Kings & Wild Things

a few snapshots from this rainy / windy morning

to prove that we are alive (hah!)

and to serve as a reminder to savor the littlest of things

like these two

and their paper crowns leftover from yesterday's homeschooling*

*we made the crowns a part of a "K is for King" lesson and they were SUPER easy to make:

just cut a zigzag pattern down the middle of a sheet of construction paper, 

then line up the two pieces side-by-side & tape / glue where the two ends meet

let the kiddos decorate then wrap around their heads to measure crown size

once you've determined how big the crown needs to be, use tape to secure the ends

sit back and make dinner in peace while hours of imaginative play ensue.

***

p.s. i've written countless blog posts in my head lately & have been stockpiling recipes to share

hopefully soon we'll figure out enough of a groove for me to post more consistently

until then

hope you are all well!!! 

(assuming anybody still reads this!)

Christmas in July

because it's July 25th

and i still haven't sorted through most of my pictures from Christmas

here are a few from our Christmas morning

when my babies were such...babies!!!

ah...these are sweet, sweet memories

i feel so blessed to have them frozen in time

this mama's heart = warmed & melted through and through!

realizations + catching up

soooo....

it's been almost 3 months since i've updated this little blog of mine

and i can't really say it was accidental this time

although i didn't exactly plan on it being such a long break

and i don't promise it's quite over yet

you see, right around the beginning of april

i realized something

i was overbooked, overwhelmed, and overtired

all

the

time

so i thought about what i could take off my plate

like maybe just pare down to only doing things i absolutely love doing

and i realized that all of the things i'd piled into my life 

were good things

and i was quite thankful for that

but then i had another realization

sometimes you have to cut out the good things to focus on the best things

so, i went on an instagram-vacation,

a blog-vacation,

and majorly cut back on facebook

in order to focus on my real life going on around me

to sit on the floor and read book after book with my kiddos

(who seem to be growing up at mega-speed!!!)

to pick away at some personal photography projects

to travel

to sit at my kitchen table late at night,

chatting about kids and life and Jesus

to more regularly spend time with Jesus

to go to bed at a reasonable hour

to wake up with the sun, like i've always loved doing

(i know, i'm crazy)

and it was good

i plan on eventually adding some of the things i cut out back into my life

but not quite yet

i still have a few projects to wrap up

but i do miss blogging and instagramming and connecting via social media

and let's be honest, the creative outlet is a bonus

but until then, i'll try to check in now and again

hopefully more regularly than once every three months!

it may just be to throw up a bunch of pictures without many words

but hey, it's better than nothing, right? 

that being said, let's get that trend started with some pictures from my birthday

(already over two weeks ago...whoops!)

i spent the day enjoying Daniel's family in NC

taking the kids tubing in the lake for the first time

fishing off the dock

and getting some sweet cards their "Glammie" (read: grandma) helped them make for me

Glammie also took the kiddos for us so that we could enjoy a date night out

(for the second time in two weeks - that's gotta be a record since the kids were born!)

i chose the Harvest Moon Grille for my birthday dinner; 

this cute little cafe style restaurant

that serves local, seasonal food (all from within 100 miles of their doors!)

and boy was it good

(for the record, we both ordered their pulled pork sandwich, 

and they accommodated my gluten intolerance without skipping a beat

by offering to sub out my bun for an in-house-made corn tortilla.

then, when they found out it was my birthday 

they brought me the most amazing smore for dessert,

complete with freshly made ginger cookies, dark chocolate and an in-house-made marshmallow)

seriously, if you're in the area make sure you visit this place

not only was the food outstanding, the service was wonderful

and as it turned out, the restaurant is located in the cutest little town

seriously.

check. it. out.

after we got home and put the kiddies to bed, we slipped out onto the dock to snap a few photos

(since i was silly enough to leave my camera at home for our date), 

catch a couple more fish

watch a magical lightning bug show,

and call it a night

pink milk and pigtails

i often feel like i'm up to my neck in "unprocessed" photos

you know, ones that just get offloaded onto a hard drive without even deleting the baddies?

(let alone, picking favorites, any editing that might be involved, etc)

tell me i'm not the only one who does this?  anyone?

ok, maybe it's just me

but the point is, i'm trying to find ways to get better at it

("it" = keeping up with all the digital images i'm drowning in)

so that i can actually enjoy the pictures i take

and maybe, just maybe, even print some

i suppose i could just stop taking pictures altogether

that would definitely lessen the amount of work involved

but that's not going to happen any time soon

(obviously...have you met me?  i still remember the look of shock in my father-in-law's eyes when we travelled overseas together a couple years ago and he heard the speed at which my shutter was going!)

so instead i'm just making an effort to get through my photos, month by month

so that they are a little more manageable (baby steps, am i right?)

and who knows, maybe i'll start posting "a month in photos" for each one

as motivation to get it done

all that being said, it's halfway through february and i'm still working on january

(hah!  typical!)

in my defence, the photography business has kicked up a bit lately, so i've been tied up with that

(hooray!)

plus the girlies were sick for a month straight, basically

which always switches us into more-cuddles-less-stuff-getting-done mode

but, speaking of being sick, here are a few photos from one of our sick mornings at home

complete with "pink milk" 

(aka steamed milk with one pump of raspberry syrup...you're welcome)

no shortage of sass in this house... :)

sisterly conversation (trust be baby girls, cultivate that relationship - it never gets old!) 

k mom, we're over this whole paparazzi thing...! 

hopefully i'll have more to share with you soon!

settling in

well, 

it's just over half way through September and we are finally starting to settle from our move

i'm so excited to share our new little space with you

whether that's through my feeble attempts at home decor

(seriously, not my forte)

or through the little things we'll be doing around here:

cooking

mothering

exploring

living

i've not taken my "fancy camera" out of it's case since we moved

except to second shoot that wedding i mentioned last post

but i have taken a few snapshots on my phone

so without further a do, here's a glimpse at what life's been like the past couple weeks:

(if you follow me on instagram, you've already seen these, so this is for the rest of you!)

our new view

books unpacked = a morning with dr seuss!

produce bought!  another "milestone"!

gotta take a break from unpacking...beach day!  (and beach hair  ;) )

girlies painting in the backyard = unpacking in peace

whoops, guess i got too into unpacking - girlie got into my mascara while i wasn't looking

rainy day people watching...another distraction while mama unpacks

finally starting to cook meals in our new home!!!

(this would be Sheena's recipe - I just used sheep feta instead of goat cheese)

...and that about wraps it up

happy weekend, folks!

beach days are the best days

happy friday, friends!

how was your week?

ours was great:

lots of playtime outside

(thanks to the {mostly} gorgeous weather we've been having)

a bit of baking 

(one of the girlies' favorite activities lately)

not that much sleeping

(story of my life - hah!)

and not one, but two beach days

(gotta take advantage of 'em while the weather's agreeable!)

and, as always, i had my handy-dandy phone in hand

to document my little explorers running wild and free...just the way it should be

honestly, guys, the world around us is so beautiful, i can hardly stand it

but i'll quit rambling and let the pictures do the talking