A Little Reading Material...

Back in November I posted Snow Mail where I mentioned that I was "hand" making Christmas presents for my nieces (aged 12, 11 and 9) but it was top secret because it was before Christmas (clearly). So I thought I would take today's post to share what I made for them. My nieces like to read before bed and I wanted to "make" books for them to read before bed that was personalized for them. And then I thought they could trade after they had read their own.

I started with three journals. I first thought of the idea in January but didn't get started until September. My goal was to fill the whole book but I probably ended up doing about 50 pages (next time I will start earlier - which is why I am posting this now in case anyone else wants to give it a go).

Three Awesome Journals for Three Awesome Nieces!

I filled them with magazine articles, jokes, craft instructions, inspiring quotations, favourite photos, interesting facts, How to's, poems, comics, top 10 lists...all things I could have potentially sent them in the mail too. And all short, bite-sized bits so they could pick up and put down at their leisure. I did a lot of reusing and recycling - going through old magazines and catalogues & picking up more at my local thrift shop.

A few sample pages.

I even wrote each of these sweet girls a poem.

I had my husband draw a comic - his go to is always a skeleton (he says it is the one thing he can draw). He picked a sport each girl is involved in.

Soccer.

Gymnastics.

Swimming.

I also "spelled out" their names. Here is an example of one. 

J-A-Y-L-E-N

And while I wish I could have filled every single page (I just ran out of time), I'm not sure the journals would have been able to close if I had.

I'm happy to report that they loved them. The next day after Christmas they flew to India for 2.5 weeks so this turned into something they could read on the plane or during a layover. I know they liked them because when I went over to see them the other day my oldest niece asked if I could fill in the rest (aw that felt so good!). 

I'm thinking I'll do something similar (but start now) for next Christmas but this time I will do more of an interactive book with areas for them to fill out and things for them to do and so on. Right now I'm brainstorming and thinking word puzzles, journal entry type questions, scavenger hunts... I did something like this for my husband when he decided to go on a trip to Europe for the summer after we'd been dating for a short 4 months. He still has it.

He used the second half
as a journal for his trip.

A Sampling...

Lots of ideas if you want to start your own or if you want to just send a few things in the mail to friends. You could even start a journal and send it back and forth to each other - each filling in a few pages at a time (of writing, photos, or bits like I put in the books for my nieces). What fun!

707/1000 25 pieces of "heart" mail this week...and just like that I broke 700!

Shared Memory

Do you have special sayings or inside jokes you share with friends and family?  Little moments that you replay over and over with each other? Something probably comes to mind as you read that sentence. Nicknames even, are little stories in themselves aren't they - full of memory, snapshots in time. Warm yourself this week with some of these moments, stories, & names. And once you've basked in the good times pass it on.  Send some memories to someone this week. Write down a phrase that will get a friend gut laughing just by reading it or get them smiling from ear to ear at a little trip down memory lane (even if that memory is just from last week).

 Or maybe it will just be a time and a place - and that will be enough to bring them back to a special moment.

I'm writing journals to my kids - an idea I got from a beautifully creative person in my life. But as my husband was telling someone...they are secret journals or maybe surprise is a better word. I'm hoping to pass them onto them when they are older (lates teens maybe)...a real trip down memory lane...my memories of them. Something I've been clinging to this week is a phrase that my daughter and I share (usually at bedtime but often whenever the mood strikes)...I say to her, "I love you to the moon and back" (not an uncommon sentiment that parents share with their kids) but what gets me every time is when she turns to me and says, "I love you to the sun and back. That's farther right?" And I hold her close and reply, "Yes, yes it is." And time stops until I release her from my arms. I was reminded by a very special Mom this weekend to write down our kids' stories because as much as we want to remember we sometimes forget little moments. And we never truly know how long we have with them (or anyone).

So share some stories this week - by post, by email, by phone, by text, in person...make a connection and share a smile.

We're all just stories in the end.

682/1000 Two totally terrific tokens...