The Wedding Scrapbook - The 4th and Final Part!

And it could very well be the FINAL scrapbook I ever put together.

I really find no enjoyment in scrapbooking whatsoever.

It brings out the worst in me.

If you don't believe me just ask the husband.

BEFORE...

THE TOOLS

So I finally made it to the scrapbook store.

I cannot remember the last time I stepped foot into a scrapbook store.

In case you didn't know--I am a thinker.

I tend to think A LOT.

When the husband asks, "What are you thinking about?"

I have a hard time choosing which thought to share because I have at least 20 thoughts within 30 seconds.

I had several thoughts while browsing the scrapbook store...

Wow, my scrapbook is so boring compared to these examples--
I have saved the husband thousands and thousands of dollars by not scrapbooking all these years, he should really thank me--

Oh my! She's wearing a lot of makeup, I wonder how long it takes her to get ready in the morning?--

With all the millions of stuff here, why don't they have some wedding lettering?

I do not belong here, I need an Advil--

My sister Natalie would so love this place--

And that was just a few seconds worth of thoughts.

It can be exhausting being me.

THE PROCEDURE

I sorted through all the pictures and pulled out my favorites.

Then the baby came in to give me a lovin' and walk all over the pictures.

I counted the pages and figured out just how many pictures I would need.

Then I used my cute little corners to attach the pictures to the pages, pausing every few minutes for more baby lovin's (I did enjoy that part of the procedure).

I took a lunch break and then finished up with the journaling.

There may or may not have been some inappropriate language going on as I kept making mistakes and having to start over.

AFTER...

I won't post all of the pages but here are a few...

The husband is a really good kisser :)

D says There is something very special about you. You have gifts and talents which are your very own. Discover them, if you haven't already, and develop them.

I think we all know which gift and talent I DO NOT have, don't we!

The Wedding Scrapbook - Part 3

Today's BEFORE pictures are Friday's AFTER pictures...

I won't bore you with posting all of them

THE TOOLS

Forgot the splash of yellow but here is a picture of my little guy up to bat at his baseball tournament last night...if you look close you'll see he's sporting a lovely splash of yellow on the back of his jersey.


THE PROCEDURE
The little boy's tournament was almost an hour away, and he had to be there an hour early so I loaded up all my supplies and did my project at the ball field both before and during the game...

I started by penciling in lines with a ruler

(I can't write in a straight line to save my life)

then I journaled all the pages.


AFTER...

I didn't take pictures of all the pages but I did journal them.

I promise.

Now I need to take a trip to the scrapbook store for supplies to finish up the book.

D says A wise parent will make it a practice to be present whenever a child is performing on a program...or in this family, whenever a child is playing baseball, softball, basketball and ESPECIALLY football!

Backing Up My Pictures

I started saving pictures on my computer back in 2008.

They are organized into months and years.

I've been meaning to make back-up copies of them.

Today is the day.

I headed to Costco for THE TOOLS!

THE PROCEDURE

I am clueless when it comes to computer stuff.

I thought I could fit all the pictures onto one flash drive.

I was mistaken.

Each drive only held about one year of pictures.

AFTER...


Today I also helped my little girls with their project!
They have been collecting change for the past 3 months and putting it in this little
"Summer Fun" jar they made...

We headed to the bank to cash it in.
They were so excited to see the total...

Oooh the fun they'll have with 58 dollars and 35 cents!

They decided they will start saving now for next summer so they can have 4 times that much.

Speaking of jars...

D says Many families enjoy the "Job Jar" idea. All you need is an ordinary glass bottle--or any other container for that matter--filled with slips of paper on which various jobs and duties are written. Then every child draws five or six slips to see what his jobs for the week will be.

Well, I survived our first week of summer.

I won't lie to you.

I'm counting the days 'til our vacations.

Organizing the Family Photos/Misc File

You know it's going to be a fantastic day when...

That was taken this morning...

it's now 2:00pm and she's giggling and dancing with her sister.

A miraculous recovery.

I've organized all of the kids files.
Today I moved on to the family file...full of mostly pictures and cards.

BEFORE...

No TOOLS but here is a pair of lovely yellow squash to bring you joy.

Same PROCEDURE as the rest of the files...
except I kept getting interrupted to make toast for the sick one and her little sister who is not sick but loves toast.


AFTER...

D says We've talked a great deal now about the fastest and best way to do things so as to avoid unnecessary work. Please don't misunderstand me; I'm not advocating less work so as to become idle or lazy or suggesting that you develop a disliking for work. Learn to do the required, routine work faster and better so as to have time to pursue some more creative fields of work for your family and home.

Do you think sleep falls under creative fields of work?

The "I'm too Lazy to Take this Stuff Downstairs to the Filing Cabinet" Sack

BEFORE...

This sack

is full of many treasures...

to be filed or scrapbooked.

THE TOOLS
Ok so I didn't actually eat any of this ice cream--unfortunately it's not a sugar day (I think I've mentioned I have a real problem with dessert at all times of the day).
And if I'm being honest, I hate sprinkles, but the kids love them and I needed a splash of yellow :)
BUT just thinking about what it would be like to eat cookies and cream ice cream while I sorted made me real happy!


THE PROCEDURE
Towards the top of the pile was some history about my sweet Grandma Moon who passed away several years ago...
Have I mentioned I'm easily distracted?
I am.
I started reading her history and came across this written by my cousin Erica...
"One thing that really stuck out in my mind was how organized my Grandmother was. I think everyone knows that who has been to her house. She has a place for everything..."
I got a little misty thinking how proud Grandma Moon must be of me, finally putting my house in order!
I also read about how meticulous she was at keeping her scrapbooks up to date...so I got back to sorting and chucking.
Then I went through each of the kids piles and put them in the appropriate years.



AFTER...

D says The housewives who dislike their work are the ones who do only the most pressing job at hand. A true homemaker puts her heart into her work and delights in doing everything she possibly can for the happiness and success of her family.

Check out the newest members of my salt and pepper shaker collection!

The mother-in-law gave them to me.
Just because :)

Organizing "Daughter #1's" Pictures

BEFORE...

THE TOOLS

Love love love Reese's Pieces!

Especially in Peanut Butter Cookies.

One cannot have too much peanut butter in one's diet.

Same PROCEDURE as the boy's pictures...

she had close to as many as the big boy's.

Once again I had trouble figuring out what year a lot of the pictures were taken.

Thank you Grandma Linda for putting dates on the backs of your pictures.

And thank heavens for birthday candles.

AFTER...

This was a lot of work, especially for a Friday.
I think the worst of it is behind me...the youngest 3 daughters don't have near as many pictures to sort through.

D quotes John Luther's thoughts on "work".
"I've learned that I have to work in order to be happy. People need work almost as badly as they need food; without it they're devoured by restlessness and discontent. How many people who think they hate to work would, if they knew the truth, recognize it as the thing they most need in order to find contentment? How many people who dislike their jobs could, with a simple change of mental outlook made possible by this knowledge, enjoy their work thoroughly? And how many women who groan over the chores of raising a family realize later--after the children have left home--that those years were among the happiest years of all. What a pity they didn't know it in time!"

Organizing the "Little" Boy's Pictures

BEFORE...

THE TOOLS

I just love this stuff...nuts and twigs, deeelish.

THE PROCEDURE

Same as yesterday but I sorted a lot of this boys pictures by his haircuts.

He was my cutest baby.

Don't tell the other kids.

AFTER...

More about the SIX W's...
(Work Will Win When Wishing Won't)
D tells us...Work is a great thing, as Kingsley said:
"Thank God every morning when you get up that you have something to do that day which must be done, whether you like it or not. Being forced to work and forced to do your best will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence, and strength of will, and a hundred virtues which the idle never know."
It's true that the willing horse gets the heaviest load, but it also develops the strongest muscles and receives the most oats.

The husband's been working away on this project...

Any guesses as to what it is?

Organizing the "Big" Boy's Pictures

To all of you scrapbookers out there, this post could be painful.

BEFORE...

THE TOOLS

THE PROCEDURE
I've only scrapbooked my 16 year old's first 2 years of life so you can imagine the amount of pictures I have.
I tried the best I could to separate them by year.
This was not easy. None of them were labeled.
I ended up sorting a lot of them by the size of the boy's teeth...
Baby teeth--1999
Missing front teeth 2000
2 Permanent Buck teeth on top--2001
4 Permanent teeth on top--2002
In 2005 he grew his hair out like a girl so that year was easy.
He had braces and the same haircut for almost 4 years so those were tough to sort through.

Once I had them all sorted I filed them by year.


AFTER...

I figure organizing these pictures increased the odds of them making it into a scrapbook by 50%.

I thought today would be a good day to move on to

FACET #6
THE SIX W's

An ideal homemaker realizes that many of life's choicest blessing are gained only through hard work and therefore accepts work as a challenge and an opportunity rather than a burden.

You'll recall that we discussed THE TWO A's and another A (Attitude, Appearance, and Ambition) as essential factors in homemaking. Here is another magic formula for success:

THE SIX W's: WORK WILL WIN WHEN WISHING WON'T!

I've been wishing for years to have my scrapbooks up to date.
It's time I got to work.

Organizing Pictures Cont...

I decided the following quote is my theme for getting my pictures and scrapbooks up to date:

"Nothing is particularly difficult if you divide it into small jobs."

--Henry Ford

This BEFORE picture is yesterday's after picture...

THE TOOL

I guess the recycle bin is a tool (along with my incredible sorting skills)

THE PROCEDURE
It would take days to sort everything into chronological order, not to mention give me a migraine, so I started by creating a pile for each of the individual kids, the family, and the ones to throw-away.
The 5 year old and I sorted for about an hour, then we had to take a break.


I put a few of these into the magic bullet...so as to camouflage them into the dinner.

This morning the bilingual 8 year old reminded me it was Cinco de Mayo!
So in celebration of this great holiday we had Navajo TACOS and the most amazing dessert...

Slow Cooker Peanut Butter Cup Cake


(Cake on the left, Navajo Taco sauce on the right)

It was AMAZING!
If you like Peanut Butter and Chocolate it's a must try!
I got the recipe from my girl Steph
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2010/04/slow-cooker-peanut-butter-cup-cake.html
and she wasn't kidding about the molten chocolate on the bottom!
It appeared like magic!
We added a little vanilla ice cream to the warm cake and again, IT WAS AMAZING!

After getting dinner and dessert underway I procrastinated a little longer by creating this little shrine on the husband's desk.
He loved it.
I knew he would.



Back to work...
As I was sorting away I remembered I have several more files full of pictures downstairs...as I began to hyperventilate I kept repeating over and over Nothing is particularly difficult if you divide it into small jobs...Nothing is particularly difficult if you divide it into small jobs...

...after another hour and a half I got it all sorted.


AFTER...

I'm off to some sort of start, I think...

I made sure and put these up high where the baby couldn't reorganize them.

D says a yearly visit to the photographer and making family movies and tape recordings are traditions which have lasting value.

If I had a choice between "pictures" and the garage I think I'd choose the garage...maybe we can get back in there tomorrow.