Tams' 52 weeks of photos

Our Everyday, 6/52. Shelf.

2012-02-10T20:52:00.000-05:00

Our Everyday, 5/52. Hot.

2012-02-05T20:50:00.001-05:00

The way I view 'new beginnings.'

2012-02-01T20:39:00.001-05:00

I like to think of every day as a new beginning. Here is a peek into a recent new beginning in our house.

This year, in addition to my 'Project 52,' I'm also part of a once-a-month 'The way I view' project. Please head on over to Shellie Mooney Photography and see how she has interpreted this month's theme. While you're there, check out her all around lovely photography!

Our Everyday, 4/52. Eat.

2012-01-29T20:18:00.000-05:00

My first attempt with my new toy- the iphone- on the big screen.

Our Everyday, 3/52. Create.

2012-01-22T21:04:00.001-05:00

Our Everyday, 2/52. Dry.

2012-01-12T21:05:00.001-05:00

Our Everyday, 1/52. Happy.

2012-01-08T20:30:00.001-05:00

Another year, another 52 week project. Another photog friend (who's blog will be live soon) and I are challenging ourselves to capture our families, doing what we do, with a specific word prompt each week. We hope to capture the mundane as well as the fantastic, the happy and the sad; all the elements that make up Our Everyday lives.

This was actually not the image that I took with 'happy' in mind this week, but for some unexplainable reason this cheese stick made my girl so silly happy that I couldn't not use it. Especially since it captures another piece of her life. See that band-aid? It's covering the reason for her first visit to the ER. 5 stitches, 3 Beanie Babies and a cheese stick later, and she's as good as new!

52/52 Music.

2012-01-01T20:00:00.000-05:00

Another year has come and gone, and another project has been completed! Thank you to whomever may be out there following along. Stay tuned for a few new projects for next year!

51/52 Letters to Santa.

2011-12-26T20:38:00.000-05:00

50/52 After the party.

2011-12-19T20:41:00.000-05:00

49/52 Mister Elfie.

2011-12-13T09:52:00.000-05:00

48/52 Before.

2011-12-05T21:35:00.000-05:00

Before the mouth was wiped after lunch. Before the shoes were put on. Before the fake smiles came out.

47/52 Jumping, in Montreal.

2011-11-28T21:38:00.000-05:00

There was also some hiding, with penguin, in Montreal.

(For any photogs that might be glancing, these were all edited with CM's film art presets.)

46/52 Jeh Kulu

2011-11-23T20:30:00.000-05:00

Jeh Kulu is a West African drum and dance group that did a 2-week residency at A's school. They ended with a performance with all the classes. What a great, energy-filled night!

45/53 light.

2011-11-13T21:29:00.000-05:00

44/52 My favorite part of the night.

2011-11-06T20:41:00.000-05:00

Stellar pictures, they may not be. Wonderful memories, they certainly are.

From earlier that evening, here are Rapunzel and Harry (from "Harry and Horsie").

43/52 She's 6!

2011-10-30T21:23:00.001-04:00

We had lots of celebrations this week, for one very special girl. I love you like crazy, little missie! Happy 6 years old!

42/52 A red barn.

2011-10-23T21:35:00.000-04:00

41/52 Pumpkins, big and small.

2011-10-14T21:10:00.000-04:00

And now for the big ones...

40/52 Money, money, money.

2011-10-10T21:30:00.001-04:00

39/52 A fall tradition.

2011-10-04T06:44:00.003-04:00

Making applesauce every fall has been a tradition in my family ever since I can remember. Growing up, I knew nothing other than homemade applesauce. I had no idea you could buy applesauce in a jar! I must admit that all that homemade goodness turned me into a bit of an applesauce-snob, and I refuse to buy the stuff at the grocery, unless it's for cooking or a very occasional small cup purchase to bring on trips for the kids. It's a whole-day affair, with enough made to enjoy hopefully until next year's apple harvest. The cooked apples, cinnamon and nutmeg make the whole house smell delicous! I am so thrilled to be able to pass on this tradition to my kids, who now look forward to grinding it through the mill every year.

37&38/52 The Magic Mailbox.

2011-09-22T20:14:00.000-04:00

There is a magic mailbox at A's school. At every Friday "town meeting" (a school-wide end-of-week assembly, but really more like a rally, with videos/slideshows/music), a question is posed to the students. Over the following week they create their answers and place them in the mailbox. Their answers may be in the form of a drawing, story/poem, song, or clay sculpture. Last Friday, the question was, "If you were King or Queen of IAA, what would you serve for lunch?". On the way home from school, A decided it would be cucumber salad. The girl loves cucumbers! Then she asked if we had any clay. Well, "no, but we could make some, I guess," was eventually my answer (it took me a while to figure out that we could, indeed, actually make some!). And so our weekend project began. Other than cutting the "cucumbers," she did the entire project herself, and she was so proud to place it in the mailbox on Monday morning.

Back to School.

2011-09-18T20:20:00.000-04:00

Enough with the school shots, right?! I wanted to do an "official" back-to-school shoot of A at her new school. Kindergarten is a big deal, after all! Despite being exhausted the first week of school, she insisted on going to do it one evening. She has been very excited about her new school clothes, and I think she wanted an excuse to wear them, as it's been too warm during the day so far to do so. Fatigue did end up getting the better part of her before too long, but I think we got a couple keepers.

36/52 Off to preschool.

2011-09-14T20:53:00.000-04:00

This boy was jumping-out-of-his-skin-excited to go to preschool. And I'm not sure I've ever seen such love for a lunchbox before!

Yes, there is a watermark now on the pics. After noticing some hits from Brazil on the blog, I'm getting more paranoid about people stealing photos. This is just a way to make it a little less tempting.

35/52 Kindergarten!

2011-09-05T20:48:00.000-04:00

Our oldest started Kindergarten this week. Oh, how bittersweet it is. Thankfully, she was SO excited, and I know she's so very ready.

Don't you wish you had a pair of purple sparkly shoes like that?!

"The road ahead."

34/52 From the other side.

2011-08-29T20:14:00.000-04:00

Every summer, friends and I take the kids on a ferry ride to Essex, NY. There's a beautiful park they play in, a small beach to splash in, and the day is always topped off with a trip to the ice cream shop (that we are convinced is actually a cover for something else). We are so used to seeing the Adirondacks as our mountain view, it's nice to see what our lovely "Green Mountain State" looks like, from the other side of the lake.

"A, come lay your head on Mommy's tummy to rest a little." And this is what she got - so cute!

I just thought this one was funny, so I'm sharing. I'll call it "the levitating boy." Note to self: jumping shots don't work from this angle.

33/52 When It Rains

2011-08-22T20:48:00.000-04:00

on vacation...

find alternate uses for your rain boots,

get wet,

and do lots of reading.

32/52 Blue sky silhouette.

2011-08-17T19:53:00.000-04:00

31/52 A Messy Party!

2011-08-07T20:19:00.000-04:00

I gave them a bunch of (washable!) paint and some cans of whipped cream, and told them to go for it!

P.S. Whipped cream turns into sour whipped cream a few hours later, which a quick shampoo in the sink may not get our. Ewwwww!

30/52 Swimming lessons.

2011-07-31T21:14:00.000-04:00

It is with great joy that I introduce to you Mr. Fish and Ms. Mermaid.

29/52 He's 4!

2011-07-24T22:33:00.000-04:00

Well, he will be in a few days, and we already had a party to celebrate! Happy Birthday, my Rock-and-Roller!

28/52 Fairy Princess Dance Camp.

2011-07-17T22:29:00.000-04:00

And just for a bit of randomness...

27/52 A bike parade.

2011-07-04T21:19:00.000-04:00

Every July 3rd, our "North Quarter" neighborhood pulls together a kids' bike parade followed by a party in the park. We live in a very mixed neighborhood, in a University town, with college students and families. It's events like this that make all the trials that come with living next door to college students so worth it!

Face painting, done by kids, beforehand.

Can I just tell you that I love that he loves his pink bike?! Never a word said about a pink hand-me-down from his sister!

The girl in the flag robe is actually playing the trumpet, and reading the music that is pinned on the woman's shirt in front of her.

The Grand Marshall, keeping everyone in line, making sure the big kids don't get too far in front.

"I can ride in the middle of the street?!"

Sno-cones in the park.

The cake game; hands down every kid's favorite game there! The winner gets a cake, so you can see the appeal.

26/52 "A super, duper fun day."

2011-07-02T21:44:00.001-04:00

That was the declaration by Alexandre at the end of our first camping day of the summer. And indeed it was. The "super-ness" started when we spotted a MOOSE on the way! And no, I didn't have my camera ready. Nor was it ready for the BEAR that ran in front of our car the next day! It was ready, however, for many other camping highlights...

Lots of jumping. Into a few inches of water.

Foot burying.

The requisite s'mores.

A hike. With appearances by Mr. Grumpy.

And even some tranquility.

25/52 Ho Hum.

2011-06-26T21:36:00.000-04:00

Something's always gotta' give, doesn't it? Over the past few weeks, since I've been getting myself into shape (go TurboFire!) and working on a few projects for Anika's preschool, I have hardly picked up my camera. I figured this pic was appropriate for this week, as it's pretty fitting for how I'm feeling about my photography, or lack there-of, lately.

24/52 Mmmmmmm

2011-06-20T21:38:00.000-04:00

One of summer's finest treats... the creemee (that's Vermont-speak for soft serve ice cream!).

23/52 You know it's summer when...

2011-06-12T21:56:00.000-04:00

the lemonade stand begins! This was their first time to have a lemonade stand, and everyone was so excited!

Drinking the profits before even the first customer!

"Lemonade! Lemonade for sale!"

Filling an order.

So careful not to spill!

22/52 Yam Scram.

2011-06-05T20:38:00.000-04:00

That's the kids' version of the Vermont City Marathon. It is such a wonderful event, with 3 different race distances for the kids. Every kid gets a medal, so everyone feels super special! Anika and her friend Olivia held hands the entire way!

21/52 Construction.

2011-05-30T20:26:00.000-04:00

The boy loves construction. So when a paving project, which was already exciting, turned into a huge sinkhole, mega-project, it was entertainment for days! We decided to do our own construction while watching the real stuff happen.

20/52 Vintage.

2011-05-21T20:49:00.000-04:00

This week's theme had me stepping outside my comfort zone (where are the kids?!), but it was the perfect opportunity to showcase two of my most prized possessions, my Grandmother's watch and ring.

See girls run.

2011-05-20T20:29:00.000-04:00

Run, girls, run.

19/52 Colorful fun.

2011-05-14T08:31:00.000-04:00

This mural is right outside the restaurant that the kids and I went to for Mother's Day breakfast (DH is working every single day this month :(, so couldn't join us). They were so excited to check it out, and Anika wanted to be IN the mural for the pictures!

18/52 Me, finally.

2011-05-08T20:05:00.000-04:00

I finally stepped in front of the camera! My kids were very excited to try a self-timed shot, so I was quite enthusiastic about the potential results. I didn't even care that my hair cut was the very next day. Their enthusiasm lasted for one entire shot. One. Needless to say, that was the test shot, where half of me is cut off and we're blurry, but the kids are smiling beautifully. Oh, well. This is what we got instead. A leg in the way, a squished girl, and a hand in a mouth, but still very us.

17/52 N is for Night.

2011-04-28T21:22:00.000-04:00

And a few others from the A-Z challenge over at Clickin' Moms.

B is for Bud

C is for Cup of Coffee

16/52 Egg on deck.

2011-04-22T21:58:00.000-04:00

And a few finished ones, with their fabric friends.

15/52 "Is this a real smile?"

2011-04-15T21:49:00.000-04:00

My girl loves to practice smiling in the mirror, and she comes up with all sorts of funny smiles. Unfortunately, this often translates directly into what I see through the lens. So when she smiles the real deal, it's irresistible.
I couldn't resist adding this one, too. He's got kind of a goofy smile here, but there's something about this image that just grabs me.

14/52 Grass?

2011-04-08T20:54:00.000-04:00

Our prompt for a photo this week was grass. Old man winter had been holding strong until the last few days, leaving us with snow piles here and there that seem like they will never leave. Thankfully the prompt wasn't "pretty grass."

13/52 Hands.

2011-04-01T21:50:00.000-04:00

I just love little kids' hands. Even when they're past the puffy-knuckle stage. I can just see his concentration through his little fingers!

12/52 It's sugaring time!

2011-03-25T23:07:00.001-04:00

Lots of these (maple trees),

make a whole bunch of this (sap),

which is gathered and cooked down here, at the "sugar shack,"

to make 3 very happy people eating sugar on snow. (for those not it the know, that's maple syrup poured over snow, which hardens into a caramel-like consistency)

Did you know:
That it takes 40 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of maple syrup?
That Vermont is the largest producer of maple syrup in the U.S.?
That no one really uses those buckets anymore, and that tubing is used instead?
That there is NO sense in eating pancakes without REAL maple syrup?!

11/52 Green.

2011-03-18T21:35:00.000-04:00

These boots are very patiently waiting for this...

The annual St. Patrick's Day cement mixer parade!

They're all honking their horns, so it's REALLY loud!

More Florida sunshine.

2011-03-16T21:16:00.002-04:00

Nearly every time after I push the "publish post" button, I have "post regret." That is, I think to myself, "I should have edited that image a bit more," or "why did I include THAT image?" Decision making has never been my forte, so why should it be any different here?! So, here are a few more vaca images that didn't make it into the last post.

Fun in the Florida Sun.

2011-03-14T22:17:00.002-04:00

What a wonderful break from the long winter our Florida vacation was. There's nothing like the sun, the beach and a pool to take your mind off the 30" of snow falling back home! Unfortunately, that snow kept my husband from joining us, which was one huge bummer. But the kids rebounded from the news, my parents were there to play, and we managed to keep having fun in the sun!

10/52 A classic.

2011-03-13T20:48:00.002-04:00

The dump truck. A timeless childhood toy. Made even more fun when it's filled with sand at the beach!

And since I'm talking about the beach, I couldn't leave out the results of a sand bucket, another timeless toy!

9/52 Self portrait, sort of.

2011-02-28T21:53:00.001-05:00

We're headed to the sunshine tomorrow, for a little over a week - woo hoo! This is what I've been doing all day, so it's about the best I could come up with for a self-portrait in the midst of the packing madness.

8/52 "It's all how you look at it."

2011-02-25T21:17:00.001-05:00

She's playin' in a cardboard box
Cut-out windows and cut-out doors
It's her beautiful house
Fifteen rooms and eighteen floors

It's all how you look at it
It's all how you look at it
And How you look at it
Is really up to you

(Lyrics from Putamayo Kids Folk Playground, "It's All How You Look At It," by Brady Rymer.)

And just because I love this little peek.

7/52 For the love of carpentry.

2011-02-18T21:19:00.002-05:00

I joined a group of other "Project 52ers" today, and they use a different theme each week for their photos. I'm hoping it gives me a little creativity boost. The theme this week is "love," and I'm using a picture I had already taken for the week. My son loves working with his Daddy, and takes his job very seriously!

6/52 Plan B.

2011-02-11T21:17:00.001-05:00

I had a few ideas for some Valentine shots today. "Mom, there's an almond up my nose" sorta' changed my plans! With a visit to the ER (our very first!), said almond was expelled and life has since returned to normal. So, instead of Valentine shots, I'm going with "things they love," since love is what Valentines Day is about anyway, right?!

Alexandre LOVES his drums. And he's got a very specific routine when he starts and stops playing them, including placing his things just so on the stool and putting on/removing his "drum shoes."

Anika loves Gorilla, and he is frequently by her side. She also loves dressing "fancy" in her skirts, tights, and fancy shoes.

The B/P family.

2011-02-07T22:11:00.001-05:00

I got to go to a friend's house and take pictures of her family. Just for fun. Just to see what I could come up with. Here are a few. Thanks for being my guinea pigs, B/P family!

Sledding with the cousins.

2011-02-06T16:19:00.001-05:00

Yes, more pictures of my kids in the snow! I couldn't resist an extra post this week, for a few reasons. First, what a fun day we had with my brother and his family yesterday! They have a huge hill right near their house, and everybody had a blast! Second, I finally upgraded my photo software and look at what I can do now - a collage. I was so excited to try the collage that I didn't edit any of the pics first, so these are all SOOC.

And to give credit where credit is due, the template for the collage is here. Thank you!

5/52 Skiing in the street.

2011-02-03T22:13:00.005-05:00

Well, sidewalk in these pictures, but we really did ski in the street, too! There was so much snow that it was hard to tell that she even had skis on. I always say that if it's going to be winter, there'd better be snow. This winter certainly hasn't disappointed!

4/52 Winter fun.

2011-01-28T21:56:00.002-05:00

Winter sure is fun when it's this warm out (in the 30's!), and we've been taking advantage of our little "heat wave" this week.

3/52 Winter's beauty.

2011-01-21T21:38:00.001-05:00

I seem to forget every year how stunning snowflakes really are. What a marvel of nature!

These were all taken with my "poor mans macro," i.e. my lens flipped around and held by hand. It is SO hard to keep everything still enough to get anything in focus!

2/52 Sewing and some stations.

2011-01-14T21:03:00.001-05:00

My girl was SO proud to be using a sewing machine for the first time, to make a bag for her new doll.

This is one of many "stations" that the kids created for various trucks and construction equipment. Love these blocks!

1/52 Scenes from a playgroup.

2011-01-07T21:46:00.005-05:00

And so it begins again. I am thrilled to be doing another 52 weeks of photos! I think you'll be seeing lots of black and white over the next few months. It's so dark at this time of year in our house, which means noisy pictures, and I prefer B/W noise to color.

52/52! Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T08:19:00.002-05:00

Well, with this post I have successfully completed my "project 52." Quite an accomplishment, as I'm a really good starter-of-projects, but finishing them has always been a challenge for me! Plus, I had so much fun doing it that I'm going to just keep going with it in 2011. Thanks for peeking at my stuff!

These shots were taken for a creativity challenge at Clickinmoms, titled "off with their heads." My daughter is reading her first "real" book here, so these are special pics to me.

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

2010-12-29T07:58:00.000-05:00

50/52 The colors of preschool.

2010-12-20T08:21:00.001-05:00

49/52 Advent calendar day 12

2010-12-13T21:21:00.001-05:00

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.

2010-12-07T17:00:00.000-05:00

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.

2010-12-06T20:39:00.001-05:00

47/52 Snow in the city.

2010-12-02T20:34:00.001-05:00

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.

2010-11-24T21:28:00.000-05:00

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

45/52 Breast cancer sucks.

2010-11-12T07:55:00.000-05:00

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.

2010-11-05T21:29:00.001-04:00

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.

2010-10-30T22:12:00.001-04:00

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

42/52 Best friends.

2010-10-22T20:34:00.004-04:00

41/52 Field trip.

2010-10-15T20:55:00.003-04:00

Girl power leading the way!

40/52 A walk in the woods.

2010-10-08T20:28:00.001-04:00

39/52 Silhouettes.

2010-09-30T20:59:00.000-04:00

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

38/52 Finding some backlight.

2010-09-25T07:46:00.002-04:00

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

37/52 Open shade.

2010-09-19T07:59:00.000-04:00

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.

2010-09-10T21:21:00.000-04:00

Just 8 days old. So precious!

35/52 Finding the light.

2010-09-03T22:56:00.004-04:00

34/52 Trying some backlighting.

2010-09-02T21:16:00.002-04:00

33/52 One misty morning.

2010-08-20T21:29:00.001-04:00

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

32/52 R.I.P. Stella Mouse

2010-08-15T15:43:00.002-04:00

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.

2010-08-04T14:09:00.001-04:00

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

30/52 My boy is 3!

2010-08-01T21:00:00.001-04:00

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

29/52 Rock-n-Roll.

2010-07-28T21:21:00.001-04:00

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

28/52, part 2. Ooey Gooey Yumness.

2010-07-28T21:18:00.001-04:00

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.

2010-07-15T21:40:00.006-04:00

Taken with a poor man's macro.

27/52 Blueberry picking.

2010-07-10T22:00:00.001-04:00

This...

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

26/52 Montreal

2010-07-08T22:50:00.000-04:00

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

25/52 Strawberry picking.

2010-06-24T21:24:00.000-04:00

24/52 Daddy's little girl.

2010-06-18T22:17:00.000-04:00

Neither one of these pics are fabulous technically-speaking, but it's not always about that, is it? Happy Father's Day!

23/52 Opening day at the CSA.

2010-06-14T22:08:00.000-04:00

It is a sure sign of summer when we start getting fresh veggies from our CSA!

(A late post, but taken last week.)

22/52 Preschool portraits.

2010-06-04T21:40:00.005-04:00

Tonight was my daughter's preschool art show and end-of-year celebration. I feel so incredibly lucky to be a part of such an amazing community. I tried my hand at some portraits of them, and for a first attempt I think they're OK! Here are a few of my fav's (including my daughter, of course!).

(the color is cooler here than the final edit, but this is all I have on Flickr right now - oops!)

21/52 The job site.

2010-05-28T22:05:00.002-04:00

I am running out of room on my computer, and just haven't carved out time to put my photos on an external hard drive yet. So, I switched back to JPEG, and changed some settings to get the color to pop. Here's what I got; nothing was done to these PP'ing. This is my son's "job site." It consists of tools and a piece of wood, with him standing on a step stool. He will literally spend hours here!

Wish I hadn't cut off the end of the screwdriver here, but I love that I nailed the focus and got some yummy bokeh.

20/52 Looking for bugs.

2010-05-27T21:05:00.000-04:00

19/52 Preschool gardeners.

2010-05-18T17:12:00.004-04:00

I couldn't pick just one image this week, because I wanted these images to tell a story instead.

Reading "Planting Vegetable Soup."

All lined up and ready to dig.

Preschool planting is f-a-s-t!

Staking the big ones.

All done!

When they return in the fall, they'll harvest the veggies and herbs, and make the soup. Oh, how I love my daughter's preschool!