Freezing February

I think those who read this blog, probably are our face book friends, and for those who don't do facebook I've been posting the box pictures to Instagram as well (pretty much for your sole benefit Stephanie, you should feel pretty special! ;)

 So I feel sort of lame updating the blog with the same pictures that have been all over facebook this week, so I decided to post some of the second place pictures and outtakes instead.  Our lives have become this strange mix of homeschool and photo class- trapped indoors by varying circumstances but mostly the weather.

We moved the set up from the living room to the toy room.  The lighting is SO much better, and I have a LOT less set up rip down to do each day.  This way I can still enjoy a clean living room while the kids play box all afternoon.

 The pictures have been fun to do and a challenge for sure.  At first the biggest hurdle was if I was going to be able to come up with more than 5 ideas.  It's been fun brainstorming with the kids each day and we've got a solid month's worth of picture possibilities mapped out already.

 The second challenge was lighting.  I discovered that the toy room provided MUCH better light, but with the clouds- it's still been tricky to get a  consistent results without too much effort (flash).  Third was the format. I decided that I liked the square format that Instagram required and how it sort of unified the 'series'.  Fitting 3 kids and a big box inside a square with all the ideas has been tricky.  The toy room set up isn't huge and so I can only step back so far.  I've had to get creative.  It's been frustrating at times when the best picture won't crop down right, or the lighting isn't right and the kids have had enough.

 Quinn would be the final challenge, well, a nice Quinn and Heidi mix.  It's sort of a where's Waldo to locate the puffs hidden in each shot- the only way Quinn will sit still.  And Heidi is a wild card.  I've had to get creative.  It's been frustrating at times when the best picture won't crop down right, or the lighting isn't right and the kids only let me get off a couple shots. I feel like my photography is improving though, and it's a fun unifying thing we look forward to doing everyday.  The girls love the idea of making a funny picture to send to Daddy at school each day.
 Last week Tyler was cramming for tests, and everyone was sick at some point, so we did our fair share of this.  Fort movies.

 Alex has started to enjoy the staging process of the box shots, and it's fun to see her enthusiasm while we get everything ready.

After the pictures (our photo shoots are pretty short) I'm still in the mood to take pictures, so I've been grabbing toys and practicing.

 Here is our family portrait for the year, or perhaps next year, Quinn isn't quite that big yet and Heidi's hair isn't that long yet.  She has decided to grow it out into what we refer to as "Toby hair".

 I love watching the kids be so creative.  I think my favorite part about homeschool is being able to spend these years with Alex.  She is so creative, sweet, thoughtful and smart!  Here I caught them playing vet.  Something about cavities in eyes and needing shots all over.  We had been talking about molecules, germs and white blood cells the day before and I LOVED hearing Alex explain it all to nurse Heidi while they treated the penguins.

 This week we did have a fun play date!  Our neighbors finally returned from a couple month stay in Utah and so we got together and let the kids go nuts while we enjoyed adult chatter.

 Their little boy is beyond adorable, and we had fun including him in our picture for the day.  There is nothing quite so grand as having great neighbors.  I can't count the times I've called for last minute babysitting, or emergency medicine (last week I was sure Quinn was having an allergic reaction to eggs, turned out to be roseola. She saved me from a emergency trip to the drugstore.  Plus all the times....)

 This was today's picture.  Alex declared she had won a gold in ice dancing.  Heidi said her silver was for bear chasing, and Quinn got the gold for finally crawling on her hands and knees!

Quinn is beyond hilarious.  She loves pulling herself up on the couch or chairs to reach things she shouldn't, but if YOU try to get her to stand, she gets super mad and kicks and forces herself to sit.  She has no desire to learn to walk.

 This is the look she gives me while I'm rattling the tambourine, shouting and pulling silly faces trying to get a smile.

I don't know where this child came from.  Where is my little Alex gone, and who is this grown up child?  She told me today she loves History and Art more than anything, so when I assigned her to paint an American flag, it was a dream come true.