writing thank you's and much more

After the big event, writing thank you cards was on my agenda - but somehow that slipped away from me. Even though its almost been a month, I knew these had to get into the hands of friends and family - after all, we really are thankful. Especially Noah, who has been opening new gifts since then - every few days apart {this was an idea my sister gave me, and its worked like a charm.} Noah appreciates the individual toy so much rather than becoming overwhelmed with them all at once if opened at the same time. To him, it felt like everyday was his birthday {smiling}.

First came the easy part - concept. Using a fun font, I printed these out on sheets of white card stock and folded them in half to make the cards. I really wanted these to be 3 dimensional, but the tiny clothespins I bought to hang wallet versions of the photos didn't work quite so well. So I caved and made a collage using Snapfish.

Choosing photos proved more difficult then I thought. It actually took a few days to find the right ones because the more photos you added into the collage, the more different they began to look. And so it was a matter of going back to the original photos, cropping... selecting new ones... I wanted to capture all of the fun moments we had at the party - but if I did - I'd still be selecting photos right now...

I got my 3-d inside by recreating the bunting, like his birthday invitations. Using origami paper, I cut out the small triangles and taped them over the twine...

Since Noah can't write a "thank you" note by himself yet, to personalize the space, I asked him to draw a picture of himself - 12 times. And the little guy did, making each one so different...

Than I framed them over card stock squared with zig-zag scissors.

In between assembling and Noah drawing his pictures, I wrote the notes, then returned them to Noah for his signature. This process made me realize that Noah needed some extra help with holding a pencil - which I hadn't noticed before when he'd draw with markers or crayons. No matter how many times I demonstrated, or held his hand, he said it was "more comfortable" to hold the pencil crossing his index finger over it. In between my frustrations, Aaron came over to help, and demonstrated the tripod grip - although that proved even more challenging - he was also holding it incorrectly. {He uses his middle finger and thumb to grip}. Dumbfounded that all these years he was, we went back and forth troubleshooting with Noah - so we stopped writing for the day until I could go to Lakeshore Learning and pick up some pencil grippers. At the store, I learned that there actually is a gripper made specifically for kids who want to "cross over." The Crossover Grip - who knew?

The process was long and creatively challenging {and that was just for me}, still, I'm so glad we did these together. I'd like to think that the days of note writing is still very much alive, and that my kids will do these not just for etiquette, but also to brighten someone day's they love.  Each card he signed, I told him who it was for, and he signed his name proudly, slowly learning how to hold a pencil and feel "more comfortable" with his new gripper. Thank goodness for those! And many thanks to Aaron for making all the pit stops needed to piece these tokens of our appreciation to everyone!