Projects Part 2 & 3

I take a lot of pictures.  Fortunately I stopped making prints in 2009 or I'd have a whole closet full of photo albums.  So, another one of those undesirable jobs was putting the photos I had developed into albums (done) AND sorting five years worth of pictures that are on my computer.  This was actually kind of fun--easy to delete the extra poses or meaningless pictures, and entertaining to go back and look at the kids when they were younger.  

I look my whole library of photos and made each of the boys yearly folders with pictures of them taken from age 2-3, for example. Now they can go through and look at them when they want AND they are organized (with many of them filtered out) for me.  I've been saying I should do this for at least three years.... DONE!

Next up:  school papers, certificates, birthday cards, etc.  I love that my kids bring home so many papers from school and daycare so I can see what they are studying and how they are doing, however, we would need to invest in a storage shed if we kept everything.  Here's how I sort.  1.  Throw most papers away daily.  2.  Really good artwork gets displayed in their room or taken to work by me.  3.  Items worth keeping (interesting things they write/draw, certificates, projects, etc.) get put in a file like these in their closet.  

At the end of the year, I go through the box and decide if I still think it is an item worth saving.  If so, I put in the "2nd Grade" ziploc bag.  

I also have a ziploc bag for 1. Money (special coins, savings bond coupons, etc.), 2.  Medical  (baby height/weight, etc.), 3.  Certificates/Programs/Special Events, and 4.  Miscellaneous (odd ball items like things from friends or stuff made at home).

And finally:  Birthday Cards, Baby Cards, Holiday Cards.

And then it all goes back in the storage container and into the storeroom.  This is Owen's, but they all have one.  Not bad for 8 years.  

I love plastic boxes!