document our week

[ Ali Edwards ] : 168 Hours : Welcome To A Week In The Life

It's a busy week. We're documenting it.

storytelling

The pic has nothing to do with anything... just an old shot from April that makes me think, WOW, JT has grown a TON!

I've been thinking a lot about storytelling lately. Between reading to JT, devouring some fiction, and writing my own story for Ali's Yesterday Today class, it's on my mind frequently. I also listen to a podcast of This American Life and catch StoryCorps on NPR sometimes.

The other night JT wanted to read Good Dog Carl. This time, I had him tell me the story. Good Dog Carl is a picture book with just a few words on the first and last pages. John and I each read it a little differently. It was much more like a conversation than storytelling, though. He didn't understand the laundry chute because he's never seen one. So I spent some time trying to explain that. And he told me the dog was mean, though we've never told the story to portray the dog as mean. He must have just thought the Rottweiler looked mean. It was a wonderful way to see what he has taken from our readings of the book.

We aren't just reading stories, we are making them up, recitng tales, and discussing old stories, too. Becka mentioned Little Red Riding Hood the other day when she was here. Unfortunately for her, she then had to tell JT the story of Little Red. JT's Nana tells him the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. He looooves this story. I think she told it about 20 times in one weekend.

And the stories he makes up when he's rambling in the car or at bedtime? They are classics. The Halloween decorations from around the neighborhood have provided endless fodder for characters to his stories. He and roof cat have had some amazing adventures in his mind!

It occurs to me that storytelling may be a good way of encouraging learning. I think it appeals to his sense of adventure, forges a connection to loved ones and the world around him, and maybe even helps to develop critical thinking skills. Yet, when I peruse our vast collection of books around here, I have found we're lacking in the wordless books. I made a meager list of the two books we do have. You can find it here.

Won't you share with me the title of your favorite picture book? I can add suggestions to this list and hopefully develop it into something a little more substantial.

fall romance

I got some slouchy calf-high boots to wear with skirts. What do you think? I'm not sure I'm a boots with skirts kind of gal, but it's certainly comfortable and these boots are so warm... I'm going to love them when it's cold out.

The fall color was just phenomenally beautiful last week. I don't know if it was a combination of activities, weather, and trees... but it was such a scenic and romantic time. Monday morning first thing I noticed was the missing colors from the leaves that had fallen. And then there's the lack of sunlight making my mood more somber. It has been an amazing fall for us. I have so many pictures still to process and share with you. In time... there will be plenty of winter for picture play, right?

One of the wonderfully romantic things we did last week was to take a nighttime walk around our neighborhood to see the Halloween decorations. (Sorry, no pics!) JT fell in love with an inflatable kitty he dubbed "Roof Cat". He has talked about the spider webs, witches, elephants, and tractors a lot. Yeah, I saw a witch and a cat, he saw an elephant and he won't let it go. Who am I to argue? He also saw a tractor where I saw none and there was apparently something hiding behind it. Ok, if you say...

Well, today he asked if we could go see Roof Cat, the witch, and the spider webs. I told him they were taken down already. He got tears in his eyes an his lip started to quiver. Oh, the fancy talking I had to do to defuse that puddle of tears.

So now we'll look forward to the excitement that Christmas will bring. It is going to be an amazing, wonderful holiday season.

How about you? What has been lovely in your world? What are you looking forward to?

October 12

There really isn't a good way to catch you up on what we've been doing since I last posted in July. You'll have to follow on Facebook or Twitter if you want to hear the latest updates. Those updates are a bit more real-time. So for the blog, let's just jump in with something recent.

I'm still capturing our lives each month on the 12th. I'm loving this project. It's very exciting to have 10 layouts completed for this year. I love seeing the little things change. Like when JT moved from the high chair to the booster seat. And when he started potty training.

There's also security in the things that stay the same... like playing at the park, morning and bedtime routines, and drinking coffee- mmm,mmm.

Next year I want to change the layout up so I can feature larger photos and more journaling. I always capture more details of the day than I am able to share in this 8.5x11 layout. I think a 2-page 12x12 layout may be more the ticket next year. And it will probably still be digital because I can get those completed pretty quickly.

So if I start posting again, is anyone going to read? If you are still reading, leave me a comment. I'd love to know you're here!

Oh, look! There's my old blog. It must have gotten lost in all the mess. Maybe I will update it again soon...

JT chillin' with the flu and some cartoons.

tweet, tweet, document

I'm taking Cathy Zielske's Everyone Can Write a Little class. It just made sense since I was already on twitter and facebook doing just what this class is about. As I learn to document the everyday as it happens, 140 characters at a time... these are some thoughts I've had.

• Use hashtags to categorize. You can aggregate them into a single scrapbook layout later. Here are some good themes: #grateful, #prayer, #wish, #whatif, #proud (of someone & why).
• Fortunately/Unfortunately. There is this book I love on this very topic. And really, for every negative there is a positive and vice versa, right?
• CZ has mentioned dialogue. I love this. For me, I label my immediate family "Me", "JT" and John is "Hubz". Again, a great way to do a layout or aggregate the conversations that happen in your house.
• Picture this: the prefix to use for those times when your camera isn't handy. Write a blurb that describes the scene you wanted to photograph. Maybe if you get a collection of these, your eyes will begin to see things differently and your photos will evolve? I'm just projecting here.
  
• Tell a story as a knock, knock joke. I can't wait to try this.
• Say something... then pose as the reader and ask a question. "What's that you say?" State the obvious question and answer it. It can be done in 140 characters!
• Dear ____, I prefer to address inanimate objects. You know, like the darn printer at work.

And in the spirit of using the same tools to keep in touch with your friends and network and note the everyday, I propose doing each of the following each day:

• Take a picture and link to it. Cameraphones are awesome for this. Or link to someone else's pic or anything that inspires you that day. Focus on visual inspiration.
• Link to music, a book, or art that is inspiring you. Could be any medium. Could be new or old. Maybe you'll see some trends and can scrap a page about it?
  
• @ someone. Reply to someone else. Laugh at their joke, commiserate with them, or just say hi.
• RT something someone says. If you hear about something cool or funny, retweet it. Others may also enjoy. And it documents what you are finding interesting on that day. Worthy of noting.

Now follow me on Twitter or Facebook to see what transpires. :)

March 12

Another month, another 12 pictures on the 12 of the month! Looking at these layouts together makes me think "wow these days sure pass quickly." It's like a blur. I guess that's why it's worth taking the pictures - so you can look back and remember.

If you draw conclusions from this layout you will think that our mornings last half the day, my toddler has his own blackberry, and I don't water my plants until they are pretty much dead. And you'd be right about the plants. :-)

listen

Since we're a month and a half into 2009, I thought it would be a good time to post my resolution/one little word for the year. I didn't make any resolutions this year. I decided those could actually get in the way of my one little word, so it's just one word this year.

Listen.

Why? I feel like every year I try to take on more and more... do more and more... achieve more and more. This year I just want to pause and be present. The next 5, 10, 20 years are going to go so quickly and bring so much change. So for this one year I want to be still and LISTEN to my heart, to God, to my friends and family, and the wind in the trees.

I constantly waffle between feeling like I've "arrived" in my career and that it's exactly where I'm supposed to be... and feeling like I'm avoiding some other calling because there's too much risk. I'm not even sure what this "other calling" is. In this year, I'm going to work hard and do more listening than talking at work and see where it takes me.

In the past couple months, JT has started talking more. I have spent so much time trying to figure out what he's trying to say. I want to take this year to make a habit of listening to him. As he grows up, his patterns of communication will change. I want to be present enough in my relationship with him that I am able to hear what he's saying, however he communicates it.

the 12th

February 12-of-12, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

Hello blog! Here's what we've been up to lately. Peace out...

first weekend of '09

Today we spent most of the day taking down the tree and putting together a new bookshelf from Ikea. We made some time to get JT a haircut, go for a walk, drop off the recycling, and get a Starbucks beverage.


Guess who peed in the potty tonight? I guess we are thinking about potty training now... John is way more ready than me and JT though. For now, we'll start with peeing in the potty before the bath and see where that gets us.

Oh, John also picked up a space heater for the basement. Aaahhh... I can't tell you how much more comfortable it is downstairs! Maybe now I can tolerate spending time down there scrapping in the evenings. (You know, during all that spare time I'm going to have this year - NOT!)

a week in the life

Ah, the life...

I finished up documenting a week in our life complete with the journaling on Sunday night. Here are some more of the pics.












Now, I'll get right on making these into a mini album! :-)

document day 3

We're still at it with document our week. I'm downloading today's pictures and writing my notes. Here's a sample...

document your week

Ok, so I'm following along with Ali Edwards' document a week in your life project. I took a bunch of pictures Monday evening. But let's see how I do the rest of the week, especially during the daytime. I tend to fall off the wagon as the week goes on. Tonight's photos were pretty cute. This one in the tub is a favorite from the batch. It's going to take me a while to process and post all of them. Tomorrow's excitement: swimming lesson!

This project should fit in nicely with the start of my Big Picture Scrapbooking class with Cathy Zielske, Design Your Life, that starts October 2. (Holy cow, that's soon.) I convinced Jenny to join me, so it's going to be even more fun to participate in the class with one of my best pals!

life documentation

I might have mentioned that I'm loving the atmosphere, community, and conversations on Twitter. Since I can update status from my phone wherever I'm at, I can make sure that I'm documenting an event while it's in progress.

As an example, here are the tweets just before, during, and after our vacation in June. That was such a precious gift of family time for us. I'm looking forward to documenting it in a scrapbook. These tweets will certainly help me remember the important moments from that trip.

And yes, I hear what you're thinking... "why not just keep a journal and write it down?" That's a good idea, too. And for many trips I have done just that. But on this trip, it was easier to capture the moment in 140 characters or less and upload it to a server for later viewing.

There is a lot less pressure in a 140 letter tweet than 40 lined pages of literary opportunity.


Vacation Tweets:

JT climbed all the way to the top of the stairs tonight when we got home (with me following close behind). I'm not ready for this yet. 11:27 PM June 21, 2008 from BeTwittered
#grateful for safe travels and wonderful family and friends. Vacation was good... only a little glad to be home. 10:21 PM June 21, 2008 from web
JT speaks loudly into his toy phone, just like grandpa. 04:01 PM June 20, 2008 from txt
Tears at departure. All hyped up on Bo Jangles sweet tea for the ride. 02:21 PM June 20, 2008 from txt
Pitching pistachios at squirrels in the rain. 04:32 PM June 19, 2008 from txt
Last day on beach. JT getting tan. Parents getting sad for vacation to end. 02:40 PM June 19, 2008 from txt
We are just gonna stay here. John & I figure we can make friends with new campers every week so we always have lodging. 10:05 PM June 18, 2008 from txt
Chasing kitties and making vacation videos. 08:36 AM June 18, 2008 from txt
Saw dolphins today. Caught sand fleas. JT petted a sand shark then cried when we turned it loose. 11:47 AM June 17, 2008 from txt
Stuffed from another of aunt joan's home cooked meals. 07:02 PM June 16, 2008 from txt
JT & I swam with stingrays and jellyfish today. It was freaky, but cool. 02:57 PM June 16, 2008 from txt
Heading to the beach 09:34 AM June 16, 2008 from txt
Introduced JT to gators tonight. He doesn't think they are as cuddly as bunnies. 09:19 PM June 15, 2008 from txt
JT loves the ocean! Squeals with delight. Tried to drink saltwater from the bucket. 04:25 PM June 15, 2008 from txt @pwhyte lol! 04:21 PM June 15, 2008 from txt in reply to pwhyte JT napping. Gators sunbathing in marsh. Squirrels scavenging deserted campsites. 11:03 AM June 15, 2008 from txt @pwhyte already been to piggly wiggly 10:20 AM June 15, 2008 from txt in reply to pwhyte Arrived South Carolina 0530. 08:55 AM June 15, 2008 from txt Rolling in our rented Chrysler 300, JT sleeping. 08:33 PM June 14, 2008 from txt Household chores are getting done one at a time. 08:00 PM June 13, 2008 from BeTwittered #grateful for vacation. Next week's tweets from the beach! 05:33 PM June 13, 2008 from BeTwittered