The summer list

Summer is in full swing, and a trip to the beach is in the works this week. I'm psyched! June through August are the 3 months out of the year where things really slow down. We stay up later, sleep a little longer (okay, maybe a lot longer), and we do whatever we want, whenever we want to do it. We have prepared a list chock full of fun stuff, and I thought I'd share. Sometimes all it takes is a little inspiration to get the juices flowin' in the "what should we do" department. We don't always get to everything on our list, but the fun of just putting it together makes the essence of summer even more present.





We've been able to cross off...

Take a boat ride









Face painting



and the thrift store fashion show (give them 5$ each and let them see how well they can put together an outfit)
I must say...i've taught them well. both girls scored shoes,a skirt, and a top and my total was $8.46! I tried hard not to influence their choices, they took one hour, and were very proud of themselves by the end.







Use this time while your sweet babies are at home to make it extra special.  Put on the brakes...inhale the smell of sunscreen on their sun kissed bodies, and let the sticky popsicles melt down their little forearms...it's SUMMER!

edited to add: Sharing this schedule I found on pinterest. We will definitely be using in conjunction with our "list" to keep things fun.

Source: somewhatsimple.com via Kim on Pinterest

I heart faces photography challenge "All Boy"

I always knew I wanted three.

It's funny how in your immature girl heart you think you get to chose the sex of your future children. Almost as if you write it down it will come true. I had 3 names carefully inscribed in the pages of my senior book..."Alyssa" "Ashlyn" and "David-Michael (cause I thought hyphenated boy names were cool).

2 girls and a boy.

Low and behold, years later my crazy love for all things pink, ruffled, and smeared with sparkle lip gloss would have me praying for a third girl after being blessed with the first 2, and I got my wish. It's not that I didn't want a boy, or think that they were insanely awesome. I just love the dynamic between sisters. I love my sister so much that I thought the gift of 2 would be something they would cherish forever.

But, I never sat to think about what he might be missing... Those t ball, snuggled up on the couch watching game moments. The joy of seeing your son run across a football field at his last senior game, or having him call you when he's elbow deep in car grease wondering how the heck to put it all back together.

This man though... He's never complained once. He embraces the tutu, and watches Hannah Montana re-runs. Yet, he still takes the time to show them how to meticulously place their fingers to spin a perfect spiral with their pink football.

I get asked often... "are you trying for the boy?", but we are in agreement. Three completes us. So this little one... this is as close to boy as he got. She's spunky and energetic. Loves her toy cars, and inspecting bugs, but spends her days in frilly dresses and ribbon tied pigtails. Maybe not "all boy", but boy enough for him.

 

Photographer wannabe

So, there is this wonderful think called "social networking". I think it's amazing that now-a-days when you want to keep in touch with someone it isn't impossible. 10 years ago, when you graduated high school...that was it. You hardly ever saw those people again. Accept for those few freak run-in's at the grocery store, but lets face it, it's usually not the people we "want" to run in to. I love how now when I do run in to people that are my friends on facebook I know who they are, I remember their names, and I recognize their kids. (i suppose that could be creepy)

 So this girl, we go way back...
Like in 8th grade we liked the same boy, and hated each other way back. Once we got into high school and got involved in extra curriculars her a head cheerleader, and me the colonel of the dance team...we found ourselves sharing locker rooms in the dancer/cheerleader gym, and well, before you knew it we were pretending to be cousins.

So when I excitedly found out she was expecting through Facebook, I begged her to let me practice my photography on her. Can we say gorgeous? This was my first time doing an actual "session". I've taken pictures of my own kids, and neighbors, but had yet to venture out into the great unknown world of in home photography. It was a wonderful experience. It was light, funny, we chatted, caught up, and I got to marvel and document the blessed miracle of one growing a human being inside them. By the middle of the shoot I had her cracking up calling the golden buttery light streaming from her window "sunlight porn." It truly was. Her beautiful, perfectly round middle exuded the very essence of motherhood. I will say, this shoot has made me want to study more. I have a love for capturing beauty.

The shutter is a magical thing, and I feel so blessed to be able to see the unexpected wonder through it. When people put their camera's down...I pick mine up. My favorite shots of her are just that...her throwing her head back in laughter holding her sweet belly as I crack a joke about light porn, or catching her sweeping her hair to the side, and in that second pressing my shutter to capture a gorgeous natural shot that was neither posed or coerced.


Photography is a beautiful thing!

  *insert lazy excuse here* I have had this blog post waiting to be published for weeks, and in those few weeks my sweet friend just went and had a baby (techincally within days of this shoot) so, yay! a two for one. Here are some of her sweet girl too. Congratulations Angel and Jason on your new bundle. Welcome to the wonderful world of parenthood, and pink!

Things that make me happy

Some things that have my heart singin' this week:

School carnivals...especially ones with petting zoo's, foam pits, and giant hamster balls.



















My bug catching girl.



This shot of my baby



Learning to do somersaults.



It makes me happy when projects turn out how you envision them. These wooden dolls that I painstakingly painted by hand for her Easter basket are adorable...she loves them.



And this doll...I loved LOVED the dolls by goodbyebluemonday on etsy, but they closed their shop. I can't find them anywhere any more...so I made my own. It took a couple hours to figure out a pattern that I liked. I had to adjust some things, and I'm still not 100% happy with her,but for my first try I think she came out pretty good. Amaya can't get enough of her. It makes me happy. A labor of love appreciated.





Finding these random videos (that are completely hilarious to a mama) on my phone and computer. This girl...she's got attitude coming out the wazoo! She's my singer. My favorite part is her interpretation of the words of the song. I remember being in elementary school and trying to sing Paula Abdul's cold hearted snake...He's a cold hearted slave...look into his eyes uh oh, he's been telling lies,he's a love-a for a play, he don't play bah-ooo, oh oh. (haha) She cracks me up! My sweet middle little.



What makes you happy today?

All around the mulberry bush...

I have a giant, holy cow, mulberry tree in the backyard.



This girl.



She can't get enough.







Lets just say...things have been very uhhh ummm regular around here lately.



Fiber is a good thing right?

Tough Questions

I love my husbands side of the family. They know how to throw an amazing holiday bash. It's never ordinary, and nothing short of extraordinary...every time. I leave their homes filled with the warm and fuzzies, and we always reflect on our way home about how good of a time we had.

It had been a wonderful day full of amazing memories filed away in the "happy childhood I want them to remember" box.





They go all out, and always make us feel so welcomed, you'd never know we were not the immediate family. You see...Dave is the great grandson which makes our kids the great great grand kids, but they are loving like that. They always have amazing surprises, whether it be a mason jar filled with a pinterest goodie for the adults, or a giant chocolate bunny for each kid, and they don't just have an egg hunt...they hide special eggs just for you. Special eggs that have your name carefully written in sharpie marker, and no one else can scramble to steal and pile in their basket, so you are left with cast offs half open with filling falling out. They're filled with trinkets, and money...you just feel the love put into it.



The aunts all gather in the kitchen and prepare the most scrumptious meals, and they don't skimp on presentation with foiled pans, and hodge podge dishes....they bring out the ice buckets, and glass pitchers, heirloom platters and a dry erase plaque that says "Welcome family and friends". It's a happy place. Almost as if the sky parts and angels sing kind of happy-family- place. I never leave them disappointed.

So when you see Gods love through them, woven like a fine tapestry...I wondered? Did they know? How did I go 8 years without telling them why? Why we really celebrate Easter.

We were on a quiet ride back from the Easter extravaganza, when something inside me prompted me to ask the girls "the question".



So I turned down the radio and looked back at them both and asked...

"do you girls know why we celebrate this day?"

Girls in unison-"No"

so i told them...

"we celebrate because Jesus died for our sins. He died, and then he came back to life, and because of him we are forgiven, and if we believe in him and love him we get to be with him in heaven someday."

They both looked at me puzzled...

Ashlyn- "how did he come back to life?"

It's in these moments that you realize that just because you are an adult by "adult standards" doesn't mean you aren't really a 6 year old child inside. That your little heart too feels just as confused, and in awe of this crazy world. That you still have some of those same questions and just pretend to know all the "enlightening" answers.

The first word that came to mind was "magic". (the little girl in me) I look at Dave and I whisper..."I can't say magic can I?" and he shook his head no.
So I thought carefully for a few seconds and I said..."a miracle"

Ashlyn-"whats a miracle?"
My reply... "A miracle is something wonderful that you can't explain"

Then here came the toughie...

"Why would we want to go to heaven anyway mama?

I got a little choked up, cause like them the little girl in me reserves the talk of heaven for when someone passes away. It's not somewhere I can honestly say I'm ready to embrace. I have lots of "super christian" friends that are "there" they even go as far as to say they can't wait. Me, I'm still a piggy tailed ruffle dress little girl who wants to play...here. Here with my kids, in the dirt, making memories, and I will go away to heaven when I'm silver haired and good and wrinkly.

Heaven is where we say paw paw is....it's where amaya releases her balloon to everytime she gets one. She looks at me for permission..."for paw paw?" and I shake my head..."yes baby, you can give it to paw paw" and she lets them go. unselfishly.
Almost every time.





So when my 6 year old green eyed beauty asked me....
"Why mama?"
"Why would we want to go to heaven?"



I answered her with the most thoughtful right answer the little girl in me could think of...
"so we could live with Jesus forever and ever and ever" it was all I could say without opening a bible, or calling a friend. It was the only "right" answer I could give her at the moment.

I turned around in my seat, and thought about those tough questions. I thought about how as a parent, or a person for that matter you don't get "the book". The one that you can turn to like a dictionary when you don't know the answer. There is Google...yes, but for grey areas like these, for the "just believe" questions, or really far out questions...there are few solid answers, and I refuse to fill their heads with wrong ones.

I don't sugar coat for them. When they ask me....i usually give an age appropriate answer.
They know where babies come from, they know about mama's "big bandaids", when they ask...I try and tell. After all, I am quite analytical myself, and even at the ripe young/old age of 30 I have questions...lots of them unanswered that tend to puzzle me often.

I just pray that I'm doing this big job right. That at the end of the day I like my husbands family exude Gods love to them, and everyone around me. That I'm leading them by example, and I hope that I am careful to answer questions the best I can so I steer them in the right direction throughout their lives.



Parenthood is tough.
Tough questions, tough answers, just all around difficult sometimes.
But it's worth every second...of everyday.