she said she usually cried at least once a daynot because she was sad but because the world was so beautiful and life was so short. - storypeople
over the weekend, steve and sky built a ladder together. a ladder so my kids and the boys behind us can climb freely over our backyard fence. when steve and sky were working on our neighbor's side of the ladder, the boys helped too. and it all makes my heart so happy. and well...i'll just leave it at that. the end.
january has brought some new changes, in regards to my personal photography. i've started a 366, which i'm so excited about. i've also started a monthly project with my kids, which i'm hoping to share about tomorrow. i've also had some pretty amazing a-ha moments this weekend, which will take a while for me to properly compose my thoughts, to share. but for today, here's what our everyday-kind-of-days in january looks like...
new years day. net-fishing and shell hunting with friends.
first fire of 2012.
37th birthday.
really wanting a fish replacement.
one of our favorites at the petting | horse riding farm.
new barn cat. someone stole our favorite siamese.
homework on the bunk bed.
friends visiting orlando, from DC [they were our next-door-neighbors in san diego]. so happy to see them.
swimming together at shades of green.
showing me her orange telescope with twisted jammy pants.
double hooping.
TV and ipad trance.
flipping. every. single. day.
tricks for treats.
testing out a location by the petting farm.
she has the best laugh.
riding lessons.
an afternoon at the beach with friends.
attacked by the crazy gulls [they stole the cracker from his hand].
silly at mcdonalds.
first bike ride to and from school.
just laying there.
shooting a new dress for courtney courtney.
freshly groomed.
charley watching sky work on her laptop.
she was creating this -- sky and ryder when they're grown up.
bronchitis sick day, after four hours in the ER (IV, antibiotics, oxygen, labs & chest xray). he was SO brave.
and more sickness.
how i found her one afternoon.
shower night.
playing in front.
a weekend with jock sturges.
a break for the models.
in the hotel, when the day is done.
there’s a circle of 12 photographers participating in this what ____ looks like monthly project. i hope you’ll check them all out [clicking link to link]. next up… stephanie moore | tucson senior photographer.
another crazy month. come and gone. i'm not really sure where it even went. but thank goodness i have some pictures to remind me. here’s a bit of what november in tampa, florida looks like [kind of crazy to still be catching butterflies, swimming, wearing shuts and running around barefoot]…
finding and holding a butterfly, in our front yard.
ALWAYS dirty, dirty feet. kids play outside barefoot every day.
one of skyler's gifts to me. they usually end up on my inspiration board. that's where she likes them.
yep, this is how i found them one day.
the barn nursery. sky loved holding the piglet until the barn dog became interested. then she got too nervous.
we so love seeing the new additions. these were the new ducks, who are now pretty big. last time we were there, they were in the geese pen and the geese were crazy protective over them [and loud]. we're waiting on baby bunnies to be born. any day now.
more new barn friends. with each visit, we always seem to find new friends.
the deer were so timid when the barn first got them and now they love to be pet.
this guy scares me. i finally was able to take a picture of him, but not without hissing at us.
sometimes i like to explore the other areas of the barn with the kids. sometimes they don't.
the only place ryder wanted to take flat stanley was...under water.
location scouting for my editorial shoots.
playing on a tire swing. sky was doing all kinds of tricks. she's pretty fearless.
sky also seems to sit on the couch every way except how she's supposed to.
ummm...homework and TV.
there’s a group of 12 of us participating in this what ____ looks like monthly project. i hope you’ll check them all out [clicking link to link]. next up... stephanie moore | tucson senior photographer.
october was a tad bit really crazy. it brought my 42nd birthday, new plumbing for our whole house, the complete demo of a bathroom, the start of the bathroom renovation and a husband leaving for three weeks to afghanistan.
in celebrating the chaos, here's a bit of what our everyday amongst the chaos looks like...
kid mess. not related to renovation mess.
"tribal markings", courtesy of kiele. notice the little chest hairs. he had armpit hair too.
ryder's new trick, which he won't stop doing.
charley love.
always asking to help with chores. well not always, but a lot of times.
location scouting.
playing on the front yard swing.
meeting more new friends on the farm, during kiele's riding lessons.
star tattoos and giggles.
half of the time, i find her upside down somewhere.
and some iphone [instagram] photos from this month...
where you'll find the little ones and i, every tuesday and thursday. where's skyler and ryder?
a few of my birthday surprises. can't even begin to tell you how much i love the art my kids create for me [thank you kim!!].
in the middle of the bathroom demo.
skyler: "hey mom, this looks like your hair".
i just love her knees. even more when they're dirty.
and here's to november and celebrating all that's to come.
there's a group of 12 of us participating in this monthly project. i hope you'll check them all out [clicking link to link]. next up is the awesome stephanie moore | tucson senior photographer.
since i was traveling (shooting in san diego and chicago) the first two weeks of september, here's what 12 days in september looks like... hanging out at the (closed) golf course.
new bikes.
purging and the birth of a growing goodwill pile.
TV trance.
the build-a-bear bed that charley loves to sleep in (even though he's way too big for it).
more new friends at the horse farm.
goofing around (until someone usually gets hurt).
a few of her drawing spaces.
the joy of handmade cards.
his bottom bunk and hanging animal friends.
her taped american flag. and the surprise gifts she leaves me, which i love so much (even if his eye keeps falling off).
fun at a friend's birthday party.
if you're not familiar with the project, here's the initial post with a bit of an explanation. there's a total of 12 of us participating in "what _____ looks like". i hope you’ll now head on over to stephanie's blog to see what she shared this month — stephanie moore | tucson family photographer. and if you're playing along with us or have your own monthly project, please share your link in a comment. i'd love to follow your project too. :-))
ETA: i just got out of the shower and this is how i found the littles, watching TV, of course. couldn't help but add it to my 'what 12 days in september looks like'.
"your kids must have the most amazing pictures." i get that comment A LOT. and while my kids do have some pretty fabulous photos from the past five years that i've been doing photography, somehow along the way, i seem to have lost my ability to capture the every day lives of my family. you know, those photos that document the simple joys and everyday moments. it bums me out. and i have complained about it for years, yet i haven't done a whole lot, in an effort to remedy the situation.
so when i was recently approached by a photographer about participating in a project entitled "what _______ looks like", i jumped at the opportunity. i will be working on this project along side a group of eleven other incredible photographers. the goal of the project is to capture our families in a real, everyday kind of way -- to capture moments that document the reality, the beauty, the mess, the truth, the everyday of our family life.
each month we will each choose to fill in the blank with a word of our choice. some of us may choose to use the same word all year. others may choose to change it up every month or every couple months. at the end of every month, we will all be sharing some of our photos on our blogs. we will each link to another photographer until our circle of 12 is complete.
i'm excited about this. i needed this. but more-so, i feel that my children deserve this. along the way, i also hope this project will inspire you to take more everyday pictures of your own famiy!!
so here we go. this is what a bit of our everyday august looks like...
all the cousins together, at oma and opa's, in NV.
standard toy mess. watching TV.
sweaty.
steve jumping.
first day of school.
in the pool. almost every single day in august.
not-so-pretty toenails, courtesy of the pool.
how he always sits. his favorite toy. and the littles' handmade cardboard box chair.
on our way to gymnastics.
new friends at the horse farm.
play time.
their fort.
computer games.
girl time.
before school. forgot to brush.
so what have i learned in the first month, with this project? i learned that i have a long way to go in documenting my family's everyday. and that i need to try and carry my camera around with me more. but honestly, even in this short bit, i already feel like i'm noticing and capturing more of the beauty and magic of our everyday. and that makes my heart so very happy.
can't help but think of this quote... enjoy [and capture] the little things, for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things. - robert brault
i hope you'll now head on over to stephanie moore's blog to see what she had to share about her project this month -- stephanie moore | tucson family photographer.
p.s. i used more than one word for my blank...hope that's okay.
as much as i hate the mess, i absolute love and cherish my kids' imaginary play. i think the littles learned it from their big sister. she's the pro at it. although...they were watching sponge bob at the time of this photo. hence, the not-so-imaginary trance.
yesterday, i was here, spending the day with this awesome friend.
tonight, i will be in the fields of wisconsin. photographing a most incredible and magical family tomorrow. can't wait, but i'm a wee bit nervous too.
