Don't Miss the Rainbow

This post is two weeks behind...pictures of my sweet baby girl turning eight. Lately, I've been feeling like someone has hit the fast forward button and it's stuck and I can't get it back to normal play. Spring is especially busy for us. We have three birthdays all within a month of each other, Easter, spring break, regular season basketball has ended, travel basketball is beginning, baseball, soccer tournaments this weekend and then there is just the normal stuff that has to get done, like making dinner. As much as I love our family time, I do wish I had a cook at times to make dinner while I'm out chauffeuring all the kids around to their stuff. 

Birthday morning.

Dad was the Watchdog Dad for the day.

Messy faces after ice cream.

Yummy!

The daffodils arrived on Molly's big day.

A snap shot from my phone at 2:12...her birthday minute.

Thursday just happens to be my volunteer day so I snapped some shots before they came in from PE. It was a beautiful day.

I took these pictures with the instagram app on my phone which I really love.

Birthday night, cake and present time.

These pictures were taken on Saturday, March 3rd. I was trying to catch up on my project life journal cards and Molly really wanted me to take her to the tree with the tire like I took Ryan weeks before. I really wanted to finish recording our family memories that I had fallen so far behind on, but I had this little girl saying, "Please, Mama, can't we go?" I had a little girl who wanted to make memories in that moment, so we went.

These were also taken with the instagram app on my phone. "Look, mom, no hands!"

 Molly's signature pose, arms outstretched, loving life.

So on the day that I was sorting through pictures on the computer and trying to write my journal cards, there was a little girl standing by my side asking to go to the tire swing on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and while she was standing there, I remembered a quote I read a few days earlier in a book while shopping...

Sometimes you just have to stop what you are doing and enjoy the moment you are in or you will miss the rainbow.

What Can You Get Done in 15 Minutes?

Yesterday I worked on my Project Life album. After only ten days into the new year, I’ve already seen lots of blog posts of what their first few pages look like...journal cards filled—out, pictures already in place and some with lots of embellishments to make them all look pretty. I have found some pins on pinterest as well and started my own board for Project Life. 

This is what mine looks like.

Not exactly like some of the ones I’ve seen posted. But I am caught up on my journal cards. What I try to do is sit down once a day, usually in the evening after the kids are in their rooms, and write my journal card. But sometimes life gets in the way and it doesn’t get done. That’s when my back-up plan comes into place. Every Monday, I set time aside to catch-up. With my camera by my side and my plan book open, I can write those journal cards pretty quickly. I still don’t have my pictures in the album. They won’t come until the end of the month. At the end of January, I will download all my pictures for the month to Shutterfly and when that bright orange envelope arrives in the mail, I will slide the pictures into place. Not all of my cards will stay exactly where they are now. Depending on how many pictures I have for a particular day, my cards may get moved around. Project Life can be different for different people. Some people take a picture a day. I try to do that, but I don’t always stick to it and that’s okay.  There are some days that I wouldn’t be able to stick to just one picture…Ryan’s birthday or Molly’s pictures from her own little picture project, for example.

I follow Gretchen Rubin’s blog, The Happiness Project. She has written about organization, using time more wisely, and getting things done and how it all relates to your happiness.

Some of her words that run through my head are:

People usually overestimate what they can get done in a day and underestimate what they can get done in 15 minutes.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a “to-do” list for the day and at the end of the day I am disappointed because I didn’t get everything done. It wasn’t because I wasn’t busy. It wasn’t because I wasn’t focused. It really was because I overestimated what I could get done in that day. We sometimes set ourselves up for failure. We think about all the things we didn’t do and not all the things we did get done that day.

Once a week, Gretchen Rubin posts a video on her blog. In 2011, she was focused on resolutions. Each week she would have a resolution suggestion. This year she is focusing on getting rid of those “pigeons of discontent,” kind of the opposite of the “bluebird of happiness.” What are those “little” things that weigh us down and then make us discontent? On yesterday’s post she talked about that overwhelming task of doing something with all those family pictures. She said if you do something for 15 minutes everyday (which equals an hour and 45 minutes by the end of the week) you will make a dent in whatever overwhelming task is before you.

Click here to see her blog.

People overestimate what they can get done in a day and underestimate what they can get done in 15 minutes. So if you take 15 minutes out of your day, everyday to do something with your family pictures, whether it’s scrapbooking, digital books, or Project Life, by the end of the year, you will have something that documents your family’s life.

It only takes 15 minutes.

Through the Eyes of a Seven Year Old

Molly has asked me a number of times for her own camera. She sees her older sister with her camera phone and she wants to be able to take pictures too. Countless times she has asked me for the camera when we are watching her brothers play a basketball game or her sister play a soccer game. So this weekend I decided to let her have my little Canon Power Shot camera for the day. I told her I had a project for her. Any of my other kids would have rolled their eyes and let out a deep sigh at the sound of the word "project." But not Molly. Enthusiastically she asked what was the project. I told her I wanted her to take pictures of her day. Take pictures of her favorite things. Take pictures of her room. Take pictures of what she likes to do. "You have control of the camera, so go have fun," I told her.

I wasn't sure what she would have at the end of the day but Molly was overjoyed with her assignment and got started right away. First she headed up to her room and took pictures of all of her favorite things. She took pictures of all of her stuffed animal friends, her new lamp, her new pillows on her bed, and her new favorite hat.

Then she moved on to her horses. Molly started taking horseback riding lessons this past summer and absolutely fell in love with it. She had her first horse show at the barn where she rides and got three ribbons. She took a picture. She loves a book series called The Horse Diaries. She took a picture. For Christmas, she got a new stuffed animal horse that she named Patches. She took a picture. 

Then Molly moved on to her favorite books. She pulled out those special ones that she loves to read and some new ones that she hasn't read yet. I love that Priscilla's arms are outstretched. It reminds me of Molly. I love that Molly carefully placed her tickle monster hands with the book and that she even took a picture of the box that the book and tickle hands come in. I love that she took a picture of Molly Moon and The Little House Series books that she hasn't read yet but is excited to read. I love that she thoughtfully placed the two Chicken Butt books corner to corner.

When she was done taking all those pictures, she decided to make her bed. She even took a before and after picture. Great job Molly!

Here's another example of before and after pictures. After Molly cleaned her room, she moved into the basement to clean what we call "The Barbie Room." No boys allowed in this room. This is before she cleaned it.

...And this is after. Another great job, Molly!

 But Molly is not all work. She likes to have a little bit of fun while she cleans. She found a dress-up hat and took pictures. She found the garbage can and took pictures. She set-up her pets in their houses and took pictures.

Molly then gave the camera to Grandma since she was here this weekend. Molly just learned how to do a cartwheel in dance class. She wanted it documented that she could do it.

This weekend, we finally packed the last of the Christmas decorations away. Molly took some shots of the ornaments before they were taken down but then passed the camera to her sister who was up on the ladder.

Molly took a shot looking up at where the tree once stood.

And Molly took a shot looking down at where the tree once stood.


Then it was time for a shower. She took another before and after shot. I think she looks unhappy with the wet hair because she really doesn't like getting all those knots out but I think she did a fantastic job combing out her hair and she was obviously very proud of herself.

And then there is this one. This one is my absolute favorite. Molly is my nature girl. She has a binder in her room where she writes all about nature. While my mom was visiting she was looking at one of my garden books. Molly must of come across it and placed her American Girl camp fire right in front of the book. Can't you just picture yourself sitting in one of those chairs in that beautiful garden with a fire by your feet to keep you warm? I know I can and I think Molly did too.

So give your kids the camera every once in a while and let them document their own life. You may be amazed at how they see their world. I know I was.