October snapshots (iphone style)

October is almost halfway over.

We're in a good routine and my kiddos have been great about getting up early to get

ready for school

and completing their homework in the afternoons.

 Dare I say this...we are about 10 weeks away from Christmas.

 

1. Top left. 'Bruce Wayne' in black and white. 2. Grace making

lemon sugar cookies for her classroom (she has become quite the baker).

3. Ballet has started again for Grace. I have finally mastered the ballet bun

for her hair. 4. Gourds and mini pumpkins. 5. Grace with a sequined kitty cat mask.

6. We made a quick trip to Chicago for a girls China friends get together.

7. 'Frenemies' Jack kitty and Zoe dog, they rarely get this close together. Usually Zoe is

chasing the cat. 8. The leaves are starting to fall here. 9. Sweet little farm stand selling pumpkins.

I wish Fall lasted longer than it does, but for now we are savoring every

moment of it.

(Sunday Snapshot) 10 Years Ago

 

"You don't choose your family, they are God's gift to you, as you are to them."
~ Desmond Tutu

 

 

 "There is only one happiness in life - to love and be loved."

~ George Sand

 

 

 

 "You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
Whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the
universe is unfolding as it should."

~ Desiderata



 

 

"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name

welcomes me."

 

~ Matthew 18:5

 

My first glimpse of her in a referral photo was 10 years ago in early July of 2003.
She looked a little forlorn and sad, and I loved her instantly.

All those little details of how we first met are still with me and
it's a moment I will never forget as long as I live.
Dan and I were nervously waiting in our room in the Gloria Plaza Hotel in Nanchang.
It was a Sunday evening around 7:30 pm and there was a knock at the door.
The orphanage director, our social worker, and a nanny holding our baby girl
named 'Fu Lan Li' entered the room.
It was absolutely silent until I softly spoke to Lanli (Grace).
Though quite shy, she smiled at me and came easily into my arms.
In an instant the hole in my heart that had been there for years
was healed.
I was holding an angel, sent straight from heaven.
The rest of that evening really was somewhat of a glorious blur, but
I do remember playing with Grace, feeding her, holding and loving her.
All of our lives have changed profoundly since that late Summer evening
in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province.
Grace (Fu Lan Li) is so much more than we could have possibly ever
hoped for or dreamed.

10 years later Grace is now an eleven year old
and you can clearly see the lovely young lady that she has become.
She is happy, healthy, thoughtful and kind, a good friend to all and deeply loved
by those who know her.

Recently, I was told that Dan and I have had remarkable lives.
I have to admit I've never thought of it that way...
remarkable, yes(maybe) but if it has been that, it's because of our profound
experiences with adopting both Grace and William
and our lives with them.
For me it was also my last trip to China in 2012
with An Orphan's Wish that helped me to understand a little bit better
both of my youngest childrens' stories before they came to live with us,
and even see for my eyes what it's like to be an orphan.
I say listen to that little voice that is your heart
and follow it.
An orphan child's dream for a family can come true.

10 years ago we were forever changed for the better.
To our dearest Grace,
we cannot possibly imagine our lives without you.
 xoxo

Mommy

 

I felt I had to do something very special

to quietly observe Grace's 10th forever family day

and did that by taking this series of photos for her.



Choosing a location out of my regular comfort zone of fields and countryside,
I took these at the Monona Terrace, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
in 1938 but wasn't constructed on Lake Monona in Madison until the mid 1990's.

I loved the lines and curves and beautiful light.
It all suited my subject quite well. ;)
 

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.

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.

32/52 - Summer Vacation

{First glimpse of the beach, the waters of Green Bay in Ephraim, WI}




I'm a water person and it's no surprise that all 3 of my children are too.
My Dad had a boat when I was growing up and I learned to ski
and spent many hours on lakes and reservoirs growing up in Indiana.
It's probably for that reason that we try to vacation at a spot near water.

The water this time was in Door County, WI.
This was our second visit there as a family and it didn't disappoint at all.
We spent quite a bit of time on the beach or in the water...whether
it was the fresh water of the bay or in the pool.

When we weren't in the water we explored some of the quaint little towns and villages
that are up and down the peninsula.
I found a gem of an antique store and purchased a few photography props that also
double as items that go in our home.
Grace and Will got to experience a drive-in movie (we saw Ice Age 3).
They wore their pj's and ate popcorn and we snuggled under blankets
while watching the show on that big outdoor screen.
It reminded me of my own childhood.
 We played mini- golf
and went to a traditional Wisconsin fish boil.
The food was delicious!
They embraced all these new experiences...all 3 were a huge hit.
We found that Will  has a fondness for boats of any kind...it's adorable.
He loved checking out the local marinas.

I think the best part was time spent together away from the tv, computer and
video games.
Just us being a family.
Together.

These are a few of my favorites but as you can imagine
I have quite a few more photos to go through and will do a couple more posts
showing our time in this beautiful place.
It's lovely in the Fall, so hopefully next year we may return...

23/52 - my life

{Instagram pics from the last week} 

Starting in the upper left hand side: 1. Will on his class field trip to the zoo. 2. Me right after getting my hair cut. 

3. Grace and a friend playing in the evening (having a sleepover). 4. Yellow flower in my backyard 5. Grace

drawing a flamingo on the Smart Board for her class talent show. 

6. Will with his cute feet in a new pair of flip flops (Superman).

We love Summer! - Sunday Snapshot

{Will with his first snow cone of the season}

It many not be Summer officially on the calendar but it's here where we live.
Our Memorial Day weekend consisted of warm temps, snow cones, playing in the sandbox and backyard and getting together with good friends.

Our school is out for the Summer on Friday and Grace and Will are awfully happy about that.

Grace and her new bike. It's a little big for her and it's taken some time getting used to riding.
She paid for half of it, we matched her on the other half.

Summer in the Midwest is about kids running through the sprinkler.

 Brings back so many memories for me!

My own clean edits (to personal taste) using Curves and Levels in photoshop.

 Settings on the top image of Will:

 Nikon d700 

85mm 1.4 lens 

f/1.6

 1/1250 sec. 

ISO 200

21/52 - a slice of life

{5-6 days in May}

Per Instagram, a little view of our lives.
I think it's these ordinary things that I capture that will eventually be looked at as very special.

Starting at the upper left:
1. Grace and her friend playing with a fortune teller (Grace makes all kinds of sizes and plays with them often. 2. Grace and Will playing in the bath. 3. Grace's first 'official' pedicure.
4. Will chillin' with his
blankie and finger in his mouth (he does this when he's tired, and I think it's adorable).
5. Will on the tire swing last night.
6. Jack the kitty keeping an eye on the dog.
I am zoemom3 on Instagram.

20/52 - Birthday girl

{Zoe - age 1}

Our newest member of the family is officially one today.
Oh Zoe, what can I say about you?
You're a dear sweet girl who makes me laugh every day about your antics.
(Except for the week you chewed up 3 pairs of my shoes).
But we can pretend that didn't happen.

I'm hoping that she's full grown now, she weighs 65 lbs,
has long legs and can run like the wind.
Can't imagine our lives without her.

I've really been a terrible blogger lately and hope to be better about that...
have had a lot on my plate lately with the dance recital, end of school activities, and some things
going on with Will.
He's fine, I'll be blogging about what's been going on with him very soon.

Sunday Snapshot - exquisite

{Grace - age 9 and 1/2}

The inspiration for these images
was my daughter Grace's
beautiful ballet dress.

My mother is a talented sewer, and it's from her that
I've gained a true appreciation for fabric, and love of color and design.
The pattern of the tiny beads on the top of this dress is exquisite
and I loved capturing the detail.

I originally thought I'd keep these images all in color 

but felt black/white suited them just as well.

You can see so much

 of this gentle, sweet soul (who is Grace)

in them.

These were taken early last week
when we had some time one late afternoon.
I used the beautiful north window light from different perspectives,
using light facing Grace, from the side and behind her.

Taken with my Nikon D700,
the portraits were taken with my 85mm 1.4 lens
with settings of:

 f/1.4
ISO - 320
 1/200 sec.

For the other images I used my 35mm 1.4 at:

 f/2
ISO - 1000
1/250-1/500 sec.

Edited with Florabella's bl/white 'Vanilla' action (one of my favorites for bl/whites).
I opened up the action and tweaked it a bit with the contrast and light, leaving the tones the same.
In the very first image I also added a little bit of 'White Haze' from her 'Hazy Skies Collection.'
I liked the effect.

For the color versions, I used Florabella's 'Classic Color' action with a touch of  'Soft Warmth'
on a couple of them.

For the last one of her profile,
 I did very little other than crop the image (it didn't need much)
and increase the contrast a bit. I love the simplicity of it.



As for personal favorites, I have two... they're the first one and second to last images.

Grace and her brother Will performed this weekend in their dance school's recital.

I'll blog about it later this week.

Sunday Snapshot - brothers and sisters

"It was nice growing up with someone like you - someone to lean on,
someone to count on...someone to tell on!"

~ unknown

"Help your brother's boat across, and your own will reach the shore."

~ Hindu proverb

"In the cookies of life, sisters are the chocolate chips."

~ unknown

The groundhog in Wisconsin was correct this year and we're

having an early Spring.

Sunshine, warmth and children playing outside together...today

they're making some childhood memories.

I think brothers and sisters can be embroiled in a sometimes - love 

and sometimes - hate relationship from the beginning. One minute

they're playing happily and the next, they're arguing about something

inconsequential. They learn to "push each other's buttons," manipulate, 

cajole, tease, share (whether they want to or not) and tolerate.

And they learn to forgive.

Grace is the typical big sister - she likes to boss Will around, tells on him

and sometimes has him wait on her like a "butler." They both have

strong personalities and want the other to play their way.

Will is a typical little brother - he adores Grace, follows her everywhere, 

spies on her, and bugs/torments her at times.

Both are delighted to get the last cookie, Popsicle, soda - anything

that denies the other something they might want.

That being said, they truly love each other and usually

are delightful together.

As I've said many times, we are so blessed to have them in our lives.

I happen to be an oldest sister with 3 younger siblings(a sister and 2 brothers).

My husband is the youngest brother of 7 children.

We both well understand this complex, yet wonderful

life long relationship Grace and William have.

And Stefanie at Ni Hao Yall has changed it upin a good way for her Sunday Snapshot.It's new and improved with a twist!
These were taken this week when we were off school for Spring Breakand took a walk around a local nature conservancy.I chose the top image as my best one. Not sure it's my best but it's my favorite becauseit was a candid of them doing what they do best...be kids.
All shot with my Nikon d700 and a 35mm 1.4 lens.
The settings were:f2.51/2000 sec.ISO 500
I brought all my pics into Lightroom and adjusted the exposure as needed.Then into photoshop CS 3 where I used Florabella'sClassic Color action at about 50%,1968 action at around 20%and Warm Color Pop at 32% on everything except their skin.

8/52 and Favorite Photo Friday - a Dad and his daughter

I don't know about you but I'm a daddy's girl from as far

back as I can remember. 

Last weekend was Grace and Dan's first father-daughter dance.
I guess there were around 500 people that attended,
3 photographers to take pics, and a DJ.

Grace was a teeny bit shy and thought the music was kind of loud.
She had fun with her girlfriends and giggled and laughed.
She did dance with her dad and
they had a great time together!

And it's no surprise that Grace is a daddy's girl too. :)

Father - Daughter dance

Feb. 2012