Photogs Galore!

It's a good day for some photography!

I did a major cleanse of the memory cards for the D90 yesterday, charged up all the batteries, wiped down lenses and screens, and tested the flashes yesterday in preparation for a long day of shooting and editing.

Stop #1: Gobles!

This is a family I met at Towerview; they're a part of our small group and I'm glad to call them friends beyond that, too. Plus, their kids are adorable, and it was a blast shooting them in the comfort of their own home & backyard.


goble family | shiloh

Stop #2: Christine!

From Shiloh down to Waterloo to see Christine, Ava & Thomas. I used to work with Christine, and I was just itching at a chance to shoot her and her daughter. We added in Thomas to the mix and walked away with some awesome shots.

christine. ava. thomas | love the smiles! | waterloo

Edits edits edits coming SOON!
P.S. - Check it Out :)

*Whew! More to come... soon :)

xo | cmd

How's THAT For a Midweek?

I think I have a problem...
Seriously.
I'm addicted.

I watched the third night of blind auditions for The Voice tonight, and I've gotta say I'm goin' on night 3 of inspired by some of their stories, their talent, and the fact that they're putting it all on the line for the approval of the industry's megastars.

This one, by far, was my favorite from tonight:


I've always been a fan of the Marley vibe - there's something so relaxing about the emotion behind reggae in general. This kid's got it nailed down, and I'm kind of excited to see how he does in competition.

Then there was this one, by a guy whose family suffered through extreme political turmoil in Nigeria; his father was wrongfully incarcerated, while he and the rest of his family fled the country and made it here to the U.S. It's one of those heart-string stories that makes me stop and appreciate the gravity of the life with which I am blessed [magnified by the whole adoption thing]. His testament that music saved his life is dually-noted [no pun intended].


Suave, yeah?? I like the natural rasp in his voice. Major talent. 
Oh..  ... and just in case I'd forgotten this is still mainstream media programming, I'll include this one particularly unique gal: You can search her audition on your own if you feel inclined; I'd rather not have it on here... I didn't realize until I went back to watch the others that she ["Domo"] is on crew for Rhythm City [ABDC]. Interesting. Definitely conceited, though. Too bad, too - she's a pretty talented dancer, if nothing else. :/ 
Well.. all things The Voice aside, I caught some of the opening moments of America's Got Talent before retiring the TV for the night, but I did see this, which I thought was cool [apparently they're in the finals now? Sure.]: David Garibaldi & His CMYK's - I'll let you look that one up on your own too [video.overload]. Pretty amazing stuff! 
****
Anywho, today was about as decent as they do come.
Do I dare forget the birthdays for today?
Umm, absolutely NOT! ESPECIALLY since we LOOOVE these two munchkins! 
HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY, LYLA!!!

beautiful lyla! 

and of couuuuurse,

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY, JACOB!!!

silly candid from the dual bday party we had a few weeks ago : jacob!

We have the privilege of having both of those little ones [along with Landon, the other September birthday kiddo] in our small group every other Friday, so we get a little extra dose of them from time to time, and we love it. Happy birthday to both Lyla & Jacob [& no, in case you thought to ask- they are not related. hehe]

**** And in other news: 
Nancy stopped by to see us late this morning - her new job seems to be treating her well and she's enjoying it. I'm so happy for her, but slightly reminded still that we miss her. Well, I miss her. A whoooole lot. *Sigh. So good to see her though!! Miss you, Nanc!! To top off the morning, I gave some blood and such to the life insurance medical examiner. I found out today that my heart's still beating and my arm still bleeds like it should with a needle in it. It's a start. :p.
Sydni and I did some more damage to the weed infestation that keeps threatening to overtake every spare inch of soil in the front and back gardens. I'm almost glad for The Voice airing at the same time every evening for the past 3 days - it's brought us back inside after about an hour of digging and pulling. I don't think it's over-exerting work by any stretch, but the mosquitoes have taken an equal liking to the moderate temperatures and it's made for very itchy evenings. My arms and legs look a little bit like broken brail sentences right now. Oy, bugs. >:[ Grawr. 
It's been a jam-packed week so far; I've got some last minute details to do on one of the Towerfest mail-outs, so I suppose I should get back to that before tomorrow. Oh, and I'm slated to sing this Sunday and have yet to solidify a song choice. 
Hey procrastination, heeeey. 
xo | cmd

THREE. YEARS. OLD. [omg!]

I'm having a total bittersweet mama moment......

September 1, 2009:

September 1, 2012:

I don't even have words. I'm trying to come to terms with "that feeling" that all the other moms told me I would have when one day I start realizing that my little one is growing into her own. Granted, she's only three, I still have what are very fresh memories of everything from speed-labor [another story for another day], to nursing, to first teeth, to first and second birthday, first steps, everything else that was in between, and now, to the big 3. It's very hard to believe.

Happy birthday, to the little girl who captivated my heart even when we swore the doctors were wrong and that we would have a boy. I understood there was a reason then that I would have a little girl first, and I am as always amazed by the gift that she is. YES, there are those days when flowery poems about her excellence are about the last thing I want to verse [potty training, temper tantrums, bed-time refusals, bold disobedience and the forever battle of eating vegetables], but in the grand scheme of things I am beyond blessed with a healthy, happy little girl who has changed my life in ways I couldn't have imagined.

But enough of the fruit and flowers.. let's get down to celebrating, yeah??!

DUH.
My parents were able to make the trip in for the long weekend, and so were a part of the birthday bash we threw for Sydni at Vetta Sports here locally. We decided to partner up with another family in our church, whose little boy turns 4 in a couple of weeks, to do a "dual" party of sorts. So it was the Goble family and ours, along with all of Sydni & Jacob's little buddies that invaded Vetta for an hour and made to it with bounce houses, soccer, pizza and of course SUGAR [because honestly what is a kid[[x2]] birthday party without cake and/or cupcakes?!] We had a blast, and so did the mini's.


birthday kiddos!

Birthday fun is far from over, which Sydni doesn't know yet, but she'll come to find out. We get to visit Mamaw in just a few short weeks back in Ohio, and there's a pink powerwheels jeep en route, compliments to the Alexanders. Spoiled [rotten]? Yeah.. but hey, she's only 3 once. :) Many, MANY thanks to all of our friends and family who made an appearance and/or sent a little something for playtime. We love you, and are blessed to have you in our lives.

I'm not even sure where the rest of the day went; we were done with all party festivities by 2:45, but it felt like 6pm by that point and for all I know, all of us came home and crashed for a few hours before dinner. That's the way a birthday should be when you're 3. Haha. We're wild, I know.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SYDNI [& JACOB] !!!

xo | cmd

Itty Bitty Koinonia

mo & evan

It's been a long week. Joe's still out of town and the majority of our small group had other unavoidable obligations. That left us with a small but enthusiastic gang of the Prescotts, the Gobles, Becky, myself, and the little kids. 

We had a great time, as always; it's no secret that large or small, this group is incredible and I love having this time with them on Koinonia nights. Evan had a great time too, and he and Mo and their matching shirts had a bunch of fun all night. 

We missed all of our regulars who couldn't attend tonight, but hopefully we'll see you very soon! Thanks again, Tom, for providing the lesson for us tonight. It's been a wild week and this was the perfect way to unwind: friends, fellowship, food, and funny kids :) 

See you tomorrow, folks :)

xo | cmd

Mother's Day 2012

The number one thing on my mind this morning:

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

the mamas of my family
niece cynthia | sister heidi | mama | me :)

I know that in my immediate family alone, there are four mothers. We each have our own style, our own tastes, and of course, our own daughters. These three women are three of the most incredible ladies I've ever known. They are among the ranks of mothers who constantly surpass the expectations of being mothers, and for that I admire them.

.. But they don't stand alone. For every mother, every where, I'm celebrating your victories today: both big and small! :) The world moves because of you. Thank you to my mom, my mother-in-law and all the other moms who are the example we need to follow. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

=====================

We started church off this morning with an incredibly fun performance of the Mom Song, sung by Robin & Rachel. Great job, ladies!

rachel & robin : the mom song! :)

Once church was out, we made a quick pitstop at the store and grabbed some last minute grub before heading over to base to the Babots. We joined Alex & Lara, along with the Gobles & all the little ones, and also Lara's friend Brooke, for a grillout. We filled the afternoon with eating and playing outside. Jason showed up towards the end, right before Lara got the slip-n-slide out for the kiddos. 

Here's how that went.....

tom. jason. alex. joe.

landon & jason | getting air!

kids tying each other up ;)

she's getting so darn big! :|

alex setting up the slip-n-slide

three little ones in a row
jacob. sydni. landon

i. love. this.
syd & jacob

water!

"mama, i'm cold. brrrrrrr!"

"daddy: march!

slugger :)

paparazzi ;)
brooke. lara. cori

what a beautiful day :)

time to go: that is one tuckered-out little lady ♥

 Happy Mother's Day, everyone :)

xo | cmd

Sweet Days, Sweet People

With Joe still abroad on his ventures in Spain, Sydni and I made another go at flying solo to church. It was a pretty contained morning, since I was on nursery rotation and thus spent the morning downstairs and outside with Mo and the kids. Good stuff. I love love love those munchkins!


[borrowed]
... but it's so true!



After church, it was off to McAllisters with the Gobles, Prescotts, Babots, and Lara's parents. I wish I'd captured the scene that was Jacob and Sydni sharing their very own table for two, complete with food, drink, and crayons. Quite the grown up time for the two of them as they sat and babbled over games they were playing on individual smart phones. It was so cute... and totally worth it if nothing else than to observe the reactions of passersby as they did the double-take at two toddlers seemingly dining alone. It really doesn't take much to entertain me these days.

We managed to squeeze in a mini nap in the afternoon before it was right back to church for the evening service and choir practice. It's been a good night :)

Actually, it's been a pretty good day, immersed with good people, and of course good food. Life's good. :)

Oh! And Joe gets home tomorrow! It'll be late, yeah, but he'll be here. Praying for travel mercies....

[Meanwhile, it's back to the workhorse tomorrow!]

xo | cmd

Fellowship, Mexican Style

If you don't know by now, I love our church and the family it holds. I love our pastor and his family; I love the dynamic of our congregation, and I love the relationships we've already begun forging in the short 7 months we've been here. I have to confess that this is the closest I've ever been to the heart of a church, and I attribute that to the fact that the heart of the church is so genuinely broad and willing to embrace on impact, and unconditionally.

Today was another one of those weekly gatherings with said church family; the message was on point, and our fellowship made its way from the pews to a nearby Mexican restaurant. It wasn't anything extraordinarily spectacular; it wasn't a celebration of anyone's birthday; it wasn't for any special announcements. It was however, another small event that served not only some delicious food, but some casual conversation, funny stories, and hearty laughs. It was a chance for fellowship, and even in its simple, impromptu form, we took full advantage of it.

the motherload of enchiladas

Oh, and for the record, I can't for the life of me remember what the restaurant itself is called, but this sucker came out steaming on its plate and settled right in front of Joe. I have no idea how he finished it off, but I definitely give him kudos for that. We thought we'd photo-document this for the sake of remembering the accomplishment, but also in case we would need to explain to a doctor later on what it was that knocked him out. :)

Luckily, we're still stomachache free, at the end of the day.

Meagan and Rob made their way over after lunch to finally see our new digs, and experience the hybrid indoor cornhole set up in our basement. Once they left, it was naptime for the rest of the afternoon, and that puts us here now.

What a great weekend. :) We are truly, truly blessed.

xo | cmd