Day 36 - A hand to hold

I love how sweet this shot was. They just took each others hands and walked side by side. Why can't all friendships be like that, why can't all people be like that? No judging, no disparity over differences, just acceptance even if we don't see eye to eye, we still appreciate being appreciated, being considered. How did my parents ever make it through the growing years with kids? On the one hand, it is incredibly sweet to have a child make a friend and play nice with one another. On the other, it is so frustrating to have a child who has to deal with mean kids and supposed friends. How do you raise a confident kid who isn't over bearing? Who is kind and sympathetic to others, but not a pushover? Who can play well with others, but who can also play well alone and not need to be entertained every second of the day?

Day 35 - Excrescence (The growth)

3 balloons + 3 silly kids = hours of entertainment for all. You would think a balloon up your shirt could only be funny for so long, but these kids managed to prolong and extract every ounce of fun from this pursuit.

Day 34 - conGRADulations

My baby brother graduated today from college. I can't take credit for this shot (My hubby took it), but I thought it looked cool. Everything is a blurry mess and my brother is... less blurry? We had such a hard time taking anything in focus. The distance combined with the lighting combined with the movement pretty much made it impossible. We did have 3 hours to try though and managed to get a shot in here and there. I know 3 hours seems like a long time, huh? It is a good thing it was for my brother, because I am pretty sure I would have slipped out early for most people. Congrats Dear!

Day 33 - An afternoon to remember

After weeks of travel, a break was due for all parties concerned. We scheduled a holiday for ourselves. Time to get our lives in order, to wrap up projects that have been sitting on the back burner, and to have a little fun. Today was part of our "fun" time. We took the kids to the Discovery Museum and stopped for an afternoon snack at our favorite little place. Along with these golden delicious bits of heaven, we ordered a couple of belgium chocolate covered waffles. I think the food lasted all of 60 seconds while we inhaled it. Most importantly it was just fun to be together and enjoy one another's company.

Day 32 - Crate training

We are attempting to crate train our puppy. So far it is going pretty well. In the dog book we have it says, "Every dog has a natural desire to keep his home clean and not eliminate where he sleeps." The irony here is that while our dog has this desire, our child does not. Almost nightly our 2 year old will remove as much of her clothing as possible and proceed to pee in her bed. I suppose she doesn't like to sleep in it. Maybe she just knows that buys her more awake time while we clean it. Who has trained whom I wonder?

Day 31 - Too many cooks in the Kitchen

In our house, cooking can be quite a challenge at times. Everyone loves to "help", especially when cookies are on the line. Of course, we always need taste testers along the way and who better to help do that than our little chefs. When papa set out to make a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies, these chairs appeared out of no where, just in time to "help".

Day 30 - Little white church

Today was absolutely perfect weather! We spent most of the day outside soaking up the sunshine and cool breezes. To cap off the evening, I went on a hike I have never been on before up Bell Canyon. While the views were amazing, I liked this shot because of the white church. An almost forgotten memory came flooding to my mind. I remember driving late at night with friends to find this church that was supposedly haunted. When we found it, a single light inside flickering, proof that it was haunted of course. Now it looks like a cute little white chapel on a cozy lane.

Day 29 - Puppy love

We got our little puppy today. He is a Icelandic sheep herder mix. So far he has been really sweet and cuddly. The kids have been really good at letting him have his space and not overwhelming him. He is still nervous at his new surroundings, but is starting to adjust. Now we just need a name or else his name is going to be puppy from all the times we have said it by default.

Day 28 - Pushover

While the title of this post is pushover, "Pushover" is actually referring to the person behind the camera... me. I thought I was standing my ground pretty firm when it comes to the issue of pets, "not now" was my decided position. Sure down the road I would love a pet, especially when more than 50% of our household is potty trained. (We are actually nearing the 75% mark). However, in a weak moment, I was shown the cute little picture of this puppy and my resolved crumbled. (Yes, it is on purpose that I am not showing you the full picture. One, I wouldn't want what happened to me to happen to you and two, I want to force you (all 2 of you) to come back tomorrow and see the picture.) So there you have it, against my better judgement, we will once again try our hand at pet ownership.

Day 27 - A little late

While this does very closely resemble a monster of some sort, it is not. It is a Plumeria. 9 months ago I brought this little baby home from Hawaii along with a few of its brothers and sisters to share with others. Almost instantly the others sprouted, but this little guy didn't. I varied his placement to get more light, I checked watering, and eventually repotted it in the hopes of helping the little guy along a little. But very much like this post, he was late blooming, but he is here now and I am so glad.

Day 26 - A little shopping

I love his face in this shot. It is the exact moment that she told him how much it would "cost" and he realized he didn't have any money (Not knowing that she was asking for invisible pretend money) Flash them a charming smile and you can get away with anything, even not paying. Notice cousin in the background, a girl after my own heart, her entire basket is full of bread. Mmmm.

Day 25 - Goats

He probably spent 15 min. alone petting the baby goats. There cute, I'll give him that. A class trip to the farm and he is still talking about the baby goats. He even suggested we get one for our backyard and he could eat our grass. A little less mowing couldn't hurt.

Day 24 - A little bit of Heaven

Second only to chocolate in my book, is this little gem. I adore bread and what's even better is a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip it in. So imagine my joy when my sweet husband gives me these babies. Lemon infused olive oil and lavender balsamic vinegar. Delightful!

Day 23 - Weeds

Weeds, weeds everywhere. This is the reason, in case you were wondering.

Day 22 - I scream

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream! In an effort to capture those priceless moments, I did take my camera with me and I did pull it out at the Frozen Yogurt shop and despite feeling a little dumb, I did capture some very cute pictures. Timing is everything and I love the excitement in her face caught at the perfect moment.

Day 21 - Making the shot

The evening sun has an interesting effect on things. Today, I was thinking about what effects taking a good photo and I came up with a couple of things that I think are important. First lighting. I can think of so many pictures that just feel a little off and it boils down to lighting for me. I really love natural lighting. Second the set up. What angle the photo is taken from, or the perspective? Do you include background or not? What are the dimensions of the shot? I think this takes practice. I am not there yet, but would love to look at a scene or subject and know just the right way to capture the best shot. Oh and of course little things like being in focus (still working on that one). What things do you think are important in taking a good photo?

Day 20 - Have your cake...

What is better than pink frosting and sprinkles? Some of you may be getting sick of my faded color shots, but I absolutely love the charm in them. Having everything almost black and white with just the hint of pink in her cupcake and bracelet seems so sweet and girlie to me. I love that her first instinct was to scoop up a finger tip of frosting and then curiously examine it before devouring it.

Day 19 - Daily delivery

I liked the lines of this shot and the fact that my subjects stand out so clear in this setting and seem so small comparatively. We had just come home from a Costco trip when we saw the mailman approaching and of course they had to watch him as if he were a one man parade. He did a little wave much to the little ones delight. I also love that she is hugging a bunny. Ode to the days when carrying around a soft, cuddly stuffed animal is seen as cute and not evidence that one is devoid of their sensibilities. And waiting for the mailman to arrive is a joy like witnessing a daily cavalcade. If only we could all be 2 again.

Day 18 - Birthday cake

Happy birthday little one! Isn't this cake I made amazing! We saw this cake and I had to get her pic in front of it since it was her birthday (Cake and child's birthday purely coincidental) She is squatting a bit because she was dancing to some music playing. She is such a ray of sunshine and keeps us smiling and laughing always.

Day 17 - Clouds

My oldest learned about clouds at school. All clouds to him are called cumulonimbus. (Which I believe refer to storm clouds) We saw these clouds today and I couldn't resist, they definitely impressed him. While I love the fluffy white cumulus clouds, my very favorite clouds are the cirrus clouds, the high wispy clouds that can be seen at the very top of this picture. It was such a beautiful day today, we couldn't help but find excuses to be outside today.

(p.s. - I agree with your assessment Mimaw and there will undoubtedly be plenty more kids pics to come)

Day 16 - Snow boots day

The hardest part of this photo project is remembering to take my camera on seemingly uneventful trips like dropping the kiddo off at school. That is exactly when I see the most amazing misty mountain vista and am camera less. This picture is the indoor result of said misty (and snowy) mountain vista. She decided it was definitely a snow boot day despite the fact that no actual snow reached our front yard. By the way, I love the bare piggy toes in this shot.

Day 15 - Big and Little

There is a fine line between being "big" and being "little" and I think this is it. I love how she just barely reaches the top of the rail. There is this indiscernible age where you aren't considered a baby anymore, but you aren't quite big enough for the title "big" girl. Where being just a little too little squeezes you out of participating in some fun activities. (For example: she is just 2 inches too small for any of the big rides at the amusement park, too little to play pretty much anywhere without heavy supervision, and not old enough for any camps, classes, or preschools like big brother) Despite all of that, I am in no hurry for her to grow up, I like her just the way she is, my little big girl.

Day 14 - Mother's day feast

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers. Usually my expectations of Mother's day are nonexistent, which is why this year I was pleasantly surprised. Today I was treated to a little gourmet french toast with a fresh made raspberry compote and crisp bacon. I assure you, the picture does not do it justice, it was divine. I choose to include the background in this shot, rather than an isolated plate to display the cute cup of "weeds/flowers" that my oldest plucked for just the occasion. My recommendation ladies, lower your expectation because just when you do is when they decide to surprise you.

Day 13 - ...and that's what little boys are made of.

My husband thinks that I should talk more about my thoughts behind each picture, why I took it the way I did. So to appease him a bit, here goes. First, this shot screams little boy to me. If I let him, I think he would live in the dirt, it is a magnet for him. (Most messy things are)

In regards to composition, I took this shot with the subject off center to add emphasis to the dirt. It is sort of the central theme of the picture. I took it with him on the left hand as opposed to the right hand for a few reasons. First, the way he is facing gives you a certain curiosity about what is on that side just off camera and even uneasiness as it draws your eyes out of the picture to the left. Second, the "scenery" on the right side had more interest with the rocks and weeds. The "scenery" to the left of him was a pile of picked weeds, a landslide of dirt and not as visually interesting. So there you have it.

Day 12 - Welcome Spring

I have been experimenting with different points of focus. In this shot, I wanted the "Welcome" sign in focus with the flowers blurred. I think it turned out pretty good (Minus that ugly hose in the background). With at least a week going by without any snow, I think it is safe to say "Welcome Spring". (Knock on wood) Here's to hoping for some gardening over the next few weeks.

Day 11 - Making tracks

A walk away from our house is an old railroad track. I liked the way the evening sun lit up the track making it seem like a warm summer day instead of a cold spring one.

Day 10 - Bag Head Day

In a lot of ways today felt like a "bag head" day. The kind where wearing a bag on your head is a very appealing idea (for more than one reason) My littlest and I have been sick today, lethargic on the couch, with big time bed head. (The free cuddles being the silver lining) and big brother made this bag (completely by himself) and proceeded to run around entertaining us. We couldn't help but laugh. It made me think how sometimes on those rough days when smiling is the last thing from our mind, maybe we just need to draw our own smile or put a bag on our head, take what you will from this.

Day 9 - Bird chasing

Sometimes you just have to chase birds. I'd swear he was a golden retriever if I didn't know better. The kid loves to chase birds, what can I say.

Day 8 - Bedtime obstructions

Almost as predictable as the sun rising each day, this image is a phenomenon that occurs nightly. While the image itself isn't necessarily captivating, it is such a regular occurrence, it would be a shame not to have a memory of this recorded. Shortly after bedtime each night, a little head peeks out of his door with stalling requests such as but not limited to: "I need a drink of water", "I forgot to pick up my toys", and my favorite, "I have to ask you a question" (If I agree to this, it is usually followed by a statement of some sort.) Oh the evasion tactics of preschoolers!

Day 7 - Papa

They were beginning to forget what he looked like. With week after week of travel, he was just that person we spoke to on the phone once or twice a day. So nothing could be better than a few stolen moments of Papa's undivided attention and a good book. And despite the little one calling him mama for most of the stories, by the end it was clear who she was snuggled up to, Papa.

Day 6 - Movement

Today we went to a birthday party. It wasn't until the party was nearly over that I realized it may have been helpful to use the action setting or a high shutter speed in the very least to take my pictures. Children + movement = blurry! Lesson learned. However, the blurry pictures were pretty true to life, watching my children run around screaming peals of joy, they seemed like little blurry tornadoes. I couldn't keep up and apparently neither could my camera at its present setting.