This blog is a true reflection of my life! 

Anywho … I have been loving the weather we’ve had lately, and the opportunity it has given me to get outside and tackle my gardens.  My gardens include my planters and baskets, which I really enjoy the challenge of designing.  I had a really lacking hanging basket on my back patio and I decided to go with something super simple.  Just filling it with one single plant … a climber!  I love this look and it is so easy to do.

I went with a climbing Black-eyed Susan…

All you need is the planter, some dirt, and your plant … doesn’t get much easier, right?

Just put it in the pot and tousle the edges of the root base to encourage outward growth.

I left the center supporting stick in the basket, but encouraged some of the vines to grab onto the chains, as well.

This is a happy, vigorous  grower and in the 2 weeks since I  took this shot, it is filling in, climbing and hanging, in all the right places!

Not bad for an old basket, a few minutes, and a 5 dollar plant!

Have a wonderful weekend, friends! 

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Lesson learned:  We weren’t very original in our Mothers’ Day planning.

Because the light was tricky (hiking through a deep, narrow valley of trees = awful deeply shadowed eyes), I chose to mostly photograph my boys as they went before me… I followed and just documented their paths.  I love this option, actually, a lot of the time because it is special to show their journey as  they move forward on it.  Shooting from behind them not only shows what they see in front of them, but also what I see as I urge them on …

Lesson re-affirmed … a LOT of my favorite photos don’t include my children’s faces.

With little legs hiking, all the other people on the trail, and mama stopping ever 10 steps to take a photo, we only made it to the second falls before turning back.

Lesson learned here?  I am pathetically out of shape!

This middle guy felt the same way as I did …

On our way back, though, we stopped a bit more to just explore the river and the little paths that took us off of the main trail.

Lesson learned here about life?  We shouldn’t just keep powering on through life toward the one main goal, without stopping and enjoying all the little gems of adventures along the way.

As Matt, G and K moved on, I held Coop back to check out this tiny bank along the river.  He was more than happy to explore a bit more.

Lesson remembered here?  Slippery rocks result in wet, water logged shoes …

We had a wonderful time, and the best part, even though it was ‘Mothers’ Day’, was hearing my children talk about how much fun THEY had.  That’s sort of the focus of being a mom anyway isn’t it?  We devote our lives to them, even if it is supposed to be a day for us.  We should expose our kids to God’s creation and give them the opportunities to appreciate and enjoy it … blessing them, caring for them, guiding them along the path.  Encouraging  them, teaching them, and keeping  them safe through the journey.  All to glorify God, not ever me simply because I’m their ‘mom’.

This is  truth I have always known, but really, really needed to revisit.

Lesson learned.  xoxo

I hope your Mothers’ Day was filled with love and joy for the gifts God has given you!

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Of course, we had no idea which pup would be ours, but it doesn’t really matter … how could we not love each one of these sweet little bundles??

Seriously… I want all of them.  Fortunately (for Matt) that won’t happen because they are all accounted for… but in the future, if we, or you, are ever wanting to get another Golden, I highly recommend Heaven Scent Golden Retrievers!

xoxo

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Really, though, for me, trying all sorts of new and creative things would make it really tough to keep up with doing what I originally set out to do with photography.  Efficiently documenting my children’s lives.

But there comes a time, when you just have to get resourceful … to go outside that box … to figure out how to make a shot happen.   I’ve been wanting to document my reading time with Kaden for a while now, but seeing as how this happens after dark, I had to get crafty.   Especially if I wanted to achieve the quick fall-off into the shadows I was envisioning.

Thanks to a small lamp with a 40 watt bulb without a lamp shade, placed on the floor just outside of the frame, and my camera placed on a footstool, I got these shots….

I could have, I suppose, used my speedlight off-camera, as well as my tripod, to get a similar look, but honestly I was excited by the simple, ‘fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants’ set-up that I came up with.    I guess it can be fun to peek over the edge of my comfy, predictable, natural-light box every now and again…

Sometimes, much to my consistency loving-self, we just have to. 

Thanks for reading! 

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This month, my focus was capturing my daily reading with Gage.  True, I’m not in all of them, because while I was fiddling with the tripod and settings and getting my composition, I liked what I saw. 

We often read on my bed because it is one of the few places in our home that stays relatively calm and is, for the most part, not interesting for the boys to be in.  We can slip away once Matt gets home to read together for a bit, uninterrupted.  Usually … though not evident by this series of photos!

If you’d like, you can see  the rest of my ‘Together We’ posts {here}, {here}, and {here} .

I hope you have a memorable, but relaxing weekend … and don’t forget to get INTO some of your shots with your children!  xoxo

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As you know (if you frequent my blog), I take a lot of photos of my kiddos and our life!  It would be very easy to get overwhelmed with the printing and storing of this many photos.  Especially if I was trying to keep up with my past, traditional, scrapbooking approach.  But with the increase of photos that I take (and print) I had to figure out a new way to deal with them … in an organized and still creatively appealing way!

I’m not going to share much here, yet … not until after CLICK has been released anyway …  about my process, but I think these images will give you a pretty good idea of my current approach to scrapbooking.  Minus the use of the amazing Silhouette Cameo.    I suppose I should stop calling it scrapbooking though … maybe, Life Documenting?  Hmm…

By the way, if you haven’t subscribed to CLICK yet, you should totally check it out.  It is a beautiful, beautiful thing. 

LOL … had to throw this one in there of Kaden.  He came into where I was taking these images to show me he found the chocolate syrup in the fridge. 

I really hope you’ll look into CLICK, and like I said, once the article runs, I’m excited to start sharing more about my process of handling my prints, creating these fun little title squares, and products that I’m loving!

Thanks for visiting!

xoxo

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Like, riding a bike.  I know Gage and Cooper were well in their four’s before doing this, but here’s Kaden!  A few months past three, and racing along with them.

I thought that most of my time would be spent being amazed and weepy that Kaden was riding a bike, but I was more blown away by Gage and Cooper.  They decided that they would always let Kaden stay in the lead, so he could be the winner of their ride.  That probably isn’t any special to most parents, but we’ve been struggling with our boys’ competitive, and less than generous, attitudes.  I try and try to instill in them that helping someone else exceed is a very wonderful thing to do.  And that when we see their joy, WE feel joy because we’re all a part of ‘one body’.  Anyway, it hasn’t really been sticking with them.

So to see them encourage and support Kaden in this way was really encouraging to me, too.

On a side note:  I prefer shooting with a long focal when we’re on an outdoor ‘adventure’ so that I can stand back from what my boys are doing, yet capture images that pull me (you) into the action.  I also generally prefer long focal lengths, too, because of the depth of field and compression they create.  Typically, this means I’ll use the 135 2.0.  But, in challenging myself to use all of my lenses equally, I decided to bring along only my 105 2.8 Macro.   And I’m so glad I did!

This lens has the reach, the relatively wide aperture, and of course, the Macro ability!  Plus, it is a glorious lens for color and richness, and is sharp and fast!

And, it’s a pretty fabulous portrait lens, as well. 

But back to these kiddos … this was all G & C.  Making sure Tado knew that this ride was all about him. 

I asked this guy when we should take off his training wheels, and he said “Not right now.”  I said, “Oh, right… of course not right now.”  He replied, “How ’bout … when we get home.”  I have a feeling his tranistion will be about that quick!

No worries … all was well with Cooper’s above fall.    He popped right back up.  And, we’ve fixed Kaden’s helmet so it doesn’t fall  back and expose his fore-head, so no worries there, either.

Enjoy your weekend!  xoxo

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I started them all out in my bed…

Since Kaden was so cooperative of my light in his face the night before, I figured once they were asleep I’d  turn on my reading lamp to capture their sleeping-selves.

Truth be told … these images were just for practice.    I showed them to Matt and he said, “You’re going to post those on your blog and let people think they’re actually sleeping????”

No way!  Lying’s not my thing. 

I figured they’d fall asleep in my bed and then I’d document them as simply as I did Kaden the night before, before I moving them to their own spots on the floor.  They got a kick out of pretending, until, they didn’t anymore.    And, who ever thought having 3 crazy hoodlums fall asleep in such close quarters (me!) is themselves crazy…. this was not gonna happen!

So, to the floor two of them went … and then out to the couch one those went.    In the end, we all slept happily ever after. 

I hope your week has been great!

xoxo

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I came to bed really late {as I always do when Matt is gone} and opened up the Pinterest app on my phone {as I always do before I go to sleep}.  I faced my phone toward Tades to see how cute he looked, and who would have thunk it … the light looked fabulous on his sweet little face.  Even though it was well past 1am and I needed to go to sleep, I had to grab my camera.

These are each lit by the light of Pinterest, on my Samsung Galaxy S3. 

Yet another reason I’m thankful for Pinterest. 

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It all matters to me.  And I’m thankful to be able to share all of it on my blog.  I’d feel sad, really, if I limited my blog sharing to only client images.  It may look more streamlined, but again, since it all matters, it’s all here.  I try not to complicate things by over-analyzing my style or pinpointing my ‘voice’ … I do what feels right and honest straight across the board.  In my photography, in my interactions with friends, family, clients, and co-workers.

I hope you ‘hear’ that in my voice when you visit my blog.  xoxo

I just typed all that out, though it was not my intention for this post … LOL!  My intention was to just share a meal my family has totally fallen head over heals for.  I, of course, found it on Pinterest, tweaked it a touch, and man do we love it!   Similar to my view on activities that I shared yesterday, a meal that is:

1) Inexpensive

2) Healthy

3) Super easy to make

… is absolutely worthy of sharing.  So, friends, I totally suggest you make this meal very soon!  It involves a crock pot, which may be the wisest cooking technique ever invented.  Who wouldn’t love putting all the ingredients in, turning it on, enjoying the smell of food cooking all day long, and then having it ready at dinner time??  Anyway …

Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken and Rice 

{here’s the origin of this recipe so you can head over to her page and tell her how much you love her recipe.}

2 chicken breasts, still frozen (LOVE that!)
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can corn kernels, do not drain
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can chicken broth (or just water with a crushed bouillon cube)
1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
1 Tbs. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese

1 cup white Minute Rice
_________
Put the chicken in the crock pot.
Top with the tomatoes, corn, the drained and rinsed beans, ranch dressing, cumin, onion and chili powders, stir to combine

then top with the cream cheese.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours, stirring after about 6 hours to blend in the cheese.
When it is cooked, shred the chicken into large pieces and stir back in.

Pour in the 1 cup of rice and mix in, recovering the pot and letting the rice cook.  This will absorb quite a bit of the liquid.

You can serve this just in a bowl, or in tortillas or taco shells, but we love to just serve it over our favorite tortilla chips (Juanita’s).

Yum, right!?!  And easy peasy, which makes it taste even better. 

Enjoy!  xoxo

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