When Kid & Camera Meet

Today after school, Eli climbed a huge oak tree on the playground. It was so impressive I wanted to take a quick a photo with my phone. To my surprise, when I went to use the camera, there was a message saying that I was about to run out of disc space and needed to delete photographs or videos. I looked and indeed there were over 600 pictures on my phone. Now I admit I have not downloaded my pics in a few months, but 600! That seemed ridiculous. When I got home, I started looking through all of them and to my surprise found that my little tree climber had been behind the lens snapping LOTS of photos himself.

There were numerous shots taken in the car from his vantage point in the back seat.

Some, like the one below, show the world from his view, which is quite nice.

And then there were the family member shots. Who knows when all of these were captured. Here he gets a close up Conor.

And then moves on to Jude.

And even some of mom. Here is his shot of me a the Museum of Natural History.

And goofing off at Christmas.

And making faces.....

He had even found inspiration in dad standing in line at IKEA.

Let's not forget the numerous toy photo op's.

And the ones of SPROUT.....

My favorite were the 8 or so he took of the fake baby belly hanging on the wall in the dressing room.

While I may have missed the opportunity to capture my big man in the tree, I instead was pleasantly surprised to find all the self-portraits of Eli on my phone. And those, are much worth more!

My Latest Obsession

Although not gifted with the ability to draw, I have always considered myself to be artsy. I like papers and pens and putting things together on a page. Blame on it my days as a graphic designer, but I like balance, proportion and above all, a clean, simple good design. Once upon a time, I was a scrapbooker. I would go over to a friend's house and spend hours cutting, gluing, stickering and writing until finally I produced the cutest baby book for Chapel. However, scrapbooking is time consuming for a busy mom and I found that as more children followed, I could not keep up.

Fast forward! I have found the perfect hobby that allows me to continue my obsession but in a fashion that time allows. Brett bought me a Cricut for our anniversary in November. A Cricut, pronounced Cricket, cuts shapes and letters of all varieties. The creative part comes when you choose your papers, embellishments, and projects. My very first project was my niece's birthday packaging. I LOVE packaging, pretty packages show you really care, right? And although this particular package showed a lot of beginner's immaturity, I was proud none the less.

Christmas provided another reason to put some creative ideas to the test. I love how vintage wrapping looks, so I took that as my theme for this year's gift wrap. (Yes, I have a different theme each year! - Remember last year was black and white?)

This year I used the cricut to make my own tags and I was so excited with the results!

As Valentine's Day approaches, the kids and I have been brainstorming on what to make and they have come up with some awesome ideas. I can't wait to share them with you all when completed. Until then, you can see how much work we've already done getting ready. Chapel and her two friends, Annie and Mallory, made their Valentine boxes this week. Compared to scrapbooking, this craft obsession is kid approved so not only am I filling my own need to be artsy, it is an activity that I can enjoy with the little ones.