Snapshots of Life This Week.

+ experimental cooking on the grill this summer
+ visiting a local farm
+ saying hello to the baby cows
+ my alter ego, entomology photographer
+ sweet colorway design assistant

Snapshots of Life this Week

+ early morning playtime
+ sweet gift from a little flower fairy
+ powwow in the pool
+ day lilly in the garden
+ so proud of making a parfait almost entirely by herself
+ sun freckles

Snapshots of Life this Week

 

+ always asking to sew
+ old stone wall
+ wolverine, now with sporks
+ dancing in the weeping willow
+ twirling with dandelions  

Bits + Pieces

+ hot day
+ roses blooming in the garden
+ most of the pages from the first draft of my husband's novel
+ trying out the new umbrella she bought with her jar money + sharing with her little sister
+ celebrated 11 married years with this fella over the weekend

Bits + Pieces

+ we sewed pirate eye patches on a rainy afternoon
+ Seamus is as squirmy to photograph as the kids
+ this little one is about to turn 6
+ the peonies are already dying
+ she got a new bathing suit and wears it all the time

Capture or Live in the Moment?

Much to my husband's dismay, I pretty much take my camera everywhere with me. We'll be on one of our family explores and I stop for 15 minutes at a time to capture gigantic mushrooms, or miniscule bugs, a pretty flower, or the texture of tree bark. But I am also able to freeze moments like this one in time. My two older kiddos decided to bring their cameras along on this walk, and it was fun to have some partners in crime. (Although stalking skittish animals proved to be a little more challenging with two or three of us vying for position.) It's important for me to remember to take some time to live in the moment, as constantly shooting photos can detract from the pleasure of spontaneity a bit.

Are you a crazy camera person, or do you prefer to tuck experiences away in your memories?

Bits + Pieces

+ watching an evening thunderstorm from the porch
+ dandelion gift from the boy
+ section markers in the old graveyard
+ family walk time
+ happy bagel face  

Picture Wall.

The second coat of paint has still to make its appearance on this wall, but I just couldn't take it being empty any longer! Previously hanging there was a large canvas with a flower painted on it that I bought on clearance at Bed, Bath and Beyond. It was pretty enough and the colors went nicely in the living room, but I needed a change. I also needed somewhere to hang pictures of the family and this was the largest free space I had! (Our chalkboard is now occupying the space in the dining room where our photos used to hang en masse, looking rather en mess.) 

I really needed a photo wall that took up a bit of space, but was uniform and uncluttered due to the wall of storage and necessity that is opposite the couch (I'll share more about that soon). After searching high and low for an affordable gallery frame, I settled on creating my own since my budget couldn't accommodate the frames I found. I purchased simple 10 x 10 inch black frames from Michaels (about $60 for 10 of them), and matted each with plain white fabric that had been gifted to me. 

Hanging them was a little tricky, trying to get them all lined up. They still look a bit crooked in the photo, but they don't look so in reality- probably because our house is built on a hill and when we look at the pictures we're just as crooked as the house, so it all works out. It is so nice to have pictures of the kids back on the walls though! Now I just need to get updated photos...