And with that, my 2009 Project 365 journey comes to a close.
I've had a lot of people ask me if I'm going to do the project again in 2010. The short answer is NO!
The long answer is, while I love the idea of having a book like this every year, I'm burned out. By the end of the year (the last several months in fact) I just didn't know what else to take pictures of. If there wasn't a specific event to document, everything felt repetitive. I can't even count how many nights, an hour before sending the boys off to bed, I realized, "Oh no! I haven't taken a picture yet!" and had to scramble for an idea. While the project was absolutely rewarding, I feel it wouldn't be as special to do it again this year. I don't expect the day-to-day life will change much from last year to this year. I'll still take pictures, and somehow I need to figure out a way to get better at scrapping them (I'm still torn between traditional paper and digital scrapbooking... and I take SO MANY PICTURES that it's hard to decide what to scrap and what not to... I'll probably never figure this out!).
I do want to share though... I do think I will do another Project 365... someday. One of my 2009 P365 friends (Hi Margaret!) who came up against similar struggles by the end of the year suggested the idea of doing it again in 5 to 10 years. And I looooove that idea. I'm thinking 2014... what a fun way to document how the day-to-day changes over time.
For now, I have a few other photography challenges to conquer for 2010... not the least of which is continuing to pursue the building of my own family photography business (link in the side bar). I am also planning to participate in a weekly, theme-based photography challenge (although I already missed out for week 1). And hopefully I'll still find something to blog about here and there. :)
Thanks to everyone who followed me through this journey! I'm sure I'll take pictures of the finished book to share when it arrives!
One of the games the boys like to play together is "hospital." One of them ends up sick in bed at the hospital, and the other is the caretaker. Or sometimes it's the stuffed dogs that are sick. They get out the play doctor kit and take care of each other and their dogs. Lunch was ready today when I found them upstairs playing hospital on their beds. Brayden is looking after Jack's dog, Numbutts. :)
It's Thanksgiving week, and I've decided to undertake some baking projects. Last week Sarah made us pumpkin rolls and they were delicious, so I decided to attempt to make them myself. It was one of the messiest, most illogical recipes I've ever made! They aren't nearly as pretty as Sarah's were, but they are still delicious! It's like cheesecake and pumpkin bread all wrapped together!
Because the pumpkin bread wasn't enough, I decided to attempt my first cheesecake - a pumpkin cheesecake - for dessert for Thanksgiving dinner with the family. It was much easier to make than I expected (although I did need to buy a special pan for it!). It smells good and it looks good... I sure hope it tastes good too!
We spent Thanskgiving this year with the Martin side of the family, at my mom's house. We had a nice laid back afternoon together, and dinner (well, a late lunch) was wonderful as always. And the cheesecake... success!!! After lunch and everything, I took Noah's 3 month photos. He's so handsome! This is my favorite shot of him from the session, but really, it's hard to take a bad picture of my gorgeous nephew!
Is that a naked child under the Christmas tree? Why yes, yes it is. I don't know exactly what Brayden was pitching a fit about, but it was probably something about getting dressed... something he doesn't do agreeably right now. So today, he took off MOST of his clothes, and crawled under the tree to hide and avoid putting on his clothes. SUCH A MONKEY!
During this long weekend, Rob took the boys to the park three mornings to play soccer and football. It was great that they had a chance to get out and run off some energy, and do what they LOVE to do the most right now - sports! Then this afternoon, even though it was freezing out, Jack went out in our front yard to play football with some of the bigger kids in the neighborhood. He had a great time, and really held his own with the big boys!
Jack's class is learning about turkeys and all things "Thanksgiving" right now. One of his homework assignments was to "disguise" a turkey. He decided to disguise his turkey with fruit loops! Brayden made one too, disguised in regular cheerios. I think their favorite part of the whole crafty activity was GLUE... they certainly used more than a generous amount!
It was a busy, photography filled weekend for me. I did the Dickinson's family pictures Saturday morning, which was fun since I hadn't seen them in about 6 years (and 5 kids between us!). Then the Swietek's Saturday afternoon, including 3 month old Oliver. Oliver is getting so big and adorable! (Not that he wasn't adorable before!). Look at those blue eyes! After pictures we had a girl's night at Stephanie's with some other friends, decorating Christmas cookies.
I took the Easter's family pictures today... an exciting and defintiely adventurous task! The boys were just not that into it... like pretty much all kids ages 1 and 3! I did my best to get some great pictures of them anyway! When we tried to get the big group picture with uncles and grandparents, Ashton was DONE, and threw a huge tantrum. So everyone else threw a tantrum along with him, and it made for a hilarious group shot!
I didn't take today's picture, Farrah did! Our families got together today for another picture exchange, hoping for some variety to add to the shots from two weekends ago. I think we were able to get some great shots fore ach other, and this one may very well end up being our Christmas card photo this year! Too bad the boys made super goofy faces in almost all of the other pictures!
One of the 2peas photographers I met over the summer, Amy, was in town for the weekend. So a group of the local photographers got together for lunch while she was here. We met at the Olive Garden in Westminster: Becky, Janett, Amy, Farrah and myself, as well as a few of the kids. We're getting together again tomorrow night (minus Amy) because another Pea, Jami, is going to be here!
Well, I officially have an "office." No longer do I do my work on the end table at the end of the couch. Over the weekend we bought, and Rob assembled, a small desk to set up in the living room. It's not ideal, but it's way better than the previous set-up! It'll be even better when I get a real chair! The metal folding chair is not the most comfortable! Overall though, I think it's going to work out very well!
At the end of the 2peas photography get together in August, another Pea and I thought it would be fun to get together with the locals for a family photo exchange! Well that day was today! We met at the DU campus and took some pictures despite it being a super cold day and ultimately despite big fat snowflakes falling around us! I think everyone got some great family pictures though, and I especially loved the ones I got of my two boys together!
Another day, another adorable family to photograph! This time it was my brother- and sister-in-law and family, at the Regis University campus! They did not disappoint! Once again I had a great time with a great family, and got some (I think!) awesome pictures! It always helps to have such photogenic subject matter! Can you believe how blue PK's eyes are? And that's all real! He is such a cutie, as are big sisters Corinne and Josephine!
Today kind of marked the kick-off of what looks to be a busy few weeks for taking pictures for other people (by me!). It was supposed to start last weekend, but the weather did not cooperate! So first us was our wonderful neighbors, the Johnson's! We went to the University of Denver campus where there are so many fun spots for pictures, and the leaves right now are just gorgeous! And the best part, I think we got some great family pictures for them! I had so much fun with such a great family! Had to believe they are even nicer than they are cute, because they are a darn cute bunch!
Having a photographer as a mom is wearing off on the boys. They, now, want to take their own pictures. One of their friends has a play kids camera, which they have both enjoyed playing with. A few weeks ago, I finally got out my super old Kodak Easy Share point and shoot camera, charged the batteries, and let them play. It’s become a new fun toy for them to play with now and then. Mostly they just take pictures of random things like toys, furniture, or the TV, but sometimes they actually take some good ones! Here, Rob is taking a picture of Brayden taking a picture of Jack and I cuddling on the couch. Brayden’s didn’t turn out too bad, either!
New camera take two! And today I got to try it with my new telephoto lens! Both the lens and the new camera body seem to work great! Here’s the little monkey making a silly face at 70mm. I think we are all going to be very happy together!
On August 27, my photographer friend Farrah gave birth to a surprise baby girl, Claire Elisabeth. She invited myself and another photographer friend over on Monday to take newborn picture of baby Claire with some of her fun props. She has the best set-up and so many fantastic props and ideas! Claire didn’t want to sleep, but we still managed to get some super cute shots, including this one of baby Claire in an egg basket - isn’t she precious?
