A Little Window

I ♥ Faces -- "Beautiful B&W"

2012-03-06T09:17:00.002-05:00

I just love this picture. It was taken during my biggest family session so far, and here we were getting some pictures of all the cousins. These boys were all so fun to work with... The younger two were especially showing off what characters they were. So cute!

Check all the beautiful B&W photos at iheartfaces.com this week!

Project 366 -- Days 57

2012-02-26T16:05:00.003-05:00

February 26th.

Winter: the season for finding beauty even in dying nature (in this case, crape myrtle seed pods).

Project 366 -- Days 50-56

2012-02-26T15:39:00.004-05:00

February 19th-25th.

This was an unusual week. First of all, I forgot to take pictures on a couple of days (the 19th and the 24th, if you require full disclosure). To make up for each of these, I took two pictures on the following day. But because of the nature of the pictures that I took, I won't be posting them in order.

It was the evening of the 20th, and I was at a loss for what the subject of my daily picture should be. Everywhere I looked was pretty much nothing but a mess. So... I decided to do something I've never really done before. I took a picture of the mess. Not only did this give me my picture for the day, but it also gave me some motivation to clean up the mess. And the cleaned-up mess gave me my picture for the following day! I liked this deal.

So, here we are...

Living room. This may look like one of the biggest messes in this series, but it was actually the quickest to clean up. Unless of course you count putting away those children who are sitting on the couch in the first picture. ;-)

Kitchen: cooking side. What you can't see here is the massive pile of dishes in the kitchen sink. This one took a while. Amazing how much clean counters can boost one's mood, though!

Guest bedroom / room where I dump all my clean-but-unfolded laundry. These baskets are actually all sorted out by child / category (socks, towels, bedding, etc.). And it doesn't include mine and the hubby's piles. You should have seen the mountain before I sorted it all out!

As you can imagine, this one took by far the longest to take care of. But I'd taken the "before" picture, and darn it, I wasn't going to take an "after" picture until I'd properly taken care of all that laundry! Thankfully, I had help from the hubby over the weekend, and we actually got it done!! I haven't had ALL my clean laundry put away since... oh... I don't know... ever?! I normally just sort it out into piles like this and then pull things out as I need them. ...Wow, this post is really getting pretty revealing about my everyday life, isn't it? :-p

Kitchen: dining area. My table never stays as clear as the "after" picture for very long... but now I have a picture of how nice it looks to motivate myself to clean it up more often. (Maybe.)

Aaaand that's a wrap!

Project 366 -- Day 49

2012-02-19T13:58:00.002-05:00

February 18th.

Unusually gorgeous outside today. We are not accustomed to seeing such beautiful spring-like weather in the middle of February, so we took the opportunity to take the girls to the park. And I took the opportunity to practice my photography outside for the first day in a long while. YAY!

Project 366 -- Day 48

2012-02-19T13:57:00.001-05:00

February 17th.

All the little "mommies" have gone to bed, so the strollers sit idle for a few hours.

Project 366 -- Day 47

2012-02-19T13:55:00.004-05:00

February 16th.

My kids almost NEVER fall asleep anywhere other than their beds or their carseats. Little Miss P must have been especially exhausted today, because she fell asleep right where she was sitting on the couch watching TV this afternoon.

Project 366 -- Day 46

2012-02-19T13:54:00.000-05:00

February 15th.

Roses from the hubby.

Project 366 -- Day 45

2012-02-19T13:52:00.003-05:00

February 14th.

The big girls hard at work, helping Mommy make a lemon meringue pie for Daddy for Valentine's Day. ♥

Project 366 -- Day 44

2012-02-19T13:51:00.000-05:00

February 13th.

Warming things up for Valentine's Day.

Project 366 -- Day 43

2012-02-19T13:50:00.001-05:00

February 12th.

Three kiddos watchin' TV... well, except for the one who decided to actually look at the camera and smile. :-)

Project 366 -- Day 42

2012-02-19T13:48:00.001-05:00

February 11th.

Princess occasionally trades in her crown for a beanie.

Project 366 -- Day 41

2012-02-11T00:19:00.001-05:00

February 10th.

A reminder that Little Miss P ain't the only crazy kid around here...

Project 366 -- Day 40

2012-02-11T00:18:00.000-05:00

February 9th.

Sweet Pea tossing balls down the stairs. What else?

Project 366 -- Day 39

2012-02-11T00:17:00.000-05:00

February 8th.

Yes.

Project 366 -- Day 38

2012-02-11T00:14:00.002-05:00

February 7th. (Picture actually taken on the 8th.)

Remember that story from the post for the 6th? Yeah. Ditto. Another make-up picture.

My almost-6-years-old wedding bouquet. (Like many brides these days, I used a decoy for the bouquet toss.) I still think it's beautiful.

Project 366 -- Day 37

2012-02-11T00:10:00.003-05:00

February 6th. (Picture actually taken on the 8th.)

So remember how I had a great excuse when I forgot to take a picture one day last month? Well, this time, I don't. I just... well... forgot. So here is a make-up picture from a couple days later.

I know I need to expand my picture-taking horizons beyond just people, so I tried a few of some things around my house. Well, that was one reason anyway... the other one being that all my human subjects were already in bed when I remembered to take a picture.

These are my girls' little wicker rocking chairs. Got these at a yard sale one day for a little bit of nothing, and they have been some of my favorite things around the house ever since.

Project 366 -- Day 36

2012-02-11T00:09:00.000-05:00

February 5th.

Little Miss P havin' a snuggle with Daddy.

Project 366 -- Day 35

2012-02-11T00:04:00.002-05:00

February 4th.

Playin' Sorry.

The girls generally like to play WITH games more than actually playing games as they are meant to be played. Here they are playing with all their "guys," who are either friends or some sort of parent / child relationships. I guess as a mother, I must call them "Honey" fairly often, because their mother characters often speak of their children as their "Honeys." :-)

Project 366 -- Day 34

2012-02-11T00:03:00.002-05:00

February 3rd.

Little Miss P saying her goodnight prayers with her Daddy.

Project 366 -- Day 33

2012-02-11T00:01:00.002-05:00

February 2nd.

Three cuties in pink.

(Princess is not that much taller than Little Miss P in real life. Either she was wearing heeled shoes in this picture, or LMP was slouching, or both.)

Project 366 -- Day 32

2012-02-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

February 1st.

Three cuties in the bathtub.

Project 366 -- Day 31

2012-02-10T23:51:00.005-05:00

January 31st.

Most often, I take fairly complete pictures of people and objects that I consider beautiful. But occasionally, it is the little details that capture my attention. On this day, it was the little beads of water that collected on my hair in the shower.

(I did dry off and cover up before I actually took the picture, just so you know. Don't want to be scandalizing anyone here. ;-))

Project 366 -- Day 30

2012-02-10T23:39:00.002-05:00

January 30th.

So I guess in my girls' little world, Mary (mother of Jesus), a Hawaiian vacationer, and an ice cream vending cow decided to take a trip together in a pink school bus. Makes perfect sense.

You can see the various characters a little better in this picture:

Project 366 -- Day 29

2012-02-10T23:37:00.003-05:00

January 29th.

I actually managed to sneak a decent picture of the hubby. Score. ;-)

Project 366 -- Day 28

2012-02-10T23:30:00.004-05:00

January 28th.

Sweet Pea enjoying one of her favorite activies... looking at books. Which is always made better when the book is about Dora. I thought we might be finally getting past the Dora stage with the older two, but Sweet Pea has suddenly developed a Dora obsession. One of these days... :-)

Project 366 -- Day 27

2012-02-10T23:27:00.003-05:00

January 27th.

Crazy kid. She takes after her daddy. Except that he doesn't walk around mostly naked 90% of the time. (Cannot keep clothes on that child...)

Project 366 -- Day 26

2012-02-10T23:23:00.004-05:00

January 26th.

Next project... Get pictures on the walls.

I was SO excited when I received these prints in the mail. I've never put one of my own photographs any bigger than a 4x6 up on my wall. These are 11x14. I love them so.

I'm hoping to get some smaller ones to place around these in a sort of collage one of these days...

Project 366 -- Day 25

2012-02-10T23:21:00.004-05:00

January 25th.

I've been attempting to do a little decorating around my home lately... Y'know, 'cause we've lived in this house for over 3 years and still barely have any pictures on the walls, let alone anything else. Yeah... pretty sad.

My first project was to get some curtains up in our living room...

One project down... approximately 563 projects to go. Give or take a few hundred.

I ♥ Faces -- "Oh So Silly!"

2012-01-30T10:00:00.002-05:00

These are my sisters. They are both pretty darn silly, but the one on the left in this picture is particularly a crack-up sometimes. Here she is doing what she does best: making my other sister laugh. (I had a few crazier pictures from this shoot, but I didn't want to embarrass them too much! ;-))

Check all the silly photos at iheartfaces.com this week!

Project 366 -- Day 24

2012-01-25T00:26:00.001-05:00

January 24th.

Sweet Pea is working on identifying body parts these days... Here she is saying "Head!" as she shows me where hers is.

Project 366 -- Day 23

2012-01-25T00:25:00.002-05:00

January 23rd.

Freshly bathed and chillin' out with a little TV before bed time.

Project 366 -- Day 22

2012-01-25T00:24:00.001-05:00

January 22nd.

Aaaand you wanna know where I got this crown? Yep, you guessed it! (If you've been reading the past several posts in the order they were posted, that is.) I thought the title on the crown was appropriate considering her nickname on this blog...

Project 366 -- Day 21

2012-01-25T00:22:00.002-05:00

January 21st.

Why yes, I do take pictures horizontally on occasion. :-p I also got the girls some Easter dresses at the consignment sale... Ain't they perty? (Paying $6 for each wasn't too bad, either...)

Project 366 -- Day 20

2012-01-25T00:18:00.001-05:00

January 20th.

And here is one that was taken on the right day...

The big girls were having a blast with this little tea party. I love how Little Miss P is so into it. :-)

Project 366 -- Day 19

2012-01-25T00:16:00.001-05:00

January 19th. (Photo actually taken on the 20th.)

And then there was that one day where I completely forgot to take a picture...

I knew it was bound to happen sometime, but I'd hoped I would have at least gotten out of January first. *sigh* Perhaps a look at my schedule for this week could explain a few things..

Monday: Hubby goes out of town. The Little Miss pukes all over the floor first thing in the morning and lays around the rest of the day. Sweet Pea is acts extra crabby all day.

Tuesday: (wee hours of the morning) Sweet Pea throws up in her bed and then all over the bathroom floor as Mommy rushes her to the toilet. Sweet Pea and Mommy go back to bed. Everyone seems to be stable all morning, so around noon, Mommy decides to take a risk and take the kids with her to the giant consignment sale (mentioned in Day 18) to drop off a few items for sale... with strict instructions for the children not to touch ANYTHING. All goes well... except for Mommy getting a little lost on the way home. Princess acts a little crabby and sick that evening, but manages to keep her food and drink down.

Wednesday: Mommy straightens up the house in preparation for Daddy's return. As soon as Daddy gets home, Mommy escapes back to the consignment sale and spends over 3 hrs shopping (on an empty stomach I might add... all the puking kind of destroyed my appetite for a few days).

Thursday: Like the crazy woman she is, Mommy decides to bring the girls with her to the sale and spend another 2-3 hours shopping. The girls are fortunately very well-behaved (other than LMP getting lost at one point, but she is found fairly quickly). Mommy gathers everyone up, drives home, feeds everyone lunch, puts all the girls to bed, then collapses into bed herself for a couple of hours. She wakes up feeling feverish and still exhausted. After puttering around for a short while and making sure that everyone gets dinner, Mommy leaves the girls with Daddy and heads back to bed.

Friday: Mommy realizes first thing in the morning that she forgot to take any pictures the previous day. Oops. Well, now you know why.

So, although it pains me to have missed a day, I am offering a replacement from the following day. Fortunately, I really liked this picture. So it's all good.

Project 366 -- Day 18

2012-01-24T23:51:00.001-05:00

January 18th.

This week found me at a HUGE local consignment sale, where I picked up quite a few gently used clothes and toys for my girls. I brought the girls with me on Tuesday to drop off a few things to sell, telling them that we could NOT buy anything that day, but that I would come back the next day to get them something, and they could make a request for me to try to find.

Princess's request: a purse.
Little Miss P's request: a pink barn. (???)

The purse I found easily enough, and I even found a nearly matching one for the Little Miss. But, as I suspected, I was not able to locate a pink barn. Fortunately, I did locate a pink school bus. Little Miss P got a normal-colored school bus for Christmas a couple years ago, and she has been obsessed with school buses ever since. Princess got a normal-colored airplane on this occasion as well, and she has been almost as enthralled by it as LMP is with her school bus.

So, the pink duplicates of their favorite toys saved the day. They were quite happy. And I was quite happy that I got all four of these items for under $10 total!

Project 366 -- Day 17

2012-01-24T23:50:00.001-05:00

January 17th.

And then there was the day when I forgot to take any pictures until I was webcam-ing with my out-of-town husband... So a screen shot had to suffice. (The hubby was not being very cooperative.)

I ♥ Faces -- "By the Book"

2012-01-24T17:52:00.002-05:00

This picture may not make much sense at first glance. I mean, where is the "book" mentioned in the theme, anyway? Well, take a closer look. There it is in the center of the picture, on my girls' laps. I was trying to get a cute picture of them looking at a book together. Instead, they used the book as a platform on which to play with their plastic animals. Why on earth a lion, a miniature zebra, and a giant octopus are playing together, I will never know... But they were playing right along, having a whole long conversation between their animals, right there on top of that book! (I thought it was pretty cute.)

You may also notice that DD#1 on the left has her arm in a makeshift sling. She tweaked her wrist a little during some rough play with Daddy the previous night, but with the fuss she put up about it, you would have thought it was broken or at least badly sprained! So I wrapped it up and put it in this little sling, and thankfully this activity with her little sister kept her mind off the gruesome pain for a little while. (It magically got healed when Daddy decided to play with her again that night, though... Hmmm...)

Check out lots more great "by the book" photos at iheartfaces.com!

Project 366 -- Day 16

2012-01-16T18:37:00.001-05:00

January 16th.

Someone is not feeling too well today. :-(

Project 366 -- Day 15

2012-01-16T18:36:00.002-05:00

January 15th.

Sweet Pea enjoying turning through the pages of a new book. (Thanks, Grandma & Grandpa!)

Project 366 -- Day 14

2012-01-16T18:35:00.001-05:00

January 14th.

Sweet Pea pondering over one of her favorite snacks.

Project 366 -- Day 13

2012-01-16T18:32:00.003-05:00

January 13th.

My two older girls and I were reading the book "Olivia" on this day and came to a page where Olivia is pictured trying on about 20 different clothing combinations. I asked the girls which ones were their favorites. Princess picked the picture of Olivia in the fanciest dress. Little Miss Personality's two favorites were of Olivia wearing nothing but shoes, and nothing but a hat. I should have known.

LMP in her usual attire: nothing but a Pull-Up.

Project 366 -- Day 12

2012-01-16T18:31:00.002-05:00

January 12th.

New artificial flowers on my kitchen table to chase away the winter blues.

I ♥ Faces -- "Family Fun"

2012-01-16T11:49:00.004-05:00

January 11th.

One of my favorite family pictures I've taken thus far is this one from my very first session after I'd opened up for business. :-) Check out lots more great family photos at iheartfaces.com!

Project 366 -- Day 11

2012-01-11T23:23:00.000-05:00

It was a rather dreary day out there today...

Project 366 -- Day 10

2012-01-11T23:19:00.004-05:00

January 10th.

Little Miss Personality at about 10:30pm on this night... Sleep? Who needs sleep?

The quality of this picture isn't the greatest, but it was the best I could do in a dark room with only a slightly cracked-open door and a light-up toy for light sources, which I chose over blinding her with the camera flash. ;-)

Project 366 -- Day 9

2012-01-09T23:51:00.001-05:00

January 9th.

Block towers (built by Little Miss Personality and Princess).

Project 366 -- Day 8

2012-01-09T23:36:00.002-05:00

January 8th.

Princess getting a reading lesson from Daddy.

I ♥ Faces -- Best Face Photo from 2011

2012-01-09T16:15:00.003-05:00

2011 was a great year for firmly establishing a significant place for photography in my life. I got my first DSLR, my first prime lens, opened a little photography business, and learned a TON! (I had a ton to learn, so it was good I started learning it!) I had the opportunity to photograph quite a few families and got so many beautiful faces into my camera that I had a very difficult time narrowing it down to my top choice for the year. But of course, nothing pulls at my heart strings like my own babies, so I kept coming back to a few photos of my three little cuties. In the end, I had to go with this one of my two oldest.

Yes, they really do love each other and give each other spontaneous hugs like this! When we go for walks, one will get several paces ahead of the other, then turn back, and they will call each other's names as they go running into each other's arms. Of course they have their moments of arguing and bickering with one another, but overall they are total sweethearts, and it shows.

Head over to iheartfaces.com for many more awesome entries!

Project 366 -- Day 7

2012-01-07T22:41:00.002-05:00

January 7th.

Pizza night... yum. :-)

Project 366 -- Day 6

2012-01-07T22:38:00.002-05:00

January 6th.

A daily ritual: the two older girls coming to talk to Sweet Pea in her bed just after she wakes up from her nap, before Mommy comes up to get her.

Project 366 -- Day 5

2012-01-07T22:25:00.001-05:00

January 5th.

Another day when the higher-tech camera did not make an appearance... Sweet Pea had doctors' appointments all day for check-ups after a major surgery just over a year ago. With all the other supplies we had to bring along for the day, I didn't have room for the nice camera, but I grabbed my little point-and-shoot. Even so, this picture would have been a lot better quality if I hadn't accidentally left it on video mode... Doh! Oh well. :-)

Sweet Pea with her main surgeon

Project 366 -- Day 4

2012-01-04T21:50:00.004-05:00

January 4th.

Does your four-year-old girl admire herself in the mirror? Mine has recently developed an obsession with this. And dressing up in princess dresses. And fancy shoes, and jewelry. And don't forget the tiara.

Now you know why I am calling her "Princess."

Heaven help us when this girl grows into a teenager.

Project 366 -- Day 3

2012-01-03T23:46:00.003-05:00

January 3rd.

And then of course there will be the days like today, when I can't decide which picture to post because I took too many that were too cute. *sigh* I'll have to post more from this series tomorrow in a separate post.

Playing group peek-a-boo, naturally.

Project 366 -- Day 2

2012-01-03T23:31:00.007-05:00

January 2nd.

And then of course there will be the days that I forget to take a decent picture... It just so happens that this happened for me on Day 2. Phooey.

I was just about to resign myself to the fact that my 365-6 days would have to begin on January 3rd instead of the 1st, when I remembered that I took a video of the girls yesterday evening. So, I'm settling for a still shot stolen from one of the videos and edited as well as possible.

Looking past the quality, it is still a pretty cute shot of my Sweet Pea... She was showing off how she can now count to ten (with a little help with "six" and "seven"), giving me a very enthusiastic, "Nine!"

Project 366 -- Day 1

2012-01-03T20:40:00.006-05:00

January 1st.

I have been hearing about the Project 365 idea for several years... That is, to post a photo taken each day of the year, the goal being (naturally) to document everyday life, as well as challenging myself to practice my photography at least once every day. When I first heard about it, I thought it sounded like a goal too lofty for me to achieve, but I think perhaps the year has come when I may be able to manage it. Here's hoping anyway.

Of course, I would pick the one year out of four when there are not actually 365 days in the year. Oh well. So I guess this will be calling this "Project 366." Just so we're all clear on that. :-p

My first picture was taken after church on New Year's Day. I had meant to get this picture on Christmas Eve, but my oldest was sick, so we ended up staying home from church that day. I think this probably worked out better anyway.

L-R:
Daughter #3, who will henceforth be known on this blog as "Sweet Pea."
Me
The Hubby
Daughter #2, who will be known as "Little Miss Personality" (or "LMP").
Daughter #1, who will be known as "Princess."

And of course, I am going to post things late from days previous (as I am doing right now)... But the pictures will (hopefully) all be from the correct dates, so it won't be cheating that much, right? Right.

...On with the show.

I ♥ Faces -- Silly Holiday Photos

2012-01-02T16:22:00.004-05:00

This week, I ♥ Faces (iheartfaces.com) is having another just-for-fun photo challenge featuring silly holiday photos. I had two from this holiday season that I thought fit the bill...

#1: Nine out of twelve of my parents' grandchildren,
blowing out the advent candles together on Christmas evening...

(Picture taken almost entirely by the light of the Christmas tree, hence the graininess.)

...and #2: This picture of one of my brothers with my youngest daughter,
who was apparently NOT happy about having her picture taken at this particular moment.

Reminds one of the Greek comedy / tragedy theater masks, no?

(Not my photo... no entry in challenge!)

I ♥ Faces -- "Holiday Bokeh"

2011-12-27T14:52:00.004-05:00

I ♥ Faces is having a just-for-fun "Holiday Bokeh" challenge until the end of the month... which, oh yeah, is today. Whoopsies! Way to come in at the last minute, me. Anyway, these challenges are always lots of fun... Be sure to check it out at iheartfaces.com!

I ♥ Faces -- "On Your Feet"

2011-12-05T15:34:00.006-05:00

This was from my first "official" photo shoot, taken this summer. The session is so far still one of my faves, and this picture was one of my favorites from the shoot. Such a sweet image of trust and confidence that a little boy has in his dad. I ♥ those chubby little legs and baby feet!

Lots of cute feet over at iheartfaces.com this week... Check it out!

UPDATE:
My picture made Amy & Angie's Favorites list!! You have no idea how excited I am!!! Maybe all these exclamation points will give you a hint!!!!!! ;-)

I ♥ Faces -- "Autumn Splendor"

2011-11-13T20:51:00.003-05:00

This week's theme at iheartfaces is "Autumn Splendor." Although this picture doesn't have foliage as the focal point, I just loved all the color that it brought to the background! I also loved the autumn colors that this young lady chose for her family's photo session. And of course I love her pretty face! :-) To view more of their session, click here.

And be sure to check out more autumn-themed photos at iheartfaces.com this week!

I ♥ Faces -- "Black"

2011-11-07T14:40:00.004-05:00

I had a session a couple weeks ago with some friends of mine. Having grown up in a large family and having a few little ones of my own, I am very accustomed to taking pictures of small children, and I love it... But this was my first time doing a family session where all the children were older than 5, and I have to say, I loved this, too! It is nice to have a little more predictability once in a while. ;-) I also enjoyed this lovely autumn setting, and this path leading into the woods... It felt almost like a fairy-tale. And of course I think this young lady looked just beautiful here in her black dress. She is a sweetheart, and I think the tone of this picture fits her personality very well.

Check out all the other black-themed pictures at iheartfaces.com this week!

I ♥ Faces -- "Let Them Be Little"

2011-10-24T12:49:00.009-04:00

Being the mom of three kids under 5, I am surrounded by little ones every day. (One is leaning up against me on the couch as I type, while the other two play in the next room.) I debated whether to post a picture of one of them here, but in the end I decided to share another favorite from the newborn session I had last weekend. I just love the image of this tiny little girl, snuggled up against her mama, her tiny head cradled in her mother's hand. She had been a bit crabby and unsettled a few minutes before as I tried to take pictures of her by herself, but here with her mama, she was perfectly content.

More pictures from this session here.

Check out all the other adorable pictures of little ones at iheartfaces.com this week!

I ♥ Faces -- "Tickled Pink"

2011-10-16T22:20:00.008-04:00

I'm very excited that this week's theme at I ♥ Faces is "Tickled Pink," because it goes along perfectly with my first newborn session, which I had this weekend with this adorable little girl. This was one of my favorites from the session. I just love tiny baby feet!

More pictures from this session here.

And don't forget to enter your favorite pink-themed picture at iheartfaces.com this week!

I ♥ Faces -- "Raise Your Hands"

2011-10-10T08:15:00.005-04:00

My first major photo shoot was done for my little brother and his adorable fiancee. Having not spent a lot of time around the two of them together, it was fun for me to follow them around and just watch them be a couple for an hour or so. One of my favorite shots from the session was this one, showing off the engagement ring on her hand. I was so excited I was able to focus on the ring while still showing their sweet affection for each other in the background.

Ever tried entering your photo on iheartfaces.com before? If you haven't, you should! It's a tough competition... lots of awesome photographers out there... but it is a great growing experience. My goal is to do my best, maybe get a few comments (yay!), then see what others have done and be inspired!

I ♥ Faces -- People's Choice

2011-09-26T16:23:00.003-04:00

Sooo excited about this week's entry! I got my first new lens this past week (a 50mm f/1.8), and WOW! I am loving the results. This picture above is my favorite from the new lens so far, featuring one of my daughters. This kiddo lucked out and got her daddy's reddish curls, and I am oh-so in love with them! I was so happy that I finally caught a picture that does them justice!

Check out lots more awesome photos during iheartfaces' People's Choice week and vote for your favorites on iheartfaces.com!

I ♥ Faces -- "A Touch of Sun"

2011-09-19T13:53:00.005-04:00

[Link to photo not working at the moment... sorry!]

One of my favorite shots from a session a few weeks ago. I loved how the sun lit up the background with a touch of gold. (More of this shoot on my official photography business blog, http://mirrorsoflifephoto.blogspot.com/.)

Check out lots more awesome photos with "A Touch of Sun" theme this week on iheartfaces.com!

I ♥ Faces -- "White"

2011-08-29T16:55:00.007-04:00

I had a photo shoot with this adorable family this past week. Thought it went perfectly with the theme of "white"! (You can view more of their shoot on my official photography business blog, http://mirrorsoflifephoto.blogspot.com/.)

Check out lots more photos with this theme this week on iheartfaces.com!

I ♥ Faces -- "Beautiful Eyes"

2011-08-15T10:09:00.001-04:00

http://mirrorsoflifephoto.blogspot.com/

My baby girl has some special eyes. She has always had some amazingly long lashes, and I discovered when she was several months old that her eyes are actually slightly different colors. (One looks darker than the other in the picture -- it's not just the lighting!) She has also had surgery on her eyes for strabismus... I am biased, but I think they are more beautiful than ever now!

Head over to iheartfaces.com to see lots more photos of beautiful eyes, and join in the fun!

I ♥ Faces -- "Water"

2011-07-25T09:04:00.003-04:00

I tried to teach my four-year-old how to drink out of the hose this week. She wasn't getting the idea that she didn't have to stick the hose right in her face. She did this twice and then refused to trust me enough to try it again. Lucky thing I got a good shot on one of those tries. :-)

Head on over to iheartfaces.com to see lots more "Water" photos, and join in the fun!

I ♥ Faces -- "Props"

2011-07-18T15:14:00.005-04:00

First off, I have to note that I am not a professional photographer. (Maybe someday...) I am just a stay-at-home mom, so I don't exactly have a lot of money to throw at photography props. But occasionally, I think simple props that can be found around the house are just about as good as anything else.

Prop #1 in the picture below is one that I have used in spontaneous little photo sessions with all my kids, usually because I find it convenient to plop them in it (to keep them contained and entertained for a while) and then realize how cute they look. Who knew a laundry basket could be so photogenic?

Prop #2 (if you can call it a prop... perhaps more of an accessory?) is my daughter's headband with the large pink flower. What may appear to be a fairly simple accessory is actually a trinket that happens to be very dear to my heart... see below.

This kiddo has been through quite a lot in her 15 months of life. She was born with a condition called craniosynostosis, in which one or more of the sutures of the skull (the gaps between the bone plates) fuse together prematurely, causing abnormal head, face, and brain growth. If untreated, it can cause pressure on the brain, resulting in anything from headaches to developmental delays to permanent brain damage, so it is potentially very serious. So for our daughter and most children like her, this means major reconstructive surgery on the skull. This surgery requires a huge incision that goes from ear to ear, and it can sometimes be a challenge to hide the shaved hair and the scar. But through a support forum for those dealing with this condition, I found a woman who was just starting a charity to make and ship free headbands to little girls who need a little something to help hide their scars. My daughter was one of the first to receive a headband. This awesome lady has now really gotten going on her foundation and has currently sent over 250 headbands (and now pirate caps for boys) to children all around the world. If you are interested, please head over and check out her web page! http://www.cranioangelnetwork.com/

I love my baby girl... she is such a little trooper!

Don't forget to check out the other entries on iheartfaces.com!!

I ♥ Faces -- "A Touch of Whimsy"

2011-06-26T15:15:00.002-04:00

This is one of my daughter's little friends with whom I got to go on a little photo shoot. My SIL was the main photographer, but I enjoyed tagging along and snapping as many of the more candid shots as I could. I loved the shots I got of this girl by a quaint little pond and the fence that encircled it. This kid sure knows how to work that camera with her spunky, playful, sweet personality and pretty face. It says a touch of whimsy to me... how about you? :-)

Check out the other entries on iheartfaces.com!

I ♥ Faces -- "Bright and Vivid"

2011-06-11T17:11:00.024-04:00

My little red-head is terrible with posing and doing what I ask when I'm trying to photograph her. When I can capture a candid shot, however, her bright, vivid personality shines clearly through. All three of my girls have plenty of personality, but this one takes the cake. I'm pretty convinced she's going to be an actress when she grows up. This picture shows just a mild example of what I see every day. Please let me know what you think of this picture! (I'd appreciate any compliments OR criticism!)

And don't forget to check out the other fantastic entries on iheartfaces.com!

I ♥ Faces -- "From a Distance"

2011-06-07T15:03:00.007-04:00

I understand this picture isn't necessarily of the greatest quality, but I love seeing what a fun time my little girl was having dancing on the beach when I took it.

Check out lots more wonderful entries on iheartfaces.com!

I ♥ Faces -- "Yellow"

2011-05-23T14:17:00.005-04:00

I love how my little strawberry-blonde curly head looks in yellow, so naturally my photo for the "yellow" category had to be of her.

I'm guessing the "yellow" theme has something to do with the approach of summer, and summer has certainly come to visit us today. Ninety degrees, humid, and HOT!! But we braved the outdoors (and the buggies, of which my daughter pictured above is apparently terrified) at least long enough to get this picture. I'm glad we did. :-)

Check out lots of beautiful "yellow" photos on iheartfaces.com!

I ♥ Faces -- "Motherhood"

2011-05-09T15:26:00.008-04:00

The following photo is not the one I was planning on entering this week. I had planned on entering a sweet picture of a friend with her daughter, sitting together, sharing a tender moment. The photo below was actually an attempt by my husband to get a decent picture of me and my girls on Mother's Day. You can see for yourself how it turned out.

One girly goofing off, the next not paying any attention, and the last throwing a royal hissy fit. Classic.

This picture says "motherhood" to me because very often motherhood is not about the sweet and tender moments. Motherhood is filled with challenges, frustrations, dirty diapers, and lots of tears (from children and quite often from mom!). As the mother of three children under four, there are very often moments like the ones above where it seems like life has descended into total chaos. When this happens, there are two choices: we can throw up our hands and scream (which I will admit I have done many times), or we can throw back our heads and laugh. A sense of humor is a great asset for a mother... It always goes better when we choose laughter. So as this picture was being taken, I was a little disappointed that we were not going to get a picture-perfect portrait of me and my girls, but I also just had to laugh at the humor of the moment and imagine how great this picture would turn out to be. :-)

Check out lots more "motherhood" entries at www.iheartfaces.com!

I ♥ Faces -- "Soft and Sweet"

2011-05-02T21:21:00.003-04:00

My two oldest girls having a little snack... "Sweet" represented by the strawberries (although I think these girls are pretty sweet all by themselves, but I'm kinda biased); "soft" represented by the photo style.

Check out lots more soft and sweet entries at www.iheartfaces.com/!

I ♥ Faces -- "Celebrating Mom"

2010-05-10T13:15:00.003-04:00

My photo for this week was from the week before Mother's Day. It was my first time going to church as the mother of THREE little girls (all on the outside, at least ;-)).

We also printed this photo and sent it to my mom and mother-in-law for Mother's Day. I love being the mommy of these three little cuties and sharing these precious moments with their grandmommies.

Comments and critiques are welcome! Come on over the iheartfaces.blogspot.com and join in the fun!

I ♥ Faces -- "Dramatic Black & White"

2010-03-30T08:03:00.005-04:00

Self-portrait, "Waiting for Baby"

Visit iheartfaces.blogspot.com for LOTS of great entries, and join in the fun!!

Fix-It Friday #48

2010-03-26T09:46:00.003-04:00

Fix-it Friday picture, courtesy of the author of this blog.

My fix, using PSE7:

Sorry I don't have time at the moment to elaborate on my process... my children are calling. Comments and critiques are much appreciated!

I ♥ Faces -- "Bundled Up"

2010-03-15T11:37:00.004-04:00

From a couple months ago: my 1-year-old contemplating the cold, white world around her. (It was her first time in the snow.)

Comments and critiques welcome! Check out lots of other great entries at iheartfaces.blogspot.com!

I ♥ Faces -- "Hilarious Outtakes"

2010-03-01T18:44:00.007-05:00

Okay, I couldn't resist entering when the theme is "hilarious outtakes." I'm sure every mother says this, but my kids are pretty goofy little characters and are still at the age where they're not afraid to show it. So I get quite a few pics that show plenty of personality.

This is my now 15-month-old when she was about 3 months. Is momma really that scary??!

This one was taken during a Christmas picture session. Daddy was trying to make my older daughter smile by making silly faces, but she apparently thought she was supposed to copy him...

And uhh... this one was just a random zoning moment. ;-)

My older daughter when she was about a year old. Yep, she's a boozer.

And this is my younger daughter at about 3 months again... I have NO IDEA where she came up with this face, but she kept doing it, so naturally we had to get it on film!

I think they get it from their dad.

Check out iheartfaces to find lots more hilarious pics, and join in the fun!!

iHeartFaces -- "Best Face"

2010-01-06T10:52:00.007-05:00

My 1-year-old in the bath, a few days before Christmas. She is just a little older than iheartfaces! :-)

iheartfaces is celebrating their first birthday this week! Head on over and check out all the beautiful entries in this week's "best face" category.

iHeartFaces -- i ♥ faces theme

2010-01-04T21:34:00.004-05:00

Theme: "I ♥ Faces"

I am submitting this photo into the I Heart Faces logo photo contest. By entering, I am granting I Heart Faces LLC permission to consider my photo for use in the marketing and promotion of this website.

Fix-It Friday #35

2009-11-06T15:13:00.005-05:00

Another "Fix-It-Friday" from iheartfaces. Haven't done one of these for a while, but since I've been doing some photo editing lately anyway, I figured it would be nice to take a break with a fresh, pretty face. :-)

Original photo, which can be found here, taken by the author of this blog.

My fix:

My editing steps (using PSE7):
* Rotated the photo (obviously ;-)).
* Shadows / highlights -- lightened shadows, darkened highlights a twinge, and brought up midtone contrast just slightly.
* Brightness / contrast -- brought both these up a little.
* Cropped just a little off the top and left side.
* Adjust hue / saturation -- increased saturation of red tones.
* Sharpened a bit.
* Applied unsharp mask.
* Used the blur tool on her skin a little (which didn't do a whole lot).
* Brought up temperature to a slightly warmer (more yellow) tone.
* Ended up bringing the highlights back up in the end, so that probably undid some of my first step. ;-)

And there you have it!

iHeartFaces -- "Blue"

2009-09-28T21:02:00.006-04:00

Theme: "Blue"

My daughter looking through a little porthole in a tunnel at the playground. :-)

Critiques, compliments, and all other comments welcome. Check out some of the other entries at iheartfaces.blogspot.com!

iHeartFaces -- "Completely Candid"

2009-09-21T09:18:00.004-04:00

Theme: "Completely Candid"

Critiques, compliments, and all other comments welcome. Check out some of the other entries at iheartfaces.blogspot.com!

iHeartFaces -- "Contemplative"

2009-09-14T09:17:00.005-04:00

My entry for the "contemplative" theme this week is this picture of one of my daughters discovering and contemplating her shadow, probably for the first time. On this day bright August day, she was happily running like crazy around the backyard after church one Sunday, dragging her special blanket behind her. After a while, she happened to turn around and catch sight of her shadow. She immediately halted and contemplated it for a second. Then she slowly began walking forward, stepping on it, seeming to marvel at the fact that dark little figure always stayed in front of her no matter how many steps she took.

Please let me know what you think of this pic! Critiques are welcome as well as compliments. I love comments!!

Also, please check out some of the other entries at iheartfaces.blogspot.com! Or join in the fun and make an entry yourself!

iHeartFaces: Week 29 -- Silly Faces

2009-08-11T09:25:00.004-04:00

This picture was taken a few months ago, when I took my girls out to meet their new little cousin. With the help of one of my sisters-in-law, I got this pic of me and my 2-year-old holding my nephew. My daughter's proud, excited little face at getting to hold her cousin is one reason I chose this pic for the "silly" category, as well as the expression that my nephew is making. It cracks me up how he's looking at me as if to say, "Who the heck is THIS??"

Comments and critiques are always appreciated!

Please visit iheartfaces.blogspot.com for lots more entries!

Fix-It Friday #23

2009-08-08T08:41:00.008-04:00

Well, I thought I'd try my hand at another Fix-it Friday picture, and for the first time I used (mostly) PSE7 to do it. I played with certain features of this one more than usual in (probably) quirky ways, but for the most part I left the rest of the picture pretty similar to the original. That probably doesn't make any sense until I explain it, though. :-)

Here is the original photo, taken by the writer of this blog:

Here is my edit:

What I did:
* First of all, I wanted to crop the picture down to get this cute little guy on one side. But to do that, I kept having to crop out most of the pretty flowers. So I figured, what the heck... I'll move the flowers. So I did:
-- Selected the flowers using the Quick Selection tool.
-- Created a new layer via copy.
-- Used the Move tool to move it upward and over to the left a little.
-- Flattened the image.
-- Used the Clone Stamp tool to blend it in a bit.

* Next, I was not crazy about how the colors of his shirt clashed with the flowers. So I changed the colors of his shirt. :-)
-- Selected most of the shirt.
-- Turned down the saturation.
-- Played with the hue until it more or less matched the flowers. (I didn't even have to play with the individual surf boards on his shirt... At whatever hue it was, they all suddenly matched at the same time!)

* Then I turned to the more minor points of lighting and color, and that was the easy part.
-- Lightened the shadows a bit.
-- Brought up the midtone contrast a little.
-- Brought up the overall contrast a tiny bit.
-- Sharpened it some.

* Then I used the clone stamp tool (turned down to about 20% opacity) to lighten the dark spots under his eyes.

* And finally, I added a vignette. For this, I had to leave PSE7 and go back to my old standard Picnik, because I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do a decent vignette in PSE. If anyone has any advice on that matter, please let me know! :-)

I am still very new to Photoshop, so if this looks like a rookie's work... it is, lol. If you have any other comments or critiques on my fix, or advice on using PSE7, I would love to hear them! Thanks for visiting!

iHeartFaces: Week 28 -- Sandy Toes

2009-07-19T18:35:00.007-04:00

Well, I haven't entered for a few weeks (mostly due to lack of appropriate pictures for the weekly categories), but I had to come back for Foot Week! This week, instead of making sure there is a face in the picture, the challenge is to make sure there is at least one foot in the picture. So, armed with my newly-acquired Photoshop Elements 7 (which was another reason I haven't been back -- trying to figure the darn thing out!), I present my entry.

These cute little sandy toes belong to my two-year-old daughter on her birthday. I tried to make the picture look "beachy," but actually she was just playing in her new sandbox. (Shh! Don't tell!)

Please let me know what you think! Critiques are welcome as well as compliments. I love comments!!

Also, please check out some of the other entries at iheartfaces.blogspot.com! And make an entry yourself, if you wish. It's fun stuff! :-)

Fix-It Friday #18

2009-06-26T22:26:00.004-04:00

This pic was not at all difficult to "fix" -- it was already so precious! But here are the edits that I came up with.

Original photo, by the author of this blog:

My edition version:

Again not being terribly specific, here are the general steps that I took in my editing process (using Picnik):
1) Crop -- cropped it down to a better-focused, more interesting composition (in my opinion at least :-p).
2) Curves -- adjusted the lighting, adding more exposure and contrast.
3) Gritty -- to mute the color slightly and make the lines (local contrast) "pop" a little more. (This is probably my favorite Picnik tool, as you may be able to see from my edited pics so far on this blog. :-p)
4) Focal zoom -- to mute the background and put more focus on this beautiful face.
5) Soften -- only on the skin, to give it a smoother appearance.
6) Zombify -- on the eyes, to bring out the catch light just a tiiiiny bit more.
7) Saturation -- putting a teensy bit more color back in there. :-)
8) Matte -- to soften the edges of the photo.
9) Frames -- self-explanatory. :-)

iHeartFaces: Week 23 -- Cutie Pie

2009-06-15T06:30:00.001-04:00

For the challenge "sepia-toned," here is a recent favorite of my younger cutie pie.

Comments and critiques are much appreciated. Thanks for visiting!

Check out other entries at iheartfaces.blogspot.com, and come join in the fun!

Fix-It Friday #16

2009-06-05T11:08:00.008-04:00

I've never participated in the iHeartFaces Fix-it Friday challenge before, but this one looked like a fun challenge that was too good to pass up.

Here is the original photo, taken by the author of this blog.

And here it is with my edits.

Just for fun, here's what I did, using the online editing program Picnik, the premium version. (I'm not going to be incredibly detailed, but here are the basics.)

1) Exposure -- added more highlights and upped the contrast a little. Also some local contrast to add more definition.
2) Curves -- to adjust the color.
3) Clone -- to clean up the under-eye area.
4) Vibrance -- to bring out more color, especially in the eyes.
5) Black and White, then Vibrance again -- to mute the color ever so slightly and then bring it back out in certain key features such as the eyes, lips, and cheeks.
6) Zombify -- to bring out more depth in the eyes.
7) Frames -- self-explanatory. :-)

And there ya go. Sometimes I have even more fun editing pictures than taking them, so this turned out to be a great thing for me! :-)

iHeartFaces: Week 21 -- Happy Birthday!

2009-06-01T09:49:00.004-04:00

What perfect timing for this category! My daughter Lucy celebrated her second birthday yesterday. We recently moved several hours away from any extended family, so sadly we weren't able to celebrate with them. But we had a nice little party at home with Daddy, Mommy, and Baby Sister. I got lots of fun pictures of her playing with her new toys, but none of them were an obvious birthday theme. So in the end, I went with this one of her opening one of her presents.

(Economical side note: 2-year-olds don't care what the present is wrapped in, just so long as it is a present, and it's wrapped. Hence the newspaper as wrapping paper. Also a great way to recycle!) ;-)

Anyway, I know this entry isn't going to win or anything, but I loved it because of her face in this picture -- she is in the middle of saying, "Ooooooo!" as she opens her present. Classic Lucy expression. :-D

Check out some of the other entries at iheartfaces.blogspot.com, and join in the fun! And if you have a comment or critique to share with me, that would be much appreciated! Thanks for visiting.

iHeartFaces: Week 19 -- My Gerber Baby

2009-05-19T10:41:00.003-04:00

My 6-month-old daughter is a little chunker. I'd say her cheeks are at least Gerber baby worthy, if she doesn't beat him out, lol! (Here's a picture for comparison.) This photo that I got yesterday shows off the comparison pretty well, except instead of that innocent little "ooo" look, she gave me this somewhat saucy little grin, with her jaw slightly askew. So I'd call this one, "Gerber Baby with Attitude." ;-)

Click on the button above or the link below to check out more of the great entries for this week's photo contest at iheartfaces! And if you'd like to leave me a comment or critique below, that would be much appreciated! :-)

I am submitting this photo into the www.iheartfaces.com Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites.

iHeartFaces: Week 18 -- Laughin' and Swingin'

2009-05-11T13:25:00.004-04:00

This is my almost-2-year-old, swinging in the "big girl" swing by herself for the first time. She LOVED it! She was cracking up the whole time. :-)

Please check out some of the other entries at iheartfaces.blogspot.com! There are always LOADS of good ones in there!

iHeartFaces: Week 17 -- Sun Hat

2009-05-04T15:28:00.002-04:00

My younger daughter enjoying the sunshine, complete with sun hat and drooly chin. :-)

Don't forget to check out all the other entries at iheartfaces.blogspot.com!

iHeartFaces: Week 15 -- We've Got Our Eyes on You

2009-04-21T23:10:00.003-04:00

The challenge this week was to take a picture of yourself with your kids. This is not easy when you have two under 2, ages 5 months and nearly 23 months. Nevertheless, I managed to come up with a few that I liked. One of my favorites was this one of our eyes. I'm not too enamored of my own, but I love both my girls' beautiful eyes. (I think they must get them from their daddy.)

Don't forget to check out all the other entries at iheartfaces.blogspot.com!

iHeartFaces: Week 14 -- Discovering Dandelions

2009-04-14T21:47:00.004-04:00

For the kids' category:

Unfortunately, I was out of town and couldn't find my camera among my luggage on Easter, so I'm settling for a spring photo. This is one of my favorites from a while back: my older daughter last spring, examining her first dandelion. It obviously required a lot of concentration. ;-)

Please check out the other great entries at iheartfaces.blogspot.com! Oh, and would love to hear any comments / critiques you have for me. :-)

iHeartFaces: Week 13 -- Sisters Make the Best Friends

2009-04-06T11:20:00.006-04:00

For the kids' category:

My two little girls, ages 22 months and 4 months. They are not quite the age to have many friends yet, but they sure enjoy each other! It's a miracle that I got them both to stay still, look at me, AND smile a little at the same time! :-)

And as always, be sure to check out all the other great entries and join in the fun at iheartfaces.blogspot.com!