# FAMILY ALBUM



## Nicky Duncan-Finn (Jan 26, 2004)

Hi Ladies and Gents

Myself and my husband are currently in the process of home assessment and are starting to prepare our family album.

I thought that it would be nice to start a thread where we could all share ideas etc.  Although Family Albums will ultimately be very personal documents, I'm sure we will all include generic sections on the house, neighbourhood etc.

We would love to hear how others have approached their Family Albums

I look forward to any responses you may feel able to offer.

Regards

Nicky


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## donnalee (May 21, 2003)

Hi Nicky,
We have been asked to do family book and would like some ideas  
Which sort of book is best?(stationary)
Did any of you use the computer or by hand!!!
Good to see you.
donnaleexx


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## TraceyH (Apr 14, 2004)

Nicky

What a good idea starting this thread.  We have just finished our prep course and are expecting to start our home study any day.  Throughout the prep course one of the FPO's was very enthusiastic about the Life Story Books and we had the opportunity to look at some, but to be honest there was so much else to take in that when we got home I began to panic about what to put in it and how to arrange it etc, some where better than others, but she did say that the panel will not turn you down because it is not an 'all singing, all dancing' book, which makes me feel better.  This particular FPO was very artistic.

Tracey

PS.  I can't believe how quick you will be going to panel, hope we will be not too far behind you.  Good Luck.


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## KarenM (Jul 30, 2002)

Hi Girls

We used 20 photos in all which I did on the computer.  These included all immediate family, the house, the garden, the dogs and our closest friends.  I used the software that came with our camera to create pages to mount the photo's on.  These included, dollies, trains, fairy castles etc.  I then put them in a folder inside plastic wallets.

We were praised on the presentation of it and it was used at one of our local courses to show other families how they could present it.

There was one on our course that was really good, it had Tv Characters such as Teletubbies with flaps to lift to see the photograph's.  I wasn't quite that artistic.

Good luck
Karen x


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## Ruthiebabe (Dec 15, 2003)

Hi,

this thread is a great idea...... we're of to dublin next week to takes lots of photos of my family, so any suggestions of how to put the album together would be great. 

I was thinking of doing it in a scrapbook or actually in a photo album?? But with a digital camera we could use the computer......hadn't thought of that!

Is it for the foster parents....or for panel? Or both? Or for the children?

XXRuth.


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## KarenM (Jul 30, 2002)

Ruth

It gets shown to panel and then given to the FP's to show the children.

If you've got a Kodak camera, there are some great backgrounds on their Pciture Software.

Karen x


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## TraceyH (Apr 14, 2004)

Hi all.

We are just starting our Life Story Book and have dug out photos of ourselves and family and have asked friends to do the same, and taken the digital camera almost everywhere just in case there is a photo opportinity that is the easy bit.  I was just wondering whether it should be in any particular format and whether it is appropriate to leave pages and note that is where the birth parents details will be sloted in in the future.  Also as we are applying for the 0-2 age range it will need to be kept fairly simple, therefore I was thinking about using cartoon characters and sticking to a theme.  Having seen some of the Life Story Books on our preparation course I am starting to panic a bit, they were works of art.

Also, does the FPO take the Life Story Book and submit it to panel with the other paperwork, or is it taken by ourselves on the day.  

Sorry to bombard you with questions, but our FPO is coming with the final paperwork typed up on 23 September, (after 2 more visits) in which case I will have to knuckle down and get on with it soon.

Any ideas are more than welcome.  I was going to pop to PC World tomorrow and see what graphics packages they have got, ours are a bit basic.

Thanks again.

Tracey


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## everhopeful (Feb 19, 2004)

Hiya

We had great fun putting our Family Book together. We were going to be approved for 0-3 years so wanted to make it age appropriate.

We used a ring binder and foam pages to put in it. We put just one or two photos on each page and decorated the pages with foam shapes and bubble writing with a 3-d paint pen (from art & craft shops). We made sure that each page was a different colour. The idea behind the foam pages was that with a little person going to be looking at it, we thought that card or paper would just be bent and torn. And also this is touchy-feely!

We used photo's of ourselves, our parents, the garden, living room, baby's bedroom, the animals, and her new cousin. We also included a page with a mirror-type card on it and we wrote "And this is... you!" Our daughter apparently liked this page the best!!

We purposely didn't want too many pages and too many pictures in it. This was because of the age group we were aiming at. And we thought that too many new faces would just confuse.

It was well received and commented on at both panel sittings, so I was very pleased!!
It's something you want to get right, but don't get too strung up on it, enjoy experimenting and have fun!!


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## maddi (Jul 1, 2005)

hi everyone 

i wish you all the luck . I'm not adopting but I'm adopted my self i was just reading all you stories and would just like to say when your doing your family album why don't you put pictures of you and your partner from when you was baby's all the way through till now because i do know some times when there looking for parents sometimes they like to getsomeone similar . Just an idea

love maddi


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## KarenM (Jul 30, 2002)

Ever - Yours sounds fab wish I had a creative bone in my body!  Like Tracey we saw some works of art on our course.  There were some nice lift the flap ones.

Good luck to you all.

Karen x


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## LB (Sep 24, 2003)

Hi girls

i think this thread is a really good idea - before we started our book it all seemed a bit daunting but once we got started it just kind of flowed - pleased to say 

As the child range for us was between 1 and 8 we also put in some pictures for the children to colour in and a blank sheet asking them to put down some things - eg hobbies, interests and places/things they might like to do/visit when they join the family.
we put in photos of local places that will be of interest to them - park/beach/local activity clubs etc.
nothing too revealing though!

LB


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