It's Monday....what do I see?

And now it's Tuesday. Tomorrow is Wednesday and then it's Thursday.
They are all blending together.
Hope everyone had a lovely holiday! There was a little bit of sickness, a little bit of allergies and still lots of smiles on our end.
Here is what makes me happy no matter what. My boys.

It's Monday....what do I see?

An engagement session! I love shooting engagement sessions! I want to shout out to everyone walking by that love is in the air. Instead, I click away with the camera.

It's Monday....what do I see?

So, there is no snow. And it's 85 degrees outside. But, we still got fall leaves!
So outside we play.
And here is one of those "oops" bad parenting moments. I wanted to go outside and got the boys dressed. "J" was complaining he was tired. I told him he had been inside all day and it was time for him to get some fresh air. He whined and complained and said he wanted to lay in bed with Daddy. (Daddy was under the weather and taking it easy). So I say fine. (My ego bruised that he wanted Daddy) I take "L" on an awesome walk and after an hour come back inside the house with leaves in hand to talk about our adventure.
Henry looks at me and says, "I think "J" is sick."
I walk over to him and feel his head.
102 fever.
Bad mommy moment.
I give him a hug. I run around for juice, water, his blankie, a pillow and pop in a DVD for him to watch. His favorite DVD. I rub his hair and hope that he doesn't remember that I made him feel guilty about not "feeling the fresh air".
Sometimes I need to slow down and look at what is in front of me.
In the meantime...enjoy these pics.

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It's Monday....what do I see?

It's all about me.Here is my family. We have been hiking a lot this fall/winter and it's been awesome.
I could be grumpy, tired or achy....but two steps into our hike and I feel alive again.
And J gets to be the paleontologist, which is what he wants to be when he grows up.
And since it's about me. I booked another acting gig....Modern Family!! So excited.
I love that show.

It's Monday....what do I see?

More family photoshoots! Love them.
I'm working hard on finishing them but here is a peek of one.
They had a tire swing in their backyard and now I want one too. Not for my kids but for myself so I can do this too....

It's Monday....what do I see?

More family photos! I love these kind of photography days. I think they may just be my favorite. And I love this family. We go back far. Wendy and I knew each other when marriage, kids and snotty noses were not part of our everyday life. Yet here we are. Grown ups. Or so we pretend to be.

It's Monday....what do I see?

It's family sessions season!
People are wanting to get their
holiday pictures done and I love doing them.
If you sign up with me--it's a play-date in action.
And these siblings. I adore them.
My fave moment during the shoot-- I was laying on the ground photographing the older one and the younger one jumped on my back and gave me a big hug.
I laughed so hard. I think I may have looked like a bean bag. Cozy, warm and squishy.

It's Monday.....what do I see?

My brother, Jared, has Down Syndrome.
I love him so much so seeing J bond with him is important to me.
After Jared left from his most recent trip I was driving J to school and he asked me:
"Mommy--Uncle JiJay is different. He's a grown up but he's like a kid, right?"
Yes sweetie, I responded.
"Mommy...Uncle, Jijay is a grown up, but he'll never drive a car, right?"
Yes sweetie, I responded."
"Mommy....I miss Uncle Jijay. He's special. I love him with all my heart."
I looked in my rearview mirror and said to him, "I love him with all my heart too."

J popped his thumb back into his mouth and stared out the window. I stared at J long and hard. I wanted to jump over the carseat and squeeze him with love.
(Don't worry Mom. I was at a stop sign and yes I pay attention to the road when I drive.)

Here is a peek of their relationship....before bedtime.

It's Monday....what do I see?

Halloween!!!! How could I not post kids in costumes?
J's school had a Halloween parade and the kids made the costumes. It's so fun!
J's class were scarecrows and witches. My son would not paint his nose black, but he did wear his hat for the whole parade! What an accomplishment for him. I still wonder how he is my child sometimes. When I was 4 years old--everyday was dress up. I would be a nurse one day, a princess another. We had a costume box in our playroom. Perhaps that's where I went wrong. I don't have the costume box. Must. Get. Costume. Box.









And of course on Sunday we went trick or treating with one of J's best friend from school. Oh my gosh did J have a blast. They had as much fun giving out candy as they did receiving it.
And L. L did have a costume. I promise you. He was a french painter with a beret and a little mustache which lasted all of 30 seconds. I didn't even get a picture. Oh well.
He was running up and down the sidewalk laughing so hard at everything. He worked this Halloween so hard that he slept until 8:15 AM the following morning. Perhaps I should take him trick or treating every night!

It's Monday....what do I see?

If you had been here with us at the Pumpkin Patch--this is what the conversation would have been like.


"MOM! I have an idea. Instead of pumpkins, let's go on the train ride."


Pumpkin patches are awesome because of the train ride.


"You look this way, I"ll look that way." (How awesome did Henry do on this photo!?)


"Where's J going?"


"I'm going to move one of these pumpkins. I will."


"I can pick one up. I can"


"OR I can ROLL the pumpkin"


"OR, you can just pick up one of these itty-bitty ones."


"Enough pumpkins. Train rides and cars oh my!"


"Let's go!" (My sweet brother visiting me from FL)


"Cars, trains, pumpkins....I'm here for the farm-fresh corn."


CORN!

It's Monday....what do I see?

PUMPKINS. I feel like Halloween just sprung up and literally scared me. Where did September go, let alone August?

Here is my Pumpkin Patch picture. It was raining and my kids were running in opposite directions....
More to come, I promise. For tonight...enjoy this one. After running around, jumping on hay and sliding down dirty slides my J was tuckered out.

It's Monday....what do I see?

The Giving Tree
by Shel Silverstein



A couple of nights ago for story time "J" picked this story to read.
I open the book and it says:
Sinterklaas--5 december 1981
To: Eva
The pages were full of the smells of my childhood home.

I finish and J says, "The poor tree. It has no more branches."
I nodded--too choked up, even though I thought I could read it this time without having a wave of emotions hit me.

The next day we went on a spontaneous family walk. (Love those!)



And J all of a sudden runs over to a tree stump.




He pats the stump. "Hello tree" He sits on it. He sings while he stands on it.
He runs his car over it.












And then he tells the tree we are going to keep walking...

AND THE TREE WAS HAPPY.

As was I.