miss blue eyes

Yes, another Madi picture.  But really, can you ever get tired of looking at my two cuties??  (haha)  I was experimenting with the camera, backgrounds, and editing today...this is what I ended up with.

Project 365 Day 22 - 1/22/11





happy half birthday madison!

Today is our baby girl's six month birthday!  It's crazy how fast these months have flown by.  I love this little girl so so so much!  Her beautiful blue eyes just melt my heart everytime they look at me! ♥ We started Madi on cereal today, so of course we had to get pictures of her "first meal".  She did great and got it all over the place!

Project 365 Day 21 - 1/21/11

Sunrise Garbage

Have I ever mentioned that I hate taking the garbage cans out for pick up?  No?  Well I do!  They have to be hauled out to end of the road and when Jeff is gone at work that awful chore becomes mine.  Often times I don't remember to take them out until its late and dark, and being the big chicken that I am I refuse to go outside under these conditions.  So what do I do?  I set my alarm to wake up at 6:30 am, get up, put on a beanie, my sweats, my uggs, my gloves, and down coat.  I drag my self outside into the cold, half asleep, tie the cans to the back of my car with dog leashes (don't laugh, it works) and drag those stupid things to the end of the road...and last but not least, I pray that I am not seen by any neighbors! 

So, the other morning I was about to do my sunrise garbage run and happened to catch the sun just peeking over the mountain.  There was this low misty fog hanging in the trees and it just looked cool!  I guess having to get up early for garbage wasn't so bad after all!

Project 365 Day 20 - 1/20/11

a little piece of history

What a pleasant surprise to come home the other night and find this cool old camera waiting for me.  This was my grandpa's camera.  He was an army photographer in World War II and took some pretty amazing shots during his time in Europe.  I don't know the history behind this camera, where he got it, when he got it, or what he used it for...but what I do know is that it was HIS and now I have a little piece him and what he enjoyed doing.  I love that!

Project 365 Day 19 - 1/19/11

my little artist

The other day Luke came running into the living room laughing and holding a tube of Desitin (diaper rash cream).  This is how the conversation went down:

Luke: "Mommy, mommy....butt!"  As he holds up the tube to show me, I see the cap is missing and think to my self this can't be good!
Me:  "Ohhhh, Lukie, do you need some of that on your butt?  Do you need a new diaper?"  As soon as the words leave my mouth, he takes off running towards his bedroom giggling.  I chase him.
Luke:  "I paint!"  And sure enough, he finger painted the changing table with the Desitin.  I thought it was pretty artistic, so had to take a picture...but not before I confiscated the Desitin!!

Project 365 Day 18 -1/18/11

in his boots

Our little Luke has a new obsession...being a cowboy!  It all started when he saw an old home video of Jeff riding a horse when he was about 13 or 14.  We told Luke it was daddy, and since he has to be just "like daddy", the obsession began.  He had to have the cowboy hat, the horsey (the bouncy kind), and the boots.  It was super easy for Santa to figure out what this little boy wanted for Christmas!   The boots are about 3 sizes too big, but kids' feet grow so darn fast I don't think it will be a problem for too long. 

Project 365 Day 17 - 1/17/11

exploring outside

For the past few days we've been stuck in this yucky fog/low cloud mess.  Its so dreary and depressing.  Today it lifted for a while to reveal a beautiful sunny day.  Luke wanted to go play outside so I took him out to go exploring (that means take pictures in mommy's language).  He let me snap a few before he wised up to my game! 

Project 365 Day 16 - 1/16/11

Project 365 Day 16 - 1/16/11

something old

I LOVE old barns!  And you can bet that when I see one, I'm going to take a photo of it!  They have so much character, beauty, and history.  I actually took this from the car (moving with the window up, and no I wasn't driving) while on our way to town.  I had to crop in quite a bit and its not the clearest picture, but I think this barn is cool anyways!  (Some of you might recognize it....its the big red barn on Highway 168 just past Academy.)

Project 365 Day 15 - 1/15/11

miss smiles

Have you ever seen a happier baby?  My sweet Madi girl is always smiling...she makes a rotten day not so bad anymore with her huge smile and adorable giggle! ♥

Project 365 Day 14 - 1/14/11

say cheese

In a last minute attempt to get my picture of the day, I told Luke to look cute and say cheese....this is what he gave me!  How could I not post it!  Oh, he makes me laugh...

Project 365 Day 13 - 1/13/11

frog boy

Auntie Nikki and Uncle James got Luke this adorable hat for Christmas.  He was a little hesitant to put it on at first, but once he figured out how cool he looked in it he was willing to wear it and let me get a picture!

Project 365 Day 12 - 1/12/11

the new auntie and uncle

Confession time!  So with all the commotion of the birth of our nephew and me starting back to work, I didn't get a photo for the 11th day of my project.  Sad! : (  But fear not....I still have some to post.  These were taken on day 10 [of Project 365] at the hospital with our newest family member!

Welcome to the world little man!

He's here, he's here!!  Meet Baby James, our precious little nephew.  6 pounds 8 ounces and just as cute as can be.  Don't you just love new life? 




Project 365 Day 10 - 1/10/11

the waiting game

What an exciting day....almost!  We were patiently waiting all day for the arrival of our new baby nephew, but that little guy just didn't want to come out.  While we were hoping for the phone to ring with more news, I was able to catch Madi fast asleep on daddy again.  Yep, that's Luke's old camo outfit...gotta love the hand-me-downs!  Funny story about that also, when I went to dress Madi in it, Luke starting throwing a fit and crying "mine!!".  Sorry Bud, its just a little small for you now!

Project 365 Day 9 - 1/9/10

Bath Time!

Bath time in our house is either really pleasant and easy or World War III.  Thank goodness today was one of the easy days and I got to snap some pictures of my cuties!




Project 365 Day 8 - 1/8/11



A Dog's Life

Meet Frankie.  She is my little princess dog.  Well, I shouldn't say she's mine anymore because she pretty much disowned me after Madison was born.  One baby was ok, but two?  Oh no, that's inexcusable to her!  So now I'd say she's Jeff's dog.  She snuggles up with him in his chair and when he's not home, this is where you will find her, curled up on the back of the couch like a "princess."

Project 365 Day 7 - 1/7/11

here comes the fog...

This was the coolest thing to watch, the fog was oozing its way over the hills in front of our house.  The best part was that it never really made it all the way over and it remained a beautiful, sunny day here.

Project 365 Day 6 - 1/6/11



Scooters and Doggies

I just couldn't decide which of these photos to make my "photo of the day", so I posted both!  Luke was getting a little stir crazy so we bundled him up and took him outside to burn off some energy.  He loves riding his scooter.   The second picture was just too cute to pass up.  These dogs adore Jeff so much and I was glad to catch their little special moment. ♥


Project 365 Day 5 - 1/5/11




Project 365 Day 5 - 1/5/11



Daddy's Girl

Oh what a busy day us girls had in Fresno!  My mom, Madi, and I went to town last Monday for errands and doctor's appointments.  My baby girl was TIRED!  She passed out on Jeff that evening...she just looked so comfy curled up with her daddy!  I love these moments! 



Project 365 Day 4 - 1/4/11



i heart my tree



 Project 365 Day 3 - 1/3/11

Can you tell what this is a picture of?  If you guessed my Christmas Tree you are totally correct!  This effect is called "bokeh" (a Japanese term for blur). 

I saw this cool photo project on a Facebook fan page and had to try it before we took our tree down.  (It works best with lots of lights like on a Christmas tree.)  I was pretty proud of my results!  Try it for yourself or check out how I did it at this website: http://www.diyphotography.net/diy_create_your_own_bokeh

Time to Relax

Day 2 - 1/2/11

Day 2 of Project 365 and I already almost forgot to take my daily picture.  This is going to be harder than I thought!  After a busy day of wiping little sick noses and trying to keep my sanity, I put the kids to bed, then enjoyed the silence and a yummy glass of Shiraz.

Project 3.6.5

Happy New Year!!!!  I’m so excited to see what this year has in store for us…I just hope it doesn’t go by too fast! 

So, what is Project 365??  I discovered it on a photographer’s blog that I follow…  You just take a picture a day for 365 days!  Sounds easy enough, right?   Since I was a good girl last year, Santa Hubby brought me a fabulous new DSLR camera  for Christmas.  I thought this project would be a great way to have some fun with my new toy and document our year.  Wish me luck that I can stick to it!  

This is my photo for day 1 of my DSLR and what started it all (taken with my little point and shoot).




Day 1 - 1/1/11