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!!!

But this weekend?

Other than the fact that it may require rescheduling a session (bummer), it supposed to be sort of rainy and completely void of plans.  Sounds almost perfect to me!

I need me some quiet time!

Bring it on!!!  Enjoy all!!!!

Only a few short weeks and everyone will be back in school.   It has been a wonderful summer so far, and we have oh-so-much planned for the next few weeks.  In between lots of senior shoots, we also have plans for trips to Waldameer, camping at in Elk country,  trips to stay with grandparents and cousins, and maybe some more days on the beach or in the canoe.  We want to make sure we don’t look back with any regrets.  Of course, that should always be our mantra – live life with no regrets.  Right?

Since I haven’t been blogging much, I thought I would just do a summary of our month of July.  And what a HOT month it was.  Crazy, huh?

We started the month finishing our beach vacation and then dived right into the rest of summer fun.

We had evenings of fishing at our local lake.

We had a canoe trip!

We had dinners on the (newly) roofed deck!  Probably now one of my favorite spaces ever!!!

And my flowers and veggie garden are just doing wonderfully!!!  I am loving picking beans, lettuce, broccoli and tomatoes almost every night.  In fact, Christina commented that she feels like we live on the The Little House on the Prairie, growing everything we eat.  All I know that there is nothing like just picked veggies.

We had a first swim meet!  And a little girl of mine who absolutely REFUSED to swim once she got there.  Luckily, a dear teammate promised to race with her and my first timer actually won.  Ok, well, maybe I am using the term “won” a bit loosely, but she finished and declared “Let’s do that again!”.   Tomorrow is meet #2 so we will see if the enthusiasm continues.

And of course, it isn’t summer without lots of backyard swimming…..

With family and friends!!!

And evenings by the fire!

And, of course, there are evenings at the beach!!

But sometimes just the little moments are the ones I cherish the most.  Like watching a little girl delivering mail wearing goggles and a sundress.  And there is also her big sister who is 9 going on 19 and feeling pretty cool in her shades.

Well, that is all for now.  It is getting late and I still have lots more summer to enjoy!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!  Until next time!!! XOXO!

This year was the first year we went without bringing our little Caroline.  My MIL was so kind to offer to take her.  And, to be honest, I don’t think we would ever even go if we had to take Caroline.  She hates the car, so a 12 hr car ride would be miserable.  She hates too much heat/sun, so the beach would be a nightmare.  She hates too much noise and too many people, so a house with 14 people in it would be the last place she wanted to be.  I missed her so much, but know that she was much happier at home.

It was a great week.  We had had many amazing highlights:

- Our trip down was easy peasy – no traffic, no problems, kids were great other than the occasional “when we gonna be there???”.

- Our home was gorgeous – beautiful view, lots of space, everything we could ever want and more.

- Our weather was spectacular!  It was sunny and 90 every day.  We had one evening of thunderstorms, but that was it.

- The kids were in heaven having their cousins around 24/7.   My girls and my sister’s youngest girl are 3 peas in a pod.  They rarely leave each other’s side.  My eldest also was completely enamored at my sister’s eldest who is 17 and had her friend with her.   Christina spent a good chunk of time just ogling over her teenage cousin and friend.

- My kids were having so much fun, in fact, that they literally were starting to cry midweek with the thought that we only had a few more days.

- I thoroughly enjoyed my morning runs on the beach and, afterward, relaxing coffee on the deck!

- And lastly, we were so excited that my friend Denise also came to hang with us for a couple days.   Denise and I have been friends literally forever as our moms were friends in high school.   Her sister now lives nearby so she and her sister and her sister’s family came by to enjoy the beach.  I even got in a [very] mini beach photo session for her sister’s little one!  I will share those adorable photos later!!!

But no vacation is complete without a few lowlights:

- On day 3 we walked out to the beach to find it covered with jelly fish.    Depending on the currents, the water temp and a whole host of other factors, there are days where there are so many jelly fish that you literally can’t swim without being stung.    We had 2 days of jelly fish, where the adults just sat by the water and the kids just hung back at the house pool.  But, our thunderstorm midweek did its magic and the fish were completely gone on day 5.  Phew!

- We also had a few days in the beginning where the kids’ overwhelming excitement and subsequent lack of sleep came to a head and we had meltdown after meltdown with the little ones.  Luckily, a few nights of roping them into their beds much earlier than usual did the trick and everyone was back to normal soon.

- And I probably would have preferred solid bedroom doors rather than louvered “southern style” doors that literally had no soundproofing whatsoever.   A little inconvenience as the teens were up late and the grandparents were up very early, so there was only about a 6 hr window when the house was actually quiet.  But that was definitely just a minor annoyance.

- Oh, and there was the 12 hr ride home that turned into a 14 hr ride home when we encountered a major accident in Virginia and ended up taking backroads to avoid the almost standstill, miles long, traffic jam (UGH!).  And then coming home to find my garden and ALL my flowers completely torn up and [almost] destroyed by coons!  GRRRRR!!!!

But the good definitely outweighed the bad!  And I can’t wait to go back!

Our view as we had our morning coffee on the deck!

Our evening sunset view!

Our amazing beach!

Fun times with family including a rare photo when I am actually on the other side of the camera!

My dad – unable to participate in much of the fun, but just happy to relax and enjoy the chaos around him.

The Hilton Head wildlife!

Jellyfish:

Dolphins!!!

Chameleons:

And the Sea Pines deer!

I was also able to rope my own family into coming to the beach for a quick evening photo session. And when I say “rope” I mean DRAG. They were ridiculously uncooperative, including the husband, but I persevered and won and the photos are just beautiful. I am planning a separate blog post with those pictures, but I will leave you with one sneak peek!

That light!   Those colors! *swoon*.

It was a wonderful week, it has been an exhausting few days trying to recover and get back into the swing of things.  But it was all worth it!!  Hope to do it again!!!!

And more photos from my beach session[s] coming soon!!!!

xoxo!

EEK!!!! I forgot to add one of my favorite photos of the week – I found this one afternoon and just adored the sweetness and honesty. Why can’t we adults be more like kids?

I will share many more details.  Of course, that is after I go through and edit the 697 photos from this past week (and this is less the 150+ I already deleted!).

For now,  I will leave you with a couple shots from my *early* ride home.   The lowcountry is such a gorgeous place and I hope to be back next year!!!!!!

I just have to take a minute to say “Happy Father’s Day!” to all those wonderful Daddy’s out there. Enjoy your kiddos, enjoy your day!!!!

More blogging this week!!!!