Happy New 2012

Welcome to 2012! I’m sure this is going to be an amazing year! I plan to do a third 365 project this year – this time it will be focused on what my family is doing each day.

As I’ve done the last two years, I took some pictures of the kids today just to see how they’re changing from year to year. We were without Rose and Virginia today, but I’ll get shots of them soon.

Here is today’s collection of kiddos…

Just for comparison, here is last year’s…

And 2010…

I think Kristi and Caleb have changed the most. I think I’ll start a collection of these collages on my hallway wall. I just love them!

I’m adding another aspect to this 366-day project. In addition to my daily photo, I’m going to share my 5 blessings of the day. Check out my friend Elle’s post for the inspiration - http://thegratitudegarden.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/day-1-every-journey-begins-with-a-single-step/.

Today’s 5 blessings:

1. A wonderful, healthy, fun family - I often get frustrated or irritated, but I have amazing kids and a fantastic husband.

2. Worshiping with a great group of sincere people – our church isn’t just a “smidgen of religion” – it’s a true group of worshipers!

3. Down time – I love relaxing on a Sunday afternoon.

4. Little Man – that giggle just fills me with joy!

5. Hope – this new year is completely unwritten (at least from my perspective). I’m looking forward to seeing how the story goes!

Such a pretty day at the Refuge!

More fall colors at the refuge, a photo by Elli :-) on Flickr.

You can read about our trip at http://scrivnerburg.blogspot.com. Thanks!

Up close and personal

The daily assignment at Oh, Shoot! was to get in close to our subject. I don’t find it difficult to get close to this subject – he’s so adorable, wonderful, and precious! Nope. No bias here.

A Daily Shoot That Features an Old Subject

TDS-old, a photo by Elli :-) on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
This iron staircase model was made by my grandfather probably around 50 years ago. He designed and patented this type of circular staircase that didn't have a center pole. My grandparents had a full-size staircase in their house that was more elaborate than this one, and as a child I loved the sound of that staircase and the entertainment it provided - it was better than a jungle gym for a kid!

I love my Daily Shoot photo

Today is National Chocolate Milkshake Day, and the Daily Shoot assignment was to depict our favorite interpretation of "equality." Equality = sharing our chocolate milkshake equally.

Still just love this man to pieces. :: happy sigh ::

Fancy and Dale and Smoky Golden Light

Fancy wanted a new profile photo for Facebook, so we hurried down the street to catch the last rays of golden light. The smoky, smoky air gave the warm light an even oranger tone, but we got some nice shots.

And some goofy ones…

A path to follow

TDS-path, a photo by Elli :-) on Flickr.

If you were to follow this path you would find a river, pieces of a concrete something-or-other (old bridge? pier?), and smoke. And more smoke. And you'd probably find some smoke, too. Today's Daily Shoot assignment was to make a photo with a path or road that leads the eye through the shot. I'm not overly enthusiastic about this one, but it has the required elements, so here it is.

I would have skipped this one altogether except that I needed to go scope out locations for some headshots I need to take next week. I want outdoorsy backgrounds, and this "park" (Stevensville River Park) offers plenty of outdoorsiness. (Is that a word? Let's say "yes.")

I'm a bit tired of the smoke - besides the fact that it clogs all our sinuses and heads up, it also keeps the kids inside. Can you imagine the result of 7, 9, or 10 (eventually, we had 10 here today) kids stuck indoors for hours on end? Yeah - the headlines would be MOM GOES STARK-RAVING MAD! Fortunately for all of us, the wind must have changed direction this evening because it cleared off enough that I could let the kids out for a while after dinner. Whew. I didn't have to pull out the duct tape.

It feels like bedtime around here, so I'm going to go see how much sleep I can get before Little Man calls for his next meal...but I think I might forage for chocolate first.