Shepherd

November 5, 2012

on my heart

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...]

19 Comments
Posted Under: adoption, Isabelle, Jude, Poppy, Shepherd, Sophie, Tallula, Vivienne

October 27, 2012

Sunday Snapshot: {school pictures}

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...]

17 Comments
Posted Under: Jude, Shepherd, Sunday Snapshot

October 26, 2012

an outtake

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...]

11 Comments
Posted Under: Jude, Shepherd

September 4, 2012

first day of school :: round two

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...]

5 Comments
Posted Under: a-bone, d-bomb, Isabelle, Jude, Shepherd, Sophie

August 18, 2012

Sunday Snapshot: {the beach}

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...]

24 Comments
Posted Under: a-bone, d-bomb, Isabelle, Jude, Poppy, Seamus, Shepherd, Sophie, Sunday Snapshot, Tallula, vacations, Victoria, Vivienne, Zach

March 30, 2012

choo. choo.

It's not too often I find all of my youngest in a candid moment that I actually want to capture on film. But yesterday, I did. They had been given the "wrap it up" nod from in the house and were busily cleaning up. Or so I thought. Turned out they were cleaning up... but with a bit of a twist. Poppy was in the middle of it all. No big surprise there. The surprise was that her two older brothers and three older sisters were all working together. To push/pull her along in their homemade train-like contraption. And they were … [Read more...]

20 Comments
Posted Under: Isabelle, Jude, Poppy, real life, Shepherd, Sophie, Vivienne

March 3, 2012

Sunday Snapshot: {the Shepster}

It's been more than a year since my last Sunday Snapshot on Shepherd. And so, it was most definitely time for another. Our littlest guy is knocking on 5 1/2. And getting taller, and sillier, by the day. He's still a little dude. But he continues to stay on his own curve. Right around the 1%ile. And as far as he's concerned, he's just the right size. In fact, he seems quite happy with his size. It seems to work for him. He's a pretty confident cat. And he's counting the days until kindergarten starts in the fall. He loves … [Read more...]

23 Comments
Posted Under: Shepherd, Sunday Snapshot

January 24, 2012

the boys’ turn

Today our Chinese New Year festivities continued. It was the boys' turn. And, thankfully, the sun decided to show itself today. Not only that, but the temperatures were in the 60's. I'll take a day like that any day I can get it. Decked out in their new silks, the boys were ready to go. All they needed was some well placed spit to keep their hair from sticking up excessively. Ahhh. The joy of boys. And on this day, they were extra pumped to be wearing their Chinese outfits. They had a little extra "cha" in their Kung … [Read more...]

8 Comments
Posted Under: adoption, celebrations, China, Jude, Shepherd

December 31, 2011

Sunday Snapshot: {my favorites of 2011}

Here are my favorite photos of 2011. In chronological order. 1. Sophie Lu in her silks at Chinese New Year. 2. Vivienne loving the snow. 3. Asher, growing up. I thought he seemed big in this picture but man, has he grown since then. 4. Remembering - and missing - Esther. 5. Chris at his fini flight getting soaked. Much to his children's delight. 6. Father and daughter. And kite. 7. Me and my girls on our last trip to our favorite spot in New England. 8. Poppy and the Red Couch. 9. Zach at Starbucks. In China. … [Read more...]

13 Comments
Posted Under: a-bone, Esther, Jude, photography, Poppy, Shepherd, Sophie, Sunday Snapshot, Victoria, Vivienne, Zach

December 25, 2011

Sunday Snapshot: {Christmas in pictures}

*********************************************************** If you're ready to link up this week with your Sunday (or Monday or Tuesday) Snapshot, just copy the code under the Snapshot button and paste it into the body of your post where you'd like the button to be displayed. Because it's Christmas, and lots of y'all are probably otherwise occupied, I'm going to leave the link open until Tuesday night. When you hit 'publish' it should show up just fine. Then add your link below. Wondering what the heck Sunday Snapshot is? Visit here for the … [Read more...]