Mother/Daughter Time

Friday evening was one of those times I dreamt about when I first heard those magical words in the hospital six and a half years ago.  "It's a girl!" While of course I would have been happy with any healthy child, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I had high hopes that my first born would be a girl.  I have such a special mother/daughter bond with my own mother and couldn't wait to replicate that.  As Taylor has started Kindergarten I've seen her transform from a child to a kid.  She's officially a big girl.  And now is our time to shine.  When I signed us up to attend her school's Mother/Daughter Event, I did not know what I expected.  Maybe some games or crafts.  While the night did contain it's fair share of those, it held so much more.

Let's start with the preparation.  Taylor got off the bus on Friday, chattering about how excited she was for that evening's festivities.  Taylor is generally a hyper, happy girl, but she is also reserved.  It's rare that she allows herself to express genuine excitement over something.  So I tried to nurture that spark of enthusiasm.  I allowed her to pick out our outfits, complete with shoes and scarves.  Then I let her take a crack at painting her own nails.  I stopped short of letting her paint my nails, because I really don't like having painted nails.


Before we left, we posed for a quick shot outside.


Then we let Morgan in one, because we both recognized her place in this special Mother/Daughter configuration.


Then it was off to the school.  First up was the fashion show.  Taylor got to dress me up in a garbage bag and accessorize me once again.  This became my attire for the evening.


Thankfully, I was not alone. (Notice my sister, Jessica!)


Taylor must have said "I wonder if you will get to keep your dress" three of four times that night.  We finally agreed that they probably wouldn't mind if I kept the garbage bag, but we should return the beaded accessories.

Next, was pizza and a chocolate fountain.  (This must have been Taylor's first trip to the fountain, because her face and dress were still chocolate-free.)


We followed this with a game of charades.  I was so proud of Taylor when she raised her hand to volunteer right away.  She wasn't picked until the end, when she was a very convincing kangaroo.

Until this point, Taylor remained quite subdued as is often the case with her in public situations.  The next event, called Minefield, broke through that calm exterior and released a very excited little girl as Taylor directed her blindfolded mama through a series of obstacles.  Giggling turned to laughter as she tried to guide me using only her words.  She loved it!  (So much so that we played our own version of Minefield at home on Saturday night.)


Now when my daughter comes alive, so do I.  And I'll do anything to keep that joy in her eyes.  Including letting her paint my nails florescent pink.


By the time we moved to the craft table, Taylor was having a wonderful time.  As was I.  She later told me that crafts was her favorite part of the evening.  We each made two magnets for each other, and quickly decided they'd need to go high on the refrigerator to stay out of the reach of little hands.


The next events weren't photographed as I mercifully put my camera away.  We played a version of the Newlywed game, called "How Well Do You Know Each Other".  I successfully identified Taylor's favorite TV show and Disney Character, but I was not current when asked her favorite color or subject (Spanish, who knew?)  Nor did I know that if she could change her name it would be 'Isabel'.

After these structured activities, they put on a Just Dance Wii game and dimmed the lights.  So we braved it on the dance floor.  In between trips to the chocolate fountain and dancing to songs I've never heard of, Taylor said "You are staying with me!"  That was my favorite part.  The time that I know is fleeting when my daughter wants me around.  When my presence makes her feel happy, secure and loved.  So we danced and talked and snacked and enjoyed our time together.  At one point she said "it doesn't even feel like school because it's so party-y."

When I came home, I was on an emotional high and more in love with Taylor and my role as her mother than ever before.

Life is good.

A Search For Balance

My husband has been getting on my case about not updating my blog since Monday.  He asked if our blog will suffer as a result of my new pursuit of photography.  Well, the answer is no.  At least I hope not.  Admittedly, I have been struggling to strike a nice balance between my obsession passion for photography (as well as my overwhelming excitement at the thought of starting and nurturing my own business) with the needs of my family.  The other day, I was on my computer doing who knows what (editing pictures, reading a photography blog, researching poses) when Taylor said "I wish I could break your computer."  Ouch.  I immediately shut the laptop and headed outside to play.  Nothing like a six year old to shame you into remembering what's important.

Since we've been back from the lake house I've adopted "Uncle Mike's" philosophy on dishes.  Basically you could sum it up as follows "it'll keep."  Meaning why be in such a rush to jump up from the table and clean the kitchen when we've just enjoyed family time and could extend it further if we just allowed ourselves to.  So I clear the table (with the help of the kids), throw a few dishes in the dish washer and save the rest for later.  I am learning not to cringe at the sight of these dirty dishes and view them as simply not that important.

Certainly not as important as this.

It just doesn't get any better.

I have had the opportunity to practice real photo shoots lately.  Here's a few samples of what I'm creating.

Spring Break Adventures

Raise your hand if you had fun this spring break!

During Taylor's spring break, we had the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful lake house that belongs to Mark's army buddy, Mike. For two and a half days we relaxed here:

Mike served three tours in Iraq and during his time off in between, he worked on this lake house as his personal therapy.

He did a great job creating a place that's homey, relaxing and a fun place to prop up your feet!

We had such a wonderful time here fishing, playing games, taking boat rides, making fires, cuddling, and exploring. Of course, I also took many, many photos. I decided to create some collages to better showcase our adventures.

The kids really enjoyed riding Mr. Mike's pontoon boat. Of course, no one wanted to sit still on it, but I did manage to relax a bit as my children explored every nook and cranny of it. Taylor's favorite was sneaking up while Daddy was driving and pushing the horn button. Charlie enjoyed climbing on everybody that was sitting down, and in addition to drinking Daddy's beer (that picture's coming), Morgan liked jumping off the seat into Mommy's arms. Of course, the big kids had to try that, too. Good thing I have tiny children!

Fishing was also a big hit. Taylor was so excited to catch the first fish. After that, Charlie was eager to catch one, too. He dropped his line in and within ten seconds caught his own bluegill. It flopped on the line which prompted Charlie to drop his pole and run to me. After that he was finished fishing. He and Morgan preferred playing on the boat as it was docked while the big people fished. Charlie and I even played a game of checkers there.

We also spent a lot of time exploring around the house. On our first morning, we discovered two geese with seven baby goslings. We learned later that they had just hatched that day!

Our children are at a wonderful stage in their lives where it takes very little to entertain them. Give them a fire in the fireplace and some glow sticks and they are happy. Downright giddy.

Notice how Morgan is the only one still standing in this picture. I told the children when we first arrived that time did not matter at the lake house which meant they could stay up as late as they wanted. On the second night, everyone was worn out by 9:30. Only Morgan was still running around.

If I had to pick one word to describe our time at the lake house, it would be relaxing. In fact, my favorite times were spent cuddling with my little ones.

Mr. Mike was such a gracious host. He immediately made us feel welcomed. His love of children was apparent and the kids took to him right away.

Thank you for such a wonderful time, Mr. Mike! We hope to come back very soon :)

On our ride home, we stopped in Louisville to see Grandpa and Grandma. We had a nice visit with them and told them all about our adventures at the lake house.

My goal

Monday was a fun day. Exhausting, but oh so fun. Circumstances led me to a house full of children with an extra adult (my mom) willing to supervise them. What better time for me to practice my photography skills?? And practice I did. Starting with this little one.

Now, this was extremely difficult because I was left alone with her in the basement. This meant I had to keep her happy (i.e. hold her) while setting up backdrops, lighting etc. Then I had to position her and rush to my camera to try to capture some smiles. Thankfully, she's still somewhat stationary.

Next it was time for this little one. In general, my children are much harder to work with than my sister's children. Still, the stool was novel enough for her to want to sit on it will I snapped away. This time the older girls stood to my right and tried to elicit smiles (hence the off camera gaze). My favorite is the top middle. Mark's favorite is the top left.

Addison was getting very tired so we snapped a few of these quickly before sending her off to nap. Jacob does not like to keep his eyes open during pictures, apparently.

I had approximately seven minutes of the boys' attention. These were the results.

Taylor's turn was next. She's usually such an easy subject, but she got very distracted and upset by the idea of a missing highlighter. So I got exactly four shots of her.

Then on to my beautiful niece, Grace.

After photographing five challenging subjects, Grace was so refreshing. She sat still. She smiled. She even held my reflector on occasion.

She was the only one I took outside and I got my favorite shots of the day with the sun lighting her from behind and the breeze in her hair.

There you have it. The results from hours of shooting and editing. You may be wondering what my big announcement is (as referred to in my last blog post), or most likely, you're not wondering at all. I've set a goal for myself to pursue photography as a profession. I know that doesn't seem surprising, but it actually came as quite a shock to me. It wasn't until about a month ago (the day I shot these park photos with Taylor) that I actually admitted to myself that I wanted to be a photographer. Even then, I was very timid to say it out loud. Well, now the idea has set in and taken roots. I've now started taking steps towards achieving this goal. Right now I am in the practice phase of my plan. Practice, practice, practice. So in addition to my posts chronicling the adventures of the Williams' family (and we've got some big adventures planned this spring break!), I'll also document my progress as an aspiring photographer. I hope you come along for the ride.

Happy Easter

As promised, today's post includes Easter photos I've taken over the past week. We start with Charlie's Easter party at preschool. As usual, his favorite part was the snack. During games and crafts, he repeatedly told me he was hungry. He's been around the block enough to know that themed parties come with themed desserts. This time it was bunny cupcakes. Mmmmm...

Morgan made some friends with some of the other younger siblings who accompanied their mommas to the party. One of them even shared her Easter candy with her.

A few days later we went to an Easter celebration at a local church. We started the fun with an Easter egg hunt. As you can see, they cleaned up!

This was Morgan's first egg hunt and she caught on very quickly, although she saw no need to move quickly as she delicately and deliberately placed eggs in her basket.

This particular church went all out with face painting, crafts, free lunch, games, bouncy house, puppet shows, and of course, the Easter bunny.

Morgan was not a fan.

Last week was Charlie's spring break so he and Morgan got to attend the MOMS club Easter party and practice their egg hunting skills once again.

After school one day, we decided it was time to color some eggs. The kids did such a good job this year! They took their time and really worked on each egg. Taylor enjoyed helping out her younger brother. Anytime I'd try to help him she'd gently tell me "Mom, i've got it. I'll help him. You just take your pictures."

I got a kick out of the color schemes that emerged from each individual.

Again, their music therapy momma, came through with an Easter playlist to add to the festivities.

**WE INTERRUPT THESE EASTER PHOTOS TO BRING YOU MORE IMAGES CAPTURED THIS WEEK THAT WERE JUST TO PRECIOUS NOT TO SHARE.

**WE NOW RETURN TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED EASTER PHOTOS

The children were very excited for Easter morning to arrive. Ah, how sweet it is to experience so much joy from one basket of goodies. Amongst the favorites were their magnifying glasses, candy and Morgan's color wonder markers.

Before heading off to church, I corralled the family into the one place near the house that wouldn't elicit harsh shadows from the sun. Unfortunately, I got flustered by everyone's impatience and messed up a setting on my camera resulting in a less-than-sharp image.

Luckily, they indulged me after church by letting me try out some of my new equipment in the basement. Still a far cry from perfect, but hey, perfect is dull, right?

After church, the big kids went with Mark to hang out at Grandpa's house for a bit while Morgan napped and I cooked. Then it was time to head to the Well's house for an Easter feast and yet another egg hunt.

There was no shortage of eggs in this hunt either!

There you have it. Our Easter in a nutshell. Or should I say eggshell? Hee, hee.

My next post is going to be packed full of fun images. At least I hope. Tomorrow, I've got quite the photo shoot scheduled. I'll deliver the results along with some exciting announcements so stay tuned!