January 365

Last year I started a 365 project, taking a photo a day to document our lives over the course of a year. And even though I took photos almost each and every day, I gave up documenting and printing in February. I have no regrets and love to look back on those few weeks that did get documented. So, I have taken on the project again and hope that I get further this year. Here is a glimpse of our lives in January:
Puzzle Girl:Artist Boy:

Project 365: Week 9

Trying a new thing this week with the Project 365 post. I am going to post each photo individually and the journalling that goes with it and at the end I will post the scrapbook layout. Let me know what you think...

Game nights continue strong this week. Tonight Owen and Isabelle worked together on a few puzzles. Owen is a self-proclaimed puzzle master and Isabelle is starting to hold her own. She chose this Diego puzzle; he put the pieces in place and she ‘tapped’ them down...it was so sweet to watch how they figured out a way for them both to enjoy the activity. As soon as all the pieces were in place, Isabelle would take the board, flip it over and say “more doing puzzle”...Owen would look at me, roll his eyes and say “OK Bella, I would LOVE to do this puzzle again.” Gotta love those moments

My desk at work. I like to keep it clean and neat and clutter free. I have a photo frame that the kids bought for my birthday filled with pics of them and a family one of all of us. My favourite red water bottle to remind me to keep drinking water. A can of diet coke. My Mickey Mouse mug was a gift from a student when I was practice teaching for Montessori last year, I drink 2-3 mugs of green-peppermint tea every day. The seed art was done by my sister Kaitlin when she was 6 years old, it has been on my desk ever since. A potted Elephant Palm plant from IKEA. These are the things that make me happy at work.
This is just one of those shots that I felt compelled to take, although it is blurry it tells such a story. Beside his head you can see Owen’s calendar - he crosses off the days as they happen and knows what is coming up. His snack is on the dresser - applesauce tonight. His dream-catcher is above his head to make sure he has no more nightmares. His bed is scattered with all the books he was reading before falling asleep. His CD player is on the dresser and is belting out the Barenaked Ladies Snacktime CD tonight. He is sleeping in a Mickey Mouse sleeping bag tonight, he and Bella were playing with them today.

Project 365: Week 8

I am going to target every Monday for a new 365 Project post. I structure all my pages from Monday-Sunday, I like to keep the weekend all on one page - so it makes sense to do the whole week post here on Monday's. Here is my layout from 2 weeks ago...
Feb 16-22:(click on the images to see larger more readable versions)

6 Months Ago

Working on Project 365 has made me think about the year that has just passed and I found myself re-looking at our summer photos...if it is interesting to me, then I will share it with you. This is especially fitting today because it feels like spring...for the first time in months we have temps above the freezing line...it is +6C outside (which translates to 42F)...spring is in the air today and I am just drinking it in! Here is a little walk down memory lane...a look back at August 2008...

In August we went swimming in Nana's pool..
In August, the trampoline was still shiny & new & exciting

In August, neither Adrian or I did any travelling
In August, we spent one week at the cottage...

In August, we took family bike rides to the big park

In August we went to the zoo 4 times...

In August we visited my Grandma and felt the warmth of the sun on our faces...

In August, we had a great picnic with our friends in Barrie at the waterfront park...

In August, Isabelle wore lots of dresses and Owen caught lots of bugs...

In August we could head outdoors every day with nothing more than sunscreen and a hat...no boots, no coats, no snowpants, no scarves, no hats, no mittens, no hassle...only 6 months away...

Project 365

January 1st I started a new scrapbook project...Project 365. When I first read about Project 365 of Becky Higgin's blog, I wasn't sure I wanted to take on something so daunting. A picture every day doesn't sound like a lot, but multiply that by 365 days during the year, and it is pretty significant. I looked at my December Daily album (almost finished) and just love how it is turning out, such a great record of our family for one month. Finally, I decided to take the plunge and commit to Project 365. Although I don't expect it to be easy, I think at the end of the year, it will be wonderful to have a photograph and some notes for every day in our lives for a year. I expect it to be a mixture of the people, places and things that mean the most to us, make us laugh, and make us reflect and appreciate our everyday lives. I'm sure that some days it will be more challenging than others to take the 'right' photograph, but that will be part of the journey; looking a little more closely at what surrounds us to see what really defines our family. I hope that another side benefit will be a refinement in my photography skills. I have dabbled in photography for a while now and think this will be a great opportunity to hone those skills. So, even though it won't always be easy (and a lot of things worth doing are not easy) I know there is much to be gained by participating in this project. Ready, aim, shoot - 1,2,3,4,5,..365!
Week 1:
Week 2:

Week 3:

Week 4:

Week 5:

Week 6:

Week 7: