My niece Madeleine and nephew Noah are too darn cute. I love their energy and drive. They are both creative and smart as all get out, not to mention very photogenic. More photos from their shoot to come soon.

Happy holidays, friends! I hope you all have enjoyed lots of turkey and lots of family time. I’m admiring a fully decorated house this morning as Livia was extremely excited to put up the Christmas tree. It was up on Thanksgiving night—a first for us. My dad and I got up early yesterday to partake in Black Friday sales. We ate our McDonalds breakfasts, drove around town, bought a few things and were home by 9:00am. Certain friends of mine get really wound up about the evil stores on evil Black Friday. To that I say, bah humbug. I wouldn’t trade my early morning adventures with my dad for anything! It’s a great memory.

And finally, hello!, the December Photo Project starts next Thursday! I am chomping at the bit to get started. Woohoo!

I can’t wait to get rolling with the December Photo Project! I’m mulling over the project, wondering if I want to add another challenge to it this year for myself. We shall see.

What I’m really doing right now is avoiding the stack of dishes that need washing and the Thanksgiving recipes that need prepping. Netflix is cued to Garfield for Liv. The sun is shining. We all got good nights’ rests last night. It’s Thanksgiving! And I’m more than a tad giddy.

Maralee and I have a shared history of infertility and pregnancy loss. Suffice to say our phone conversation took an unusual turn last spring when she began counting calendar days, then hung up the phone to take a pregnancy test. It is now with great joy that I see a fully-pregnant Maralee and have the great privilege of capturing this time with my camera. Even though a photograph shows a single moment, it can contain so much more. It can reflect the many previous years of disappointment, the fulfillment and love adoption brings to a household, the quiet wonderings of a first pregnancy, the intimacy that family life creates, and the sheer excitement at the newness of life.

Even as I post a few images from our photo shoot, I know that next month I’ll get to introduce a new little Bradley to the world. This is just the beginning.

Just thinking about the December Photo Project makes me want to pull out my camera for fun, to snap away at the world and see what I capture. Shiloh, our Coton, didn’t love his close-up this morning. He seemed uncomfortable in front of the lens. I can identify. Sometimes it feels awkward when someone starts taking your picture, without permission nonetheless, before you’ve had a chance to do your hair and get the sleep out of your eyes and brush your teeth. He seems to have recovered admirably now, however, and is curled up tight in his doughnut-shaped dog bed.

I had a conversation with Tara this morning about how to go about the December Photo Project. Clearly the challenge of shooting and posting a photo for 25 days straight is enough of a challenge. But what if you want to pick a theme or find something that really correlates to the nature of your blog? I love the idea of tailoring the DPP to either represent you personally or give you a challenge on top of my challenge. I think of Renee Welstead (Love Equals) and her gray couch series a few years ago. Or of the year Renae Morehead posted daily on our recipe blog Needs More Butter. What about shooting on Manual instead of Program or Aperture settings? Tara mentioned shooting at a particular hour each day, or focusing on one subject for the entire month. I know all the grandparents out there would be content with a photo of their grandkids every day.

I find that taking one photo and uploading EVERY DAY is challenge enough. It’s the uploading and publishing that’s the clincher, though finding something interesting to shoot can certainly be a challenge. It pushes your mind to new levels of creativity and pushes your internal editor to uncomfortable places as well. Sometimes I talk myself out of photos because they are too boring or too artsy or too much like the one I posted the day before. Let the DPP squash those voices, and let it set free your creative impulses. The 2011 DPP is going to be fun, my friends. Can’t wait!

Let the games begin! All instructions for the December Photo Project are here. Read about how to join up, where to get a badge for your blog, and how to “like” us on Facebook.

Note: this year’s project is open to Facebook users (if you don’t have a blog). Create a December Photo Project Album and start uploading a pic a day beginning December 1. Woohoo!

**Many many thanks to Kristen Stewart for this year’s DPP badge design!!

There were once two high school kids named Marc and Kaylee. They kinda liked each other. They grew up, and they still kinda liked each other. In fact, they truly loved each other. So Marc gave Kaylee a ring. And now he can make her happy forever. The end. (True story.)

More images from the first half of our engagement photo shoot! Stay tuned for part two.

What do you like to eat/drink when it’s cold out? Post favorite recipes for warm drinks, hot soups and filling casseroles in the comment section.

We had a really fun day yesterday. Livia has been brandishing her cutlass—“It’s a cutlass, not a rapier,” she explained to me—and donning the pirate earring and eye patch for a few weeks now. She has such a strong imagination that she got lost in her girl pirate role, explaining to someone, I can’t recall who, that she really was Livia and not a pirate. Our friends the Littles hosted a party for some school friends and it was a great time. This is the first year I’ve pulled out my camera to document the celebration! Normally I’m running from place to place, in the dark, with my costumed child.

It was also a fun day because I got to make cupcakes for Livia’s classroom. My inspiration photo shows a spider cupcake with nicely curved black legs. I learned quickly that perfectionists do not good classroom mothers make, and settled on red legs that poked out kinda straight. And then, because my child is a self-proclaimed entomologist, I told the first-graders that spiders have eight legs and the cupcakes have six. Spider mite cupcakes, perhaps?

I hope my friends had Happy Halloweens as well. Now, it’s on to November. November!! Before you know it, Christmas will be here.