I have been committed to finishing projects lately. I have had a gazillion unfinished projects. No matter your hobby, I am sure you can relate. I’m determined to finish them, even if the paper and ribbons are out of date, etc. I keep reminding myself that my kids who look through these books could care less where or what year the product came from.

So this weekend I finished the photo board above that I had started when we were just a family of 5. (Yikes! I have a 2 year old.) These were all the rage with the different scrapbook artists a couple of years ago and I still love them. If you go to Ali Edward’s blog or to pinterest, the ideas are endless.

When I finished putting the last 3D foam stickers behind my pictures (trimmed to fit the various widths of my letterpress box), I couldn’t stop from smiling. It had been half finished in a closet, yet now it was complete.

So many memories.

So many happy times.

So many difficult times.

Just like life.

I didn’t want to leave it, but it was Jeff’s 36th birthday on Saturday and I needed to walk away from my project. I was nervous that little fingers would possibly get all over it so I put it up on top of the mantle before I left on our date.

But I came home to this…

Oh my. I was speechless. The kids had taken the photo collage and many more of my minibooks that I have made and put them across 3 shelves. And there were fingerprints everywhere. The babysitter said they spent hours thumbing through the books, laughing, and reading the stories about when they were little.

I was like a kid who had discovered a hidden treasure or rediscovered an old toy. I stayed up reading the books for hours.

My hidden treasures were being showcased by my children. They were beaming. And well, I’m still beaming.

Some of these books were from classes, but most were made just sitting at my desk playing with paper, glue, pictures, and a pen. But all were finished with an enormous amount of memories and love.

One of my rediscoveries were these tag books that I made in 2006. I love how I had a picture and story for every week of the kid’s lives. Captured with pictures and words. I made a book and a box for each child.

If I had not made these books, I would have forgotten this…

and this…

and this…

I also rediscovered a mini book that one of my former girl scouts made me about quotes with a stash of supplies that I had given her…

But most of all, I had forgotten that this picture existed. I know that I do not have a digital copy of this picture.

This was Jeff and my 5th wedding anniversary. Jeff had his head shaved with me right before my 2nd round of chemotherapy. He bought me those earrings. We had both just turned 29 and 31.

So my lesson learned today is simple.

Get out your photos and play. Your reward will be immeasurable.