Top 12 Photos of 2012

I decided that I am going to recap my personal favorite photo of each month of last year.  It was so hard to narrow it down to just one!  But, each of these hold a special place in my heart.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

A photo a day is a huge commitment, but so worth it.  It pushed me to learn my camera better, push my creative boundaries, carry my camera everywhere and learn how to capture not just photos, but moments.  

For 2013, I will be doing a recap of my favorite photos at the end of each month instead of a 366 (365 since it's no longer a  leap year).  This year I am going to focus more on the quality of my photos.  

Photo 366 The Last Weeks

What an exhausting year.  I will post more about my lessons learned for my photo 366, so I won't bore you with those now :)  Glad that this is done and I can show you the end of my Photo 366, 2012.

December 18 - Colton had his Christmas program and I was so happy that my grandfather (Colton's Great grandfather) was able to attend.  Thank you Aunt Bridgett and Katie for bringing him.

December 19 - Colton visited Santa and was not impressed.  He wanted to go play with the cars and trains instead.

December 20 - The star on top of our Christmas tree.

December 21 - Maben munching on a cookie he decorated at his class winter party.  Colton was photo bombing a kiss onto Maben.

December 22 - Our Christmas tree.  I always admire the trees that look all pretty in photos with the white lights, but I love our tree and it's colorful lights.

December 23 - The one  stained glass ornament that I kept for our tree.

December 24 - Matt reading, "Twas the Night Before Christmas," to the boys.  It's tradition!

December 25 - Merry Christmas!  I hope you enjoyed your Chirstmas as much as we have ours.  Here are the boys with some of their favorite toys.  

December 26 - Santa brought daddy and Maben checkers and chess for Christmas.  Here is Maben learning.

December 27 - An up close shot of one of the Christmas lights.

December 28  - A product shot of one of the pens I have in inventory.

December 29 - Trying out my new flash in a super dark room on the dog.  Loving my new flash and will blog about it at some point.

December 30 - Found a random Chinese cookie on the counter.  I cracked it open and laughed.

December 31 -  The boys and I went out hawk spotting.  We saw 7 hawks, most of them red-tailed hawks like this one.

Photo 366 #50 & 51

We are in the home stretch!  I apologize for not getting last week's up sooner, but I took off for Nebraska with my husband and father-in-law for some hunting.  Now, I feel like I am barely treading water while trying to get everything done in time for Christmas.

December 4 - This is a paperweight that I made out of stained glass and put inside of it, sand and seashells from Ridgevale Beach, Chatham, MA.  It's the beach where my mother-in-law spent a significant amount of time at while growing up and where our family has spent some amazing vacations at.  This is a gift that I already gave my MIL. 

December 5 - Another fun day with the boys at the playground.

December 6 - While getting preparations for our hunting trip at Bass Pro Shop, my husband pointed out to me a fishing pole called the, "Lady Ugly Stick."  I would have to agree that a pepto bismol pink fishing pole should be called an ugly stick.  Don't take offense ladies, there is one geared towards guys.

December 7 - View from the cheap seats.  My view of the road from the back seat.  Off to Nebraska we go.

December 8 - We made it to Nebraska just fine and were greeted with some spectacular wildlife.  One of my favorites was seeing so many bald eagles around.  This is my first time photographing one.  This one is a juvenile and will get it's signature white head later on. 

December 9 - This is me, in our hotel room getting ready to go hunting.  Sporting my blaze orange hat.

December 10 - A gorgeous Nebraska sunrise.

December 11 - My sexy husband getting ready for hunting.

December 12 - Loved the way these cattails looked with the sun setting behind them.

December 13 - On our way home from Nebraska, I stopped at the World's Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City, KS.  Here is my FIL appeasing me by getting his photo taken with it.  His wife insisted I do this.  :) 

December 14 - The glitter from inside a snow globe that has a color changing LED.

December 15 - A musical Santa that I got after my mom passed away.  I loved playing these as kids and love that my children enjoy them too.

December 16 - YAY!  We finally decorated our Christmas tree!  Now, I have a whole lot of presents to wrap.

December 17 - Look!  I have cauliflower growing!  This is a cheddar cauliflower.  And yes, it's still warm enough in southeast Texas to be gardening.  I have three tomato plants still producing tomatoes.

I will be posting my last series of photos on January 1st to wrap up the Photo 366. 

Photo 366 #49

Welcome December!  Here comes the Christmas crunch of not enough time and too much to do.  I do love this time of year and some of the goodness you can be witness to.  I am excited, the kids are getting excited and I hope that excitement is buzzing in your home as well.

November 27 - This is Jeremy Grubb.  He is an amazing woodworker and came to speak at my woodworking guild about marquetry and showed off the latest project he is working on.  I learned an incredible amount about the topic and hope to try it in the near future.  If you want to see more of Jeremy, I highly recommend that you go check out his website.  www.jeremygrubb.com

November 28 - I photographed steam rising up off of my breakfast eggs.  I have never tried to photograph steam before. 

November 29 - Maben owning those monkey bars.  He can do the full run, 37 monkey bars! 

November 30 - I have been working like crazy on some Christmas presents.  Here is a batch of Christmas light stained glass ornaments.

December 1 - Breakfast with Santa.  It's Christmas time in Texas, as you can see by my kids donning shorts.  Santa must have been dying in that suit.  Poor guy.

December 2 - My bib from the Graffiti run.  What a blast that was.  Pictures to come.

December 3 - I spotted these leaves laying just as they are on the sidewalk.  I found it absolutely beautiful to see a heart shaped leaf laying so perfectly in the center of such a beautiful yellow colored leaf.  Nature is so incredibly beautiful if you just stop to admire it.

Photo 366 #48

It's officially the holiday season.  Thanksgiving was a wonderful time in our house.  The feast came out perfect and we are still enjoying the leftovers.  I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful for you too.  One of the most wonderful things that happened this week, fall came to Texas.  We actually have fall color, and I mean it's not just the leaves changing to brown.  There are shades of red and yellow.  So pretty!

November 20 - Another red admiral visited my American flag.  The way he landed and the composition worked out, it looks like a Texas flag...almost. 

November 21 - I was prepping all the food I could before hand.  That included a pumpkin cheesecake with a sour cream topping.  Here is the sour cream topping.  Yum! 

November 22 - Again, our feast.  Happy Thanksgiving!

November 23 - People watching?  These four Inca doves have been enjoying my bench lately.  They look so cute huddled together.

November 24 - We went to a birthday party at a local restaurant that has some farm animals on site.  Here are my boys with one of the ponies.

November 25 - My proof that fall color has come to South East Texas.

November 26 - My sleeping beauty.  Colton went hard all break and didn't want to nap.  It finally caught up to him.