Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Placing Importance On Memory Keeping



A little while back, Grace was watching an episode of Play School where the presenters were taking photographs of Jemima and Humpty and all of the other toys and compiling an album.  The show finished and she came running up to me with such a look of excitement, thrilled at the prospect of sharing what she thought was a brilliant suggestion.

“Mummy, Mummy, I’ve got a really great idea!  Let’s take some photos and print them out and then stick them into a book so we can look through them.”

I smiled at her enthusiasm and yet at the same time, felt horrified that the concept of a ‘photo album’ was so foreign to her.  Why did she not know what one was?  When did I stop printing out photos?  Why had she not experienced the same pastime I remember so fondly as a little girl?… flipping through my Mum and Dad’s albums, full of photos of myself and my sister as babies, of my parents and aunts and uncles as children, all of which led to lots of questions, the sharing of tales and plenty of reminiscing.  Photos that captured memories and milestones and the changing of eras.  Photos that embodied ‘family life’. 

I decided then and there that making time to start on some memory keeping projects was a priority. 



My first efforts have been spent on updating our hallway gallery where a collection of frames have displayed several wedding photos ever since we’ve been in our home.  While those photos were no less precious after all this time, somehow, displaying a handful of family snapshots seemed a better fit for this space now.  With a combination of frames from Country Road, Spotlight and op shops in white and timber, some favourite photos of us and the girls are now on display… a mix of posed shots and other more candid ones.  Not only is our new display more meaningful to the girls, but swapping the black frames for lighter ones has really lifted this space. 

Next up, I've begun to sort through our cupboard of haphazardly stored photos.  Cuddled up under a blanket on the couch at night with a cup of chamomile tea, I've been gradually going through our collection, sorting through one small pile at a time and putting them into bundles for projects I have planned. I’m going to finally  complete the girls’ traditional baby books as well as Sophie's first year album (like the one I made for Grace), begin an on-going family record of photos using Project Life resources (as well as on-going albums for each of the girls) and print out some photo books of holidays we've been on.  I promise to share these with you as I work on them…


How about you?  Do you still print out photos or have you too fallen victim to the digital age and the habit of viewing memories on-screen only?


Monday, August 4, 2014

Snippets Of Our Week...


1.  A morning tea stop at our favourite Cookie Dough Biscuits for a milkshake and cup of tea before running a few errands in Fremantle 


2.  A special after-school treat on Friday from the markets (not actually a photo from the past seven days, but still our same cupcake choices nonetheless)


3.  It was all about fairy flower crowns for the girls when it came to dress-up costumes this week (there were also lots of squabbles over whose turn it was to wear the 'new' garage-sale-find pink fairy dress)


4.  Words of wisdom (found online) printed out to bring to a friend's Blessingway... such a lovely gathering and a beautiful celebration of motherhood


5.  Outdoors, enjoying the winter sunshine (we bought the girls a swing-set a few months back and it has been such a great addition to our backyard)


Joining in with Em