And the second week of January flew by.

Day 8 | January 8th

I got a new Lensbaby Velvet 56 – this is a manual focus art lens that adds a really dreamy effect to photos. There is a decent learning curve to knowing what the sweet spot aperture is to still achieve focus and I am playing with it a ton. This is my first try with it – the buds aren’t tack sharp, but I LOVE the swirl of color as you head towards the edge of the frame on camera left.

Day 9 | January 9th

We saw a little bit of snow today and Carter wanted to try to catch some in his mouth. I took my new lens out for a whirl, again working on finding the right focus. It was tough with a moving subject! I really love the colors of his sweatshirt in this series and I kept coming back to the last frame – the lack of focus kept pulling at me, so I decided to post it.

Day 10 | January 10th

Jeremy left today on a work trip to Pakistan and will be gone for ten days. It is his longest trip away from us and given the state of unrest in that part of the world, the travel there was a bit nerve-racking. Thankfully he made it without issue. So today’s photo is of the three of us (and Mazy) … all on our own for almost two weeks.

Day 11 | January 11th

We had a really long day – Gavin had a basketball game in the morning, both boys had friends over all afternoon and then Gavin had a late indoor soccer game. By the time we got home, everyone was exhausted and this one was fighting bedtime like a champ. Sleep finally won in the end.

Day 12 | January 12th

We were having friends over for the Seahawks playoff game when it started hailing … then snowing. So these two immediately went outside. When I looked out there I saw Carter in his shorts and bike helmet shoveling the driveway – clearly safety first, warmth second, hahaha! This was also shot with my new lens. You can see how the snow swirls towards the edges of the frame!

Day 13 | January 13th

So. Much. Snow. We were only supposed to get 5″ and I think we ended up close to 10″ and it wouldn’t stop snowing! The boys spent almost the entire day outside in it, sledding and playing. Carter made a giant snowball that started at the top of the hill and ended at the bottom. And then when Carter came in after his final sledding run, he made the BEST hot cocoa with whip cream, mini marshmallows and chocolate chips!

Day 14 | January 14th

I waited all day for the snow to stop so that I could take the drone up to get a few photos of how the white blankets the land around here. And then we have icicles!!