catch the moment: week 1

Here we go again.  I am starting a new Catch the Moment 365 project this year, where my goal is to take at least 1 photo on my DSLR camera EVERY DAY for a year and share 7 pictures weekly here on my blog. I just successfully completed my first Project 365 in 2014 and now that I know how to do it, it’s not nearly as daunting as it was when I tried and failed in 2012.

It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I. Hate. Winter.  Not just because of the bitter cold here in Indiana, but because the days are so short. For taking pictures, winter is a disaster.  Sure, it can be pretty at times with freshly fallen snow covering the trees, rooftops, and barns around here, but when it comes to taking pictures of my kids, I really only get the chance when there’s no natural light 5 out of 7 days per week.

This year, Mindi from Simply Stavish, Stephanie from Behind the Camera and Dreaming, and Carrie from My Life-Our Journey are hosting the link up.  Feel free to join in! You can share your photos on your blog, instagram, and/or facebook.  The private Facebook Catch the Moment 365 group is AMAZING and great for support and keeping yourself motivated.

Enough chit chat, let’s get to the first week of pictures for 2015!

001/365: Thursday, January 1st.

We made it to my mom’s house in Tennessee Thursday afternoon and celebrated Christmas with my side of the family.  This present-palooza was our third Christmas and we are still trying to figure out where to put all the boys’ new things. Time to do another sweep of this house for baby books and toys!01-01-2015

002/365: Friday, January 2nd.

My sweet baby niece turned two on the 6th but we celebrated her birthday at Froyoz of Powell with some sweet treats and presents.  She is precious and growing so fast!  We were just down there over Thanksgiving and I swear she’s grown and changed in just over a month.01-02-2015

003/365: Saturday, January 3rd.

One of the gifts the boys received at my mom’s was a Magic School Bus volcano science kit. We decided to bust it out and try a few experiments. The boys REALLY enjoyed trying the different ingredients to see what would create the best lava.01-03-15

004/365: Sunday, January 4th.

Back home in Indiana…Theo could not wait to open another one of his presents…a Star Wars Lego set. This was something that he asked Santa for but didn’t get. I was worried he’d be upset on Christmas day. I had tried to warn him ahead of time that Santa would only get him one big gift, Lego sets are expensive, etc. He was very understanding. Never even mentioned it on Christmas Day. The day after he had said “you know Mommy, it’s okay that I didn’t get AT-AT because I can just ask for it again next year.”  You should have seen his face when he opened this at my mom’s. I wish I’d had my camera but there was just too much going on and the moment got away from me. Needless to say, he was overjoyed.01-04-2015

005/365: Monday, January 5th.

I was at the gym after I knew the boys would already be in bed. Hadn’t taken a picture yet that day. Our first big snow, and part of a winter weather advisory, was beginning to fall.  I sat in my vehicle for a couple of minutes, responding to a couple of texts and thinking about what I would take a picture of when I snapped this.  I originally thought I’d focus on the YMCA sign (the white blurry rectangle) but instead got this. I love the blur of the traffic lights in the background behind the focused precipitation on the window. 01-05-2015

006/365: Tuesday, January 6th.

Aaaand this. This was the result of our big winter weather advisory. About an inch of snow. I stopped in the middle of the (deserted) road on my way to work to snap this.01-06-2015

007/365: Wednesday, January 7th.

Haircut time! 01-07-2015

And we’re off… one week down, fifty-one to go.  🙂

~C~

catch the moment: week fifty-two

Wow – I made it!  I took a picture with my DSLR EVERY day this year, in manual, and shared them on my blog.  I did something that I set out to do and I am feeling pretty proud of the accomplishment. This has only fueled my fire for learning more about photography, wanting up upgrade my equipment, and yes…doing another Project 365. Why stop now?  Before I did this project, my camera might sit for days, weeks, or dare I say it? A MONTH at a time, just collecting dust.  I have used my camera every day and even made a habit out of taking it with me almost everywhere I go.

Linking up one last time for this 2014 Catch the Moment 365 project with Mindi, Sarah, and Stephanie.

358/365 – Wednesday, December 24th: Christmas Eve. This year Santa enjoyed red velvet buttery cookies, chocolate chunk cookies, and white chocolate cranberry cookies. 12-24-14

359/365 – Thursday, December 25th: Christmas Day.  I was too busy enjoying the day to take very many pictures but I did get one of Theo celebrating after receiving Hulk Lab Smash.12-25-14

360/365 – Friday, December 26th: A trip to Ohio.  The day after Christmas, we traveled to Cincinnati to visit Ryan’s sister and her family along with Ryan’s parents.  12-26-14

361/365 – Saturday, December 27th: Just spying on a couple of bros looking at their big cousin Spencer’s comic book.12-27-14

362/365 – Sunday, December 28th: Playing….surprise…Legos with Spence before we left Cincinnati. 12-28-14

363/365 – Monday, December 29th: Yep, still Legos. 12-29-14

364/365 – Tuesday, December 30th:  This brown-eyed boy’s last bubble bath of 2014.  12-30-14

365/365 – Wednesday, December 31st:  If you don’t have this kind of silliness happening on New Year’s Eve, then you just don’t know how to party.12-31-14

My favorite photo this week? It has to be number 365 –  the smile on Dexter’s face is pure joy.  Oh, the joy my little family has brought to me in 2014.  It has been a good year and I really should not complain. We may not have everything we think we want, but we do have what we need and for that I am thankful. What is your favorite picture this week?

Happy New Year,

~C~

catch the moment: week fifty-one

Okay y’all, it’s 11:22pm on Christmas night and I know I won’t have another chance to do this before next week. I can’t start slacking off 51 weeks into this project, can I?  So here are my merry, festive, week-leading-up-to-Christmas pictures.  Week FIFTY-ONE, guys! Wow…

Linking up with Sarah, Mindi, and Stephanie.  Who’s interested in joining for the new CTM365 starting in January?  Come on… it’s really not that hard.

351/365 – Wednesday, December 17th:  We met up with some friends for dinner then headed to the library for a little Christmastime event they told us about. This “elf” showed us all kinds of critters and then the big reveal (about an hr + later) was his reindeer! It was pretty cool! Theo thought it stunk…12-17-14

352/365 – Thursday, December 18th: Sharing secrets with Santa (be still my heart). This morning, after checking out the living room, Theo came to my bedside and said “you know Mom, there’s more than one Santa. You know that, right?”  I asked him why on Earth he’d think that, to which he replied “because the one at the mall this year was different from the one the year before.”  HOW??  Well, in this picture he looks pretty smitten with that jolly man (or maybe he’s just thinking to himself, “this is a hoax”). Too smart.  Too observant.12-18-14

353/365 – Friday, December 19th: Can someone say hashtag bathroom selfie? Ryan’s parents kept the boys for the weekend. I went to a concert with these girls and some others that we met up with later while Ryan did a little shopping.  What a fun night.12-19-14

354/365 – Saturday, December 20th. More Christmas shopping, wrapping, etc etc etc.  And this is what my house looked like when I finally gave up and went to bed Saturday night. 12-20-14

355/365 – Sunday, December 21st: I was craving some comfort food and made-from-scratch potato soup sounded good.  What was even better is that Theo (not usually interested in helping me in the kitchen, unlike his brother who won’t leave my side typically) wanted to be involved in every step of making the soup. We spent a nice hour bonding and cooking together and I loved it. And he loved the soup! Funny how that works.  Here’s the recipe12-21-14

356/365 – Monday, December 22nd: Our 3rd annual Christmas card tree. It got all the way down to the baseboard by Christmas day. Receiving Christmas cards is something I look forward to every day this time of year!12-22-14

357/365 – Tuesday, December 23rd: I decided to prep everything that I could prep ahead of time on Tuesday night since we were hosting Ryan’s parents on Christmas eve and Christmas day. It was a ton of work Tuesday night but so worth it the next 2 days.  First time I ever bought fresh jalapenos, too.  We had THIS white chicken chili for lunch the next day (amazing). You are so welcome for the recipes this week. 🙂 12-23-14

So next week I will wrap up this year of photos! Crazy…looking forward to seeing how everyone else who completed the project this year wraps it up.

Which picture is your favorite this week?  Those first two with my cuties enjoying the Christmastime festivities sure make me smile. So do my girlfriends. So did that soup. Okay, what’s new? I can’t decide.

xo,

~C~