Making Plans.

Amazing photo by kimmychau on Flickr.

• Found a couple of cool websites: Free graph generators. Thought I might take a shot at printing my own graphic transparencies for layouts.
• Instructions for converting an old book into a 3-ring scrapbook. How cool is that?
• I wonder if there is anyplace reasonably near us that has some kind of Polar Express/train ride to do in December with the kids
• Hannah's been wanting to go ice-skating; I think December sounds like a good time to do that
• Need to put Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas movie on my Netflix list
• I want to start a Christmas book tradition, to wrap them all in matching paper and put under the tree, then the kids can unwrap one each night in December before Christmas. It really would be nice to have some presents under the tree for a change… and what are we going to do with the desk??? Or will we have to find another place for the tree??? And speaking of trees, I think we finally got rid of our old tree after Christmas last year... gonna have to get a new one, and soon.
• I wonder if I really have to create duplicate layouts for the kids' albums or if they can all go in one/other or in the family album
• I'm thinking about using divided page protectors & just focusing on photos for annual events like the pumpkin patch, where I really don't have anything to say anymore; this might be a good solution for all those random school-year photos too... Which makes me wonder, will multiple page protector sizes fit into post-bound albums? I do like the look of a row of matching 3-ring binders standing on a shelf, but I also really like all the different patterns and designs available for the post-bound albums.
• I wonder if I should go 3-ring with the family album, since I’m not really working on it chronologically…?
• I want to make some centerpieces for our dining room table, maybe a gratitude cornucopia for Thanksgiving, and a (super-glittery!) Victorian gingerbread house for Christmas
• I'd love to make some yard decorations for Christmas this year too; I still love the idea of cakes & other goodies, like I saw on HGTV last year.
• I’m thinking we should pick a night that each year we would have our own Christmas dinner (and maybe Thanksgiving too) here at home, just the 4 of us. A fancy dinner. Just so that we could start making some memories & traditions of our own.
• It’s definitely time to start seriously working on those 2010 calendars! Seriously!!!

Things I could include on my December Daily layout this year:

1. Jack the Elf
2. Putting the tree up/decorating it
3. Putting lights up outside
4. Christmas concerts we go to
5. How we decorate around the house (besides the tree)
6. Shopping for Christmas presents
7. Christmas books we read
8. Christmas music we listen to
9. Christmas movies we watch
10. Christmas toys the kids play with (such as the Little People nativity)
11. Pictures with Santa
12. Writing to Santa
13. Santa chimney countdown (anticipation)
14. Christmas parties at school & dance
15. Driving around looking at Christmas lights
16. Going to Grannie’s house
17. Wrapping Christmas presents
18. Making cookies for Santa
19. Opening presents on Christmas morning
20. …plus 6 more pages…

I think “Double the Fun” would be a cute title for the layout about Hannah’s playdates with Hannah; you know that old gum commercial jingle: “Double the pleasure, double the fun, double the freshness with Double Mint Gum!” LOL Much better than any of the others I’ve thought of so far: Hannah2 or Double Trouble (which they really aren’t) or Big/Little or simply Playdates. You know, I’m not even sure exactly how it started, but suddenly the girls were playing together 2 or even 3 times a week during the summer, trading houses. Many times David even came over here. For the most part he just played Lego Star Wars on Playstation 2, but when he tired of that… he talked my ear off!! And sometimes the girls came out of Hannah’s room long enough to pester him about playing tea party or some such… LOL At least (my) Hannah has stopped attacking him with hugs! (though to be fair, it might have only happened that one time at Challenger Park LOL) The best part for me, besides having someone around who actually enjoys playing Barbies, et al., ad nauseum, and thus freeing me to do as I would (more or less uninterrupted) while William napped, was getting to see Bobbi so regularly. I think that’s the biggest thing I miss about all the Mommy Track kids being in preschool at St. Bernadette’s; even if there was nothing else going on (like Book Club), I at least got to see my friends 2 or 3 times a week as we dropped off all our kids for the morning. I miss that, the small daily interactions with my adult friends. A lot.
Speaking of Book Club, I can’t decide on the perspective I should take with the layout: should I journal as if I’d created it while we still met, and how much I enjoyed it; or from my current perspective, and how much I miss it? Kind of wish I had more than just the one photo…