Anticipation | Hillsboro Family Photographer
It’s time for the next installment in our blog circle! Last month, I joined a blog circle with some fellow photographers. We have a predetermined theme and we all post at the same time, linking to each other to create a circle. This month’s theme is anticipation.
This is my second year growing a vegetable garden. Which, to me, is kind of funny. I used to refer to myself as a plant killer. I do still sometimes kill plants (not on purpose!). But I like the idea of cutting down our grocery bill and being able to feed my family organic produce, as well. I learned a lot last year, and I had so much fun doing it! My tomatoes went wild, I failed at growing butternut squash, and I harvested quite a bit of zucchini.
This year, I am growing the following:
Sugar Snap Peas
Tomatoes (cherry & regular size)
Bell Peppers
Butternut Squash (yep, giving it another try)
Broccoli (thanks to my friend, Jen, for the free starts!)
Butter Lettuce
Spinach
Kale
Chives (survived from last year)
Italian Parsley (another survivor)
Lemon Thyme
Rosemary
Basil
Oregano
Stevia
Cilantro
Believe it or not, I actually attempted to grow more than this last year. I unfortunately ended up crowding out the vegetables I did want, like my butternut squash. Oops! And I learned that certain things weren’t even worth the effort (at least, not in my garden)–like strawberries. I don’t think I ate a single strawberry from my plants last year. The darn birds gobbled them all up before we could enjoy them! I never harvested the carrots I grew, either. I thought they had died during a heat wave that struck while I was out of town for a week and a half. The greens all turned brown and fell off, so I figured the carrots had stopped maturing. While working the soil in preparation for this year we, to our surprise, found SO MANY carrots! So many that I gave up trying to pick them all out of the dirt. My beagle was quite happy, though. She loves carrots. I still catch her sneaking into my garden beds to hunt for carrots. I’m going to need bigger fences….
So, I am anticipating a bountiful harvest this year, as well as many more learning experiences. My boys have also enjoyed helping Mommy in the garden. They helped me plant the sugar snap peas and we’ve been monitoring their growth for several weeks now. It’s so fun to see the plants grow and actually create food!
Head on over to Jaime from JLV Photography’s blog to see her interpretation of our theme!
Reflections | Hillsboro Family Photographer
So, I recently joined a blog circle. What is a blog circle, you ask? For our particular project, it’s a group of photographers who each take a picture, or series of pictures, to fit a monthly theme. We then post at the same time and link to one another to create a circle. At the end of my post, you’ll find a link to Jen’s blog and you can continue to click through the circle until you’ve landed back here!
I am having so much fun with this! This is stretching my creativity and encouraging me to shoot just for fun. And, not only that, to actually edit the personal photos that I shoot! (Goodness knows I am notoriously terrible for not editing my own pictures. Just ask my mom, ha ha!) Even more, I love seeing how my friends have interpreted the theme!
Without further ado, here is my post for our April theme: reflections. I decided to not take the assignment literally, but rather to reflect upon how much my youngest son has grown and matured in these past few months. He’s gone from baby to boy!
He sits in a “big boy” chair and eats his dinner all by himself–messy, but “all me”! He’s not quite big enough to sit in the chair without a booster seat, so he often gets up onto his knees to eat! He still has some of his sweet baby chub, but he’s growing and I know it will be gone it no time. For now, I love tickling and blowing raspberries on his chubby little tummy!
And the most recent change? No more diapers! My 2.5 year old little guy has potty trained and he couldn’t be more proud of himself! He loves wearing undies just like his big brother. Bonus that many of them sport his favorite characters: Lightening McQueen, Mater, Buzz, Woody, and Elmo.
He knows the words to many of his favorite songs and books. At 2.5, his favorite books are “My Truck is Stuck”, “Chugga Chugga Choo Choo”, “If You See A Kitten”, and “Hippos Go Berserk”. Topping the charts as his most requested songs: “The No Song” (made up by big brother & mommy–to the tune of “Are You Sleeping”), “Wheels On The Bus”, and “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”. He even enjoys “I’m A Little Tea Cup” when the mood strikes.
Little man is crazy physical and my husband and I predict he’ll be athletic. He’s got great aim and has been throwing overhand for quite some time now. He’s also fearless and will climb just about anything. He loves to run (which explains why so many of my pictures of him are just a blur) and hop and crash into things. He’s a boy through and through!
But my favorite part? He’s still a mama’s boy. If I’m home, he insists that I put him to bed. He loves sitting in my lap while I edit or reply to emails. He wants me to carry him as often as possible (it makes for strong biceps, I guess!). He also insists upon giving me a hug, a kiss, and a high five whenever I leave.
Often, he’ll be playing and then just come right out of nowhere to give me a great big hug. He looks at me, giving me his sweet, mischievous little grin. And then he’s off and running and being 2.5 all over again. Little did I know how blessed I would be by my wonderful little boy!
I can’t wait to see how the wonderful Jaime of JLV Photography interpreted the theme!
Music as Medicine | Portland Event Photographer
Tonight, I will be photographing Music as Medicine, a non-profit charity event to benefit the Children’s Cancer Association. I am so excited to photograph this event, as the cause is one that is dear to my heart.
I am a part of a close-knit, online community of women and many of us have known each other since before our kids were born. A little over a year ago, one of the children in our community was diagnosed with Acute Lymphatic Leukemia (ALL). As it turns out, Aubrey had a rare and aggressive form of ALL. On top of all that, she experienced nearly every complication that she could. It was a long, emotional, rough fight but Aubrey is a fighter and she kicked cancer’s butt!
The day I received the referral for this event was the one year anniversary of Aubrey’s diagnosis. It was also the day that we were informed that Aubrey is now fighting stage 2 Graft vs Host Disease. It was just so serendipitous that I immediately emailed one of the organizers of the event to donate my photography services. I am so glad to be able to give back, even in such a small way.
To learn more about Aubrey’s story, you can read her Caring Bridge journal.
Read the Portland Tribune’s article about the event.
Family Self-Portraits | Hillsboro Family Photographer
My husband and I were driving home recently when I noticed the beautiful light. I mentioned to him how I really wanted to take some self-portraits that evening and that somehow evolved into us taking family self-portraits. Here are three favorites from our short session this weekend. I love them!
