100 Days of Summer

We celebrated our younger son's 12th birthday a few weeks ago and hubby mentioned they weren't kids anymore...that at events and in our travels, they now counted as adults. Four adult tickets, please! Where has the time gone? How is it even possible that they have grown so much?    

My boys Jan 2005

I know I didn't miss much of it...I am a stay home mom after all but it's been busy the last few years. And yet lately it feels like a different kind of busy. What I mean is, when they were little it was about caring for them, diapering, bathing, feeding, monitoring, entertaining, etc. Now we are busy with our own lives...it feels weird to type that out but it's true. The boys have their own interests, friends they would rather hang out with than with mom and dad, their own activities and soon they'll be on their way out into the real world. I would like to hang on to these last few years and the best way is to document it. This summer I am going to start a project called 100 Days of Summer (#100daysofsummer) and document our summer. We'll still be spending most of our days together this summer...next summer I'll have a high school-er and a middle school-er, and hanging out with mom won't be as much fun anymore.

So how exactly am I going to execute my 100 Days of Summer project?
1. The boys and I will sit down and brainstorm a list of things to do this summer. We've done this the past few summers.
2. Take a picture of the activity.
3. Post said picture to Instagram #100daysofsummer.
4. Print photos and compile it into a 100 Days of Summer album. Looking at two options...

• Digitally - a BLURB album, starts at 12.99 for 20 pages
• Paper and glue - We R Memory Keepers has some new Instagram Albums on the market. Alternatively, Project Life albums would also work for this. Instagram photos would have to be printed in polaroid style but there would be room for journaling. Also, 12x12 layouts could be added into the album for major events with multiple photos.

5. Print photos into a poster. Persnickety Prints has a 24x36 Insta Print that I am dying to try out.

Won't you join me?