A Little Slice of Heaven {Watermelon}

I was cutting up a watermelon this morning and all that red fleshy goodness inspired me.

I love the contrast of the red and the green. And the occasional black seed.

I couldn't find a bowl that was large enough to fit the whole thing so I dug out my Thanksgiving turkey platter.

It felt a bit sacrilegious to be placing summer's sweetest treat inside the sacred Turkey Day platter but it was way too early am and my brain wasn't functioning well enough to worry about the etiquette of seasonal dishes.












"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Homeschool Yearbooks and a Snazzy New Camera Bag

We are so blessed to be part of a fairly large Homeschool Tutorial that offers our kids lots of opportunities such as a Student Government, Proms, Graduations, and the beloved Yearbook.



You know, that thing we couldn't wait to get our hands on, just so we could flip back to the index pages to see how many times our faces would be gracing the pages? C'mon...you know you did it too.



Our 2010-2011 yearbooks came in last week and Monday was the official Yearbook Signing Day at the park. It was hot as heck outside but we braved the heat and busted out the ball point pens.



The kids love this day. Partly because they are excited about the Yearbook. But mostly because it is just the excuse they need to see their friends again during summer break.



I am one of those mean moms that makes all 3 of my children share one yearbook.

They each designate a page for their friends to leave their well wishes.

When we got home I asked Maggie why all of her friends simply signed their names and nothing else.

She responded, "Cause I told them to. I knew Tyler would read what they wrote and make fun of it."

Please tell me that this incessant sibling teasing is going on in other homes as well??

Maybe it's time for more than one yearbook?



Remember my post about fanning the photography flames and keeping my "bag" with me at all times?

Well here she is.

Isn't she lurvely???

It's my new JoTote that I won from Cheryl's blog. You should check her out if you haven't already. She is fabulous.

And so is this bag. Seriously.

I didn't know how much I loathed my manly backpack style camera bag until I feasted my eyes on this bag...in all it's glorious mustardy goodness.



As you can see it totes more than lenses. The interchangeable "innards" make it possible to fit your wallet, phone, even your iPad.

So basically I now have no excuses for not having my camera with me at all times.

Getting them off my camera, edited, and posted?

I can still think of a few.


"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Beguiled By Babies {Remembering My Love For Photography}

This weekend we attended a birthday party hosted by close friends of ours.

Lots of adults. Lots of teenagers. Lots of preteens. Lots of kids.

Lots of babies.

I quickly found myself naturally drawn to the them.

Like a doctor, who's trying to decide which field of medicine he wants to specialize in, and no matter how he tries to act interested in podiatry or phlebotomy...he always seems to find himself in the nursery with the babies.

I too am like a moth to a flame.

There is just something about the completely uninhibited nature of a baby/toddler that feels so raw and natural to me.

They don't look at the camera and pose or smile...or change what they were doing.

No false pretenses. No putting on the happy face. {not typically}

They just continue to do what they were doing before you pointed the big long black lens into their faces.

I love that about them.

Before I knew it I was stalking them {and their poor,poor parents} all around the party.



This little guy was loving him some Cheetos.



Kinda like I love Nutella.



I can relate.

{Not that I've stuck three fingers into a jar all at one time or anything.}



I give that same look sometimes when people try to keep us apart.



Remember Cade? His sweet family volunteered to be my photography guinea pigs a couple of years ago.



They have just recently become a family of five and this is their newest addition.



Sweet Sydnie.



Seriously, how cute is she?!

All of these cute as a button babies have had me thinking. {Not about having more babies...no no no.}

I think I had forgotten just how much I love capturing moments of life with my camera.

I get busy...and as fun and easy as it is to use, my iPhone makes me lazy I think.

And so I have been inspired all over again.

Here's my plan:

1. Keep my camera more accessible as I go throughout my day. Being intentional with having my bag just as I would my wallet, phone, etc.

2. Focus more on capturing the raw moments of life. Not just the perfectly composed moments.

3. Maybe plan a photo shoot or two. Overcoming those nagging fears and doubts that scream failure into my soul.

4. Keep perspective. Life and the people in it are beautiful. Not perfection.

4. Remember to never again forget...how very much I love watching life through my lens.

Linking up with Robyn at Mingle Monday:



And Darcy at Sweet Shot Tuesday:




"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

InstaFriday...On a Friday {Imagine That}

This week was a weird. We were pretty much stuck in the house all week while strange men hung out in my bathroom every day to work on our shower.

Story of my life this summer.



It is coming along quite nicely though. Our tile should be in Monday and hopefully this restoration nightmare will be behind us.



Yes, this American does run on Dunkin. Not a Starbucks coffee fan. Sorry.

::gasp::

My Keurig bit the dust after 2 years. Apparently when they say "descale every 3-5 months"...they mean it. Who reads the instructions???

Anyhoo, I called to get some help troubleshooting and they said they were going to send me a brand spankin' new machine for FREE as a one time courtesy!

Suddenly my descaling shame was lifted and I am almost certain there were angels rejoicing in Heaven.



While waiting on my new Keurig to arrive I went between Dunkin Donuts and this.

Can I just say that once you have pushed a button, and 15 seconds later have a fresh brewed cup of coffee in your hands, there is no going back to this.



It was hot and sunny all week here in TN.

A heat index of 115.

Can you say heat wave?

I'm just glad we are no longer dodging tornadoes every other day.



I had a date with these two one morning. I challenged myself to pick up my camera again. Unfortunately the pictures are still sitting on my camera. Instagram has rurnt me.



One of the highlights of our school year is the arrival of our books from Sonlight.

We love opening those glorious boxes full of paperbacks and restocking our bookshelves.

This year I found them on the porch...with our free Keurig.

By far the best day of the week.



"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Last week....

I realize that it's officially now "this week"..but "last week" got away from me.

The perfectionist within was tempted to just move on to this weeks events.

But in keeping with the promise I made to myself to never again worry about approval, blogging etiquette, or "do's and don'ts"...more than the reasons I started this blog...here we go.



We celebrated the 4th of July here at home.



With lots of yummy food, fireworks, and a cooler full of water balloons.



They were so much fun.

But such a mess.



Kinda like these bad boys.



I finally found this Ikea Ektorp sofa on Craigslist for $300 like new! Only took 8 months of waiting. The matching ottoman came with it. Perfect for my Ektorp chair (also a Craigslist steal) in my living room.

Remember the coffee table I found last month?

My formal dining room turned sitting room {you know, a place you can actually just sit in front of the fire with NO TELEVISION} is finally coming together.

Craigslist=love.



It has been hot as Hades here so the kids decided to kill two birds with one stone by breaking out the sprinkler.

Put another "X" on our Summer List...and get cooled off.

Last time I checked you didn't need goggles to play in a sprinkler but hey...what do I know?



Then their mean momma makes them sit outside till they dry off.



I hitched a ride to Wal-Mart with this handsome fella.

Don't let the toboggan fool you. It's hot here. It's just that this is what teenage boys do when they are having a bad hair day.

I have no desire whatsoever to talk about how crazy it is that my baby boy is driving his momma around.

Nope, let's just move right along now shall we?



Oh Lord. It's every where I turn these days.

My kids growing up at the speed of light.

Look at her! Where did my little girl go?!



Frappuccino with mom. A rite of passage.



Mocho Coconut please.

Train them up in the way they should go...right?!



I've been drinking my fair share of these this summer.

They are so dang good and I've got the thighs to prove it.



This is a cookie jar.

In my living room.

Empty.

Don't judge.





"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Charlotte's Web {Sweet Shot Tuesday}

I saw this beautiful web on a run one morning. Only when I moved in really close did I actually see the spider.

I was not sure if that was an egg sac.
I chose to think it was.
I named her Charlotte.



Linking up here with Darcy:



"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"

Our week {InstaFriday...on a Saturday...again}

This is becoming a habit but better late than never...right?



This week I attended my monthly weigh-in and celebrated 1 year and 2 months of losing 20 pounds and keeping them OFF!!!

In spite of my hot steamy love affair with Nutella.



This came on the radio.
I was alone.
I rolled the windows down and sang at the top of my lungs.
I was shameless.



I sent Aidan (and my hubby) off to church camp for 3 days.

So hard watching that big bus pull away with my baby boy on it.



He lives for the oh so gross bliss of the annual "food fight".

The jist of it?

Throw nacho cheese, sausage gravy, pudding, baked beans, and flour at each other until it's oozing out of their nostrils.





Then clean off in the river.

Poor fish.



Here he is shakin' it for Jesus.



Knowing what a good time he has there makes it bearable to let him go.

Plus knowing I don't have to do it again for a whole year helps too.



While the little one was away, the older two had fun of their own. Friends from our Homeschool tutorial hosted a "Water Fun" party at their farm for 7th-12th graders.

Maggie gets to be an honorary 7th grader since her friends are a grade higher than she is. I tell her that's just what she gets for being so mature and all.





From the looks of it they had a great time just hanging and sliding with their friends.



I had a little fun myself in the form of dinner and shopping all. by. myself.

Imagine.

I got a 7" French Dip with pepperjack cheese from "Which Wich". 12 WW points if you are counting.

Then I hit New York and Company {my fav} with a leftover gift card from my birthday.



Our house is STILL under restoration...and will be for a while it seems. More complications found in our Master shower this week. Boo. Hiss.

Help me Jesus. This is beginning to wear on me.



The good news is that our kids bathroom (which had a wall destroyed from our AC unit leak in attic) now looks more like this instead of the picture above. It's not complete. They are still finishing up painting doors and cabinets in the vanity/sink area and I have to paint the mirror before it goes back up... but the shower room is complete at least.

For paint I went with Sherwin William's "Comfort Gray".

I was deciding between that and Restoration Hardware's "Silver Sage". Both are wonderful colors...but the CG just had a tad more depth to it. The Nester told me that hers reads a true blue/gray color.

Mine goes between blue/gray/green depending on the time of day and the type of light. I love that about it. Makes it more of a true neutral.


Linking up here at Life Rearranged:






"My every mortal breath, is Grace and nothing less"