Organizing Scrapbooks and Pages

Not sure how this began but on Sunday, I took a scrapbook off the shelf and then three more. None of them had a label on the outside indicating what was on the inside, so I had to flip through them. Which is not all bad because I love a trip down memory lane.

Before long, my girls were in on the action and oohing, aahing and reliving great moments in history (!). Long ago, I added simple Dymo labels to the outside of 6-8 of my first scrapbooks. Sunday night I decided it was time to add them to all of the scrapbooks.

I carried 10 albums, all the loose pages not housed in a scrapbook, a box of additional page protectors and the Dymo labeler downstairs to our family room. In this location, I could watch the Oscars and the girls could dig into the books with me. I got a screwdriver ready as I knew I'd be needing to add pages to some of the books that had room. I was able to expand three of the books.10 protectors per 12x12 album is a ridiculously small number, 15 complete pages seem to fit fine. Note: some of my pages were old school, paper pages. I have made exclusively digital pages since 2008-2009 and I have just mixed the two together in the albums chronologically as best I could.

I was left with about a dozen pages that did not fit into corresponding albums and after reviewing and making a list, it appeared the addition of two more books would be in order. I recall having purchased albums long ago at Big Lots for $5, and sure enough I found them there today.

Not beautiful but functional which is more than fine because last night  not one of us commented on the look of an album, just the pages inside.

 Two albums with stray pages waiting for homes.

 The humble, but effective Dymo!

Approximately 8 albums spanning the past 8 years.

 {early digi page circa 2008}

As an aside I want to share how I organize pages into albums. Early on, I made books for each of my girls and just placed pages inside in a somewhat chronological order. When a book got full, I'd start another. I did one album full of "sisters" pages that were pages solely on the two of them. Eventually that evolved to a family album where I stored pages that included all of us or were not exclusive to just one child.

{digi page included in 2009 album printed at Shutterfly}

As I began to make pages digitally, I just slipped them into the books alongside traditional pages. Eventually, they were all made digitally but I continued to print them as 12x12 pages. In 2009, I recorded everything digitally and then printed a Shutterfly album instead of individual pages. Check back Wednesday or Thursday to learn more about my evolution and where I am today. Pin It

Meal Plan Monday 2.27

With this unseasonably warm weather, all I really want to do is grill!! I made burgers in the dark last night. Even with the help of the flashlight they were a bit underdone. Ooops!

Monday: Barbecue Pork Chops on the grill ( my favorite sauce right now: Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory & Brown Sugar ), baked potatoes, broccoli and bakery wheat bread
Tuesday: Burgers for the girls, soft tacos for Dave and taco salad for me
Wednesday: Steak, hotdogs and trying a new flavor of Bob Evans potatoes: Caramelized Onion (not shown yet on the website)
Thursday: Spaghetti and Meatballs, Garlic Knots and Salad

 {via}

Friday: It's my Birthday!! The girls have a big plan...we are going to the opening of the Lorax at the theater. Mio's is across the street so I am going to lobby to go there first. I love their veggie pizza with the sesame seed crust. And since it is Lent, that works perfectly.

ETA: a free download, weekly meal planner from Ali Edwards

Linked up at with other Monday Meal Planners.

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Coffee Cup Egg Scramble

I have seen this idea countless times, preparing scrambled eggs in the microwave in a coffee mug.

 {via}

I use the microwave to reheat many, many things but I am weird about cooking items from scratch so this never really appealed to me. Yet today, I had a taste for a breakfast sandwich and had little time so I gave it a try. Works perfectly!

I used just one egg and added a half slice of cheese when I assembled the sandwich. So it went like this:

toasted Arnold's Sandwich Thin
one egg prepared in mug, salted
slice of bacon
half slice of cheese

Great breakfast in very little time!
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Pinned It, Made It - Handmade Valentines

 {via}

Surprisingly, both girls embraced the idea of fake mustaches and lips to give their classmates. The original pin was found at to Skip to My Lou, but it originated on this blog.



Here is our version one.




Modeled by Shelby. {many, many Dum Dums have been consumed during this project!}



 Version 2.

The day I was attempting to download the templates, they were not available so I cruised around the internet and found something else that was suitable and then adapted them for our use. I printed sheets of the Valentine's greetings on patterned paper and then slicked them thinly. Last, I cut the ends to resemble little flags. The girls traced and cut the foam on their own while I was in charge of the paper tags.

Another successful idea pinned, and made!

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InstaFriday 2.17.12

Joining Life ReArranged for InstaFriday again this week.

 If I were not taking iPhone photos, there would be no documentation whatsoever. Good thing I choose to love the one I'm with and put that on board camera to good use!




Check up approximately 6 hours after eye surgery.



A cookie bouquet for their Dad for said eye surgery :)



My reader. She discovered a book in her bookcase with a handwritten note from the giver of the book. It was dated June 2001 and was given to me at a baby shower when I was pregnant with Olivia. Such a great thing to discover. Thanks to my friend Rose :)



Olivia's butterfly still doing quite well.



New kicks for me.



Dance Class.



Enjoying the handmade Valentine that both of my girls shared with classmates. They were a HUGE hit.



 Look at all those tickets! Spending her quarters at the school skating party.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone Pin It

Meal Plan Monday February 13

Because my weekday menu is pretty simple again, I wanted to share the 1-2-3 Salmon I made on Saturday night.

{photo}

I am new to enjoying salmon and this one was a hit back in the summertime. Props to my husband for grilling it in the single digit temps!It was worth it, delicious!

Monday - Baked Deen Brothers Chicken. I make this with split chicken breasts because none of us are fans of dark meat.I have not made this one in a long while but it was time to mix up the chicken options!
Tuesday: Baked Tortellini with salad and garlic knots. I love this so Happy Valentine's Day to me.
Wednesday - Reheated Chili from Sunday. Chili Recipe can be found here.
Thursday -  Baked pork chops, mashed potatoes and veggie.
Friday - ?

Looking for more meal ideas? Visit orgjunkie.com. 


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Pinned It, Made It

A simple one and my second time of using this idea. The first one went to a friend turning 40. This I made for Gary who turned the big 5-0!




 This time the only suitable jar at the Dollar Tree was much smaller but it stilled worked fine. If you want to spend more and get a larger jar, Target has a few good ones as well. I found the gumballs in the bulk bin at Meijer.

Why does it feel so good to actually USE the ideas from Pinterest?! Does that really justify the time spent there curating ideas? Show me what you have pinned and made.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone Pin It

Meal Plan Monday

I know I have not been making many meals that require a recipe but just the act of making this list helps to hold me more accountable and away from the drive thru out of desperation on busy nights.

Monday: BLTs
Tuesday: Grilled Hamburgers, Baked Beans
Wednesday: busiest night of the week, it will be take out!
Thursday: Marie Callenders Pot Pies, Salad
Friday: Pasta?


More Meal Plans ::HERE::.

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2012 project life

...ish.

I am adopting the style of Project Life and making it my own using primarily CatScrap Design products (b/c those are my peeps!)and my own modifications.There are so many GRAND, inspired Project Life goodies circulating the internet right now that I insist you google that term and take a look.It is very difficult not to want to use every single bit of what is available.

My goal for 2012 is to return monthly documentation using summaries and a handful of photos. 2009 and 2010 worked well and although I tired of my products of choice near the end, it is by far the fastest way for me to record our memories. Could there be more details? More pages? More photos? Sure. But I am content to move on and that is a very good thing.

Introducing, January 2012!

 {products I used are listed here}

These are two 12x12 pages side by side. Click on this image and hopefully you can view it larger.

As in year's past, I hope to fill in and do layouts that really showcase special events and photos.

If you are recording daily photos, weekly memories or tackling the year by month like me, please link to your projects in the comments.

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Instafriday

Here are a few phone photos from the week.



Girls + Technology at bedtime.



Cake Batter Bark. Oh.my.goodness.



Coloring intently at Frischs during yesterday's "sick day".




Trying out Cookies and Cream flavored straw. My Olivia, a NON milk drinker, downed the entire cup :)

I had more phone photos but used them in my earlier post this week.

 Linking up with Insta Friday at Life Rearranged.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone Pin It