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52 Project, Week 5: Warmth

52 Project, Week 5: Warmth

When I think of warmth, I think of things that make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.  A nice roaring fire and a toasty oven give off some comfortable warmth that I love to lounge in front of.  My favorite place to stay warm though, is my bed.  I love my bed.  My favorite time of day is bedtime, when I can crawl underneath my comforter and pull one of my favorite throw blankets up around me.

The air is usually cold in our house since we live in a historic, drafty old home in Minnesota.  I’ll often have a few of my little ones crawl in bed with me, should I sneak up for a bit of quiet time during the day.  We might quietly read together, watch the JW app on our Roku, talk about life, write or draw in our journals, or even just take a nap.  I think that if my bed were big enough, all my children would happily sleep with me at night, just like when they were little.

I chose to photograph all of my children’s feet side by side.  I used to kiss their toes as babies and marvel at how small they were.  Now they are growing and so are their feet!  Someday, each of their feet will be just as big as my own.

Do you love to snuggle with your wee ones in your bed?  What do you think of when you hear the word, warmth?

52 Project-Warmth
52 Project-Warmth

 

Previous Week:52 Project, Week 4: Socks
Next Week:52 Project, Week 6: Hair
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52 Project, Week 4: Socks

52 Project, Week 4: Socks

This week was a bit more challenging than my other ones.  Last week, Mr. Awesome had some stomach problems due to allergies.  My poor little buddy was not able to make it to the bathroom fast enough, resulting in a lot of laundry and towels that needed washing.  I picked up some probiotics from our local health food store and he is doing much better, thankfully.

In addition, photographing socks was a lot harder than I thought it would be!  I had a hard time choosing exactly which socks I would wear.  I love socks!  I have so many favorites.  I have them in all sorts of colors and styles.  I ended up trying on 7 different pairs!

My original idea was to photograph my feet on my bed with the TV fireplace screensaver in the background.  Oh, how I wish I had a real fireplace!  This plan did not work as I had hoped.  My feet were too low.  I raised up the end up my bed, and thankfully that worked great!  However, the screen of the TV does not photograph well.

Scrapping that, I decided to shoot from above, but I was not able to look through my viewfinder and I was guessing at where my feet would be.  Princess was jumping around me, gleefully and kept messing up the comforter.  She kept jumping on me for hugs too.  I can’t resist a good cuddle, so it took a bit longer than I had intended.

Thankfully, the sun was shining and our bedroom was full of bright, natural light.  I’m wearing my favorite socks here.  They’re cream with tiny, multi-color specks that remind me of sprinkles.  I’ve got my favorite bedspread and my favorite tea, roasted dandelion root.

I hope that wherever you are, the sun is shining and you have a nice warm pair of socks on your feet if it’s cold out.  Do you have a favorite pair of socks?

52 Project, Week 4: Socks

Cat’s 52 Project, Week 4: Socks

Previous Week:52 Project, Week 3: Silence
Next Week:52 Project, Week 5, Warmth
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Join us for the photography challenge! We’d love to see your images!
You can post your image on our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/cisforcomfort/posts/1239856306099593
Or tag us on Instagram with #cisforcomfort52

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52 Project, Week 3: Silence

52 Project, Week 3: Silence

When I think of silence, I think of the woods in winter.  The woods are so quiet when it snows.  I learned recently that falling snow actually blocks sound.  The science behind it is kind of cool.

There’s something wonderful about being in the hushed woods while it’s snowing.  It feels like I’m in a glowing snow globe.  The air is crisp, cold and clean.  Every tree is highlighted with white, glittering crystals.  The very ground itself is smooth, sparkling and soft looking as if it’s a blanket I could pick up and wrap myself in.  It feels safe and comforting.

The only sound in the woods is only audible if you listen closely.  If the snow is falling, you can hear it, softer than raindrops, louder than falling feathers.  It’s like music that is so hushed, only the completely still can hear.  Once you move, the low crunch of your footsteps is satisfying and muffled enough that it doesn’t disturb this cherished place.

What comes to mind when you think of silence?  Do you like walking in the woods when it’s snowing?

52 Project, Week 3: Silence

Cat’s 52 Project, Week 3: Silence

Previous Week: 52 Project, Week 2: Cold
Next Week: 52 Project, Week 4: Socks
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52 Project, Week 2: Cold

Project 52, Week 2, Cold

52 Project, Week 2: Cold

I love winter.  I even love the cold.  I would happily take a cold winter day over a humid hot summer day.  Once it started snowing, I knew I had to run out with my little Princess for this week’s photography project.

Princess is my little shadow.  She loves doing everything with me, sleeping, cuddling, cooking, cleaning, playing.  No matter what it is, she’s content to be right by me.  Honestly, I could say this about any of my kids.  They love to pile around me like little puppies.

I bet you’re wondering WHY I love the cold.  Maybe it’s because I’ve lived in Minnesota my whole life.  I can’t tolerate heat very well.  My ideal, happy temp range is 15 degrees Fahrenheit to 60 degrees Fahrenheit.  I can be comfortable in the 70’s, but the 80’s are uncomfortable.  The 90’s are intolerable.  You might find me hiding in my igloo, er, house with the air conditioning on full blast.

Did you know that Minnesota is one of the coldest states in America?  On average, year-round, Alaska beats us for the coldest temperature.  We beat Alaska for the coldest winter season though!  Last week Thrillist put out an article where we won the number one most miserable winter.  Yet, even if it’s -35, kids still go to school and life functions like normal.

For us, if the weather rises above zero, that’s reason enough to take off a layer or two or leave your jacket open.  Once it reaches the 20’s we don’t see the need to wear a warm jacket, a good sweater or a light spring jacket will do.  In the 30’s, you’ll find people walking around in shorts and t-shirts.  I’m not exaggerating.  Although I do make my children bundle up, even though they fight me to strip down like everyone else.  We are polar bears and arctic foxes.  Our blood is thick and the cold is where we feel happiest.

Not everyone feels this way.  You’ll still find a couple of people who would rather be in a warmer state.  For me though, Minnesota is my home and I couldn’t be happier anywhere else.

Project 52, Week 2, Cold

For Cat’s cold challenge, we headed down to the river, looking for inspiration.  We found a beautiful field that looked perfect.  Cat and I had a lot of fun amongst the soft grasses.  I snapped a couple of cute images of her while she was capturing her shots.

How do you feel about the cold?  Are you a fan of snow or do you prefer the heat?

Previous Week:Project 52, Week 1, The Bible
Next Week: 52 Project, Week 3: Silence
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52 Project, Week 1: Bible

52 Project, Week 1: Bible

When I was younger, I used to choose resolutions for New Years.  My family would stay up till midnight while making homemade pizza and playing games.  We would also come up with a resolution.  Normally I’d forget about my resolution within the first week.  I’ve stopped celebrating New Years and making resolutions.  I don’t feel I need to wait for the new year to start a great new goal.  I can do that any time.  I have, however, come up with a theme word and quote for the year.

This year, Cat helped me come up with our theme word.  Our past words have been pretty simple, haha, literally.  With four children, I found the need to simplify everything.  In 2013, the goal was to simplify our schedule.  After having been on bedrest for half of my pregnancy, I had already somewhat adjusted to doing less.  Learning to minimize our schedule was still a balancing act for a while.  2014, I loved what simplifying our schedule did for our life.  I wanted to continue focusing on that and and also simplify our routines and possessions.  2015 was a continuation of that.  In 2016, I joined a Minimizing group on Facebook and began to make big changes in minimizing our belongings.

2017
Faith

For all the things that were written beforehand were written for our instruction, so that through our endurance and through the comfort from the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4

2016
Minimize

It goes by in the blink of an eye.

2015
Simplify

Ohana means family — no one gets left behind, and no one is ever forgotten.

2014
Simplify

The Love of a Family is Life’s Greatest Blessing

2013
Simplify

The joys of a family of 6.

2012

It’s going to be a good year.

Although I want to continue to minimize our belongings this year, I felt the need for something different.  2017 seems to be a year of big change.  Our local congregation moved and merged with Cottage Grove.  January 1st was our first day at our new Kingdom Hall.  Each of the kids has been adjusting to new schools.  There are changes I want to make.  The children have their own goals and struggles as well.  I keep thinking to myself that I need to take a leap of faith, place my trust in God and everything will be all right.

I asked Cat what the word of the year should be and she said “Faith”.  It’s perfect.  Faith is what we need to get us through hard times.  Faith is what we need every day.  Faith lifts us up.  For us, having the Bible is a great first photography project.   It’s not one of our random words, it’s the perfect symbolism for our first week.

Cat’s 52 Project, Week 1: Bible

Next Week: 52 Project, Week 2: Cold
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52 Project

52 Project

I have always wanted to challenge my photography with a 365 or 52 project.  I’ve tried taking an image a day without officially having a 365 project or having a theme.  I missed days, I waited until the last minute on many days and ended up photographing my kids in bed and some days I had no idea what I would do.  This time, I want to do it right.

As a photographer, I rarely feel satisfied with my own work.  I always want it to be better.  I believe this pushes me to keep improving.  There has always been part of me that feels that my work is not good enough to be able to complete a 365 project and have it be something I can be proud of.  Sharing my work publicly feels almost as though I am baring my naked soul to the world.  I finally feel as though I am brave enough to commit to a project and share it.  I’m hoping I’ll be able to flex my creative muscles, learn some new things and have some fun images.

I chose a 52 project instead of a 365 project because I know that with my busy schedule I wouldn’t be able to commit to a daily project.  One photograph a week is attainable and fun.  I’m hoping it will give me more time to plan each image carefully, edit it and post it within a reasonable time frame.

This is not just my project, it’s a mother, daughter project.  We will both be taking our own images.  Since my oldest daughter, Cat,  is taking photography in high school, I have been able to enjoy seeing her grow as an artist while she photographs projects for class.  She often models for me and assists me during some of my shoots, so working together is not new.  Doing a photography project together gives me great excitement and joy.  I’m thrilled to be able to share something I love with my daughter.  I’m hoping that doing this together will help keep us both accountable.

We both chose words for our list.  I’m planning on letting Cat make her own interpretations of the words and how she would like to photograph.  Since she has a good grasp of using the camera and adjusting manual settings, I’m excited to see what she comes up with.  I’ve welcomed my other children to join me, but they will have to have me adjust the camera to the appropriate settings so they can focus on composure.

52 Project Photography Challenge

52 Project, Week 1, Bible
52 Project, Week 2: Cold
52 Project, Week 3: Silence
52 Project, Week 4: Socks
52 Project, Week 5, Warmth
52 Project, Week 6: Hair
52 Project, Week 7: Blankets
52 Project, Week 8: Winter Trees
52 Project, Week 9: Ice/Snow/Frost
52 Project, Week 10: Mother/Daughter
52 Project, Week 11: Art
52 Project, Week 12: Reflection
52 Project, Week 13: Kindness
52 Project, Week 14: Favorite Scripture
52 Project, Week 15: Hobby
52 Project, Week 16: Multiple
52 Project, Week 17: Light
52 Project, Week 18: Spring Trees
52 Project, Week 19: Jewelry
52 Project, Week 20: Favorite Color
52 Project, Week 21: Simplicity
52 Project, Week 22: Self Portrait
52 Project, Week 23: Green
52 Project, Week 24: Words
52 Project, Week 25: Patterns
52 Project, Week 26: Watermelon
52 Project, Week 27: Flip Flops/Sandals
52 Project, Week 28: Water
52 Project, Week 29: Summer Trees
52 Project, Week 30: Glitter
52 Project, Week 31: Love
52 Project, Week 32: Silhouette
52 Project, Week 33: Relaxation
52 Project, Week 34: Hot
52 Project, Week 35: Walking
52 Project, Week 36: Animals
52 Project, Week 37: Apples
52 Project, Week 38: Happiness
52 Project, Week 39: Explore
52 Project, Week 40: Hands
52 Project, Week 41: Pumpkin
52 Project, Week 42: Autumn Trees
52 Project, Week 43: Favorite Outfit
52 Project, Week 44: Comfy
52 Project, Week 45: Boots
52 Project, Week 46: Black and White
52 Project, Week 47: Scarf
52 Project, Week 48: Baking
52 Project, Week 49: My Cup
52 Project, Week 50: Natural
52 Project, Week 51: Hope
52 Project, Week 52: White

Check out the completed project collage!
Things I’ve Learned From Doing A 52 Project

Have you done a 52/365 project?  How did it go?  You are welcome to join in and post your own images as well!  Post them on our Facebook page.  We’d love to see what you come up with!

 

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15 Fun Chalk Art Ideas

It’s chalk art season, time to check out our 15 fun chalk art ideas! The snow has melted, the sun is shining and it’s warm enough to go outside without snow pants, mittens, and hats.  

One of our favorite summer activities is to make chalk art.  Maybe we’re artistically inclined.  Or maybe we’re rebels and we enjoy defacing public property.  Really, though, we love making art to share with others.  What greater way is there to spread a little cheer to your neighbors?

My children love when I break open a new package of chalk.  The rainbow of colors, the excitement of possibilities, the opportunity for art! I love seeing their excitement.

My kids aren’t the only ones that love to draw with chalk!  I usually join them and create a fun doodle or two.

There are so many different things that can be done with chalk.  From simple to extreme, there are many beautiful examples out there to inspire us.  Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

15 Fun Chalk Art Ideas

15 Fun Chalk Art Ideas

  1. Family Portrait
  2. Stencils
  3. Flowers
  4. Name Art
  5. Wings
  6. Beach
  7. Super Hero
  8. Celestial-Suns, Stars, Moons, and Planets
  9. Quotes
  10. Outlines
  11. Crowns, Hats, & Hair
  12. Rainbow
  13. Camping
  14. Flying Away in the Clouds with a Balloon
  15. Sunsets
  • Chalk Crown
  • Chalk Crown
  • Chalk Outline
  • Chalk Art
  • Chalk Sunset
  • Chalk Words

What are your favorite things to do with chalk?  Were you inspired by this post?  Share some of your art with us!

Check out our fun Chalk art video!