It was quiet...

Everything was going wonderfully... my house was clean, my husband was bringing home pizza. Everything would be ready when our friends arrived in a couple minutes. I was adding the finishing touches to the dessert, and the kids were quiet. Too quiet in fact. I listened carefully as I finished the frosting. 

What was that noise? 

It was a familiar sound, but one that I hadn't heard for quite a while. 

The toilet roll? Sure enough, my three year old was working fast. 

"I wike the wind it makes" was her only defense.

As I took a deep breath and cleaned up the mess I heard the same sound, but far away. 

I ran to the master bathroom where my 21 month old was working the same mischief! 

He just chuckled. 

That's when my 5 year old piped up: "sorry mom, we were both laughing."

Well, if that's the price I have to pay for that lovely moment of quiet, I'll take it! 

But I think I'll listen out more carefully in the future. 

Especially when they get quiet.

Fabulous Friday

Oh, how could it NOT be fabulous with a baby this precious?! 

 That's right, this morning I got to do a session with this beautiful girl! 

Let me tell you, she has that sweet brand new baby smell... 

and she happens to be my niece so I can hold her (almost) any time I want!

"I need my mommy!"

"Oh, there she is."

This last shot is my very favorite... I think. It's so hard to choose!

Have a great weekend!

A Snappy Little Photo Session

Hey! I did a real photo shoot yesterday! I was really excited before the session but after the session I was really, really, excited because I got some good stuff. I just new it.

The kids were super cute and although they weren't at all interested in posing, their mom was super awesome. She got her little guy to smile when he didn't feel like humoring me. You see, he was much too busy counting ants, collecting rocks, and throwing dirt.  What a boy! :)

And the little girl? Oh, my goodness. So stinkin' cute! She clapped and laughed but the best part was that her Mom taught her to say "cheese" so no matter what she was doing she said "cheese!" every time she saw me!  I must have taken about 100 photos of her adorable smile.

She's already horse crazy!

As I uploaded these photos the question crossed my mind... are these "snapshots of every day life"? Well, they certainly are ordinary moments captured, but I hope that they are a little bit more special.

Christmas in July

My husband bought a new lens for me yesterday- it's an 85mm f1.8 and I really, really like it! As I played with it outside I thought this feels like Christmas in July :)

Scavenger Hunt

 1. Pop of Color

(ok, I admit this is from last year, but the fireworks will look exactly the same tonight!)

 2. Crossing Thresholds

Will he get the spare??

3. X-Ray

You can see right through her!

  4. Toy

 5. Hidden or Farm

Happy Independence Day!

A post without photos

This week has been unusual in many ways,
one of which is that my husband had to take my camera with him on his business trip. I didn't think much of it at first. I have a couple little cameras in the closet but I guess I'm too snobby to pull them out so I haven't really taken any photos all week. Woah. Weird.
My SLR is almost always with me, it's my baby- and many times this week I have mentally run through my check- list before heading out: Big kid? Check. Middle kid? Check. Little kid? Check. Camera... ???!!! oh yes. It's in Florida with daddy *whew*


So... what did I do instead of shooting and editing?

1. I played outside with the kids in beautiful, golden light and imagined how I would shoot the scene if I had the camera -and of course everything would turn out perfectly on the first click ;)
2. I still wasted time on the computer. Yeah, it's tough but I managed.
3. Last but not least, I got a lot of cleaning done! I was on fire! I got caught up on dishes & laundry, my bathrooms are literally sparkling, I mopped every floor (except the carpet ;) and I vacuumed three times this week (*gasp!*) 

Well, my dear husband came home and he brought back my baby!

What does that mean?

I've got some Scavenger Hunt photos to take!

House cleaning just got moved to the bottom of the list... again :)

Don't blink...

This season of life can be intense- as a stay at home mom of three little ones, sometimes my life seems like a jumble of noise, mess, and answering questions... 

…lots and lots of questions.

Sometimes I wonder how we're going to make it to bed time when we've only made it to 10AM.

Well, on Monday I was out with my husband for the whole entire day. Believe me, it was really lovely and refreshing, in fact I didn't want the day to end!

But I missed my little people 

and wondered what they were thinking and how they were doing.  

I gained even more perspective as I peeked in on them at the end of the day- they were all sleeping and they looked so cute and so big. 

I thought about all the things I love about them right now.

Yesterday my 5 year old said 

When I was little, I called maple syrup 'mustard' but I don't call it that 

since I'm grown up. 

Oh, boy. Before I know it he will be grown up.

Have you heard the song Don't blink?

I turned on the evening news

Saw an old man being interviewed

Turning a hundred and two today

Asked him what's the secret to life?

He looked up from his old pipe

Laughed and said, "All I can say is

Don't blink, just like that you're six years old

And you take a nap

And you wake up and you're twenty-five

And your high school sweetheart becomes your wife

Don't blink, you just might miss

Your babies growing like mine did

Turning into moms and dads

Next thing you know your better half

Of fifty years is there in bed

And you're praying God takes you instead

Trust me friend a hundred years

Goes faster than you think, so don't blink

I was glued to my TV, when it looked

Like he looked at me and said

"Best start putting first things first"

'Cause when your hourglass runs out of sand

You can't flip it over and start again

Take every breathe God gives you for what it's worth

Trust me friend a hundred years

Goes faster than you think, so don't blink.