As I confessed earlier– my scrapbooks are sorely lacking in photos and stories focused on my sweet hubby being the awesome dad that he is. Not only do I feel a bit of guilt about that- because holy cow- there was a time that my photo albums and journals and every picture frame in my home was filled with photos of him and us… but it’s a void of stories I need to tell for the boys. They need to hear about the dad of their younger years- the dad of their teens- the dad who loved their mom while they were growing  up because one day they wont believe how young, and fun and just like grown up them we were!

So this week before Fathers day I am focusing on collecting photos and stories of him- and thought I would share a few prompts I have collected to get that done:

Lists | Sometimes, when I don’t know where to start with a layout- I will just “list things” like-

• 10 things you would be surprised to know about Dad
• Things Dad always says
• Top 5 pieces of Dad advice
• Dad Jokes

DadLibs | Initially, I had hoped to get the boys to write a letter to Dad- and then include that in a layout, but then remebering I don’t live on the hallmark channel, but rather with two snarky boys- I instantly fell in love with the idea of having them complete a “DadLib”- you can find a ton of them to download and print for free (yay!) here on Pinterest- 

Lie about my motives | Truth is, hubby is camera shy- and will hardly ever pose for a photo.  But, I do have him trained pretty well to suck it up for a “Week in the Life” type of photo because appreciates the final project.  So this week, I will tell him “it’s for “Week in the Life”  and secretly collect photos of him.  Drepending on how many I can snag- and how good they are- I may hopefully be able to tell the story of a typical day with dad- and i think that would be a very cool story to tell!

Let someone else say it for me | Telling stories of the everyday is pretty easy for me-  but making a page trying to capture all you feel about someone- that tends to freeze the perfectionist in me in my Type A tracks- so, I have found that instead of trying to find the right words- I will let someone else do the talking by finding a poem or special saying and make that the journaling for my page. Here is a link to a few gems I found and have saved for possible use on a layout. And I especially like this one by Karen Boyer:

There are also a few these sayings I know I can match with some perfect photos:

• There is no place higher than on Daddy’s shoulders.
• A father is someone we can look up to no matter how tall we get
• A dad is someone who wants to catch you before you fall but instead picks you up, brushes you off, and lets you try again.

And- nothing beats a framed layout! Here are a few of my favorite examples of #joycreated celebrating the Dads we love-

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