family Archives - Page 54 of 87

Photography Workshop

A couple years ago, I stumbled across Ashley Ann’s blog. They were in the process of adopting their youngest daughter from China. I began reading post after post and loved reading what she had to say. Her love for the Lord and her family is very evident in what she writes. Not to mention, she is wonderfully talented with all things crafty and amazing with a camera! I fell in love with her style of photography–capturing moments in her family’s life that most people tend to overlook. The chubby baby hands holding a bottle, the dirty feet running through the mud, the napping toddler. She has a beautiful way of telling stories with her photography. All this to say that since I had said that “I never want to learn how to use a DSLR,” I decided to take her SnapShop Workshop to learn how to better capture these precious moments with my phone.

Her course gave me much to consider about composing shots and storytelling. I feel like I’m more aware of what I want to capture before I just start snapping pictures. She is a wonderful teacher and very encouraging. And no, she did not ask anyone to blog a review. I just wanted to give her some credit.

Oh yeah, SPOILER ALERT:::We ended up purchasing a DSLR yesterday anyway. Don and I have a lot to learn now.

Anyway, on with the pictures. Instead of posting all the pictures on Instagram or Facebook, I thought I’d share them here. So get ready for tons of pictures…taken over the past few weeks.

Kingston’s little fingers holding his spoon

We had some fun playing with the sunlight

And then she decided we were done. But that tear–too precious

It’s a boy!! So happy for the Harrelsons!

Sometimes I force myself to be in a few pictures with the kids

After this miserable winter, we’re excited for the spring weather!

However, the sun was a bit hard to work with that day (as far as photography goes)

Playing hide and seek in the trees

We hadn’t stepped foot inside Walmart for months. Needless to say, they were happy

Never a shortage of adorableness

cute baby girl sitting on front porch swing

“Mommy, do you think I could touch the moon with this stick?”-Liam

Such a boy–letting it crawl in his armpits and stuff

Tuesday was an amazing cloud day

Spring weather= seeing the rolls on her thighs after a long winter

I may be addicted to taking pictures of her

And to spare you of any more randomness crammed into one blog post, I’ll stop here.

If you’ve made it this far, I’ll recommend Ashley one more time! Check out her blog here and her SnapShop Workshops here!

March 14, 2014

Blog, Family, kids

I never want to forget

“Enjoy them while they’re young because they grow up so fast.” I hear it all the time. If I take my baby out in public, the comment I hear again and again is that “kids grow up so quickly.” Sometimes I smile, nod in agreement, and don’t say anything else. And then there’s the other times, that (just for kicks) I smile and let them know that I’ve gotten a taste of that with my other 3 children. The look on their face when I tell them I have 4 kids who are 5 years old and younger is priceless. It’s my form of entertainment.

But they are right. It does go so fast. And Don and I always like to talk about the things they do now or that they used to do that we hope we never forget. So I thought I’d make a list. Some people may find this boring to read. So I’ll just spare you now. This is a list for my memory.

I never want to forget…how Liam wakes me up in the morning with a “good morning mommy!” and a kiss, hug, and a (very, very quick) foot, leg, and back massage.

I never want to forget…how my 5 year old, almost 4 year old, and 2 year old all have their blankies that they HAVE to have when they go to bed.

I never want to forget…how Kingston calls his blankie his “cover.”

I never want to forget…that Liam cried when watching “Wizard of Oz” because the Wizard started to fly away in the hot air balloon, leaving Dorothy with no way to get home. He was heartbroken.

I never want to forget…how Kai wants to kiss everyone’s noses. Before bed, he has to kiss your lips and then kiss your nose.

I never want to forget…that Kai has to have his “piggy” when he goes to bed.

I never want to forget…that Liam wants to be an artist when he grows up. He is drawing and coloring every single day.

I never want to forget…that Evangeline is a momma’s girl. If I’m around, she wants me.

I never want to forget…that Kai has a dance move for every situation.

I never want to forget…that Kingston loves for us to read to him.

I could probably add so much more to this list but I’m trying not to overdo it right now. However, I do plan on keeping track of the little details to add to this list in the future.

And because I always feel the need to attach pictures anytime I post…here are a couple of adorable pictures of my baby girl.

March 4, 2014