Last year I took a photo of each of my children each week as part of “The 52 Project.” I only made it half the year and it was sometimes a rather last-minute deal, but it was fun and worth it because look at Gil’s hair! And this is one of my favorite photos ever of Lena.
So I’m late this year, but I think I want to do it again. (Now maybe by March or so I’ll write down my goals for 2015… and do whatever else people usually do on January 1!)
Here are Weeks 1 through 7. I’ll follow up with Week 8 in a few days, hopefully after I get out my “real camera” and have some fun!
Week 1
Lena: Lena: She’s climbing anything and everything these days, and her brother isn’t far behind. This photo is from a quick trip the three of us took one morning to the San Diego Zoo, where Gil learned how to say “koala.”
Gil: Enjoying the last vestiges of Christmas with his Grampa. We spent most of the first week of the year in Virginia with our families. I miss those candy cane-striped pajamas already!
Week 2
Lena: We spent part of Week 2 and 3 up the California coast in Santa Barbara county, where Elliott’s friends have a ranch. I loved watching Lena slip right into ranch life. Look at the way she cocks her little hip as she watches her dad from the back of the flatbed truck! She rides on hay bales back there like a natural, too.
Gil: He rode his first horse at the ranch that weekend! BAREBACK! When we were there in September, Gil wouldn’t let us put him on Bliss, but this time he took right to her.
Week 3
Lena: So content and such a good traveler! She’s always been flexible and fascinated by new places, even when she was two months old and I flew with her to visit Elliott on an Army assignment in Israel. This weekend was no exception… except when we were in the car driving to and from Santa Barbara. That time was not so great…
Gil: We found a real tractor. He got to sit on it. Bliss x2!
Week 4
Lena: We started reading Little House in the Big Woods before bed, and I was amazed by how much I remembered from my own childhood! My mom read it aloud to me when I was about five, and in retrospect I think Lena was too young. We’ll read it again in a couple years when she’s ready for the rest of the series, too. We just finished Charlotte’s Web together last week, which was equally sweet and memorable for the two of us.
Gil: This little guy turned two on January 25! He couldn’t wait to get out of the bath that night to keep playing with all his new toys, and this ended up being my favorite photo from the day.
Week 5
Lena: She’s always coming up with new and hilarious games to play with Gil these days; this time it was finding pillowcases in the linen closet and announcing, “We’re ghosts!” I’ve waited a L O N G time for them to finally start playing together independently, and I feel like it’s finally, really happening.
Gil: Our church celebrated “Scottish Heritage Sunday,” which I’ve never heard of before, but we loved! So much plaid and so many kilts, even miniature ones on a couple adorable little boys! Maybe Gil needs one next year??
Week 6
Lena: Valentine’s Day! We were in the park when Lena’s little friend Caleb got out of his preschool Valentine’s Day party, and he sweetly sat down and shared his entire bag of candy (!) with his brother and his friends. Lena now wants to go to school. (Of course.)
Gil: I learned that our library loans out free passes to the New Children’s Museum downtown, so I took the kids one day. I’d heard so much about the museum for so long, and it did not disappoint! A table of KAPLA blocks, a whole tractor to paint, an entire balcony for blowing bubbles, a gigantic soft squishy playground, a whole room full of books and tent-making supplies, and even a bouncy house… felt like heaven to everyone involved. San Diego wins.
Week 7
Lena: She continues to be my effortless fashionista. (Either that or the topknot is the easiest and cutest hairstyle ever!) We’ve been going to the beach a lot lately, taking advantage of the milder temperatures and sun during the winter. It’s 75-80 degrees most days, so we should live it up while we can! (Did I mention that San Diego wins?)
Gil: Our local MOMS Club took a trip to the Coronado fire station, which was kind of stressful with 91 children (just kidding) but also totally fascinating and very “small town.” The kids watched a real fireman slide down a real fire pole and Gil has wanted to “see pole” (see the picture) every day ever since. Here it is, just for fun:
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And now a question for you: how do you enjoy and look at your pictures? All mine are on my computer! Do you print out individual photos and put them in albums? Or do you print photo books through a certain service? I am starting to worry that Lena will lose her memories of Sicily if we don’t reinforce them with photos, but I don’t have a single photo book — or photo! — printed. Help! Where to start?
First of all, I enjoy looking at all the cute pictures of your kids. It looks like you are all enjoying life to the fullest!
As for my pictures…ever since Eric was born (almost 19 years ago!!) I have put our pictures into photo safe albums. I enjoy the process…preserving the pics with captions etc, and the social time that goes along with it. I often would go to a “crop” with a bunch of friends, and we’d spend the day (or a weekend) working on our albums. As time has gone by, my albums have become much simpler, and I’m actually way behind right now. My pictures are now on the computer, but I desperately want them off of there, in case something happens and I lose them! It’s been rewarding having books that the kids and our friends enjoy looking through.
You have such good ideas and make them happen, Alica! I loved looking at albums when I was a child that my mom had put together with real photos, and I’d love to do that for my kids as you’ve done for yours. No “crops” around here to get them done, though! :(
We also store our pictures on the computer. Over the past 2 years I have made 1 photobook for each year, and I hope to do my 3rd for 2014 soon. (I have got them during a Shutterfly promotion when you only pay shipping, and you can also get them through diaper points). I had hopes and paper supplies for scrapbooking, but find this much faster so at least I have something in my hands instead of just good intentions. We try not to watch much TV, but sometimes when we need a distraction or a quiet activity, I put some pictures on a slide show on the screen. Sometimes I watch with them and we talk about the memories, other times it gives me a chance to work on something in the kitchen and we can still make a few comments to each other. I think this reinforces the memories and keeps them fresh when they see the pics fairly often.
That’s a fun idea about the slide show! I am running out of space on my computer (like… literally my computer is FULL) because I take all the pictures in our family, and so I need to do something before transferring them to a hard drive and forgetting about them forever. I am afraid once I transfer them, I won’t even have them for slide shows or to look at on the computer!
Great pics! I enjoy reading your blog!
We’ve had the same trouble with digital photos…. :( never look at them since they are on the computer. Recently we’ve been putting together photo books online as a date night with my hubby ever few months. Snapfish, Collage.com and Picaboo (my fav. so far- very user friendly and nice looking books) are some we’ve used. I’m sure there are others too. You can pick a “season” or “a trip” or do a “year in review”. The possibilities are endless!!!! Keep your eye out for deals on groupon or living social since these books are pricey without the coupons.
Such good advice! I hadn’t heard of Picaboo, and I would have forgotten to look for coupons until after I’d committed to one or the other and done tons of work. I make photo calendars for our parents and grandparents every year and they are always astonishingly quick and SO much fun. I’m inspired by the date night idea!
I Love all of your photos! I’m glad they are on your blog so we can see them :-). I’m just here to say ‘thank you’ for posting them as you do.
Aww, you’re welcome! :)
Oh gosh yes, definitely do books for her! Make books and tell her stories to go with the pictures… even if she doesn’t necessarily have proper “memories” of the time per se, if you tell the stories often enough she will remember those as pseudo memories along with her own fragments (if that makes sense, as a good thing?) A nice thing may also be to one day make a book-type thing of your most important blog posts from your time in Sicily as a sort of family history?
We lived in Italy (just outside Rome) until I was 2 and I don’t remember any of it at all, it’s really sad.
I want to do both these things, Amanda! Somehow finding the time is the hardest thing… sigh. I know there are services that will take your whole blog and put it into a book for you.
Totally not in answer to your actual question, but I just read “My Father’s Dragon” with my 3 and 6 year olds and they were both listening intently. They loved the story and even though it was written in the 40’s, it really isn’t dated (unlike other books from the same decade that we’ve read). Just an FYI in case you haven’t read it (I hadn’t before having kids).
https://www.amazon.com/Fathers-Dragon-Ruth-Stiles-Gannett/dp/1494915049
That’s a great idea! My mom did read it to me as a child but it’s been ages. I’ll see if our library has it! I love that it’s about a little boy; both the past two books we read had girl heroines, and I’d like to mix it up.
New commentor here! I print the best of our photos & put them in albums. All of our children love to look at them, ask questions and my older ones will say, “Remember when……?” It’s almost like those picture books with no or very few words where you make up the story with the help of pictures. The downside is that some of the albums are literally falling apart. I’ve wondered if photo books would be sturdier.
This was such an important part of my childhood, Sara, and it makes me happy to think of other kids doing this! This is why I want to make albums for my kids…
I remember the San Diego Children’s Museum from when I lived there (from birth to age 11- I’m Emily’s age, so this was solidly in the 1990s)! I’m not entirely sure if it’s still the same one, but there was definitely a vehicle of some kind to paint every time my brother and I went there (which was often- it was a good way to entertain my brother and I when my Navy Dad was deployed, as he was frequently). I loved painting that vehicle (although elementary-school me was so clueless about cars that I don’t know what it was- perhaps a truck?) :)
I’m sure it’s the same idea, but maybe not the same place, because this one is called “The New” SD Children’s Museum. Either way, I wouldn’t be surprised if they use a lot of the same great ideas over the years. It has been a huge blessing to us already and I can’t wait to go back! So fun to think of you there years ago. :)
I found this blog from a Facebook post about living so close to your neighbors in Coronado, and when I saw the picture of your son in front of the Graham memorial church sign I was taken back to my childhood. I went to preschool at Graham, and then continued on through high school, and lived at home in Coronado while attending college in San Diego. After getting married I have moved all over, and currently call washington home, but Coronado holds a very very special place in my heart. It is so nice to see new families raising their littles there in the same picturesque childhood that I experienced!
What wonderful memories! I am so glad you commented and let me know. I am so grateful to live here right now and can’t ever imagine leaving. It’s a gift! I’m sitting outside on the deck as I write this with the sun on my back and the birds chirping and the breeze blowing… in early March… a taste of heaven, for sure!
I’ve found shutterfly really easy to use. I have only printed books for family members, but I think I will go that route.for us as well.
Shutterfly also has a service whereby they will store your photos for you. It also identifies who is who (after some prompting) and stores photos by date.
My cousin uses this service and loves it. She pays $100. I’m not ready to commit to that, but I could see how it would be useful.
You can also create your photo book and save it, and wait for a sale to order it.
Hmm, thanks for the info about Shutterfly. It does sound organized, and I guess it’s popular for a reason!