This last month has been just crazy.  And not crazy in a good way.  Crazy in a very scary way.   Crazy in a way that grounds you and gives you a serious wake up call as to what is really important in this life.

My family has been struggling with the fear and stress of a sick family member, my dad .  For the last four weeks, we have been distraught, terrified, hopeful, annoyed, angry, elated, exhausted and every other emotion in between.  It has definitely been one of the hardest things my family has ever gone through.  And it isn’t over.  Although, for now, we are very hopeful.

We had yet another scare last Friday which resulted in an emergency trip back to the hospital.  And I spent another night away with my mom and away from my own family.  When I returned Saturday afternoon, I was tired but really in need of some serious family time.  I felt like lying on the couch for the day, but I know my husband had wanted to take the girls for walk in the woods to see a huge beaver dam.  So I suggested, in spite of my lack of motivation, that maybe that walk would do us good.

We headed out.  It was cool and cloudy.  And I do have one huge disclaimer……we were dressed for comfort and NOT at all for a photo shoot.  In fact, I don’t think my girls could have chosen a more bizarre set of clothing if they had actually tried.  LOL!

But did that matter.  No.

After a bit of hike through the woods, we found a clearing filled with flowers.  It was just gorgeous!

OK.  Maybe it is technically a field of “weeds”.  But I thought it was quite beautiful and will be a wonderful setting for a mini shoot!   (Must keep in mind!!0

And we eventually made our way to the home of the dam.  Yup, a huge swamp in the middle of a field.   You may not find it very beautiful.  But actually, it is quite interesting…

My husband played his role as teacher showing the girls all the signs in the woods of the deer and the beavers and they hung on every word.  These two are definitely two “Daddy’s girls”.

And when they say busy as a beaver, holy cow are they right!  Those critters must never stop!  My girls were amazed at the beaver’s home and swore there was a little chimney on top.  They had hoped for a glimpse at the owner, but no luck.

I was just amazed at the amount of damage those suckers do!

And damn, what a serious dam they build!!!

After trekking through the mud, we headed through some apple trees where I found a few blossoms (and the husband found a great place for his tree stand).

And we eventually made our way home.

And even though I originally had really no desire to do anything that day but sit on the couch, our little walk in the woods ended up being the exact thing I needed most.  We returned rejuvenated, re-energized and just plain ole happy to be together.

And we don’t need much more than that.  Do we?

Next visit Laura!!

I know.  I know. I know.  That is SUCH a cliche.  But it is a cliche because it is so true!

When my second daughter, who is severely handicapped, was born, we faced a few years of off and on hospital stays and many many scares.  But each time we weathered through a scare, or were finally released home from the hospital, we would feel such incredible ELATION.  We were on a huge high.  We were so much happier after the scare than we were before the scare, when we had nothing to worry about.

We were thrilled to just enjoy an evening home with everyone.  We were over the top excited to finally sit down again, as a family, for a nice dinner.  We appreciated every single otherwise mundane aspect of our life.

And we felt a bit (a LOT) of irritation when we would hear someone complain about things like the weather, or being bored, or just other “woe is me” stuff.

My lengthy to-do lists of the last month are starting to get dusty as I have barely even looked at them.  All I have been able to do is make sure laundry is done, food is in the pantry and bills are paid on time.

These last few weeks, I have barely even touched my camera.  But there were just a couple evenings that I forced myself to grab it.  My photos from those days may not be well planned, stylized, or necessarily portfolio-worthy.  But they are glimpses into some of the “mundane’ beauty found in our every day.  The beauty in the things we already have right inside our homes and right outside our door.  The beauty we too often ignore when things are going great, because we are too busy complaining and focusing on what we think we should have or should be doing.

And we all know, that focusing on what you don’t have is pretty much the key to unhappiness.

So here’s to some crazy kids and some signs of spring!  And a few quotes to inspire us all.

“Rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine.”

Mario Fernandez

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

Albert Einstein

“Dance as though no one is watching you,
Love as though you have never been hurt before,
Sing as though no one can hear you,
Live as though heaven is on earth.”

Souza

“Realize that true happiness lies within you.”

Lucian

“Start living now. Stop saving the good china for that special occasion.  Stop withholding your love until that special person materializes. Every day you are alive is a special occasion. Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God.”

Mary Manin Morrissey

Until next time!!! XOXO!

This is probably my absolute favorite time of year.  When I get all giddy and excited to see just one teeny, tiny piece of green poking out of our drab, dead world.

But I get REALLY excited, when I see a whole bed of spring flowers!!!  And that was exactly what happened this very warm and spring-like day when I went for a walk in the woods with my girls.

And, much to the chagrin of my little munchkins, it become a perfect day for mini photo shoot.  And I found myself, flat on my stomach, camera in hand, loving every second!

I may be covered in mud, but it is days like this that makes the blah days of February just a very distant memory.

Welcome dear spring!!!!  I missed you so!!!

Until next time!! XOXO!!!

I was going to focus on one “simple thing” for my February post, but then I realized that for me, February is all about simple things.

There isn’t usually much going on in February.  My husband is crazy busy with his coaching.  My kids are finishing up with their swim team activities.  There are many lazy evenings doing not much of anything except hanging by the wood stove.  And spring is still quite a few weeks away.  I often get a bit antsy during this time of year, looking forward to warmer weather, being outside more, VACATIONS!

But when I take the time to look within my little world, I can see how many wonderfully simple things I have.  And if you add up all those simple things you end with one pretty amazing bunch of STUFF.

There are cold, snowy weekends outdoors!

And afternoons baking [amazing] chocolatey peanut buttery cupcakes!

And even MORE lazy days by the wood stove!

And some days that we all are a bit stir crazy!

There are FREE days at the zoo!

And even an orangutan or two!

But sometimes just a simple and quiet snowy morning at the lake can feed your soul a bit..

Yup, these simple things can be pretty amazing things.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!!  Now I invite you to visit Nikki and view her February post!

Until next time!  XOXO!!!

don’t happen when you have a week of complete lack of motivation!

Why is it that I feel so “blah” in early February?   I guess it is probably a mish-mash of reasons – the holidays are done, spring is still fairly far away, my husband is very busy with coaching, not around a lot, and has a good month left of crazy time.  And here in mom-land, nothing exciting really going on.  And, at least for me, when I have less urgent items, I tend to do…nothing!  HA!  Well, other than daily mom stuff, mindless TV, catching up on my reading, and just feeling sort of slug-like.  HA!

Or maybe I just need to be jumpstarting my winters by scheduling a yearly tropical vacation this time of year.  Yeah baby!

What I do know is that I have a bunch of crazy munchkins at home and even in the dullest of cold February evenings, they still can keep me very amused!  Yes, this was HER idea for a photo opp!

MWAH!

Happy Friday!!!!

Until next time!  XOXO!

Today was a swim meet day, not just ANY swim meet day, but a busy and crazy invitational swim meet day.  We were up VERY early.  We had a [just a] few tears.  We had one little munchkin who was NOT happy about jumping in a cold pool at 7:30 in the morning  (can’t blame her…).  And, said munchkin, took about 20 minutes into the 15 minute warm-up before she finally got in…..but soon enough everyone was wide awake and ready to go!

I think it was a very good day.  We had a few good swims, nothing record breaking.  But in my book, as long as I have two little girls at the pool and one [difficult] munchkin who actually got IN the pool without [too many] objections or tears, I call that a VERY successful Saturday!

With a dad who is a high school swim coach, swimming is a pretty big deal around these parts.  The girls are young, and still don’t have much of a competitive spirit, but they are good sports and I think they are becoming quite the little sports-women!!!!

A few peeks into our morning!  We start it off with a coach who is just happy that his [most difficult] swimming munchkin actually got wet during warm-ups!

Until next time!! XOXO!!!!!

Way back when – in the year 2008 – I spent my days hanging out with this little one while my husband and other two kiddos were at school.

I miss those days.

Recently, I have been trying to get caught up in my photo books and am starting with 2008.  And I have spent a lot of time going through the 8000+ (NOT kidding) photos I took that year.  I had just purchased my first dSLR.   About 2000 of those 8000 pics were of leaves and flowers and water drops.  And the other 6000+ were of my three little munchkins.  Many were overly processed in Photoshop with heavy vignettes, oversaturations and strange “creative” effects.

The composition may be lacking.  The direct flash may be unflattering.  The processing may be overkill.  But the moment is there.  And it is a moment and a time I never want to forget.

Things are a bit different now.  I take less snapshots and more “portraits”.  Which is not necessarily a good thing.  As I progress in my photographic journey, I am much more critical of myself and have a hard time snapping moments just because they are moments.  I find myself hesitating when the background is cluttered or when the light is unflattering or when my kids are wearing stained, unmatching clothing and haven’t brushed their hair  in a few, um, days.

But as I am going through my thousands of photos from years ago I am reminded of why I started loving photography in the first place!  And I am realizing that my quest for continually improving my work has actually started taking me away from what is really important.  I love photography because I love capturing moments – whether they are “perfect” moments or [very] imperfectly perfect moments.  I don’t want to lose a single one of those moments.

So here’s to more snapshots and more imperfections and lots more memories!!!!!  Happy Friday!

Until next time!!! XOXO!!!

And it is the stuff that I will miss so much…

But I thought wrong!

I had few last minute sessions, a bunch of orders to fill and deliver, an online “finding the light” photography course to finish and then, of course, there is the tree cutting and decorating, cookie making, gift planning/buying craziness thrown in. Phew!!  But it is all good and now there is some serious downtime in my very near future that I am definitely looking forward to!

I had a WONDERFUL year.  I had so many amazing new clients and I felt so honored to work with each and every one of them.  I learned so much over the past year which again affirms my belief that “the more you know, the more you realize how little you know”.  I have so much more I want to learn and improve on next year!!!  I have so many ideas and and new projects floating around in my head – I just hope I can get the time and motivation to work on them all.

Last year, I was approached by the Pennsylvania Adoption Exchange about a program they were going to implement in 2011.  They wanted to try to improve their website that showcases all the kids awaiting adoption.  They realized that the photos they had of many of the kids were, shall we say…unflattering.  They were often grainy, blurry snapshots that didn’t showcase the personality and beauty that is found in every child.  So they were asking professional photographers throughout the area if they would be willing to donate their time to take some photos of waiting children.

My first thought, being the bleeding heart I am, is that “how can I possibly do this?”  I will want to take each and every kiddo home with me!!

But then I thought “how can I NOT do this”.  Honestly, it is the very least I can do.

On a very cold, November day, I met a sweet 16 year old girl for her session.  Since we only needed one good photo for the site, and since it was COLD and spitting snow, I tried to get her session done as quickly as possible.

After I left our quick session, I just kept thinking about this girl.  She was quiet and sweet and it just broke my heart.  What she wants this holiday season has nothing to do with video games, cell phones, cars, clothes or any of the other “things” a typical 16 year old is wishing for.  What she wants is a family.  A family to eat dinner with, talk with, and just be with.

And then I thought about my own kids and how incredible lucky they are.

I thought about our Thanksgiving with piles of food and fun with a house full of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

I thought about our annual Christmas tree cutting expedition which also includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins.

I thought about our crazy Christmas Day activities which includes gifts under the tree, a 1 hr trip to one set of grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins and then a 1 hr trip back to see more grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins.

I thought how incredibly lucky my kids are that they have a PLETHORA of family who throw so much love onto our girls that they can’t even comprehend that there are some kids out there who don’t even have a family.

This year, my kids actually had a very short list for Santa.  My Kallie asked for pjs, undies and a bookmark.   My Christina asked for an ipod and a few small items.  They are excited about Christmas – like any kid would be!

But I truly believe they are much more excited for all the FUN than for all the gifts. I definitely know that all the things that they love and things they will remember for many years to come have nothing to do with “things” at all.  They will remember moments, they will remember trips, they will remember parties and they will remember family.

Merry Christmas!!!

Today, instead of starting laundry, or making beds, or getting on my computer to start working and to see what is going on in the virtual world……I got outside – in the REAL world.  Yep, a novel idea, and a crazy thing to do when your to-do list is a mile long.

But when the sun is peeking through the fall foliage, and the valleys are filled with sun-drenched mist, you need to seize the day!!!!

And then I found something completely unexpected – a sea of flowers.  Definitely NOT what I thought I would find on a LATE fall morning!

Have a good one!!!