Days 356 – 365 of Project 365

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Days 356-365 of Project 365

356. Twist and… SNAP! (I enlisted his help to prepare the Brussel sprouts ready for Christmas Day. Buying them on the stalk was a complete indulgence, but it was good for him to see how they actually grow.)

357. Wrapping (The Boy had some help from me to wrap Daddy's present, and then wrote who it was for and from on it. I love seeing him writing independently.)

358. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care… (Our traditional Christmas Eve was great fun this year: making and decorating the gingerbread house, watching Polar Express in the pyjamas that Edward the Elf left as a present when he returned to the North Pole, making reindeer food and sprinkling it, hanging up our stockings from the mantelpiece. We always finish with 'The Night Before Christmas' as a bedtime story.)

359. I Got It Right (Showing a photo of The Boy opening a present with a gleeful face would have been too obvious. This is Mr. TBaM opening up his present; a scooter which he has wanted for 18 months.)

360. Cheese (Mum took us out to a beachside Italian restaurant for lunch on Boxing Day rather than her standing in the kitchen cooking for two hours! It was great to have something different and to sit as a family, thoroughly enjoying each other's company.)

361. Builder (The Boy and I have very excitedly been constructing a castle from the Teifoc brick set that we gave him for Christmas. We've made a few errors – like forgetting to put the doorframe in – but have really had good fun doing it together.)

362. Crashed Out (My final week wouldn't be complete without a sleeping Boy photo!)

363. Tiger, Tiger (Father Christmas brought The Boy face paints and he asked me if I'd paint his face. He's never had it done before and I was amazed at how well he sat while I did it, then he spent ten minutes roaring at himself in the mirror. However, I've just discovered how hard it is to get off; he still has yellow in his eyebrows two days later!)

364. Little Chef (We've been having major issues with The Boy's eating ever since he was sick at his aunt's wedding seven weeks ago. It's almost psychosomatic in a way. On Sunday he'd refused to eat his scrambled eggs because of the colour – it's one of his favourite meals – and had made himself vomit as a result. On Monday we went shopping for his choice of tea and he helped me prepare it; result as he ate it all!)

365. Splat! (The day started in the same way that everyday has for the past week; torrential rain and drab, grey skies. I felt a bit down in the dumps but resolved to don our waterproofs and go to the beach. However by the time we got there, the sun was shining, the sky was azure, and it was actually quite warm. As the tide was far out beyond the end of the pier, we ventured down onto the beach and trotted down to the water's edge; over pebbled, fine golden sand, rockpools and squelchy mud. This is where we had a great time making huge footprints and gloopy noises. I turned around to take a picture of the pier, heard an "uh-oh" and whipped back around to see this. Thank God I'd put his waterproof trousers on him!)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 349 – 355 of Project 365

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Days 349-355 of Project 365

349. MONSTER BINGO (… is the phrase that needs to be shouted out by the winner of the latest Orchard Toys game we're reviewing. I love the exuberance on his face here.)

350. Daddy Does Craft (This is not something which happens often in our house, in fact he groaned when I asked him to do this activity, "Homework; yes. Reading; yes. Craft; NO!" However, it was a super easy activity from Toucan Box with idiotproof, foolproof, comprehensive instructions.)

351. Intent (Watching his video message from Father Christmas via the Portable North Pole app, he was enchanted with the whole thing. Every time Father Christmas said his name, he nodded eagerly and smiled.)

352.  Dear Miss… (Making his Christmas cards for his teachers, the effort was immense but he made a super job of it.)

353. Bedtime Reading (New pyjamas and books sent from Marks and Spencer for a bedtime reading project. I love seeing him in old-fashioned pyjamas, he looks so cute!)

354. Hungry (For a few months now we've visited our local nature reserve once a week to feed the swans, our confidence has grown as has their hunger. Yesterday they were starving, and with it a little bit nasty. For the first time, I felt nervous feeding them in the slipway area; one of them hissed at The Boy and flapped his wings, another pecked my hand. We walked up to the boardwalk as they can't manage it and it forces them into the water to have the bread; more controlled you see! Within thirty seconds of us being at the board walk, the 40+ swans had worked out what was going on and swum around to feed on our stale offerings.)

355.  Best Buddies (We ventured to Tredegar House near Newport today to see Father Christmas in his grotto. Normally we go to Cardiff Castle but it was completely sold out weeks in advance, so we decided to try here in their first year as a National Trust property. The Boy was over the moon to see the Big Man himself, and the room was dressed so beautifully! He walked in cautiously, took one look at him and ran at him to give him the biggest, most heartfelt cuddle I've ever seen which was received warmly. Unfortunately the photo is too blurred to share as a 365, but it was a wonderful sight to see. And all for only £2.50.)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 342 – 348 of Project 365

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Days 342-348 of Project 365

342. Reach For The Stars (We ventured over to Cardiff Bay to the Christmas Food Market set out in the old dock basin. There were a few small, fairground rides there and The Boy relished the opportunity to try out this jumping trampoline ride thingy. I love the silhouette against the stormy sky.)

343. Burp (Reviewing a game sent to us from Orchard Toys, The Boy found it very amusing that the gorilla burps after feeding it junk food!)

344. My Little Star (This is The Boy performing in his first Christmas concert. I took photographs of him walking up and down onto the stage that showed off his costume better, but this is the picture that I love because of the sincerity on his face, filled with the effort of getting it right. I'm so proud of him for fully taking part as he was so petrified during the Harvest service he could only cope with standing on the stage.)

345. Homemade Gifts (I've written in the past about the significance of giving teachers presents to acknowledge their hard work, I decided that we'd make some lovely ornaments for The Boy's teachers and LSAs. With four teachers to buy for, and additional Reception staff, it would never have been cheap and I don't know enough about them to buy a worthwhile present. I thought Christmas tree decorations would be a good idea as they're resuable and show care and attention on his part.)

346. RUDE! (Our weekly trip to feed the swans saw an extremely cheeky seagull swoop in to grab a stray piece of bread lying on the boardwalk. The Boy was incensed!)

347. Wriggler (A busy day Christmas shopping with my mum in Cardiff, taking The Boy to a classmate's house for tea and then me swanning off to Cardiff Bay saw me sneaking a last minute photograph of a wriggling Boy in his sleep.)

348. Family Days Out (On a day when the blogging world is remembering a special blogger and her legacy of Family Frolics, it seemed very fitting to me that we spent the day with extended family; my brother and his family. I'd bought Mr. TBaM a segway driving experience for his birthday and we finally redeemed it with my sister-in-law joining him on a device which I would be useless on. My brother, niece, The Boy and I explored the other adventure activities possible in the centre and made a vow to come back and try the zip wire out when the children are a little bit older. We finished off the day with a lovely meal in a newly-opened restaurant nearby. A wonderful family day out.)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 335 – 341 of Project 365

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Days 335-341 of Project 365

335. Poser (Today saw our local pier pavilion re-open after extensive building work to renovate it, mostly funded by local people and organisations, along with a National Lottery grant. We went down for the opening and also a charge around in the brisk, Winter air before heading off to a classmate's party.)

336. Poet Laureate (After school The Boy picked up the notebook that he'd had in the party bag the previous day and started writing in it. I love that he loves to write, and that he's started making little notes. I look forward to the day when I find a book full of made up stories.)

337. Big Moment (The Boy always puts the star on top of the tree, and I always have to correct it afterwards; it's a heavy star that goes on a spindly 'twig'. I love the look of anxiety on his face!)

338. Bed Fellows ('Puntsey' has been a regular bed companion since Children In Need, Oliver Monkey doesn't mind as it means they can share watch duties alongside having plenty of cuddles from The Boy.)

339. Bird Man (We went to feed the swans after school; it was just as well we did because they were starving! The minute we slammed the door shut in the car park, they were clambering up the ramp. We got to the entry gate and they were standing there waiting for us! I deposited The Boy on the boardwalk as it forced the swans back into the water to be fed.)

340. Double (I set up a free craft table after school for The Boy and let him create freely. I adore his double chin in this photograph!)

341. Plees (We went to Dyffryn Gardens today to enjoy the Christmas craft fair; the first to be held there in over two decades. I used to go regularly as a child and it's a special venue to hold one. There was a table set up to write letters to Father Christmas, so The Boy sat down and wrote one all by himself.)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

365 #47

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Oh my word, #47? Means we have just five weeks left of Project 365 for 2013. Hopefully some of you are thinking about continuing on, this forthcoming month will capture some truly magical moments and show the worth of the 365 Project to Family Bloggers.

The 365 linky only works because of people linking to it and then contributing their thoughts to others' posts via comments. I can't emphasise this enough, it's the whole point of the linky!

Join in by entering the URL of your favourite photograph of the week (either a 52 or a 365 photo) and show some comment love to everyone else in the community. We've got a Facebook group, and now I've created a collaborative Pinterest board (if you'd like to collaborate, let me know and I'll add you).

  1. Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
  2. Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
  3. If you can spare five minutes to comment on a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!
365



Days 321 – 327 of Project 365

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321-327 of 365

321. Catch A Leaf (We went into the garden to rake up some of the leaves that have fallen from the cherry tree, which of course led to throwing and catching them! Mr. TBaM and I decided to try and stage the perfect falling leaf photo, it didn't quite pan out how I wanted to as The Boy kept sticking his tongue out, scunching his neck, closing his eyes and everything else in between. In the end this photo actually is perfect to me as I like Mr. TBaM's hand and foot in it, it adds to the moment.)

322. Taking A Break (The Boy threw up in the bathroom at 8.30 this morning which meant he had to stay home from school. Of course he wasn't sick afterwards, he'd just forced his breakfast down and has a strong gag reflex! I'll admit that I lied to the secretary and said he had a temperature, because if I'd said about the sickness she'd have made him stay off for two days, and I'm already in the amber category for attendance! I made sure he did plenty of reading, writing and learning through play to make up for being off school, this was a silly moment we were having in the kitchen when he was pretending to be a baby crawling!)

323. Pinner (I nipped up to town to buy some sausages for dinner, and perused the seven charity shops while I was there. This pin-art-thingy was in one for £1.25 and is one of the best toys he's got at the moment!)

324. Relaxing (All these play activities on other blogs featuring a tuff-spot, and I bet none have them used as chill-out and t.v. watching zone!)

325. Petrol Head (We've been sent some marvellous and limited edition Lego cars to highlight a promotion in Shell garages at the moment, The Boy has never tried proper Lego before and after a fraught first attempt we managed to make the cars together, he now adores them and now we just need to race them!)

326. Scareswan (We went to feed the swans at the local nature reserve and it was obvious they were very hungry as they all came flocking. Once we'd gone through out half a bag, they decided to investigate The Boy's pockets so he stood still like a scarecrow to scare them away.)

327. Who's There? (This morning I set up The Boy's magic elf door from The Magic Door Store, scraped the ice from the back of the freezer and sprinkled some elf dust. When he came into the living room and discovered it, he was completely captivated and we proceeded to watch it for twenty minutes in silence to see if anyone would come through. During that time he saw a hedgehog poke his prickles through, and a Christmas Mouse, but hasn't remembered Edward the Elf will be visiting. We're going to have great fun leading up to 1st December when Edward will make his appearance!)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 313 – 320 of Project 365

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314-320 of 365

314. Perfect (This was the morning after the night before, as we explored Highcliffe beach in the most glorious autumn sunshine.)

315. Exhaustion (When I went to pick The Boy up today from school, I found him holding the teacher's hand and looking very pale. He'd been unhappy most of the afternoon, had a slight temperature and complained of a headache. As soon as he saw me, he started sobbing and I had to carry him home with a very soggy neck. A temperature of 38.4°C saw a dose of the magic pink stuff and cuddles on the sofa. Here he's quietly playing with a new toy called Plus Plus.)

316. Botanist (We were in the garden examining the leaves while The Boy tried out his new Pink Lining satchel.)

317. Scooter (A quick scoot after school on a local pedastrianised street.)

318. Angry Birds (A birthday party for someone who seems to be his school best friend in a fab play centre to the north of Cardiff. These Angry Birds cakes were the ones given out in the party bags, aren't they awesome?)

319. Puntsey (Dressed up for school for Children in Need day, he can't say Pudsey and it's so cute that I don't correct him.)

320. Wiggins Junior (Last year, Mr. TBaM was bought a bicycle by his boss who also bought a tag-along bike which attaches from the back. It's sat in his boss' garage until now as we didn't think The Boy was ready for it, that was until his boss threatened to sell it! We took The Boy down to the barrage earlier and he tried it out for the first time; he was so excited it was amazing to see. I'm hoping that it will help him learn a little more about balance on a bike as at the moment he still had the stabilisers on his normal bike.)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 300 – 306 of Project 365

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300-306 of 365

2nd November 2013 (Saturday)

300. Glee (Pure joy as The Boy flings Autumn leaves into the air at the National Trust site of Tyntesfield.)

301. Town Planner (The start of our half-term craft and play project.)

302. It's High Up Here! (Standing aloft a bale of hay at Yeo Valley with Burton and Jenson from Mummy Mishaps.)

303. Landscape Architect (Continuing our craft and play project where The Boy initiated his first ever written word without any prompting; bottom left he wrote a label on the cardboard.)

304. Pumpkin Driller (Little boys who are four aren't old enough to carve a pumpkin, so we drilled holes in it instead.)

305. Five Dec-car (He wanted to make a five decker car. Because he's four and he can.)

306. Hold On (We were in Reading for the Matilda Mae Welly Walk in Beale Park, and went off exploring with Laura from Tired Mummy of Two and her family. This is The Boy and Elizabeth squealing with laughter while Tired Daddy of Two pushed them.)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Days 293 – 299 of Project 365

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293-299 of 365

This week I've attempted a week of 'From Where I Stand' photographs. The last time I did one of these was near the beginning of the year and the problem is that The Boy has grown 10cm in that time and is spending less time on the floor; it's a bit tricky getting my arm high enough and the camera's focus in the right point to capture the photo, but by and large I've got there! It's rather an uninspiring week, promise to do better next week.

293. Pebble Plopper (A rather non-productive day was rescued by a trip down to the beach and a good pebble plopping session.)

294. #2 (Practising the number 2. I've learnt to angle the sheet in towards his body so that the bottom left corner is pointing at his chest, otherwise letters and numbers end up lying on their sides; such is the tricks I'm having to learn for a leftie son!)

295. Disco Lights (Playing with the underwater light show at bathtime, my feet are there honestly, but the room is dark and you can't see them.)

296. GBBO (The Great Boy Bake Off; making cakes for the school cake sale.)

297. Pointy Toes (A snap before bedtime as it's been rather a tiring day, and week. The week's not complete without a sleeping Boy photo.)

298. Spin (At the clifftop park and he's becoming quite the dare devil on the roundabout.)

299. Reach For The Rope (The Boy exploring a local timber trail.)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Filed Under: 365 Tagged With:

365 Photographers: Mummy Mishaps

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When I came up with the idea to do the Project 365 linky, there was one person that I turned to as my sounding board; the one who had consistently commented on my 365 posts during the previous year, and the one who has championed the project ever since.

Meet Jenny from Mummy Mishaps.

Capture

In contrast to the previous 365 Photographers profiled, Jenny (like I do) focuses her photography on her everyday family life, and the development of her children. It is such a joy to see the antics of Burton and Jenson, the way that they play together, the comedy antics and the adventures exploring. And now that Burton has started school, it is fascinating to see a slight shift in the content of Jenny's photographs; to see the independent boy in Jenson emerge as he finds his own way without his big brother guiding his daily path.

I'll confess that I have a vested and personal interest in this particular post, as Jenny is now one of my closest friends and The Boy adores playing with his two chums. However, I do also feel that the clumsiest mummy around is one of the most genuine and friendly people, and this shows in her photographs; personality really does come through in the way we point and shoot.

Which is why these are my favourites of the moments that Jenny has captured so far.

Mummy Mishaps

These two photographs come from different ends of her 2013 project and show the change in Jenson, her youngest son. From a toddler with many features of a baby, to a confident and daring little boy who was not afraid to zoom along at a high speed. I also think the tenderness in the first photograph is beautiful, and the motion blur in the second is spot on.

Mummy Mishaps

I simply adore these two photographs of cheeky Burton as they really show off his adventurous personality to the fullest, especially the tree-climbing photograph with his wicked grin and glint of achievement in his eye. And yet, you could be mistaken for thinking he's a rough and tumble boy; he's not. Burton is one of the kindest and most sensitive boys that we know, a true testimony to the love and care that he is shown consistently.

These are Jenny's favourite six from the 365 Project so far.

project 365 6

25/11/12 – Burton loves water (well both boys do) and last year we had a lot of rain and the park was flooded for most of the Summer/Autumn, and he loved racing through the massive puddles on his bike and he went really fast too. This was taken one Sunday afternoon when I took both boys to the park while Daddy was watching the F1, and I had no idea this would happen!  I love the look of determination on Burton's face, the bright red of his coat complementing his red bike, the Autumnal colours on display, the big splash he and his bike made, and his reflection in the puddle. It just shows off his sense of adventure and how he does not care how wet he gets in the process. We both got wet taking photos that afternoon!

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15/11/12 – I love this photo so much. I can see it has faults like Jenson not looking at the camera and the white glare of light to the left of Burton (over exposured?) , but its perfect to me because of the fun we had. I took the boys to the tangled woods in the grounds of a nearby stately house, because when we had visited before we had nick-named them the Gruffalo Woods because they were deep and dark like the trees in the book. I decided to take Burton's Gruffalo and Gruffalo's Child toys with us so the boys could go on a Gruffalo Hunt and they loved every minute of it. It remains one of my favourite little outings I have had with them and even if they will never remember it, we have this photo to keep the memory alive.

project 365 8

05/09/12 – Taken at Instow beach, I adore how the boys were helping to fill the bucket with sand to make a sandcastle together. It was a complete fluke and bonus that I managed to capture the 'flying' sand! The beach is a great way to spend time together having fun as a family.

project 36510

06/09/13 – I love this shot of the two boys. It was taken at the end of a warm day following some rain and the boys had been enjoying splashing in the puddles; Burton on his bike (note the mud stains on his clothes) and Jenson bare footed! It marked the end of a wonderful Summer and the start of a new season and a new chapter in our lives as Burton started school a week later. I just love the carefree abandonment of my boys in this photo and it sums them up well.

project365 1

07/10/13 – Jenson and I were just going on a little Autumn walk/nature hunt one afternoon before collecting Burton from school, and I turned and just saw the most amazing vista before my eyes! It was like the heavens had literally opened up and rays of golden sunlight were streaming down through the clouds onto the river and the bridge and it just looked so beautiful! I had to capture it and I love how Jenson is up on the stile taking in his surroundings. It is views and days like this which make me really love and appreciate where I live.

photo 3

28/06/12 – Burton went through a phase of just wanting to lie back and relax on this basket swing rather than sit up and be pushed really high and or fast! I love how relaxed he looks and how his eyes are closed and how the suns rays are shining down on my boy. I also love the bold red and blue colours on show. This photo made him appear older and yet over a year on he does not at all compared to how he looks now of course.

  • When did you start doing the 365 photo project, and why?

I started on 1st January 2012 after seeing TheBoyandMe complete her first year at the end off 2011. I watched with interest and a mixture of regret and envy that I had not joined in during 2011 too, as I loved the fact that she had 365 photos showing her son change and grow day by day. This is what spurred me on to participate as my blog is a record, a collection of memories about my boys, so what better way to encapsulate this then by keeping a photo a day diary.

  • Why did you decide to continue the project for a second year?

It's like an addiction, you cannot stop! I loved, and indeed love, looking back at what we got up to last year and this year and seeing how much the boys have changed. I take several photos a day of the boys anyway, so continuing to showcase them on my blog is not a problem and I like doing it. I decided to blog a weekly post this year as opposed to a daily posting last year, which I have preferred doing and will continue to do going forward.

I also wanted to improve on my photographs from last year because some of them are shocking really, due to the quality of the camera I had (an older version of a smart phone) and taking a lot of indoor photographs. It does not matter to me because they were a daily snapshot into our lives, but I know that the photos I took outside and take outside now are the ones which are the most striking – the better light and colour and I feel show my boys and their characters off best.

  • What's the best bit about doing a 365 photo project?

Quite a few actually:

  • being able to watch my boys grow and change before my eyes
  • think about how I can capture them in the best way
  • think about how I can turn an ordinary simple moment into a more exciting capture – like taking a photo of the boys playing with their toys but take it looking through the window of the farm or castle for example, to give it a more interesting angle
  • being part of a community. At the start of the year there are a lot of people who link up, but half way through the year most drop out and it is the same people who carry on. It is those lovely bloggers who I feel I know so well now. It's a wonderful little group and I enjoy seeing their projects evolve too.
  • Are there times when you've wanted to give up, why? What kept you going?

No, not once. I do not find it a chore – how could I find taking a photo of my boys an effort or hard work?

  • What tips would you give to anyone who wants to start a 365 project?

Just take photos of a subject/subjects that really interests you and that way you won't get bored or feel like giving up easily. Remember why you are doing the project and even if you do not get any comments or as many as you would like, does that matter? I take the photos for me, as a record of my boys growing up, and to remind me and show them what we got up to during a certain day/week/month/year; if I get nice things said about my photographs then that is a bonus and a complement.

  • Anything else you'd like to add?

I would like to thank TheBoyandMe (awww shucks Jenny) for inspiring me to join in with Project 365. Not only does it give me an amazing back catalogue of memories but it spurs me on to take, I hope, better photographs and keep them interesting. Afterall, I am just a Mum with her smart phone capturing a moment she has shared with her children; I am not a photography expert. But that's the beauty of this linky – anyone can join in because anyone can take a photo which means something to them.

Can you make every day photographs capture a special moment like Mummy Mishaps does?

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Please pop back next Thursday when I introduce the globetrotting and nomadic empire of A Kilt and a Camera.

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