My Blurb Book Review

First of all...

SHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

This is one of my kids' Christmas presents.

They love photo books almost as much as I do.

So, please don't tell them. :) Thanks.

So, Blurb. We've had a rocky relationship. I have made two books from them before, but I was generally unimpressed and I liked Mixbook so much more. However, Mixbook has a problem for me. It can't handle over 100 pages that well. Overtime, the binding ALWAYS breaks. And while Mixbook always was happy to replace my broken books, I didn't want to have to go through this every time.



So I returned to Blurb.



This time, they had a new upgraded paper option- Uncoated Proline Paper. I selected it. And I LOVE IT! It has made all the difference. As for binding, I don't see any weak spots that tend to hint to future problems.



Not only am I super happy how it turned out, but this book was much less expensive than Mixbook. Look for coupons on Facebook.

Goals.

Dave and Lindsey goal number 1:

No more smarty-pants remarks from us parents.

You know how you are so good at parenting other parents? You know what I mean. It's a gift everyone is born with. With little observation, one can easily spot all the parent crimes another parent commits. What most people don't realize is that "gift" usually doesn't work on themselves. People go along all day pointing out problems in others without noticing their kid is butt naked in the street drinking dish soap from the bottle.

****SPEAKING OF WHICH...while I just wrote that last part Lauren had gotten a hold of a permanent marker and was coloring the kitchen cabinets pink. So yep. ****

Well, Dave and I turned our attention to our own parenting style and we found only one thing we need work on. Because we are nearly perfect.

And this is what we need to work on:

Offering advice instead of encouragement.

I'm really bad at this. I read somewhere that parents who are always lecturing undermine their child's ability to gain confidence in making his or her own decisions. So, I hope you never hear me or Dave say things like "Well, this is what happens when...." or "I told you not to...." or "Next time can we just..." 'Cause really, do you like it when people say things like this to you? No! It's super annoying and absolutely not helpful! Of course there are ways to talk with children in a loving way, but it doesn't have to involve belittling them or their decisions.

By the way, our code word is "Aflac." You can say that to either one of us if you catch using those naughty parent phrases. Then you can find a super long and thin reed and whip our wrists.


Dave and Lindsey Goal number 2:

Stop being lazy bums. Our new lives will go as follows:

Get up at 5:30.
Dave runs around our fake lake.
Lindsey does a workout video. Because running is evil.
Cold shower.
Kids wake up.
Do stuff during the day.
Put kids to bed.
Watch Parks and Rec. Because laughing is a great de-stressor.
Go to bed by 9:30-10pm.

This is really hard for me. I'm even doing exercise hypnosis to make me like it. Not kidding.
It must be working because today was our 5th day!

To finish, please enjoy a few de-stressing videos yourself!

HOW TO PHOTOBOOK.

I am finishing up our family's 2015 photobook right now. I LOVE photobooks so much. So, so much. If you are not making them your life is wasted. WASTED! Just kidding. But really.

As I was designing this year's book, I realized how picky and opinionated I am about photobook layouts and things like that. So I am going to share with you my opinions on why your way is completely wrong and my way is so much better than yours. Just kidding! TOTALLY KIDDING!

So, here comes the Lindsey train of thought. Here we go.

1. Organize!

Every time I review my photos on my computer, I copy my favorites into one folder per year. For example, on my desktop I have "2014," "2015," and "2016" folders. Only my favorites make it each year. If they are organized, then it is super easy to make a book. This year's book is 140+ pages, but because I had all the photos in one folder it didn't take long at all!!

2. Design by spread, not by page

I used to layout my photos in my books by only thinking of one page at a time. THIS IS WRONG. You must think of the spread, how it looks in two open pages. You don't want the two pages fighting against each other. Look at the example below. I have 4 images spread amongst two pages. They are all part of the same story. All have the same color pallet. Visually, the two pages work very well together.

3. Repeated Pattern

This is my favorite, because it is so visually compelling. If you have several photos taken of basically the same thing with minute differences, just repeat the image over and over. Just look at these!

 

4. Blank Space

White background always for me, please. I love the classic look, so I embrace the white space framing my photos. I also like the contrast of one large photo vs one small. It creates great negative space.

5. Go BIG!!!!!

Fill those pages! Make a statement!
As a side note, this is where you want a camera with good megapixelage. With our old, old camera we couldn't do this.

 6. The Surplus

As you can tell, I love grouping pictures together with other photos of a similar nature. But what about the leftovers? I keep them too. I just put them in a grid, either 3x3 or 2x3. Then I put a big picture next door so that the eye has somewhere to land. That way there isn't too much visual chaos!

 7. Just do it.

In the end, it really doesn't matter what design technique you implement. Your kids just want to see the pictures.
And do not feel overwhelmed! I do yearly books, but I also have done a grouping of several years too.
I love making these so much, that I will honestly make these for other people.


FUN STUFF TO ADD TO YOUR BOOKS

-Funny stories of the family members
-Pictures of drawings the kids have made
-Names and descriptions too, of course

You are not my mother. You are a Snort!

Have you ever gone to the library, grabbed a few potentially interesting books, got home and started reading them, and they are all duds?

Or you know those books that your 2 year old always insists on reading but you, as the parent, just don't get? I'm looking to you, Go, Dog, Go!

Maybe I am hard to please, but sometimes great children's books are hard to come by. I like my children's books to entertain both myself and my child.

Well, this past library visit was very successful. Yay! And because I am currently obsessed with amazing kid books, here are a few you may want to check out...

A Cat Named Tim and Other Short Stories

Dave read this one to the kids the other night and the laughs coming from those 3 were infectious! This one is a mostly wordless picture book and a collection of short stories. If you read it, my favorite is the one with spaghetti.


Room for Bear

Oh, this one is so cute. It's about a bear and his duck family and how they literally fit each other in their lives. I like cute stories.


A Mountain of Friends

This is a very short, fun book. The story is about how a group of friends help make a little penguins dream come true. I can't tell you more because it would give the book away. Just read it.

The BEST Kid Books

Let's pretend I'm Oprah for a moment and you care about what my favorite things are.

Okay. Great idea, you say.

Then let's get to it.
I love spending money on hardbound, quality children's books--the kind of books that both my kids and I will read over and over again. There are some real winners out there right now and I'm trying to keep up with all of them. So here is my current list of my most favorite books to read with my kids.

Journey by  Aaron Becker. This is a no-words picture book*. The drawings and story telling are exquisite and the girls can't get enough of this one.

*Confession: I am really bad at "reading" wordless picture books. Soph and Sabrina like me to talk over the book and I never know what to say to describe each scene! The book is still great, though.

* * * * *

Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann. I have always been a huge fan of this book. I only have a flimsy version of this book and the pages got torn out and put back in the wrong place (my doing). So now, we get to buy a new copy. By the way, everything by Peggy Rathmann is wonderful such as: 10 Minutes Till Bedtime, The Day the Babies Crawled Away, and Officer Buckle and Gloria.

 * * * * *

Anything by Mo Willems. He's a crowd pleaser and the modern day Dr. Seuss according to some review I saw somewhere.

 * * * * *

 Stuck (or "Duck" if you pronounce it the way Sabrina does) by Oliver Jeffers. This is a recent discovery and the entire family L-O-V-E-S this one.

* * * * *

I Want My Hat Back and This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen. Simple and hilarious.

* * * * *

 Adele and Simon by Barbara McClintock. This is a find and seek book that will keep little people busy looking for lost items in the story.

* * * * *

And that is my list. 

Now, if you will look under your chair you will find one of these books as a free gift from Barnes and Noble! 

Just kidding. That was me trying to be Oprah again.

What are some of your favorite children's books?

Words to live by

As I've been thinking of my New Year's resolutions, 

I kept thinking about an inspirational quote that I came across awhile back. 

It really resonated with me, and still does.

Thus, I have selected it as my own personal theme this year.

Here it is.

"The world needs you to stop being boring. 

Yeah, you. 

Boring is easy! Everybody can be boring, 

but you're gooder than that."

--Kid President

This year I plan on being a fun person. Here goes.

Here is the source:

Lindsey Insight Coming Your Way....

We have all said it at one point or another in our lives. 

"Sorry my house is dirty."

"The house is a mess, but come on in!"

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"

Okay, so maybe not the last one, but you'll see what I mean in a minute.

The past couple weeks I can count three different times when someone apologized for the mess in their house. I would like to make a public announcement about these Dirty House Statements. When you say your house is dirty all you are doing is drawing more attention to the Mess. (Gasp!) And here's another weird thing: Those three times I was in someone else's home, I didn't even NOTICE the mess until they said something! It's the same concept as "Don't look at the elephant in the corner." What are you going to do when someone says that to you? You're going to look at the pachyderm, of course! 

So let's look at Dirty House Statement #2 "The house is a mess, but come on in!" Do you know what it really means? Either (1) "I would have rather that you called before you stopped by so that I could have made the front room presentable" or (2) "I wouldn't have cleaned this even if you did call before hand, I just would prefer that you don't come in" or (3) "I'm pretending the house isn't normally like this, but it actually is."

Now about Dirty Houses. I can honestly say that I once saw a "Dirty House" and was relieved about it. I once entered a lovely, cozy, well kept home. "This woman obviously has everything pulled together and has an amazing life!" I thought. Then a few weeks later I went over to her house again. It was pretty messy. I sighed within and felt at peace knowing that she wasn't perfect yet.

Conclusion: We do not need to make excuses for our homes when they are messy once in a while. Life happens. We get busy, something throws us off track, our kids are insane.

I definitely am not a clean freak or a perfectly organized CEO of the household. But I have sworn off saying, "Welcome to my home. My house is a mess. Please make yourself comfortable in between yesterday's Squashed Frozen Pizza and my daughter's freshly messed panties."
Okay, actually I may say that one day. But just for kicks.



**This post is not meant to offend anybody on their protocol on inviting people into their homes. Just take it as a general Lindsey opinion on her observations of life.**

10 Things I Hate About U(ofA)...or college in general

We have had a wonderful time attending the UofA. Education is a very good thing, and something we are very grateful that we have been blessed to pursue. With parting always comes sorrow.

However, here are a few things we will definitely NOT be missing...

1. Smoking

If this is an institution of higher education, then why are there so many smokers!? And why can't they read the sign "No Smoking within 20 feet of entrance?"
2. PowerPoint Presentations
More and more professors are using PowerPoint in their lectures. 75% of them do not know how to use it correctly.
3. Spandexed-Rear-Tushies
If you're not a dance major, you're just trying to show off your bum. And we know it. And you know that we know it.
4. The Spanish Department
Don't get me started on it.
5. Professors
The ones who use those PowerPoint slide-shows incorrectly.
And the ones who don't really know what they're talking about.
And the ones who don't know but insist you treat them like they do know.
And the ones who put their political slant on everything.
And the ones who make you do busy work just because they can.
And the Ego. Enough said.
5a. The not-really professors, or TAs (or GAs if you prefer)
So, why are so many classes taught by foreign grad students anyway? I can understand Doctoral students doing this, because they have had some good time to learn the subject. But people only a few years farther along who you can't understand anyway? This is not to bash all TAs, there are good ones out there (many better than the actual professor), but you know the ones I'm talking about.
6. Pedestrians
They're everywhere, like gnats. Off the sidewalk, in the street, in the bike lane, ignoring traffic signals, oblivious to traffic (you've seen the guy, he's halfway across the intersection, texting, before he realizes he's stepped in front of cross traffic). Hope you don't hit one!
7. Unvocabulated Students
Isn't it amazing how some students can use the same word to describe every emotion they feel? (ie: "I #*@$&% hate this!" "I #*@$&% love you!" "That is #*@$&% awesome!" "You are #*@$&% lame!")
8. Lack of Clothing
...and very nice sunburns/tan lines because of it.
9. Homework
Especially busy work.
10. __________________
(We left this one open for your suggestions - add a comment)

Wow, this has been a very negative post. We will now say something amazing about our college experience: We're graduating!!!!!