I love playing in the light.  Or rather, I love having someone else play in the light while I play photographer.  And I far prefer playing photographer to playing housekeeper.

And one of the many wonders of this type of lighting is that you can’t tell how messy my kitchen is.  he-he-he…..

She loves her clothing.  She loves to *play* with her clothing.  If I fold laundry and leave it out, she will invariably take one piece at a time and spread it all over the floor.  Then she will pick up a piece and put it down in another spot.  Smoothing it out.  Commenting on its color or adornment.  Then moving on to the next piece to begin the process all over.

I’m fearful of ballooning clothing costs as this little girl grows.

But then today I started feeling a little bad about being so dismissive of her.  She’s been such a loyal and good companion.  Sure she’s got her flaws and weaknesses.  But she’s taught me a thing or too.  Perhaps if I can’t wear the old shirt anymore I can re-fashion her into a scarf?  So I collected her today and we made friends again.  Because I *am* stuck with her for a while now.  So I better get on with it.  I decided to see if she could look in reeeaaal close on my day to day life.  She was a little *noisey* at times …. and I opted to hand hold her in low light, which she is not fond of.  But I thought her grain and blur mirrored my grain & blur.  And this is what we saw today…….. up close.

Mommy’s phone.  Used less by mommy than by the small folk here.  At 2 1/2, Brynn has got the tapping and sliding down….

Why was she playing on my phone?  Well because I was next to her paying bills.  Ugh…..  I decided to jazz them up with our remaining holiday stamps.  The only cheery thing about them.

And since I didn’t notice when she got bored and wandered away, I also didn’t notice she found a lollipop.  A pre-lunch snack!  It was, of course, pink…..

And so I told her she shouldn’t have taken and eaten that lollipop.  Which was probably a confusing message as I just photographed her (like crazy) eating it.  So she looked out the window.  Away from the lady with the unwelcome *no-pink-lollipop* message.

But then she checked back in to be sure I wasn’t *really* cross.   (Of course I wasn’t.  She is far too cute for any of us to get cross at her.  And she know this, by the way.  We’re in big trouble.)

What???  She’s having more candy???  Well, at least it was *after* lunch this time.  I know, I know.  But it was the sort of day where I transformed my worn-out t-shirt-camera into a swishy-beautiful-scarf-camera.  So M&Ms seemed appropriate.

While she’s off for her post-sugar nap, I’m hanging out with Finn.  He loves to rub his bare feet all over the satiny side of his blanket.  I know he’s tired and in need of some snuggles when he does this.  It’s one of those fleeting moments in the day that will remind me that this whirling bundle of boy is still so little.

Her left off sneaker.  Little purple Converse sneakers.  I love these things

When big brother is in the house it is all about the XBox.  And he was not too happy at how close I was to interfering with his game here.  Of course his friend was sitting right next to him too.  So I’m sure he was more annoyed that his mother was doing something weird and embarrassing in front of his friend.

Well there is nothing like having the camera right there in your face when you wake up!  She’s the only one I could do that to.  The boys would not have had such pleasant expressions.  It was soooo dark in the room.  Thus the hand held blur.  Because I wasn’t going to be friends with my tripod today too.

I know …. technically this is 11.  But my camera; she is a renegade.  And she is particularly fond of this kid’s eyes.  Looks like daddy.

Well.  I suppose she isn’t all that bad after all.  She makes a lovely swishy scarf, no?

If you’ve enjoyed my ramblings,  please head on over to Kristi Ahrens and peek in on how she spent her 10 on 10.

I pushed a stroller.  A lot.  Which lead to many one handed shots: toggling, back button focus and shooting with one arm/hand.  Tricky!  Plus we were frequently moving.   Walking, dodging & weaving, meandering back and forth through lines, spinning, jerking, speeding, bumping, turning on a continuous stream of rides.  Not always the best lighting either.  And it is challenging to take pictures of your kids *enjoying* a ride when you’re squashed right in the seat next to them.  It is really too easy to get caught up taking pictures of *stuff* (did I need 20 shots of the Electric Light Parade??  Or 30 versions of Cinderella’s castle?)

But this was the first magical visit to Disney for my kids (thanks in no small part to two loving & generous grandparents!)  And I captured some really magical moments.  I was tempted to paste together images from the various days, but in the end I wanted to stay true to the idea of ONE day.  I had chosen our first day at our first park …. the Magic Kingdom to use for this month’s edition, so I’m sticking with it .  Here are 10 of my favorite shots of that MAGICAL day.

ONE:  “Good Morning Cinderella!”  We stayed at the Polynesian Resort, which was across the Seven Seas Lagoon from the Magic Kingdom.  Our morning picnic breakfast ritual included feeding the scraps to the ducks and greeting the castle.  Brynn LOVED looking at the castle.

TWO:  Our first *up close* of the much loved castle.  Really …. you never do get tired of seeing it

THREE:  I planned our days using “The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World“.  Despite the Thanksgiving-week crush of people, following their “touring plans” proved to keep our wait times relatively low!  They said “Ride Dumbo First!”  We did   Wait times later on were upwards of an hour!

FOUR: Close by was “It’s A Small World“.  It was too tame for Finn…. but Brynn & I rode it a total of four times!

FIVE:  Splash Mountain.  Turns out that my 4 yr old Finn likes the thrill rides.  All of them!  He rode every one that his 40 1/2 inch frame could get on.  Those are my 3 boys in the back row   You can’t see Finn  — short as he is — but he’s in between daddy & big brother.

SIX: On our way out for a mid-day rest/nap, we ran into a couple of nuts .  Meeting the characters ….. every one we could ….. was HUGE for the little ones

SEVEN:  Back at the park we grabbed some FastPasses to get in to see the two happiest mice ever.  Note the mini versions clutched by the two youngest.  Those mice are BIG around this house!

EIGHT: More FastPasses to ride Buzz Lightyear.  One of the things I loved most about our trip was the *superglue* effect it had on these brothers.  They love each other, sure.  But throughout this trip Finn had to ride every ride with Dylan — no one else.  And would often only be pushed in the stroller by Dylan.  Big brother readily complied.  Sigh.

NINE: Cinderella likes her castle sparkly like her glass slippers.  So her Fairy Godmother transformed the castle each night.  How could you NOT love to look at this????

TEN: Weary and needing sleep after a LONG magical day, we ride the ferry across the water to our beds.  This will keep for us until tomorrow.

I miss Disney.  We had eight magical days that were spent all together all the time.  No time for checking messages or playing on an iPod.  Best. Family. Trip. Ever.

Now that you’ve enjoyed some Disney flavor, perhaps you’d love to visit Hawaii!  Go see Kristi Ahrens 10 on 10 edition to get a little tropical!!

What?  Really?  Have I really forgotten why I started taking pictures?  Have I gotten so far away from catching on to the joy that happens right in this very minute?

Welcome to my new project:  10 on 10.  It’s genesis is rooted HERE. The idea of a 10 on 10 is to choose one day out of a month and document the day in photographs.  Ideally trying to shoot a photo an hour for 10 hours.  No planning.  No props.  No clean faces.  Just the real day.  As it unfolds.  At the least, I’m hoping that a year from now I will have an album of 12 documented days from throughout the year.  But I’m really hoping this will help me get back to a more organic place of shooting and capturing life.

I’m not traveling this journey alone.  There are 12 of us in our group, blogging in a circle of photographers capturing every day life.  So take a look at my day.   Maybe it reminds you a little of one of  your days.  And please take a moment to look in on the lovely Kristi Brons Ahrens when you’re finished here.  She is much better at capturing the joy and spontaneity of her boys …. I could learn a thing or two from her!

 A November Monday

A quiet morning with Brynn …. brothers both at school.  Mommy wants to play with the light in this patch of forest with my favorite little muse.  She very much has her own ideas on the matter.

Back at home with our favorite colorful, singing, Spanish speaking girlfriend.

Time to pick up a bigger brother from school.  Joy!!!

Lunch.  She’s my Italian girl …. RELISHES what she eats!

What’s been left behind when she goes off to nap….

The *other* thing left behind when she goes off to nap…. but he’s rather happy with the arrangement.  No one to mess up his building creation.

A resentful car-rider.  Torn away from locomotive creations to pick up the even bigger brother.

Homework.  What else is one to do after school …. really?

Daddy’s HOME!!!!

Running to the store for milk.  It gets soooo dark so early now.  But what a sunset

Meet Jayna.  Gorgeous, isn’t she?  You may know someone with a smile like Jayna’s.  The sort of smile that is so brilliant and true that it’s always in her eyes too.  Some things I loved about Jayna?  She has an easy way about her.  This young woman is comfortable with who she is and exudes an easy confidence that makes you feel welcomed and relaxed.  She’s smart too.  Not just *book smart*, but a worldly sort of *sophisticated* smart.  Perhaps a little bit of an “old soul”, and I think she is probably comfortable talking to just about anyone.  And as nice as she is, she knows her own mind; the type of young woman who doesn’t merely follow others, but embarks on her own path.  As she completes her high school years she will surely look forward to an amazing future!