Sunday Snapshot: {Jude}

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Jude just turned 7. I'm still in denial about it. Jude, on the other hand, is not. He could not wait to celebrate his big day. Open his presents. Eat at Chick-fil-A. And just, well... be one year closer to a grown up. Happy 7th Birthday, big boy. I guess you getting bigger just means more of you to love. When you're ready to play along, be sure to visit here for the full scoop. To link up this week with your Sunday Snapshot, just copy the code under the Snapshot button and paste it into the body of your post where you’d like the button … [Read more...]

on my heart

Isabelle

November is National Adoption Month. And yesterday was Orphan Sunday. So the subject of adoption has been occupying a lot of my brain matter lately. As a momma to seven beloved children that were once considered orphans, adoption is often on my mind. But I've been reminded that I want my passion for adoption to be more than something that is on my heart and in my head... I want my life to be affected as well. I want to be changed. I want my life to look different because of all that God has revealed to me about His heart for the orphan. I had hoped to write … [Read more...]

Sunday Snapshot: {school pictures}

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Here they are. At least, a few of 'em. More to follow, when I manage to wrangle the older kids into a photo shoot. Since I'm doing school pictures my way, I figured I'd include a mini-interview, too. This way, when they are older and ask me for details about their childhood that I've long since forgotten, I can point them to this blog post. Multi-tasking at it's finest. Here's Jude. Mr. 1st grade and loving every minute of it. Mom: What is your favorite thing about being in 1st grade? Jude: Balancing clips on a popcicle stick. Because it's … [Read more...]

an outtake

boysfall

We're a little non-traditional around here. A few years ago I, once again, forgot it was 'school picture day'. And sent someone to school with unbrushed hair, or a not-picture-worthy shirt, or some other horrendous mom-crime that we moms unwittingly commit against our kids. It was then that I decided to forgo the traditional school picture forevermore. And I determined that instead I'd take my own 'school pictures', my way. I can't say that it's been a smashing success because, well... I'm the photographer. But I can say I've had fun in the process. And I've … [Read more...]

Sunday Snapshot: {autumn fest}

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Today was autumn fest in our little town. Despite the fact that the weather felt much more like summer than autumn, we attended. And had a blast. These were taken in the afternoon. I had to continually change my settings to account for the changing light conditions and I lost a lot of images due to poor exposure. Live and learn. I took these with my Nikon D90, 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. My settings for the first one were ISO 200 f/2.8 1/160 55mm. I edited them all in CS6 with Florabella Colorplay Perfect Color. If … [Read more...]

the deal

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A few weeks ago, Jude came to me and told me there was something he really wanted. So we looked online, and found the ones. Because there was no way I could say no to a boy in a wheelchair with casts up to his thighs, I ordered them. And yesterday, they arrived. Jude's casts came off one week ago. But he is really struggling with walking. More a fear of walking, and stretching that achilles tendon, than inability. So I figured I'd make him a deal. If he walked for me - there and back - the shoes would be his. And you can … [Read more...]

freedom

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Yesssss. Jude's casts came off yesterday. And he wanted to celebrate with a long-anticipated soak in the tub. Not surprisingly, a few of his younger siblings wanted to witness the event. Thank goodness for bubbles. I can only imagine how good it felt to soak the legs that have been stuck in casts for six weeks. But that sweet smile hinted at his joy. Now he has to relearn to walk. The doctors have suggested we let Jude set the pace, and that it could take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Knowing Jude, I'm going to bet on the short … [Read more...]

three little words…

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casts off today. And he can not wait. Six weeks is a long time to not be able to scratch your toes. … [Read more...]

first day of school :: round two

school-1-3

As I mentioned last week, I missed an opportunity to get pictures of my kids on the first day of school. And - as much as I'd intended to get pictures of them every. single. day. - the rest of that first week was basically an ugly blur. They'd come home in the afternoons with backpacks loaded with papers to sign, flyers to read, assignments, projects and papers to complete. So today, one week and one day after the official start of school, I finally took pictures. Since I knew outside wasn't going to work (been there, tried that) I figured I'd just have a go … [Read more...]

Sunday Snapshot: {the beach}

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Oh my. Be forewarned, there are a ton of pictures below. It was our singular "vacation" of the year, if you want to call it a vacation. What it was was one wondrous day at the beach. And so, I took a lot of pictures. It was also Poppy's first time to the beach. She wasn't so sure how she felt about it. It was Tallula's first time to the beach, too. Initially she had some anxiety over the waves coming in and then rushing back out. But soon she decided this was a pretty cool place to be. And so did all the … [Read more...]