can imagine the size of our duffel bags when I’m done! It’s crazy! A weekend trip may involve 6-7 outfits (multiple changes per day, just in case someone falls in a river or something) and a dozen pairs of underwear.

Is this OCD?

Who knows.

My family laughs at me and says we’ve never been anywhere where there were no stores to buy more things if we need them (as if!).

But, I will tell you this… I’ve learned it’s really nice to have options. And to know when your kid dumps an entire drink in her lap as you drive down the highway that you’ve got it covered.

Call me crazy, maybe. Or, call me a Boy Scout in disguise.