I went to a friends for a scrappin' night and got 2 pages done and half a layout. We are going to try to get together once a week, so that'll get me caught up alot quicker!!

Turn it up: I am about 3yrs behind on mine. What I did was took all my pictures and divided them into years. Then I divided them by kids. Then I divided them into pictures I wanted to scrapbook and another pile for pictures for regular albums. It's alot of work, but once I was done, it is really easy to grab a pile for DD1, 2nd year and go! Or DS2 first year and go.

When you do an album for a child are you completing it with the intent to give to the child? Or is it just a an album for you to keep of your child?

When I first started into scrapbooking vs just buying albums and slip every pic I took into them, I started a book for each child and one family album. However that seemed to get too confusing trying to get the right pics in each album not to mention it took twice or more time to do it this way.

So I decided to just do one album, a family album and to do it chronological and then if I wanted to do an album later for a child, I could either copy the page or at the very least have the pics in date order to be able to do what I wanted.

Does doing it this way make any sense? I don't even know if my kids will want an album when they get older. Right now it seems that everything I do is for myself since I have boys and they seem to only care about the here and now.

I think in the end I would probably give them to my children when they grow up, but for now, I am doing them for me! Right now I do them separately, but I could see once all the kids are in school, just doing a family one each year, I don't know yet!!

I had grand intentions for individual journals for my kids. That lasted until we had two kids. LOL

I do one album. As the kids get out on their own, they'll be able to choose which pages they want, and I'll have the pages reproduced digitally for them at that time.

My mix of pages in the album includes heritage pages (my history, DH's history), pages that focus on a particular child, or set of children, pages that focus on a relationship between a parent and child, pages that focus on an event or tradition... it's a wide mix, and I just snap them into a logical order. Because I might put photos spanning 12 or more years onto the same layout, I can't really do strictly chronological stuff.

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I finished a long-delayed layout last night. I'm *not* terribly happy with the lettering in one section. It's one I'll keep in the back of my mind and look for better titling options, with an eye toward adding to or redoing them in the future.

My portrait album contains the professional portraits. I put the school portraits in there too. Mine, my siblings, my nieces and nephews. I started putting cousins in there too, but decided to just put theirs with the holiday pictures I get from everyone in the back of my family album.

It's a 12x12 album. I do one 8X10 per page, two 5X7 if they're of the same group. And as many wallet as will fit. I generally do one page per person/couple. It's fun to see how the kids grow each year.

Is that explained well enough?

I've been working on my Norway album. DDs are sick today and one requested the light be off. So, I didn't get more than 2 pages done ~ yet.

I have all my photos transferred on to my 'puter. Need to finish editing them and then transfer them to the photo shop and get them printed.

Turn It Up: The way you're doing it makes perfect sense! I know a lot of people who do theirs that way. Whatever works! I remember you saying your boys liked the digital slideshows and such. that might be a quicker and easier way for you to do their *albums*.

EVeryone is doing great!

Turn it up, absolutely it makes sense... that's the way i do mine... now that my daughter is older (we only have one child) she takes lots of pictures herself. I keep mine in generally date order but if she sees one she likes that i took, she just scans it in and makes her one. That very seldom happens though. Usually her "ideas" are more of her friends that, unfortunately at 21 years old sometimes do not include parents. Mine seem to be more family oriented. But after we pass on theywill be hers anyway to do with what she wants.

I just want to avoid her having boxes of photos with no idea who they are in the pictures.

As I type, I am uploading over 200 pictures to a printing site to get developed - I can't wait!! LOL!! All the Christmas festivities, pictures from when my sis came up with her boys. I will have lots to scrapbook then!!

Gee's you girls are organised & busy - I haven't scrapped in I don't know how long & right now the sweltering heat won't allow it.

Most of my photos are all sorted waiting to be done - I have three kids (1DD & 2DS's), hubby's & my own photos that all need doing - & our second kid (DS#1) has just moved away to study. Add to that I'm still waiting for my new scrapping/craft/sewing room to be ..........

Monique: I don't think I'll get my crafting room till kids start moving out! Plenty of years from now, my oldest is almost 5!! I scrap at my dining room table, in view of the living room tv. I also go to scrap evenings or host them at my house.