Last weekend we went on our annual shopping trip to Hallmark to pick up cards and ornaments. This year something new caught our attention. Hallmark now offers Recordable Storybooks for The Night Before Christmas, The Very First Christmas, and Frosty The Snowman!

My Mother-In-Law is the most amazing story teller. When she reads to the kids the adults will stop and become mesmerized as well. It is like she has us in a magical trance and we hang on every word waiting to see what happens next. It could be a story that I have read to the kids a hundred times, that I know word for word, but when Oma reads the book it is like hearing it for the first time. In an all new way, a special, delightful way. I could listen for hours getting lost in magical lands of fairy tales and far away places. The thought of being able to capture her voice forever…well the thought brought tears to our eyes.

We bought The Night Before Christmas and on Thanksgiving day we had Oma read and record the story. I truly love this idea! We were worried that the story would be lost if you had to change the batteries but there is a lock inside that holds the story there, you just need the batteries to play it back. I look forward to creating a new tradition with my family listening to Oma read The Night Before Christmas for years to come! Hopefully this is something that will be able to remain in our family so that my grandchildren can listen to her read as well.

I grew up reading The Night Before Christmas with my Grandparents on Christmas Eve and now we read about Jesus’ birth in the Bible on Christmas morning. Do you have a Christmas story you read together as a family?

If you lose your mind when the kinds are out of school, you are not alone! With the temperatures soaring and household action running on high, it can become next to impossible to carve out time for scrapbooking. This is the time of year to pull out the big guns of simplicity and find easy solutions that make memory keeping doable!

1. Be a collector. Summer is the perfect time to experiment with collecting ephemera of life. Store little bits of paper and other oddball items in baseball card pages or even a shadowbox. Think outside the box.

2. Think small. Yes you have a small amount of time, but you also might have some small memory keepers sitting nearby. Consider ways you can bring your family into the process of documenting your story. Hand over the camera and let your kids do a few pages.

3. Re-schedule your photo dumps. In an ideal world we’re all emptying our camera’s memory cards every week. During the summer this is sorta out the window. Instead, try offloading once a month and after vacation.

4. Skip editing. Most photos taken in good light outside don’t really need that much touch up. Just leave them be and move on. If you insist on something, use a Photoshop Action or Lightroom Preset to give them all a final touch.

5. Plan ahead. Just like you stockpile the fridge with kid-friendly snacks and lunches, stockpile mom’s memory tote with extra camera batteries, memory cards and the all-important lens cleaner. While you may have to run back for the little one’s stuffy, you won’t need to snag your camera essentials.

6. Use shortcuts. Plan to compile your summer memories into a fuss-free photobook or a ready-to-go digital quick album. Commit to scrapping the highlights so you feel on top of the season, but save a few favorites for printing and special projects!

7. Scrap for fun. OMG, is that possible? Let go of all the guilt and ideas about being caught up. Grab your favorite supplies and a wonderful set of photos. Sit down and scrap, without worry about what order or where you are. You are here and having a great time!

Take these seven tips and carve out your seasonable balance of responsibilities as a memory keeper. Get creative to stretch your time and your resources while preserving your legacy for the next generation.

[Photo:phaewilk]

This weeks Picture My Memories post comes from professional organizer Jody Al-Saigh owner of Picture Perfect Organizing. Thanks Jody for sharing one of your picture perfect memories!

As with all kids, my daughter’s interests came in phases or spurts. The summer when she was three and a half her passion was coloring. She had bags and bags of the Crayola Color Wonder markers (the kind that don’t mark on anything but the books they are made for). And she went through coloring book after coloring book. I had to put out a desperate plea on my mommy-group listservs…”Wanted: Color Wonder Coloring Books. Even if partially colored!!” She didn’t care, as long as there were a few pages left to color, she would finish the whole book, fill every page. Come Fall, her interest began to drift and I was left with a stack of coloring books. As a professional organizer, I knew it was silly to keep all of the books, so I took a picture and made sure to note the quantity! 17 books filled in about 3 months!! This is the picture of the books and a picture of Adena on her 5th birthday. The new passion is Princesses….I hear that this phase lasts a while!!!

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Welcome to Picture My Memories! Your STUFF has a story to tell. How well have you documented your memories for future generations? Join me here every third Friday of the month and link up your Picture My Memories post.

What memories do you want to preserve? Share in the comments or take a picture and share your post by linking up below!

This is my oldest son. He said I could show his picture as long as this post “didn’t get a lot of hits.” Does he know blogging or what? So, this weeks memory is the only piece of baby clothing that I have left. I loved these one piece body suits when my oldest was an infant. He lived in them because he was always chilly, still is. I saved this one and had it in my memory box for the last 9 years. It just reminds me of all of those first time mom moments that I cherish so dearly. Time flies folks! 9 years! There you have it, this outfit will get a new home with my daughter’s dolls and I will hold on to the memories with this picture!

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Welcome to Picture My Memories! Your STUFF has a story to tell.  How well have you documented your memories for future generations? Join me here every Friday and link up your Picture My Memories post.

*** UPDATE *** Picture My Memories will now be a monthly theme instead of weekly! It will now be held every third Friday of the month and I will get a list of the dates up on the official PMM page soon! If you don’t have a blog and have a photo and memory you would like to share feel free to contact me and I will feature it here! We would love to share your stories!

What memories do you want to preserve? Share in the comments or take a picture and share your post by linking up below!

Elmo has been around our house for quite a long time. He has been a playmate and comforter to all three of my children during their toddler years. He helped them learn their ABC’s and 123′s. He has shared good times and bad. Elmo even encouraged each child when it was time to grow up and use the potty. Others have come and gone but Elmo was always a family favorite!

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Welcome to Picture My Memories! Your STUFF has a story to tell. We have had many variations of Elmo in the house over the years and these last two remain. One has my oldest son’s name written on the foot so we will tuck him away in his memory box. The other will get passed on to another child who I am sure will love him dearly. No memory is to small, what were some of your children’s favorites that you want to remember? How well have you documented your memories for future generations? Join me here every Friday and link up your Picture My Memories post.

What memories do you want to preserve? Share in the comments or take a picture and share your post by linking up below!