51/52 A princess, a rock star, and some gingerbread men.

50/52 The colors of preschool.

49/52 Advent calendar day 12

Making sushi! OK, so it doesn't seem very holiday-like, but I found some cute kid chopsticks, and it was a great family activity. I think it may be a new tradition for us!

And here's the advent calendar the kids and I made. I wanted the numbers to be mixed up, like in the cardboard ones, so they would have to search for the right number each day. They cut and glued pictures to the back, so once they open the bag for the day, they turn the bag around and see the picture. Simple, but fun.

I am so humbled.

My favorite photography website recently underwent some changes. They put a call out for all members to submit 2 of their fav photos, for consideration for their new website header. Well, they picked one of mine!! I am beyond thrilled, and can't even believe I am in the company of such amazing photographers, many of them pros from all over the world! Here's the link to the site, and my pic is in the third roll: http://www.clickinmoms.com/.

Here's the chosen image. You may have seen it here before.

48/52 A gingerbread party.

47/52 Snow in the city.

We took our 3rd annual family trip to Montreal the day after Thanksgiving, and woke up to the first snow of the season the next morning. It was so lovely!

46/52 Bowling fashionista.

Her mother swears that she didn't plan to match her clothes with the bowling shoes...

45/52 Breast cancer sucks.

My first-ever PSA. PLEASE do your monthly breast self-exams (or remind loved-ones to). It very well may have saved my best friend's life.

44/52 New lens love.

I got my first "real" lens last week, and so far love it! I can finally take pics of more than "part of" my kids, and actually see the house we live in, too. Here are some first shots.

43/52 Five.

Five years old, my girl is now! These are from our "Mommy-Daddy-Anika date."

42/52 Best friends.

41/52 Field trip.

Girl power leading the way!

40/52 A walk in the woods.

39/52 Silhouettes.

Our last assignment, and so much fun! These are the 3 photos I posted for critique.

38/52 Finding some backlight.

You guessed it, last week's assignment was backlighting. What a fun and challenging week it was!

37/52 Open shade.

I am taking a workshop about "finding the light." Last weeks assignment was open shade. Can you guess where this photo was taken??

(She's in the back of our SUV.)

Here's another, at the library.

36/52 Teeny little feet.

Just 8 days old. So precious!

35/52 Finding the light.

34/52 Trying some backlighting.

33/52 One misty morning.

Camping, 6:15 a.m., just my boy and I.

32/52 R.I.P. Stella Mouse

I have come to realize that in no way can this blog simply be about a photo a week. It's about my life, as a mom. Because, let's face it, that's what I am. So, inevitably, there will be weeks like this when all I have to share is a snapshot or two. No apologies, because really, our lives are what this is really all about :).

"MOM! Quick! There's a dead thing in our driveway!" aka Stella Mouse
R.I.P. Stella Mouse

31/52 The very last time.

My 3-year-old declared, on his birthday, that he would now "only wear underwear."

30/52 My boy is 3!

He got to have a special Mommy-Daddy date, and chose to go to the beach.

29/52 Rock-n-Roll.

Embrace the grain (and limb chops - oops!).

28/52, part 2. Ooey Gooey Yumness.

Isn't this really the best part about camping?!

{OK, so the spider shot wasn't officially taken in the right week, and since I'm so anal honest, I thought I should post another one.}

28/52 The itsy bitsy spider.

 

Taken with a poor man's macro.

27/52 Blueberry picking.

This...

is why we didn't go home with more of these...

26/52 Montreal

A dear friend, cute B&B, Jazzfest, sore feet, and lots of food!