Capture the Day Session: Winter 2016

Our Day
January 22, 2016
54 degrees and rainy
James Island, SC

8:30 am
The boys are both up in the night. Boston falls asleep after an hour of wakefulness around 3 am and doesn't wake until twenty to nine. August joins us in bed at 6:30 and sleeps until just past 8. We send him to his room for about 20 minutes. He sneaks back in with two white cards from the inside of his library books. He hands one to me and says, "here is your ticket, sir." Brandon gets in the shower for work as August takes his place, turning our bed into a train. He brings his magna doodle with him. He drops it on my face. "You draw a truck for me, sir?" I am drowsy from sleep but rise to dress before Boston wakes. Brandon and August go downstairs and I join them with Boston a few minutes later. Boston is all smiles after a five hour stretch of sleep. I start the coffee before Brandon offers to take over the task for me.

9:00 am
Brandon leaves for work and I prepare a breakfast of leftover chai waffles and oatmeal pancakes. I whip up a quick raspberry and blueberry compote and top them with almond butter before slathering with the fruit. Boston drinks water and eats some waffle. I clean them both up and straighten the kitchen. August asks for "sesal" (cereal) so I give him Cheerios in a yellow bowl. We pick two truck pictures for August to color "for marker time, not crayon time." Boston plays with various rattle toys on the floor. He works his way to the little white table and suddenly pulls himself up to stand at it. He grabs the bowl of Cheerios and spills them everywhere. August is a pretty good sport and laughs about it with me as we whisk them out of Boston's way.

10:00 am
The boys play in the cardboard train, our very own Monkey Man Express. My old green trunk is behind it and August has taken to calling it a freight car. He asks repeatedly for me to "put Boston on the freight car, Mumma." At half past, Boston and I go upstairs for nursing and naptime. It is dark and quiet from the rain. I rock him in our glider and hold him close for a few precious moments.

11:00 am
August and I rearrange and clean the downstairs a bit. We roll up the rug to return to Lowe's, move the desk to the French doors, vacuum, dust and bring down the art easel. Boston wakes at 11:40 when I go upstairs to retrieve Sneezy for August. We listen to Charlotte's Web on audiobook as we play and work. The boys play on either side of the plastic-wrapped rug: August with his playmobils and Boston with the Monkey Man Express and various toys within.

12:00 pm
Boston moves over the floor by pushing himself to sitting then launching forward in the opposite direction. He dives back and forth over the rolled-up rug. I turn on Rend Collective Pandora station and begin to prepare our lunch. We are eating a variety of leftovers: sweet potatoes for Boston, a roast beef sandwich for August and beef stew for me.

1:00 pm
After I clean the boys up from their lunch, I carry them both upstairs. The rain is still falling and covering our porch and stairs. They play for twenty minutes with the police car and monster truck. Boston crawls around the room squealing. I  read a "Mater" story to August on the couch. Because I'm feeling brave or foolish or curious, I set up the pack n play in August's room. We are going to try napping the boys together in the afternoon. I nurse Boston on the couch while August reads books on our bed. Boston fusses when I put him down so I read two stories to August and reheat a cup of coffee.

2:00 pm
Once Boston settles, I put August in his bed. He snuggles in, plays with his magna doodle and falls asleep within 15 minutes. I sip my coffee, text mom about our packing day tomorrow and open my book to read.

3:00 pm
Boston wakes crying  so I quickly close my book and scoop him up before he wakes August. Within 15 minutes, August is also awake. Downstairs, Boston plays on the floor with his toys, I make pizza dough for dinner and August watches Thomas: Splish, Splash, Splosh. We all eat apple slices and August pulls the cookie butter from the cupboard. His smile is too charming to turn down. I catch up on my Capture the Day notes and play with squeely Boston. August brings his empty bowl. "What do I want?" "I don't know, August What do you want?" "Something. Something like Cheerios or puffs." I give him a few wheat thins.

4:00 pm
Boston and I are dancing around the kitchen when Thomas ends. August comes in and runs circles around us sort of hopping and skipping at once. "Splish splash splosh!" he cries as he dances with Sneezy in the kitchen. Then he stops and hugs Sneezy to his chest. "Oh, Sneezy it's ok. You don't like being wet. I'll sit here beside you while you dry." They sit on kitchen floor next to each other for a few seconds. I snap a picture. August turns around and says "no Mumma, no picture."

During this commiserating, Boston crawls to the living room. I look up and he is under the coffee table going straight for Chopper (our heater). We dash over to stop him. August thinks it is a great laugh that Boston crawled under the coffee table and joins him. They both move on to the rolled up rug once more. I explain to August that we will be returning it to Lowe's. I then say, "I am going to take you back to the store to live at Lowe's too." He stares at me, assessing. "No," he answers sternly. "I can't live there alone. I put my work shirt on and I get a piece of wood and I build a house. For you and Boston and Daddy and me." He smiles, proud of his idea.

5:00 pm
Brandon returns from work early and we video call David to wish him a happy birthday. The kids show each other their toys and talk about presents. August tells David he has a train table and David says "wow! that costs a lot of money." I roll out the pizza dough on parchment paper and top the pizzas with sauce, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. While the pizza bakes, I pop popcorn on the stove and set the table.

6:00 pm
August fusses when it is time to clean up his kinetic sand. He likes to bury his trucks in the "dribbly" sand. Once I show him the bowl of popcorn, he scurries off to the bathroom to clean up. We eat fast tonight. Boston munches on apple slices and sweet potato. He squeals for water often.  Brandon and August clean dishes while Boston and I tidy the toys.

7:00 pm
Upstairs, we dress the boys in their pajamas. August requests that I change him so Brandon struggles with Boston's flailing limbs. The night changing is the most difficult as Boston is squirmy and irritable. August brushes his teeth then runs off to play with his train table. We give Boston a bit more water and wrap him in his night blanket. August comes into Boston's nook to turn on his sound machine and say goodnight. I nurse and rock Boston to sleep. Brandon reads "Train" and "Bobbo Goes to School" to August before prayers and bed. I sneak into August's room for a good night hug and read him one last book in bed. I use my phone as a flashlight and try to make it seem like a special treat. August requests I read another book but I tell him its time for bed. I ask him to list three things he is thankful for. "Umm... I am thankful for treats and eyes- eyes that come off, and heads- heads that come off." "Whose heads come off?" "My head and yours and Pops." We talk for a few more minutes, I get him a tissue and kiss him good night. On the way out the door, I call out "Good night, Chitty Chitty." He responds, "Love you. *muah muah* You stay in bed, Mumma."

8:00 pm
Brandon rests in our bed upstairs while I settle August. We change into our comfortable clothes and go downstairs. The monitor is on so we can watch August to be sure he stays in bed. I write up our evening for our Capture the Day and Brandon watches Ridiculousness. I brew a pot of tea for us: Mum's own recipe called Long Purples filled with calming and immune boosting herbs. We watch The Big Short.

11:30 pm
The Big Short ends and miraculously Boston sleeps through it. Brandon and I discuss the film for a few minutes, we talk about our 9/11 memories and of his dad as a banker. Boston stirs about quarter to 12 so we both go upstairs. Brandon watches the monitor as I move into the dark nook. He tells me later: "You should have seen his face when you walked in. Big smile." I nurse and rock until past midnight.

Capture Your Days || Step Four: Choose your End Product

What will you do with your pictures and words? It would be a shame to spend a day taking notes and photos without recording these in some tangible way. Having your end goal in mind is helpful when deciding your timing, camera and notebook. Perhaps this post should have been first in this series. My end goal almost always determines which camera and which day I choose for a session.

Some recording options include:

- Social Media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc)

- Blog Post

- Photo Album (photobook or scrapbook)

My first session was posted on Instagram live. I have since done a few on Instagram and on this blog. I enjoy the live feedback from Instagram but prefer the quality of photos taken with my DSLR. Each has a very different tone: The iPhone/ Instagram posts are picture heavy with very few words; I tend to focus on a theme like "hands." The DSLR/ blog posts are higher quality pictures curated from a large group of photos with words detailing our activities in a fuller, more journalistic narrative.

Whatever your end product is, be sure that you edit your work. 

Curate your photos to the ones that best tell the story of your day. 

I chose to use a photo highlighting one of August's toys rather than an adorable, smiley picture of August in an oversized chair. The abandoned toy on the floor tells a better story than the posed picture of my son. I had a nice posed photo of Brandon and August when Brandon came home from work. I opted for the picture of the dump truck ride instead. I love the posed pictures and they will be in our photo albums but not as a part of our Capture the Day session.

   

Refine your words to tell a compelling story.

I made Brandon read my recent session post to be sure it was interesting. I want to write our story in a way that honors the details of a life lived well. These mundane, ordinary days are very important to our development as a family. Our story deserves to be told in an engaging manner. When you edit your notes, write your story in a way that highlights its importance to you and your family.  

Thanks for following along with this series. Please let me know if you have ideas to share or any questions. 

To view all of the posts in this series, click here.

Capture Your Days || Step Three: Choose your Notebook

Choosing a medium for note-taking is important. You will want to keep them all in one place so they are easy to locate when you are ready to compile and curate your documented day. You can jot notes throughout the day in a designated notebook or in a notes app on your phone. Even non-smart phones normally have a notes app of some sort. (I use the Simple Note app for iPhone.)

Journaling tips:

Take quick notes throughout the day when you take a picture, change an activity or every hour, on the hour. In the moment, just write enough to remember the details. You will edit and elaborate these notes at a later time. I recommend editing your notes within a week of doing a Capture the Day session. You don't want too much time to pass if your note-taking was in shorthand. 

Here is an example from my notes during our summer session:

Unedited

1:30 pm: lunch of last night's leftovers. greek chicken on pita wtih cucumbers tomatoes and peppers. iced coffee and chatter with Mum. 

2 pm: Play on living room floor. Mum brought pics so we look and talk about New York. August cranky while playing in space mobile.

Edited

1:30 pm: Mum joins us for lunch of last night's leftovers: Greek chicken on pita with cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers.  

2 pm: We dessert on iced coffee and visit for a bit while August plays with blocks and his spaceship. Mum brought pictures of August on the MG so we look and talk about her upcoming trip to New York for Rutledge's wedding. He gets cranky for a nap. 

The edited version is not longer but it is easier to read complete sentences with proper punctuation.

To view all of the posts in this series, click here.

Capture Your Days || Step Two: Choose your Camera

Pick your Camera

Decide which camera you want to use. Any camera will work, of course, but keep your end goal in mind. If you want to share your pictures on your favorite social media platform, use your phone camera so you can quickly edit and upload during the day. If you want high quality images to turn into a photo book or print for a scrapbook, pick up your digital camera (point-and-shoot or DSLR). If you enjoy shooting with your film camera but don't pick it up often enough, this is your chance. These sessions are as much about stretching ourselves as they are about memory keeping. 

You can use different cameras throughout the day, but I find it is best to stick with one designated camera. Each camera produces a different type of photo, and I want my session to have a cohesive feel.

Take Pictures

It is easy to get in a picture-taking rut. Here are a few ideas for different, creative pictures:

- Please get in the pictures with your family. I am so passionate about this- our kids need to see the way we smile, the way our eyes light up in their presence. They need our joy to be captured and reflected upon in the future. Embrace the camera! (For more information and tips, read this.)

- Take pictures of your children (duh)

- Take pictures of things, especially rituals. Do you make coffee every morning? Snap a picture. Do you restack the board books every night before bedtime? Grab your camera. Is your counter lined with drying baby bottles? Document it.

- Play with angles. Stoop low to your child's eye level. Stand on top of a chair to get the bird's eye view. Tilt your camera on an angle so your subject is diagonal.

- Hold up an ordinary, everyday object against your wall (coffee cup, toy, car keys, pruning shears, favorite book)

I am always looking for a new way to view the ordinary. Please share your favorite camera perspectives with us in the comments section.

To view all of the posts in this series, click here.

Capture Your Days || Step One: Choose your Timing

Pick your Day

The first Capture the Day session I undertook was my first Mother's Day (2013). The second session was Thanksgiving 2013. The third and subsequent sessions have been on random, ordinary days. Whether you choose a special day or an ordinary one is irrelevant. I recommend choosing a day when your activities will be conducive to cameras and small moments for journalling. Perhaps a day at a water park or on the beach or snow skiing is not the best day to lug a camera around with you. I also like to pick a day that doesn't involve a lot of errands since I'd likely forget to take pictures while grocery shopping. Don't let that stop you though! I bet kids loaded in a grocery cart amongst cereal and vegetables would be an amazing memory to capture. 

Decide your Time Increments

You will want to divide your day in different increments. I prefer hourly or morning, afternoon, evening. If you choose hourly, you could note the specific time (ie- 4:09 am) or just the hour range (ie- 4-5 am). Morning, afternoon, evening is a great way to document the overall tone of your day. I think this method works really well if you do an activity (ie- homeschool, soccer games) for several hours in a row. The practicality of the day's events help determine which increments of time you should choose. 

There is not often a rhyme or reason to when I choose to do a Capture the Day session. I take things one hour at a time because the clock is a great reminder for me to check in. Every hour I try to take notes. Each time our activity changes, I snap some pictures. At the end of the day, I have a full camera card and small details journaled and ready to be edited. 

To view all of the posts in this series, click here.

Capture Your Days || Introduction

Recently, I shared one of our Capture the Day sessions and it occurred to me that a short series on the subject might be nice. I have said this before: we are the memory keepers for our families. When I was younger, my mother recorded a cassette tape of my brothers' conversations. Sadly, the tape has since been lost, but the idea inspires me. Wouldn't you like to know what you did during a normal day from your childhood? Let's do this for ourselves and for our children.

It occurs to me that all of my memory keeping (photography and journaling) is 100% from my perspective. When August looks back on his life, he will see his father's perspective in short films and my perspective in our family albums. When August is older, I hope to have him journal a "day in the life" feature. I hope I remember that idea years from now. If any of you try this with your older children, please share a link to your results in the comments.

Because we are more likely to remember (and photograph) special days, normal ones need documenting too. If you are interested in doing your own #capturetheday session, I highly recommend it. The key is to just start: start snapping and start writing. I've done this on special days and on ordinary days. Pick a day and start. Hopefully, you will find great beauty within the mundane routine of your day.

Starting tomorrow, I will be breaking down each step over the next month. Here is what you can look forward to-

Step One: Choose your timing

Step Two: Choose your camera

Step Three: Choose your notebook

Step Four: Choose your end product

Capture the Day Session: Summer 2014

A personal goal of mine is to do quarterly #capturetheday sessions each year. On July 17th, a Thursday, I picked up my camera and pen to document and detail our day together. Here is our ordinary and extraordinary day in the Summer of 2014:

5:50 am

August wakes crying loudly; I go in and he settles back to sleep immediately. I hold and rock him for 30 minutes longer since he so rarely sleeps on me. Brandon gets up to take over for a bit, but by 7am, we are all awake. 

7 am

August plays in our bed between us. We give him the remote for the overhead street lights and he sort of snuggles with us. After he throws the remote behind the bed, we show him pictures and videos on our phone camera roll. Once he is too antsy for snuggles, we put him on the floor and let him roam the upstairs. He takes the giant Chick-fil-A cup from my nightstand and drinks all my water. What he doesn't drink, he dumps out when he uses the cup as a sword by grabbing the straw.

8 am

We are out of prepped oatmeal so August snacks raisins, Cheerios and milk as I prepare more of our tried-and-true oatmeal recipe.

Boil water. Peel and cut the fruit (apple, banana, peach). Boil the fruit. Add cinnamon and old-fashioned oats: whole and milled. Boil until soft. Cool and serve. 

Brandon comes downstairs to make his lunch and coffee for work. He will be gone by 8:30 so we try to enjoy our time with him. After he leaves we eat breakfast, August and I. Cereal and coffee for me; oatmeal with blueberries for August. It's been blueberries or strawberries all summer long.

9 am

I light a candle and play worship music for calm serenity. We play with blocks on the living room floor. August normally hands them to me, I build a tower and he knocks it down. He spreads out while playing and makes a much larger mess than he did a month ago. I consider walking down to the park but it's already 90 and very humid. 

When August needs a new diaper we go upstairs to get ready for the day. I grab my phone and coffee and camera since I'm taking pictures today. I walk slowly behind August as he crawls up, up, up. We read books and play with Tonka trucks. August sets his jaw and tucks a stuffed animal tightly under his chin.

10 am

We share pre-nap snuggles in the chair to calm August's system. Set the room to "nap mode": Curtains closed. Both sound machines on- yes, two. Fan on high. Sneezy the Panda, Owlie the Owl, water cup and book in the crib. I continue to rock in the chair for a few minutes since he's extra cuddly. Reluctantly, I put August in his crib and go downstairs to work on Spice research. My desk requires a candle, coffee, water and two computers to aid the speed of research. 

11 am

August fussed after sleeping for half an hour but then settled again. I take a short coffee break to stretch when my dad calls to cancel tomorrow's lunch. Back to more Spice work until August wakes at ten til noon.

12 pm

We walk to visit with Mum who is working at Rutledge's house around the corner. August walks the entire way and even turns up the right path to his uncle's front door. I help Mum shift some boxes on the third floor and laugh at old, childhood memories. August meets my bear, Bubblegum Pink (nn Pinky) and the peg cobbler toy. We stay until our stomachs begin to growl.

1:30 pm

Mum joins us for lunch of last night's leftovers: Greek chicken on pita with cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers. 

2 pm 

We dessert on iced coffee and visit for a bit while August plays with blocks and his spaceship. Mum brought pictures of August on the MG so we look and talk about her upcoming trip to New York for Rutledge's wedding. He gets cranky for a nap. 

3 pm

Nap time for August and Mumma. To unwind, I grab the iPad to read blogs and the news but learn of the Malaysian flight crash. 298 people. Gone. Torn apart in a Ukrainian field. For a long time, I sit and stare and pray. I eventually read Swistle to calm my nerves and doze off for 15 minutes. 

4:15 pm

August wakes after 30 minutes asleep. He's snuggly and wanting to be close. I give him two crackers and milk and pull the bread dough from the bowl. I've let it sit for 24 hours- I hope it still turns out nicely.

Oven on, pot in oven. Counter floured and doughed.

Waiting on the oven and snuggling on the couch with my favorite little man. He's been into the really soft things lately so he loves being on the couch and pretending to sleep. Why do kids find that hilarious? 

5 pm

Bread in the oven and dishes cleaned up from the day. August plays with his Tonka truck and our World Cup balloons. He watches on tiptoes as the neighbors splash in their kiddie pool next door. Brandon is home by 5:30; they play together while I bring in the diapers, boil pasta and set the table. 

6 pm

Dinner. August gets stripped to his diaper since we're having spaghetti for dinner. We all devour the homemade bread and fresh butter from Happy Cow Creamery. I sip a glass of wine because pasta calls for it. We discuss future travel plans, Brandon's work and August's big adventurous walk to Uncle Rutledge's today. We wipe August's hands, peel the spaghetti off his belly and the boys go upstairs for bath time. August crawls up slowly but happily. I clean the dishes, wipe the counters and sweep the floors. 

7 pm

After filling August's water cup, I grab a banana and head upstairs for stories. I meant to deliver the banana during bath time. We read stories and play a bit longer than usual. August is so joyful and thrives when both Brandon and I are around. Hugs and bed for August who continues to play in his crib for some time.

8 pm

After August is in bed, I try not to look at the clock until I am headed to bed. The rest of my day is so timed and monitored, it's lovely having chunks of time at the end of the day to lose track of. 8 pm until bed is an unmonitored mixup of exercise videos, blog posting, shower, laundry and reading. I'm in bed with my book by 11:30 pm.

View our other Capture the Day sessions here.

August Ransom || 11 Months Old #CapturetheDay

03.06.2014 On Instagram, I took a picture every hour of August's 11 month birthday activities. He still loves playing in the window but now brings toys with him to play with on the sill. He loves veggie fritters, bananas, oranges and honeydew. He begins lowering himself to the floor from standing without holding onto anything- strengthening those legs for walking! He laughs every time we go up or down the stairs and charges us if we get down on all fours to wrestle him. We visit the Greenville Zoo with Uncle Drayton this month and go to Florida for Mike Nardella's wedding. He loves his Dr. Seuss books, Goodnight Moon and Goodnight Sleep Tight. After a soft song and a snuggle, he settles into naps now and sleeps through the night. (Until teething spikes a fever the last weekend of the month.) His 11 month photo is here.

9am: breakfast

11am: exploring Lulah's

12noon: do I have to sleep, Mumma?

2pm: lunch

3:30pm: headed home

5pm: play

6pm: dinner

August Ransom || 11 Months Old

In one month, August will be one year old. On Instagram, I've tried to capture an hourly photo of August's activities. Here he is... our 11 month old baby boy:

Over the next few weeks, I will post some of the highlights of each month as I neglected to do this after his one month mark. He's grown a bit, hasn't he?

Capture the Day Session: December 16th {Part of 2 of 30}

One of my 30 goals for this year is to do 3 Capture the Day challenges. On Thanksgiving, I took pictures every hour with my iPhone and posted them on Instagram. Today, I decided to do the same using my DSLR. Because I am exhausted and have a great book waiting for me, I am not editing these shots so they are all SOOC. Enjoy the unedited, rough glimpse of our day-to-day routine. My camera battery died at 8 pm so this photo montage ends with August's bedtime.

7 am: bedroom playtime

8 am: morning coffee

9 am: A learns a new trick

10 am: brunch

11 am: last Christmas errands

12 pm: this is what he thinks of car seats

1 pm: we match

2 pm: practicing

3 pm: more Christmas cards

4 pm: stories and giraffes

5 pm: owl entertainment (while I make dinner)

6 pm: Daddy's home

7 pm: bathtime

7:30pm: bedtime

Note: You may notice at 9am and 2pm that August is pulling/ has pulled himself up on the trunk and crib. The 9 am photo is his FIRST time doing it. I am so thankful I was able to capture this final moment of reaching. If I were not doing a Capture the Day, I would not have had my camera ready. Folks, its worth it… start snapping!

Other things of note: 2 years ago today, Brandon and I closed on our house!