Happy Canada Day everyone!



Earlier this week I posted how I've been thinking a lot about the kinds of photographs I want my kids to have of their childhood. Not all the posed "let's go out into this beautiful field and take some beautiful smiling photographs", but the actual "I have the coolest room and I love playing lego on the floor" photographs.

But that led me also to thinking how great I am about starting projects and not so great about finishing them. Which got the wheels turning in my head about a great project that would require a minimal time commitment and still get me exactly what I want.

And so the Our Year in Photos Project was born. One photo a week for a year. Each capturing a specific part of our lives and of my kids' childhood that I want remembered.

Once I started writing the idea down, I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop thinking about everything I wanted captured, everything I wished I had photos of from when I was 4, everything I wished I had photos of from when my kids were 4. So I planned out the entire year. And I am so excited for every single week.

Here's how it's going to work. Every Monday I'm going to post a prompt. You have to take one photo for each week. That's it....just one photo a week. This is not a time-consuming project. There will be some weeks where I take 2 photos (one of each kid) but not more than that, for this project . The prompts aren't going to be difficult - think "a photograph with my little peanut wearing her favourite shirt".

By the end of the year, I - and you too if you play along - am going to have an album of images that really show what our everyday life is all about - where we live, what we love, who we love.

Because it's just the way I am, there have to be some rules. And know these are really more for me than you, in an attempt to overcome my perfectionist tendencies.

1. You may not quickly change your child into matching clothes right before you take the photo because it's going to actually be printed and put in an album. Whatever they're wearing goes.
2. You may not rush around and pick up all the toys on the floor and put away the jackets, shoes, whatever is lying around before you take the photo. Whatever your house looks like at that moment goes.
3. There will be the occasional prompt that requires you to be in the photo. You may not skip over those ones. Obviously your kids know that you're there every day, but 10 years from now will they see it in the photos?
4. Do it. It's only one photo per week.

Sounds good right? It will be, I promise. Be here on Monday for the first prompt.