park play

she will always be my first

Exposure Time: 1/320 sec
Exposure Program: Manual
ISO Speed Rating: 320
Lens Aperture: f/2.2
Lens: 35mm (focal length equivalent 56mm on my crop factor camera)
6:06pm:  The sun is setting behind her.  The light in her eyes is the reflected light from the sky behind me.  I am trying to learn from the exposure info of my photos and others.  If it helps you, I'll post this info from time to time. :) Just let me know...

a girl & her swing

Dad fixed her caterpillar swing last weekend. She can't get enough pushing. Sweet girl wanted to swing forever which worked out great because I wanted to talk on the phone. Win, win.

rest time

I have been trying to include more "story" in my pictures. It is very common for me to get too close with my camera and miss details that tell story. I love that this photo includes her book, her favorite blanket, and her bunny/body pillow (that is dressed up in sister's top). This photo is a treasure for me.

At 7 years old, you can not call it naptime. But there will be rest time in my house...for mom! On our home school days, our big girls have quiet time in their rooms for about an hour after lunch. I get an hour to recharge.

a favorite from today

the birthday date

My husband has plenty of pressure around my birthday.  It's the day after Valentine's (today actually).  There always has to be some thought put into the birthday/Valentine's plans.  I don't ever expect amazing plans, but I would be lying if I didn't say I like them!

Last Friday we had our sweet date.  It had a grand start because we had kids dropped off by early afternoon.  Sweet!  And at the start of our venture he handed me an envelope...looked like this...

There were 4 envelopes total.  I chose tea @ the Steeping Room, an Italian restaurant downtown, a drink at a coffee shop (where we had our first date), and movie at home.  Perfect.

My guy with his cookie.  He likes chocolate.  And he (surprisingly) liked the tea we drank too.

Here he is handing me another envelope.  Doesn't my birthday cupcake look good?

When we went to the Steeping Room, I convinced him to take me into Anthropologie (he said okay if we go in the Apple Store :).  In Anthropologie he picked up this book and checked out the chapter titled, "How to Woo with Flair."  I told him he didn't need the book. ;)

I can't wait to share what my bday present was!  But that's for another post.

I went to her Valentine's program at school today. It was a sweet performance, but my favorite part was the look on her face as she ran to give me this at the end. She is a loving little girl and I adore being on the receiving end. :)

my daughter took these

I was blessed by these 2 photos this morning.  My 5 year old took them of us.  Didn't she do great?!  I love our morning cuddle time.  On our home school days we ease into our day with pj's and snuggles (and coffee!).  I love these things.

This is what home school at our house looked like today.
 Lovely, isn't it?
 It is hard to get our work done efficiently with the little munchkin around.

warming up, after playing in the snow

This is what having a conversation with her looks like. She's becoming quite the conversationalist and she has all kinds of opinions! :)

The days left in her crib are numbered.  She was sleeping on her pillow pet in her "blue bed" (as she likes to call it...since blue is by far her favorite color).  This was the day that she decided to pray at dinnertime for the first time.  It blew us all away to hear her little 3 sentence prayer.  There are very few baby moments left.

On the very same day as the photo above, I witnessed this.  On our home school day we read a lesson together about Jesus washing the feet of His disciples.  My oldest and I had a discussion about how Jesus  illustrated how much He loved and cared for them by this humble act.  (Something that hit me while teaching this...the love that Jesus displays for His disciples couldn't have been simple and easy since they made so many mistakes & didn't always trust Him.  A little like parenting?)

When daddy got home from work, they were eager to wash his feet.  He couldn't say no to such an offer.

I feel like I have to give one little sidenote, before what I share makes you think that my kids are super-spiritual.  The rewarding moment of a day like this is...my kids rarely have moments like this!  I saw this day as a rare, but encouraging day.  It was evident that God was showing Adam and I something He was up to.  And I am grateful.