Toad's Treasures Lifestyle Family Blog by Emily Ashby: January 2013

{Paper & Photos}
Two words. Paper Coterie. Almost every photo book you see was made by them. Love their stuff. And if you are a "follower" of my blog you can get 40% off your order if you use this
code: DOCUMENTTOAD Expires 2/5/13

Now let's get down to business! Lori Prichard (an anchor on KSL Ch 5) wanted me to do a segment or 2 (Air date January 23, 2013 at 5:45 & 6:45AM) on great ways to document your year. The 1st one that I'll share in this post is about fun, easy ways to document your life. Part 2 will be about how to document and preserve your kids stuff!

Part 1: Paper and Photos

Let's start simple. If you haven't been doing anything to document your life it doesn't have to like getting a root canal. I promise. Just grab a notebook and stick in your purse or diaper bag. Now, instead of playing on your cell phone the next time you are picking up the kids at school grab that little book and start writing.

Get a couple for your kids to write in too! I pull ours out during church. Its a perfect, fun, quiet activity...espeically if you throw in a few cool pens! I love to see what the kids do with their little notebooks.

If you need a little helping knowing what to write about Paper Coterie has some really great options...

This cute little book takes you month by month and asks little thought provoking questions.

Next: Quote Books

I can't tell you how many little pieces of paper I've lost after I wrote down something funny the kids said that I wanted to remember. Solution? This cute quotable book. You fill in the pictures online and then you just write in the quotes once its printed. I know, I love it.

Blog Books. Here is the reason I started blogging. Every year I can make my blog into a book. Time saving? Yep! Sanity saving? Super yep!:)

One of my favorite companies to use is Blog2Print. You can also click on the photo to see more about my blog book...

And one last idea. Keep your calendar. If you write your weekly event on a calendar, keep it! It documents what in the world you did with your life!

Every year I make our family calendar and its actually turned out to quite the keepsake.

And this is just the start! More documenting ideas will come. But don't wait to get that 40% off! Yay!
Code: DOCUMENTTOAD Expires: 2/5/13

See you soon!
Toady aka Emily:)

{I Heart Faces Photo Challenge: "Best Faces From 2012"}

Growing up with 3 younger brothers I thought I knew boys. How much they ate, how hard they played, and how funny (and/or annoying;) they could be.

However is wasn't until I had boys of my own that started to see just how important it is for boys to be boys. Enter my 4 year old: Aidan. For this little guy food is only for getting energy enough energy to get to the next adventure, playing hard means that you may get hurt...or may hurt someone (on accident, of course), and funny takes on a whole new world when you start yelling in a loud whisper "be quiet!!" to crying babies during a church service.

I've discovered that to really be himself...and be happy... he needs to run, wrestle, and be rowdy. Its healthy. Its sweet. And its all about being a boy.

And although it may sometimes drive me crazy...as soon as those little arms wraps get wrapped around my neck and and I hear the words "I wove you" whispered in my ear I remember how much I love boys...and how much boys really do need to be boys.

Why I love this photo:

The garb: sword, spiderman, and long johns all at once.

The hair: good morning sunshine!

The dirty face: I could have edited that chocolate around his lips, but I couldn't do it. I love it. Although now that I think about it I'm not sure what he must have eaten for breakfast to make that mark. :)

The look: The "watch out mom my adventure has just begun" look.

The venue: Summer 2012. Outside at my parents house in Oregon, in the backyard where I grew up and invented so many of my own stories.