I heart faces photo challenge | summer fun

Doug and I traveled to Downtown Cincinnati this summer to take our kiddos to Sawyer Point. We had forgotten completely that a new park had opened up and there was a kid-friendly water attraction there. We weren't prepared: no suit, no towels and no camera (I feel ashamed!).

At first, this momma wasn't going to let her biggest-little go splashing in the fountain. I mean--can you imagine the mess in the car?! THEN, I brought myself back to when I was kid--part of the fun of summer is to do things you aren't really supposed to do--like get soaking wet in your clothes. Spontaneity is the motto of Summer--as I reminded myself of this I hollered at our little man and told him to go nuts! He had an absolute blast and guess what, his clothes dried and there was no mess to deal with in the car.

Since I didn't have my camera, I had to rely on i-phone! Excuse the lower quality, but for iphoneography, I was pretty proud of the way it turned out. I heart faces is doing a photo challenge titled "Summer Fun" and well, to me, this photo defines it.

Make sure that you join in on the fun! Click the button to the left and find out how you too and define what your summer was like!

Have a happy day!

I Heart Faces | Enjoying Life

This month's challenge over at the I Heart Faces blog is right up my alley: enjoying life. This is my motto! I believe that enjoying life comes in two forms: the every day and the extraordinary. Being able to "enjoy life" is quite easy--you open yourself up to all that life has to offer. This makes enjoying the every day, spectacular; and the extraordinary, monumental.

The photo I chose to submit is of my sister and her family when they welcomed their second child into the world. It was amazing to be able to photograph my nephew as he met his baby sister, but even more amazing to see the overwhelming, extraordinary joy my sister had during this moment...

As the guest photographer, Kelle Hampton, says on her blog: you have to suck the marrow out of life and I believe my twin has done just that!

Home with a sick kiddo

My oldest decided to get a freak fever before bed last night so that pretty much dictated how our day would be. After juggling schedules, my hubby and I were able to work out a plan for who would watch the little guy.

I was able to get the afternoon shift and am currently watching him lounge on the couch, sucking on saltine crackers and drinking gaterade.

Having a child under the weather is never fun, and I certainly don't get enjoyment out of it, but what I do enjoy is that I have the opportunity to take care of him...

Some of the best childhood memories I have of my mom is when I was home from school. crackers, cola, and best of all--I got to snuggle up in my parent's bed. My mom would check on me, caress my hair, rub my back and totally placed my needs above all else. Even though I felt like completely poo, I always felt safe and comfortable knowing that my mom was there to take care of me.

I just hope I am that for Deacon. I hope he'll look back years from now and remember these times--even though being sick stinks--but it is a special time that I love having with him--to show him how much I truly love him.

I heart faces photo challenge | hugs and kisses

This week's photo challenge over at I heart faces is hugs and kisses. A very dear friend of mine got married not too long ago and even though I didn't photograph her wedding, I did bring my camera (it's kind of difficult to tell a photographer NOT to bring their camera!) This is one of the moments I was able to capture for them:

Want to part take in this fun photo challege? head on over to iheartfaces.com and enter before 9 pm tonight!