i heart faces ~ smiles

This week's theme at i heart faces is 'smiles.' I took this one of 7 year old Grace about 5 weeks ago, when I was trying a new location. My daughter gets the giggles often when I'm taking her picture, and I adore this one.

{500}

My 500th post. It was started on August 11, 2007, I remember my first post well. I introduced the blog and had a picture of 5 year old Grace posing for me. I started this journal because we had been logged in to China for our second adoption (at that time we thought for a little girl we called Lily). The first name of the blog was 'Aging with Grace,' a little play on words commenting on Dan and I being middle aged (and getting older) parents to Grace. The name was also a comment on our character and outlook on life, trying to keep things positive with our second adoption. Obviously that second adoption changed and 'Lily' was William.

Shortly after meeting our little boy in China, in the Summer of 2008, I made a comment about how 'strong Will is.' That became the second part of the blog name, and that's how we got 'Aging with Grace and Strong Will'...a statement about us and our two little children.

(Will-age 4 and Grace now age 7.5)

The blog has been an enormous source of joy to me, as far as true friendships and support while we waited for Will to arrive and continuing onward with our adventures as a family. I've tried to keep it real with a positive spin on things because that's who we are as people. While waiting for Will I did my own fair share of whining, but that was because we wanted to meet this new little person(who we didn't know at the time) and bring him home. The blog was my daily journal in China almost 2 Summers ago. Sometimes I can't believe I wrote everyday...but it was important to me to remember every single detail.

I've kept it real with Will's transition to our family and me finding help for him for his sensory issues. I've always felt if I can help at least one person with their adoption journey, I'll have done what I'm supposed to do.

The blog has evolved and changed and I hope you can see through it how happy our children are and how dearly we love them. What the future holds for us as a family, I'm not quite sure...here's to another 500 posts!

Friday's Finds

Happy Friday everyone!

I have been a bit under the weather for the last few weeks with a sinus and ear infection. I can happily say that finally after going to my doctor and taking an antibiotic and nasal spray steriod, I feel 100% again. yay!

So it seems that Spring has definitely sprung in our neck of the woods and that means we've been outside. It's not quite warm enough here for me to start planting in the ground(but I am about ready to start planting in flower pots), and we've been getting our yard ready and cleaning up everything for Summer. May is going to be here soon and there aren't many days left of school here.

Well for my first find today, I happened on this 'Juicy Watermelon' Yankee Candle. We eat so much watermelon during the warm months, I had to have this. The scent is exactly like a watermelon and when I smelled it, my mouth started to water....yum. You can find it here or in one of your local stores.

Next are these adorable Cherry Blossom Lantern String Lights, found at World Market.

They said Spring and Summer to me loudly and they will be either hanging from our deck railings or off our patio umbrella. Can't wait to see them lit at night and I love the Chinese lantern look they have.

Another find for me is this outdoor rug from Pottery Barn. It's going on our deck and I think I'll love how it will look with our patio furniture. It's also reversible and rinses clean with a garden hose.

(and the below pic is not our patio, but I do like the furniture...hee hee)


And my last find is this web site that I adore called A Bountiful Kitchen.
Please check out her wonderful recipes, the pictures are a feast for the eyes. I WILL be making her Fresh Strawberry Bread very soon and report back about it. I do hope y'all have a great weekend. :)

black and white Wednesday ~ portrait of Will

I have to apologize because I've been kind of a slacker as far as posting on my blog.

Life gets in the way sometimes. And life right now is my family and children and I'm enjoying them very much. I haven't had much time to read blogs either but will try and do better as my time permits.

Will turned 4 on Christmas day and though I have many pictures of him from the last few months, I've been wanting to get one to use as a portrait to celebrate his 4th year. About 10 days ago he and I had one of our Fridays together and spent part of it at our local botanical gardens. Will was in a great mood and I captured this one of him...he has beautiful eyes and you can see so much of who he is in them. My favorite 4 year old has been my little buddy lately as I've been out working in the yard, getting flower beds ready for planting. Will tells me all about what he knows about flowers and plants, how they grow and he's especially interested in bugs. He helps me pull weeds and dig(that's his favorite part). I may have a little gardener (like his mommy) in the future!

Please go on over to Lisa's blog, here and see many more black and whites. And have a great Wednesday!

{Spring}

'Spring has come when you can put your foot on three daisies.' ~ Proverb

'Don't ignore the small things - the kite flies because of it's tail.' ~ Hawaiian Proverb

'Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence.' ~ Yoko Ono


While we were away last weekend we were fortunate to enjoy Spring in southern Indiana.
The closest descriptive word I can think to use is...glorious. The flowering trees were at their peak and I was able to take many pictures of them and of Grace and William doing what they do best...run, play and have fun. Miss Grace was in her element picking flowers. We are a little behind Indiana with our Spring, but know it's arriving soon. :)

{thankful}

Today, I reflect on the blessings in my life and what I'm thankful for...

this little man who truly believes he's faster than a speeding bullet and can leap off tall buildings in a single bound. A boy with a personality larger than life that adds so much to our family.

This 7 year old girl who is the kindest, most gentle soul I've ever met. She is my sweet pea.

The gift of adoption, that has brought so much joy to our family and changed me in ways I could have never known.


My oldest son Nick(in above pic with Grace and Will), who is still a big part of our life though he doesn't live at home now. He makes me laugh so hard, and loves his younger siblings with all his heart. Nick is still a kid inside and can play like one too!

The greatest gift I've been given is my family. I thank God every single day for this precious gift.

I'll be taking a little break from blogging. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers as we leave for a few days to go out of state to remember and celebrate the life of my husband's mother, Jeanne.

black and white Wednesday ~ timeless

Well, I have quite a few images from this session sitting in Lightroom

waiting to be processed, so thought it was time to use one for this week's black and white Wednesday.

This was taken 4 months ago in late November, we had a day where the sun was shining brightly and it got up into the 70's. I figured it was probably my last shot at getting an outdoor photo session before Winter arrived. If you know me I have this love of fields and train tracks to take my kids out on.
Besides being a huge fan of all the natural textures at those types of locations, I love to use leading lines in some of my pictures.

This was shot as the sun was low in the sky, when the light is golden in color. I think the main reason this image is one of my favorites is because I love how Grace is playing on the tracks, balancing as she walks along carefully, with a natural, sweet expression on her face. You can easily tell she was having fun. The picture has an ageless quality with her dress and bare feet. To me it could have been taken in the 1920's.

Grace looks like a little flapper to me.

(The black and white was processed using Chasing Dream's 'Amazing Grace' action.)

Please check out more black and whites at The Long Road to China. And Happy Wednesday!

our Easter

I thought I'd share a little of our Easter Sunday...

Grace and Will actually slept in which was a surprise to us, and when they woke up they found that the Easter bunny had left many eggs. I think the fun part for them is finding the eggs, even more than eating the candy. Will was delighted to learn how to crack open colored hard boiled eggs. He didn't eat them...he just liked the crackin' part of the process. :)

(He was also pretty happy eating that sugar cookie, though mostly happy with the frosting more than cookie)

After breakfast, we headed off to a wonderful church service. And later on in the day, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Phil(my youngest brother), and our oldest son Nick came over for Easter dinner, which was especially yummy. The weather cooperated (fortunately) and Grace and Will ran off some of that sugar outside, there was lots and lots of giggling and playing going on. There sure is nothing better than spending the day with family. It was a special Easter for us and hope it was for you too!