what ____ looks like | month three

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.

what ____ looks like | month two

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'.

what ____ 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.