Letter to Our Sons

Every month our lovely group of mom-togs collaborates on a project called “Letters to Our Children”.  I have found it to be a fabulous way to remember exactly what each child  is like at that exact moment in time, through pictures and through writing.  I love this personal project!  I ended up missing July’s letter which I think I will make up for at a later date, but here is my August letter to our oldest child, Harrison.

Dear Brave Boy,

This month you embark on a brave new journey into the big unknown of public school.  You are officially a Kindergarten student!!  All August we waited with anticipation to find out who your kindergarten teacher would be and your letter finally arrived announcing you would be with Mrs. Haller.  We have heard lovely things about her, and enjoyed meeting her at the Kindergarten Round-Up in the spring.  You have been so very excited about the whole process.  For Mommy it has been a little scary sending her baby out into the big world.  You officially spend more time in school now then you do awake at home {not counting sleep time}.  School, teachers & friends are about to become a major influence in your life but I pray that you become the influencer, letting your life and your Light shine brightly in public school.

The end of August brings lots of big changes…  Gone are the summer days of sleeping in, going to the beach & going camping.  We are slowly getting back into routine.  Pretty soon Rangers kids club will start at church.  You have been very excited by the fact that this year you will get to earn a lot of badges for your vest!  I pray this year your faith & foundation is solidified for yourself, not just by what you think Mom, Dad or Sunday School teachers want to hear.  May the truth of Jesus’ sacrifice take deep root in your heart and you life.  You have been wanting to be baptized for sometime but I want to make sure that you understand why.  Maybe this year you will truly be ready.

We have been discussing skating lessons for the winter since you were too young to play football this year.  You think you really want to play hockey, so I suppose we need to start with learning how to skate!  I pray all your dreams come true this year Little Man.  I thank God daily for grace required to be a good Mom, because I don’t always get it right.  Thank you for saying “I love you no matter what Mom” when I tell you I messed up.  You make me so proud!

I love you forever & a day my little World Changer!

xoxo,
Momma

Your next stop is Joanne’s blog, enjoy her lovely images and touching letter and please leave her some blog love!

Kids Were Here

When writing these monthly blog posts I can’t help but acknowledge how quickly time is flying by.  I’m excited to present to you the July edition of KIDS WERE HERE.  Enjoy our shares as we’ve captured the evidence of childhood.

*A special little note to all the Mothers/Photographers/Documentarians that I collaborate with every month… You ladies are amazing!  A lot of you work out of the home with demanding careers yet you pursue your passion of photography relentlessly.  Many of you are becoming masters of your craft and I am honored to call you friends.

Here is my camping version of Kids Were Here.

Please enjoy the beautiful images by Tara Shaia on the next blog.

Letters to our Sons

Welcome to our April Letters to Our Children blog circle!  I’ve teamed up with some amazing women, mothers & photographers to honor our children by writing them monthly letters, of course accompanied by beautiful images.  I am constantly amazed at the talent of these women, I know you will be too.  Thank you for joining us, we are glad you stopped by!

Kids Were Here

Welcome to the first installment of Kids Were Here.  We are a group of passionate friend, mothers & photographers who are setting out to document details of evidence that Kids Were Here. It is a fabulous idea introduced by the very talented and creative Ketti Photography.

“In the the moment is is easy to get frustrated with all the mess and clutter that results from living with children. This set reminds me how quickly it will all pass. One day the toys will be in totes no longer played with. I will miss this. I’m reminded to slow down. To not stress about it. My happiness is not dependant upon everything put back into place and a neat and tidy home.

One day we will have a wonderful reminder. Evidence left behind written upon our hearts and minds of our children. Photographs that will bring us back to this very day, when our kids were here.” -jude wood

You are invited to click through the blog circle and enjoy each photographer’s personal blog post with more photographic evidence that their ‘kids were here’.

Please enjoy!!

Please enjoy more Kids Were Here over at Songbyrd Photography!

Letters to Our Daughters - 6 photos »

P52 Week 9: Connection

After reading an inspiring blog post featured here, I determined to be in more photos with my family.  I want my kids to remember me, too!  Here is a sweet mini session that literally took us 10 minutes to take but produced images I will love forever.

Thank you for sharing in my photography journey with me!

Letters to Our Sons

I am quickly becoming attached to these Letters to Our Sons and Daughters.  I consider myself extremely blessed to belong to this blog circle of amazingly talented mothers/bloggers/photographers/friends.  Please join us as we attempt to capture our love for these little people with our words and images.

Dear Harrison,

You are definitely a born leader.  This is something I need to remind myself of every day.  You like to take charge, lead the way, make decisions and know the plan.  Sometimes I have to stop and remember that you are only 4-years-old.  This is a gift in your life and I love watching it develop.  I see so much of myself in you, I hope that’s ok.

Even though our days are busy, I absolutely cherish our reading/snuggle time before bed.  Everything is quiet and we whisper about our day.  This is the time when we laugh, tickle, tell jokes, pray and share.  I love to hear your thoughts.  More recently you have been asking me if you can marry me.  This makes my heart melt because I know it’s your own little way of expressing your big feelings.  I explain that I am married to Daddy and that one day God will introduce you to the very special girl that you are going to marry.  We pray for her often, and I love that.

If there is one thing that Daddy and I want you to know it’s that you are loved deeply and that we are very proud of you.  We adore the little gentleman that you are becoming.  We will always love you to the moon and back.

Love always,
Momma

Please read our next letter in the series by the fabulous Cori Gilkey of Be Who You Be Photography.

Letters to Our Sons

I am blessed to be part of an amazing group of women/mothers/photographers that have created a blog circle to share letters to our sons & daughters.  Thanks for reading and please remember to click on the link at the end of this post to read the next letter in the circle.  As always, thanks for reading.

Dearest Harrison,

I’m so excited to start writing these monthly letters to you.  It is my hope that you will love reading them just as much as I love writing them.  May they become one of your special treasures.

I don’t think a day goes by without me asking you if you could please stop growing so fast, or if you could shrink back into a baby.  You laugh like it’s the funniest joke ever, because even at 4 years old you understand how impossible it is.  It seems the days are passing faster than I can blink and I want to hold on to every. single. one.  You are already getting so tall and heavy that it is hard for me to pick you up, carry you or cuddle you like I used to, but I still try.  In a way this makes me sad but it mostly makes me happy because I love who you are right now and who you are becoming.

It amazes me daily the amount of knowledge you can soak up, and how quickly you do so.  You love attending pre-school and are already spelling, writing and doing basic math!  You often ask to do “works” at home which makes me so proud.  May you continue to be blessed with the desire to learn and may it never cease.

Your favorite things right now are superheroes, especially Batman and Iron Man.  I love seeing you rush in to save the day when you play with you little sister.  This is so much of who you are.  You are always eager to help, usually with a wonderful attitude, and with a spirit of excellence.  Daddy says you are a lot like me and that makes me very happy.

I loved you the moment you started to grow inside my tummy and I didn’t think I could possibly love you anymore, but I’m so grateful God can prove me wrong.  You are my precious, smart, talented, funny boy and I wouldn’t change anything about you.

I love you bunches today, and even more tomorrow.

Momma
xoxoxo

Please continue reading the Letters to Our Sons at LaShawn’s blog.

Winter Love

Since we have spent the last 6 years living in Texas, snow has really been a novelty for our children.  Here are a few shots of our son enjoying the fresh snowfall yesterday.

Thanks for viewing!  As always, constructive criticism & comments welcome.

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2/52 Laughter

The theme for our 52 week project this week is laughter.  I had a lot of fun trying to capture a few giggles with my littles for this theme.  We’ve had a hard week emotionally with Grandpa being very sick in the ICU, so the laughter was much needed and even a bit healing.

Thank for viewing, constructive criticism is always welcome.

This image was cropped and watermarked in LR but is otherwise SOOC.
ISO 100,  f 3.2,  1/1250 sec with 50 mm 1.8 prime lens