family

I am mom to these two crazy kids.

i just love them so much.

i wish they could pause at this age right now.

The Lord saw me as the perfect fit for them.

they are so different, 

yet, so much the same.

They love to have fun.

they love to challenge themselves.

they love to laugh,

and laugh loud.

they love mommy and daddy.

they love each other.

some moments i get so mad or frustrated with them.

sometimes they feel the same about me.

that's what family is.

one minute you want to yell, scream and rip your hair out.

you want to lock the person out of the house or your room so you don't have to hear or see them.

the next minute you want that person to be right there with you.

to laugh, hug, cry.

to play with and be silly.

you don't want to be without that person.

ever.

they see your worst and your best and love you for it all.

*all photos taken by me, 

with Gertie.

not edited.

Family Flashback

I was so into doing month and year challenges that i neglected to show you what else i was photographing.

i had shown you some pics from a wedding June 2013. HERE

but what did i do after that?  

just challenges? 

nope.

November 2013 i did a family photo shoot for a wonderful family.

we had a lot of fun and absolutely beautiful weather.

here's a glimpse of that special memory building day.

 what beautiful girls.  so much fun and full of smiles for me.

i love daddy & daughter(s) photos.

love this face!

i was waiting for everyone to be ready for the first part of the shoot.

this little one came out of her room and wandered into the kitchen.

she was talking to herself..or someone in her imagination..  

it was so cute.  i had to capture it.

so much fun!

what a wonderful fall day we had.  

*all photos taken by me

with Gertie.

edited in Photoshop Elements

24/365 & 25/365

**yes, i skipped day 23.  it was umbrellas.  i didn't even take a photo that day** 

day 24:

Fresh Air.

i wanted to take a photo of my breath...

then i realized that's not fresh air but recycled air.

how do i take a photo of fresh air?

i can't take a photo of the air exactly, 

but where do i go to feel, breathe, the fresh air?

into the bush, away from buildings, cars...

the trees give us oxygen 

(unless science has discovered something else since i was in school - - 

i mean, pluto isn't a planet anymore...but i'm pretty sure about this.)

that's as fresh as we can get.

so here's some of the trees...

couldn't get oxygen filled leaf trees since they're sleeping right now.

day 25.

Caring

*this prompt is to be done as a Portraiture.  for me to practice.*

i told the fam. at the beginning of the day that i would be needing to do this one.

so they weren't too surprised when i would say 

'I want a photo of you doing that.'

so.

out we went.

to our back hill to snowboard.

our boy is learning, and daddy is teaching him.

he straps on his board, gets some advice and heads down the hill.

daddy comes to the bottom and gives him a piggyback up the hill (with snowboard still strapped on)

and away he goes again.

usually they repeat that a few times before his dad wants to do some snowboarding of his own.

they call it 'Daddy chairlift'

*all  photos taken by me, 

with Gertie.

and edited in Photoshop Elements.

See where my challenge began : Here 

day 30

this is it.

the last day of my challenge.

same theme as the first day of the challenge:

self-portrait.

that's it.

challenge over.

kind of miss it.

a little.

next time i'll make sure dumb dog isn't wandering around behind me.

*all photos taken with Gertie. 

on a tripod..

with a timer.

day 29

day 29:
Black & White
I was in Toronto for the day of this challenge.
my dad and i went for a walk and i captured these photos.

this one i really like..
i actually pressed the shutter button and changed my mind about taking it.
obviously forgetting my finger was on the button.  this was the result.

day 27

day 27:

Celebration

due to some delays in some of the challenge days it just happened that this one landed on Oct 31.

so here it is.

Halloween.

getting ready to go trick or treating.

our first house.

look it's Waldo x2! 

meeting up with friends to go around the neighborhood.

rainy evening, but such a good time.

*all photos taken with Gertie.

day 26

day 26:

CLOSE-UP

i only have one lens for my camera.
therefore my close-up is only as close as the lens allows.
one day i will get closer.

but for now:

yes, snow.  it didn't last long that day, but it still came.

i can only do basic sewing.

i know some extremely gifted artists who create beauty with a sewing machine.

i thought of them as i took this...please ignore the cobweb on my machine.

my boy placed the leaf on the pumpkin the day before, because it looked good there. 

even with it's life draining there is still a special beauty about it.

tree.  strength. gentle giant.  life. 

*all photos taken with Gertie

day 10

Day 10:

Childhood Memory

exact location is not the memory.

just the fact that it's a beach.

that is my childhood memory.

 we lived by near the beach in Toronto when i was a child.

we went there quite often, no matter the season.

when my brother and i got older we met friends down there and played beach volleyball, 

spending full days there.

we loved the beach.

my absolute favorite memory of the beach was learning to skip stones with my dad. 

i loved taking my kids to the beach this summer.

*all photos taken with Gertie

& watermarked with PicMarkr.com

day 7

Day 7:

Changes to Come.

grrr. 

another one i don't like.

oh well.

just deal with it michelle.

take some pictures and be done with it.

so.

it's Autumn.

its the season of change.

the trees take in less nutrients and shut down for the winter to come.

leaves change color and drop off the branches where they once clung tightly.

the change to winter is happening.

hopefully this is a change to come without much fighting.

kids' bedtime.

from clothes to pjs 

my laundry room/space.

one day to be put back together - not the same as it was, but nicer.

one day. 

there.

done.

* all photos taken with Gertie.

day 4

day 4.

Something Green.

Kids got on the bus and i immediately grabbed Gertie and away we went.

***

when my husband was digging up our sewage pipe in our yard he found about eight green glass bottles.  

they have been sitting on our patio table for a couple weeks now.

they were my inspiration for this day.

i decided to go for a walk.

i wasn't going to do just one something green, i was going to find a few others.

as i walked through the bush with the dog i was thinking how nice it would be to get a picture of one green leaf on the ground amongst the reds, browns, oranges.  

then i looked down.

as we walked and saw moss.

i love moss.

 and on a rainy day like today it seems so much brighter.

it's amazing when you're keeping your eyes open for something you notice it everywhere.

the trail we were walking was green.

it had it everywhere.

with the rain and cloudiness of the day the other colors of fall have been dulled, 

but the greens...

how they pop!

of course we have to appreciate the evergreens.

we have two lonely pumpkins in the pumpkin patch.

guess what color they are.

that's right.

photo challenge completed before breakfast.

 *all photos taken with Gertie: my Canon T2i

not edited.

watermark from PicMarkr.com