Scrapbooking the Simple Way

A friend of mine from high school (found via facebook) saw that I was an avid scrapbooker. She emailed me to ask how to get started. She had many questions and just wanted to get started inexpensively and easily. She was clearly overwhelmed with all the choices there are now. I was scared to answer her at first. It's been so very long since I taught scrapbooking classes. So much of what I do now is just second nature and I wasn't sure I could formulate it into words. As I started typing, it just came flowing out and I gave her hints and tips that have taken me years to learn. I'm a digital scrapbooker now, but occassionally I pull out the paper scrapbooks and enjoy scrapbooking with P10. As I was typing, my mind was flooded with the memories of my beginning scrapbooking days, scrapbooking friends, and scrapbooking get togethers. What fun we had!

At the end, I thought "hey, this is pretty good!" and thought it might be helpful to some of the people that follow my blog, but aren't current scrapbookers.

So, here it is, in it's very raw form:

Jenny,

Sorry this is so late in coming....

Okay, the jist of it is, if you want to keep this an affordable hobby, you have to simplify. Ditch the idea of using ribbon - unless you want to tie it in your hair! LOL

Before I was a digital scrapbooker, I didn't use 3-D products at all. They bulk up your albums and that is not a good thing. They are pricey, and they cause you to spend way too much time putting a page together.

First, I want to recommend the book Photo Freedom. You can find it on Amazon and sometimes Barnes & Noble. This will really help you to see your pictures and not be overwhelmed with thinking you have to get them all into scrapbooks. Not gonna happen, so don't sweat it! You have more important things to do - like take care of your family and scrapbook! LOL

You want good albums - this is your most important investment. I would recommend Creative Memories albums and pages. Everything else can be purchased elsewhere although CM does have good products. They also USED to promote the idea of simplicity, but I think they have really gotten away from that.

This is my favorite adhesive:
http://www.funkyplaygrounddesigns.com/store/product.php?productid=940&cat=35&page=1

But in truth, anything that is acid free from Walmart works fine. Also the liquid mono-adhesive is really great! http://www.funkyplaygrounddesigns.com/store/product.php?productid=989&cat=35&page=1

You can find these things at Hobby Lobby.

Paper and stickers - stick to acid free and you'll be happier if you get something that looks good to you and you don't just buy something because it matches your theme. So, if you are scrapbooking a circus page and you find circus stickers, but you don't LOVE them, don't use them - don't buy them! Instead, find some bright geometric shapes or something, because you are more likely to use them and like that page later than if you just used the tacky stickers because they had a clown on them! Make sense?

Copying is the NAME OF THE GAME in scrapbooking. There is no reason you have to pull out all the stops and try to be creative here. Your son will love looking at his scrapbook if you actually put it together and he won't care how "plain" it is, or what you used on it. Don't sweat it. Grab a copy of a scrapbooking magazine at Hobby Lobby or B&N. Find a layout you like. If it is of a little girl's first birthday, but you have pictures of your son's first camping trip, you look at the general layout of the page - where she placed the pictures, where she placed the paper and stickers and you use what you have and place it similar to where she did.

When you get better at "scraplifting" you can flip that page on it's side and use it as a guide that way - giving you a completely different look.

And if you have a local scrapbook store or creative memories consultant, there is nothing more fun than gathering together with some friends and putting some pages together. They are there to help you if you get stuck - which you won't if you read above and take my advice - and it's just fun to show off your creations and have everyone oooh and ahhh.

I have put together about 20 scrapbooks over the last 9 1/2 years and I can truly say that your child will find so much joy in seeing those pictures.

Now, I'm just going to touch a little bit on journaling... DO IT! That's where you write about the picture. Here are a few simple prompts to get your mind to going when you look at the pictures. Who? When? Where? Why? When you get more comfortable writing you can say how you were feeling that day or "It was such a bittersweet day to see him graduate from Kindergarten. I was excited he was growing into a big boy, but I was sad it was happening so quickly." You also don't need to write about every single picture. If you are putting a page together of some time ya'll spent at the playground, it will be OBVIOUS that he is sliding or he is swinging, etc. On this type of thing I would focus on writing something like: DeSoto Creative Playground September 2009 The truth of the matter is that I needed a break from the house, so we packed up a lunch and headed to the playground. It was a nice break for both of us. He played while I sat down on the bench to read xyz.

It doesn't need to be hard! Really! Just get started and you will see. Don't let perfectionism creep in either. You don't need to make prize winning pages or write novels. These books are for you and your family. If you make it too hard, you won't do it and that would be sad. :(

I hope this helps you get started. Let me know if you have any more questions and thanks for giving me the opportunity to share about something I really love!

Your old (and getting older!) friend,
Christine

photo: http://www.vclib.org/img2/GR_scrapbook.jpg

Book: Breastfeeding and Fertility

My mama would say that I've been a "readin' fool" lately. I just finished Breastfeeding and Fertility by Jenny Silliman last night.

I haven't met Jenny, but I know we would become fast friends if I did. Well, I may just hush and listen to her talk. She reminds me of a young Nancy Campbell. In fact, she quotes Nancy several times in the book.

Jenny's sweet spirit and calming encouragement really resonate in the pages of this book. Along with that, the ending of all 20 chapters has a resounding theme - breastfeeding delays fertility.

In posting this, I fear (okay, probably not the best word, but work with me) that some may think that I nurse my babies to delay fertility. In truth, this is not the case at all. When we decided to leave our family size to the Lord, we did just that and fully believe that God opens and closes the womb. Understanding that, also means understanding that God has designed a woman's body to nurse her babies for, what the world would call, an extended period of time. In the Bible, we see over and over wonderful references to the nursing mother and from further research, we find that babies were generally weaned between 3-5 years. Personally we don't go this long and I have never tandem nursed my babies. Usually about 2/3 of the way through a pregnancy, I will completely wean the youngest one and even this is a very slow process.

Here is how long I have nursed my children: C13 (never nursed :( ), P10 (11 months), B5 (20 months), L3 (22 months), A1 (15 months and going strong!). My cycle has returned at varying stages, but it was very dependent on how I nursed, and still no cycle with A yet.

My last two babies haven't had bottles. My last 3 haven't had pacifiers. My last 4 have all slept with us or close to us. Even with my oldest, before Big P and I got married, C13 would end up in bed with me along with a bottle (that I laboriously had to get up and make in the middle of the night). With my 4th, L3, I ended up starting my cycle at 7 months because I wasn't eating enough to sustain a good milk supply. I had a miscarriage not long after that.

With A1, things have been very different. He would not eat the solid foods I was trying to give him at 8 months, 9 months, 10 months, 11, and yes, even 12 months. At his first birthday he was treated with pudding instead of cake or anything of the like - because he would just gag.

In the midst of my frustration, I cried out to the Lord for Him to show me what to do. He gave me a peace in the midst of my self-created storm. I then went to the bookshelf and picked out Breastfeeding and Fertility. This was merely for breastfeeding encouragement, not the fertility side. Because I was in the middle of several projects, I just read the back cover and was immediately relieved of my frustrations.

The very things I was resenting and rejecting where the very things that God made my body to do, total mothering!

I was freed. No longer would I be concerned with what others thought about my nursing exclusively at his age (12+ months). He is on some solids - up to 2nd baby foods and 3rds on some things, at this point.

Jenny covers everything in this book and at the end has a list of 20 books she recommends on breastfeeding and mothering. Some of the chapters go into forgiveness (asking for forgiveness for not completely mothering at times, forgiving your own mother if she didn't nurse you, etc.), weaning, sleeping and more. Another reason I really I felt like I could relate to Jenny is because she has struggled with being overweight as well. She talks about nutrition, losing weight while nursing, and a small portion on what she has coined as W.E.A.L.T.H.S. (water, exercise, air, light, thoughts, healthy eating, and sleep - that's another post). She even covers, to a small extent, getting things done around the house when you are total mothering - including wearing an ERGO. I love my ERGO, but honestly I haven't worn it much to carry baby around so that I can get things done. Yesterday I strapped A1 on my back and went to town. He was so happy. Oh, and he is walking some for those that think it's absurd that I would carry a baby of his age on my back!

For quite some time I've considered myself a mother who loved all things natural. But accepting what is and completely embracing what God created you to do - those are different things and now I understand that thanks, in part, to this book!

art print from: http://store.encore-editions.com/Artists/Mary_Cassatt.html

Workbox Freebies

I needed a little break this morning while the 4 oldest were in the pool, so I decided to do a little "mock" digi scrapping that benefited our schooling - since that's the mode I'm in right now.

We will be using workboxes with our oldest 4, including C13, but his will be a means to an end, which I will post about later. Although I feel that the workbox system is WONDERFUL for all homeschoolers, our world runs on paper and digital (planners and such). I think that children should be trained, albeit slowly, into running on the system that the rest of the world runs on (disclaimer: I'm only speaking of the area of workboxes and planners.).

So, after that little rabbit trail, let me return to what I came here for. I made the boy scout workbox numbers for C13 and then just kept going. With her permission, I used Simply Susan's Let's Go Camping kit on all of it, except the red numbers, which come from To Everything A Season. (another rabbit trail here: all of Susan's products are $1 - yes, you read that correctly! ONE DOLLAR!!)

Here we have workbox numbers for a boy scout (hiker boy), a girl scout (hiker girl), camper girl (which has a girl with marshmallows and marshmallows instead of a hatchet), and camper boy (boy with marshmallows and marshmallows instead of a hatchet). Sorry, they are out of order! :( Images are linked to a 4shared folder that will contain all the workbox items I build - christinesworkboxstuff.4shared.com .

Recent Homeschooling Reads

I finished a couple of books recently and I thought since I had "reviewed" them on Shelfari, I would share about them here. I must preface the below "review" with the fact that I'm not a book reviewer. I'm also trying to get more selective in what I read, because it takes me a while to get through a book. Not because I'm a slow reader, but because I'm a slow reader! LOL Really, I love to ponder on what I read. I'm not much of a fiction reader, so often times I'm reading stuff with a lot of meat to it. I like to read, pray, implement, read, pray, implement.

For The Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

This was a really incredible book that took me some time to get through. Mrs. Macaulay gave me plenty of meat to chew on and in many aspects I felt true conviction. I love how she summed up Miss Charlotte Mason's teaching so well and in a way where I wasn't really left wanting more. I would love to read Charlotte's books in their entirety, but for someone just getting started in this method of education, of life, this book would give plenty to think on until they were ready to digest more. My copy will be put in my daughter's hope chest, because I think this teaching is really that crucial.

I also must say that I'm now eager to read the rest of Mrs. Macaulay's books as well as Edith Schaeffer's (Susan Schaeffer Macaulay's mother) including The Gentle Art of Homemaking.

Sue Patrick's Workbox System User's Guide

I really loved this book. She gives so many great ideas for review activities and helping your child work through difficult areas of schoolwork. On a logistics note, I felt like I was left hanging a bit on the actual implementation of the system. She goes over it in various parts of the book, but I thought she should have done a "review" or gone into a bit more detail. Also, she is very adamant that you must use all of the details of her system exactly as she has designed them. We are going to use magazine boxes on shelves - they are cheap and easier to store. Many other ladies have come up with great systems that I think will work well. Overall I think this is going to be an incredible way to organize our school day.

We are implementing this system using cardboard magazine holders from IKEA. Also, there are some aspects of this system that I won't be using, that seem, at least to me, a bit too classroom oriented. I'm just choosing to spit out the bones.

Photo from: http://www.artsjournal.com/bookdaddy/Home_Photo_books.jpg

2009-2010 Curriculum Choices

Ahhh, you probably wondered if I had sunk into the deep recesses of the earth, didn't you? Nope! I've just been curriculum researching and shopping. Now I'm putting things together for our upcoming year.

I did so much research - so much! I also did a ton of praying and dedicating all of this to Him - the one who knows us all best.

So, are you wondering what we decided on? Now, I must preface the below list with the simple truth - these are OUR choices. This is freedom, to me. Knowing that the things we chose for our family have all previously been chosen by another family is gratifying. Pioneers have gone before us in using these resources! The fact that this combination has probably not been chosen by any other family is fascinating and freeing. Real freedom is not caring if anyone has chosen this combination or not, but that God has chosen this combination.

No doubt if you have read much of blog for any length of time, you realize that I have issues with sticking through something. I'm a visionary! And idealist, some may say. Let's not sugar coat it, please - a perfectionist. Them's the facts! :( What I am learning is that it is a not a trait to be desired. It is not highly looked upon and can be really really bad for your family and namely your children. Because I feel like these curriculums have been chosen by God for our family, I will stick to them. It is truly frustrating for me, and them, to be changing because of something that can be tweaked, or a part skipped. The habit of "upgrading" is also a really bad habit to start in your children.

So, without further ado, here are our choices for homeschool curriculum for the 2009-2010 school year:

C13 - 8th grade

Devotional/Quiet time: Selection of Kay Arthur studies
Math: Math-U-See (continuing where we left off)
English: Rod & Staff English (would Charlotte pick this, probably not, but it is very comprehensive and perfect for my "Perfect Paul")
Spelling: Spelling Wisdom from Simply Charlotte Mason
Science: Apologia's Exploring Creation with General Science
Worldview: Thinking Like A Christian (I wanted him to do a specific worldview study and kept thinking that we were going to do Starting Points, then I found the "perfect" curriculum for him and knew that we couldn't fit in Starting Points and World Views of the Western World)
*************************EDITED****************************************
We decided after much prayer, to go back to our original plan of Starting Points and World Views of the Western World. C13 will not be doing Blessed is the Man and instead, will be starting Starting Points this year.
*************************EDITED****************************************
History/Theology/Worldview/Literature/etc.: Blessed Is The Man High School unit study (this is really an INCREDIBLE curriculum and perfect for him. He needs a liberal (broad) education to pursue his career plans of becoming a history proffesor. It is also rigorous course material.)
Foreign Language: Rosetta Stone Spanish (continuing)
Typing: Rapid Typing (found this free online!)
Business Math: Business Math Series from Simply Charlotte Mason (this is just a fun summer project that he will be starting on Monday. He is doing the bookstore one! Very cool!)
More History: We will also be purchasing Through the Ages, so that C13 can find books pertaining to a particular era on his own. Yes, this boy loves history so much that he grabs it anywhere and anytime he can get it!

He'll also continue with Scouts this year. We are part of an incredible homeschool troop where Big P participates. It is an AWESOME troop - with Bible study at campouts and devotionals at meetings. The dads even have a testimony time when they meet each week!

P10 - 5th grade

Devotional/Quiet time: Selection of Kay Arthur studies
Math: Math-U-See (continuing where we left off)
English: Rod & Staff English (scheduled in HOD)
Science: Apologia Zoology 3 - Land Animals of the Sixth Day (scheduled in HOD)
History/Bible/Spelling (Dictation)/Literature/Hands-On stuff/Poetry/etc.: Hearts for Him Through Time: Creation to Christ from Heart of Dakota (everything EVERYTHING is scheduled for you!)
Literature: Drawn Into The Heart of Reading from Heart of Dakota (also scheduled in above)
Foreign Language: Rosetta Stone Spanish (continuing)
Typing: Rapid Typing (found this free online!)
Business Math: Business Math Series from Simply Charlotte Mason (this is just a fun summer project that she will be starting on Monday. She is doing the pet store one! Very cool!)
Art: Artistic Pursuits (we are going back to AP this year and very excited. I bought the kit from Miller Pads & Paper this year so that we had everything together. It was the reason we didn't finish it last time.)

I believe she will be continuing with Keepers at Home, although I really want to have a more Christ-centered focus for the group and am praying about how to make that happen. She is starting a sewing class on Monday that goes through the summer.

B5 - Kindergarten

Phonics: Happy Phonics (this is going to be fun! Learning to read with playing simple little games - no song singing! LOL)
Math: Math-U-See Primer
Bible activities/Early math/Dramatic play/Art projects/music: Little Hands to Heaven from Heart of Dakota
Art: Artistic Pursuits

L3 will be doing Little Hands to Heaven along with B5, of course. A1 will just be along for the ride. :)

As a family we will be using several resources for other things we want to do through the year.

Devotional with Mom: Our 24 Family Ways; 21 Rules of This House; Doorposts character tools
Nature Study: Hours in the Out of Doors; Pocketful of Pinecones; Outdoor Hour
Physical Education: Physical Education for Children Schooled at Home (Big P will be doing this 2 days per week
Literature: Drawn Into the Heart of Reading (even though this is a scheduled part of P10's curriculum, we will be doing this as a family with kickoffs for each genre with our friends); Bookclub (This year we participated in a book club with friends from our homeschool group and it was so much fun!)

Reminder Cards

As referenced in my last post, I thought I would share what our reminder cards are.

These aren't the same for each child, because each child has different chores, but I thought I'd give you the "jist" of what each set probably contains. These aren't "extra" chores, these are just the basic necessities for living in our home and being part of our family. We do pay our big kids for bigger, extra chores, because 1) I would pay someone else to help out in these ways if I didn't have time to do it myself, 2) This gives us an opportunity to teach them money management skills, 3) they pay for most of their own "stuff" includes all extras and fun things and some essentials - underwear, socks. The more you are responsible for, the more you make, and thus the more you are responsible for paying for. Our oldest son pays his dues for scouts each week and they both tithe off of their money.

Morning Reminder Cards:

Morning - get up and be in a good mood
Scriptures - read your devotional, a chapter from the Word, and do a lesson in your Bible study (this is different for each child and only applies to the ones able to read)
Make bed
Clean room
Get dressed
Brush teeth
Hair
Vitamins
Morning chore (trash for 13 yo; silverware job for 5 yo; laundry switchover for 3 yo)
Breakfast & cleanup (table for 13 yo; dishes for 10 yo; put up your plate, etc. for 5 & 3 yos)

After morning - After noon Reminder Cards:

Chore (vaccuum & dog care for 13 yo; mail, rabbit care, plant care for 10 yo)
Morning school (this has now changed to only "school" for the summer which is math and reading lessons - see other post)
Lunch and cleanup (same as above)

Evening Reminder Cards:

Quiet time (nap for 3 yo; everyone else read quietly)
Project time
Dinner & cleanup (same as above)
Baths
Brush teeth
Pajamas
Clothes
Prayer
Evening (which means go to bed without any problems)

Each one of these "sets" earns a ticket - tickets are redeemable for a variety of things and 2 can be used for 30 minutes of screen time each (1 hour total screen time per day - computer, tv, etc.). Now with summer upon us, they are using the Wii and Outdoor Challenge for exercise in the afternoons or evenings. They are not playing any other "games" on the Wii, except for the Wiikends.

I think everyone should check out accoutable kids and consider purchasing the book. It has some psychological stuff in it, that I'm not real fond of, but there are just a few bones in the book as a whole. Very practical and easy to implement! I'm feeling less and less like a nag!!

picture from: atschool.eduweb.co.uk

Summer Routines

We are back from vacation - didn't even know we were gone, huh?! We went to Eureka Springs, Arkansas and then Branson, Missouri. It was a long vacation (10 days), but it was very busy and we (Big P and I) decided we wouldn't do a vacation like that again - so jam packed. We were both very exhausted afterward and we've had to actually get our children used a slower pace again.

I'm working on my Home Management Notebook again and so I needed to come up with some Summer Routines. When I posted about that on facebook, some friends asked me to share those. I thought the best place to do that was here in case some of my followers wanted to know what we were up to. I think we are actually going to take a summer this year. We always school year round, but will just be keeping up with math for the older ones and reading lessons for the 5 yo.

You'll notice that the children have "reminder cards" listed below. I'm going to post those in another post, because they are part of our Accountable Kids system - which we are loving. I thought this would be enough to get some mama's minds pumping. We have found that routines work much better here rather than a schedule. The difference? Instead of things set at a specific time, we just do them in order and have more of a "time block" for things. We try to have breakfast around 8, lunch around 12:30, and dinner around 5:30. Bed is 8:30 for littles and 9 for bigs. We just flow through the rest of the day within on those time frames.

Trying to keep things simple here is always a monumental task - but one I'm learning to enjoy very much!!

Summer Routines


Mom

Morning:

Quiet time
Get ready
Breakfast in oven
Boys morning routine
Daily Cleaning

After Morning – After Noon:

Outside Play
Time w/ Big P
Lunch
School w/ B5 (reading lessons) (L3’s nap)
School w/ Big Kids
Planning
Zone Project Time

Evening:

Dinner
Wii Fit
Pick Up
Baths
Boys to bed
Read Aloud
Big Kids to bed
Next day prep
Scrapbook or Sew
Shower
Call Big P
Read
Bed

Big Kids

Morning:

Quiet time
Morning Reminder cards

After Morning - After Noon:

Outside
“Extra” chore time
Afternoon Reminder cards
Project (Scouts or Keepers)

Evening:

Evening Reminder cards

picture from: http://students.usm.maine.edu/jennifer.a.rasmussen/summersunflower1.jpg