As a mom to four girls, I am constantly feeling like I didn’t have enough time to record and preserve moments-from the big accomplishments, to the everyday funnies that I don’t want to forget! Being a maternity and graduation photographer is a special thing because I see and photograph a mom already documenting the moments before this sweet baby is even born, and then I get to document another child’s biggest accomplishment graduating from high school or College! But what about all of the little moments in between? How do we hold onto those precious gems and be able to relive them regularly?
Between homeschooling, chickens to feed, games to play, beaches to explore, who has time to cut paper and glue things into a book? Not me!
But here’s the good news—you don’t need a scrapbook (or even a fancy memory book) to preserve your family’s best moments.
With a few simple, stress-free methods, you can capture your family’s story in just minutes a day!
I was SO good at making memory books with my older two. I even made my oldest her very own personalized ABC books that all the others are now very envious of. But as you know- time moves fast. There is always something pulling our attention other ways!
I just want to freeze time and remember the way my oldest loves to play at the piano, or my second loves to help out with everything, or the way my third makes the silliest faces, or how my fourth is the most adventurous three year old ever.
The 10-Minute Rule
Saving your family’s best moments doesn’t have to take hours!
The 10-Minute Rule is all about using tiny pockets of time to record memories—without overthinking it.
At the end of the day, set a timer for 10 minutes and jot down one thing that made you smile.
Maybe it’s the way your daughter says regular- “reg-I-er”.
Or how your daughter snuggled you in bed this morning.
You can type it in your phone’s notes app or even use a digital assistant like Siri to voice record it. Or-kick it old school and put that pen to paper!
The key? Keep it quick, easy, and stress-free!
Over time, these tiny entries become a beautiful collection of real, everyday moments—no scrapbooking skills required.
💡 Bonus tip: Set a daily reminder on your phone so you don’t forget.
10 minutes a day adds up to a lifetime of memories!
Memory Apps That Do the Work for You
Do you love snapping photos on your phone and recording videos… but hate organizing them?
There’s an app for that 😉
These apps save your photos and memories—with no extra work from you.
Chatbooks: This app turns your favorite photos into books without you doing anything. You can even print up month books! As soon as I found this out I knew I needed to budget this out-No more end of the year scrolling through thousands of pictures to create a yearbook! Those are always so dang hard to narrow down!
1 Second Everyday: Record one-second video clips, and the app makes them into a short movie.
Google Photos & Tinybeans: These apps store and organize your pictures for you.
Once you set them up, these apps work on their own!
I don’t know about you, but I find myself constantly saying, “I never want to forget this”, or “I need to write this down”. These apps make it SO easy to always keep these memories a click away.
The Monthly Photo Dump Method
Raise your hand if your camera roll is a disaster! 🙋♀️
Instead of letting thousands of random photos pile up, try the Monthly Photo Dump Method.
At the end of each month, set aside 10 minutes to create a digital album labeled something like:
📁 Nymeyer Family – July 2025
Scroll through your phone and add your favorite snapshots—hikes, funny memories at lunch, or that perfect sunset from your camping trip.
No need for fancy editing or captions—just save the highlights!
BONUS TIP: Create a shared album where grandparents can see the best moments each month without scrolling through social media. I love this idea-living so far from both sets of grandparents, we want them to be as involved as possible. How great technology allows us to do this!
This system keeps your memories neat, accessible, and ready to relive anytime!
And what a quick and easy way to do it! Instead of just “hearting” your favorite photos in your camera reel, stick them in an album and make even make a quick video out of them! My kids love to look at photos and relive the emotions, the funny stories, and the adventures! It is one of our favorite things to do when we are all together- the laughs are almost as unforgettable as the memories we are looking at.
One day, you’ll look back and realize the little moments were actually the big ones.
And you don’t need a scrapbook to remember them!
With just a few minutes a day, you can create a beautiful, effortless record of your family’s life! The kind that will be shared for generations to come.
So pick one method and start today.
Because years from now, when you’re flipping through those digital albums or re-reading those tiny but priceless memories, you’ll be so glad you did.
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