January 31 - Yourself

I love to take pictures of my kids, my hubby, interesting places, events, friends and all but not of myself on an ordinary day.  Sure I would be in a group picture during gatherings but not today.  I wanted to integrate my passions in one picture so I don't have to be in the image but then I thought just to go with it.  To make it work, I captured a picture of myself reflected on my macbook.  This way I do not have to be conscious of my eye bags for lack of sleep (it comes with being a mom, doesn't it?) and pimples that have to come out during that 'time' of the month.  But I didn't really like the result.  So yeah I am going ahead and post my ordinary self for today's prompt.  Good thing my hair was cooperating.

my macbook reflection early today, had to tweak it a bit

January 30 - Down

I need to think fast for today’s prompt because it is the end of the month and a lot of deadlines to meet.  And I have to finish them since these are the things that I pushed myself to complete this month.  Hopefully I will accomplish them all tomorrow.  So looking around the living room, this was the easiest of them.  I hope tomorrow’s picture will be better.

January 29 - Grow

I wanted to shoot the kids growth progress for this day ever since I saw the prompt from the start of this month’s challenge.  But then I was not able to find the previous year’s measurements and so there was no comparison for growth.  I still want to take a picture of that one of these days though.  So, I went outside and looked for some small leaves coming out.  And on the side of the big Neem tree near the gate, here are small leaves growing.

January 28 - Through

The weather has been dreary for the past days and it was nice to wake up to a sunny morning.  It does not only mean having blue skies outside the windows but the right weather to get the laundry dry.  Yes, in our country even if we do have dryers, they do not work out like the heavy duty automatic ones.  Anyway, lacking imagination wanting to stay indoors I took a picture of the sunny day outside through the window blinds.

January 27 - Sun

Today's prompt inspired me to go out early in the morning (not really early though as it was already 7:30 AM but on a Sunday that is an exception).  Good thing I checked what the prompt was when I got up, as I was focusing on the landscape that I still have to capture.  I could say so for myself that I did have some good shots not just in the morning but also in the afternoon of Mr. Sun.  

 sunlight on plants make them look greener

afternoon sun

These shots were just cropped to small sizes and added with my blog site.  All other elements (colors, brightness, contrast, etc.) remain as is without any editing.

January 26 - Together

Having a lazy moment, I wanted to shoot something that was simple and easy.  So I thought on top of my head (no pun intended, hehe) and there!  Here is my interpretation for today's prompt.

January 25 - Landscape

I have to postpone today's photo of the day since I do not think that I will be able to capture a landscape  during the day.  So I look forward to the weekend to snap some scenery knowing that there will be no work to do or school for the kids.  And as we attended a funeral of a dear Tito, I had the right subject in front of me.  The white clouds against the blue skies was a plus since it had been a dreary week for the past two weeks.

January 24 - Stripes

It rained in the afternoon today so I was stuck inside to capture anything that resembles today's prompt.  I looked around and thought that the task would be challenging and then I saw a box of memo paper sitting on my desk.  And what I liked about it is that they are colorful.  And then I saw another subject for today's prompt, piano keys, also sitting on the side table.  Although they look more of half stripes but I guess they'll pass.  I took the pictures in just one sitting.  Ha!  So much for walking around to look for stripes when they were right in front of me.

January 23 - Electric

I wanted to make up for the two days that I did not take photos on the exact dates and took images early today.  Though I have not read any rules that the prompts should be taken on the date,  I took it upon myself to do so.  It exercises my brain to think and not just focus on the normal daily activities like what to cook, article titles and etc.  I ended up with a few pictures for this day's prompt.

January 22 - Corner

It took me a day to decide what corner I will be capturing for this prompt.  Even though there are numerous corners to point my camera at, I was uninspired.  Sitting in front of my laptop I looked around and found my planner.  I decided to take a picture of one corner of the planner on the corner of the side table.  So corner on corner.  Too much brown.  I wanted some pop of colors and there is no other place than the rubber mats of the kids.  So its just not corner on corner but corner on corners.  Hehe.  And I love the result.  Don't you?

January 21 - What You Do

As a mother, there are various roles you have to play.  And the job has no time to rest even at night since my two years old still breastfeeds.  I am not complaining though.  This is one of the best jobs I could ever have especially when what you taught them is being practiced.  It amazes me that because I truly appreciate them by giving them hugs and telling them I love them, they reciprocate the gesture without being told.  Throughout the day, while I write articles I get random hugs and kisses while my kids enjoy playing or what not.  So yes I am a fulltime mother, wife and I also write.

January 19 - Delicious

When it comes to the word 'delicious' no other image comes to mind than food.  So yes, I was looking for some food items I can make my subject for today's prompt.  Though at the back of my mind, I have to think hard because grocery time is nearing and that means only a few food items to choose from for lunch.

I had some pork belly and cream dory then I looked for some vegetables to add but could not find any.  Then I opened the cabinet and saw canned mushrooms and green peas.  Without any recipe in mind, I thought I'll just go ahead and make something from these.  And I end up with cream dory in butter and calamansi sauce with fried garlic and pork belly with mushroom and peas.  Writing this makes my mouth water.  Enjoy drooling over the photos! :)

January 20 - Something You Saw

I have some events to attend to today and the Philippines is celebrating the feast of the Sto. Nino.  So I am hoping to capture some images that are not so ordinary.  In the morning, I was able to witness lots of infants receiving their baptism.  And that was a joy to see all those babies being welcomed as Christians.  But no photo of any babies today, only the child Jesus whose feast is so much celebrated.

January 18 - Shadow

Hmmmm.... I have been thinking of what would be the subject for today's prompt.  So I tried something in the morning where I asked my kids to play for awhile under the sun.  But I did not get much.  And the day become busy and I did not have time to take some photos.  I need to concentrate on finishing my articles for the day as I will go out early to purchase movie tickets - Les Miserables (yey!) for a date night with hubby.  It was already 10PM (the movie was that long - 165 minutes but I have to say worth it) and still no images depicting 'shadow'.

Then I looked around the house and I did find a nice image to capture.  The vivid shadow was of course of the hanging deco.  The second one was of a vintage lamp that was turned into a modern style lamp hanged on the ceiling with an LED bulb inside rather than a wick using gas.  I like the shot and I hope you like it too.

January 17 - Ready

I had two pictures in mind for today.  One is my hubby ready to go to work and my son ready for school.  But my son was not yet ready for school today.  Then my two-year-old inspired me to take a picture of him before taking a bath and he wanted to be pictured a lot!  So here are the shots for today's prompt.  Although I am so loving my Louie, hubby's pic was my top shot for the day.

January 16 - Two Things

When I was brainstorming about today's prompt I got stuck with the samples that were given:

16. Two things: Look for things in pairs today. Is it a lovely old couple that you see from behind? Or the salt and pepper shakers sitting on the bench? Find two things and take a photo.

I had to ask hubby for suggestions on what he thinks are two things that can be paired.  He told me bread and jam or specifically sliced bread and Cheez Whiz.  Another example was given but I cannot remember what.  I looked around for inspiration and thought that my two sons would be a potential subject.  

As I was still attending to my sick son, I didn't have much time to take some images.  By night we attended a meeting for couples and thought of capturing some couples but was not able to.  Hubby and I stopped by a fast food chain for some night snacks and took a shot of French fries and ketchup.  (looking at them now makes me want some :D).  

My sons were still awake and so I did take a picture of them and a lot of two things came to mind after.  Other than the spoon and fork, I got wine and wineglass, shoes, slippers, two toy monster trucks, hot & cold, a letter and a number, cup and saucer, two badminton rackets, or a badminton racket and a shuttlecock.  But oh well I was pressed for time as these pairs came to mind around bedtime.  So I end up only having three choices for today and here they are.  As usual, the top is my choice.

January 15 - An Ordinary Moment

If anything, today was not really the usual school, work, lunch, nap, work then dinner.  As I am writing this I am monitoring my four year old son, Hammie's condition as he vomited this morning.  It got me thinking of him getting hospitalized in December 2009 because of bacterial infection.  And it also happened to Louie, my two year old last January 2012.  I hope and pray this is not the third time to be in that place.

In between checking my son, I was able to write and looked for ordinary moments.  And I did have some of them amidst the anxiety of taking care of a sick son.  It always crosses my mind that I'd rather be the sick one and not them.  So here are some of my choices for today's prompt, which one do you like best?  Or maybe needs some improvement?

Louie loves music and yes banging on the keyboard

My morning coffee prepared by hubby :)

Louie helping out in the cleaning although it was play for him

January 14 - Something Yellow

Today's prompt push me (in a good way) to make an effort of finding something yellow outside.  What I had in mind were the yellow bell flowers that I cannot remember where I usually see.  I just know that I come across them every time I send my four year old son, Hammie, to school.  Sorry for the memory gaps that were more prominent after having a C-section with my first son.

After Hammie went inside the classroom, I was looking around the campus grounds for some inspiration.  And there I saw a yellow bell flower that have fallen to the ground and I realized that these flowers were planted around the campus.  But I was hesitant to capture the image as school staff may get suspicious.  So I decided to look for other yellow flowers on my way back to the house and I did not just find one but four!  I'll post the four flowers with the first one my choice for photo of the day.  How about you, what is your pick?

And nope I don't know the names for these flowers except the third one which is a yellow Santan.  The last one was from a tree outside Hammie's school and the flowers were very tiny.  Do enlighten me if you know the names of these flowers.

January 13 - Circle

Basic shapes are numerous no matter where one can be so it is a way of taking the circle shape in a nice angle.  I planned to do the photo of the day early but I guess some things should be prioritized first.  Nevertheless I was able to capture some images that interpret today's prompt, I think.  I know there are many things that represent the shape even in one corner of a home but I followed my instinct and got this image.