Hey Girl ...

Whatcha thinkin' about?

 

{Photo entered in the May I Heart Faces challenge for the theme "Hey Girl"}

Happiness is ...

There's a song that I learned years ago from the musical, "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" called Happiness Is. It talks about the sweet and simple things that bring us joy:

HAPPINESS IS FINDING A PENCIL.
PIZZA WITH SAUSAGE
TELLING THE TIME.
HAPPINESS IS LEARNING TO WHISTLE.
TYING YOUR SHOE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.
HAPPINESS IS PLAYING THE DRUM IN YOUR OWN SCHOOL BAND.
AND HAPPINESS IS WALKING HAND IN HAND.

HAPPINESS IS TWO KINDS OF ICE CREAM.
KNOWING A SECRET.
CLIMBING A TREE.
HAPPINESS IS FIVE DIFFERENT CRAYONS.
CATCHING A FIREFLY.
SETTING HIM FREE.
HAPPINESS IS BEING ALONE EVERY NOW AND THEN.
AND HAPPINESS IS COMING HOME AGAIN.

HAPPINESS IS MORNING AND EVENING,
DAY TIME AND NIGHT TIME TOO.
FOR HAPPINESS IS ANYONE AND ANYTHING AT ALL
THAT'S LOVED BY YOU.

HAPPINESS IS HAVING A SISTER.
SHARING A SANDWICH.
GETTING ALONG.
HAPPINESS IS SINGING TOGETHER WHEN DAY IS THROUGH,
AND HAPPINESS IS THOSE WHO SING WITH YOU.
HAPPINESS IS MORNING AND EVENING,
DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME TOO.

FOR HAPPINESS IS ANYONE AND ANYTHING AT ALL
THAT'S LOVED BY YOU.

Love this song. If I could add one line to it, it would be the story of what brings joy to our house. Because happiness for us right now ...

... is a new baby brother:



Captured from my hospital bed, as my 4 other kiddos were just coming in to meet the newest member of the family. True Joy.

{Photo entered in the March I Heart Faces challenge for the theme "Happiness"}

Love.

Because ... I love this photo.
She loves that bunny.
And I love that we get to visit the bunny at my friend's house ... without having to take care of the bunny.
THAT is the best way to have a pet :).

Standing in the Shadow

This week's I Heart Faces challenge is all about embracing the shadow. While I don't enter as many of these challenges as I used to, I still love thinking about the different themes and seeing all of the ways people capture them. When I started thinking about shadows I immediately thought of this photo I snapped while at After Dark last September (hands down the BEST learning experience I have ever had!). This was such a fun photo for me to take because it took me so completely out of my comfort zone. Bright sunny day. Middle of the day. Model in the middle of that bright sun. Definitely not the typical combination for a photo shoot!

One of the mentors is just out of camera on my right holding up an sb-900 speedlight. And I am crouched down on the pavement ... right in this guy's shadow which you can see spreading in front of him ... to capture the look without any lens flare. Oooo it was fun. Seeing it again reminds me how much I enjoy experimenting and trying new things. Definitely makes me want to step out of my comfort zone again!

Ten tiny stripey toes

I love
these socks.
those toes.
that baby girl.

I Heart Faces: RED

I have far too many favorite pictures from my recent v-day shoot I did with my kiddos ... all of them featuring lots of RED, which is the theme for this week's I Heart Faces challenge ... but I kept coming back to this one of my little girl. There's something about it that just makes me want to scoop her right up and shower her with kisses. See so many more pictures from this shoot {at this link}!

I Heart {Smilin'}

This kid is the king of smiling. Soooo happy with life. Giggles and laughs his way through the day. It was definitely hard to pick a "favorite smile" for this week's I Heart Faces entry, but I just kept coming back to this one. Not only do I love his sweet little grin, I love the memory of taking his picture this day ... trying out some new techniques with a little off camera flash ... a beautiful sunny day (hard to come by in Seattle!) ... just feeling a sense of pure happiness. And that thought ... makes me smile too :)

Mine on Monday: Paper.

Today's "Mine on Monday" post is doubling up with this week's I Heart Faces paper challenge. It may just be a snapshot, but it captures time, which is something I have really been trying to do lately with my own family. I have found that I spend so much energy trying to get the *perfect* lighting, outfit, pose, etc, that often I am missing the everyday moments that define my life. So this week's picture is just that ~ a snapshot of what I see every day:

My son has been absolutely OBSESSED with making these paper thingies. Cootie Catchers, Magic Fortune ... whatever they are called. All I know is that no loose piece of paper in the house is safe. At least it's good for my self-esteem, because I now hear "You're Awesome!" and "You Rock!" several times a day :).

Surprise!

This should really be titled "surprise!" because I'm finally blogging again after my month (okay, umm ... month and a half ... whoops) vacation. But I'm BACK with sooo much to share in the days to come. Like the over 1500 pictures I took in the month of July alone. Okay, I won't share all 1500, but let's just say I've been busy!

ACTUALLY it's the theme of this week's I Heart Faces challenge. I haven't entered one of these in a while but I'm very excited about this week's theme because this is one of my all-time favorite photos I have ever taken:

The crazy thing? This is from my first portfolio-building shoot I ever did, back in September 2008. Amazing to fast forward and see the journey I have been on since then!

And no ... I still don't know what I said that was so shocking ... but this expression is priceless!