Original Photography

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Mamatography/ week 30: laundry, self-portraits and… Andy Z!

This is our early August in pictures – this week is the lead-up to our big trip to Europe, but you can tell it was a super-fun week in its own right, with a visit from Nica’s great godfather (he chose his own title – we told him it makes him sound old, he thinks it makes him sound awesome)…

Day 210

Nica’s first (official) self-portrait. I LOVE it. I say ‘official’ because there was a string of them and I chose this one. Not sure it was the first click, but it is awesome. Love the remote in her hand, too :)

day 211

drumming with a drummer:

and this one by NinjaDad:

day 212

a bicycle built for two?? I love watching these two together. They have totally different temperaments but I think that is part of why it works. He is ‘boysey’ and assertive and outgoing, Nica likes her personal space and time to get to know people, she is more inward looking and independent of spirit but loves taking inspiration from her buddy as to new things to play together (some of which she definitely does not attempt on her own :) [taken by Katy]:

day 213

day 214

at our weekly nature walks with toddlers group:

day 215

“That’s my idol back there”:

It’s Andy ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!! (and ComoSeLama) and me!

sticky bubblegum:

sorry about the inconsistent processing (for anyone paying attention to that). I essentially am only doing Raw sliders unless I really like a photo, like this one:

day 216

helping mommy with the laundry:

day 217

***

Are you up for a challenge? One that will take something from you every day, but give a whole lot back too? How about joining me for the photography challenge in 2012 then? A photo a day of whatever your day involved. You can jump in any time through the year!

If you’d still like to join us, you can start at any time, just sign up here and our host will email you further information.

Without further ado, here is the current list of all participants for Mamatography 2012 so far!

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Mamatography/ week 29: volcanos in the sand

Okay, slowly uploading photos from this year long project. Meanwhile, Nica has started out at a mommy-and-me playschool (2hrs a week – with me there) and guess what my ‘job’ is, there – it is a co-op so we all have to pitch in? Yep, you got it, class photographer and year book co-editor. Of course I LOVE this job! It completely plays to my passion and, I hope, talent but… it makes me even a bit slower in giving my attention to this my Mamatography project. I am now about 3 months behind in editing and posting them. But I keep snapping – at least one photo a day. These are from the end of July (just before we went to the UK for my friend’s wedding :)

Day 203

day 204

I didn’t take a photo this day, but thankfully NinjaDad did. He loves to take nature photos, mostly birds, insects and arachnids, as it turns out. Here is Mr. Cricket as Nica calls him:

day 205

Another day, a rainy day when I forgot/couldn’t be asked to take a proper photo. So here it is, proof that my hubby very, very occasionally drinks:

day 206

Another day with our outdoor/toddler trekking group. This fun packed day (which Nica still asks me to tell her about, as a bed time story – and remember I am posting this THREE months after the actual event) included making vulcanos in the sand. All you need to do this is Baking Soda and White Vinegar, food colouring is optional and we used little cups to hold the mixture. Fill with baking powder and then pour the vinegar over for great fun :)

But here is the bit that she really enjoyed:

day 208

Our co-sleeping nest… me feeling tired and slouchy; Nica feeling sprightly and cheeky (as usual) and wearing tie-dye (as usual):

day 209

And, as a perfect follow up to the previous picture (where you see the truth: me tired, house a mess), I want one of these machines to help me tidy faster so the whole house can be sparkly, spacious and lovely all the time:

***

Are you up for a challenge? One that will take something from you every day, but give a whole lot back too? How about joining me for the photography challenge in 2012 then? A photo a day of whatever your day involved. You can jump in any time through the year!

If you’d still like to join us, you can start at any time, just sign up here and our host will email you further information.

Without further ado, here is the current list of all participants for Mamatography 2012 so far!

Mamatography/ week 28: Shout!

I am back (from the UK where we went to a wedding – photos of that to come, in time) and I am picking up where I left off in processing and uploading these fun photos of our days. Here is mid July :)

day 196

NinjaDad spent ages lining these up perfectly then I swooped in and took a shot. This did not please him as, unbeknownst to me, that is why he was setting them up, to take a good photo. Ooops!

Day 197
new breakfast bowl – got to eat it all to find the giraffe:

day 199

mommy-and-me joint creation:

day 200

picnic AND a story?! :D

making airplane sounds – prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr:

day 201

she insisted on wearing her kitty top, despite its unseasonality  :p

day 202

‘Come and ride the horsey with me, mommy!’ [taken by grammy – via skype!!]

and this is my horse-riding hat/helmet:

***

Are you up for a challenge? One that will take something from you every day, but give a whole lot back too? How about joining me for the photography challenge in 2012 then? A photo a day of whatever your day involved. You can jump in any time through the year!

If you’d still like to join us, you can start at any time, just sign up here and our host will email you further information.

Without further ado, here is the current list of all participants for Mamatography 2012 so far!

Mamatography/week 27: in the woods

This was a fun week. Scroll down for some of the highlights. It was hard to chose so… you got lots of photos for your delectation.

Meanwhile, as my fellow Mamatographers seem to be developing their posts by adding more and more narrative text that joyfully situate each photo in a context, filled with lots of cute anecdotes about what their little ones are up to… I have ever more photos and less time for words. I LOVE reading those posts and think they are super fun but for now, I am going to stick with these mostly wordless posts. Fill in with your own (loving) captions :)

day 189

couldn’t leave home with my ‘baby’:

For my friend Vilma, a great haberdashery, ‘cos I think she’d like it:

day 190

Andy Z has a song about Banana Slugs… so NinjaDad promptly crochetted one for Nica, which she LOVES:

For reasons unknown to both of us, parents, Nica wanted to lay these down ‘corner to corner’:

day 191

I actually have another cracker for this day… but don’t have the mom’s permission to share so for now, you get girls riding turtles :)

day 192

Chillin’ on the sofa with a fun friend:

day 193

walk in the woods:

day 194

day 195

flying kites with daddy :)

***

Are you up for a challenge? One that will take something from you every day, but give a whole lot back too? How about joining me for the photography challenge in 2012 then? A photo a day of whatever your day involved. You can jump in any time through the year!

If you’d still like to join us, you can start at any time, just sign up here and our host will email you further information.

Without further ado, here is the current list of all participants for Mamatography 2012 so far!

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Mamatography/ week 26: Trains, bikes and Andy Zs

This adventure that we call life continues… and true to the photography project I signed up for at the start of the year, I keep trying to grab snap shots that capture a little of the magic and spark of each day. Here’s how July started for us (yes, I said July… I am that far behind):

day 182
Love this little ride-on train in San Mateo. Nica LOVES it, too. She went around three times (and I am sure would have gone many more!)

day 183

water play on a hot day. What could be better?

day 184
playing with a (fake) flower:

day 185
biking with my buddy (and no pedals). Yep, Nica is still processing the fact that her bicycle has no pedals… and brings it up every single time.

Love these two together. They are very yin and yang, somehow, disposition-wise, but I think that is part of why it works. He inspires her to jump in mud puddles (more on that in future – and past – posts). She gets him singing and dancing. Sweet.


day 186
ANDY Z!!!!!!! He is the muse and inspiration that lead to all that tie-dying last week. Here he is on stage, doing his thing!

Nica miming the bubble gum song: 

Nica with her super-hero/idol. Since she herself has been going by Andy Z for some time, he ever-so-sweetly wrote in her new CD ‘you are a better Andy Z than me’. Bless him.

Can you spot the difference?

day 187
Sharing popcorn (also coincidentally her nickname in Portuguese – Pipoca):

day 188
admiring daisies – one of the a flowers she actually knows the name to. I love that she is so gentle with flowers, partly (mostly?) by nature and partly because since she was born I have spoken to her about treating plants with love and respect and touching them tenderly.

***

Are you up for a challenge? One that will take something from you every day, but give a whole lot back too? How about joining me for the photography challenge in 2012 then? A photo a day of whatever your day involved. You can jump in any time through the year!

If you’d still like to join us, you can start at any time, just sign up here and our host will email you further information.

Without further ado, here is the current list of all participants for Mamatography 2012 so far!

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Mamatography/week 25: TIE-DYE!!… and farms and stuff

Week 25, nearly half way through this beautiful, inspiring, crazy photo-a-day project I am into here.

Here’s a fun week at the end of June:

Day 175

Okay, if you have been following along you’ll know that Nica has a PASSION for Andy Z (a local kids’ musician). His on-stage trade-mark is to where tie-dye and a baseball cap pointing backwards – which explains why you so often see Nica sporting such gear. Her dad, who doesn’t miss a trick, went out and bought a tie-dye kit… so that weekend (at the end of June) Nica and NinjaDad had a fun crafting session producing their very own tie-dye T-shits. Here they are in action:

love the oversized gloves…

later that day:

day 176
one they made earlier :)

day 177
and here she is wearing her very own, home-made tie-dye:


first time conquering a new ladder:

day 178
in a friend’s splashing pool:

followed by home-made popsicles. Thank you, K.

day 179
This day I had to go to the dentist AND have a TB test (for a co-op I am joining soon)… so NinjaDad went out with Nica to the local farm with a play-group. So these photos are all his (my edit):

which includes these beautiful flowers by NinjaDad:

day 181
This day we went to a local farm with some friends – and for some reason they even do laundry ye old old-fashioned way:

It turns out even calfs (as used to AP as they are) sometimes have to be bottlefed. It happens…

***

Are you up for a challenge? One that will take something from you every day, but give a whole lot back too? How about joining me for the photography challenge in 2012 then? A photo a day of whatever your day involved. You can jump in any time through the year!

If you’d still like to join us, you can start at any time, just sign up here and our host will email you further information.

Without further ado, here is the current list of all participants for Mamatography 2012 so far!

Mamtography/week 24: flowers

OMG it has been so long since I have uploaded photos, it feels good to finally catch up on this project (you know the one – a photo-a-day for a year). Ask me if I am doing this again next year, go on… No, I will not. But I darn well intend to finish it this year. And I have learnt a lot along the way and have been pushing my photo-editing skills along, so that is definitely a good thing. That and I have a bunch of sweet photos of my kid which I really love :)

So, here is this week… *ahem*… from mid June:

Day 168

the run and hug game is still a fave for child and adult. Does it happen in your house, too? We often use it as a quick re-connect game, as it has it all: running, giggles, touch :)

These two photos above are of course simple iPhone 3 offerings but hey, the first captured a sweet moment.

day 169

day 170

These little carts just making shopping sooooo much easier. Do you find that? Nica loves being helpful and grown up and having her own little shopping trolley to push about.

day 171

flower day (‘cos you know I love them):

day 172

day 174

Low inspiration day. this is my money corner (according to the last Feng Shui book I read), so I am fortifying it with a red packet :) Hope Buddha will forgive this show of materialism…

***

Are you up for a challenge? One that will take something from you every day, but give a whole lot back too? How about joining me for the photography challenge in 2012 then? A photo a day of whatever your day involved. You can jump in any time through the year!

If you’d still like to join us, you can start at any time, just sign up here and our host will email you further information.

Without further ado, here is the current list of all participants for Mamatography 2012 so far!

Mamatography/week 23: Farms, farms and trees

23 weeks of family life in photos… and counting – some shoddy, some (in my humble opinion) fabulous! but it is all about capturing the mundane, the everydayness of being a mum, with its highs and lows.

day 160

[taken with my phone]

day 161

practicing crane stance :p

[also just with the phone]

day 162

day 164

fun day at the farm with friends:

[another iPhone3 only day]

day 165

[okay, so I used my phone a lot this week]

day 166

[as here, too]

day 167

Another day, another farm :)

***

Are you up for a challenge? One that will take something from you every day, but give a whole lot back too? How about joining me for the photography challenge in 2012 then? A photo a day of whatever your day involved. You can jump in any time through the year!

If you’d still like to join us, you can start at any time, just sign up here and our host will email you further information.

Without further ado, here is the current list of all participants for Mamatography 2012 so far!

Mamatography/ week 22: playing shop… and good friends

Okay, this was a great week with lots of fun times with friends thrown in.

Meanwhile, I am doing a big push to try and catch up with my photo processing. If you have been following a long you know that I am behind (by about a month) in post-processing and uploading photos here on my blog, of my 365 project (a photo-a-day for a year). Time is scarce, as a full-time mom (I bet you know that feeling!) but still, I am going to prioritise getting this done for a week or two, see if I can push this through. Wish me luck!

day 153

Nica has been really into playing shop, for the last few weeks. She pays with ‘beads’ for items she wants to buy – in this case here, books – typically sold to her by me or her dad :) You can also see her yellow shopping bag in her hand, there.

Plus, notice the big (cardboard) box making another special appearance.

uh… and I feel the need to explain that big hunk of plastic in the background. First: well, we all have our comfortable level of inconsistency, right? Nobody can (or should, in my view) adhere to any philosophy so tightly that they are no longer following their feelings as they arise, spontaneously. So, yeah, we are into our own version of simplicity parenting but… we like to have fun, too. And Nica just loved this plane that was handed down to us from some friends. Me being me, I took out the batteries immediately as I couldn’t stand and see no value in the high pitch tones, half-tunes and flashy lights they use to power but we kept the plane. Nica didn’t have any other ride-on toys at the time and she really took a shine to it.

Does the same happen at your house? Are there some glaring inconsistencies among the toys you keep? Or are you more laid back and find that the toy-box is a free-fall, anything-goes area?

day 154

Nica had to take her bear (complete with his blankey) out with us, this day.

day 155

Summer fair fun:

If by any chance you are wondering why Nica is always wearing a variation of this outfit, the reason is… as ever: Andy Z and the need to wear tie-dye to look just like him!

Biker chic:

“I love trains… but am too young to ride without mommy, so…”

day 156

Here, it is Nica who is the shop keeper:

day 157

Day at the farm:

and playing in the creek is always the best part, right?

day 158

Some good friends L & D chilling at the park:

day 159

Nica and her close friend E. (some quick shots taken with my phone when we bumped into E. and his family out and about!)

***

Are you up for a challenge? One that will take something from you every day, but give a whole lot back too? How about joining me for the photography challenge in 2012 then? A photo a day of whatever your day involved. You can jump in any time through the year!

If you’d still like to join us, you can start at any time, just sign up here and our host will email you further information.

Without further ado, here is the current list of all participants for Mamatography 2012 so far!

Mamatography/week 21: swinging along

This is week 21 of my 365 project – a photo-a-day for a year. Nearly half way. In fact, in terms of taking photos, I am half way… I just need to catch up with processing and posting them. Watch this space.] As much as I might moan and complain about the fact that this project is sucking up a lot of my time, I really do like a lot of photos this week. I must be developing my ‘inner eye’ for photography, just a little, along the way, right?

day 146

Here my artist friend and her son drawing trains. The one shown here is drawn by her but the amazing thing that day was watching her three year old son draw incredibly detailed trains (his passion) as well as writing out the WHOLE alphabet with an incredible focus. It was a joy to behold!

day 147

Nica chillin’ in Toys R Us, reading a book (taken with my phone).

day 148

day 149

bouncy castle joy:

day 150

checking out the sting rays:

day 151

day 152

dancing with daddy:

***

Are you up for a challenge? One that will take something from you every day, but give a whole lot back too? How about joining me for the photography challenge in 2012 then? A photo a day of whatever your day involved. You can jump in any time through the year!

If you’d still like to join us, you can start at any time, just sign up here and our host will email you further information.

Without further ado, here is the current list of all participants for Mamatography 2012 so far!