A Little Reprieve from our Cabin Fever (7/52 - 52 Project)

 

On one of our very rare above zero days we decided to

venture out to frozen Lake Mendota.

The sun was shining and Grace and William quickly

grabbed icicles and had a little pretend swordfight.

 

 

 

 

 

I got to thinking that writing their names or drawing in the snow is

similar to what they do at the beach in the sand.

Only instead of wearing snow gear they have their

swimsuits on.

 

 

 

 

If you didn't know the lake was completely frozen over

you might think it was a gigantic field of snow.

Until you see the fishing shacks, piers pulled out of the water

and boats in dry dock.

It was fun to take a walk out on that big lake

and get out of the house for an hour.

 

 

Winters in the northern Midwest are cold and long but March is just around the corner.

And we are thankful for that.

 

 

 

 



i heart faces - Best Face of 2013

Of the many photos that I take every year of my children,

it was difficult to choose just one for the I Heart Faces Best Face of 2013.

I kept going back to this one of my daughter Grace.

My joyful girl.

Please stop by I Heart Faces and take a look.

It's all about Apples (Sunday Snapshot)

 

When the bold branches
Bid farewell to rainbow leaves
Welcome wool sweaters.

 

~ B. Cybrill

 

 

Fall has finally arrived in our neck of the woods.

Why do I love Fall so much?
 Maybe because for us Midwesterners it's 'just right' as in not too cold,
not too hot and humid, and not too rainy.

  Cool nights and bright blue skies have arrived.

So to celebrate Fall's arrival we made a little trip to a local farm that offers apple picking.
This is a new place for us this year.
The one we used to frequent had gotten crazy busy and

we were pleasantly surprised by the Appleberry Farm.

 

 

 

Now, what do I do with all these apples?
No worries, our two apple picking helpers have plenty of yummy ideas!

 I need to get busy. :)

 

 

Celebrating Her Special day(Sunday Snapshot)

 

Grace turned 11 in early August.
 That month for us was a crazy busy one with our vacation,
a trip into Chicago, me making a brief trip to Florida to see a friend
 and getting ready for school so

we elected to have her party last weekend.

We had it at a 'Kid Spa' in Madison
where the girls were pampered with manicures,
a glittery faux tattoo, and their choice of a little bit of
makeup to wear.

  

 

 

Oh and their choice of flavor of ice cream.

You can tell by the big smiles all around that they all had a GREAT time!

I love every single one of Grace's sweet friends

and we cherish their friendships.

 

 At an age where Grace still loves to play with her American Girl dolls
but would like to start wearing a little makeup,
she is definitely a tween.
And I'm taking in every moment of this time in her life.

 

Nearing the End

 

When summer gathers up her robes of glory,

And, like a dream, glides away.

- Sarah Helen Whitman

 

It doesn't seem possible but our Summer break is almost over.
In Wisconsin our Summers are surely not taken for granted,
after our long Winters.

School starts next week.
Supplies have been purchased and still need to be labeled.
New school clothes and shoes are ready to be worn.
I do love the routine that the school year brings to our family
but a part of me will miss having them home
during the day.
We've had a fun Summer!

Taken a few weeks ago towards the end of our vacation in Door County.
We've had several Summer trips up to the peninsula over the years, and this is the first
time the cherries were ready to be picked.
So cherry picking we went...
Will found what he called
'a magical sword'
and was a knight for
a little while in the middle of the orchard. ;)



 

 

July Snapshots

I take a lot of photos every month, and am surprised at how many I take with my iphone.

These are some of my favorites from July.

 

1. Grace and friends sitting on the deck enjoying snowcones. 2. Grace had decorated

her walking stick while we were at the dog park. 3. Dan, Will and Zoe at the park.

4. Batman, one morning, standing on the landing. 5. Grace and handsome Jack.

6. A beautiful sunset at Pope Farm Park. 7. The back of my big camera, a recent

session with three little girls. 8. Grace and Lydia going down the slide at our town's

Summer festival. 9. A happy Will with his snowcone!

 

July has flown by.

When Summer starts I always feel like

it will last forever and it always seems to go way too fast.

(Sunday Snapshot) - Spring Recital

"To touch, to move, to inspire.

This is the true gift of dance."

 

~ Aubrey Lynch

 

8 months of hard work, practice, practice and more practice to be ready for their Spring Recital.

Every year is different but to me it's always magical
and full of joy and pageantry.
I love every single thing about this little dance community
and school.

At each Spring recital I'm taken back to when I first met
my two youngest children, and can't help but think of how many obstacles they've overcome.
What never changes is how proud and honored I am to be their Mom.

{Older ballerinas waiting to go on stage}

Grace plans to dance next year, Will is not so sure,
maybe try karate? (that's what he tells me). ;)




 

My Little Buddy

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Playing with rocks and sticks has been entertainment for little boys since...well, forever.



Opie and Andy Griffith would skip rocks on a lake to start their TV show.

My husband still enjoys it. 



 

I got a chance to get some time alone with my little man

and he gravitated to throwing rocks into the lake. 

 Not much success with skipping stones yet but he has the throwing part down all right.



Spending time with a happy boy just having fun...our Spring is trying to make an appearance.

 

 

Beach Days (Sunday Snapshot)

{A little beach fun...Door County style}

Why do we flock to the beach (whether it's near a lake or ocean) every Summer?

Maybe it's because everything about it is calming and renewing.

All stress and anxiety leaves.

We all need a little 'beach therapy' from time to time in our lives.

I have always loved the beach.

Maybe it's the sensory part of it...the sounds of 

the water, my children's laughter, the feel of sand, sun and wind,

and the obvious visual appeal of textures and color.

We took advantage of the little private beach where we stayed

last week. We were the only ones there for quite a while.

I happened to find the perfect vintage sand pail

and playing cards at a little shop that added some charm to our little beach themed shoot.

When I uploaded the photos I could really see how much my 

children had grown.

Time is flying by and I cherish all these images.

All the little details.

They stay young for such a short time.

I loved the image of Will's little feet in his flip

flops with the sand on his toes.

Someday I'll look at that photo and remember these precious days.

We have had a perfect Summer in so many ways

and are a little sad to see it leaving.

 

These were taken with two different lenses, my 35 mm 1.4 for the wide shots and
85mm 1.4 for others.

The first one ~
Nikon d700
85mm 1.4
f/2.2
1/6400 sec.
ISO 160

A very quick edit was done in PS with one of Florabella's new Colorplay actions.
I used an action called 'Matte Film' which
gave the perfect vintage matte finish which is
exactly what I wanted to add to these images.

Birthday Girl (Sunday Snapshot)

{Grace and friends celebrating her 10th} 

I've been a mom for a very long time and I always try to make each of my children's birthday celebrations special. They have input about what they'd like to have for a party.
Some years the parties are family ones, some years they celebrate with friends.

Most of the time if the request is reasonable we can find a way to do it.

Grace (my little artist) loves to draw, paint and create. 

When she mentioned she'd like to have a party where she and her friends could get together and make something, I had the perfect place in mind... 

Located in Middleton, WI....Confectionique is a French inspired vintage craft market that sells the most beautiful things. One of the owners, Jessica(in the photos) teaches all kinds of classes.
May I add that Jessica is as sweet as a person can possibly be. 

The girls made little pink and white cakes out of Sculpey clay that they cut and rolled out that eventually were decorated and baked.

And of course they had to celebrate with cupcakes all around!

 

This was a treat for me because I thoroughly enjoyed myself just watching the girls interact, create and help my daughter celebrate her special day. I loved capturing Grace and her friends and some of the details of this adorable shop. 

The first image was taken with my Nikon d700.

35mm 1.4 lens

f/2

ISO 800

1/160 sec.

All were quickly edited in Photoshop with Florabella's

Classic Workflow actions. I used Classic Color,

with Ivory Boost and 1968.

31/52 - Seeing Double

{2 little Batmen} 

Last Friday our friends Grace, Liam and Natalie arrived in our neck of the woods.

It was their first visit to Wisconsin and our little town.

Grace lives in the city and we live in the country.

I believe they had been here about an hour and Grace(mom) was upstairs unpacking.

I was downstairs and came around the corner to see these two little boys all decked out

in their best crime fighting apparel.

I watched what transpired between the older Batman and his younger friend.

(Will was fastening Liam's cape in the front).

After that these two drove off in the Batmobile! ;)

Though I love taking portraits, my very favorite style of photography is lifestyle. 

You just sit back, observe and watch the show. 

This one was delightful...

(More photos of their visit coming later in the week).

4 years with Will (Favorite Photo Friday)

And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. 

 ~ Matthew 18:5 

 

 July 20, 2008.

We all first met in a sterile meeting room in the Lakeside Hotel in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China.

We actually heard William as we stepped off the elevator, before we saw him.

He was crying very hard and was afraid. It wasn't an easy first meeting and something you can't forget.

I remember thinking what a big boy he was then at age 2.

When I look at those photos now, he was a baby
and so incredibly brave.

He'd been through so much in his short little life.

More than most of us have in a lifetime.

We've had ups and downs, easy times and more difficult.

Through it all, like the Energizer Bunny we kept going and moving forward.

And praying that we were doing the right thing.

Because that's all we knew to do.

You see, Will happened to get two very stubborn and patient parents that would never give up.
We could see the big picture in all of this story and

when we make a commitment, we keep it.

Forever.

4 years later from that first meeting in the Lakeside Hotel meeting room, my 2 year old
 has grown into a long legged 6 year old little boy. 42 lbs. of all boy.  

He is happy and much more at peace with the world.

He loves to laugh, has a sparkle in his eye for his mommy and daddy, and has a dear, sweet, kind heart. 

If you meet him once you'll never forget this child...he's an extraordinary person.

  I dream of only great things for William as there is no limit as to what he can accomplish someday.

Thank you to Deena and Mike Van't Hul in China who were his first parents for 2 and 1/2 years and his Kindergarten teacher, Sue Truitt who has loved and treated Will like her own son.
The words thank you aren't adequate for what you've done for him.
 And us.
We are the lucky ones to have Will in our lives.

 {My beautiful boy, I couldn't love him more than I do.}

Will is shown in his bedroom with some of his favorites...his Batman collection. He's a Superhero - Crime Fighter aficionado and knows way more about them than his mommy does.;)

But I'm learning.