You'd think it would be the easiest thing, to capture a photo of your family. But after 2 years of jointly hosting the Me and Mine Project I can tell you it's not always as easy as our posts must make it look!
I realised, as I sat in the sea of torn wrapping paper on Christmas morning, that I'd barely taken any photos! That the moment ran away with us and actually that was ok.
We took the annual video of the children whispering "Has he been?" as they tip toed down the stairs to the front door to check that the carrots had been eaten, we got one photo of them and their stockings, one of each of us with our precious present and one of everyone around the Christmas table.
One is enough. One to print, one to put in an album, one to compare to last year. You just need to take one. Oh and a couple of the table of course ;)
To be able to see our growing boys, how we are changing and how our little unit matures each month is a special thing. And the effort that we sometimes have to go to, to just get one photo of the four of us is so worth it. All the bribery for chocolate or sweets when we've finished, the heated exchanges between Rich and I when he wasn't quite capturing my (umm double) chin as flattering as he could.
All totally worth it, because look what I got for Christmas...
Volume 1 of all our Me and Mine photos since the project started in January 2013. Note that he made it Volume 1, which means despite all the rolling of the eyes when I wave the tripod in front of him on the 29th of each month, he's not planning for us to stop taking our Me and Mine photos anytime soon.
Big things have happened over the last 2 years, people have come into our lives, we lost very special people and we have started a new life in the country.
Almost all of my most precious photos of the four of us are in this book, and that's down to this amazing group of bloggers who share a passion for capturing our family, just as we are, at that moment in time.
Christmas is a time for family, for your nearest and dearest, for bestest friends, for merriment and for reflection. I look at Ollie in the Me and Mine post from last year and wonder at what point this year he stopped being my baby.
Christmas Day at our new house was just as I hoped for. Relaxed, a few new traditions, a good few old ones, sparkly dresses, new Christmas shirts and happiness. 3 generations together and two families. Next year my brother and sister in law are hoping to fly over from America which means my lovely Mummy can have her family photo too.
Boxing Day was a pie filled affair with my in laws joining us and we spent the next day having a rather idyllic time with the boys. Card games at the table, a leftover feast, walk in the countryside and then a time on the sofa snuggling watching Frozen. Perfect.
I hope you had the merriest of Christmases and have a happy new year's eve tonight.
I'll be having a party at home with my boys. Lush.
Now join in and share your family photo from December. It's been another wonderful year for us hosts, seeing everyone's families grow. Pop over to Lucy, Katie, Becky and Lauren's blogs and see the magic that was in their Decembers.
And be sure to check out the first Me and Mine 2015 post in January for a few changes to the hosting team...
Blogging has meant I have met a whole host of incredible people. Some of which I now count as firm friends.
The blogging community is a wildly creative place, and sometimes it feels like people's talents are never ending. I am completely inspired by the bloggers and stylists I follow, none more than Kirsten Butler, The Little Wedding Helper.
I have had the pleasure of getting to know Kirsten over the last year and I feel like if we lived just down the road from each other, we'd be popping in and out, chatting over cups of tea, yummy treats and playing styling and snapping all day long!
Shooting with Kirsten is a ridiculous amount of fun. It doesn't feel like work! So we decided a while ago we need a Winter, 'Just for fun' day! Pomegranates, wooden textures, beautiful hand painted stationery and cake. Giant, berry laden, naked cakes.
Here's a peek from our few hours of faffing!
I love playing with natural light, and as the sun went down I took the opportunity to capture the beautiful cake in dusk light. Right by the window in a mini set up.
Happy Friday everyone! Happy snapping, happy faffing!
I cannot believe we are in the penultimate month of this year's family portrait project. Next month will be 2 years!
Just look at these babes. Almost 2 years ago I wrote this post.
And whatever may happen next year to this wonderful photo community, I am so glad I have these photos.
Weeks race by and I snap hundreds, if not thousands of work photos, driving Rich to despair with our back up system, but without these Me and Mine photos we may not have any of the 4 of us.
Sometimes I feel like I am always behind the camera, shepherding my brood into position for a family snap and sometimes it's hard to pass the camera over.
So if you had been a fly on the wall in the field today you would have cried with laughter. A controlling photographer, a frustrated husband, one Mama who cried when she fell, hands first onto a patch of stinging nettles, one Dada who vowed this would be the last time he was forced into one of these photos, one boy who suddenly needed to relieve himself (And not in the number 1 easy way.) and one boy who just wanted to climb a tree in peace.
But when I look at the few photos we actually managed to take, in between all the drama in the field, (We think we heard the peacock who has gone missing in the village - yes, you read that right!) it was all worth it. My beautiful boys. Our beautiful boys.
