30 day gratitude photo challenge part 2

This is part 2 (of 4 parts) to my 30 day photo challenge. In 14 days, I have taken more pictures of both of my boys with my Canon 70D than I have...ever. Is that sad? It is. So I know that this challenge is accomplishing what it originally intended (see previous post of days 1-7 by clicking HERE).

Day Eight - Sleep

I was dreading this day. How am I going to take pictures of sleep? Sometimes, Finn will fall asleep on the way home from Leah's and I'll get him nestled on the couch with his "Pooh Blankie", but of course on day eight that doesn't happen. So, 8:30 pm - my favorite time of day (did I say that out loud?) rolls around and both boys are out. OUT. I wait another 10 minutes and then sneak into each boy's room, flip on the hall light, and snap 2 pictures with a really high ISO. Very grainy, very dark, but very sleep. And I love how the pictures turned out. I mean, truly sweet sleeping babies.

Here's Finn:

Here's Kellan:

Do you see why I eat them up every chance I get? I so treasure these pictures. And I'm truly grateful for sleep, mine especially now that both boys sleep pretty solidly through the night.



Day Nine - Holidays
The most recent holiday was the 4th of July and here are a few of my decorations I put up in my house for this holiday. One is a clothespin wreath I made last year, idea from Pinterest. Super simple and quick to make, but it doesn't really look good with our door color. Most wreaths don't. I'm thinking about having the HOA approve a black door. I think it'll go better with most wreaths and door hangings. Anyway, here's my wreath:

And I bought this Independence Day garland from Jane.com - and if you don't know about this site, please click HERE and explore it. Omigod, I'm pretty sure this is the reason I stay broke. There are clothing for me and the boys, shoes, jewelry, photography props - all very reasonably priced. This garland was $9.99 last year and I used it for last summer's mini sessions. Now I use it for a mantle decoration.

This fourth of July is well documented in my second blog post. Click HERE to read. I am grateful for the country we live in. Not getting into any politics, but I am very thankful to live here.


Day Ten - Kindness
My goal on day ten was to capture kindness between my boys. But first, here's something I found on Pinterest a few weeks back that I love, and I want to somehow hang this in my office, just not sure how.

I think the world would be a better place if more people were kind. I love how Ellen concludes every show wish, "Be kind to one another."

Finn is touch and go with his kindness toward his brother. He'll be kind for about 10 seconds and then body slam him to the ground, you know...what big brothers do best.

So it's hard to catch kindness between them in a picture. Not impossible, but difficult. Here are two that to me, show kindness between brothers:

 Here, Finn is "sharing" his fishing rod with Kellan. Finn isn't the best share-er. Is that a word? But I asked him if he would be a sweet big brother and show Kellan how to go fishing. And he did, for about 5 seconds.

Here, I'm not so sure this is truly kindness. Finn didn't want Kellan to play with his latch board, so he was kindly pushing him off the ottoman to the floor. But, he threw and kiss and a hug in there as he pushed him to the ground. Which I thought was hilarious.

I'm grateful whenever anyone is kind...but especially those brief moments of kindness Finn shows Kellan. Often through a slight smile, too-rough hug, or a sweet kiss on the cheek. Finn shows kindness most when we're driving in the car and Kellan cries. Finn will try to make him laugh or sing to him and that totally melts me.



Day Eleven - Friendship
This past weekend was spent on Lake Bowen in South Carolina with our friends Dean & Jenn and their two children Cate & Maddie. Cate is 5 and Maddie is 3. Last summer, Maddie & Finn did not get along. It was the age. They each wanted each other's toys but didn't want to share their own toys. This summer? So. Much. Better. They all played together well and the girls wanted to be so helpful with Kellan. Here are a few moments from the weekend as these four bonded as friends. I'm so grateful for our friendship with the Shatleys.

Day Twelve - Music
I love Pandora. I listen to it (sometimes) on runs, at work, while I'm in the shower, getting ready for my day, during meals, anytime I can. I took a picture of Pandora playing on my phone and I'm a tad embarrassed that you'll be seeing my favorite Pandora station. No, I'm not 15.

Yes, I love Taylor Swift. I don't care that she makes millions off of dating guys, dumping them, then writing songs about them. Whatever works. What I do love about her is what she does with her money. She surprises her fans with gifts, pays for their cancer treatments, shows up to surprise them...she is kind.

So the reason I listen to her station on Pandora is not because I like her, which I do, but I love all the music that plays on it even if it isn't hers. It's very fast paced, upbeat. I like working out to it, and it keeps me motivated to stay moving even if I'm just sitting down at my desk or editing pictures.

My other picture is of Kellan playing a "guitar":

This is actually a guitar we bought for Finn. Both he and Kellan love it. In fact, both of them love music. They love to play on the drum set Finn got from his friend Beau. They love both toy guitars we have at the house. Finn loves his harmonica his Baba got him. He loves banging on our piano. I think they will be musicians of some sort.

And that makes me happy. They get it naturally. Their Baba (my dad) is a musician and their dad is a musician.


Day Thirteen - Time

I really didn't want to take pictures of clocks. This one was kind of difficult. There are times of day I'm thankful for (8:30 pm being one of them). But there are also times in life, seasons, etc. that I'm grateful for. One is the early quiet mornings. I didn't used to be a morning person. In fact, if I didn't have children I probably still would not be. But now, most days, I wake up at 5:00 if not earlier, to have peace and quiet before the day truly begins. I drink coffee, check emails, maybe go for a run. This particular morning Kellan was up at 5:30 - and the rest of the world was asleep. We killed time for several hours and watched as daylight crept over the lake. Quiet, cool, one of my new favorite times of day.

This picture was also a morning picture. Kids still in pajamas. But I like this because it's quiet time with friends (and a dog photobomber). All 3  "sharing" a fishing rod and taking turns "catching fish". It's not often all 3 of them sit still in the same space, and peacefully share one toy.


Day Fourteen - Creativity
If someone asked me to describe myself in one word, "creative" would probably be it. Now, that doesn't mean organized or perfect or anything like that. It just means I like to do and make things. I was in a wreath making phase a few years ago. I sometimes make props for photo shoots. I like to paint and draw and do lettering, especially on envelopes. If I had a spare room in my house it'd be my creativity room. But I don't, so this is where it all ends up:

Pretty bad, huh?

A few friends had been posting on FaceBook about these places where you go create door-hangings (not really wreaths). Basically you go pick out a wooden cut of something, paint it, "design" it, eat/drink, and have someone make it look pretty for you. A place in Conover, which used to be called The Freckled Frog, hosted a small group of our school staff one night last week. Now it's called Hip Hip Whooray.

We had so much fun! Everyone except me chose the same design (a square-ish shape with their last initial in the middle). I chose the state of North Carolina. We spent about an hour painting. Then we sat down and ate dinner - we each brought something to share. They took our creations to a back room and voila...

I'd love to say I made it all by myself. Literally all I did was paint the black and turquoise inside the pre-drawn chevron lines. Then I told them what I wanted written on it, that I wanted it sprayed with a glittery film and a bow.

So. Stinking. Cute.

I'm ready for some Panthers football so I can put this on my door, which will FOR SURE need to be painted black at this point.


So I'll see you next week with days 15-21!
Are you doing the 30 day gratitude photo challenge? If so, leave me a comment with a link to where you're posting. I'd love to see what you're grateful for!
Fondly,