Monday, August 7, 2017

"Walking Away" Documenting Your Kids Lives

Time REALLY does fly by! When my children were growing up, I started a tradition of taking what I call the 'walking away' pictures on the first day of school.  Through the years I managed to keep them all in one place (remember these were the days of having to SEND the film out and getting the photos/negatives back!).  I kept two copies of each photo in a special envelope tied with a red ribbon.  Since "paper" is the traditional first anniversary gift, I used the photos to create a photo album for my son and daughter-in-law.
 And this was my plan  . . . that one day, I would create a wedding gift from the photos (and if my girls don't get married, well . . . I'll come up with another creative idea for using their photos!)
 So every year, rain or shine, we would take the obligatory photos.  I love this one of first grade -- he was literally running down the block toward the bus stop he was so excited!
 When I created the album, I added little embellishments as well as the year in school and name of the school.
 To make it even more fun, I found all of these funny quotes by kids describing love/marriage/dating and added them to each page.
To keep it all uniform, I bought a book of coordinating scrap booking paper.
 Notice he's not running anymore haha! Although I have to say, this kid LOVED school.  So much so, he grew up to be a Physics teacher!
 By twelfth grade, he was walking to the garage for his car instead of walking to the bus stop.
 I wrote this poem to go with the album.
 This little poem I found by an anonymous writer and I adapted it a little for my album.  

From this . . .

to this . . .  in a few short years

and finally to this . . .


a new life with a beautiful, young lady.

Do you have any 'traditions' or 'rituals' to document your children through the years?


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9 comments:

  1. What a sweet idea! I'll have to share this with my godson's mom!

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  2. Time surely does fly by! Such a beautiful way to capture all those precious memories!
    Thanks so much for sharing at AMAZE ME MONDAY!
    Blessings,
    Cindy

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  3. Awe, what a labor of love! I did do scrapbooks for my children but they are the old fashioned kind All the cute scrapbooking stuff was not out, so they are very plain and ordinary but they are very full of items concerning their lives. A real treasure!

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  4. Aww...this is just so sweet! I can't imagine how much this will mean to the bride and groom. God bless you, dear friend. :)

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  5. What a wonderful thought you had. I love the finished scrapbook. Truly a love-filled effort.

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  6. I always took pictures of my four on the first day of school, but looking at me, Lauren. Your idea is so unique! I love the poem that your wrote. What treasured memories your kids will have as a keepsake.

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  7. I have never had any traditions to document these kinds of things....but I think it's wonderful that you have done this! Very special!

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  8. This is wonderful, Lauren. It looks very much like a scrap book. Me and the girls used to work on scrapbook projects all the time and really enjoyed it. I love the "walking away" pictures. They're so sentimental and precious. Such creative ideas you have, Lauren.

    ~Sheri

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