Soooooooooo, I have a teeeeensy tiny problem. I haven't really worked through my family photos in, oh, a year. Yeah... a year. Now, I've taken them. Taken LOTS of them. And I've posted some to facebook here and there.... but as I was looking back through the folders for something, I kept coming across images that I simply didn't even remember! Normally I work through them month by month.... but somewhere along the way, that just evaporated.
This must be remedied. I have several sessions I've shot for others that I need, need, need to get finished up. But I want to get my own family shots finished and shared as well.
I did happen to process these from a beautiful early may day. I titled the album on facebook (six month ago, holy cow) "I woke up this morning, and I smiled at the rising sun!"
We love that song sung by Elizabeth Mitchell (listen on youtube). It's our going to preschool in the morning song. We haven't listened to it in a while, though, but ironically this very morning, Little Buddy asked for it. He couldn't remember the name. He kept asking for the song that begins with clicks that he was making with his tongue. I was SO confused. Then it hit me. Three Little Birds.
These images just make me smile. As it is fall and a good many of the leaves have fallen, temperatures are crisp, and brown is starting to overcome the green, seeing this vibrant sunshine and new growth just warms my soul.
Here I was experimenting. It was challenging, but the result is fun.
Aaaaaannnnnnnnnndddddddd, the fun is over. She slipped and fell into the water we put into the turtle sandbox to make a beach. Evidently, that was devastating.
I woke up this morning.... and I smiled at the rising sun
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ex.as.per.ated.
Yes, that is me. Utterly. Wholly. Fully. Exasperated.
exasperate [v. ig-zas-puh-reyt]: to irritate or provoke to a high degree; annoy extremely.
I don't feel that the official defintion really captures all the meaning I'm placing behind the use of that word. (Words are powerful. At least, I feel they are). What I mean by 'exasperated' is that I'm at the end of my rope. At my wits end. A sense of futile hopelessness. I'm over it. Just plain and simple OOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEERRRRRRR it! About to snap, over it!
Food. Eating. Meal times. Exasperated.
Little Buddy started eating what we were eating somewhere around 12 months. He's about to turn five, so that means we've been at this for four years. FOUR years. That's 1,460 days. But who's counting???
We thought Little Buddy wasn't a great eater. He didn't meet my wonderful aspirations of the super eater that I had alllllll planned out in idealparentland. IdealParentland, you ask? You aren't familiar with it? Oh yes, you know it. It's that magical place where you, yourself, don't have any kids yet and you judge everyone who does and how they have failed their children by oh... letting them watch tv, use sippy cups instead of regular cups from day one, play with licensed character toys made of, gasp, plastic, and lastly, if they are poor eaters it is most absolutely because the parent has done a poor job with them. If they'd only done it your way, that kid would be a super eater.
Zap. WRONG. Thanks for that big dose of humble pie. Because that is just simply not how it works. At any rate, we thought Little Buddy was a poor eater. That was before the Little Lady came along and outright refused anything but liquid milk. Period. Ever. Now SHE is a poor eater.
So, let's fast forward. Four years for him. Three years for her. It sure feels like we've made no progress. And I'm absolutely exasperated. I've hit my limit. I'm done. D. O. N. E. done.
Monday evening we had Minestrone for dinner. I made it from scratch. I love to cook. I LOVE it. And forgive me if I sound arrogant, for I don't intend it arrogant. But I'm a good cook! I'm not cooking nasty food for these kids. I'm cooking gooooooood food. And 1,460 days in, they are still turning their noses up at it.
I'm so over having to speak over each and every bite. "Now pick UP your spoon. Pick UP another carrot. Put it in your MOUTH." a minute later noticing more wiggling and no eating. "Pick UP your spoon AGAIN. pick up ANOTHER carrot. Put it IN your mouth. chew it UP." over and over and over. They aren't one anymore. That's one year old behavior. It is time for culinary boot camp.
I'm really not sure which is more frustrating. The fact that the Little Lady pretty much eats ony hot dogs without a fight. Or that Little Buddy may eat everything that a dish contains, but the fact that it is served in a soup or stew form makes it battle worthy.
Does he eat Italian sausage? YES. Loves it.
Carrots? check.
Celery? check.
Spinach? raw? check. cooked? uncheck.
bowtie pasta? check.
cheese? check.
Mix it all up and its as if I have asked him to eat worms mixed with pig blood.
I'm just over all of this. It's done. They are now just too old to be demonstrating this behavior. I'm fine with allowing them a few things to just not care for. I have a few of those myself. But at five years old, you're just gonna have to start eating what we have for dinner, no exceptions!!! And while we're at it, at three years old, you should not require bite by bite play by play!!!
I personally think this looks delicious. And it IS! Here is the recipe for this awesome Minestrone that you can also do in the crock pot if you wish! I skip the prepackaged pesto, because honestly, we never could taste it, so why waste the money on it?
To accompany it, I made these fantastic pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Goodness are they scrumptious! I tweaked the recipe a bit though. I upped the pumpkin - probably 1 to 1 and a quarter cups, and I doubled the spices as well as added ginger. Plus I probably used at least 1 cup of chips, if not more. : ) They are sooooo yummy! Recipe here.
I shot these with my
D90
Sigma 30mm f1.4
exasperate [v. ig-zas-puh-reyt]: to irritate or provoke to a high degree; annoy extremely.
I don't feel that the official defintion really captures all the meaning I'm placing behind the use of that word. (Words are powerful. At least, I feel they are). What I mean by 'exasperated' is that I'm at the end of my rope. At my wits end. A sense of futile hopelessness. I'm over it. Just plain and simple OOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEERRRRRRR it! About to snap, over it!
Food. Eating. Meal times. Exasperated.
Little Buddy started eating what we were eating somewhere around 12 months. He's about to turn five, so that means we've been at this for four years. FOUR years. That's 1,460 days. But who's counting???
We thought Little Buddy wasn't a great eater. He didn't meet my wonderful aspirations of the super eater that I had alllllll planned out in idealparentland. IdealParentland, you ask? You aren't familiar with it? Oh yes, you know it. It's that magical place where you, yourself, don't have any kids yet and you judge everyone who does and how they have failed their children by oh... letting them watch tv, use sippy cups instead of regular cups from day one, play with licensed character toys made of, gasp, plastic, and lastly, if they are poor eaters it is most absolutely because the parent has done a poor job with them. If they'd only done it your way, that kid would be a super eater.
Zap. WRONG. Thanks for that big dose of humble pie. Because that is just simply not how it works. At any rate, we thought Little Buddy was a poor eater. That was before the Little Lady came along and outright refused anything but liquid milk. Period. Ever. Now SHE is a poor eater.
So, let's fast forward. Four years for him. Three years for her. It sure feels like we've made no progress. And I'm absolutely exasperated. I've hit my limit. I'm done. D. O. N. E. done.
Monday evening we had Minestrone for dinner. I made it from scratch. I love to cook. I LOVE it. And forgive me if I sound arrogant, for I don't intend it arrogant. But I'm a good cook! I'm not cooking nasty food for these kids. I'm cooking gooooooood food. And 1,460 days in, they are still turning their noses up at it.
I'm so over having to speak over each and every bite. "Now pick UP your spoon. Pick UP another carrot. Put it in your MOUTH." a minute later noticing more wiggling and no eating. "Pick UP your spoon AGAIN. pick up ANOTHER carrot. Put it IN your mouth. chew it UP." over and over and over. They aren't one anymore. That's one year old behavior. It is time for culinary boot camp.
I'm really not sure which is more frustrating. The fact that the Little Lady pretty much eats ony hot dogs without a fight. Or that Little Buddy may eat everything that a dish contains, but the fact that it is served in a soup or stew form makes it battle worthy.
Does he eat Italian sausage? YES. Loves it.
Carrots? check.
Celery? check.
Spinach? raw? check. cooked? uncheck.
bowtie pasta? check.
cheese? check.
Mix it all up and its as if I have asked him to eat worms mixed with pig blood.
I'm just over all of this. It's done. They are now just too old to be demonstrating this behavior. I'm fine with allowing them a few things to just not care for. I have a few of those myself. But at five years old, you're just gonna have to start eating what we have for dinner, no exceptions!!! And while we're at it, at three years old, you should not require bite by bite play by play!!!
I personally think this looks delicious. And it IS! Here is the recipe for this awesome Minestrone that you can also do in the crock pot if you wish! I skip the prepackaged pesto, because honestly, we never could taste it, so why waste the money on it?
To accompany it, I made these fantastic pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Goodness are they scrumptious! I tweaked the recipe a bit though. I upped the pumpkin - probably 1 to 1 and a quarter cups, and I doubled the spices as well as added ginger. Plus I probably used at least 1 cup of chips, if not more. : ) They are sooooo yummy! Recipe here.
I shot these with my
D90
Sigma 30mm f1.4
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10 on 10 | October Edition
I am quite positive that something supernatural happens when you have a child. You see, my husband and I have spent the last few months watching LOST on Netflix... we never watched it while it aired. That can be blamed on having a child as well. : ) All that to say, the concept of time has been quite on my mind lately.
Older people would always say how fast time was flying. How much we'd grown. Blah blah blah. You roll your eyes and move on.
But holy cow! They were right!
The continuum of time supernaturally morphs once you move from the realm of the childless to the childful. You move your eyes around you and everything appears to be working just as it always has. A minute is still sixty seconds. You aren't aware of the change. But you blink your eyes, and five years, yes years, have just vanished.
You still have those memories. Five years of memories. But the time it took to make them.... was so fast. So short. Days can sludge by seemingly to never end and yet, weeks whir by. Months evaporate. Seasons shift. And then the years simply vanish.
In less than a month, Little Buddy is turning five. Five whole years. There is absolutely nothing about him that's baby anymore. Perhaps all this will be a post for another day celebrating him. But this looming day on my calendar has certainly gotten me wistful.
And what started all that wistfulness this morning was that it is time for my monthly 10 on 10 project again. I would swear to you, if I didn't know that we are now on a different childful continuum, that I only just completed the last one. But here we are, on the tenth day of yet another month. Warp speed ahead.
The 10 on 10 project is where nine other photographers and myself have joined together and agreed to post 10 images over 10 hours of a day in our real lives on the 10th day of each month. Those are the only rules. Check out last month's post here.
I love to document my children's lives and I feel like I do a pretty good job of that. I take pictures of every day things and love to include the details. I don't try to orchestrate the environment or situations. I let things happen as they really do and try to capture that. And yet.
I have really enjoyed this 10 on 10 project thus far. It has forced me to document things in our days... my days... that I likely otherwise never would have. This will generate memories for me that I probably would have forgotten without the image to remind me when the rest of the years poof by. I put a lot of focus and energy on capturing things for them.... capturing the things about them for me..... that I haven't taken much that was about capturing things about me for me. I wonder if that makes sense outside of my head. : )
It has been fun to document some of what my days in my world are about, aside from them. I would have never gone here otherwise.
October's 10 on 10 actually took place in October this time! October 3, 2011. I looked at the calendar and realized this would need to be the day that I did this - a day when I could realistically have the camera out and about the whole day. Then Monday came and I forgot about it until later in the morning. This day I needed to finish up creating the program for the upcoming YoungLife Fund-raising Banquet. Hello Photoshop. (I love my macbook. I really, really do.)
Monday. That means catch up from the weekend on laundry. The laundry room is in dire need of some reorganization and decluttering. Shew. But I'm all about authenticity and transparency. Here's the real me, folks.
Lunch time. I forgot the cilantro! I can't believe I forgot the cilantro because cilantro is one of my most favorite things on the planet!
Preschool pickup. He's doing such a good job learning to write.
She's really into wrapping herself around our legs lately. Drives Shawn batty! But if you pretend to try to shake her off, oh how she giggles.
It was about time to leave for Karate, but I heard them upstairs playing away. They can bicker like cats and dogs! I feel like I expend 50% of my energy on breaking up their ridiculous bickering (and the other 50% looking for stuff that shouldn't be hard to locate but is). But occasionally they will play together and it is simply glorious. Not just because they aren't fighting and I'm not having to deal with that, but because they seem to be enjoying each other and engaging each other so much. I love it more than I have words to express.
I would probably never have thought to put him in Karate. But it has been the very most wonderful thing for Little Buddy. It has helped his physical development and ability. It has boosted his confidence so much. I am just so thankful for it, even if it is almost 30 minutes away twice a week. They've been working on this activity recently where they have to steal each other's flags. He LOVES it. Oh my word, LOVES it, and he's getting really good at it, too.
I love the temperatures of this time of year so much. I am, however, not digging how much the light is changing. How early it is becoming dark. The sun is now so low in the sky when there is still so much day left. I'm so thankful for all our tress all summer when they shade our backyard and make it usable when it otherwise wouldn't be. This is such a pretty time of year when the leaves are on the cusp of changing colors. Soon we'll be in over our heads trying to manage the mountains of leaves.
Dinner time. I want to do a better job capturing our real lives here on this front. We eat at our tiny Island in the kitchen. I'm just so not a dining room girl. If only we could remodel our kitchen and remove the wall between the two rooms, maybe I'd really use it then.
I've wanted to try this for EVER!!! I don't even know what made me think of it this day. The light was almost gone. I was only still out shooting because it was 10 on 10 day. I tied my camera strap so it was like a necklace and short on my chest. I set the timer. Grabbed his arms and we began to spin. They LOVE to do this... and I wish I could do it more, but man, getting older has changed my dizzy quotient and it takes me forever to recover!
Next on the circle is Chesney Maxwell. I really, really adore Chesney's work and her style. Check out her 10 on 10 post here.
I shot these with my
D90
Nikon 14-24 f2.8
Nikon 50mm 1.4D
Sigma 30mm f1.4
Older people would always say how fast time was flying. How much we'd grown. Blah blah blah. You roll your eyes and move on.
But holy cow! They were right!
The continuum of time supernaturally morphs once you move from the realm of the childless to the childful. You move your eyes around you and everything appears to be working just as it always has. A minute is still sixty seconds. You aren't aware of the change. But you blink your eyes, and five years, yes years, have just vanished.
You still have those memories. Five years of memories. But the time it took to make them.... was so fast. So short. Days can sludge by seemingly to never end and yet, weeks whir by. Months evaporate. Seasons shift. And then the years simply vanish.
In less than a month, Little Buddy is turning five. Five whole years. There is absolutely nothing about him that's baby anymore. Perhaps all this will be a post for another day celebrating him. But this looming day on my calendar has certainly gotten me wistful.
And what started all that wistfulness this morning was that it is time for my monthly 10 on 10 project again. I would swear to you, if I didn't know that we are now on a different childful continuum, that I only just completed the last one. But here we are, on the tenth day of yet another month. Warp speed ahead.
The 10 on 10 project is where nine other photographers and myself have joined together and agreed to post 10 images over 10 hours of a day in our real lives on the 10th day of each month. Those are the only rules. Check out last month's post here.
I love to document my children's lives and I feel like I do a pretty good job of that. I take pictures of every day things and love to include the details. I don't try to orchestrate the environment or situations. I let things happen as they really do and try to capture that. And yet.
I have really enjoyed this 10 on 10 project thus far. It has forced me to document things in our days... my days... that I likely otherwise never would have. This will generate memories for me that I probably would have forgotten without the image to remind me when the rest of the years poof by. I put a lot of focus and energy on capturing things for them.... capturing the things about them for me..... that I haven't taken much that was about capturing things about me for me. I wonder if that makes sense outside of my head. : )
It has been fun to document some of what my days in my world are about, aside from them. I would have never gone here otherwise.
October's 10 on 10 actually took place in October this time! October 3, 2011. I looked at the calendar and realized this would need to be the day that I did this - a day when I could realistically have the camera out and about the whole day. Then Monday came and I forgot about it until later in the morning. This day I needed to finish up creating the program for the upcoming YoungLife Fund-raising Banquet. Hello Photoshop. (I love my macbook. I really, really do.)
Monday. That means catch up from the weekend on laundry. The laundry room is in dire need of some reorganization and decluttering. Shew. But I'm all about authenticity and transparency. Here's the real me, folks.
Lunch time. I forgot the cilantro! I can't believe I forgot the cilantro because cilantro is one of my most favorite things on the planet!
Preschool pickup. He's doing such a good job learning to write.
She's really into wrapping herself around our legs lately. Drives Shawn batty! But if you pretend to try to shake her off, oh how she giggles.
It was about time to leave for Karate, but I heard them upstairs playing away. They can bicker like cats and dogs! I feel like I expend 50% of my energy on breaking up their ridiculous bickering (and the other 50% looking for stuff that shouldn't be hard to locate but is). But occasionally they will play together and it is simply glorious. Not just because they aren't fighting and I'm not having to deal with that, but because they seem to be enjoying each other and engaging each other so much. I love it more than I have words to express.
I would probably never have thought to put him in Karate. But it has been the very most wonderful thing for Little Buddy. It has helped his physical development and ability. It has boosted his confidence so much. I am just so thankful for it, even if it is almost 30 minutes away twice a week. They've been working on this activity recently where they have to steal each other's flags. He LOVES it. Oh my word, LOVES it, and he's getting really good at it, too.
I love the temperatures of this time of year so much. I am, however, not digging how much the light is changing. How early it is becoming dark. The sun is now so low in the sky when there is still so much day left. I'm so thankful for all our tress all summer when they shade our backyard and make it usable when it otherwise wouldn't be. This is such a pretty time of year when the leaves are on the cusp of changing colors. Soon we'll be in over our heads trying to manage the mountains of leaves.
Dinner time. I want to do a better job capturing our real lives here on this front. We eat at our tiny Island in the kitchen. I'm just so not a dining room girl. If only we could remodel our kitchen and remove the wall between the two rooms, maybe I'd really use it then.
I've wanted to try this for EVER!!! I don't even know what made me think of it this day. The light was almost gone. I was only still out shooting because it was 10 on 10 day. I tied my camera strap so it was like a necklace and short on my chest. I set the timer. Grabbed his arms and we began to spin. They LOVE to do this... and I wish I could do it more, but man, getting older has changed my dizzy quotient and it takes me forever to recover!
Next on the circle is Chesney Maxwell. I really, really adore Chesney's work and her style. Check out her 10 on 10 post here.
I shot these with my
D90
Nikon 14-24 f2.8
Nikon 50mm 1.4D
Sigma 30mm f1.4
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friendship
"The happiest moments my heart knows are those in which it is pouring forth its affections to a few esteemed characters." Thomas Jefferson
I am an introvert. I wear that badge proudly. And yet.
I am created by my Creator, by design, to long for companionship. relationship. connection. community.
So while I am refueled and refreshed by finding time to be alone, where I can think, write, process, pray, and just be... I still have a yearning for connection. I wasn't always aware of this. When I was out in the real world, I had enough connections with others that I didn't realize I needed them. When I entered the isolated world of stay-at-home-mommydom, I started to come face to face with yet another contradiction of how I viewed myself.
I needed other people. I needed connection. I needed a friend.
For years I have longed for that sense of camaraderie that we experienced while in college. Living amongst our closest friends. We ate together. We did homework together. We walked to class together. We played together. We did life together. This seemingly unerring bond was forged. And once we all ended our time there and moved onto our various paths, I missed it. I missed them. I missed that feeling of really belonging to them. Our group.
I sought to find it again. But I've discovered over the decade since that so much of what I experienced then had to do with how much of our lives we invested in each other. How we much revealed. How much we gave. How much we sacrificed. And time. Sheer, simple time.
That kind of bond... one forged... takes time.
The investment of time, day after day after day. That turns into years. It cannot be made artificially. There are no substitutes. It is a recipe that must be followed precisely with dedication and determination.
And that brings me to my friend, Dana. I have longed for a friend of that forged bond for so long. We met so many years ago that I don't even remember when it was. 2003 maybe? We started out in small group at church with them. And over time we have grown closer and closer. And today I can clearly say she is my most treasured, best friend in this world.
I am so thankful for her and her sweet spirit that reminds me of Who is really in control. I love that I can let all my guards down with her. There need be no pretending. No pretenses. She's seen my house in the state is reality it lives in and lives to tell the tale. She's seen ME in the state I really am with all my ugliness that festers inside and loves me anyway. She's seen my struggles. She's seen my triumphs. And she stands by for both.
I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I shot these images in September of 2010. Over a year ago. She got the images long ago, but its just been on my todo list to blog them. They've been in my header since I redesigned my blog - and I cannot even remember how long ago that was! But now that I've discovered a much faster way to blog images, I managed to get it done.
Without further ado, my best friend and her family.
I shot these with my
D90
50mm f.18
I am an introvert. I wear that badge proudly. And yet.
I am created by my Creator, by design, to long for companionship. relationship. connection. community.
So while I am refueled and refreshed by finding time to be alone, where I can think, write, process, pray, and just be... I still have a yearning for connection. I wasn't always aware of this. When I was out in the real world, I had enough connections with others that I didn't realize I needed them. When I entered the isolated world of stay-at-home-mommydom, I started to come face to face with yet another contradiction of how I viewed myself.
I needed other people. I needed connection. I needed a friend.
For years I have longed for that sense of camaraderie that we experienced while in college. Living amongst our closest friends. We ate together. We did homework together. We walked to class together. We played together. We did life together. This seemingly unerring bond was forged. And once we all ended our time there and moved onto our various paths, I missed it. I missed them. I missed that feeling of really belonging to them. Our group.
I sought to find it again. But I've discovered over the decade since that so much of what I experienced then had to do with how much of our lives we invested in each other. How we much revealed. How much we gave. How much we sacrificed. And time. Sheer, simple time.
That kind of bond... one forged... takes time.
The investment of time, day after day after day. That turns into years. It cannot be made artificially. There are no substitutes. It is a recipe that must be followed precisely with dedication and determination.
And that brings me to my friend, Dana. I have longed for a friend of that forged bond for so long. We met so many years ago that I don't even remember when it was. 2003 maybe? We started out in small group at church with them. And over time we have grown closer and closer. And today I can clearly say she is my most treasured, best friend in this world.
I am so thankful for her and her sweet spirit that reminds me of Who is really in control. I love that I can let all my guards down with her. There need be no pretending. No pretenses. She's seen my house in the state is reality it lives in and lives to tell the tale. She's seen ME in the state I really am with all my ugliness that festers inside and loves me anyway. She's seen my struggles. She's seen my triumphs. And she stands by for both.
I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I shot these images in September of 2010. Over a year ago. She got the images long ago, but its just been on my todo list to blog them. They've been in my header since I redesigned my blog - and I cannot even remember how long ago that was! But now that I've discovered a much faster way to blog images, I managed to get it done.
Without further ado, my best friend and her family.
D90
50mm f.18
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