What do the above four photos have in common with each other?  They are part of my 365 project this year where I take a photograph everyday.  I joined two Flickr groups to help keep me accountable with my goal.  One group is for daily photos where members shoot whatever they like and post it.  The other is a 52 week group where a theme is given at the beginning of the week and everyone has the option of using the theme to motivate them or go off on their own path.  It's so inspiring to see work from different, amazing photographers.  

My take on the daily photograph is to take a photo of the story of the day.  For example, the fourth photo at the top was when me and my kids made butter from cream.  It's great fun looking back on just last month to see those memories.  Looking back on my progress is encouraging too since there are times when I don't know what to shoot, or like yesterday, it was late and I hadn't taken a picture yet.  So I took a picture of the moon.  If you want to compile memories of your year or sharpen your photography skills, I'd highly recommend taking a photo a day.

Last year around this time, while making these carmel filled cookies, I enlisted the help of my kids.  Not only was the process faster, it was more fun.  And so, a new Christmas tradition was born.  It's so much fun, you might want to try it with your family too.

My kids are at the age where dress up is one of their favorite activities.  So they were so thrilled to get these Santa hats this year.  It was their idea to wear them while they worked and sang their own song, "The Chocolate Factory."

The cookie recipe is from my mother-in-law, and I believe she got it from someone at church.  Coming from those sources, lets just say, these cookies are irresistible!  I've modified it for my family, so I'm replacing the chopped pecan topping with sprinkles.  And here it is...

CARMEL FILLED CHOCOLATE COOKIES

2 1/4 cups of flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup of sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup margarine or butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

48 Rolo candies, unwrapped (9oz. package or larger)

sprinkles

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup; level off.  In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa and baking soda; blend well.  In a large bowl, beat white and brown sugar with butter until light and fluffy.  And vanilla and eggs; beat well.  Add flour mixture; blend well.  For each cookie, with floured hands, shape about 1 tablespoonful of dough around a caramel candy, covering completely.

In a small bowl filled with sprinkles, dip ball into the sprinkles and place on ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.  Bake at 375 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes or until set and slightly cracked.  Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets.  Cool completely on wire racks.

What we love most about this recipe is that everyone has a job that is simple enough for them all, but each job really makes a difference.  (Fortunately, they all like the jobs they do or else this wouldn't be such a happy tradition.)  

A little silliness with her dad while waiting for the cookies to bake.  

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!!

This session was done while we were in Michigan a while back.  I was so excited when my dear friend asked me to shoot her family photos in her neighbor's barn.  Where I live, there are not many barns around, so this was really a treat.  I have to say, this is the largest borrowed photo prop I ever used.  Fortunately, the neighbors use it for entertaining, not for keeping animals.  Whew!

Aren't they sweet?  This fellow did not want to cuddle up with his sister at all.  But he gave us a smile anyway.  Mature beyond his years I think.  Closeness like this might feel awkward at the time, but it's so moving when you actually see the final photo.

The mom in this family happens to be a friend I've known always.  We grew up together only a few doors away from each other.  I consider myself so blessed by her friendship growing up and now too.  This photo above reminds me of how easy it was for us to laugh as little girls together...at anything...at nothing.  Ah the bliss of childhood.  Such fun memories.

This pose of the happy couple above is a reenactment of a photo I took of them while I was starting art school taking a photography class and they were dating.  I'm not doing the math on how long ago that was.  They still look fabulous, though, don't they?

This lovely lady is my very sweet grand niece.  About a month or so ago, we all took a trip a state away to see her at 5 weeks old.  I've recently seen pictures of her and it looks like she already has grown out of the newborn stage. 

I decided to show all of these photos in black and white.  Because there were so many quiet and sweet moments, I thought black and white would reflect them best.  Reminds me of college days when I worked with black and white film.  Kinda miss that. 

The sleepy baby was lulled into REM by my husband - the baby whisperer.  Because our first baby never wanted to sleep, my husband learned this crazy technique from a video called "Happiest Baby on the Block."  Now, every chance we get, we give this video to new parents.  And we get the same response from them all.  "Oh we didn't need the video, we had a sleepy baby." They didn't even need to open and watch the DVD - it's that good.

This is my baby girl.  It was her fourth birthday today.  Recently I took a quick visit to Michigan to see my mom.  I had a chance to flip through some old photos of me and I was not this put together at four.  No way!  We that know her might say that she is sassy.  If she hears us, she lets us know right out... "I am NOT SASSY!"  Gotta love the spunk anyway.  Happy Birthday sweet girl!

A few weeks ago we found out that the Morton Arboretum was hosting demonstrations on Siberian husky sled pulling.  Now, I'm not someone who is crazy about animals, but I thought this might be a fun event for our family.  From what I learned that day, these dogs seem to absolutely love pulling stuff.  Oh if I could figure out how one of them could help me in my everyday life, I might be tempted to adopt one.  But, in my opinion, those who really love animals should own them.  You know, people who think nothing of throwing their dog birthday parties, or clothing them and such.  That's just not me. 

All of this inspired me to read Call of the Wild with my oldest son before the event began.  That way we'd have some background knowledge of sled pulling.  Seems as though my son finished the story on his own at school reading the kid version.  That's good, because, I didn't remember how vicious the dogs were in that story. 

Anyway, unlike the dogs in the Call of the Wild, I was pleasently surprise that these huskies were very sweet and gentle.  After the demonstration, they didn't seem to mind when people came up to pet them. And the dogs patiently looked on as the shutter happy, like me, snapped their pictures.

I included the photo of the dog above because, oh my, it looks just like Tigger, the dog we had when I was a kid.  Run like the wind, Tigger!

This is a picture of my oldest before his first day of 2nd grade.  Looking a little sleepy there fella.  Oh me too.  Glad the camera wasn't pointed at me at this moment.  Mad rush in the mornings again.  Breakfast served, lunch packed, clothed children, no holes in the jeans, good.  (I learned the hard way last year that that rule is strictly enforced.) Oh gotta go!!!  So off to school he went.  In the meantime...and it doesn't seem fair at all...

Good times at home.  It's amazing that the simple things in life make my little ones so happy.  Really, why go to all the trouble of going to Disney World when they are having a blast with the sprinkler.

For any photographers out there, I was practicing with my 50mm at a f1.2 for the sprinkler shots.  I was inspired by the recent CreativeLive on line seminar with Jasmine Star.  I was amazed at just how wide open she would shoot.  I don't think I would have tried shooting this wide open if I hadn't seen the seminar.  It's great fun as long as I stay steady.  One of her tips to stay steady was to hold her breath while she shot the picture.  So I tried that - made me a little light headed after awhile :)

"Tired of hearing your kids whine and complain at the dinner table?  Desperate for fast and healthy recipes your entire family will love?"  That is the intro to the podcast, "Cooking with the Moms." When I heard those words, I was captivated.  The moms are Janice Newell Bissex and Liz Weiss are registered dietitians who also author the website Meal Makeover Moms.  From these moms I discovered many tips and tricks on how to get my kids to try new healthy food in a fun way.

One way is to get kids involved with making a meal. Because Janice and Liz are working on a new cookbook they asked their fans to taste test recipes. We also had to take photos of the process and send them into them for their book. And since I always thought being a food stylist would be a fun career, I wanted to try a photoshoot with food.

Below is recipe we tried out, Fruity Chicken Kebabs, and I have to say two out of my three kids loved this. The other child, who shall be nameless, needed coaxing, but had to admit this was really good.  Just in case you are curious, the recipe calls for deli chicken or turkey, sliced 3/4-inch thick, wooden skewers, strawberries and grapes.  You'll just have to get their book for other great recipes.  It's going to be called "No Whine with Dinner."  Love the book title - it's so hopeful.

The crochet doily in the above photo is a family keepsake made by my husband's great grandfather.  Isn't it beautiful?

The above embrodered runner is also a family keepsake made by my husband's great grandmother.  I just love all the colors.  Getting back to the kids, here is my three year old (above) really enjoying her work.  I was pleasantly surprised that she could skewer fruit so well.

Even the boys joined in with the careful supervision of Spiderman.

Today my little guy had his last day...ahem...hour of school.  All year I've kept his papers...I'm not sure why.  I think I wanted to compare work from the beginning of the year to the end of the year and show him the progression.  Well that didn't happen.  Instead I went down to our basement and brought up the overflowing banker's box that I kept everything in. I spread it all over and had him just lay in it.  Is it lay or lie?  I wasn't the best student.  My son, on the other hand, takes after his dad and loves school.  He was kinda sad today that it was all over.  He did great this year and we are so proud of him.  I'm just thrilled to have him to myself a little more.

On Easter Sunday morning I planned for two things.  One was getting the kids dressed up, and two, was attempting a mini photo shoot with them before church.  I know, I know, I can dress them up any time and take pictures of them.  But will I?  No.  I promised myself that a few years back and I watched them grow out of those dressy Easter clothes.  So this year I was determined.  It was now or never.  My sassy, sweet, two year old gave me about five minutes of cooperation before she was on the run.  And the boys were all sorts of silly, partly because I let them run outside with just their socks on.  Oh the simple pleasures of childhood.