1000 daily photographs

Yes one thousand photographs on to my blipfoto journal as of today! I posted the 1000th one this evening having been nervous all week about hitting the milestone. Basically you get an awful lot more views for posts that hit certain figures so you want to showcase your best. Today was grey and miserable and I didn't have much time to do anything.

I spent quite some time trying to take photos of my children with my proper camera but somehow they were all either naff or the children pulled silly faces! Then after we had got back in from swimming and football I experimented with a gerbera which was all I had in the house that looked good enough to photograph... Eventually I got something I was happy to tweak and then post:

It's been amazing how many lovely comments I've had already tonight and not just from my regular visitors. Being on blipfoto has helped me to improve my photography and to keep my eyes pealed for something different. These are some of my more recent favourite shots:

Wonder if I'll make it to 2000...

Reasons to be Cheerful: 2013 week 3 #R2BC

 

Another chance to join in Michelle's bloghop. I have plenty to be cheerful about this week!

1) Operation House

Slowly but surely things are looking better round the house now that I'm not working mornings and my mum has been round a few times. My dad came once and that was enough for him ;-) My daughter has maintained a clear bedroom floor for over a week - guess promise bedroom makeover has worked! She now has her Dr Who curtains up as step one to a full Dr Who themed room....

We sorted out the children's dressing up box so that everything that was too small has gone to be used by others. This meant the large chest on the landing has now gone too so that the landing seems more spacious.

The front room has almost recovered completely from Christmas and our sessions as Toylogists. Even my 6 year old noticed the difference when he came home yesterday and said wow!

2) Get Fit Get Epic

My fitness campaign is still working! If you want to know more read yesterday's post. Good reason to smile when each week my weight goes down...

3) My children

They have said some lovely things to me this week. Apparently I am the best mummy ever and I'm beautiful. Always good to get compliments from the children to make up for the naughty times!

4) Beautiful views

How can seeing views like this every day not make me smile:

 

 

Get Fit Feel Epic: Week 2 #GFFE

Well with week 1 going well could I carry on the good work into week 2 with the stresses and strains of being back to work and school plus after school activities? I have to say it is the after school stuff that usually throws a spanner in the works. Its often a grab and go with picnics or fish and chips in the car en route to something or other...

I was therefore pleased that I'd lost another 1.5 pounds this week. A nice healthy weight loss and one I hope to repeat most weeks this year. So how did I do it?

Firstly I added an extra exercise class to my week with my Rosemary Conley instructor. She has started lots of new classes but the only one I get to is the salsa on a Friday morning:

Would be nice to get to more but unfortunately the children have evening activities and I can't keep having babysitters!

I wasn't able to do too many Hairy Dieters recipes whilst rushing round. Plan is to cook a couple tomorrow morning when not at work so I just have to heat through. Still sticking to being teetotal! I have got some alcohol free beers in for the weekend though.

Hoping I'll have a chance in week 3 to fit in more exercise at home... front room just needs to be kept clear so that I can workout safely! How is everyone else doing with their healthy starts to 2013?

The Educational Value of TV

It is amazing what my children have picked up from watching certain programmes on the TV. Yes some of what they watch appears to have no educational value whatsoever but they have learnt an amazing amount about history and art. 

Like many families we love Horrible Histories my children have been brought up from an early age to have a keen interest in history and the way this show is presented is perfect for them. They love singing along to the show especially the Kings and Queens song:

Such a fun and catchy way to learn English monarchs. Its a show I don't mind them watching over and over again.

Amazingly The Sarah Jane Adventures introduced them to the Mona Lisa:

And the show Leonardo is a fictual account of Leornado da Vinci's teenage years with amazing inventions and art.

Then there was an episode of Dr Who that introduced them to Vincent van Gogh:

They can now recognise some of his paintings such as sunflowers:

We are going to be visiting Paris in the summer and the children at age 9 & 6 are really excited about the thought of going to the art gallery that they saw on the television to see van Gogh's paintings. They also want to go and see the Mona Lisa (hope they aren't as disappointed as I was by her size!

What have your children learned from watching television?

Preserving Memories

Every parent knows that almost as soon as your child starts nursery they start bringing home stuff. Artwork, junk models, writing, projects.... it can seem like every week more and more bits come through the front door. All of this is of course potential treasure to keep forever but you can't keep all of it especially when you have more than one child!

We have a small house with limited storage so space is a real issue when it comes to extra bits. My daughter is a hoarder and has tried to keep every single piece of school work she has ever brought home. But even she now realises that the drawer it is stored in is bursting at the seams. 

It is great fun looking back at her work from Reception class and seeing how much her writing and number work have vastly improved! She and I had a real hoot this evening looking back at old Learning Journey books. These are great ways of keeping key bits of work in a compact scrapbook. But its the loose bits that are a pain as they mount up and aren't easy to work out when the work was done. I have asked her to get rid of uninteresting pieces of work and just keep a few key bits that she can look back on.

We also have what seems like a gazillion pieces of artwork from both children that at some point grace the wall but eventually have to come down for another piece to go up. It would be impossible to keep it all so I've decided on a 21st century way to preserve the memory and not take up room. I have started to photograph them instead:

So now my son's straw skeleton can be kept for as long as digital images last and the original I am afraid has been thrown in the bin. I think its a great compromise and I do wish that I had started doing this years ago!

How do you deal with all your children's work?