Put on a happy face

Would you believe it?? I actually took a picture for the current exposaroonie challenge. Of course, it wasn't intentional... I was simply taking pictures of my adorable child, when it occurred to me that this shot fit in perfectly with the challenge: emotions.

I think one of the things I love most about Annabelle is how very transparent she is. If she's happy, excited or silly, this is the way she looks. It's all or nothing with her, and she doesn't hold back. You can read her like a book. When she smiles, her eyes light up, her nose crinkles, and every single pearly white is visible. I simply can't get enough of this and delight in watching her in her moments of happiness. Of course, it works the other way around, and she's an "all or nothing" kind of girl when she's upset as well. But that's ok-- she's passionate, she's temperamental, she's transparent. These are the qualities that help to make her the wonderful little person she is, and it is my prayer that as time and training goes on she will learn how to use these traits to bless others around her and glorify God.

Just look at that happy, silly, dear little face. Can you help but smile too?

"we look like little girls from long ago"

That's what Emma said when I showed her the picture I took of them for my exposaroonie entry this week. Oh, how I love this week's challenge: vintage. It was so much fun to dress my girls up in their best vintage-style outfits; that dress Annabelle is wearing actually IS vintage-- it was my mother-in-law's when she was a little girl! And look at their oh-so-serious faces. They posed like little pros from the days of yore.

I am so excited to see all the other vintage entries. On Friday, they will all be up, and then you can go check them out too! Don't forget to vote for your favorite.

If you have not already done so, please don't forget to comment and enter my 100th-post giveaway! Today and tomorrow are your last days to do so, and then comes the big reveal of what two of you wonderful people have won. Hooray!

Vibrant colors, the home edition

Over at Exposaroonie, this week's challenge is Vibrant Colors. How fun! Perfect for summer-time. They seriously have the best challenge ideas... I'm amazed each week.

I was so excited when I saw that's what it was, and I had many grand ideas fill my head about where I could go to capture the perfect colors. There was just one problem: I've been at home ALL WEEK LONG. Hermits. That's us. So it goes when you are potty-training a child (more on that later).

While I was not able to go out in search of colors to photograph, I have to say it was really fun to get creative and think of what I could shoot right here in my own home. When I came across this bright plaid fabric in my stash, I knew instantly what I wanted to do. There is something about a lovely place setting that I just love, and even though this is totally staged for the purpose of this photo, I definitely want to have some sort of girly party now just so I can replicate it for real. :)

You must, simply must, go check out the other shots over at exposaroonie. They are so fantastic and fun this week. I won't even ask you to vote for mine, because there are just that many great ones. Just pick your favorite... if you even can!

note: until next week Thursday I will be putting this:

"Did you enter my give-away yet? Don't forget to comment right here!"

at the bottom of every post between now and then.... just so nobody misses out. :)

Barely made it...

... by the skin of my teeth! It's 11:45 pm and I'm just now submitting my Exposaroonie entry. This week's challenge was "your location"-- something that had the name of where you live. Here's the picture:

I will award 100 points (points!!!! woohoo, right?!?) to anyone who can tell me of what this picture is.

Aaaaand....... go!

More blogging to come tomorrow, as long as a certain two-year-old behaves herself (unlike today) and doesn't give her mommy fits.

so many posts, so little time

Hello wonderful people! I may be slightly MIA this week.... here's why:

--We have Vacation Bible School this week from 9 to 12 every morning. The kids are loving it and having so much fun, as am I. I get to be a class helper for Emma's class, which consists of 6 little girls and one lone boy. How fun is that? The only downside to VBS is that it is in Shafter, at our sister church, which means lots of time and gas for driving. And people, it is no easy feat (at least for me) to get me and my two girls ready and out of the house by 8:30 EVERY MORNING. We did good today though, and I'm sure we will survive after all. :)

--On Wednesday night my family arrives here at our house from Colorado (YAY) to stay the night before they head down to LA on Thursday. While I am so very, very happy they are coming and more excited than I can say, this means that I must actually accomplish some serious cleaning. Last week was very busy, and then I painted a room on Saturday, which means not only did I not have time to get to the mess from the week, I added to it. Today I was a little too pooped to accomplish much, so that means in the next two days I must be quite diligent.

--My brother Elijah is being commissioned into the Air Force (he was a part of the ROTC program through college) on Saturday, so we will be driving down south (again!) on Friday. That day will be spent at the beach with the aforementioned family plus my brother's new girlfriend, who just so happens to be a sweet girl that I've known for years and years, and haven't seen in forever. I'm really excited about all that! We'll stay the night Friday, and then attend the ceremony before heading home again.

What a whirlwind of a week it shall be! As you can see, blogging might have to take a bit of a backseat. The funny thing is, I have so many posts I've been wanting to write, and there just never seems to be the right opportunity lately. It is SO BUSY. I love busy-ness though, as long as I can find time for a little relaxation and some of the things I so enjoy-- such as Saturday night when we had a family gathering, which was long-awaited and so fun (I got to see this girl, along with everyone else-- I love our family). Yesterday afternoon gave me a lovely couple hours with Jessica to just chat over tea at Starbucks-- ah, so refreshing. Today, I got to take a nap while my worn-out girls slept too. So, in the midst of all the craziness that is our life recently, and despite being a teensy bit exhausted and feeling slightly overwhelmed and inadequate at times, like I just can't keep up with everything... God is so good, and so gracious. And I am so thankful for each lovely blessing that makes our life exactly what it is!

I shall leave you with a few tidbits.

Here is my exposaroonie photo submission for this week. The challenge was "a different perspective". I tried out lots of different things with this in mind, but I really felt my non-existence of photog knowledge on this challenge. However, this shot struck me because of the beautiful blue sky, and I think I'm pretty pleased with it. Go on over and check out the other entries to vote for your favorite-- there are some amazing pictures!

Speaking of photos: my husband Jeremy, aka my sweet honey-bunches, just got a new camera. It's quite fancy and much beyond me, but he is quite technical and loving it (I just love the pictures it takes, and may even try to experiment a bit). He's using his blog to post some of the many photos he is taking with his new toy, and told me that he would love to receive constructive criticism and photog-ing tips of any kind. Since I know there are quite a few amazing and experienced photographers out there, some who even read this little blog of mine, I thought I would give him a shout-out. Mosey on over and take a peek, tell him what you think if you want! And that goes for anyone, not just you photographers. :)

I took this picture of our Annabellesie-boo to show off the lovely Strawberry Shortcake bandaid she is sporting. (and because her little face surrounded by that curly blond hair is so cute I could eat her up)

She has a tendency to "pick" at anything on her skin-- so whenever she gets even the tiniest of owies we have to put a bandage on it or she will make it bleed again and again, not allowing it to heal. I found this out when I put her down for a nap one day when she had a little bump with a bit of a scab on her head. After she woke up several hours later and I went into her room to get her up I was greeted by a sight no parent likes to see: my daughter's face smeared with dry blood! This happened several other times with that same bump, until I finally realized that SHE was making it bleed by picking her scab off every time. Now, bandaids are a must in every case.

By the way, thank you for the sweet and endearing comments on my last post. I don't ever remember to say it, but I really do love each and every little comment any of you leave for me-- they always brighten my day, whether they are in regards to some deeper thought or something silly like being ugly as an old person. You all make me smile!!

A girl and her doll

Here I go again! Another exposaroonie challenge! I am so inspired, people. This is fun. :)

The challenge this week was so great, since it left the possibilities wide open. I love this picture for so many reasons, and it was my favorite of the MANY that I took. I'll have to share some of the other ones with you sometime. We had fun at our little photo shoot! Don't worry, I didn't play favorites, Annabelle was there too... but she turned out to be a much less willing subject than her big sister, and got bored pretty quickly. I have the shots to prove that, and they are priceless in their own way.

I tried to understand and follow the concept of the "rule of thirds"... did I succeed? Yes? No? I'm not sure...

Alright now, if you please, go vote for Miss Emma and her friend Madeline. You know you can't resist their sweet smiling faces.

Portrait-a-roonie

As most everyone knows, it is the first weekly challenge over at Exposaroonie.com. In the past, I've done one of the PhotoPie challenges, and really had fun trying to be creative and make use of my little camera the best I could with my limited knowledge of photography. So when this site got going, I really wanted to get in on the fun-- it's a learning experience, after all! However, I have to admit to being a bit intimidated. Not only are there so many AMAZING and talented photographers whose work just blows me away, I admire it so, taking part in these challenges, but also this particular challenge happened to be a self-portrait! Gah! That's a double-whammy right there-- getting past my picture-taking insecurities AND the fact that I don't usually like posting large pictures of myself for all to see.

But, I've been inspired by so many fun and creative self-portraits, and I knew that I'd be sad if I didn't get over myself and do it. My plan of attack was to think of someplace that'd be a nice setting where I'm totally and completely comfortable. Some place that fits in with my personality and my life. This is what I came up with:

One of my happy places, something that's been a continuous and consistent part of my life since I was 7 years old. A wonderful, soothing, blessing on days when I am stressed and emotional-- my piano. Also, I would just like to mention that the dress I happened to be wearing is one of my favorites too, because it was bought and worn for a certain someone's amazing and joyful-family-memory-filled wedding.

So there you go. I've officially been exposed, let the chips fall where they may. :)

A drink with jam and bread

I am a little embarrassed to post this, since I am definitely not any sort of real photographer (although I LOVE to look at and admire other's talents in this area!). Lots of bloggers I read do the PhotoPie challenges, and they've always looked like fun. So far, I've stayed away from doing them, because, well, you know, of the whole not being a photographer thing. Then, I came across this week's challenge since my good blogging buddy Ashley guest-posted and came up with the theme. And I thought, "Hey, beverages! I drink things. I like to drink things. I could do it..."

So here I am, actually posting for a photo challenge.
And if nothing else, at least you all know I love tea now. :)

I love my tea in a nice mug I can wrap my hands around, and it's even better if I actually have the time to sit and drink it on the couch while I flip through a magazine. Ahh, the perfect 10-minute pick-me-up.