Confessions Of A Scrapaholic

My Library of Memories

Looking at these albums makes me happy. Color coded and organized = Happy Maegan.

I finished up the spine labels on my Library of Memories last night. Here is a closer look at the spines of the albums (click to view larger.) I am so pleased with the way they turned out, and now I am completely obsessed with circle labels.

I cannot tell you how good it feels to have this done. I am still waiting for some albums to arrive, but other than that they are ready for my family to enjoy.

I made a big decision last weekend regarding this library. Originally I was just going to include my digital layouts (about three years worth, not bad) but then I realized how much of our story that as leaving out. Zoë has almost two full albums. Kelly and I have less than a handful of layouts about us. They are all in the old school Creative Memories albums. I've been doing this for almost ten years now so you can imagine my horror when I looked through the old albums. Dude. There are no words, besides maybe, "Shield your eyes!" At least I can laugh at myself, right? I was SO proud of those layouts when I first created them. I will scan one of those beauties and post it this week.

Now brace yourself before you read this next section. After looking through the old paper albums I did three things that I am sure could get me shunned in some circles.

1. It became apparent to me looking through my layouts that when I first started scrapbooking I felt the need to scrap every photo I took. I had quite a few layouts that said absolutely nothing. There were pictures of people and a date. No story, nothing. (And they were ugly). Quite a few of them were my baby pictures. Take birthday's for example. I do not need a 12x12 layout of each birthday (that I hardly remember). Instead I pulled one photo from each birthday and will make ONE layout documenting the event.

2. I pulled out a small pile of layouts to recreate digitally. Yeah, they are that bad. The story and pictures are good...the layout is not. I know what you are thinking, "You have a thousand pictures to be scrapped and you are re-doing pages that are done?" Yep. They are that bad.

3. I sliced and diced all of my Creative Memories layouts/albums. For those of you who aren't familiar with the lovely CM strap hinge pages let me fill you in. They are *almost* 12x12 and have thick sides. One side fits into the album hinges, the other is to make for sturdy page flipping. They were the product to have when I started doing this in 1998. Now, I hate them. The 12x12 paper never fit right, you had to trim the sides. And the pages are a bear to rearrange. Oh, and when we first started out, most scrappers didn't put cardstock or patterned paper on the page insert, we scrapped right on those bad boys. Then embellished with lots of stickers. Nice. There is no way I was going to re-do all those pages. Instead I cut the reinforced side off (the side with the staple that went into the strap hinge) and slipped the entire thing into a 12x12 page protector. Super easy. It was so satisfying to spend an hour or so slicing and dicing and then placing the layouts into a nice new album. And now all of my layouts will be included in our library.

I have spent the last week organizing our house. I'm not sure if the nesting has started or it is my normal spring cleaning OCD. Probably a combination of both. I have been looking for months for a bookcase to display my new scrapbook library and I finally found one. It was quite a challenge to find a piece of furniture that would a) be deep enough to hold the albums and b) be wide enough to fit the crazy recessed area in our dining room. To prepare for the bookcase I sold our armoire on Craig's list. It was nice but it really had just turned into a crap collector for us. The drawers were all full of DVDs that we never watched and the cabinet was full of odds and ends that had no other home. After a week, almost everything has a new home. Including our DVD's. I condensed four drawers of DVDs into these cute storage binders. That is sooo much better. (See, I told you I was obsessed with circle labels.) And they will look fabulous in our new bookcase below the scrapbooks. There is a method to my madness...

I will be back with more organizational goodness next week. Good times. I say that in all seriousness. Poor Kelly must think I've cracked up. LOL!

Enough Time

I have added one of my new favorite quotes to the blog to serve as a constant reminder to me. Let's say it (or read it) together shall we?

"There is exactly enough time to scrapbook your most important memories." -Stacy Julian

That is SO true. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed and stressed out when I found out I was pregnant. Why? In my head I was seeing a clock ticking down. I had only nine months to get caught up on all of my Zoë pictures! If I couldn't get a handle on her photos what on earth was I going to do when I had two little ones to document and scrapbook?!? ACK!

I can't say enough wonderful things about the Library of Memories class. I think the most valuable lesson I have learned is that my family will love my scrapbooks, whether ever single photo is included or not. The purpose is not to scrapbook every single photo (who actually has time to do that anyway?) The purpose is to tell the stories that are important to me and to my family.

Originally, I had intended to scrapbook every night and get caught up on all my Zoë photos. I was determined. That was not realistic, obviously (I blame the hormones) and it completely zapped my creativity. Now I am focusing on scrapbooking my favorite memories from the past few years. I have a list of layouts that I want to have completed by the end of summer. It is not a long list because I want to scrap the most important memories. Plus, if my list gets too long I will just get overwhelmed. I know that I am not going to be caught up, probably ever, and I am totally OK with that.

I finished up this layout today during Zoë's nap. (I copied the journaling straight from my blog entries last year. Easy peasy.) It has been on my To-Do list since last summer when I took these pictures and somehow I kept getting distracted. No more! This is one story that absolutely must be told.

Credits coming soon.

Jelly Beans and Organization

OK, so I didn't make it back as quickly as I had intended to. Isn't that the way it always goes? It has been gorgeous here, and there are just so many other things to do besides sit at the computer when the weather is nice. Today it is raining, so I'm blogging. ;)

California was beautiful. I remember my brother complaining about living down there once because blue skies and sunny weather all the time was too boring. Boo flipping hoo. I loved it. It was the perfect temperature, mid seventies and fabulous, which was a good thing because Zoë could have spent all her time lining up and throwing rocks into the pond in the backyard.

We didn't of course. We went to the Jelly Belly factory for a tour while we were there. Every kid's dream right? It was at first, but then we took the actual tour. Here's a little tidbit for you. On the weekend the factory isn't running, you just stop and look at the video monitors and they show a little clip about how jelly beans are made. Not thrilling. That paired with the hat that you must wear in the factory gave Zoë a little meltdown. Nice.

Who has a tantrum in a candy factory, I ask you? Actually, I am glad it happened. That was the second day in a row that Miss Zoë had not had a nap, and she clearly needed one. It confirmed my suspicions. She is a completely different child when she doesn't nap and she needs one every day.  Today after I dropped Zoë off at preschool I visited the school she will be attending this fall and moved her from the full day class to the half day class. As much as I would like for her to be in school all day (that would be such a help with a new baby) her little body is simply not ready for it. I cannot imagine the holy terror she would be if she wasn't napping. Eek!

Last weekend we moved Zoë into her new room and she loves it. In fact, when she moved I didn't bother putting the child knob on the door and she has been staying in there during bed time and for the most part nap time as well! Apparently I wasn't giving her enough credit. While Zoë was at preschool today I got to work cleaning out the closet in her new room. When it was the guest room that is where miscellaneous crap ended up. Her closet is looking fabulous now, but unfortunately I can't say the same thing about the nursery at the moment. That is OK though. I have until next Tuesday to straighten things up for the painters. I am using these organizers in Zoë's closet. They work amazingly well for self dressing. I put one outfit in each cubbie hole so that Zoë can choose an outfit and dress herself. Score one for Mommy. Now I am on the lookout for a some of canvas bins that will fit inside the cubbies for socks, jammies, etc.

I've got a couple layouts to share before I go. This one is going in Zoë's "School of Life" album. Have you heard about those? It is another brilliant album dreamed up by Stacy Julian. I love her work. She is so inspiring. I have really been enjoying the Library of Memories class. I will explain more about the "School of Life" album next time, Zoë is waking up from her nap. Chao!

Credits coming soon.

Wow, looking at these two layouts together it seems that I am favoring the cream-red combination the last couple days. :) This one I am not entirely sure I am happy with. I have fiddled with it forever so I think I am going to let it sit for a while.

Credits coming soon.

The Three Year Old & The Jet Lagged Traveler

Last night Kelly and Zoë went to bed at 7pm. Kelly got home from Romania around 2pm yesterday which is midnight Romanian time. Zoë tucked both Kelly and I into bed, sang us each a lullaby, shut our door, then put herself to bed.

How freaking awesome is that?!?

That's all I've got for now. I am sifting through the 300 photos I took during Zoë's preschool field trip to the botanical gardens today. Yeah, three hundred. Some filtering is in order I'd say.

I'll be back tomorrow with all sorts of fascinating things....new maternity clothes, trip recap.... you know edge of your seat kind of stuff. LOL!

Happy Mother's Day!

As promised, here is a happy post for everyone, and a photo of my new hair cut. I still haven't quite figured out the velcro rollers. They make my hair bumpy. Maybe it is the bobby pins? Who knows. What I do know is that it looks exactly the same if I use a round brush while I am blow drying it. More practice is in order. Anyway, this is a picture of Zoë and I while we were waiting for my aunts and cousins at Bloomsday last weekend. The rest of the photos are here. This was my 14th year I think? It's hard to keep track. I am going to have to look through all my pictures (because you know I have pictures from each year.)

I am off to California in about an hour. Zoë and I are heading down there for the weekend. Kelly is in Romania until next week so I figured that would be a great time to go visit my dad and Victoria. (Kel can't be in California from about April-July because his allergies are so bad.) If you ask Zoë where her Daddy is she will tell you that he is in Mermadia. LOL! You've got to love little girls.

We celebrated Mother's Day a little bit early at our house while we were still together. Kel bought me my favorite perfume and a new charger for my camera since mine seems to have disappeared. Yesterday Zoë gave me a key chain that she made at preschool. She is so proud of it. I had to open it immediately and put it on my key ring. She keeps asking me, "Do you like it? Do you love it?!" Of course!

Have a wonderful Mother's Day everyone!

Making A List...Checking it Twice

Nesting has officially begun in the Birr household. I haven't started on the nursery yet, but I am itching too. I need to find a bedding set that I like first. Until I do, there are a few other things that I have been putting the finishing touches on...our final arrangements. I am not a doom and gloom kind of person, but I think that it is important to be prepared and organized, especially when you have children.

The two products that have been especially helpful to me are Quicken Will Maker and The Register or Wallet Protection.  We have had Quicken Will Maker for about three years and I never sat down to put the finishing touches on our documents until now. It really is a great little piece of software. There are loads of document templates, not just wills. In fact, our wills aren't actually done, but our Power of Attorney for Finances, Power of Attorney for Health Care and Health Care Directives are.

I have been enrolled with The Register for years now and it is awesome. You register all of your credit/debit cards with them (you, your spouse, your kids) and if you wallet is ever stolen you call them and they contact all of your credit card companies for you to cancel the stolen cards and order new ones. I can't tell you how awesome it was having them when my wallet was stolen. Less than half an hour after the theft all of my cards had been canceled and reordered for me. They are well worth the $30.00/year. You can also register your important documents (passport numbers, etc.) and the serial numbers of your larger ticket home purchases (like TVs, iPods, Laptops) so that you could report the numbers to the police if they were ever stolen. I just found out yesterday that they also will call and cancel your cards if you were to pass away. Talk about making things easy for your family.

Too morbid a post? I don't mean to be. I personally feel better when all my ducks are in a row. I thought I would pass along the handy information for you. Have a great (and safe!) day!

Cupcake Goodness

We made our first cupcake creations last night. Spaghetti cupcakes. Perfect for carbo-loading before the big race today. (I say that like I am actually going to run. Ha!) The cupcakes were a huge hit with my family and delish! I would absolutely recommend creating these cupcake with your kids. They can squirt frosting all over and make a mess and the cupcakes look fabulous.

Can I tell you how impressed with myself I am? Making cupcakes from scratch?! I am totally domestic. Actually it was really fun. And really, it wasn't that much more work than making cupcakes from a mix. I think that the cupcake baking supplies are going to become a staple in our pantry.

What's That?

We are in Spokane this weekend for Bloomsday. If you are not from the Pacific Northwest you probably have no idea what that is. It is a 7.5 mile race around Spokane. My family does Bloomsday every year. Well, by family I mean my aunts, uncles, cousins and me. Kelly is quite proud of the fact that he has never run Bloomsday and never intends to. My mother feels pretty much the same way, but I think that Zoë will convince her to join us. This will be Zoê's first Bloomsday, can't wait! Zoë and I are going to meet the rest of my family at the top of "Doomsday Hill" and walk the last mile or so with them. (That is much more toddler and pregnant mommy friendly.) After all it is really all about the Bloomsday shirt anyway, not that I ever wear it after Bloomsday.

Here is a conversation Zoë and I had this morning at the hotel as I got ready to iron our clothes...

Zoë: Mommy, what is THAT?!

Me: This is an ironing board honey. You use it to iron wrinkles out of clothes.

Zoë: But why?

Me: That is a very good question.

How funny is that? She is almost four years old and has never seen an ironing board. LOL! That would be because I always send Kelly's clothes out to be laundered and pressed. Trust me, it is worth the $1.00/shirt, especially if you have ever seen a shirt that I have "ironed."

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

An Announcement

I went in for my 20 week ultrasound today and the doctor confirmed that we are indeed having a girl. Woo Hoo! (Good thing, because we would have had a mighty gay little boy with Zoë dressing him up like a princess all the time. Seriously. She has already been asking me if the baby can dress up like a princess with her.) The baby is perfectly healthy and measuring accurately. All good news. Click on over to my pregnancy journal if you would like to see my most recent belly shot and read other pregnancy related tidbits that I tend not to post here.