Scrapbooking

When I was a little girl I used to take old shoeboxes and decorate them.  I can't remember what I used exactly, but I probably used colored markers and stickers and leftover things from my mom's craft stash.  So I wasn't completely surprised at how much I fell in love with scrapbooking!  I mean there were two years or so that I was in such a frenzy over the whole idea of scrapbooking!  I became so indulged in the hobby that I was practically obsessed with each new monthly magazine that came out, wanted to learn every new technique that there was, and I became so overly, focused on the art of it all that I forgot about what the real purpose was.  I lost sight of preserving the memories. 

You must understand that scrapbooking is such a time-consuming hobby.  And I will always love the hobby.  But ultimately what's important to me is preserving memories for my boys; so one day they can look through their album and travel down memory lane through the photos I have taken, and hearing my voice through the journaling that I try to include on each scrapbook page.

But let's be honest here!  I don't have time anymore to scrapbook the way I used to.  And secretly I do wish to have the time for the hobby, because, let's face it, for me, there's nothing like the smell of scrapbook paper and freshly printed photos that get me all giddy!  Silly I know, but once again, I do enjoy the art of scrapbooking, the creative outlet it provides for me.

My life is constatly moving.  I'm always driving one of the boys somewhere!  Don't get me wrong, I love this part of motherhood.  It sounds strange, but I've always wanted to be the soccer mom.  Accept in my life I'm a baseball mom!  I even have the sticker on my van to make it official.  But, one day, when my boys are all grown up I want them to know this, I want them to know how much I love being their mom.  How much I enjoy sitting and watching practices, rooting for them at their games, how much I enjoy watching them at storytime or their first sport activity.  Of course the moments in their childhood aren't always shining, I mean there are attitudes and breakdowns, and punishments, and disappointments.  I want them to know those too; for it is a part of their story.  The thought of wanting to document it all just overwhelms me; because it's just not realistic to get it all down.

Recently I came across this blog post that got me thinking in a different way.  Maybe I need to approach scrapbooking in a more modern way.  As much as I love the paper and prints of the whole art of scrapbooking I ultimately want to get my boys' pictures in their album.  I want to journal about the things that they are experiencing right now, before I fail to remember the details of it all.  I have decided to begin a new way of preserving their memories.  It's not the most creative approach, but it definitely is the most practical way to preserve their memories without taking me away from being their baseball mom, so to speak! 

It is super easy to do and the only thing that I will need to get past is my perfectionist nature.  I need to just remember that every little detail isn't going to matter a whole, heck, of alot when they are traveling down memory lane . . .

I have included a few pages that I have created already. Have a look!

This page and the next one are to be considered a two-page layout.