i Heart faces: From a Distance

The challenge this week from i Heart faces is "From a Distance." I love the picture of these 2 sisters, how when left to their own devices, just sat and laughed. Fun, goofy, little girls. If ever there is a time to stand at a distance, this is it. When little girls are just being themselves, completely oblivious to the camera.

Go check out the other entries...

i heart faces: Yellow

Little L rocking her yellow shirt while having some cake at her "colors" party. Actually, this was our pretend party because I missed the real one. So we put on the outfit, made a little cake, and reinacted the whole thing. Luckily L didn't seem to mind.

Check out some other great entries...

Dollhouse

Do you remember when you were a kid and everything was so exciting and new and fascinating? I wish I was aware of the beauty of that when I was a kid. I wish I could have looked into the window of a dollhouse like this and recognized how fleeting my wonder was so I could grab tight to that moment and savor it's beauty. But I didn't do that and so instead I get to enjoy moments like this....

i Heart faces: March Face

This week for i Heart faces it's favorite March face... so here's Lucy from her 2nd birthday party (more on the previous post).

Voting starts Tuesday (I think). I'm #148.

Check out more at...

Happy 2nd Birthday Lucy

I met this family about 6 years ago when I was in this little girl's mom's Bible class at school. I started babysitting the cat when they were out of town. Then her mom got pregnant with her big sister. I was the first babysitter (and, of course, the favorite). :) I adore these girls with all my heart and have loved getting to see them grow. They also happen to be my first real photo subjects, the one's who taught me that I did, in fact, know how to take pictures.

The proud sister who was mostly focused on getting her hands on another cupcake.

Finding my voice

Lately it feels as though I've lost my voice, as though I've forgotten how to put words to what goes on in my head. My whole life I've been a words person. I love stories! I love to read them, I love to write them, I love to tell them. I even took a class in college all about telling stories. It's evident if you look over the history of this blog. I used to write stories and tell of adventures. But lately I can hardly think of a caption to put with my pictures.

I miss my days of hanging out with kids, kids who love to talk. I never ended a day without a hilarious story or at least something worth talking about. Now I get home from work and want nothing more than to sleep and recover from the night. I want my old life back. I want to have fun again. I want to have something to say again.

So from now on, there are going to be words with these pictures. I'm going to make an effort to find myself again, to remember the fun person I used to be. To find something other than stress and word to fill my time with... and right now this is the place for that. So I hope you enjoy reading from now on.

i Heart faces: People's Choice

It's the people's choice awards at i Heart faces this week.

Head over to i Heart faces and vote (I'm #366)

Sweet Kisses

Meet the big sister and brother. They love their little sister.

I think one of my favorite parts of being part of Karis' birth was getting to see her big brother and sister with her. They adore her... especially G. E is perhaps a little jealous of how much of mommy's time the new baby takes. He's no longer the baby after all, and that's a hard adjustment. This was evident by the sweet kiss that was followed by a bop on the head.

P.S. This family has a fantastic story, but we'll save that for another day (and another picture).

2 little girls and a big brick wall...

Here are a few more shots of sweet B and E from our fun photoshoot we did the other day. I have had so much fun working on these photos!

Blue eyes and big cheeks

Yesterday I got to spend the afternoon with these 2 sweet girls and their mama. We had a fun time wandering around what we thought to be an old farm. It wasn't quite what we'd planned, but we still found all sorts of fun, unexpected places to explore.

Before and After

I've been going through some old pictures of these sweet girls and catching up on my editing and thought it would be fun to do some before and afters....

A door that was green.

Yesterday I went on my last California photo adventure for a while. I don't know that I'll find doors like this in Chicago. And I certainly won't find families as great as this one. So today I enjoyed my final moments with a dear friend and her sweet kiddos (-1 who was at school).

There's this great door. It's green. Enough said.

Getting Miss Z to stand still in front of it was a battle. Really, getting her to stand still anywhere was a battle. The goats were far too alluring to keep this girl in one place.

So we wandered on the paths. Chased some chickens. Picked daisies and put them in our hair. And enjoyed the beautiful sunny day (which managed to be sunny for exactly the amount of time we were there... the rest of the day it was raining).

I'm going to miss these sweet faces and the snuggly arms and the laughs and the kisses. And I'm going to miss their sweet mama too and our afternoons chatting and the second family that they are to me.

PW Actions... Old West

Today my camera went on a field trip to work with my mom... oops! So some old pictures will have to suffice. The theme today is Old West, a fantastic action by Pioneer Woman. There's something about its' softness that is so well suited for pictures of these kids.

That's all I have to say for today, so enjoy these sweet faces (and toes)...

Do Swim and Gym things...

A couple weeks ago Marilyn asked me to create a photo wall for her office of pictures of the camp kids. I already have a plethora of pictures of these kids as they are fantastic subjects, but I needed a few more of them doing "swim and gym things." So this is what they gave me...

I love that I get paid to hang out with these wild monkeys. They make the days fun and full of adventure, except when you have 8 of them in a van and they all start using their "outside voices." Then I just want to go home.

The First

When I was a child I loved taking pictures, only I had yet to master the art of a steady hand and frequently cut the heads off my subjects. Today, I am proud to say that I can frame a picture quite well.

I was recently challenged by someone to start a photo blog as a way of improving my photography skills. Eventually I will work my way up to daily photos, but for now, it'll be a little less often.

So welcome, to a place where photos will be shared. Some willl be good. Some will not. You thoughts are always welcome as I embark on this journey of learning, experimenting, and creating.

Today's pictures are of Isella and some experimentation with Photoshop CS4 (as I only have 7 days left of my free trial so I have to make the best of it).