I find it amazing how something small and otherwise trivial can bring about a flood of memories. Listen to a song from your high school years and see where your mind wanders. Catch a whiff of a certain cologne and your memories take over!

There are so many ways to preserve our special memories. Here are just a few ideas to try:

THOUGHTS
What better way to preserve your thoughts than to keep a journal. Some people cringe at the idea of journal writing: they think of "Dear Diary, today I woke up, I brushed my teeth..." However journals can be so much more than that!
• Create a special journal for things you think about your husband. When you fill it up, you can give it to him as a gift (or keep it for yourself to remember all that honeymoon bliss or little petty arguments that seemed so big at the time!)
• Create a special journal for your hopes and dreams. Only write in it when you get an idea of "what you want to be when you grow up." Go back through it years from now and laugh at all of your ideas and applaud the good ones!
• Create a journal for your children. Start it when you first find out that they are coming and write in it intermittently throughout their life. Give it to them as a special one-of-a-kind gift on their graduation or wedding day.
• Create a prayer journal. Write down your thoughts and prayers to God. Go back through it periodically and check off prayers that have been answered. See how God is working in your life!
Whatever kind of journal you decide to make, don't feel you have to write in it everyday if you don't want to. Use it as a creative outlet, a place to store your best (and worst) memories and a place to let out your emotions. Years from now, it will be a treasured gift for you or whomever you share it with.


FAMILY HERITAGE
Have you ever wanted to find out more about your family history? With the advent of the world wide web, this has never been easier. Preserve your heritage by creating a family tree. Trace your ancestors back to the Mayflower or beyond! Find your family crest and proudly display it in your home. Researching your family history can be a fun and educational experience for the whole family. There are many websites available to help you find information and help you get in touch with long-lost relatives..


PHOTOGRAPHS
So you have piles, drawers and boxes full of old photographs? Join the club! There are so many ways to preserve photographs today! You can scan photos and save them on disk. You can also go to a professional studio where they can take photos, videos and even old movie reels and transfer them to DVD (you can find a list of local studios at the end of this article). There are many different photo storage solutions out there. Photo boxes that are acid-free are best. Store your photos in a cool, dry, dark place (garages, basements and attics are not good choices!). If you decide to put your photos in albums, make sure the albums are made with acid-free materials. Avoid using photo albums with the sticky pages -- over time the glue will permanently bond to your photos, making it impossible to remove them. If you are a creative person, you can preserve your photographs and other memorabilia in a scrapbook (or two, or five!). Scrapbooking is very big these days and there is a plethora of stickers, papers, borders and other paraphernalia to make your scrapbooks sparkle.


MUSIC
For me, music brings about a lot of memories. I can listen to a song and be instantly transported to my junior prom, my college apartment or a special moment in my marriage. I will never forget the song that was playing as I delivered my daughter (It was "Deliver Me" by Sarah Brightman, believe it or not!). Go through your collection of tapes, records, CDs and even 8-Tracks (does anyone have those anymore?). Make a mixed tape or CD of the songs that mean something to you or help you remember a certain time in your life. Listening to them will allow you to take a step back into history -- and you will have a lot of fun putting them together too!


CLOTHING
Did you have a favorite dress as a child or teen? Or now, as a mother, does the sight of your daughter's first Easter dress send you down memory lane? Consider making a quilt out of these old clothes. A small scrap of each fabric is enough for a square and with a little effort, you will have a family heirloom full of memories.


SCENTS
How I wish I still had the scent that my grandmother used to wear! Whenever I catch a whiff of that scent, I know everything will be ok. I wish I knew what it was so I could always have it around for reassurance. You can keep your favorite smells nearby in a number of ways. Candle companies make scented candles in hundreds of scents, including Christmas Cookies (for us baking-illiterate folks), Seaside, with the smell of the ocean breeze and many others. These candles are usually reasonably priced and will fill your whole house with a lovely scent that can bring back lots of memories of good times. If it is a perfume you want to save, here is an easy sachet you can make:


Originally Posted on CharlotteMommies.com

I love "do it yourself" projects. I think I get it from my father who taught me how to fix cars and fish for food as a child. To this day, it's hard for me to buy fresh fish from a supermarket when I know I can put a hook and worm in the water and get it myself. So, when our dining room chairs needed reupholstering, I figured, "It can't be that hard," plus I had my trusty helper: RJ!

First, RJ, myself and my mother visited a local fabric store and selected a print we loved made of outdoor material. The fabric we chose is waterproof and allows for easy clean up when soiled. Perfect for a home with a 3.5 year old toddler and infant just learning to eat solids!

First step: Remove the padded seats from the chair base. Four screws and they were off!


Next: Remove the old seat covers. They were simply stapled on so it was easy to separate the fabric. Pull and tug! Watch the staples RJ!


Once the old fabric was removed we measured the new material and cut it to fit. Children's rounded tip scissors didn't seem to work on the fabric. Go figure!

As summer vacation begins for the traditional calendar schools, kids are excited about the long days of playing with friends, going to camps and taking family vacations. Summer vacation is time for having fun and relaxing after a long school year. But as parents, we need to remember to keep our kids' brains active to prevent the so-called "summer slide," that loss of lessons learned, the slip backwards in reading and other academic areas that occurs for many children during the long summer break.

Here are 10 Tips to Prevent the Summer Slide:

1. Read every day. Most teachers require kids to read for 10 to 30 minutes every day during the school year. Don't let your kids get out of this reading habit during the summer. Encourage them to continue to read every day. And for those who have required summer reading lists, make sure they find time to read books they WANT to read as well, so reading doesn't become a dreaded chore. Keep them reading and keep them happy!

2. Sign up for a reading challenge. Book stores, libraries and various online resources, including Scholastic.com, host reading challenges during the summer where kids are encouraged to track their reading ~ either the minutes read or the actual books read ~ throughout the summer. Some even provide rewards such as free books to participants, which can give kids the extra motivation they need to read.

3. Read aloud to your kids ~ or at least let them see you reading. Spend time reading aloud to your kids. This can expose them to more complex stories that they aren't yet able to read themselves. It introduces new vocabulary and different types of literature. If your kids aren't interested in listening to you read aloud, make time to sit together and read silently to yourselves so they can see the enjoyment you get from reading.

4. Start a journal or diary. To keep their writing skills going throughout the summer, encourage your kids to write in a journal or diary about their summer activities. If you go to the zoo, suggest they write about it. If your child is more creative, have them make up their own stories, or work with them to create a scrapbook in which they write and choose pictures to include. Find ways to make writing fun.

5. Play games as a family. Board games, card games and yard games all offer kids an opportunity to think, build strategies, and even hone their math or reading skills. Scrabble helps with spelling. Monopoly helps with math. Uno helps with developing strategies, as well as color and number recognition for younger kids. Games offer a great way for the family to come together while discreetly learning too.

6. Take a trip to a museum. Visiting museums is a great activity for the whole family. Many museums are now set up with hands-on activities for kids, and engaging programs that you can attend. Kids can learn about art, animals, science, history and many other topics, depending on which museums you choose. Give your kids the power to choose one that interests them.

7. Track the weather. How many sunny days will you have this summer? How many rainy days? When will humidity be the highest? Make some predictions and then track the weather to see if you're right. Kids can build their observation skills, and learn about weather, graphing, patterns and predictions by tracking the weather throughout the summer.

8. Explore nature. Science lessons don't have to stop just because school is out. Kids can discover all sorts of things about animals, plants and the earth in your own backyard. Get outside and flip a rock to discover what's living underneath. Observe the types of birds that live in your yard. Plant a garden or some flowers and have the kids take care of them. There are many science lessons to learn outside.

9. Stay healthy. Keep the physical education and health lessons going this summer. Get your kids outside every day to ride bikes, go swimming, play sports or just take a walk. Keep them moving and staying active. And spend time this summer learning about healthy foods. Visit the local farmers' market, and try some new fresh vegetables and fruits that are native to your area. Talk to your kids about healthy eating.

10. Plan a vacation. Most families take some sort of summer vacation, whether it's for one night or an entire month. Get the kids involved in planning this year. Show them your vacation budget, and talk about the cost of gas or airline tickets. Have them map the route you'll take, and calculate time and distance. Involve them in planning your itinerary. Let them pack their own things based on the number of days and nights you'll be away. There are many lessons to learn in planning a vacation.

All of these activities keep your kids' brains going, engaging them in thinking, calculating, reading, interpreting and learning. By keeping their bodies and minds strong throughout the summer, they will be better prepared when the new school year begins.

Originally posted by Julie on TriangleMommies.blogspot.com, 6/23/11