framing my kids

more photography class practice...finding the frames and leading lines to make your photo more interesting and lead your eyes to the subjects.  not that i have any difficulty at all gazing my eyes at my daily sweet little subjects.

girl in a tent

my big loves to read and write.  she will create a book or an activity or some kind of game and will write and draw and talk it all through.  talk, talk and talk some more.  she's really good at talking.  i grabbed her for some photo class practice.  she's also really good at helping mama out with pictures, as long as she's bribed with something sweet.  she's got a major sweet tooth.  

here's my "girl with a book in a tent" series. ;)

a january weekend

this past weekend was a fun one.  a weekend during which we had a few activities to keep us on our toes, but enough downtime to enjoy some unexpected fun.

we made donuts on saturday morning.  chocolate cake donuts.  i didn't plan on making the chocolate dip frosting to go with, but it was requested, and we went for it.  and then the girls topped them with loads of sprinkles.

we grocery shopped as a family together.  on a crazy busy saturday at trader joes.  like way overbusy. and both girls wanted their own cart along with our big one.  it was a bit maddening.  especially at the end when i pulled both of them over to the corner wine section so i could shoot my images for my final class submission.  yeah, michael thought i was crazy.  but it was worth it.

harper took her first on-her-own yoga class.  and i was the mom standing outside the room, just on the other side of the glass door snapping pics.  i told her i was going to take some photos, and she responded with, "ok, mom, maybe just 2 or 4."  she was a bit nervous at first, but i caught several smiles throughout and i know she enjoyed it when she came home and worked on her poses she learned.  i personally love that there is a class like this for her age.  yoga does wonders for my physical, mental and emotional health, and i hope she continues to find it does for her as well.

in addition to all that, i taught a spin class and we made a visit to our favorite froyo shop for an elsa sighting, which honestly was not all we had hoped.  oh well.  other than that minor debauchery, it was an awesome winter weekend.

the season of snow

it's january, and that means snow!  so i'm including just a few shots i've taken in the wintry wonderland so far.  crosby had to wear her goggles so the snow wouldn't get in her eyes.  

winter is far from over, so i'm certain there will be more snowy photos coming.  

artsy

i think this is slowly becoming a tradition.  i liked our mlk-day-off-from-school adventure last year when we went to a local paint-your-own pottery studio, so i booked another reservation for us this year.  i let my girls pick 1 item of their own choosing, and paint it however they wanted.  they both chose animal sculptures.  last year, i just supervised and snapped photos, but this year, i got into the mix and actually painted.  i had it in my mind for awhile to create a "special day" plate, a reusable plate that someone in our house could use on a birthday, or to celebrate something big happening.  i also randomly have had an unpainted mug sitting in a box since college- this mug has been moved likely 4-5 times over the last 16 years!  i painted one during a sorority sisterhood event, but the handle broke when they were firing it, so the studio near my college gave me a free blank one to bring back in anytime and paint.  yeah, that never happened.  i just recently found it and took my chances on this studio allowing me to paint it, and they did.  i handed it over to my budding little artist and let her have free reign.  i'm anxious to see how it turns out.

love in the aisles

i'm starting week 4 of my online photography class, and enjoying it, although i am not spending as much time as i should be on it.  that seems to be the case with lots of things these days.  there is so much to balance, that inevitably, important things always fall to the way side.  some days, i just hate my to-do list.  will it ever end?  my item "basement" just seems to get moved to the next day, and then the next weekend, and will likely get moved again somewhere, because realistically, how will i ever be able to check off "basement?!"  anyways, i digress.

the girls and i made a friday night trek to target for several birthday gifts, and i brought along my big girl camera.  (i really need to name her.  soon.  i'll put that on my to-do list.)  anywho, i brought her out, posed my girls and snapped some photos for my class.  and i'm so happy i did.  cause i caught some good stuff.  i also snapped with my iphone, too.  can't help it. 

this is the stuff that really needs to be on my to-do list.  the stuff that will never get checked off.

a light in the dark

i've been back in an online photography class since the end of december.  this is my second and i'm hooked.  i can see myself taking all of them, although michael and my wallet can't see that possibility yet.  in any case, i'm soaking up all i can from the amazing team of teachers, and using my little ladies as my subjects quite often, much to their chagrin.  they groan and complain, but with a little bribing, we get it done.

just a few to share- grabbed harper and the ipad in a dark room and worked on framing and negative space.

one day

my friend, maria, told me about this really cool app.  the app gives you themes and question prompts and all you do is ask the question and record the person.  it compiles it together with some tear-jerking music, and voila!  you have a video of your sweet little someone.

i've made it another goal (i know, i know, so many goals) of mine this year to organize our videos and keep more memories of the girls voices and personalities.  so, here, we begin.  i uploaded these to our private youtube page so we can watch them anywhere, even on the television in our family room.

enjoy.

my healthy new year

it seems everyone has resolutions to improve health...lose weight.  tone up.  look better.  mine are along the same lines, but instead, i want to feel better.  at the beginning of last year, i felt awful.  i was 2 surgeries down, 1 radioactive treatment to go, and a whole lot of hypothyroid thrown in for good measure.  i was bloated, i was losing my hair, i was cold, i was cranky, i was exhausted.  post-radiaoactive treatment, i cleaned up my act.  i was put on thyroid medication, i adjusted my eating habits to help give me energy and not weigh me down, i started training for a half-marathon.  the end of the year was a complete 180* from the beginning.

i knew i wanted this healthy feeling to continue.  so i set a few january goals for myself.  i have several, and writing them all down in one place is going to seem a bit lofty.  but taking it one. day. at. a. time. is beneficial and by making little baby steps, it can add up to a whole bunch of great change.  and i'm hopeful that by documenting it all on paper, i'm more committed and held accountable.

my goals for this month...

• to oil pull every morning for 20 minutes, adding a drop of essential oil for additional benefit, in hopes of improved dental health
• to reduce the kids' overall sugar intake, hopefully leading to better moods around here
• to complete a full whole30 program.  all 30 days.  no cheats.  no excuses.  no dairy, sugar, grains, alcohol, soy, or processed.  no amaretto creamer in my morning coffee.  i've recruited michael and 7 friends to do it with me.  i did 2 whole30s last year, but never was 100% committed or stuck with it the entire 30 days.  this time, it's real.
• drink 75 ounces of water a day, adding essential oils in for benefit, and no coffee after noon
• go to bed by 9:30 during the week
• not watch television during the week
• relax in 1 detox bath per week- epson salts, baking soda, essential oils and the hottest water you can stand
• challenge myself with 1 hot vinyasa yoga class/week, and exercise 3 times/week
• take a photo class during this month (started december 29th)
• blog 3 times/week to catch up, and finally print my 2013 blog book

whew.  does that leave time for being a mom and a wife and a friend and a full-time slp?  it's all about balance and asking for help.  so far, it's been a week and i'm managing pretty well.  bedtime hasn't been 9:30 yet, but it's not past 10:30.  some days, i don't intake my full amount of water i'd like, but i'm not drinking anything else more than 1 cup of joe in the morning and the occasional sparkling water or kombucha.  the exercise 3 times/week thing hasn't happened yet, but i did teach spin and yoga it up.  i'm taking a photography class, and enjoying the challenge.  my consistent items so far are whole30 and oil pulling.  and i'm going to keep rocking it.  cheers to the next 23 days.  but who's counting??