POTW 10

Love my brother... and my little boy, of course! Here they are together at Easter. Thank goodness for Mom having an Easter egg hunt at her house, because WP and I were sick the whole week before and didn't really plan or participate in any Easter activities.  But we had a blast at my parents' house.

Proud of my Friends...

No POTW this week.  You know how it goes.  BUT... my husband and I did have the chance to drive up to Dallas this weekend for the couples shower of my DEAR, sweet friend and former-college-roommate, Angie.  My parents kept WP (thank, Mom & Dad!).  This was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time.  I am just overflowing with JOY on behalf of my friend Angie & her engagement.  She has never been one to settle, and now, all of her waiting for the right man has paid off!

I got the chance to catch up with several friends from college who live in Dallas and who I don't get to see that often.  And I just have to say that I am SO PROUD OF MY FRIENDS.  They have always been beautiful and kind and fun to hang out with. They have always loved the Lord and been an encouragement to my faith. But now, they have grown into strong WOMEN. Fiances. Wives. Mothers of one, two, three, etc... Some work outside of the home. Some stay at home. Some do both. But they have all just come into their own and I admire and respect them all and am so thankful for those friendships that run deep.  These are the friends who knew me in college in the days of wearing t-shirts and Reefs/New Balances and sometimes bandanas. (Bandanas?!)  It was PRECIOUS to be able to recall some of those days. But even more precious to see my friends who are so special and to know that we are all just doing the best we can with what we've been given.

Throughout the trip, I thought of the verse in Proverbs: "A friend loves at all times."  And it's true.  These are the friends that I love at all times (and who love me at all times) regardless of how much we see each other or talk to each other.

Sweet friends - you know who you are. I love you and I am proud of you. I enjoy checking your blogs to see what's going on in your lives... but it was even better to see you in person, even briefly, this weekend.

POTW 9

POTW 9: Dandelions

This picture pretty much describes the sweet, slow pace of our spring break! I love how the dandelion seeds stand out against the background. And, how this captures William's sweetness and innocence. And how he is wearing a Mater shirt and has stamps on his hand. Our 7 year old neighbor made an astute observation about William's clothes. She said, "Every time I see him he either has on a really nice shirt or a shirt with Mater on it." I guess it just depends on who picks out his clothes that day!  :)

POTW 8

My dear friend and college roommate CeCe and her son Max came to visit us this weekend.  We went to the rodeo and had a blast with the boys.  And... it was good for our souls to get to see each other and catch up in person.

I love that this picture captures beautiful CeCe in a candid 'mom moment' - riding the caterpillar ride with her boy, holding his back pack and his sword.

POTW 7

Went to the Houston Rodeo fair grounds this week, 3 moms and 4 boys.  My favorite part (again this year) was the farm-to-market walk-through for kids.  The kids each get a basket and then take turns pretending to be a farmer. They 'plant' and 'water' seeds, then they get a vegetable for their bucket. They 'feed' chickens then get an egg for the bucket. They 'milk' a 'cow' and get a carton of milk for their bucket.  And so on and so forth. At the end, they get to trade all of their items for 'money' and they can use the 'money' to buy a snack (a real, actual snack).

So, there are multiple Pictures of the Week again. Maybe I should call it 'The week in pictures.' But that would be too ambitious. Most weeks, I'm doing good to get one picture posted.

planting and watering onions

feeding chickens

milking a cow. these fake cows were pretty cool.

running to the farmer's market to sell items

sorting produce into bins 

enjoying the 'fruit roll ups' of their labor

POTW 6

The further away I get from my photography class, the worse my pictures are getting. I think I need a refresher course.  All I seem to be learning lately is that taking the DSLR camera off "Auto" has some risks. Like unintentionally making your child look like a ghost.  "Oh, I hope I always remember how my son was blurry and transparent at age 3 1/2," said no one ever. This is NOT the picture of the week. 

These ARE the pictures of the week:

 We met Sid the Science Kid at the Houston Children's Museum. Sid told us that he is 4 years old (in case you were wondering.)  William had a lot of fun, and I was so proud of him for not being too scared to give Sid a hug and take a picture with him.

We fed the horses again, and I love their expressions in this picture. You can see William holding the empty bag of carrots, and it's as if the horses are saying, "Come on, don't you have some more?"

POTW 4 & 5

So, I missed a week of POTW. I didn't even take my camera out. I really enjoyed just living life and not having to take pictures and document everything. BUT.... I do still want to practice using my camera, AND I love having the every-day memories captured from W's childhood.   Since I skipped last week, I'm including a handful of pictures from this past week. 

The weather in Houston has been beautiful, and we are taking full advantage.  So... PictureS of the Week 4 & 5 are all "play" pictures. Over a month out from my photography class and my technique is really fading. The first picture below isn't even in focus - anywhere.  BUT... this is me trying. 

Philip & William driving Cars at the Park. This picture is worth 1,000 words to describe our lives right now!

William's first outing in the Power Wheels, after abruptly deciding that he is not scared of it any more.  

Philip finding William at hide & seek. William hides behind this big rock every time!

William shows his newest Car (Rip K.) to one of the horses (Nebraska) we feed carrots to. 

POTW 3

Things I want to remember about this POTW:

• William picked out the shirt he is wearing because orange is his FAVORITE color
• He and I were having an outdoor picnic, eating apples and learning letters
• After he had taken a few bites of his apple, he said, "Look, Mom! It looks like Lightning McQueen!"  That boy always has Cars on the brain.

I'm still not good enough to be able to get my camera to do exactly what I want it to do AND be able to capture the fleeting moments I want to capture. But, this practice is helping me. And, since I am taking my camera with me more, I am able to get more pictures of our "every day" lives. I know I'll be glad I have them. 

POTW 2

About this week's POTW
I think this picture captures the magic of our ordinary days.  Nearly every afternoon, William and I go outside to play with neighbors.  All the kids come out and bring with them an assortment of snacks, scooters, skateboards, rip sticks, roller blades, balls, chalk, and helmets. William adores all of the 'big kids', and he and I always stay and play as long as we can - before dinner has to be made. These two girls were taking a snack break and watching the other kids play in the street. I don't know that the picture is "photographically good" - I just know that it captures a feeling about William's child hood that I really want to remember.

ISO 100; 50 mm; f/2; 1/2000

Picture of the Week (POTW)

Why POTW?
I attended a photography workshop today, led by the talented Laura Veno, and I am inspired to take better (and more) pictures!  As soon as I got home, I started practicing some of the things I learned. Laura suggested a blog that has some great ideas for weekly pictures to take, which inspired me to commit to taking my very own Picture of the Week - POTW.  I'm doing this for two reasons: 1) so that I will keep learning and practicing new skills and 2) to have some accountability and regularity for documenting our family's life on days other than Halloween, Christmas and beach vacation.

About this week's POTW
I'm still about as amateur as it gets, so I knew I needed a still subject and good light to practice with. I also knew that I wanted to be better about capturing the special "little" things that make up my whole world right now, but often never make it into a picture. What better than Cars?! William wants to play cars 24 hours a day.  Not just any cars - Disney Cars. And his favorite? Lightning McQueen.  I love how this picture focuses on McQueen, and how the other cars are still visible in the back ground. William, Philip and I know every single Car's name... even when they are blurred!

ISO 800; 50mm; f/2.5; 1/30