12M ~ April 2020

Day 12: A song from your preteen years!

The Doc: Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Me: Vogue - Madonna
David: Pop Out - Polo G Feat. Lil Tjay
Shaun: Old Town Road - Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus
Evan: Bad Guy - Billie Eilish

Greta Garbo and Monroe; Bette Davis we love you!  When I think of "preteen years", I think of being 11 and 12 years old and so for us, that means songs from 1990 and 1991, for the older two boys I told them to search for songs when they were that age and for Evan (who isn't even 10 yet - he turns 10 on Friday!), I told him to choose a song that came in the last year. As I thought about songs from those years, I had to choose Vogue by Madonna.  I was obsessed.  Like A Prayer is still one of my all time favorite albums (start to finish), but that album was released in 1989 and did not fit the criteria I set.  Vogue is still classic though, I mean who doesn't like to strike a pose?

April Homecation:

Cruising down the main drag getting a treat from Dunkin Donuts!

Still cloudy and cool, but no rain means momma got some alone time with her favorite podcast guys (Jon, Jon, Tommy and Dan @crookedmedia @podsaveamerica).

Had some fun with my sourdough starter and made some sourdough bagels (started the process the night before) and some homemade sourdough tortillas.

Sourdough bagels!

Sourdough tortillas

12M ~ April 2020

Day 3: A song that reminds you of summertime! 

The Doc: Today by Smashing Pumpkins
Me: Tonight, Tonight by Smashing Pumpkins
David: Fun, Fun, Fun by the Beach Boys 
Shaun: Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper (when I asked him what made him think of this song he said - "when I think of the song I usually picture the beach in the summertime" 😂).
Evan: In Summer from Frozen

I had a lot of fun thinking about classic summer anthems, (like David's Beach Boys choice 😆) but ultimately I'm choosing Tonight, Tonight by the Smashing Pumpkins.  That song always makes me think of the summer when Charlie and I really started to hang out.  It was before our junior year of high school and he would often pick me up from work and I would have a mint patty milk shake for him and we would drive around aimlessly and just talk.  Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was on constant replay on the car CD player.  Tonight, Tonight was one of the few songs I really liked on that album and has a special place in my heart, so much that it was used on our wedding day when the DJ introduced us at the reception! 

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 30

Day 30, the last day of this gratitude challenge. It's been really fun thinking outside of the box on some of the "challenges" and trying to come up with interesting images. Today is a self-portrait. It was a little awkward trying to take a photograph of myself for the sole purpose of taking a photograph. I have used my phone to take pictures of a new haircut or an outfit I need an opinion on, but to photograph myself for the sake of art was like I said awkward! Ha! Thanks for all the comments and likes along the way and I look forward to my next challenge, a sort of 25 Days of Christmas Challenge, nothing specific just images that celebrate the Christmas season!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 29

Only one more day left to this challenge. Day 29 is light and I decided to show off a neat trick I learned about in my photography class, fun with bokeh! Bokeh is what the blur of light in the out of focus areas is known as. Now there is a way to manipulate the shape (normally seen as circles) by making a cut out on a black piece of paper and taping it over the lens. In the spirit of the holiday I chose to manipulate the bokeh to look like Christmas trees. It's not perfect but I still got the effect that I was looking for! Definitely something I want to keep practicing!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 28

Day 28 is nighttime. I can't believe there are only a few more days left of this challenge. It's been a lot of fun, I might have to find a new challenge for December, since I am going to start Project 365 in January!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 27

Day 27: Daily Routine. Sunday is one day where are not in our normal every day routine, but one thing always remains the same no matter what the day and that is the boys morning teeth brushing routine!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 26

Day 26: Transportation = image of my Mom-mobile! I love my van, purchased before Evan was born, it's my very first brand new car and aside from the mess on the inside from the boys and the fact that it clearly needs a bath, I take very good care of it!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 25

Day 25: Artwork. David is turning out to be quite the artist. He certainly doesn't get it from me but he LOVES to draw and this is his drawing of a Christmas tree because we were getting ready to put up our tree tonight!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 24

Today is a photograph of gratitude, and nothing could exemplify gratitude more than this image of my family all together celebrating Thanksgiving dinner in our new home! I am so thankful for today going off without a hitch, I thankful for having a space big enough to have everyone together but most of all I am thankful for family!! It was a wonderful day filled with yummy food, laughter, togetherness! I am also thankful for the remote I purchased a few weeks back for my camera so I could be in the picture without having to set a timer and run back to my seat!



Happy Thanksgiving! I hope yours was as wonderful as mine!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 23

Today is "in your closet" and so here is a very non-exciting image of my closet from the doorway. If I had more time today, I could have maybe tried something a little more exciting but at the end of the day it's still an image of the inside of a closet. I will say thought, that since this is a gratitude challenge, I will say that I'm very grateful for the storage space.

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 22

Today is clothing. I love my boys (as does my wallet!!), but seeing all the beautiful dresses that are out in stores this time of year does make me a little sad that I don't have a daughter to dress up. The same thing happens to me around Easter! Thankfully, my boys don't mind dressing up for special occasions and so I will dress them in sweater vests and button down shirts. Sometimes we even go the shirt and tie route, just like Daddy, though I am a sucker for the sweater vest!

I am posting this picture of my boys dressed up for their Thanksgiving Day celebrations at school. David read & made Stone Soup in his class and Shaun had a Harvest Party where he shared a fruit salad with his classmates. Evan, just wanted to stand with his big brothers so I put him in a sweater too! I love that they humor me and I'll milk it for all it's worth until they no longer let me!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 21

Kind of a weird one, but Day 21 is where you sleep. Not exactly an exciting image, but my beautiful king size bed is definitely something to be grateful to have! I love it. I debated making the bed up and putting on the fancy pillows that go with the bed spread set but then it wouldn't be "real". This is what "where I sleep" looks like every day. Ha!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 20

Day 20 is "seasonal" and today couldn't have been a more perfect late Fall day! With the "unseasonably" mild temperatures for this time of year, it's almost hard to believe that Winter is just around the corner. And what better way to spend it, than a bike ride around the neighborhood with one of your best friends!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 19

Day 19 is Best Friend and as fate would have it I got to see my best friend today as we celebrated her son's third birthday! She is a wonderful person and I am lucky to have her as a friend!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 18

Day 18 and we've already done something old, so today it's something new, and so I photographed the new generator! It's not a fancy image but it is new and will be something we're grateful for having next time we lose power, which we've been told happens quite often in this neighborhood! We're just waiting for the plumber to come back and hook it up to the gas line and then we'll be good to go!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 17

Today is day 17, hard to believe were more than 1/2 way through the month and a week from today is Thanksgiving! Day 17 is to photograph "memories". I wasn't sure how to interpret this one, I mean the reason I always carrying my camera every where I go is for the sole purpose of capturing memories. Each photograph I take is a memory, so that is when I got the idea to photograph my scrapbooks. Each scrapbook is filled with memories that I will cherish forever!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 16

Day 16 is Animals. This is Trot, he's been a member of this family going on 9 years now. We also adopted his brother Drew. They are old and crotchety now and pretty much only like Charlie! But Trot let me get up close to him for this head shot! Maybe he likes me a little after all!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 15

Day 15 is Technology. Where would we all be without technology, more specifically, Angry Birds?

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 13

Day 13 of the Gratitude challenge is the written word. This is my written word, a recipe I wrote down for a squash casserole that was given to me by a friend of mine. I tried it out tonight for a possible place on my Thanksgiving Day menu, and while it was rich and savory and delicious, I'm just so used to my squash having a sweet taste from brown sugar and butter. It's going to be a tough call on which squash I end up making on the big day and might even be a game day decision!

30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude - Day 12

Day 12 is Hands! I had a picture all planned out for this that I staged this afternoon but then ended up catching this moment at the birthday party we attended tonight. All the older kids were having a blast trying to high five Evan and teach him how to "pound it". This was the Birthday Boy trying to show Evan a "pinky promise".