My heart is heavy this morning......

Because my mom is hurting

and someone she loves very much is hurting.

Her husband Paul had a heart attack early this morning

and is now in the hospital in critical condition.

Paul brought new life into my mom's life

and showered her with a love rarely seen in today's world.

He's a gentle, kind man who loves his family very much.


If you pray,
please remember Paul and my mom
in your prayers for the next couple of days.
The next 48 hours are crucial for showing improvement.




Mom and Paul are christians and they know that God is in control.
They know that He gives and takes away life
and they know that He comforts those who need comforting
and wraps His arms around the grieving.
I wish I could be there in person to wrap my arms around them too.

Thank you for your prayers.

Check out number 18!!

That's my boy!!

Or as Zachary screamed from the stands during a particularly awesome play,

"That's my brother, baby!!"

Michael is starting defense this year for 8th grade football.

He LOVES it and is having so much fun being a part of the team.

Look at him about to wrap up number 37!

Woot!

The Wildcats had their first game yesterday and won in overtime!

I just love watching him play!

We all do.

Zach, who is usually the one on the field

is video taping every game for David.

He got an awesome play on tape from a scrimmage the team did on Tuesday.

We are trying to figure out how to transfer the video onto the internet

so we can share it here.

I think we are missing a cord or something.

We'll figure it out, and then you'll all get to share in the excitement!

You go, Michael!!!

We are all so proud of you!!!!

A Steal of a Deal!!!!

(Click on the above photo to see it larger.)

I just made this AD for Bren's school PTA handbook

and I thought I'd pass the offer on to my local blog readers.

If you are a military family and would like to schedule a session,

send me an e-mail for my special military family pricing.

I have some exciting seasonal mini-sessions coming up soon at great all inclusive prices!

Get those halloween costumes ready!

*

And congratulations to those of you who guessed

BABY-GO-RETRO!

She is the fabulous designer of the

colorful sets featured below!

Go visit her site and treat a little girl in your life to a fun new outfit for Fall!

Need a Little Color in Your Life?

Well, you've come to the right place!!!

How's this for your dose of completely adorable today?

We did this shoot for a dear friend this afternoon.
She's just putting together her Fall line
so I wont tell you who she is yet until she gets the whole line up on her site!
Let this serve as a "sneak peek teaser "
for what I'm sure will be a fabulous showing!



I'll be back soon to announce the mystery designer!



I love this shot!
It's so kitschy and cute!
I'm thinking of enlarging it and putting it in Bren's bedroom.

This pose was Madison's idea who tagged along (reluctantly) on this shoot,

but who ended up having some really great ideas!

Another fave!

The "glasses" are Madison's.

Go on, admit it!

If you were a child of the 80's

you probably had a pair of glasses with plain plastic or glass lenses

that served no purpose whatsoever except to make you look

"like totally Gnarly, dude!" right?

Well, I sure did....fashionista that I am!

For a while there, I never went anywhere without them

or my swatch watch, of course!

I wish I could dig up an old photo of me wearing them.

I might work on that this week!

See, they even make five year olds look like

"totally tubular, for sure!"

Getting any hints of who this totally rad designer is?

Leave a guess in my comment box and
check back soon to see if you are right!

Feeling the love...........

A dear friend of mine, Lisa of the little things, sent me this last week.

The idea is that if you receive this you are admired

and should find other blogs that you admire to give it to.

I've not had much time lately to visit some of my favorite blogs, but I will list a few here that are such good reads that I cannot pass up the chance for you to read them too!

First is Kelly of Love Well.

I met Kelly through Beth Moore's blog.

Actually I found her blog though Beth Moore's comment section and enjoyed it so much that I left a comment.

She then visited my blog and left a comment.

And it's just gone on from there.

I love Kelly's writing style and her outlook on life

and I think if we ever met in person, we'd be great friends.

Second is Big Mama.

Same thing here. I found her through Beth Moore's blog.

I love her sense of humor and all of the cute stories about her daily life.

Third is Boo Mama.

This is the blog that inspired me to join in

for the American Idol live blogging that I did last season.

Her blog is hilarious too, so go read a bit if you get a chance.

Forth is Pioneer Woman.

This wildly popular blog is so full of stories, photographs,

recipes and contest that you could lose yourself for weeks!

You must read her love story called High Heels to Tractor Wheels!

I found her when I was in bed for 2 months after my ankle injury.

Her humor and stories kept me occupied when HGTV

just didn't do it for me anymore.

Fifth is Portabellopixie.

Sandy's entire blog is eye candy!

Just clicking on her link and seeing the gorgeous color she uses

makes me happy!

She is mega talented and has designed her own fabric line

carried by Michael Miller.

Not only is she super creative in all things fabric,

but she's a very sweet gal!

I'm so blessed to have such talented friends!

Sixth is Pear Blossom.

If I had to pick a photography mentor, it would be Shannon.

I absolutely love her style and creativity!

Some day I would love to be as good behind the camera as she is!

Check out the stuff she did for Matilda Jane.

It's amazing!

There are lots and lots of other blogs that I check in on,

but if I listed them all you'd be clicking links for days.

There is just so much talent out there!!

And while we are talking about feeling the love.........

This is my son Zach. He's almost 17.

sigh.

He's awesome,

challenging, frustrating,

fun, hilarious,

talented, lazy,

motivated, conflicted,

confident, head-strong,

loving, athletic,

dedicated,

quirky, refreshing,

mind boggling, smart,

manipulative, selfish,

strong, needy,

giving, sweet,

harsh, proud,

insecure, loyal,

enthusiastic, opinionated

and

so many other adjectives that describe boys on the verge of becoming men

and kinda in limbo between the two.

He's all those things and more,

but he's definitely not one to tell me what he really feels about me as a mom,

unless it's that I am totally out of touch with reality and have no understanding of what it's like to be a teen and certainly don't have any good advice that he needs to hear!

Completely normal teen age behavior.

But this morning, I got a glimpse into what he might really think.

He had to write a short description of his family members for one of his teachers.

Here's what he said about me:

My mom is a professional photographer.

She loves to take pictures and edit them.

She is a life long soccer-mom

and she never misses a game.

She is 38.

It may not be moonlight and roses, but let me tell you why this was important to me.

I was driving to Michael's practice on Wednesday like a mad woman.

I certainly don't have to, but I go to all of his practices.

I bring my folding chair and a water bottle out there and enjoy every second of it.

Mondays and Wednesdays are particularly crazy though because we are so pressed for time.

Bren gets off the bus at 3:45.

We jump right in the van and drive to the middle school to watch Michael's practice

which ends at 5:00.

We get home by 5:30 and I throw dinner together

and jump back in the van to go to Bren's soccer practice

which starts at 6:30.

We get home by 8:00 and I rush to get Bren bathed and settled into bed by 8:45.

While I was driving to practice this past Wednesday,

I was thinking about how crazy things are during this time in our lives.

It's especially challenging while David is deployed because I'm it.

There isn't anyone else to help ease the pressure of our schedule.

Those thoughts quickly turned to thoughts of pure thankfulness that I get to do this!

It's an awesome priviledge to have the flexibility

and desire to be able to be there physically for my kids.

When I see Michael make a play at practice and look over to see if I saw it,

it just melts my heart

and it makes me so thankful that I am there

and that I get to give him a thumbs up to let him know that I think he's the best!

All too soon there will be no more practices and no more games to cheer for.

I keep this crazy schedule because I love my kids.

I run around like crazy during sports season because I want to be there for them.

I wouldn't dream of having it any other way.

So, the fact that Zach,

who has also been the one playing the sport with me on the sideline in the past,

notices that I don't miss a game (or practice),

means so much to me.

In my heart I read it as:

My mom is a professional photographer.

She loves to take pictures and edit them.

She is a life long soccer-mom

and I know that she loves me because she is there for me,

She sees my successes and cheers

She sees my failures and comforts me

She takes pride and joy in watching me do what I love.

She never misses a game.

She is 38.

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails....

Ah, little boys!

Tiny, precious, little newborn boys.

Life holds no sweeter treasure than

the tiny folds of a newborn ear,

or the plump little toes of newborn feet!

I had the pleasure of photographing

Baby J yesterday at his home.

His Daddy serves onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln

along with my husband David.

He is such a sweet little guy.

Patient through an hour and a half long session and very easily soothed.

Mommy and Daddy are truely blessed!

Thank you for letting me capture these precious but fleeting moments!

The Beautiful Game...........

As if the first day of Kindergarten was not enough excitement for one weekend,

Bren also had her first soccer game on Saturday.

Proudly decked out in pink and purple from head to toe,

the Ponytail Posse hit the field for the first time against the Cheetahs.

Bren, "little number 4", had so much fun!

She was a bit more timid than I thought she'd be,
but she definitely had her head in the game.
She stayed right up with the ball
and didn't pick flowers or hunt lady bugs
like I've seen many sweet little girls do at this age level.


She got her foot on the ball once or twice,

but definitely wasn't as aggressive as we all thought she'd be.

During a break she told me that she was afraid

to get her foot in the middle of the swarm

because she was afraid she'd get hurt.
I'm sure that her confidence level will go up the more she gets into the action.

She worked up a sweat though and ran her little heart out!

Half time pep talk.

I LOVE this shot!

Bren got to do a kick off at the start of the second half.


And she got to do a goal kick too.



Everytime they had a break,
she'd come over to her fans for a hug and some high fives.



Go Ponytail Posse!!!!

And then of course,

everyone knows that one of the best parts of soccer

is the after game oranges!!

First Day Stories....

3:30 finally arrived!!!!

Madison and I waited excitedly at the bus stop along with some other Kindergarten moms.

After a few minutes we heard the bus roaring around the curve and up the hill.

Then we saw her waving as if she was on a float in a parade!

She was sitting by her neighborhood friend Miss K

who goes to afternoon Kindergarten half days.

Look at that face!
She's so proud at having completed her first day of Kindergarten.
I asked her all about her day as soon as we got in the door.
She told me about doing a craft and cutting out the lion for the hat she's wearing.
She remembered to bring her lunch bag, backpack and jacket home.
She had recess and learned that when the bell rings, it means that it's time to come back inside.
She said that she likes her teacher and had a great day!