This hangs in my daughter's room

If only wishing made it so!

After all she is already a little Diva.

And she is already mowing the lawn!

Has anyone found the secret to making time stand still or at least slow down?

*Print from Sarah Jane Studios.

More from the spring photo shoot

I told you there were more!  This shoot was so much fun.

For some reason Asher took the idea of looking cute for pictures to mean crazy poses usually including a fight stance.  Jackson took the term, "look in the lens" very literal. I love it!  Those are my boys and I want to bottle them up right now and keep them like this forever!

Me

A few months ago I signed up for a photography course. I just saw FREE and so I signed on. It was only afterward that I noticed that it was a self portrait course. I read all the info, but I never did the assignment. I really didn't feel the need to take a picture of me. Finally one day, (months after the assignments were due) I noticed the beautiful light streaming through my window, and I was itching to use my camera. The boys were away at a friend's house and Lily was sleeping, so I decided to take a crack at those self portraits. Here's the thing. The assignment isn't done until you share your images so I am posting them here.



Okay fine, here they are a little bigger.
One thing that I found shocking as I looked through these pictures was how much I look like my mom and sister. I know, I should look like them, but honestly I have never thought that we looked alike. I always thought Jordan and I looked so different and neither of us looked like mom. But in these pictures I find that is not true. This not a bad thing. They are two beautiful and amazing women. I am proud to have them as my family and I find it fun to see the family resemblance.

What do you think? Do you see it?

(side note: this is one my sister's paintings from a recent show.  They are amazing!  check them all out here.)

Daddy issues

I don't have any!  I have to say, I am the luckiest girl in the world.  I honestly could not have asked for a better dad.  I realize more and more everyday how lucky I was to have Doug Child as my dad.  He taught me do much through both words and his own actions.  He was always so supportive of anything any of his six kids did.  When I was in ballet, he learned about ballet, when my brother started flying so did he.  When my sister was on the swim team he didn't miss a race.  I always felt like my dad was genuinely interested in my life and what I was doing.  But most important, I felt loved.  I just knew he loved me.  That is really all a girl needs.my dad and baby me, and adult me.
I am lucky enough to come from a legacy of great fathers.  My Grandpa Fred was one of those men where there really aren't words.  He was just good.  Everyone knew it.  Everyone felt it and everyone in his life is better because of it.  Grandpa Fred is my Mom's dad, but my dad has always said he is the dad he is due in large part to the influence of Fred Dawson.  Truly a great man.

Grandpa Fred.
And then there is my man.  I could go into detail.  I would be writting all day.  I would bore you or say too much.  I will just say that he still takes my breath away.  Just thinking about how amazing he has been as a husband, and a father, sometimes I really can't breath.  Seriouly, the best father ever.  He loves our kids so much, they are so lucky to have him.  Those of you that know us, or have read this blog for awhile, know a little of our struggles to have our kids.  It has been more taxing on us then we can really say, and yet here we are, stronger for it.  Wiser for it. And dare I say, grateful for it.  The love and appreciation we have for our children cannot me quantified.  We knowing that our children are a gift, they are miracles.  I can't have been easy to live with all these year, and yet he not only bears it, but guess what, I think he really loves me.  Craziness and all.  And seriously, you should see him with our kids.  There never was a more loving dad. this picture has been posted before, but just look at this dad and his kids. It just makes me smile.

Spring

There are 100s of picture from this photo shoot. I will be working my way through pictures from this shoot with my kids for weeks, but I wanted to share what I have already. Lily wasn't terribly cooperative, but she gave me a few shinning moments and the boys were amazing and so darn good looking!

The kids on the tracks

These are pictures taken at the tail end of our spring photo shoot. We got a few keepers and I had fun messing around with some urban looking actions. My kids are my favorite subject to photograph.

I can't stop laughing at these pictures. The only way she would let Mitch put her down is if she was holding his phone and a rock. And love the way her sunglasses make her nose all smooshed.
Love, love my boys! Look at how cute they are? Oh, I mean handsome!