Confessions of a Scrapbook Quitter

I've been dealing with some pretty severe MOMMY GUILT for the past 10 years.  It all revolves around these 2 books:

They are Graham's baby books...his first two years completely documented in pictures, arranged by date and detailed with journals. 

I have lists of all the visitors that came to meet him in the hospital.

Way too much information about his first pumpkin patch visit.

Every holiday...

 every cute outfit...

his first scribble.

His entire first two years...

 

This is Nora's book.

It still has the plastic wrap on it.  It still has some random girl in the picture frame.

I did manage to get a great spread of her cute little nursery.

Here is the spread from the day she was born.

nice, huh?

Poor baby girl.

 

For Charlie, I thought I was going to be smart and I did a digital book.

I was going to make a new one every 6 months to a year. 

That's his only book.

Poor baby boy.

 

So now, I feel a pang in my heart when I see a current scrapbook at a friend's houses.  When my kids say "Mom, where's my baby book?" I just act like I didn't hear them.  I have stacks of cds full of pictures and thousands of pictures on my laptop that give me serious heart palpitations.

 

This is one reason why I have gotten back together with my blog.  At least their pictures and some of the fun stuff we do will be documented here.  It's like an online scrapbook, right??  So, I guess those of you that are reading will have to bare with me once or twice a week while I post kids pics.  The little darlings are adorable...it won't be so bad! 
 

Despite the reunion with my blog, I still feel like I need to print some pictures.  I am contemplating at least printing off all of my phone pics and putting them in one of those smash books or something.  This mommy guilt is telling me I need some tangible form of a photo album so my kids will turn out normal.  Am I the only mommy out there that feels this way?  Can my kids still make it in this world without a baby book???

 

Have any of you tried any of the places that will print phone pics?  PLEASE, let me know if you have.  I'm anxious to give it a try.

 

 

 



© 2012 paperdoll designs

THE LIST...SUMMER 2013

The list is in.  We actually crossed a few things off this weekend!

List maker that I am, I LOVE having a summer list.  It gives the kids something to look forward to and we have instant ideas for those "boring" days.  If you make a list, make sure your kids understand that you won't be crossing every item off within the first few days of summer.  It took my kids a summer or two to realize that we weren't racing to finish all the activities before the end of May!

Summer is a challenge for me because I want my kids to have fun BUT I also have to work and I want them to understand that I'm not here to entertain them 24 - 7.  This list of activities that we keep posted seems to help remind them that we WILL be doing some fun things this summer but we might not be doing them everyday. 

I'd love to here what you're doing this summer!!!

 

The idea of coming up with a Summer List is not my own.  I saw it on my favorite blog years ago.
 

 



© 2012 paperdoll designs

Feeling so grateful...

***This post was originally written for yesterday but with all the heartache in Oklahoma, I decided to postpone it.  Now looking over it, I realize how blessed I am to have spent these little moments with my kids.  I know I often complain about how busy things get with three kids and all their activities but after watching the news over the past few days it puts it all in perspective.  I need to cherish each of these moments...

May is always a super busy month for us and this past weekend was no exception.  Here's a little instagram/phone dump weekend in review.

 We started the weekend off with our final Fountain Drink Friday of the school year.  This is the last week of Kindergarten, 4th grade and 6th grade for the Jameison Party of Five.  Once again, another school year has flown by and I can't believe it's over!

 We are NOT a "fest" family and we were so busy this weekend but we found out mid-week that G had artwork at Mayfest so we squeezed in a little trip downtown.  We searched and searched, had a very disappointing crepe experience and spent a fortune on ice cream and thanks to a text from my friend Julie, we finally found the right building.  Here's Graham outside the LOCKED door.  We were hours too late.

 Nathan and Graham got up and went back the next morning while I got Nora all dolled up for her dance recital.  I took a picture of her in the car...

 struttin' her stuff on the way in...

with her parentals...

but failed to take a single cute pic of her dancing or by herself posing in her usual sassy dance pose.  Dance Recital Fail.  Better luck next year.

 

After the recital we did a little family birthday dinner with the addition of one of her friends that I think has been at every birthday dinner since they were 4!

My favorite part of the weekend was that Nora asked if she could have a "sleepover" with me for her birthday.  XOXOXO.  Of course, I said yes and kicked Nathan out.

Sunday was her actual birthday and we did another round of birthday cake with extended family.  

It was a fun weekend but we were all exhausted.  Here's how Charlie felt about the whole thing: 

© 2012 paperdoll designs

Instagram/Phone Photos Week in Review

It's been a BUSY week!   The last few weeks of school always make me a little cRaZy and I think I'm still recovering from Camp Charlie!  I'm so excited to be taking next week off of work so I can just concentrate on my little darlings and all that they have accomplished this year.  I think there are parties and/or awards ceremonies going on EVERYDAY next week. 

My Mother's Day was awesome. 

We went to church...the kids dressed themselves in color coordinating clothes (not on purpose but what a treat for a picture day)...we got a decent picture with me in it to prove someday that they had a mom.  I'm never in pictures because I'm always the one taking them!

 

 They got me the wallet I'd had my eye on!  I heart it!!  Isn't it pretty?

It was a beautiful day!  We spent a lot of time outside. 

I cut some roses from our rose bush...

 We do not have green thumbs here so this is an accomplishment!!

 

We had to take down the tent.  I was sad to see it go.  I thought it was fun having a tent in the backyard and the kids loved it.  It was funny to watch Nathan try to get that huge tent back into that little bag though.

 

 The 6th Grade Awards Ceremony was this week.  My heart hurts that this boy is going to be in 7th grade next year.  He is growing up way too fast!! 

He's really grown up this year...right before my eyes.  He's turning into such an amazing young man.  I've really loved watching him take off in middle school.  He's gained so much confidence this year and really grown spiritually.  He's awesome.  He's our little scholar so imagine our surprise AND HIS when they announced that he was the 6th grade boy chosen to have artwork at Mayfest this year!!  So we are off to Mayfest this weekend to find his art.  So proud that maybe he has a little creative gene in there somewhere!!  He gets all his math skills from his dad but just maybe there's a little of me in there somewhere!!

 

The week was so busy and filled with so many activities that I did most of my PaperDolly work in the wee hours or in the car.  I did my books in the school parking lot waiting for the kids.

 

I'm feeling a lot stressed as we head into dance recital/Mayfest/Nora's birthday/middle school finals/kindergarten graduation/last week of school.  I'm SO ready for summer!!!

 

That's my instagram/phone photo week in review.

Follow me on instagram if you want to see all this exciting news as it happens live :) Haha!

mypaperdolldesigns on instagram

© 2012 paperdoll designs

What's for dinner?

I think you all know by now that I am a list-maker.  I like my life all planned out and written (typed in a cute font preferably because I don't like my handwriting) nice and neat on a pretty piece of paper.  I don't always stick to the plan but I like the thought of having one on paper. 

Last summer, I tackled meal planning.  I got so tired of realizing it was almost dinner time and I had completely forgotten about dinner!  We were in a bad habit of grabbing something out or doing what my family calls FIFI.  Find It, Fix It.  When I got on my health kick, I realized this would not do and only a cute list could solve a problem like this.  So I decided to come up with a weekly plan.  I knew that if I was going to stick to it, we needed it to be simple so we went with this idea:

Sunday - Beef Night

Monday - Breakfast for Dinner Night

Tuesday - Chicken Night

Wednesday - Fish Night

Thursday - Pasta Night

Friday - Pizza Night

Saturday - Soup, Sandwich or Salad Night

 

 

I then listed all of the meals in these categories that I knew most of my party of five will eat and put it on a magnetic chart for the fridge.  On Sundays, I go through the list and usually let the kids help decide. 



 We check off what we are having and then no one asks all week "what's for dinner?"  It has worked great.  We don't stick to it ALL the time but for the most part, we've got a pretty good system going.  I've added lots more meals into the rotation since joining a freezer meal cooking group which has been awesome!  Now that we've been using this system for almost a year, we pretty much have it memorized so I decided an upgrade was in order for the fridge. 

 

I tried taking a pic while it was on the fridge but I kept getting a horrible glare.  I'm not a photographer, so I gave up.  You get the idea.  This is one of my dry erase boards and I put magnets on the back so I could hang it on the refrigerator.  I see it every morning when I'm getting my Diet Dr. Pepper so I am always reminded if there is something I need to thaw or put in the crockpot. 

I put the old chart in my binder to use when I'm planning out the week.

 

 

This system works great for my family!  The kids always know what's for dinner and they like that I let them choose which meal to check off.  I always have veto power but I do let them choose the main dish for the most part.  It's made grocery shopping so much easier too!

 

Would this plan work for your family?  If so, leave a comment telling me your favorite meal to cook for your family and one lucky reader will win a Menu Board personalized for you!!

© 2012 paperdoll designs

Cinammon Rolls and Candles

Yesterday was The Baker's birthday.  I really need a new name for him...he rarely bakes anymore.  sniff, sniff.  I've been so busy with PaperDolly stuff that I didn't think ahead about making/buying him a cake.  Thank goodness for good friends who deliver homemade birthday cinammon rolls first thing in the morning!!  He loves them so much so Nora suggested we just make them his cake.  I stacked them on a cake stand and stuck candles all over and called it good. Thank you, Shelle!

He loved it!

He gets cuter every year.  I jokingly like to tell The Baker how lucky he is all the time that he is married to me but everyone that knows Nathan knows that I'm the lucky one.  He's almost too good to be true.  I'm a lucky girl.

 

All those candles on the cinammon roll stack reminded me of something that I read a few months ago about celebrating all the little things with candles.  I can't remember where I read it but it was a blog post/article/pinterest or something about using candles in whatever...doesn't have to be cake...to celebrate life's little accomplishments.  Score a soccer goal?  Candle in your pizza at dinner.  Do great at a dance recital?  Candle in your pancakes.  Make straight A's?  Candle in your mashed potatoes!   I knew that my kids would love that and meant to put it into practice but totally forgot about it.   To keep myself from forgetting, I put all the candles in a jar and left it on the dinner table.  Now I think I will remember.  Can't wait to surprise one of the kids with candles in their spaghetti!!

They are an inexpensive way to celebrate and there are some super cute candles out there too!

neon candles

striped candles

soccer candles

 

 

 



© 2012 paperdoll designs

This isn't so bad after all...

Thank you so much to all of you that have sent such encouraging emails about our little home schooling adventure. It truly makes my day to wake up to an email from someone telling me that they are thinking about us over here in our little "school." I have to be honest, a few days before "school" started, I was having HUGE regrets about our decision. I cried. I felt like this was going to be the worst decision EVER. When everyone went to Meet The Teacher, I felt like someone was having a big party and my kids were the only ones that didn't get invited. I listened to everyone talk about what teacher they got and I made a million lunchboxes and bag tags for other kids that were going to the big "party." I had a little pity party and wondered what in the world led us to this decision. Then school started and I prepared myself for the horribleness (I just decided that was a word.) Guess what? It's not horrible. I'm kind of enjoying it. I like planning. I like color coding their folders by the day of the week. I like finding out that Nora loves math and I would have never guessed that. I like that she suddenly LOVES to read and gets so excited when I tell her it's free reading time. I like that Graham is actually teaching ME geography because apparantly he studies maps in his spare time. I love that I get to teach him cursive and that he thinks it is so cool. I like that I am spending more time with them than I really have in a long time. I love that they have great friends who haven't forgotten about them just because they aren't at school. It might get old. It's only been a week and a half. I might be desparate for alone time. I might get tired of the fact that my errands are now group outings. I might get sick of having a dirty house because no one has time to clean it. But either way, I think I will look back on this and be glad that we did it. Thanks for all the encouragement.

Oh, and Charlie got in trouble today AGAIN at preschool. There was a long list of naughty things that he was up to. His teacher is the sweetest. I think she'll learn to love him despite his flaws.

A PaperDoll Newsletter just went out. Did you get it?

© 2009 paperdoll designs

Change of plans...

Tomorrow we are supposed to be waking up bright and early to head off for a little family getaway. We are supposed to be headed to Frisco for my niece's 2nd birthday. We are supposed to stop at some outlets on the way. We are supposed to stop and visit my brother and his family in Fort Worth. We are supposed to be visiting Anthropologie, The Container Store, American Girl and The Lego Store. We are supposed to be getting a bundt fix at Nothing Bundt Cakes. We are supposed to stay at a hotel with a pool so we can swim and relax and do whatever. We are supposed to watch sweet Ellis blow out two candles. Instead, we are going to sit around the house and watch Charlie do this...Poor Baby has pneumonia. I feel like a bad mommy. He wheezes A LOT and this time I thought it was just asthma or allergies. We've been doing the breathing treatments for a few days and I just assumed it was his usual stuff. I took him to the Dr. at the last minute tonight because I decided it would be best to make sure before we headed out. He's got it pretty bad. Poor little man...

© 2009 paperdoll designs

Almost....But Not Quite

For about two weeks now, Prince Charles has been wearing the cutest little boxer briefs. I love to see him running around the house in these tiny little boxers. We've made huge strides in the potty training arena. This post may be TMI for some of you. He hasn't had a pee pee accident in days. Well, unless you count that little puddle in the aisle at Office Depot...but let's not talk about that. He's done great. I thought we'd never say good-bye to diapers so I am really happy about the progress. We have one BIG problem though. He WILL NOT poop in the potty. NEVER. WON'T DO IT. What's a mommy to do?? I've tried begging. I've tried yelling. I've tried the candy bribe. I've tried the toy bribe. I've tried time-outs. I've tried the let him sit in it and be uncomfortable for a while. I've tried the it's no big deal you'll make it next time approach. He starts big boy school in less than 4 weeks...he can't go unless he's totally potty-trained. Help me!! Any suggestions???

© 2009 paperdoll designs

Happy Mother's Day!

Graham came to tell me Happy Mother's Day at about 2 am on Sunday. He said he felt funny. About 10 minutes later I was cleaning up throw up. Happy Mother's Day to me!!! I actually think it's kind of funny that the first thing I did on Mother's day is one of the few things I really, really don't like about being a mommy. I know that nobody likes throw up, but I am one of those people who seriously can't deal. There's nothing I won't do for my Graham though. Don't worry, my day got better.

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day!! I hope you got to sleep in and have breakfast in bed. I hope you got flowers and a big stack of magazines and lots of sweet little hand made cards with handprints delivered to your bed on Mother's Day morning. I hope your husband did ALL the laundry and washed your car and straightened the house and made your favorite dinner and bought you cheesecake and your favorite ginormous fountain drink. I hope you did all these things and more but I hope you didn't have to clean up throw up...

© 2009 paperdoll designs

What are you smoking???

I know the thought of home schooling sounds crazy. Believe me, I agree with most of you that it is a crazy idea. Just a few months ago I said out loud and with much enthusiasm "I would NEVER and could NEVER home school!" I believe I also may have told a friend that was considering it that she was crazy. At this point it is not my first choice for my three little darlings. I love the school they go to now. I could go on and on about all the things I love about it and all the people that I love there. My kids are happy too. Unfortunately, it's not free and sadly we don't have a little money tree growing in our back yard. When we chose their school we had not been blessed with our sweet little Charlie yet and we did not anticipate three children. Of course, we wouldn't change a thing and we love our little Prince Charles to pieces. If we do choose to home school it will be short term with the hopes that they can ultimately graduate from the school they go to now. That is why we would prefer to keep them at home for a while rather than change back and forth from one school to another.
I know school choice can be controversial and I really do respect each parent's decision about where and how they educate their children. Of all of our parenting decisions we have spent more time than anything worrying about, praying about, talking about, crying about and stressing out about our choice of school. It is not something that we take lightly. I know it's not a decision to be made by a blog poll either...that just makes it more fun. And right now, the whole thing is not much fun. It's making me crazy.
Yesterday we spent about an hour at a home school bookstore. The nicest woman spent a long time talking to us about all of our options and the misconceptions of home schooling. I left there feeling VERY overwhelmed. It's a lot of information!!! Amazingly though, I actually felt a little more optimistic about the idea. There are parts of it that actually sound very appealing and many things about it that I know my kids would love. I think the only thing my kids would actually miss would be seeing their friends everyday. I worry about my sanity. It would be a HUGE change for us. For better???? For worse??? That's the part I haven't figured out yet.

The Flu is Here

Poor miserable Nora has the flu. I thought flu season was over. I won't be paying for flu mist again. Apparently it doesn't work. If you have an order here that I am working on don't be scared of the germs. The Baker AKA The Lysol King will be home soon and he'll be all over the place.

Potty Training update...had to abandon those cute boxer briefs when we headed out to the doctor's office. The phone has been ringing off the wall since I walked in the door so I haven't had a chance to get back on track. We'll start over tomorrow. I think the sticker idea is great...Charlie loves him some stickers. He did great today though.

Where does pee pee go???

After a quick refresher course from Kim on potty training, I decided to go cold turkey with Charlie this morning. Nora is home sick so I knew I wouldn't be going anywhere and I decided it was a good day to try it out. So far we've had two successful trips to the potty, one very large puddle on the floor and one super cute tushie in tiny boxer briefs. Wish me luck and send any tips my way. Girls are WAY easier to potty train then boys and it's been a long time since I had to potty train G.

Lots of Pics...

We had a great Spring Break! It was so nice to not have to work as much and now I'm having a really hard time getting back to business. I'm still in that Spring Cleaning mode. Today I tackled the linen closet...it desperately needed it. I won the battle with the Barbies and plastic jewelry that had taken over Nora's room and I'm so glad to have that one checked off the list. I'll have to take pictures of her room and closet because I'm pretty sure it won't last. Charlie's room and closet are next. It's pretty bad in there. I tend to dump all the things the older two are done with in his room and he drags it all out and makes a huge mess. Some days we seriously just have to make a path to his bed. The Vacuum (the thing that started this mad cleaning/organizing thing) is my new best friend and it has almost met every last corner of the house.

Bubble Gum Bags - Sporty Stripe with Bowling Pin
Domino Blue Small Clippie
Sports Bottles for the "SPARKLES" soccer team...Zebra Hot Pink

Hepburn Red Pen

Small Guitar Mom Note Pads

Rugby Orange & Blue Bookmarks

Black Damask Hot Pink & Tiffany Blue Tumblers

These family calendars have been selling like CRAZY! I LOVE mine...it's helped keep me sane lately. Shown above...Brown Damask and Green Family Calendars

Blossom Pink Flat Note Cards and Mini Bag Tag

Dot Dot Darcy Pink & Green Note Cards

Groovy Boy Note Cards and Mini Bag Tag

Hippie Chic Pink & Brown Sports Bottle, Groovy Girl Bright Pink Bag Tag & Pencil Cup

I seriously LOVE these lunchboxes!!! Pink GumDrops & Little Bo Peep

Black Damask Hot Pink Lunchbox

Pink Harlequin Bunny Mini Candy Bars

Pink & Green Stripe Easter Basket Mini Candy Bars

Rugby Blue & Red Plate & Matching Straw Cup

© 2009 paperdoll designs