at the farm

love this girl

kids were here May

Kids Were Here | April

This month a group of photographers and I started documenting evidence that our kids were here. You know, the things that might drive you crazy sometime but you will miss later when they are grown. Or the sweet things you will definitely miss when they are gone. Check out some others at Kids Were Here

10 on 10 March

march is a very exciting month this year. I have two really great shoots coming up and I am going to the Don't Give Up Project with one of my favorite photographers and friend Deanna McCasland. here is our day in March! morning boys

grey being grey

my little pony

to school we go

this boys smile gets him away with a lot

2 more days of not complaining about gong potty before bed scores you a princess bike. I have held out on this as long as possible lol!!

snack time

she is not into me taking her photo right now. obviously.

grey just started speech because he only has a vocab of about 5 words. she says grey we need to work on your words and reads to him

grey what does a cow say                now head on over to Emily Robinson and her crazy cute girls

stripes

ride to preschool

afternoon bath

bath time

snow day

new cowboy boots

zoo day

10 on 10 January

it was my daughter's fourth birthday on the darkest dreariest days of December. all day she asked me-Mom it's still my birthday right?! Having a birthday 5 days before Christmas means she usually gets a party of some sort. this year we decided against it and I was just going to meet up with our  friends for ice cream. she kept saying-Mom when all the people come over I want open my presents and so on. I finally told her no one was coming-it was just going to be us. she looked at me confused and then got a little sad. I called he closest friend and scheduled an emergency sleepover. my very early riser

4 pancake for the 4 year old

rain rain rain

get it all in there grey

a special morning for ice cream with very special friends

someone got a record player

it's still my birthday right mom?

wanting just a little taste

we blew out candles 4 times

a surprise sleep over

my girl is four

Hey Falon I am going to ask you some questions. Why Mom? Because you are 4 today! Well, it's my birthday you know! Yes I know...

What is your favorite color? Pink

What is your favorite song? Bonnie the Beautiful Butterfly

What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be um, a princess!

What is your favorite food? Mac and Cheese

What is your favorite book? Princess books

What is your favorite thing about Grey? I love kissing him and hugging him

Where is your favorite place to go? Chipolte

What is your favorite thing to do? That's all

What can you do now that your 4? play unicorns

self portrait project | one

10 on 10 December

I keep expecting my life to slow down but it just keeps getting faster and faster and the to do list longer and longer. This month we lost our family dog, Jack. He was 12 years old and we found out he was sick and three days later had to have him put down. I feel like since there is little time for reflection in my life right now, defining moments like this force me to reflect. When the doctor told me he wasn't going to make it my early 20's flashed like photographs before my eyes. Jack's head hanging out the car window, the day I got him, countless morning park dates with coffee in hand. When I was 24 a friend and I got our tents and hit the road for 2 weeks not having a clue where we were going. My parents were horrified. My excuse for making them feel better was I had Jack.So that thing I don't know I would miss until it was gone? It's the sense of security I had with him. Now don't get me wrong Jack was the sweetest dog, almost to a fault. But even the tiniest of grandmas that walked past our house got barked at. I can't bring myself to put away his food bowl.

This is our third year going to this tree farm. It's a quaint little place and I have photos of my daughter at 11 months being held by the owner. The kids fell asleep on the way and still were when we got there. We shut the car off and sat and listened to music for an hour. And talked. Without getting interrupted 50 times. It was amazing.

*and I cheated in and put one more in-because crying over not getting a third cup of hot cocoa is just silly.

Now head on over to Emily Robinson!

10 on 10 October

This past month came and went. Fall is here. Change of seasons might be my favorite time. Everything is different and new again. serious morning bedhead

new game of throwing everything down the chute

morning at Jeni's

probably why I see a chiropractor

nap-time

snack-time

fall is here

familiar scene

last of the harvest

eating a stick and running

Now on to Emily Robinson

10 on 10 september

Glen Arbor, Michigan D.H. Day Campround

I am going to start off saying I'm not a wimp. I have done my fair share of camping. And even my fair share of backpacking. Before kids Brant and I ended our summers up north. One last trip in August when it was nice and warm. We were ready to jump back into that tradition so we planned a big camping trip for the family. We could handle 4 nights in a tent right? A three year old and one year old...pshhh piece of cake. We've hiked across the entire state of Georgia in 7 days, we can do this.

I wish we would have had a secret camera man to tape all the "highlights" through out the trip....

Grey's uncontrollable urge to run towards the fire, the unexpected cold weather, crawling out of the tent in the morning because every part of your body is not a happy camper, Falon's obvious hatred toward the porta potty,  the campsite that was SURROUNDED by poison ivy, the 50 degree nights in our summer tent, the night sleep screaming from Falon in middle of the night.

But those are the time we remember right? In 20 years sitting around the table..hey dad, remember when all 4 of us were squeezed in that tiny shower at the campground and you got soap in your eyes and the water ran out and mom couldn't find more coins to start the shower again....that was sooo funny!!

I could go on but I won't. Because it was fun. It really was.  We drank a lot of beer.

Using a camper is still camping right?

breakfast:jelly toast

hike up crocodile trail

swimming

trip into town

running: he's gotten really good at it

hide seek next to our favorite cottage bookstore

heading to the beach

singing his heart out

practice running towards the fire pit

sunset on Lake Michigan

And now visit the uber talented Emily Robinson

summer friends

these two girls met when they were just 6 months old. we live only one street away from each other but live very different lives during the school year. paisley's mom teaches through the school year and we never ever see them. then when school is out they come around again. they have this awesome vw bus the girls sometimes play in. it's hilarious to watch . They turn up the music really loud (muppets) and  dance, climb up and down the bed to the top and fight over who is going to drive. last time I had my camera and took some pictures. school has started and we miss them already.