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My Heart is Catching Up

When she left for school yesterday, she was five years old. When I picked her up, she was almost eleven. For some reason, I have frozen my children at certain ages in my mind.  She was always a 5 year old.  My son, who is 9, will forever be three. My baby, who will be 5 in July, is always a toddler.  My brain knows and understands their real ages, but my heart has not caught up to my brain yet.

Yesterday, as I watched her run towards me, with her back-pack slung casually over her shoulder, my heart stopped for a nano second and my breath caught in my throat. I was, for a few seconds, overwhelemed and stunned that she had become a young woman in a matter of hours.  My heart and my eyes finally acknowledged what my brain knew all along...she is gowing up.

I stared at her and hugged her and told her she was beautiful, right there in the middle of the school parking lot with tears in my eyes. Right there in the middle of all her friends. She hugged me right back and didn't let go until I did.

As I drove them to our favorite ice cream shop, I could not stop staring at her through the rear view mirror.  I still could not process when and how this had happened.  My heart was running a marathon, still trying to catch up with what my eyes were seeing.  As we ate our ice cream, I snapped this picture with my phone so I would not forget the day I suddenly realized she was growing:

I still cannot stop looking at it. This morning, I thought I had accepted the fact that she is no longer 5.  Then she bounded down the stairs, full of life and ready for her day, and stopped right in front of me.  Being just a few inches shy of being the same height as me, she pats the tops of my head and says "Good Morning my pretty little mama"....I do not think my heart will ever catch up.

 

Team Up Thursday ~Books~

Summer is such a busy time if you have kids home from school, isn't it?  The school year is busy too, but summer is just a different kind of busy that revolves around keeping the kids entertained and wearing them out.  I struggle with trying to balance fun, activity, rest time while still trying to get them to do a few academic things at home...well, only one month of summer left and we have done 'school work' exactly one time!  Sigh.

Since Amy and I (and many of you out there) spend so much time at the library and book stores during summer, we decided 'books' might be a great theme:

Amy:

I chose "books" because our life seems to revolve a bit around books lately.  We spend lots of time at the library and Barns & Noble.  My 7 year old is obsessed with books...reading them, collecting them, starting them all and taking forever to finish them!  And my 4 year old loves books too, but in different ways.  He loves Star Wars and Batman books, books about animals, and anything funny!  He more likes to look at the books and talk about them!  Either way, I'm so happy my kids have a love for books.  I didn't enjoy reading until I was an adult.  So to have them enjoy it now makes my mommy heart swell. :)

Me:

My kids love to load up our 'book bag' at the library and then come home and spread out on the floor with blankets, pillows, and all of their books.  I love their expressions when they open up their treasures

Unexpected

We have been having a pretty difficult month around here at the Smith house.  Nothing major, but just many things out of our control.  I have been feeling pretty down.  I suppose my sweet sister, Jessica, in law thought she should do something about that.  I'm so humbled and happy that she did.

This afternoon I opened the front door and saw a big long box on my front porch with my name on it!  SQUEAL!  Know what's better than a present?  A present 'just because'.  Jessica has been very giving and thoughtful since I met her when she was just a young girl.  She gave me an adorable Winnie the Pooh watch a few weeks after we met.  Now she is a wife and mom of my 2 adorable nephews and is still just as thoughtful.  She remembers birthdays, anniversaries, and send presents 'just because'....I am terrible at remembering birthdays.

Notice 2 new additions to my family???

Jessica sent me a mini rainbow umbrella I can carry in my purse or camera bag.  I can use it for my tiny clients :)...the she sent me her big sister...the mother of all rainbow umbrellas with 3 times as many colors as the original umbrella....oh, the possibilities!!!!!

Jessica, thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You made my month!  I can't wait to use them in my sessions and just use them on a gloomy day...hope it rains soon!

Team Up Thursday ~Alone Time~

Whatever happened to the lazy days of summer???  I think the person who made that phrase up  did not have kids.  I'm not complaining.  I do love these days of sleeping in a tiny bit later (7am), packing up to go to the pool, the river, the zoo...etc.  I love the non-scheduled feeling of summer, but I certainly don't feel the lazy part of it. You know what I mean.  With all of the kids at home, moms do not get any 'alone time'.  I remember joking with my husband that his alone time was in the car on his way to and from work.  It was kind of a joke, but also kind of true...30 minutes in the car alone sounds like a dream to me...imagine, actually being able to listen to a whole song uninterrupted!

Here is a little peek into the alone time of Amy and I.

Amy: With the kids home for the summer, I don't know what alone time is.  I think the only time I can have a peaceful time being "alone" is when I'm asleep.  But of course as you can see from the Spiderman pillow in my bed, that doesn't always happen either! :)

During the summer I like to take advantage of the kids 'sleeping in'.  Sometimes I will sleep in myself, but other times I will wake up before everyone else.  I can read a few chapters in my book, drink an entire cup of coffee while it's still hot, and answer emails without distraction.  I love being the only one awake in the morning and having the house to myself while knowing that all of the kids are tucked in and cozy. My favorite kind of alone time.

Bigger in Texas

Before I moved to Texas I would always hear that old saying "Everything's  bigger in Texas" and I would think "Yeah right!  Whatever braggers".  Then we moved here.  Know what?  It's true!!!!!  The houses are bigger, the thunderstorms are bigger, the veggies are bigger, and the BUGS!  The bugs are HUGE!  It's a good thing I am not afraid of them. 

Here is an example of one we found on our deck the other night.  Call it what you want : katydid, cicada, leaf bug, leaf eater.  I don't care.  I just call it big and loud!

Lava Lamps -Summer Fun-

I found a fun, cheap, and easy project in Family Fun magazine about making Lava Lamps with things you already have in your house.

You will need 3 empty water bottles ( I don't normally buy this kind of water, but they make pretty lava lamps with the lids on), food coloring, vegetable oil, and alka seltzer.

Fill each bottle a little more than half with oil:

Then fill the rest of the way with water.  Leave about an inch at the top:

Now add 10 drops of food coloring:

 
Break your Alka Seltzer into 4 pieces:

and drop them in one piece at a time.  Wait until the first piece stops bubbling before you drop in the next.  If too many go in, you solution gets all cloudy.  Don't worry, he's not hurt.  The band-aid is merely decorative...as is the tattoo.  Match those up with the black socks pulled to the knees he likes to wear, and I have got quite a little ladies man!

and watch the magic happen...

over...and over...and over again.

We had so much fun with these.  If you have any other summer fun ideas, please post a link.  I would love more ideas!

Splash Sessions! ~San Antonio Children's Photography~

A Quick Preview ~San Antonio Photographer~

I just wanted to show you a sneak preview of the beautiful wedding I shot this weekend. My two absolute favorite parts of any wedding I have ever been to are 1) the look on the groom's face the first time he sees his bride and 2) The smile on the bride's face the first time they walk back down the aisle as husband and wife....so I had to show them today. 

More to come soon....

Team Up Thursday ~Jump~

Amy Craft choose our theme this week : Jump!  Now all I have in my head is "Kriss Kross will make ya...."  please tell me that I'm not the only one old enough to remember this.  Van Halen also keeps running through my head.

Now that I am way off track, let me get back to our photos.  Amy took that cool one of her friend's son jumping off of the hay.  I love the way she caught the action, the position of his legs, and that shadow!  Way cool!

The photo I took is of my daughter jumping over me...I had fears of getting kicked in the face...or worse...getting kicked in the LENS!  Let's face it, my face would heal, but the lens...whew..thank God that all this girl does is jump and she knew exactly where those feet were going the whole time.  She is a little jumping bean.

If you want to see more great team up's. head on over to Melody's.

Where Wishes Wait

Most people have prayers, wishes, and hopes that they are waiting to have answered.  As we all know, not all of your prayers, wishes, and hopes are granted right away.  Sometimes our specific wishes and prayers are never answered, but instead something better for us comes along, right when it is supposed to come along.

I saw this window in a mission in Puerto Rico.  It opened right up to the ocean.  As soon as I saw it I thought that this must be where wishes go to wait.  In my mind I imagined that these wishes sit on this window ledge just waiting for the perfect moment to jump into the ocean and make somebody's dreams come true.