catch the moment: week 7

Posted on February 19, 2015 by mommyinthemidwest

I’ve been cautiously happy all winter long because our “winter” hasn’t been very white at all. We’ve even been able to go to the park and play outside a couple of times. Last year was so brutal that I have been pleasantly surprised day after day, week after week, and month after winter month that has gone by. Well….winter finally decided to show up here in Central Indiana. Arctic temps, snow, school closings and delays…you name it. I am taking comfort in knowing that Spring is {technically} only 4 weeks away!

Linking up with Mindi at Stavish Stills Photography, Carrie at My Life, Our Journey, and Stephanie at Behind the Camera and Dreaming. It’s never to late to join in or start your own 365.

043/365: Thursday, February 12th. Since we learned a couple of years ago about the dangers of children wearing puffy coats in carseats, I always keep blankets in the car for the boys. I snapped this quick picture of Dexter snuggling with his warm crocheted blanket at school drop-off.

044/365: Friday, February 13th. We had a little friend over and made a party of our Friday night with Valentine’s crafts and cookie decorating. What a mess, but WHAT FUN!

045/365: Saturday, February 14th. LOVE. Two of my favorite little loves opening a surprise basket from mommy and daddy on Valentine’s Day morning.

046/365: Sunday, February 15th. Bowling with friends. The boys were pretty into it! I ordered them a personal pizza to share about halfway through our game and I was shocked when they still wanted to take their turns between bites.

047/365: Monday, February 16th. The beginning of “Winter Week.”

048/365: Tuesday, February 17th. Oh, okay. Hey there, teenager.

049/365: Wednesday, February 18th. Hanging out in the kitchen after school, the sun was beaming through the windows. I actually got hot sitting at the table with the boys playing play-doh. You would have never known it was single-digit-degrees out there. Weird weather day!This week, I love Dexter’s sweet little expressions on days 43 & 49! Which picture(s) do you like best?

xo,

~C~

catch the moment: week 6

Gallery posted on February 13, 2015 by mommyinthemidwest

Linking up with Mindi at Stavish Stills Photography, Carrie at My Life, Our Journey, and Stephanie at Behind the Camera and Dreaming. It’s never to late to join in or start your own 365.

036/365: Thursday, February 5th. Still the most snow we’ve seen so far this winter. For the record, this is more than I’d prefer…but I’m happy to still see grass and water that is not frozen. Best winter ever.

037/365: Friday, February 6th. Fun at the car wash.

038/365: Saturday, February 7th. Fun at the knit shop with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

039/365: Sunday, February 8th. Only the apple of their eyes…my boys are his biggest fan. Cousin Spencer. He’s the be-all and end-all when it comes to cool.

040/365: Monday, February 9th. I had planned to set up the tripod and attempt a selfie, since I totally missed the theme last week (and every week so far this year), but then this happened. It happens every day so it could have just been me trying to dodge a selfie. This is Niko, drinking the water as it runs down the drain. Yes, the water is falling directly on the top of his head. Strange cat!

041/365: Tuesday, February 10th. Morning Lego playtime before school.

042/365: Wednesday, February 11th. Checking out the goods and building a marshmallow Olaf after a Valentine’s Day party at school.

This week I love day 39- Cousin Spencer. Which picture do you like best?

xoxo,

~C~

catch the moment: week 5

Gallery posted on February 5, 2015 by mommyinthemidwest

Hopefully this week’s photos are a little more interesting than last week’s. I was off..way off…last week. It’s been a good week. We have slipped past a couple more winter weather watches or warnings or advisories unscathed. Woo hoo! And now it’s February, just that much closer to SPRING! My favorite.

Something’s bothering me, y’all. This happened a couple weeks ago. I got a new lens. One that I thought was fancy. I know that having a “fancy” lens doesn’t make me a better photographer, but I thought I’d notice a big difference in the quality of my photos instantly. So far I’m not impressed. At all. And I hope this just means that I don’t know what I’m doing and I need to do some research to figure out how to make this lens work better for me. All I see is grainy pictures…which is what I saw with my kit lens and my $100 prime 50mm. Soooo…did I get the wrong lens? My other lenses took great pictures outside so I’m just feeling really confused and disappointed right now. Okay- just had to get that out. If anyone has a magic cure, I’d love to hear it. Moving on.

Linking up with Mindi at Stavish Stills Photography, Carrie at My Life, Our Journey, and Stephanie at Behind the Camera and Dreaming. It’s never to late to join in or start your own 365.

029/365: Thursday, January 29th. Determined to get a good start with a better week of photos, I crept into the boys room with my camera and tripod long after they were fast asleep to try to get some beautiful images of them just snoozing away. Well. After about 30 minutes I gave up. I like this picture a lot, but it’s far from a technically good photo and not really what I had in mind.

030/365: Friday, January 30th. We met a friend at the library but before he got there, the boys had a few minutes to play on the computer. Wow, we really need to work on their mouse skills! They both started touching the screens right away, thinking they were like smartphones or iPads.

031/365: Saturday, January 31st. An unplanned afternoon date for Ryan and I. We called Nana and Pop Pop and asked if they were busy Saturday afternoon. Whether they were or not, they said no and made last minute plans to come watch the boys. Ryan and I went to about 7 furniture stores looking for bunk beds for the boys (shhh!). It was fun and the boys loved spending time with their grandparents. We are all so lucky to have them close. They were good sports, reading all of the books we borrowed from the library the night before.

032/365: Sunday, February 1st. Superbowl Sunday! One of the treats I made for the big game was Rice Krispie Treats. I had not made these in YEARS and now I’m wondering why. They were so easy and so unbelievably delicious. Classic and simple.

033/365: Monday, February 2nd. Sweet, tired boy after a long day of school.

034/365: Tuesday, February 3rd. FINALLY! I felt like I’d ordered this book a month before it finally arrived. A compilation of EVERY photo from Catch the Moment 365 2014. I am in love with how this book turned out and it means so much to me to be able to hold it in my hands, flip through it, and see a memory from every day of what turned out to be a (mostly) wonderful year for us. I didn’t realize until I made the book and looked back through the whole year how many times the boys were sick. Here’s to a healthier 2015!

035/365: Wednesday, February 4th. The sunrise was so pretty on my way to work that I literally stopped in the middle of the road to try to get a picture of this tree with the sunrise behind it (after I made sure no cars were anywhere in eyesight). I got a good one on my phone but the one with my real camera was rushed as a car began to surface in the distance. As I messed with my settings and kept my eyes on the road, I realized that the car approaching me was a police car. I figured they might think it a little strange that I had stopped in the middle of the road to take a picture of someone’s property with a giant camera…so yeah. It was rushed. I don’t really have a favorite this week. I like them all for different reasons, but I’m not madly in love with any one picture. I guess it would be a tie between Pop Pop reading and Dexter eating the Rice Krispie. What are your thoughts?

~C~