It still seems surreal, but my little boy turned 1 on Saturday! Some of our family was able to join us for a small party. Nothing fancy, or over the top. We made a simple meal that included foods Callan could feed himself, didn’t put up one stitch of decorations, and dessert was a simple muffin-like cake for the birthday boy, with ice cream and a chocolate cake for everyone else. And you know what? We still had a great time!

Besides getting a late start on the prep (our Friday got turned upside-down, and our plans to prep food the night before got thrown out the window), the day was calm and relaxed. Since we’ll have another first birthday to celebrate in just over a year, I jotted down some things to keep in mind for next year – some that we did this year and some that we didn’t and I wish we had – and thought I’d share them here. Do you have any other tips for laid-back first birthdays?

• Empty camera and video camera cards and charge them prior to the day of the event
• Ask a trusted family member or friend to be “official” photographer or videographer
• If anyone else takes pictures, borrow their camera cards and download their photos before they leave
• Get a family photo at the beginning of the event
• Have two outfits ready to go – one for before the cake and one for after the cake and ensuing bath
• Try to stick with the birthday boy’s regular schedule as much as possible
• Ask family members to write down favorite memories, what they think the birthday boy will be when he grows up, etc. – include in baby book or time capsule
• Enjoy the day – first birthdays only happen once!

Five Minute Friday – details over at Lisa-Jo’s blog.

Comfort. What an appropriate word for today. I’ve just closed up my Facebook newsfeed and the images of little Benjamin in the hospital are fresh in my mind and my heart. This little boy was born just one short week ago and has already endured more than many adults ever will in their entire lifetimes. Sweet baby boy in need of heart surgery. Struggling for his lungs to function properly. Fighting infections.

I look at the photos, I pray quietly, yet fervently, and tears come to my eyes. They stream down my face. Healing, I ask. And also comfort. For the mama who can’t hold her newest treasure. Who must sit and watch as others try to take care of the baby she longs to snuggle. For the daddy who watches his son struggle, and also sees his wife in pain. For the older brothers and sisters, still waiting with the sign hung up at home, “welcome to your new home, little brother.” And comfort for the little one lying in his hospital bassinet, fighting.

 

 

{This week is not about my writing, but please feel free to leave a prayer in the comments if you’d like me to share with Benjamin’s parents that we’ve expanded the body of believers praying for their little boy.}

May 4th was {inter}National Scrapbook Day, also known as iNSD or just NSD. To celebrate, there were blog hops and Facebook parties and all sorts of sales and contests and other scrapbook goodness happening all over the web. I’m new to the digital scrapbooking world, so this was an absolutely perfect way for me to discover shops, designers, and forums.

One thing I picked up this weekend via a blog hop was the More or Less collaboration kit from Pixels & Co. When I finally got it unzipped on Tuesday night and peeked through it, the “torn” gray and pink background caught my eye. Using that as my base, I found my favorite photo of one of my pairs of pointe shoes, and got scrapping. I used a few pieces from the kit, and supplemented with other kits.

. . . CREDITS . . .

• pink striped and distressed gray backgrounds, and pink tape {More or Less collab from Pixels and Co.}
• photo frame {Everyday Memories kit by Sugarplum Paperie}
• silver sparkles {Sweet Storytelling kit by Sahlin Studio}
• pink and silver ribbon {Early Spring kit from Created by Jill}
• pink flowers {Something Pretty kit by Zoe Pearn}
• “pirouette” created with {Anchored Alpha by Allison Pennington}
• journaling font {KG Strawberry Limeade}

 

This is what arrived in the mail for me today . . .

After reading The Poetics of Art Journaling and To Photo or Not to Photo, I decided to try scrapbooking one of my recent Five Minute Friday posts. It was a fun page to create – a photo-less page containing a cross between poetry and journaling.

I think I’m going to scrapbook more of my writing now.

I’ve been reading a lot about memory keeping over the last couple months and have “bookmarked” some of the posts, etc. that I’ve found the most inspirational, informative, or want to access regularly. Here are a few of my current favorites:

• To Photo or Not to Photo {photo-less scrapbook pages}
• Glimpse {a collaborative Instagram project by Clickin’ Moms}
• Capture Your 365 {inspiration + ideas + support for your everyday photography}
• 5 Photos to Shoot Every Day {a list of ideas for taking photos every day}
• Making Memory Videos {a list of ideas + a “best of” video of the blogger’s son}
• The Digi Dares {weekly “dares” to get you scrapping outside the box}
• Quotes scrapbook page {I love the idea of creating one of these with family quotes}
• 100 Bits of Life {everyday items to include in a scrapbook}

I’m also continually adding pins to my Memory Keeping board on Pinterest. Feel free to follow!

We write for 5 minutes flat.

No extreme editing; no worrying about perfect grammar, font, or punctuation.

Unscripted. Unedited. Real.

Today’s word is jump. You can join in or read more Five Minute Friday posts over at Lisa-Jo’s blog.

Child’s Praise

jump
hop
skip
twirl

little boy
little girl

run
dance
clap
play

thank the Lord
for the gift of today

climb
spin
sit
fly

worship God
with arms stretched wide

yell
shout
whisper
sing

give Him praise
for EVERYTHING