How the heck is it February already? Seriously? Really? Nooooo…. really?  OK fine.

If you are just tuning in, I am very much honored to be participating in a monthly project with incredibly talented photographers. On the 11th of every  month, we will post 11 pictures. The doozy being that the 11th picture is a self portrait. It’s our attempt at getting some pictures of ourselves. We all recognize the importance of being in front of the camera, even if we are way more comfortable being behind it.

Let me start with this: an image of my amazing mom and my beautiful daughter. My mom has been fighting brain cancer for three years now. The cancer and the chemo have taken a lot of her strength, and sometimes, I fear it has taken her spirit away too. But when I see a picture like this, where all I see is her strength, and her spirit, and her love shining so powerfully out of those hazel eyes, I take pause, catch my breath, and remind myself to be grateful. I look right back into those eyes and whisper quietly, “I love you mom.”

And here’s a shot of one of our pretty kitties. I loved how the sun was lighting up her whiskers.

My little guy turned seven. That’s a lot of years that I’ve been loving him madly. I’m looking forward to loving him madly for the rest of my days.

This counts as one picture cuz these two kids complete me… you know, in that dramatic Jerry Maquire sort of way. hehe.

I love her joyful face celebrating her little brother’s birthday. I love his puffed up cheeks. Yep. They complete me.

The dude loves orange soda. I’m personally not a fan of giving them soda at all. But as a very special treat, he got some.

He sort of kind of loved it.

This also counts as one picture cuz 14 on 11, um or uh, 17 on 11 doesn’t have the same ring….

I really just wanted a picture of him sitting on his bed. I got these instead. But I love them even more because it’s him. He lies on his back all the time with his feet in the air. He loves Gangnam Style. And he loves not listening to me. LOL.

Come on…. Look at the camera…..

For his birthday, he had his best friend over for a sleepover, and his sister had her best friend over.

I played a little with some long exposure/light painting with the kids. It was kinda fun. Can you see me?

I love swings. I love love love the happy expressions I always get out of this guy when he’s swinging. So carefree.

I much prefer that happy face to the “I’m lost in Nintendo DS world” face.

Oh, who am I kidding. I love all his faces.

Last month, my son tested for his yellow belt. This time, it was my daughter’s turn.

She’s got a mean sidekick. This makes me giggle every time I see it. Kiai!

And I’m just gonna pretend you aren’t counting pics here, cuz I had to share these two of my beauty, just standing in front of the house being her, which is beautiful. Like, crazy so.

OK, seriously. I do know how to count. But, c’mon. How could I NOT share this one?

Getting a self portrait this month almost didn’t happen. I’m bummed I cut off my beautiful Miz Mooz boots, but super happy I have a picture of me with my kids sitting outside our house. They make me all sorts of happy.

I’m doing a horrible job of limiting these pics, but I  just can’t stop myself. Look at my sweet little girl. I love her room. The cloud with the rainbow above her bed was made by my mom. The paper cranes that are hanging in the corner? Also made by my mom. And the butterflies? Well, some came from Pottery Barn, and some were made by me. I love her room, decorated by the women who love her best.

You guys are just not gonna believe the talent that this blog circle has! Go check out Columbus Ohio photographer, Alison Janki Photography.  I know you’ll love her!

And if you want to see more of my stuff, I am better at posting to my Facebook wall. Come on over and like me. I’m a sucker for new likes. 

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I am SO excited to share a new project I will be doing this year with some insanely talented photographers!  I am humbled to be a part of this group and KNOW you are going to LOVE LOVE LOVE all the images shared by these ridiculously talented photographers!

You may have heard of the project 10 on 10, where photographers share 10 images they took that month and share it on the 10th of the month. Well, in honor of Spinal Tap, we’re doing 11 on 11. If you don’t know what my Spinal Tap reference is, here’s a clip:

So, yes, indeed. These will go to 11! I will be sharing 11 images I’ve taken of my family and will share them on the 11th!  The catch is, that 11th picture needs to be something different. For me, that something different will (hopefully) be a self portrait of me with my kids. I am so seldomly in front of the camera, and so desperately want pictures of me with my kids, so this project is my little push to make sure that I not only document my kids’ lives, but also include me in some of those pictures!

Let’s get started!

My freakishly tall daughter had the honor of placing the star on the San Francisco Union Square Christmas Tree this year. We’re so proud. Hehe.

My son graduated to yellow belt in karate. He already has a black belt in Cute.

My beautiful mom celebrated another year on this earth, for which I am incredibly grateful. Also pictured here is my amazing dad who lended his lungs when my mom couldn’t get those candles out. For those who don’t know, my mom has been battling brain cancer for almost 3 years now. Good thoughts and prayers are always welcome. It’s been tough.

The dude got a Flashrider 360 for Christmas and clearly owns the neighborhood now.

We went up to Reno to ski and play in the snow.  She allowed me pretty much this one picture in the parking lot before running off but dang, how I love it.

Taking a break from sledding to eat some snow. He may have eaten his weight in snow that day.

We stayed at the Circus Circus in Reno. I woke up to see my little guy sitting on the heater, peering out the window at the newly fallen snow.

Up the escalator to go to Circus Circus’s Midway of Fun.

She bought some light up glasses with her winnings.  It took her a gajillion minutes to decide on what to get and then she wore them for about a minute before she was done.

A shot of my daughter’s eyelashes while she was doing some artwork at the table. Love finding quiet moments like this.

And now for the 11th picture!  This was shot by me, using a tripod, one light set up, and my remote.  My remote has a 2 second delay, so once I fired it, I had two seconds to hide it and get ready for a shot!  LOL!  We had SO much fun!  I couldn’t decide how to present it, so I went a little crazy.

I will have to do a separate blog post to share all the fun pictures I got!  I rarely use studio lights and hope to try to use them more this coming year. I’m so glad I am challenging myself with this monthly self portrait. I hope I can keep the creativity going for 12 months!

(Hey! I DID do a separate blog post of our striped pajama insanity! You can check it out right here!)

If you like what you see, you can always FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK.

Next up is the incredibly talented Australian photographer, Leah Robinson of Leah Robinson Photography. I absolutely adore her work and know you will too!  Go have a look!…

I’m being followed by a bike shadow.

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