11 | 365 should be feeling better soon joy

Annabelle and I went to the doctor today. We both have double ear infections.

Meet our new best friends.

10 | 365 rubber boots joy

I was walking around with my camera today, trying to figure out what to take a picture of for my 365 project when Barrett suggested I take a picture of Kyle's boots. I might not have even noticed them because it's not a rare occurrence for him to be wearing them. But that's exactly the kind of thing I wanted to photograph. I am challenging myself to take a picture everyday so these things WON'T go unnoticed.

When I bought these boots at Janie and Jack 3 years ago, I made sure to buy them a couple sizes too big so the boys would get a lot of use out of them. Even though they were on clearance, I felt a little guilty about spending the money on them. (No, honey, they weren't THAT much.) Let me say, Kyle has gotten every penny's worth out of his. He wears them all. the. time. With shorts and a cape, with goggles, to school, to the store, in the snow, rain and sunshine. If he is willingly wearing something on his feet, (let face it, he'd really rather be barefoot) it's these boots. Money well spent.



Notice that they're on the wrong feet :)

9 | 365 warm day in january joy

The boys were playing outside in this unseasonably warm weather. It's about to get cold again, so they were squeezing every drop of sunshine out of the day. They played at the park and then came home and rode bikes and then they played a little baseball. Here's a shot of Barrett catching the ball.



For this silhouette shot, I metered for the sky and let the profiles fall dark.

8 | 365 after the day I had, this IS my joy

Blue Mesa margarita

Photography Note:
The polygonal light shapes in the background are called bokeh. An often desirable effect of using a wide aperature.

7 | 365 big canvas joy

I just opened a big canvas I ordered of the picture from our Christmas card. LOVE.



now for where to put it...It's 30 inches x 40 inches x 1.5 inches thick.
You know how you're not supposed to have personal pictures up while you're trying to sell your house? uh, well, maybe I'll take it down before showings...maybe.

6 | 365 lunch date with kyle joy

Today, I took Kyle to lunch while Barrett was at school. As he guzzled down his frozen Red Dye #5 drink, we talked about his day and space ships, he told a joke about underwear which he thought was hysterical, and he tried to teach Annabelle to say diaper. I must admit, I am really glad she decided not to make today the day she talks for the first time. It was really good to have some (almost) one on one time...I will have to do this with Barrett soon.

5 | 365 no training wheels joy

Barrett learned to ride his bike without training wheels just before Christmas and I have video of it. The problem is that I cannot print a video so I needed to capture it with my camera. I remembered something I learned back in my college photography class--motion blur. This is where you hold the shutter open and move the camera with your moving subject keeping the subject sharp while blurring the background.
I held the shutter open for 1/60th of a second in this shot. If I had held it open a little longer (or if he was a bit faster on his bike) the background would have more motion blur, but I am happy that his face is as sharp as it is.

4 | 365 tummy time joy

Annabelle is getting up on her hands and knees and rocking. She'll be crawling much too soon!

3 | 365 strawberry tutu joy

This is Clara and her new strawberry outfit. I could just eat her up.

2 | 365 girls weekend joy

My friend Emma came up from Houston for a visit and brought her daughter, Clara. I just have Annabelle this weekend because Cody and the boys went to Grandma and Papa's. It's always good to see Emma because we just pick up without missing a beat.
Emma is a good friend to me, and an amazing mother to Clara.


picking up Emma and Clara from the airport

1 | 365 chubby joy

If you know our family, then you know about Chubby, and his mama, and his daddy and even his dog! Barrett and Kyle were laying on the floor being silly and cracking each other up by doing the Chubby face.