Cheeky. That About Sums It Up.
These are so much better BIG. Feel free to click to make them so. Cosmo Cricket sent me the entire awesome Get Happy line and I got to playing fast. I used the Get Happy and also the Buck Naked Lacing Cards.
This line is so perfect for my son. He is so LOUD and cheeky and feisty and full of LIFE that this modern, edgy, striking paper really does it for scrapping about him. The photos are a quick collection of some of my favorite five year old pictures. Rather than scrapping the posed, cute-boy shots- I went for the more spontaneous, goofy, laughter filled shots (of which there are so many). Since this is a mini project, I could even shrink the size on some of the slightly blurry shots and have them come out neat. Vivacious living doesn’t make for crystal clear, crispy photography, and even after six years of begging, Jonas still cannot hold still for a shot.
Speaking of six, Jonas just has his sixth birthday last month! How did that happen, eh? It is kind of funny, because the older he gets, the younger he seems to me, as if each year he moves forward I am reminded more that he is still a little boy. I have always been very milestone-centric with my firstborn, and I wonder if that is common with firstborns. Parents are so thrilled for the firsts and so quick to push for new experiences and growth and maturity; with my second I am so much more cautious, having realized that this is painfully fleeting. I charged through Jonas’ babyhood, proud and in awe of my little man, and then clung to every last shread of Maggie’s knowing that it would be the fastest memory I’d ever make. Each birthday I lose a little something about their childhood, and am always astounded at the people my children are becoming and also about how they are still uniquely them.
Much debate happens over Nature and Nurture, and when I was younger I wishfully planned for Nurture, expecting that I could create a person to my own standards and measurements. I heard of the molding power of motherhood, and planned to use every ounce of my influence at the potter’s wheel to create someone awesome. How shocked I was when Jonas arrived, already very much his own being, infused with a temperament and zest that I never had a hand in putting there. He was all him, and it was difficult for me, as a person of a controlling, type-A temperament to relinquish my wants to understand him and who he was. There were times when I really wondered if I was a good mother, as Jonas was filled with so much determination and spunk that I often felt powerless to influence. There were, and still are times when I felt overwhlemingly inadequate to meet his needs. I was almost convinced that perhaps I was just really, really bad at this mothering thing: and then Maggie arrived.
Her nature was so much softer than Jonas’. Although full of life, she has a calm within her. She knew how to nurse, how to comfort herself. For heaven’s sake she knew how to SLEEP! It took very few weeks raising two children to come to the very stark realization that I had very little to do with who my children were. They came that way. I could coddle, and instruct and teach them as many correct principles as I could make them listen to- but who they are and how they will approach life is all up to them. I am merely a loving tour guide, trying to teach them the ways of this strange world and how to get along with the natives.
Ultimately, they shine far brighter than what my limited abilities could have formed them into, and I am certain that this is because they are already exactly who God created them to be.
So Jonas Bonus, my cheeky little guy, what an adventure you’ve sent me on! Life is so different than what I imagined. Thank you.
This is really something! So well done!
Comment by Jannie — July 4, 2008 @ 7:41 am
Beautiful, not only the photos and the way you scrapbooked them but also your words.
Comment by crystal carlsen — July 4, 2008 @ 8:54 pm
Isn’t it amazing how different kids are? And how they are born with a personality you just have to cope with?
After what you tell us about Jonas, this Cosmo Cricket line seems just perfect to emphasize who he really is.
Lovely mini!
Comment by Scoobie (Hilde) — July 4, 2008 @ 9:22 pm
Perfect…! Love the bold colors and the happy photos…! And what you are writing is to true and so beautiful.
Comment by AnnaB — July 4, 2008 @ 9:28 pm
Aww. I miss them already.
Great job with that mini. The papers are definitely perfect for Jonas.
Comment by Sanisi — July 4, 2008 @ 11:04 pm
That is stunning. Really - breathtakingly perfect. It so compliments Jonas, as I imagine him from your storys, and it’s so fun and pretty and great. You’re such an inspiration!!
Comment by Zarah — July 4, 2008 @ 11:55 pm
love what you did with the CC. Good Luck!
Comment by hera — July 5, 2008 @ 3:05 am
You’re just plain awesome, that’s just the way it is
Comment by Linda — July 5, 2008 @ 3:20 am
You said it and very well too. My two are as different as can be- a 10 year old boy and a 5 year old girl. And I love them for their many differences. Perfect just the way they are. I found myself trying to mould my first born too. I had to learn to stop and to let him be who he is meant to be. As first time parents we had a lot to learn as well. Priya
Comment by Priya — July 5, 2008 @ 4:46 am
GO LEAH GO!! Girl, that’s just gorgeous and those colors are perfect for your (and my!!) boy! C’mon Cosmo - Leah’s the one!!!
Comment by Lindsey — July 5, 2008 @ 5:37 am
This is really just beautiful! I love everything & it totally makes me want to buy every product shown! Fab!
Comment by staceymichu — July 5, 2008 @ 6:08 am
This is one of the best All Boy minis I have ever seen- you rocked that Cosmo!
Comment by Treina — July 5, 2008 @ 7:43 am
awesome, awesome, awesome! you rocked the cosmo! good luck!
Comment by Alycia Sanders — July 5, 2008 @ 7:49 am
Love the mini album! The Get Happy is a great rich line! Your little Jonas is such a cutie! My son Noah is always wide open like him! Great work I hope you get on the team! You would make a great addition!
Comment by Christi Wright — July 5, 2008 @ 9:01 am
wow you seriously rocked that paper!!!!!!!!!!!! i am sooooooo lifting it!!!
Comment by Wendy McKee — July 5, 2008 @ 10:50 am
This is gorgeous! What an inspiration you are! Happy 4th!
Comment by Michele Brooks — July 5, 2008 @ 6:32 pm
You did such an amazing job with that paper!! I bow down to your talent!!
Comment by Amanda Boyles — July 5, 2008 @ 8:21 pm
You made me smile. Big. I have a 24 year old daughter who is calm, smart, determined - and I all along took some amount of credit for how wonderful she is. Then my son was born. He is 4 1/2 and CRAZY! He is loud, defiant, silly, determined, DISOBEDIENT, and wonderful. You are right. They come that way.
Comment by ArtsySue — July 6, 2008 @ 3:31 am
Hey I was admiring you blog
Comment by Bella — July 6, 2008 @ 10:18 am
WOW! What totally fabulous work!!! Really Amazing!!!! I can’t agree with you more about the nature/nurture!!! My 2 came with their own little personalities from the moment they were born!!!!
Comment by Julie Kelley — July 6, 2008 @ 10:20 am
Enjoyed your blog. I’m new to this site and was really happy to find someone with such a great attitude to parenting.
I have three boys and understand that zest for life!
It has definitely changed me as a person,I lost a lot of pride in those first few years of toddler boyhood,then had a daughter and a short respite,then praise God another glorious boy and have started all over again!!
Would love you to visit,though it’s not that interesting yet,only a little intro.
Have a great weekend……..
Comment by educatingmummy — July 6, 2008 @ 11:58 am
Wow just about sums it up! That range of papers seems to have been made for that album, it seriously does look great xx
Comment by Gems — July 6, 2008 @ 2:42 pm
Your work is the reason I keep coming back!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by sharon (Sharden) — July 6, 2008 @ 11:24 pm
Fabulous layouts. What product is it that you used to put the paper in? It doesn’t look like a “standard page protector” but more like a panoramic page. Please share?
Comment by Susana — July 8, 2008 @ 11:27 am