my 2014 photo project

I am attempting another 365 project this year.  What's a 365 project?  You take a photo a day, every day, for a whole year.  I finished one in 2012.  A photo a day of the girls.  I did have to cheat some here and there, but I ended up with a collection of photos that I love and that are, sadly, waiting on my hard drive to be printed.  I tried another one last year, fizzled out sometime in April, and then gave myself a free pass to quit.  I don't regret it.  It was getting stressful.  But, I did know that I wanted to try again this year. 

Why do a project at all when I'm already being pulled in so many different directions?  A few reasons.  One, I needed to do something that challenged me in a creative way, aside from figuring out how to keep three kids clean, healthy, and happy while simultaneously keeping our home halfway tidy and being a wife.  Two, I'm really wanting to improve my photography skills, but have limited time, so shooting just a few minutes everyday seems to be something I can handle. And three, because I'm stubborn and refuse to ever admit that I can't do all the things.

All.  The.  Things.  I say it a lot lately.  And while I know I can't actually do all.  the.  things.  I certainly do try.  And then some.

I decided they would all be phone camera shots.  I always have my phone with me.  I can edit my shot, on my phone, while cooking dinner, and singing Frozen songs.  Multi-tasking at its best.  The handy dandy phone camera is probably the only reason I might succeed at this project.  Plus, a part of me wants to prove that it's not the equipment that makes the photographer.   

If you're on Instagram, I apologize, these shots are all repeats.  But, I wanted to post a few favorites here.  I certainly won't be posting all 365 of them.  When you're doing a project like this, I think one of the hardest things you must accept is that not every shot is going to be amazing.  You have off days.  Days when you forget to shoot until after the sun goes down.  Days without inspiration.  But you shake it off, pick your shot for the day, and move on.  Because the next day, you might end up with something you really like. 

And if you're wondering, I'm following the daily word prompts from Clickin' Moms (@clickinmoms on IG).  There are probably a hundred different 365 project prompts available on the internet, this just so happens to be the one I'm following.

"the sky today"

"backlight"

"table top"

"dry"

"clouds"

"emerging"

"perfect"

"glittery"

"out and about"
I was super excited when this one was feature on the Clickin' Moms blog!!

"juxtaposition"

"reflection"

"three"

I try to include the kids as much as possible, but they are generally less than cooperative.  And, honestly, it's nice to have an excuse to shoot something different.  The best part?  For the first time in a long time, I feel good about what I'm creating.  

pictures, pictures, so many pictures

Is it even necessary to say, "I take a lot of pictures" ? Probably not.  Sometimes I don't know what to do with them.  Some go on Instagram, some go here, some live indefinitely on my phone.  And yes I'm talking just about phone pics here because my "big girl" camera took a whopping 50-something photos in the past couple months.  I'm thinking I need to do something about that.  But right now, I need to do something with these pictures.

So, here are all the random phone pics from February that I haven't posted already.  At least I don't think they've been posted yet.  Apologies if there are any repeats.  With this many, you can't really expect me to keep them all straight. 

 Cousins!!!

 Maverick stayed the night with us.  These two are best friends.

 I changed a lot of diapers.

 We ate ice cream outside.  In February.  Such confusing weather this year.

 Direct quote from Mia:  "I not sitting on him.  I just standing here."

 Harper the walrus.

 This is the day she decided to wake up at 5:45,

so it makes perfect sense to rest on a pile of rocks in the sunshine.

And then we finally got some rain, so we had to jump in muddle puddles of course.

And sometimes, you get so excited about the rain that you insist you "Really, really, really want to go outside."  And you insist on wearing a rain coat, and boots, and mittens.  So your momma spends 15 minutes getting everyone zipped and hooded and mittened.  And you run outside and, in 90 seconds, you realize it's also really, really windy and cold (just like your mom said it was), and you come back inside and have hot chocolate and marshmallows.  Or really, just marshmallows and leave the hot chocolate in the mug. 

Is 34 pictures too many?  Probably. Though I'm not sorry.

phone blogging...again

I started this post a week ago. It started with a few favorite phone pics from the past couple weeks.  Then, on Wednesday morning, Mia got hit with the stomach flu. Thursday morning, I thought we were in the clear. Then it hit me Thursday afternoon, Laci that evening, and Ryan Friday morning. I use the word "hit" quite literally, since I felt like I was hit head-on by a Mack truck. The illness came and went quickly, but I was left feeling sore and weak and exhausted, with a terrible headache that lasted two days. I sound dramatic, don't I?  Truly, I haven't been that sick in years.  And apparently, I got it the worst because the rest of my family was relatively normal by Saturday.  But me...well, I wanted to crawl in a hole all weekend and just sleep it off.  Ha!  Can you imagine a mom taking an entire weekend off?  Not really possible with a nursing infant.

Today, I was finally back at it full force.  Laundry, dishes, feeding kids, reading books, playing games, wiping crumbs, the whole nine yards. I may have been energized by my renewed gratitude for good health.  So, it is back to our irregularly scheduled program. 

Just some of the many, many phone pics I've been taking the past few weeks. Sorry if there's too many.  No wait, not sorry.