Scrapbooking - There Has Got To Be An Easier Way

I used to scrapbook a lot when my kids were very little.  Actually, when B was born I scrapbooked her every move.  Then the second came along and well, you know how it goes.

I have friends that still document the milestones of their children in beautifully decorated scrapbook pages.  I am envious of the time and energy they have invested in them.    You can tell they have a great love for what they are doing.

I think that is part of the problem.  I LOVE the finished product.  I love having the albums for my family to flip through.  I kinda hate the process of getting there.  I don't like the mess.  I really don't like the continual buying of supplies.  I despise having to store it all.   Oh and my aching back, after I finish hours of scrapbooking!   I know, could I whine any more???


However, even though I dislike all those parts, I am really always pleased that I took the time to at least place pictures in an album.   Even if it simply done without a lot of embellishment. 

So, last night I decided to update our Christmas album.  It's an album I started beginning with our first year of marriage.  I document each Christmas morning.   All the pictures of the kids with Santa go in there.  Some of my favorite pages are the ones that display each Christmas card we have sent out since B was born.


I updated it because the last set of pictures in there were from 2004 - the year Bubby was born.  Ugh.
THEN, I discovered something terrible.  I had pictures from 2005 and 2006 of Christmas but nothing from 2007 and 2008.  I searched my computer files.  I searched Snapfish.   I found 2007 on Snapfish and ordered them.  But nothing from 2008.


I do not have one picture of Christmas morning from last year.


How can that be?
Did I just not take any?
Did I just forget to download them?  Ack! 

This is a little sad for me.  I'll keep looking but I think I simply dropped the ball here.  I'm sure (maybe) I have video so it's not all lost.  I also have some photos from the church service and from our annual outing to the Nutcracker.  But nothing of them opening presents.   sigh

As I looked at all the pictures I have stored on my computer and on Snapfish, I am faced with the very daunting task of getting these pictures in some sort of form my children can enjoy without spending a fortune.

I have many albums from Creative Memories just waiting for me to fill them up.  The biggest problem there is that CM changed their sizing of pages and discontinued the old.  I do not have enough to even fill up the books I have now.    Do I start all over with the new books and try to sell what I have on eBay?  Or do I try to find old pages on eBay?

Or I could do photo books which are also expensive.   If I do decide to do it this way then how do you add things little keepsakes, diplomas from preschool graduation, special written notes and art projects.

So.  I am wondering.  Pleading actually for your ideas.  What do you do?

How do you document your growing family? 

Do I just need to realize that there is no easy way?


**After I wrote this, I realized that I have been documenting my growing family on this blog for almost 2 1/2 years!!!  But I don't even have that saved.    Do you back up your blog on a separate hard drive or something?   I have heard of a site called Blurb where you can place some of your blog posts.  Has anyone out there used that?