Good bye thomas, originally uploaded by Heather’s treasures.

I packed away the Thomas trains after Christmas. Ethan hasn’t played with them for months, and while Simon loves the movies and books still, he hadn’t pushed a train around in months either.

I think I was the saddest to see them go. Ethan used to pore over the Thomas catalog, and obsess over the various trains that weren’t yet in his collection. He didn’t get them all (although you wouldn’t know it by the picture I used) but a train and some kind of track or building every birthday and Christmas for 6 years really adds up. And then after Ethan felt like he was too old for Thomas, he got very excited about buying it for his brother.

Simon, although he loves the stories and movies, never really got into Thomas like Ethan did. He was more into Hot Wheels cars, which he still plays with.

So the trains are in the attic. I’m saving them, with the hope that one day Ethan and Simon will have kids of their own, who will love Thomas as much or more than they did.

LOAD 211 13, originally uploaded by Heather’s treasures.

I just thought I’d walk you through how I put together this page. While it’s nothing perfect, it’s a pretty solid page, and my process might help someone else get their own pages done.

I started by picking a photo storage binder at random. It just happened to be from the first half of 2008. I thumbed through it and came across these photos. I’ve already used them in a vacation mini-book, so they were ready for some other story. Perhaps, since I’ve been mentally preparing myself to get some writing done, I was reminded of how inspiring the Winchester Mystery House was both as a visual treat, and a story inspiration.

So, photos, then journaling idea, next? Papers! All the botanical details reminded me of the Basic Grey kit I picked up from Michaels last year, so I pulled all the pieces, except for the kraft cardstock and the Making Memories journaling spot, from it. I decided since I had 5 pictures I wanted to use I needed to do a two page LO, and since a 12×24 LO wouldn’t photograph that well, I went with 8.5×11 so I could scan it. I then trimmed the photos to get rid of unnecessary clutter, shuffled them around till I came up with a pleasing arrangement, and then taped the pieces down.

Finally I wrote my journaling, and then added the title. There was a sticker sheet staring me in the face, and I racked my brain to come up with some way I could use something from it. If I don’t use it now, it may never get used. So, once again with the architectural details on my mind, I added the flower and flourish. Looking at it now, I may add more stuff along the right side, and under the hinge photo. Then again I may not. I’m not into second guessing myself.

Hope that was somewhat helpful or interesting! Now back to LOAD!

christmas in nyc, originally uploaded by Heather’s treasures.

Sorry I haven’t been keeping up with the daily pages. I’m trying to not spend too much time online… Yeah that’s not working out so well.

At any rate, I had fun with a bunch of papers from the December Studio Calico kit. If I sewed on my pages, I would totally have sewed an edge on the black brackety piece of paper.

Oh, and the little tiny “i” and “n” are from some rub-ons I bought in 1988. Yes, 1988. Apparently I knew I was going to want them SOME day.

Concert Buddy, originally uploaded by Heather’s treasures.

I’m embracing imperfection. Can you figure out what picky details I’m not happy with?

I am happy that it’s done. And that I found the set list for that evening. It’s hard to keep track of such things with an almost nine year old boy sleeping on your lap.

Unstoppable, originally uploaded by Heather’s treasures.

Today’s prompt was to come up with a title using a song. Rascal Flatts to the rescue!

I love this photo of Ethan. I should blow it up and put it on a wall somewhere. It describes him so well.

LOAD 211 02, originally uploaded by Heather’s treasures.

But it’s got some memorabilia on it–the thank you note my brother and sister-in-law sent after their wedding.

On a sadder note, this is the only photo from their wedding that I have. Our computer was dying, so we backed up all our photos on disc and then Jonathan reinstalled the OS. Unfortunately, he (I should say we) didn’t double check that all the photos had been saved, and we lost 6 months worth of photos, which includes Ross and Nancy’s wedding, and Ethan’s second birthday party. Mom, Jess, Ethan and I made the coolest train cake ever. But I have no record of it.

Which brings me to my final point for today: backup, backup, backup. And throw in some off site archiving as well.

LOAD 211 01, originally uploaded by Heather’s treasures.

Sorry. I coudn’t resist the pun.

I’ll be updating daily this month, just because I can. I’ll try to add in some interesting content as the month progresses, but mostly this month is all about LOAD. It’s not too late to join in the fun!