Catching Up! {This Is Our Life Project}

I have been slacking on the weekly photography project with life getting busy as usual so I have some catching up to do. Mostly I just haven't downloaded pictures in ages... so here is my attempt at getting caught up. In the interest of getting caught up I have not edited any of these images even though they could use it... oh well!

Week 7: Negative Space, It's a Positive Thing!

Negative space is the blank space in a picture which you can use to compose a picture to achieve a desired effect. Here the negative space is the big blue sky.  I took the picture from below as Q was swinging at a baseball.  Playing baseball is currently his favorite thing to do.  He loves watching his baseball movie (The Sandlot) and goes out back to hit balls as often as I will let him. He can throw the ball up and hit it out of the air himself but he prefers when he can get someone to pitch for him. He's quite the slugger these days!

Week 8: Wild Card

Me and my girls <3 p="">

Nothing spectacular about this but it makes my heart smile- loves these girls!

Week 9: Out of the Shadows

Project "beach acclimation" is complete. From a child who use to hate sand and refuse to move if you put him down in it, he told us on our way to Carmel on this evening "I love going to the beach and playing ball with the dogs!" He even went so far as to dump a bucket of sand on his head gleefully... so I'd say we're plenty acclimated. Here, my friend Jenn who was visiting from Chicago was building sand castles which Q was systematically destroying.  Apparently you do not need to teach boys to act like boys... :-)

Week 10: Changes

Quinn took this picture :-) This is our first baby who is trying to get use to not being "top dog" anymore. As Q gets older, Bella has been trying to let him know who is boss {her according to her}. We have been working on teaching her that she is actually not in charge of the children and is therefore not allowed to "discipline" them when they misbehave, furthermore, she needs to actually be obedient to them... ouch... change is hard for this little one!

Week 11: Play

These are my boys playing! Q loves to help with just about anything we are doing and washing the car was no exception.  We've had gorgeous weather here lately so it was a good day for getting wet and playing with the soap and the hose. Winston dog is the biggest sucker for the hose- he goes nuts when we get the hose out and tries to bite the stream of water.

Good Morning {This Is Our Life Project}

Last week's theme for the This Is Our Life Photography Project was "good morning." It is a good morning waking up to this little man waiting for me at his gate. I typically get up an hour or two before him and do my Bible study and some mornings I go to the gym. Then sometime around 7:30am I'll hear him stirring around in his room talking to himself and playing with his toys.  Eventually, closer to 8am I hear the door open and "mommy?" real soft and quiet at first with growing intensity if I delay. My heart melts when I get to the top of the stairs and see this sweet sleepy face.  Then from the moment the gate snaps opens our day starts moving a mile a minute.  So nice to freeze the calm before the storm in this shot this week!

Finding the Light {This Is Our Life Project}

This week's theme was "finding the light" which definitely challenged me. It is definitely a skill {one that I am very much a novice at...} managing light in photography to get just the picture you want without too much over or under exposure. I bought Bryan Peterson's book "Understanding Exposure" a year ago and just recently have actually started reading it.  I'm only 70 pages in and it has had such an impact on my photography skill.  I went from shooting primarily in Aperture Priority mode, which I liked but was somewhat limiting in trying to achieve exactly what I wanted, to shooting exclusively in Manual which has opened up a whole new photographic world to me.  I am kicking myself for not having opened this book earlier because it turns out that shooting in Manual is extremely easy and makes such a difference! I never would have been able to achieve my favorite shot of the week if it weren't for this new skill. 

 This is our son playing with headlamp flashlights in the dark in his pop-up play tent. Every Friday evening we meet with several other couples for our church small group in which we enjoy each other's company, share what's going on in our lives, pray together, and discuss a book.  It is one of the highlights of our week. It is a boisterous time with several toddlers running around but these people are like family to us and we love sharing life together. We bring the kids, and put them to bed wherever we are. This week we were at our friends' home who don't yet have children of their own so we brought along Q's pop-up tent and a sleeping bag where the kids could play and sleep. 

This shot was a new challenge because it was taken in the pitch black with only the flashlight as a source of light. I was curious how it would go trying to focus in the dark {the photo itself is much brighter than it actually looked to your naked eye in the room}. I had to really bump up the camera ISO and slow down the shutter speed.  With the slow shutter speed I'm glad I got a shot in which there wasn't too much movement which would have ruined it.  Not the perfect shot, but fun to try something new all the same and I'm pretty pleased with the results.

A Different Perspective {This Is Our Life Project}

The photo challenge this week in the This Is Our Life Photography Project was "A Different Perspective" which made me think about taking pictures from, well... different perspectives than usual! It can be so easy to fall into a rut with all your photographs looking relatively the same so it's always a good reminder to try and change it up and get a little out of your own box.

Good Morning Sunshine

 That's my little girl when she first woke up in the morning. She had me laughing because as you can see her blanket is all up around her face.  What you can't see is that her legs and tummy are hanging out with no blanket on them.  As she wakes up in the morning she gets a bit wild even before she really wakes up and kicks around a lot shimmying her blanket up around her face.  Thank goodness for breathable blankets such that I don't have to worry about her smothering herself!  I thought the photo of her through her crib bars was kind of a fun different perspective.

 Little miss's favorite thing to do during tummy time is to eat her hands.  Silly girl!  Here I think the camera tilt gives this picture a slightly different perspective even if it is a bit cheesy.

A girl's first shoes!

These sweet little soft leather mary jane's from my favorite children's store, Janie and Jack, are the first shoes LK has ever worn! Despite the fact that they are completely frivolous {babies really don't need shoes I suppose} I love those little bows on her toes and a girl really can never have too many shoes right? {this coming from the lazy momma who only ever wears sanuks and rainbows on a regular basis} I think the over-the-shoulder perspective of this shot worked well for calling attention to my intention for this picture.

This Makes Me Want to Freeze Time {This Is Our Life Project}

We are having so much fun with this photography project!  We spent the week looking for things that make us want to freeze time as that is the theme for this week.  Technically you are supposed to pick one photo for the week because it helps you improve your photography skills? But I can't help but documenting the rest because for me this project is about more than improving photography skills, it's about our life and I want to remember these things!

Fav pic of the week

This isn't the best picture in the world by any stretch of the imagination but there are so many reasons I love it.  I love where we live right now, the view from our front porch is beautiful Monterey Bay and we have the most gorgeous sunsets almost every evening {not that you can tell from this picture... next on my photography to-do list is to learn how to properly expose outdoor pictures}. 

Who wouldn't want to freeze a beautiful sunset?  It is my second favorite time of day when the light is just perfect and hazy {despite what it looks like in this picture...} and no matter how hectic the day has been everything seems to slow down and I get this inner sense of calm. 

Another thing I love about this is that my whole family is together doing one of my favorite things {well... LK is in the stroller that you can barely see the front of on the left}. I love to go for walks after husband gets home from work. We take a soccer ball for Q to kick around and we take a chuck-it to play ball with the dogs and husband and I get to talk about our days without the distraction of dinner to be made, toys to be picked up, a television or computer competing for our attention. I would love to stay frozen in experiences like that when we are appreciating our family togetherness fully.

Final thing I would like to freeze about this is husband being home. In this picture he is wearing his uniform because it was a Tuesday, the one day of the week they wear uniforms at NPS.  Furthermore it was "warrior day" so he is wearing the uniform he typically wore when working on his submarine. This is a reminder of how precious this time on shore tour is, when he is home every night, generally before sunset, and can take part is family walks with us. As a military family, we don't take this for granted.

 This is me skunking husband in cribbage!  If you knew how rare it is for me to ever beat him at any game, much less skunk him at this particular game, you would know why I want to freeze this moment!  We have been enjoying turning off the television a little more and playing games together in the evenings after the kids go to bed... another activity and time of day I would like to freeze :-)

little clothes

 I love love love little clothes! I really enjoy shopping for my kids clothes, particularly my daughters.  And I honestly really enjoy doing their laundry. It is the one housework thing that I really look forward to. Please do not try to "help out" by folding my kids clothes for me... that literally steals my joy- haha! The reason little clothes make me want to freeze time is of course little children grow out of them too quickly! LK is about to grow out of some of my favorite outfits shown on the right and I just can't bear it; the thought of her growing up and the thought of her never wearing them again! 

Okay... I know it's cliche, but I can't help it... she makes me want to freeze time! She is likely our last little one and she is just growing up way too fast! Slow down sweet girl and let mama soak it all in!

Tickle Torture

And finally... tickle torture with Q makes me want to freeze time.  I love snuggling him just before bed and listening to his hysterical laughter as he demands "again! again!" I know all too soon he won't be interested in snuggling his mama and rolling around laughing with me so I'm soaking it up now while I can.  If only the whole day could be this much fun :)

This Makes Me Laugh {This Is Our Life Project}

The theme of week 2 This Is Our Life Photography Project was "This Makes Me Laugh" and oooohhh how our little Q makes us laugh every day! Many of the things that make us laugh are things he says at just the right time or mimics performed in just the right situation and such they are un-photographable.  I actually started jotting amusing things he says and does down on a note card awhile ago just so I wouldn't forget- a practice I need to get back to in order to preserve these precious years.

Dancing to the tractor music

 No one has ever seen Q bust a move without laughing.  He gets completely into it and is adorable.  You should see him at church on Sundays when he likes the worship music- he goes nuts! This photo was taken during those delirious last 30 minutes before bedtime when toddlers inevitably have this final burst of energy before passing out for the night. Here he is in his jammies {this particular pair of jammies he refers to as his "Quinn Cooney" jammies because of the 'coon on the front} and he is doing a little jig to the music coming from the tractor at his feet.  He loves to push the button over and over again.

Playing along with "Jesus music"

 Much to my husband's chagrin Quinn looooves "Jesus music." Now, husband has no problem with Christian music... he actually likes it, but what Q means by "Jesus music" is either The Donut Man or Seeds {both are great children's worship music if you are looking for any} which he asks for repeatedly and if you try to put anything else on he will let you know that is incorrect and he wants to hear Donut Man. "Jesus music" is so inspiring to Q that he generally gets his guitar out and plays along while dancing of course!

Mr. Potato Head

Husband's aunt gave Q this great Mr. Potato Head set when we visited San Diego last fall.  He still loves to play with 'tato head and every time he gets it out the first thing he does is put on these glasses- what a goof!  I laugh every time. 

Talking to Nana

Q loves talking on the phone.  I shutter to think what our phone bill will look like when he is a teenager... yikes! If the phone ever rings he immediately starts trying to steal it to "Talk to Nana. Quinn's turn? Quinn talk to Nana!" And if you give it to him he walks off with it, for a little privacy I guess? The other day when he woke up he told me repeatedly that he needed to call Nana, so we did and he proceeded to have at least a 15 minute conversation with her. God bless my mother for spending 15 minutes on the phone with a toddler who is just learning to talk and thinks when he points to things while on the phone that she should understand :-P

Evening Rituals {This Is Our Life Project}

 I thought it would be fun to jump on board with the Paint the Moon "Lets Do 52" Photography Project: "This Is Our Life." After all, documenting our life as our kids grow up is why I enjoy photography! 

The theme for the first week was Evening Rituals which in our house means bedtime routines; reading a book of Quinn's choosing {which lately has been "Pigs Make Me Sneeze" from the Elephant & Piggie Series by Mo Willems}, reading a prayer from Real Wooly "Bedtime Prayers" book, talking about prayer requests, praying together, and finally singing "Jesus Loves Me." It is one of our absolute favorite times of the day snuggling together at the end of the day, tickling, giggling, and thanking God for all the blessings in our life.

Q loves time with daddy and it is so nice that during shore tour daddy is around for the bedtime fun

My Favorite because I can hear Q's hysterical laugh when I look at this

Don't look now Q, there is a bear on your head!

Another VITAL part of bedtime is "bear" {the white furry blanket with a bear head on top of Q's head}. In fact we don't say, "time for bed," we say, "time to go see bear" since he only gets bear during nap and night time.

About to drift off. Sweet dreams sweet boy!

After little man is tucked in for the night it's Lanie Kate's turn. It is the one time of day when I pump {I didn't think a picture of that was necessary!} so that Daddy can give her a bottle before bed.

LK Gripping Daddy's Fingers