Picture of the Day, Week 2

Another week down, and seven more pictures to show for it! YAY!

This project is becoming more fun the more I work on it. I love the whole process - taking the photo, doing a little Photoshopping, and once my kit arrives (with my mom in two more weeks!), I know that putting the album together is going to be like a drug.

Yep. I'm that crazy-in-love with this.

But the part I love best is capturing our story. Some of these pictures will mean nothing to you, may seem rather mundane or strange, but that's okay. Because these are the photos that tell our story. Who we are, what we do, what life is like right now for us.

And that's the whole point.

As I mentioned in last week's POTD post, I've become a bit addicted to blogs. One blog links to another blog links to another, and before I know it, I've got a dozen more items in my Google reader (and about an hour less sleep at night)! In my cyber-snooping, I've come across a very lovely blog by Jessica Turner, called The Mom Creative. Long story short, she is hosting Project Life Tuesday, where some of us participating in this project can link our blog posts to her site, and we can all share our photos with each other, for ideas and inspiration. If taking a picture each day is something you're working on, or are intrigued by, go ahead and check Jessica's blog out.

I hope you enjoy this week's POTDs!

Reed is 10 months old today. I remember when he was born, saying that I wasn't going to rush things this time around. I wasn't going to keep looking forward to the next milestone, neglecting to enjoy the moment. Then he hit six weeks old. A colicky boy with a reflux diagnosis, and I changed my tune. I.couldn't.wait. for him to grow-up! And here we are now...on the move, looking to groove! A much happier baby (and mommy!), finally able to enjoy these little moments. (In typical Reed-style: one sock off, the other half-way there!)

Mondays are typically Brad's day off. Drew l-o-v-e-s having Daddy home during the day, and relishes in his undivided attention.

Amen to that!

After a bit of a difficult afternoon with the boys (ok, more than a "bit"), I needed a moment to myself. I got dinner on the table and excused myself to the bathroom, where I sat on the edge of the tub and read a few articles in my magazine. I just needed one moment of peace.

No, the cart's not really empty, but usually there are two boys in there taking up space! I snagged a little bit of free time this afternoon to run to the grocery store. Alone. I may have taken a little longer than absolutely necessary. :) (Yes, I did take my camera to the grocery store, and yes I did take the photo in an aisle no one else was in! Hence the blurry photo...it's bad enough I talk out loud to myself; I didn't need them calling the funny farm on me for taking pictures in the baby food aisle!)

It is time for a change in our living room. Thanks to some new pillows and curtains, we've transformed our primary living area from warm reds to cool browns and blues. I feel more relaxed already! (I'm still working on general decor and wall hangings...looking for accent pieces in teal, silver and black. Yummy!) Oh, this picture also captures one of my favorite wall hangings. It reads "Home is where they love you." It may need to find a new place to hang as the yellow/red color combination doesn't quite flow with the new browns and blues.

THIS is JOY.

What Daddy Does

Our conversation at dinner tonight...

Brad: "I have a meeting to go to tonight, Bud."

Drew: "Why?"

Me: "Because Daddy's a pastor."

Drew: "What do pastors do?"

Me: "Good question. What do pastors do?"

Drew: "Play baseball."

Brad: "What else do they do?"

Drew: "Golf."

Me: "Do they do anything else?"

Drew: "Nope."

Hmmm...pretty much sums it up, huh? :)

Something New

So, I'll bet you noticed something new when you opened up this post. You probably noticed a few new somethings! I had a creative itch that just needed to be scratched!!!

I thought it was time for a little revamping of our blog. Just a little tweak here and there...and then maybe I got just a little out of hand! :)

Hopefully most obvious is the new blog title banner. What better way to call out "It's a Boys World" than with pictures of the boys? I've been doing some amateurish dabbling in Photoshop, trying to navigate my way through and teach myself a few things. It usually doesn't take too long before I have to call on the real pro, my brother Justin, to answer my "how do I...??" questions. (So a G-I-A-N-T shout out to him...and extra thanks for being available at all hours of the night when I get these hair-brained ideas!). He taught me some very snazzy tricks and tips while I was putting the new banner logo together. You like??

I'm also working on the gadgets on the sidebar, most notably my blogroll and other links. I've divided them up so they are a bit easier to navigate.

Family & Friends includes blogs and websites of those that are closest to us. If you read our blog and have your own that I don't know about, let me know so I can link up!

Kid Stuff includes some of Drew's favorite things, as well as a kids craft site that I've been using to get ideas for art projects Drew and I can do together.

Mom Stuff are those mama blogs that I enjoy reading the most.

Jesus Stuff includes the Christian blogs that we frequently read.

Scrappin' Stuff has links to some of my favorite scrappers and scrapbooking publications. This one was hard to narrow down! I have a ton more than I read daily, but these are my current top picks.

Just spicin' things up a bit around here. You can probably expect to see some other new additions here and there as all of the sudden my creative energies have kicked into high gear! Whew!

10 Months Old

Milestones this month...

mimics clapping and bounces to music

climbs up one step

pushes and walks behind push toys

beginning to eat some table foods

says "DaDa"

Cute!

A new hiding place.

Funny story: Luci wanted to snuggle with Drew on the couch one afternoon....

...the very next day, Drew wanted to snuggle with Luci on the couch, and then requested for his picture to be taken just like the day before!

Self-portrait.

Two in a tent...well, Reed got in eventually.

Drew LOVES HIS NEW CRAYONS!

"Seriously mom, that nice new toy you got me for Christmas? Coulda just pulled out the pans."

What do you do when you can't make a snowman outside? Make one inside, of course!

It won't be long until I start asking Drew how to do things on the computer. And how to use my cell phone, or set up the DVR...

Scrappin' with mom.

And I quote: "Mom, I got slippers on my hands! Ok, take my picture."

Boy imitates boy imitates boy. I'm not sure who's leading who here.

"Mmmm, lobster. Goooood."

Picture of the Day, Week 1

Well, here we are, 10 days into the new year, and I've got nine pictures to show for it! Woot! (Obviously, there will normally be seven photos to share on Sunday, but with New Years Day falling on Friday, I had to squeeze in Days 1 and 2 this week.)

I hope you enjoy. So far, it's been a treat. I hope that eventually it will become second nature and I can remove the post-it's that are currently plastered all over the house as my reminder to take pictures! Being devoted to taking a picture a day does require me to take my camera with me everywhere. Our camera isn't one of those new cutesy compact ones that will squeeze nicely into my back pocket, so there were some opportunities around the house that I missed capturing with a photo. And with the colder temps this week we didn't venture out and about too much, but you can bet I'll show up with pictures from the grocery store one of these days!

Another list of goals I've set for myself in 2010 is to read the manual that goes to our digital camera. Yep, have had that thing for five years now and have yet to crack open the book on how to use it. I want to improve my photography skills, and instead of investing in a "better" camera (whose manual will probably go unread as well) I figured a proper first step would be to actually learn how to use the one I have. So you'll find pictures that are blurry or have bad lighting, but again, the goal is to capture the moment, not to have the "perfect" picture to show for it.

Along with that is another goal for this year, which is to learn how to use Photoshop. I know that there's a goldmine of creative opportunity just waiting to be discovered, but again, I've gotta learn how to use the thing!

So, here it is. Week 1 of our POTDs. Enjoy!

In order to clean up a mess, you've got to make a bigger mess, right? I snapped this picture to capture the post-holiday haze that involves taking down the Christmas tree and decorations, and finding new homes for all of the new toys. Good-bye, 2009. Good-bye, chaos (yet another 2010 goal!).

Our first big purchase of the new year: a new iMac! We've had a PowerMac for about five years, and we love it. But it was totally time to upgrade.

A new skill! Such a flirt!

Living up to his nickname. Reed was getting a kick out of this - throwing his arms up in the air and falling backwards. Oh the giggles that erupted from his belly!

Helping me make cheesy bread for lunch. Drew's becoming quite the little helper.

Naps for Reed have never been consistent; I never know if he'll sleep for 30 minutes or three hours. When I went up to check on him (after not hearing a peep for over two hours), this is what I found. Looks snuggly, huh? (And the kicker? A new toilet was being installed right next to his room. Note to self: Lots of racket = peaceful sleep. Who knew?!)

We've finally received enough snow worth donning our snowpants and boots to play in. This was Drew's first real playful experience in the white fluffy stuff. So far, he's not a fan. He was ready to come back in after five minutes.

My newest obsession...blogs. This is my Goggle reader, listing 95 items. Resolution 2011: spend less time at the computer!!

We enjoyed lunch today with the Brown family, close friends of ours from church. This is Bekah, their oldest daughter. She's announced that she's gonna marry Drew someday. I think the affection is starting to become mutual.

A New Friend

So, Drew's made a new friend.

He's a dinosaur. And he's very very small.

He's green, and he likes to eat green things.

He moves very quickly, so be careful, because you might lose him.

He has the ability to morph into other animals, such as a lion or an elephant. If he becomes an elephant, he's pink and eats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

His name? Butt. Or But. I have yet to get clarification if that's with one "t" or two. I have a hunch it's with two.

Picture of the Day

It's no lie that I love pictures. I love photo albums. I love scrapbooking. I love posting to this blog.

I have to admit, though, that I have yet to totally clinch this technological age.

We've had a digital camera for about five years now. And because I love my photo albums, and having an actual, tangible picture in my hand, I have spent way too much time, money, and effort printing and archiving these photos. Probably 97% of these photos. And we're talkin' a lot of photos. A lot. (That's the beauty of digital, right???)

It seems like the beginning of this new year, this new decade, is the appropriate time to catch up with the technology that we have, and use it to my advantage. I have several projects and goals for 2010, and among them is a laundry list of "want to dos" involving pictures and scrapbooks (duh).

My biggest "project" per se, is that I will no longer print every stinkin' picture I take. It's just too much. And when I think of how far technology has come in the past 20 years, and then think ahead to 20 years down the road, my children probably won't be looking for photo albums full of pictures (like I do) to reminisce about their childhood. (Shoot, they'll probably be able to carry their car in their pocket by then, what are they gonna do with a bunch of albums?!) Instead, I'll organize and file my photos digitally, making them more convenient and accessible to whomever would like to see them. (Bonus: this goal alone will save much time and money!) (Ok, so I know what many of you are thinking, "Geez, it's about time you get with the program." What can I say? I'm stuck in my ways.) :)

Because I do love albums, and especially the creativity behind scrapbooking, I've further revolutionized my way of thinking, thanks to the many creative geniuses at Creating Keepsakes magazine and other scrappy folks. My biggest goal for this year is to take a Picture a Day, to document it, journal about it, and include it in an album of it's own. The whole point is to tell a story, OUR story, through pictures and words, which is something I've come to appreciate more through scrapping and blogging. Yes, I enjoy the entire creative process of putting something together that looks "pretty" and "cool" but the real treasure behind all of this is the stories that I hope to capture. I want to remember, and while pictures are a great way to see, they don't always tell the whole story.

So the "Picture of the Day" (POTD as it will be lovingly referred to from here on out)... The majority will probably be of the boys (let's face it, they're stinkin' adorable!) but I also hope they'll include things from our everyday. Things we do, eat, see, experience, talk about. And I hope it's a story we all will tell, as Brad (and probably Drew, too) grabs the camera every now and again. I hope we can find inspiration in the everyday, reminding us to count our blessings, and perhaps even find something extraordinary in the ordinary.

For those of you that are wondering what kind of album these pictures will go into, you can check it out here. The creativity of one of my favorite paper crafters, Becky Higgins, is to thank for this amazing product. It's the perfect kit for this Picture of the Day concept, but she also has a ton of other inspiring ideas for this kind of album.

Also, I will be posting our POTD's here, weekly, on Sundays.

I will be maintaining (and I use that word loosely because in order to "maintain" one has to start!) the boys' individual albums. I still love to pick out fun paper and find coordinating bling, so I'm not letting that go! Besides, it's my therapy. What would I do without it??? I'm hoping that by starting this new kind of family photo album, it will leave me a bit more time to accomplish some of the other fun projects I have in mind. (Oh, and more time to create some of those memories!) You'll probably find pictures of those completed projects among our POTDs, too!

So that's the beginning of what I hope to do in 2010, personally and creatively. I've got a long to-do list...I'd better get crackin'!