janice's mash-up

take 12: december

Twelve photos on the twelfth day of the month following Ella's Take 12 photo challenge. This month's prompt was inspired by the upcoming Christmas season and taking time to pause and notice the details of December through the lens of a camera. 

Today's date was also significant and I'll be doing a mini book using today's photos to capture our life on 12/12/12. It was a regular Wednesday for us...school, work, homework, soccer practice and a hockey game but is was also International Hot Chocolate Day so the boys and I enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate late this afternoon to celebrate...at 4:30 when it was already dark outside!

So the details captured...signs of the holidays around the house such as candles, Santa, Christmas cards, the snowmen on the living room mantel, the clock at work at 12:12 on 12/12/12, the setting sun on my drive home, a child's piece of artwork on display at work, hot chocolate, hockey and soccer and our home lit up for the holidays. Oh, and two very important details in my life...the boys!

Thanks for coming along for the 12 on 12 ride with me! For 2013, I think I might go back and look at some of the alternate projects that were part of the Take 12 package and think about those. Doing photo challenges helps me see the world a little differently and notice and capture things I might not otherwise. 

 

take 12: november

Twelve photos on the twelfth day of the month following Ella's Take 12 photo challenge. This month's prompt was inspired by the American Thanksgiving and to think about the things in your life that you are thankful for. I think it's always a great time to be thankful and express gratitude whether it is our Thanksgiving or not!

At this moment, I am grateful for...

-the health and happiness of my family

-that it is once again Movember and that as a mother of two sons, this is a cause I can support (mustache bombing anyone?!)

-that our boys have opportunities to pursue their interests and passions

-the change of the seasons...I know I've said this a lot but I really do love seasonal changes

-the coziness that fall brings (even if dusk starts to close in around 4pm)

-time together around the dinner table (tonight was Japanese takeout) or at the kitchen counter (enjoying blueberry scones this morning)

 

take 12: october

Ha! Unlike last month, I actually got myself together and remembered to take twelve photos today!

Twelve photos on the twelfth day of the month following Ella's Take 12 photo challenge. This month's prompt was inspired by the change of seasons and to capture change and transformation both inside and outside your home.

Today was our first rainy day this fall and it sort of now feels like fall has really arrived. Socks and jeans are being worn and we are turning the heat on as needed. After dropping the boys off at school this morning, I tidied up things in the garden and picked the last few ripe cherry tomatoes. The birch trees are dropping leaves and Colin's tree is starting to transform into autumnal colour. After a few errands, I took the long way home and took a quiet misty morning walk along the river. It's good to be alone with your thoughts every once in awhile. I treated myself to a chai tea latte today, definitely my fall hot drink. The change in the kitchen is also evident - the flavours of fall have been coming out of the oven including the family favourite ginger molasses cookies and roast pork with fresh cranberry sauce. The tropical pink candles and summer flowers on the kitchen table have also been replaced with pumpkin spice candles and fall-ish plants. Small signs around the house that the seasons have changed.

I love the seasons and the different changes they all bring. I can't imagine living anywhere that doesn't have the four seasons. Every season I say, "this is my favourite season" and I really mean it at the time. It's like the season that we are coming into is just what I need at the time. Funny how that is.

 

take 12: september (but really, 19 on 19)

So September kind of got away from me and I dropped a few balls. To help you understand a bit, there were actually a few nights when I think I was asleep before midnight. Yes, it was that bad. So on Sunday as I happened to realize what the date was, I said aloud "oh geesh, I missed 12 on 12 this month!". It didn't even register for me and I had the 12th circled on our calendar too because that was the day Colin left for grade 8 camp. I was a bit distraught about my oversight (yes, missing things like this bother me) and Adam just casually said, "No worries mom, just do 24 on 24 or something!"

So I had a new plan. I would do it a week later, so it would capture the same day of the week and this is how 19 on 19 came to be!

 Twelve photos on the twelfth day of the month following Ella's Take 12 photo challenge (for this month read nineteen photos on the nineteenth day). This month's prompt was to capture what our daily routines are which is appropriate in this month of getting routines back in order!

The morning started off as usual, with Neil long gone for work before the boys and I get up. After showers and getting dressed, Adam and I have a quick look at the Vancouver Sun (and I usually read it cover to cover later in the day) and Colin usually has a big bowl of cereal. Adam and I have a small breakfast and then we pile in the car for the short drive to the boys' high school where I drop them off on my way to work. Today was another amazing sunshiney day and I got out of my car with a happy mood in my heart ready to conquer what the day would bring. Work is always an adventure ;) I arrived home after work and love when I pull into the driveway and notice the boys have taken in the recycling tubs and garbage cans (that's a Wednesday thing). I came into the house to a new oven and the boys doing their usual afterschool thing - homework and playing Minecraft. Of course their stuff was spread out all over - backpacks, shoes and various skateboards. A happy reminder that they are home! After getting dinner going, I had a quick walk in the garden and noticed the quinces are near ready and the black cherry tomatoes are finally ripening. After dinner, the boys made their lunches and then Colin was off to soccer practice, Adam did his homework and I went for a walk with Sarah while Neil went back to work. I came home and tried out the new oven and made some blueberry scones for the boys' bedtime snack.

Just a pretty regular Wednesday around here!

 

take 12: august

 Twelve photos on the twelfth day of the month following Ella's Take 12 photo challenge. This month's prompt was to capture what a Sunday in summer means to you - rest, relaxation or both.The bonus theme is summer food.

On the 12th of August we will be away on our annual family vacation to the Oregon Coast. The photo collage will be posted later but I can anticipate that our "Sunday in the summer" might involve some sandboarding, swimming in the lake and sitting around a campfire. Special summer food might involve a meal out at Mo's, one of our favourite coastal restaurants, lots of cold drinks, some Blue Bunny ice cream at the lake lodge and smores cooked around the campfire. I'm sure we'll get some sort of update on the final day of the Olympics as well!

Can't wait to see how close my predictions are ;)

Update: So we woke up on the 12th in our hotel in Portland to find updates on our phones that Christine Sinclair would be carrying the Canadian flag for the closing ceremonies! We've pvr-ed it at home and are looking forward to watching it. We drove down to Eugene and out to a very windy Florence. The boys still enjoyed sandboarding although they spent a lot of time covering their faces with their hoodies so they wouldn't swallow so much blowing sand! We walked around Old Town and had dinner at Mo's befor heading back to our yurt, our home away from home for a few days, and campfire. We roasted marshmallows and drank hot chocolate around the campfire - a very relaxing and fun family tradition.

 

take 12: july

Twelve photos on the twelfth day of the month following Ella's Take 12 photo challenge. This month's prompt was to capture the significant scenes of summer and to capture a mixture of photos - some with people, some without, some close-ups and some zoomed out.

Today was a hot sunny day. Sunscreen for Adam as he was out on the water for 4 hours at his rowing camp. Colin had a swimming lesson and then off to fencing. We picked up another basket of red (all the way through) Richmond strawberries on our way home. Many of our July days have started with scones or muffins using fresh local berries - today was raspberry and white chocolate scones. The garden is bursting with growing vegetables and the summer flowers like daisies and hydrangeas are in bloom. The boys enjoy some out of the sun "downtime" playing Minecraft together. I was out at a seminar at UBC this evening and stopped to take in the view (thus, the appropriately named "viewpoint"). As I came home the setting sun was burning into the west-facing facade of our house.

The backyard is definitely a "scene of summer" in our house...during the day it is a place to have water fights, slip 'n slide, take care of the garden or to relax in a deck chair and enjoy the heat with a cold drink . In the evening, the hammocks might come out for some reading, we eat out on the deck and the deck chairs are used to escape the heat of the house for some evening reading. Our backyard is not huge but its our little oasis and especially enjoyed in the summer.

 

take 12: june

Twelve photos on the twelfth day of the month following Ella's Take 12 photo challenge. This month's prompt was to get outdoors and to be inspired by the world outside your door.

Today started early with me dropping Adam off at school before a day at work. It was a cool overcast day. I love the huge windows and view of greenspace and the outdoors that I have a work. On the way home, I picked up slurpees for the boys. It has been such a cool and wet spring this year that the backyard is still very green and lush and this afternoon I even noticed mushrooms growing. I had to pull out my macro lens for a few backyard garden closeups. Colin has been spending a lot of time on his netbook and Adam is doing a lot of studying right now. The rain started coming down as I drove in to Kits for a dinner out with my math colleagues from UBC. No lovely sunset tonight...just more rain on the way home!

 

take 12: may

Twelve photos on the twelfth day of the month following Ella's Take 12 photo challenge. This month's prompt was to focus signs of the weekend and how it stands apart from the typical Monday-Friday week. 

A May weekend can often be almost-summerlike here and that is what we were blessed with today. The sky was a brilliant, cloudless blue and the still snow-capped mountains framed my view as I drove about doing errands today. Three of us start a little more slowly on Saturday mornings as there are no soccer or hockey games or practices to rush off to. Scones are often part of our weekends breakfasts - today I made chocolate chip scones. Colin spent part of the day reading the second novel in a series he is enjoying. Adam went to see The Avengers with his friends. Neil had some dental work done while I drove into Ladner to visit West Coast Seeds to pick up some tomato seedlings and then on to London Farm to pick up some more plants and enjoy the views along the Fraser River. I planted a few more seeds and got the seedlings in our vegetable garden. Our rhododendrons are bursting into bloom at the front of the house which is a sure sign that Mothers' Day is just around the corner. Colin's hair got even shorter and we enjoyed some dinner off the bbq before settling into a quiet evening of home with a mixture of work, relaxation, practicing guitar and doing homework.

 I love a Saturday in spring!

 

take 12: april

Twelve photos on the twelfth day of the month following Ella's Take 12 photo challenge. This month's prompt was to focus signs of spring.

At our house, signs of spring are the garden re-awakening, getting outside, allergies and NHL playoffs! Signs of Easter are still lingering around the house. Seeds are being started. Colin had a hiphop presentation at school today. Dinners are switching over from roasts and slowcooker meals to lighter, quicker meals such as this evening's cashew chicken. Our schedule is much more open in the spring as the boys are in fewer structured activities which is refreshing.

I love the freshness of spring and this photo challenge helped me to capture the beginning of spring around here!

 

take 12: march

Twelve photos on the twelfth day of the month following Ella's Take 12 photo challenge. This month's prompt was to focus on luck and fortune.

Today as we packed up and headed out to the airport in a taxi, we left behind cold rain and a windstorm. Tonight as we packed into our new home for the next while, and the balmy tropical breezes enveloped us, I couldn't help but think how very fortunate we are to have time together to travel as a family.

Very fortunate we are.