Tag Archives: photography

Tackling 365 Again.

Some of you might remember that I used to participate in the 365 Project. For about 3 years I attempted to take at least one picture every day, in an attempt to better my photography skills via repetition and inspiration. It totally worked. Aside from the peer pressure to take more pictures, I got to know a lot of photographers really well and was inspired by their photos to take more, better pictures. I developed friendships while developing my skills and it was totally worth it.

But after a few years I burned out on the project and for the most part I still continued to take pictures but over the years my dedication and inspiration has dwindled. Which I guess is fine but when 365 warned me that my account would be deactivated soon, I found I couldn’t let it go just yet. For funsies, I uploaded some upload worthy pictures from January.

365jan

Now I adore all of these pictures but I was a little disappointed to see how few of them there were. To be fair: On most of those days I took quite a few pictures. I’m trying not to cheat just yet and choose only one best photo for each day. But look at all of those days that I either took no pictures or took no pictures worth uploading. I can do better than this. I want to do better than this.

So here is my photo for February 1st:

A portrait by BB, Age 5
A portrait by BB, Age 5

May there be many more to follow.  I know my time constraints are larger than usual but I think with a little effort that I can do this again and find my inspiration and motivation to click more.

Do you 365? Leave me a message with your profile name or a link to your profile so I can follow you! You can follow me here.

tbt: Halloween through the ages.

With tomorrow being Halloween I thought it would be fun to go through pictures from the kids’ Halloween past. Fun for me at least. This task proved harder than I expected because ALL of my 2009 October pictures had literally vanished from my computer – no idea why. And in my 2010 October folder I found no pictures of BB’s costume at all. Luckily I dug deep into the Mommablogsalot Archives and found what I was looking for (and saved them to my computer!) – hurray! How’s that  for blogging power?

So without further adieu, let’s start at the beginning:

2006 : MM’s First Halloween

halloween 2006

MM the Pumpkin and his parents, the Pumpkin Farmers

2007: His second Halloween

Halloween 2007

We went to a little Halloween party with friends – if it isn’t obvious, MM is the little lion.

2008: Halloween Take Three

Halloween 2008

Our Dan’s first attempt at a homemade costume, MM is the Man in the Yellow Hat.

2009: Our First Halloween as Parents of Two

2009 her first Halloween

In keeping with tradition, BB was a Pumpkin – in a ballerina tutu of course

2009 Halloween Costume

This year MM was a Firefighter – we took the kids Trick or Treating at the Zoo!

Halloween 2010: Matching Costumes Begin

Halloween 2010

We went trick or treating with neighborhood friends! MM was Mickey Mouse.

BB's Halloween 2010

BB was Minnie Mouse but this is the only photographic evidence I have of that. When she wasn’t crying she was tucked into a baby carrier sleeping soundly.

Halloween 2011: A hiatus from matching costumes

Halloween 2011

For her third Halloween BB was a sweet kitten and her brother was Woody from Toy Story

2012: A Whovian Halloween

the Doctor & Amy

Meet the Doctor and Amelia Pond: If you understand this picture, we are besties now.

2013: In Which MM Regenerates

halloween 2013

Last year MM regenerated in reverse from the 11th Doctor to the 10th. BB wore two different costumes last year – photographed above she was Rapunzel.

DSC_5950But on Halloween night she was a Mermaid Princess. Obviously.
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Also, this happened.

On (or after?) Halloween 2014 you will meet The Astronaut (the obvious transition really) and The Fairy Princess. I know you are waiting with baited breath.

What are your kids dressing up as this year?

Old School Blogging, Vol. 2

old school bloggingI’m back with six more “old school blogging” style questions that I borrowed nicely from Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? They dwell mostly in the categories of marriage and family life. Wanna play along? Tell me your answers in the comments below or leave me a link to your blog if you post them there.

1. How did your husband pop the big question? The question was technically already in the air as we were one of those crazy couples that did the whole “get married, have babies” thing out of order. But he was still a little nervous that evening in December 2005 when he took me out for dinner at Olive Garden and then afterwards in the parking lot popped the question. It was a grimy New England December with slushy pavement around us so he didn’t get down on one knee but I was too busy being ecstatic that he’d asked to worry about stuff like that. Eight years later and we’re still going strong!

2. What are the three most surprising things about married life? 

  • Our marriage grows stronger every year as we grow older and learn more about each other. It’s amazing how even when you are disagreeing about something or they are being soooo annoying about that thing that you can still just love someone with all your heart.
  • Nothing is sacred. Just… yeah. Especially if you’ve been through motherhood, too.
  • That we still manage to find new things to talk about every day! If I have to go an extended time without talking to him about all the inane things I go a little crazy.

3. How did you find out you were pregnant for the first time? I think the way most people find out. Morning sickness and a missed period.

4. How did you choose your first baby’s name? It honestly just felt right. We thought about a lot of different names and I think up until the ultrasound I was still thinking about several for each gender and then when we found out we were having a boy it just suddenly clicked. His middle name is my father’s middle name (and my grandfather’s first name) but his first name is just one we both liked.

5. Describe where you see yourself in 10 years from now… I assume that ten years from now when you ask me how old I am that I’ll be pretty sure I’m older than 40 but I’ll have no idea if I’m 41, 42 or 43. Hopefully I have it narrowed down at least that far. Cross your fingers that I’ll have replaced my Buick by then, preferably with something that has All Wheel Drive and maybe an auxiliary port. MM will be EIGHTEEN and we must absolutely not think about that. BB will be FIFTEEN so basically, hold me. I’ll probably still be changing my blog’s theme every 2 1/2 weeks and I’ll probably tell you I’m writing a novel but likely will only be 2 or 3 chapters into it at best and haven’t looked at the thing for weeks. My one gray hair will probably have a few friends.

6. Describe how you find bliss, either with words or images.

latte love

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Visiting Metropolis: Home of Superman

MetropolisIllinois

I owe a major thank you to the friend who said, “Oh if you are driving through Southern Illinois, make sure you stop in Metropolis.”

You mean like Superman, Metropolis? Like that’s a real place?

She assured me it was quite real and gave me the skinny that I’m going to give you now. Metropolis Illinois is a small town in southern Illinois that loves its Superman Legacy. They even have a 15-foot bronze statue of him in the middle of Superman Square. Seriously. They also have a Supermuseum and gift shop.

According to roadsideamerica.com,

“The Chamber of commerce used to givefree packets of Kryptonite to children — until lawyers from DC Comics read about it on this website and made the town stop (Metropolis failed to submit the “Kryptonite” for approval by DC, and the chunks presented a choking hazard for children anyway).”

Metropolis

5 Things To Know

  1. Metropolis is not the big, bustling city that you might expect given its name and Superman’s story. It’s a pretty small town and for the first fifteen minutes driving through town I was unconvinced we were in the right place. Keep going until you see the massive man in tights. I promise he’s there.
  2. Once you get to the center of Metropolis, all the Super Sights are in walking distance. Find a parking spot and you are ready to enjoy the sights.
  3. The Super Museum is also the Super Gift Shop. When you go inside, there is a ton of memorabilia, comics, old toys and Super Stuff. The museum is further inside and costs $5 for everyone over the age of 5.
  4. When you step inside Superman’s phone booth, sadly you don’t magically turn into a superhero, but you do look adorable so take pictures.
  5. The 37th Annual Superman Celebration will take place June 11th – 14th, 2015. Super fans travel from all over the globe to visit the Official Home of Superman. Complete with an Artist’s Alley, Man of Steel exhibitions and contests, amusement park, live music and $1000 Superhero Costume Contest, the Superman Celebration provides fun for the entire family.

We were only in Metropolis for a couple of hours but it was a really fun stop on a long day of driving and the kids were absolutely in their glory! It was, in a word, Super!

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Bling.

Bling. on 365 Project

My daughter is obsessed with this necklace which belongs to a good friend of ours who always lets her wear it while we meet up for coffee or a walk. The lighting was very much working against me at the coffee shop this morning but I tried to make it look intentional.

I ca’t decide if I like it or if I think it looks over edited – but her cute little face has me leaning towards like. :O)

i <3 faces: and feet

This week’s theme for the I Heart Faces photo contest is a little bit different – the focus is on FEET which is about as far away from the face as you can get, but still so fun! I just took a picture earlier this month of MM’s adorable feet which is pretty convenient as it’s not something I capture frequently, though I’m always trying to take that perfect artsy “feet” picture, my efforts rarely pan out. But I really like this one… Be sure to check out the other entries at I Heart Faces this week. BTW, the guest judge this week is a blogger many of you know and love – Rachel or American Mum!