Game, Set...Match??? {Sunday Snapshot}

Oh. My. Lanta. We are off and running around here! I have been so so blessed to be able to be home full time with Jillian since we brought her home last November. It has been glorious for all of us...a special time to really focus on Jillian's adjustment...and in fact, ALL of our adjustments to becoming a family of four.

But...as they say...all good things must come to an end...and September found three of us heading back to school.

One week in...I feel good. Lia seems happy, Jillian mostly happy...and me? It felt great to be back at my middle school and the best group of co-workers ever. I think it's all going to work out perfectly...a little rushed...and the feeling that all I am doing is packing lunches constantly...but good. (Please don't visit unexpectedly until late June though...not sure my house is going to be company ready any time soon. Just sayin'... :-))

Definitely a balancing act!



I have also made a conscious effort to keep our activities at a minimum...at least until we get back into the groove. Both girls will take dance class (Lia actually does two this year)...and we added a new love...tennis.

One of the few sports I know NOTHING about. :-)

Lia expressed an interest in tennis this summer...and I scheduled a few lessons for her just to see if she did, indeed, love it as much as she imagined she would.

She did.



:-)

...and so...Saturday afternoons this fall will find Lia on the court...practicing her skills...and learning to love a game that I hope she will enjoy well into adulthood. Time will tell...but for now?



Definitely...

Game.

Set.

Match.



{ps...if anyone has a good lead on Tennis for Dummies...I wouldn't mind the hook up.}

Photo 4-1-1:{Canon 50D, 50 mm, f/2.5, 1/250, ISO 160}

Edited with Florabella Actions.

I am linking up to Stefanie's Sunday Snapshot. Hop on over for some serious photo love. Did you notice how I worked that tennis phrase in? Love? Get it???



Yeah...I really need the book for dummies. And perhaps a book of jokes...

Passages {Sunday Snapshot}

It's that time of year...the changing of seasons that makes one stop and take stock. Perhaps fall, for me, more than any other, is the season that evokes introspection...a check on where I've been, where I am...and where I'm going.

The promise of a fresh start, pencils with sharp points AND erasers, new lunch boxes...new adventures just over the horizon.

It's all good.

But I would be lying if I said that THIS particular impending fall isn't giving me slight heart palpitations.

Not full blown anxiety.

Just yet.

But heart fluttering, fighting back some tears kind of feelings. Worry and anticipation all rolled into one.

I will be returning to work this fall to the Middle School where I have worked for ten years. Lia will start Second Grade...and sweet Jillian will attend a full day Montessori School right down the street from where I work.

We love the school. Truly. Lia attended for five years. They are like family to us...supported us through our adoption of Jillian...and I have no doubt Jillian will flourish there.

If I could just loosen the the heartstrings a bit and let her go with grace.

Again...the whole worry AND anticipation at the same time thing. Tough stuff I tell you. I'm working on it...

But...for now, we have one more week to enjoy our leisurely summer schedule around here...and we are going to suck every last drop of fun out of it that we can.

Denial calling...(I know!)

On other fronts, it has been a whirlwind of photo shoots for me over the last two weeks...I have been so blessed...and so honored. One of the most special was the Senior shoot I did with my niece Renee.

If you read my blog...you know I adore that girl more than I could ever say...the girl who made me an aunt. The first grandchild in our family. I could not ask for a better role model for my girls...she is just a delight in every way.

Focused and fun...hardworking and somehow laid back at the same time. She left her small hometown last year, as a junior to attend a boarding school...and by all accounts has made a success of that decision (and total score for us because she is only an hour and 1/2 away now!). I can hardly wait to see what the coming year(s) bring for her.

We did part of our session outdoors...in a sunflower field...so fun...and a first for me as a photographer...but definitely not the last!









For our second location we both wanted to do something a bit different. Dare I say...moody...

Over the years I have done a ton of photos with Renee...so we thought we would shake it up a bit (for us that is!). We found a great location (so lucky to have a brother in law with an empty warehouse attic!)...battled some cobwebs...and only one (small) hole in the floor...and lived outside of the box for a bit. Although I had my flash with me...I really wanted to use the available light to make the photos a bit more dramatic. It definitely was a bit of trial and error for me...but thankfully, Renee was patient...and we both love the results of the shoot.









Even as I type this, time is marching on. Ready or not, we will soon bid good bye to the golden days of summer. We'll all soon be off and running...some of us at the end of a journey, some of us at the beginning...and me?

Somewhere in the middle...trying to hang on tight to the kite strings on both ends...laughing, wiping the tears...but always, always...counting my blessings along the way. Here's to new adventures and new opportunities! :-)



Photo 4-1-1: {Canon 50D, 50mm 1.8, ISO 640, f/2.2, shutter 1/25}

Edited with actions from the Florabella Collection.

To feast on some photo goodness...hop on over to Stefanie's blog!

Kickin' it Old School {Sunday Snapshot}

Once upon a time, Jim was the photographer around these parts. I was so excited the Christmas before we traveled to China for Lia when I gave him a S**y point and shoot digital camera. That trusty little workhorse saw us through that trip to China and our first year home with Lia.

Until I started carrying it around in my diaper bag.

With leaky sippy cups of apple juice.

Quick PSA...leaky sippy cups and cameras don't play well together.

I blame it on the sleep deprivation. :-)

Because it makes me seem slightly less...well...ditzy.

I started Livin' la vida Lia in January 2008 (you can see my first post here. It's actually two posts because I couldn't figure out how to add more than one photo on a post. :-)).

As I started to read more blogs and see such fabulous photography...I wanted to do a little more myself. Photographically speaking that is.

I convinced Jim I needed a better camera.

One not slowed up with apple juice and all.

So...he bought me a Canon Rebel. On the condition I learn how to use it. I promised I would.

So I did. :-)

...and boy did I have fun along the way.

I can't tell you how many afternoons I spent dressing Lia up so I could photograph her. I would like to say that my children look like they stepped out of a Matil*a J*ne look book on a daily basis...but really they do not. I love 'em just the way they are to be sure {all bed headed and usually wearing mismatched dress up clothes...if I'm lucky. Jillian is going through her "undies only" phase...a topic for another post}...just letting you know that becoming...ahem...fancy photo ready...takes a little bit of doing.(Although I want to be clear here...I LOVE shooting the everyday goodness too :-))

Luckily, Lia loves the "getting fancy photo ready" part...and was a very willing participant in those early days. You can see what I was up to back in the day here. Or here. Good times. :-) Filling my days up with fun photo shoots and my evenings blogging about it. And getting LOTS of camera practice in the process!

Now that I have branched out a bit, a lot of my photography time is spent planning and editing photos for other people. And while I truly love every second of that...I sometimes miss those early days of my journey.

So I decided to head out with Lia one night this week to kick it old school. Me, my camera and my best big girl. (this photo totally inspired by the genius of her.)



Total bliss.

...and the fact that the park maintenance workers had apparently decided to mow everysinglefield I wanted to use? Didn't slow us down a bit.

We made it work.



Tim Gunn is somewhere smiling. I just know it.

My Lia is an artist. Compelled to create. She literally wakes up each morning and heads right to her craft table. And I love every blessed, messy second of it. It is a sight to behold...watching her work...so lost in what she is doing...usually humming or whistling a happy tune. Joyful.



Completely unaware of her surroundings...lost in her happy place. I dropped her in the middle of the woods...and she sat right down and went to work...drawing, blowing away the loose bits of chalky pastels...creating. I could not even bring myself to interupt her to give directions...I just let her be.

And it was beautiful to me. The girl. The location. The passion.

Magical.



After a recent visit to our local art store, she told me she wanted to stay there all day looking at the art supplies.:-)

She told me "photography people" were my people and "art people" were her people.

I told her my people would give her people a call.

Maybe we could do dinner.

She was not amused.



I just hope someday she appreciates the effort. :-)

(Because even though I didn't mention it...I proudly claim the Goofy in the world as my people too.) :-)

So...she's growing up...despite my efforts to stop the hands of time.



But these photos...treasures to me...helped capture THIS moment...and in the process re-live some others.

Old School rocks.

And so does my little artist.



{Canon 50d, 50mm, f/2.5, 1/60, ISO 400}
{Edited with Florabella Actions ("Splendor" and "Add Some Drama") and Textures (Cream Canvas)and Nicole Van Sunflare Action}

{Shirt is from The Gap}
{Petticoat from The Measure}

I have been loving the Sunday Snapshot! Be inspired, make a friend, have some fun and join in. :-)