I wish I were a scrapbooker. I love looking at my friends’ beautifully crafted memory books and love the thought of having such a keepsake to pass down to my children. Reality is that I don’t seem to find (or make) the time for scrapbooking and am just not as “crafty” as I’d wish. I love to write, though, and to capture memories in poignant words. Being true to myself, I have been treasuring my children’s childhood experiences in a book of letters that I plan to give them when they are older.
Initially I thought I’d write a monthly letter to each child, but it has not followed the original plan. There have been times that I’ve written more often, and there have been longer gaps between letters at other times, but that isn’t what matters. I’ve enjoyed having this special way to record my feelings for my children for them to treasure, knowing that they would not likely otherwise remember of fully know these feelings on their own.
I also record their major milestones and accomplishments and even attach a “scrap” now and then, like in the picture above that has a letter to my daughter from “Auntie Kim,” a dear friend of mine, as well as a lock of hair from her first haircut.
How have you chosen to remember your kids’ childhood experiences? Do you scrapbook or “letter book?” Do you treasure and save memories in any other special way? Please share!
I turned my blog into a book…easy scrap booking!!Done!
Ashley, what a beautiful gift! I love that it is in your own hand…they will treasure those books. You’re a wonderful mom!
I LOVE this post because one of my most prized possessions is the journal my mom kept for me. She would write about my school, favorite activities, birthdays, friendships, etc. – and of course big milestones like my accepting Christ, baptism, etc.
My favorite things that she would write about though were the funny/cute things that I said/did as a kid. So I encourage you all to make sure you write down these darling comments our kids make – we can’t trust our memories! =)
I keep a journal to each of my girls. Often several months will go by without writing but my goal is at least once a month. I LOVE handwriting, but I realized that I would write more and more often if I could type, so I keep the journals on the computer. (And try not to forget to back them up! =)
I keep a photo album (kind of a toned-down version of Creative Memories =) for each child too to give to her when she graduates and moves away. I typically do just 6 pages (so 12 sides) per year in each child’s album so that it can all fit into one album by the time each turns 18. It might sound like a lot of work, but it really just involves about a week’s worth of nights per album per year.
Ashley… you have inspired me so much today
I started a journal when Emma was born and then stopped when she was about 3 months old, I didn’t write more since, for her birthday I made an illustrated book with some very kiddie-like portraits of us, the story was about her life and how it was when she came into the world… I’ve been wanting to start a journal again… thanks so much for sharing, those books are so beautiful.
I also keep pieces of hair, the belly button, (even nails) and weird stuff like that HAHA! I’m just another mommy …(lol)
I haven’t scrap-booked for a while, I think I’m done with it, so, thanks so much for this lovely idea!!!
Hugs lovely friend!
I hope you’re having a great timeā„
I have a journal for each kid, but don’t even write once a year, which is my goal. We keep postcards from the countries we live in, and some that we visit (when we remember). I often feel bad, since the first-borns had a lot of entries, and the third-born has maybe three.
We used to send out weekly ‘development updates’ with a lot of details to our families. Now we update a blog about every week.
I’m curious how you turn your blog into a book. I’ve wanted to be able to back it up or print it out or something. I have this fear that we’ll lose it all. Karen?
I have heard that you can use blurb.com to print blogs in book format. They have a program on their site that lets you transfer the content and select your layout. Karen, is this what you did? Did you like the finished product? I have been meaning to do it, but haven’t yet. What a great idea though!
I’ve been thinking/praying about turning our blog into a book, too! In the past few years, this has become my “scrapbooking,” because printing out photos has become more and more of a challenge where we are located. I’m interested in finding out what others have used/hearing about their experiences and recommendations.
Thanks so much!
Ashley, I didn’t know you did this! What a sweet idea. I’m sure they will cherish those letters someday. I also do a blog, as you know, and hope to use Blurb. I’m also trying to work on the girls’ scrapbook babybooks — one for each, which has proven to be a slow going project. I think I’m a wannabe scrapbooker
I used Blurb for a photobook about a year ago and though it was fine, I thought Snapfish and Shutterfly did a better job as far as quality. The paper seemed thin and the pictures were grainy, even though I used high resolution professional photographs [from our wedding]. Perhaps it has changed since then. I don’t think Snapfish or Shutterfly does blogs
Maybe someday!