Spring in all it's glory

I love flowers and I love to photograph flowers.

The great thing about that is they don't run away or make a face when you attempt a photo.

Our Spring is late but I'm not complaining one little bit.

Enjoying it all...

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.

22/52 - his alter egos

   Pretty amazing how wearing a pair
of Batman sunglasses can make
Batman (on the left), Superman (middle) and the Hulk (right) appear.

Sunday Snapshot - my youngest son

He has a big name for such a little boy, our 

"William Michael Yousheng."

At age 6 years - 4 months, he is 42 lbs.

of fun, feisty and activity.

Pretty much from the moment we met Will in China, it was obvious he was a gifted child.

He's very intelligent but he's also a deep thinker. Will understands the concept of time travel, 

comprehends death and the implications of it, knows directions (North, South, East and West), 

and grasps the days of the week and time passing. 

Many of these things have become apparent when he asks us questions
about specific topics

and we had no idea he even knew about them.

(I love his strong hands).

He's gifted physically as well...he loves anything that's physically challenging.
(Dance and gymnastics for him...so far. He'd like to try karate next).
He reads (far above his grade level) and writes (more legibly than Dan).
I don't have any idea what he'll become when he grows up but his
outgoing, friendly and compassionate nature could lead him into
many careers.
I would love it if he became a doctor or a person who helps people.
Mostly I just want him to be happy.

Four years ago we found Will on our adoption agency's special need's list.
His special need was a repaired cleft lip and palate.
This superficial physical anomaly has been beautifully repaired and by the time
he's an adult it will only be a vague memory.
However, Will's real special need wasn't his cleft. His real special need
is related to an emotional disability and chemical imbalance in his brain.

And now as we hear words like "low levels of norepinephrine and dopamine " and "neurotransmitters".
They're words that have meaning to me because of my nursing background, but
now those words have additional meaning because they explain some things.
For the entire time we've had Will we've been learning more about him and
learning from him - attempting to understand and help this complex child.
He has sensory issues, problems with anger and defiance, and difficulty
attending and focusing in school.
We have a long road ahead, with no easy answers or a quick fix to any of this.
But we'll do whatever it takes to help Will cope with life and school a bit better.
Will has such a dear sweet heart and caring nature;
we want the world to see who he really is and not label him.

I am a photographer but that's just a part of who I am.
My most important role is that as a mom and right now my son needs me.
I couldn't possibly love this child anymore than I do right now.

The black and white of Will was taken about 30 minutes before sunset

and composed in camera using

the rule of thirds. 

Nikon d700

85mm 1.4 lens

f- 2.2

1/250 sec.

ISO 320

Favorite Photo Friday - time is flying by

(Grace is wearing Sophia Jane Boutique's shabby flower clip

that matches perfectly with the Matilda Jane Serendipity line)

In a little over 2 short months she'll be 10 years old.

Double digits.

My baby girl is growing up so fast.

And at almost 10 we're seeing a few glimpses of 'tween-dom'.
 (My made up word)
With some attitude changes now and then...perhaps it's a bit of those hormones kicking in...

And though I'd love for time to stop for quite a while,
I'm embracing it all.

Sweet Grace...my artistic, compassionate, caring, and kind daughter.
She is a dream come true!

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.

17/52 and Favorite Photo Friday - looking out my front door

{Beauty}

Early Tuesday morning after coming back from walking

our pup Zoe, I grabbed my camera and went out
the door again...to take some photos.

It didn't take long for me to find beauty in the ordinary, the mundane, and the things

I sometimes take for granted that I see and look at every day.

These photos remind me to appreciate and celebrate what is around me
each and every day.

(I imagine I looked kind of funny laying on my belly in the grass, 
capturing the dandelions gone to seed. Ah...what we'll do for a photo).


Happy Friday!

Sunday Snapshot - Exploring

I love watching what they do very well, which is 

to play, investigate, learn,

experiment and explore.

“Explore” basically means to go where you haven’t been before – which is what children 

do all of the time. 

 As they grow, they change and the world looks a little different 

from their perspective.  

(Shortly after this was taken, Will fell off the little board, got his bottom wet
 and of course loved that part).

They often find themselves in new places and situations which can sometimes
 be uncomfortable, scary, exciting or fun.   
Their reactions can be inquisitive, fearful, subdued or joyous. 
 I love joyous.

(Fishing for as they called it..."goo," also known as mud and dead leaves,
they thoroughly enjoyed themselves!)

  It's fun for me to watch these two create games and try new things.
They can get quite creative.

Taken last weekend at a park we'd never explored as a family.
We'll definitely be back...and hopefully soon.

(Violet collector).

Shot with my Nikon d700 with a 35mm 1.4 lens.
f/1.8 - 2.5
1/320 - 1/800 sec.
ISO 250
Spot metering
Taken around 4pm.

This area had beautiful light
and even some soft back light (the ones of Grace and Will 'fishing').
Back light has a haziness to it that can give an image a lovely look.

Edited with Florabella's 'Lume' action from her
Luxe II collection.



(Will with sticks).

Please see more at Ni Hao Y'all's Sunday Snapshot.

Texture Tuesday - Pink

{Cherry blossoms}

Our early Spring days have been glorious.

Taken yesterday at Olbrich Gardens in Madison, there was 

a canopy of fragrant blossoms above.

Edited with Florabella's classic color action

and two layers of Kim Klassen's 'Be Still' texture.

The first at Luminosity @ 15%

and the second at Pin Light @ 10%.

I removed a little of the texture off the foreground flowers.

12/52 - green

Is it so small a thing

To have enjoy'd the sun,

To have lived light in the Spring,

To have loved, to have thought, to have done.

~ Matthew Arnold

A little bit of green captured yesterday morning.
Welcome Spring!

7/52 - happy hearts

'Without Valentine's Day, February would be...well, January.'

~ J. Gaffigan

Miss Grace has been chompin' at the bit so to speak

about making and decorating cookies for her Valentine

party at school on Tuesday.

We baked them together Saturday night and Sunday afternoon did the decorating.

Actually we had a little assembly line going...

I was the icing person and she was the decorator.

(Cookies were yummy too).


On a different note, Grace is the star student for her class this week.
We made a photo board for her to share with the class
and she's bringing in a few favorite personal items too!

Favorite photo(s) Friday - a little bit of my life

{Time capsule}

I've had quite a few roles in my lifetime...as a daughter, a student, wife,

a long and rewarding career as a Registered Nurse,

 an elementary school tutor for at risk kids and now part time photographer/full time mom.
Being a mom is hands down the best thing I've ever done.

It's my personal belief that motherhood isn't about a list of tasks we complete
or having a spotlessly clean home at all times,
it's about being there for our children.
The little ones and big ones.

I'm not a perfect mom but I'm a loving and caring one.
I thoroughly enjoy my children, and yes even the stages or phases
that are a little more trying. I've learned they all pass in time.

One of my favorite things is to observe my kids doing what they do best 

which is play.

And I jump in now and then too!

The storyboard shows parts of my life over about a 13 hour time period on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

There's Will and Grace at 7:20 am (on the left) waiting for their Dad to put on his coat 

to drive them to school.

The top row shows a photo of my kitchen table (a place we spend quite a bit
of time doing homework, crafts and eating meals),

then there's a cup of my favorite tea in front of the computer...

I was editing a lot that day.

Middle row is our 9 month old pup Zoe looking awfully cute

and Will (after school) working on some Valentines.

The last row is my little fish (Will) in the bath

and Grace fast asleep around 8pm that night.

She has to have her favorite stuffed animals arranged 'just so perfectly.'

I feel incredibly blessed.

Changes - Sunday Snapshot

There's been a couple of pretty big changes happening this week for Grace.
She had her ears pierced (completely her idea)
and she got glasses.
I think she looks quite grown up and studious in these pics.

I didn't need glasses until ~ 4 years ago and I'm still adjusting to them.
My husband has worn them since he was 5 years old.
Grace is starting at 9.

I still remember when I got my ears pierced
at 13...it was very exciting.

She's embraced both changes and is acting very responsible about taking
care of her ears and brand new glasses.

We found out Grace is nearsighted,
she was having difficulty seeing the clock's numbers
in the classroom.
We think she's beautiful!

3/52 - preparation

Chinese New Year Lantern

We have the house decorated and ready to welcome the Year of the Dragon that starts Jan. 23.

I've been asked to give Chinese New Year presentations

 to both of Grace and Will's classes this year.

It's been fun to prepare and we're pretty excited.


Edited later to say:
So I've been asked about resources and what am I presenting?
I try and keep it age appropriate, Will is in Kindergarten so
I'm reading Bringing In the New Year by Grace Lin.
I'll show the class where the country of China is as related to the United States
on a globe or map in the classroom.
We'll do a craft and make a paper dragon,
have a snack of oranges
 and hand out red envelopes with chocolate coins in them (at the end).
We may play a game.
For Grace's class(3rd) we'll do a little more.

A great resource that I highly recommend is the book,
Chinese New Year For Kids, by Cindy Roberts.

Both of the above books are found on Amazon and I linked to them.

Some other web sites I love are
China Sprout for everything Chinese and culture related.

Oriental Trading for red envelopes, items for a party, etc.


Please let me know if anyone has other resources,
would love to find out more!

Cupcakes and cocoa

About 5 days before Christmas

Grace expressed the desire to have a little tea party with a couple of her friends.

It was hard to squeeze it in before the 25th, but we managed to have

a little get together just before New Years.

She had a little notebook and had written down
everything she wanted.
She's a list maker like her mom.

Marie Grace was invited,

as were Lydia and Izzy.

The tea party theme eventually turned into cupcakes and hot chocolate.

(Definitely their favorite Winter time drink.)

Grace and I baked and frosted the cupcakes the night before.

If you ever bake mini cupcakes, you fill

the papers about 2/3 full and bake at 325 degrees for 15 -18 minutes.

They turned out perfect.

3 sweet girls who happen to each live only a few houses away.

They're beautiful on the inside and out,

we're so thankful for best friends!