new years resolutions...

I am not one to make New Years resolutions. I don't necessarily like the idea of making promises to myself that I know I will eventually break. However, this year,  I have a resolution and I hope to keep it going for as long as I possibly can. My resolution is to do a 365-photo project which will get me taking pictures daily and blogging more! Creatively, I am falling into a rut. I feel the creative juices flowing, but am not really releasing that energy as much as I would like. I know the only way to become a better photographer, writer, blogger, artist, whatever, is to get to it! So I shall!! Starting tomorrow, I resolve to be a more creative me and express it daily, no matter what!

Happy New Year to all. May this year be the year you become the person you have always wanted to be! xo

Happy Fall

Yikes! I have neglected the blog far too long now...  Last post we were languishing in the end of summer and now we are in the midst of fall! 

sweet august...

I love August. It is most definitely one of my favorite months of the year. I love the cool breezes, warm ocean and that faint smell of fall in the air. Our August has been beautiful, but not more so than the past few days. Maybe it is because we are all clinging a little tighter to our together time as we are all aware that it ends as soon as that big, yellow bus pulls up the street. I will miss the unproductive days, the late breakfasts, lunch by the pool, the smell of their sunscreen, their tan lines, their sun bleached hair and sun-kissed faces. I will miss the flip-flops, the sundresses and the bathing suits. The silly car games, the jokes, the summer songs they love. I will miss THEM as they load their backpacks and get on the bus. Longer days ahead filled with school, homework, activities and all the routines in-between.  There are still a few days of August left, so for now we will be rushing to fit in that last bit of sun, ice cream, freedom and time together.

summer almost over

We are so sad summer is coming to a close in less than two weeks. Now we are in a mad rush to squeeze in every last bit of summer we can!

Photo Op

The series of pictures I took for this photo op did not pan out as I expected. For weeks I had visions in my head of how I wanted these pictures to come out. The idea in my head did not translate well, so we improvised with other angles and lighting. I was pleasantly suprised with this shot, especially after cropping in. Just goes to show, we should always just keep experimenting with angles. 

Had I stopped at what I thought would be a good shot, I would not have gotten this shot. 

Miss You

"In some motel room there'll be a radio playing,

And you'll hear me sing this song.

Well, if you do you'll know I'm thinking of you and all the miles in between.

And I'm just calling one last time, not to change your mind,

but to say I miss you..." -Bruce Springsteen

For me, the best and worst part of summer all occur all in one week. The best part is when my brother and sister-in-law arrive from Florida for their week-long stay. The worst part is when they leave.

My brother and I have not lived in the same state for nearly 18 years, but saying goodbye never gets easier. The week usually flies by and I am no more prepared for it to end than I was the last time. I will look forward to the next visit, but for now I am just writing to say, I miss you....

Summer Days...

Too busy enjoying the summer to update the blog lately! Will try to post soon!

i heart faces- "Over My Head"

Wow, two posts in one day! This is my entry for this week's "i heart faces" challenge, "over my head". For lack of creativity I chose this picture of my two boys with their heads over each others. Sometimes I do believe they share they same head/brain, so why not?

Go out of your head looking at awesome pictures at i heart faces!

My Girl

Summer Reading

I have been an avid reader all of my life. I can remember sitting in front of my Dr. Seuss bookcase, reading the day away as a a little girl. I loved escaping into a world where people ate green eggs and ham. I read every Disney fairy tale over and over again until I started wondering where I in the world I put that pesky glass slipper! As I got older I would stay up past my bedtime just finishing up those last few chapters of Sweet Valley High or Babysitters Club. It was my escape, I could pretend my friends and I were in the middle of a babysitting caper or I was one of the uber-popular Wakefield twins of Sweet Valley High.


Then the unthinkable happened. The summer before eighth grade my mother went to the library and brought me home a tall stack of books that I did not want to read. They were the suggested reading lists by the school and library. How boring, I thought! I did not want any school suggested reading to interrupt my summer of non-academia reading. My mother insisted, no, she enforced it. I did not have a choice. I had to read these horrible books. I took the stack of books into my room and looked at the aged covers with titles I had never heard of. All of the covers had pictures or photographs that seemed to have been written in another time. Things I should be forced to read at school, not at home. Certainly, nothing I could or would relate to. Or so I thought. My mother turned on the timer (yep, she timed my reading hour) and I had no choice but to throw myself into the 1930's deep south in "Roll of Thunder, Hear Me Cry". When the timer buzzed, letting me know my reading hour was over I continued to read on and on and on. I read the whole book that day. I then eagerly opened up the next book, "I Am the Cheese" and gobbled that book up almost as quickly as the first. And then onto "Summer of My German Soldier". There were more books; books I don't recall the titles to any longer. I read them all and went to the library looking for more suggestions. My whole world opened up wide. There were so many other perspectives, lifestyles, struggles, time periods, etc. I do believe that was the summer I truly became a reader. 


Every summer I pick up a childrens classic or two and read them aloud to my children. We have read "James and the Giant Peach", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "Matilda", "Alice in Wonderland" and so many more. We are now tackling the first book in the "Harry Potter" series. It's fun introducing these classics and rediscovering old favorites. 


The other day my kids and I went to the library and signed up for the Summer Reading Challenge. We had summer reading lists in hand and borrowed a few books from each list. I set the timer  and they read away. My oldest reads beyond the timers buzzer now.


Happy Reading!

Vacation...

"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in."  ~Robert Orben

Ten full days of one-on-one (or in our family, one-on-three) time with Daddy. It has been pure bliss for both Daddy and kids. Sad to see it end so quickly, as all good things must come to an end.