the real thing.

I've got some new projects in the works this month.  One of them will be launching on Thursday and you won't want to miss it...especially if you're a mom with a business (hint:  I'm in cahoots with some other women).

The other project is me.  After seeing my friend, Kelly Moore, do an stunning self portrait session I decided that there just aren't enough pictures in the world of me for my kids.  There aren't pictures of the every day, mundane things that I do with them...the things that really mean something...the things that if they didn't happen or if I wasn't here they'd be missed the most.  A lot of it is just me being a mom, me just being around, me just being here.  Doing the same ol' ol'.

Really, though, life is made up of the just being there for someone...through the ins and the outs, the ups and the downs.  So I want my kids to see that I've been there in the little ways...that we've had fun together, that I've done the being there things.  I also just want them always be able to see me in case for some reason they don't.  I don't want to be just this faceless person on the other side of the camera that came out from behind it for the occassional shot.

So...this month is about self portraits of me doing what I do every day.  I won't always look pretty or cute or whatever.  But it will be me doing what I do to just to get through the day.

So tonight I made cookies for the kids and we read.  We actually finished The Giver tonight and I have to admit I got a little choked up.  We had big conversations about the ending and I loved sitting around talking about it.  I love that when we read my kids end up just all over the place around me...especially when we read on a Sunday after church.

Because we have a 40 minute drive to church these days the kids always bring the book we've been reading so that I can read it in the car.  When we get home from church I never do get out of my dress because we walk in the door and they are already saying, "Don't stop Mom!  Keep reading!  We have to know what's going to happen!"  So I sit on the couch and read and read.  The kids lay around me and eventually we finish and then we talk about it the rest of the night.

Tomorrow the kids will each probably come up to me at some point in the day and talk to me about Jonas and baby Gabe and do I really think that the book ended....(I won't say HOW it ended for those of you who are going to read it...and you totally should!).  But they will talk about it tomorrow...and I love the talking.  I love that they think and wonder about the characters in the books we read.  I love that they're concerned and that they want the people we've come to love to feel the things that they feel.

It's beautiful.  I loved sitting around the table eating cookies and just being together. 

So...here's me today...still in my Sunday dress...reading and making cookies...feeling like I just had a perfect episode of "Leave it to Beaver"- with- June- Cleaver- Sunday -afternoon.

perfect. LIFE.

the many faces of Gracie.

I found these images of Gracie enjoying the last of a bowl of vanilla yogurt and fresh strawberries (one of my fave healthy treats) and just had to post her antics.

Gracie is so much fun. She loves to laugh, pretend, hug, play, run, ride her bike, bake cookies, get out more than one game at a time, cuddle, be read to, cuddle up with the softest blanket she gave me, sing any Faith Hill or Carrie Underwood song at the top of her lungs complete with deep emotion and performance, say the sweetest things, draw pictures of her and I together, and work it for the camera.

Gracie is silly, she totally can take and give a joke (even though she's only four), she loves to pray and she totally gets that Jesus loves her and everyone else in the world,  and she can be pretty patient.
She loves to have fun and and has what seems like endless energy.  She feels close to people and misses them deeply when they are away. 

I love her...deeply.

She's wonderful.

love. LIFE.

the old lady.

I got to be at Keri and Keith's wedding two years ago and they still like to kiss just as much as they ever did.  I LOVE hanging out with Keri and Keith.  They are so relaxed about each other, so kind to each other, and just have a really wonderful time together.

I was so excited when they got in touch with me about doing a little shoot with them when I came into town a couple of weeks ago.  They told me that they had a new addition to their family...the old lady. 

The Old Lady is a 1963 BMW motorcycle.  It's got a great vintage look and it's just huge...and HEAVY.  They wanted to make sure to capture the fun they are having with this awesome new ride.  I was envious of Keri getting to ride on the back of it and near the end of the shoot I got the chance to grab a couple of rides on the back with the wind whipping through my hair.  (Side note:  I've been completely against my husband getting a motorcycle.  I keep telling him his not allowed to leave me while we've got 4 kids to take care of...so that, of course, means we are not getting a motorcycle.  I told Keri and Keith after getting the chance to ride The Old Lady my husband would probably be calling them up to say thank you! It was super stinkin' fun!)

As you can see The Old Lady has made herself right at home with Keri and Keith.  (I love the Audrey Hepburn look of Keri's scarf around her head...)  We had so much fun trying to get the perfect shot of them in the street  We even went to a really cool cemetary.  We went back to the place that we visited the day that Keri and Keith got married for old times sake.  The yellow building looks like a place you may stop fo a little bite of something while you're motoring around Italy so it fit perfectly. 

I love the shot of them riding on the motorsycle in black and white near the end!  I think it looks like they are riding through France or something.

Thanks, Keri and Keith for letting me meet The Old Lady...

fun. LIFE.

206 pieces of candy.

I'm a little behind on the fun stuff we've been doing here in South Carolina...I can't wait to blog about so much once I get back from Love Affair!

So...we did actually go out trick-or-treating.  I know that my kids thought is was up for debate whether, if ever, we would really go pound the pavement and get a boatload of candy.  We did...206 pieces of candy for each person to be exact.

Every year my kids decide what they want to be and then put together their costumes with stuff around the house.  I think it's really fun to see what they come up with.  This year Emmett decided to be a mad scientist and his costume was hilarious.  He made his hair pretty wild with gel and made his face look like an experiment had blown up in his face.  My very favorite part of his costume has to be the swimming goggles, though.  They totally make the costume!

For the first time...I think, in their entire lives, Miriam and Emma wore the same thing.  I was totally surprised when they said they both wanted to be witches.  Even though they are both witches, it's hard to see, but their costumes are different from each other.  This was also the first year we went out and found costumes at the store for the two of them...not sure we'll be doing that again next year.  Their creative take on costumes from things around the house are way too fun.

Gracie was a princess and she talked Miriam into letting her use the princess costume she got for Christmas.  Gracie made it extra fancy with her jeans that have pink flowers on them, a long sleeved pink shirt, her pink tennis shoes, and a gorgeous crown, necklace, and ring. 

The second the girls arrived home from school they put their costumes on.  By the time Emmett stepped off the bus 20 minutes later they were ready to go around the neighborhood yelling trick-or-treat.  The wait just about killed them, thankfully they made it through the torturous experience.

After going through almost 2/3 of the neighborhood the girls decided to call it quits.  I think the newest thing about this year was that Emmett went trick-or-treating with his friends.  Is he really that old?  Am I really ready for this?  We missed him but I was so glad to have him back with us at the end of the night when all of the kids sat around counting their candy and then dividing it into organized piles of candy by varieties, and then finding new ways to divide their spoils. 

It's amazing that such a simple night can be a favorite of the year.  Just dress up, go from house to house, get candy, come home count it and divide it, and then collapse from exhaustion on the couch.  There's not much more a kid can ask for when they dream of the perfect night.

I'm glad I got to be here for it.

dream. LIFE.

**and yes, that blue color is one of the walls of my new studio...

family time.

I have been looking forward to having a chance to hang out with Saylor and her family for quite a while.  Our schedules finally matched up just before I left Utah and I'm so glad.

The relationship between Saylor and her dad, Nate, is fun, encouraging, and silly.  They love to laugh together and he loves to push her to try just a little harder.  Saylor has had a few setbacks with being able to walk since her last set of casts.  She decided to try and walk while I was there with out any help and her dad encouraged her through every step on the back porch until she made it to him on the hammock.

Saylor really doesn't let anything stop her.  She jumped like a monkey on the trampoline and then raced along the ramp (given to her as a gift from a cement company) like she was in the Indy 500, and then climbed the stairs faster than I can walk them.  She is brave in the face of things most adults would definitely be woosie over and has a bit of mischief in her eyes.

It's been such a gift to get to be with Saylor and Audrey.  I've seen some of the sacrifices, patience, and love that goes into their sweet relationship.  Now, to see how all of that translates over with Saylor's dad and her brother (Stockton) and sister  (Storie) was such a gift.  

Saylor has been through a lot...and none of it would have been possible without her sweet family.

Read more about them here.

family. LOVE.