Traditions – Page 2 – CatChick6 Creations

Shoot Along Challenge…Then + Now…..

So, last Wednesday, over at Giverslog, Amberlee and Carrie Butler had another shoot along challenge…..then and now….recreating the same photo……

Well, that is an easy one for me…I am a bit of a fanatic about this! I love to recreate the same photo every year! We do it at Christmas, Halloween…all the time! Seriously, I am addicted to doing this…I had a hard time deciding what photos to show for this post! This is one of my favorite things to do with photography!

One of my favorite “then and now” photos is a photograph that I took of my oldest daughter when she was about 2 1/2 years old. I loved this photo so much and played around with it in Photoshop…..then my husband surprised me by having it made into a poster. When my son was the exact same age, I redid the photo…..and my husband again had it made into a poster. I was so excited to redo the photo when my daughter was the same age…I literally counted down the days….but I no longer had the same hat and we didn’t live in the same house….so it looks slightly different. But all three photos were taken when they were almost exactly the same age….2 years, 11 months and 25 days….

The photo montages hang in our living room…..we haven’t gotten River’s made into a poster yet…..some day soon….

The

365 Stories….

We have a “book” called 365 Stories. It will eventually have 365 stories, but as of now..it probably only has 80!

Some day it will have 365 stories…some day.

I can’t believe we started the book six years ago. I must say I had hoped to have all the days filled in by now. But, life got in the way…..

Sometimes Quinn will write the story and do the illustrations, sometimes Tuesday will draw the pictures and Quinn will write the stories or sometimes I will make the story! It is a little bit of everything..all creative!!

It actually is quite fun that the stories are spanning many years. We started it when Quinn was only 4 years old and River wasn’t even around! Now she is old enough to start working on some stories. On holidays or special occasions, it is fun to see what type of story the kids come up with to memorialize that event! They love going back and reading the stories over and over again!

Father’s Day tradition….

A Father’s Day tradition we have in our family is writing stories and creating our own books. I think we started writing them in 2000, when Tuesday was only 3 years old. Quinn did his first story in 2002. And River did her first story last year. It has been such a fun tradition. I think the best part is getting out all the old ones and rereading them every year!

I use a template that I created in Publisher and type the stories. When you make a template, remember to leave a big margin on the left hand side for binding…if you don’t, some of your text and pictures will get cut off!

Then I print them out on thick stock paper. The children then add their pictures, usually using Sharpie markers. I love the Sharpie markers because they are the brightest and they don’t seem to fade. After all the pictures are completed….we head on over to our local teachers’ supply store, where they have a laminating machine. I get all the pages laminated….then we head on over to our local Kinkos/Federal Express shop and I use their work station to cut the pages all out and get them reordered……then I have them bind them for me. (Why don’t I just have the Kinkos/Fed Ex shop do the laminating? Because they charge about $1.50 per page!! It is much cheaper to go to the local teachers’ supply store..they charge you something like thirty-two cents a yard!)

I love the laminating because it brings the vibrant colors out and it protects the pages…makes them seem more like a real book! I always use a cover page…and then an inside dedication page that says the year.

The kids are always so proud of their stories and pictures! It is a great tradition or gift idea for any occassion!

Christmas Tree Photo….

Every year we try to take a family photo in front of the Christmas tree. And every year, they turn out pretty much like this….Probably not a great family photo..but at least great family memories…..

Christmas things…..

Well….another Christmas has come and gone….As I was putting away all the holiday things….it strikes me that some of my most cherished things…are the things that didn’t cost a lot of money. For example, our Christmas tree star. It was our first Christmas together, and Christopher and I got a small tree. As we were decorating the tree, we realized we didn’t have anything to put on top of it. I remembered that once, long ago, I had seen a star made from an old tin can. We didn’t have a tin can…only an old soda can. So, I cut a star from the soda can. Every year, when we got the star out, I would say we should get a proper star…but Christopher always told me, no, this was a proper star. And I guess, after all these years, I finally realize that he is right…it is a proper star and I wouldn’t have anything else for the top of our tree!

I got many wonderful presents this year….one of my favorites is a manger that my son gave to me. He is incredibly creative. He went into the workshop and took scraps of wood and, and using the scraps just as they were, he made me a manger. I just love all the adorable people and animals!

Christmas 2009

Well, we made it through Christmas! And what a joyful Christmas it was….it was filled with wonderful gifts and lots of laughs and love! The homemade and gifts that can’t be bought at a store are always the best (at least in my opinion)! And we had lots of those this year!

Christmas is almost here……

Lots of last minute sewings, gluings, tapings, bakings and too much to mention! I love this time of year, but it sure is tiring! Lots of super secret stuff going on! I hope everyone is taking the time to appreciate life and all the joy this time of year brings…..

I can’t explain all these strange things in the photos because it would give away secrets…but I will tell you all about them, after they are given away….

Christmas Countdown….Day 21…Wonder

I don’t think there is anything better than the look of wonder in a child’s eyes at this time of year. And a little bit of snow doesn’t hurt either!

This weekend we got so much snow…the storm of the century! Wow, what fun! And after playing in the snow, everyone had to have some snow cream!

Christmas Countdown….Day 18…Nutcrackers

Another collection we have is nutcrackers. Actually, it is Christopher’s collection. He used to get one every year from his parents. Our children love getting them out each year. Christopher takes three out a night and the kids are always fascinated by them. Quinn has decided he wants to start his own collection. I think they are so special because the kids only get to see them at Christmas time. If they were out year round..I don’t think they would have the same excitement!

Christmas Countdown….Day 16…visiting Santa

River was very excited to visit Santa and to sit on his lap. We always say that you can ask Santa for one item. So she thought about it and thought about it and finally came up with her one item…….”a sparkle ball toy that I can bring into the house.” Then Santa asked what else she wanted, which always happens, and every year our kids are at a total loss for words because we tell them they can only ask Santa for one item! Sometimes they even get so tongue tied that they can’t even remember their ONE item. They one year, Quinn, was so excited to see Santa, that when he asked what he wanted for Christmas, he went totally blank….and after a few seconds…blurted out……”a toothbrush!”

Also, I had to run out the other night to do some errands and when I came back, Tuesday was very involved in a project. She was working completely on her own and had gotten no help. When she was finished with her project, she proudly showed it to me….a manger! I loved it…it is so detailed…..she even took a pin and made little holes in the sheep to make it have a wooly effect!