Monday Giveaway : Studio Calico

We just finished a 37 person family reunion this past weekend. I housed some of the kids and two 17 year old girls pulled out my albums and found photos of when they stayed with me @ 5 years ago and we baked and made cookies. None of us remembered doing it until we looked at my albums.

my favorite thing about memory keeping is the heightened awareness in creating the memories themselves. it's leaving the camera behind and immersing myself into the activities - less emphasis on photos and more on enjoying the moment and capturing the feelings.

I love documenting the things my children say and do with journaling and pictures. Over time you forget the funny things they say but when it is recorded on paper you never forget. My boys are 7 and 5. I love to watch them go through the scrapbooks and talk about when "they were young".
Love your blog and all the inspiration you provide me.
Sandi

My reasons are probably too selfish to admit, but I'll do it anyway! I have a horrible memory -- I can't remember enough events from my childhood. I am the 10th of 11 children and I know every day was an adventure...but heck if I remember it...and that drives me batty. I don't want my children to "suffer" in the same fashion.
Furthermore, scrap time is my time. That's a precious commodity in motherhood!
Thanks for the opportunity!

My favorite thing about memory keeping right now is being able to look back at the memories later on. I love looking through my layouts and minibooks & remembering what I was doing, how I felt, etc...
(Thanks for the chance to win this awesome kit! :D)

Hi Ali,
Right now I'm enjoying the process and the vision that I get when I'm first taking pictures of my family. It's such a great feeling to be scrapping the "now". I get so much more reality in my pages.
Thanks so much.

Right now I am loving mini books. They are so much more fun for me than full pages. And my 2 year old askes me to get the basket down so she can look at them every time she's in my room.

I love thst my 13 year old son asks if I have added any new pages to the books and my 6 year old daughter leaves the scrapbook scattered around on the floor after she pulls them out to look at the scrapbooks.

I luv having the opportunity to tell the story thru my words and photographs. As an "older" mom with an only child....it is SO impt. I fear that someday I will not be here to tell him using my voice, so I journal and document to tell the story he will need to hold precious.
I watch him grow and change on a daily basis and after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 6 months after he was born, I truly KNOW how precious the days are when i can run and chase him around the backyard or allow him to spray me with the water hose while doing yardwork. Sounds like just the simple things, but many take for granted.
I NEVER want him to forget these moments and telling the story will leave him a legacy that I wouldn't otherwise be able to.
THanks Ali for always being an inspiration to us all.
Scrappin Jackie

Right now--I am lovin' my older photo's, I pulled many of them out of frames (time to switch those up!) and have been using them on pages!

My favorite thing would be that I'm finally getting to a place where I'm a little more introspective in the journaling - that it's more than the facts - it's about the emotions and experiences of living life.

What is my most favorite thing about Memory Keeping? It's the look in my neices and nephews eyes when the go thru my 10 years of albums .. their smiles as they remember a tiny, insignificant moment captured in pictures and recorded in my albums. I LOVE that!

Hi Ali!
I am loving the fact that my 2 year old girl (turns 3 on Saturday) doesn't mind if I am sitting at the scrap table! It wasn't too long ago that I would barely get set down & she'd be heading over to see what I'm doing (and, of course, want to play with my supplies). It is bittersweet to look over the pictures of her as a baby & now see the little girl she has become. Time has gone too fast!
Love the kit!!!

My favorite thing about memory keeping right now is the connection it gives me with my two sons. They actually sit down with me and go through the books I am making. I just finished one of my 13 year old that shows all the things he loves at 13. I am now working on one for my 16 year old. I know we will have fun looking at these now, but we will also love them 1, 2, 10, even 20 years from now even more.

I'm feeling the clock ticking away as my kids get older and older. In less than ten years, they'll all be out of the house. Ten years may seem like forever to a Mom with preschoolers, but when I realize how quickly the last ten years have gone, I know it's going to happen in the blink of an eye.
I'm just trying to savor every minute... every funny moment... every crazy teenager thing they do. They are so amazing and cool and fun and frustrating and confusing and challenging. I want to remember it all. Right now that means blogging more than scrapbooking because it's instant and it doesn't take me out of the center of things - I can post a blog and then get on with my day... but I still have big plans for how I'll scrapbook these days. Just not right now.
The kit looks amazing... love the Making Memories travel stuff.

My favorite thing is capturing the day-to-day stuff... the hysterical things the kids say, the joy we find in the mundane, and even my frustration with it at times. But I love that I can flip through and get a "true" sense of our home, rather than just vacations and birthday parties :)

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things.
Sorry... the question made me think of a favorite movie. I make scrapbooks so my kids can one day look at all of them and remember thier lives like it was their favorite movie. (musical numbers included)

My favorite about memory keeping is that I am documenting my history. Recording my feelings and thoughts and my hopes. I love that I can look back and realize what I had been in a certain point in time.

Favorite thing....remembering all the small details that would otherwise be forgotten. {oh and getting to use pretty paper along the way}

My favorite thing about memory keeping right now is that my step-son, nieces and nephew, who are all spread out over the country, can partcipate in the process with me. My step-son is old enough to take his own pictures and email them to me, and the little kids love telling thier stories for me.