a day without boundaries

My girls have been in quite a lot of trouble lately. I wouldn't say I am a super strict mama, but I do require obedience. The past little while has been a very trying time with each girl in their own way... trying to push me and see what rules can be broken in a new place, that sort of thing. I've been feeling like a very bad mama, because it seems like all I ever say these days is "no" or "please stop" and let me not leave out "did you hear me say no?" *deep sigh*

Today I made it my mission to have a good time together...even if they weren't being nice, we were going to be chill and obey, the two can happen together I am convinced! It just takes some give and some take, and a healthy dose of creative insight.

So after nap, I allowed the girls to each pick out one candy from their new stash (separated into bags with their names so there is no fighting over who gets what). I had them take it outside and play on the porch while they ate their stickies and I cooked french toast.



That is the little cluster of some of the toys they were playing with... the baby is either Skylar, Madison, or Sophia, Evelyn called her something different every time I asked. Don't those names really tell you when Evelyn was born?! I giggled.



This is Unia, Masyn's unicorn. Where else would one place a unicorn for her beauty rest?

My next step was to avoid tabletop bickering that has been happening far too much these days. I chose the effective, yet cowardly route of "distraction." Yes, I let them eat outside with glass plates and all. French toast au natural proved to be a hit, there were NO arguments at dinner time tonight! YAY! *doing a little dance*



...and this might be the closest I get to a "good picture" of all 3 at once. I might even be forced to use this for our Christmas picture. LOL, that's a joke.

Check out Evelyn's feet, she refuses to wear her crocs on the right feet, so she always looks like her feet are turned out.



My life lesson learned today: Looking for the fun and positive will almost always kill the chance for negativity to rule the day.

xo~Amelia

throwing love around

This post is to give love back to all of you who have commented and read my blog so sweetly... I'm SUPER flattered!!
I love to respond by email to comments, but often the email reply is blocked... so I just wanted to post and make sure you all know how much your kind words and fun thoughts mean to me, you truly brighten my days and I am grateful that my random humor (and idiocy) brings a smile to faces somewhere out there. Thanks!!!!

In case anyone is wondering about this fabulous vocal you are hearing, this is Jon (my Jon) McLaughlin singing "Throw My Love Around." It's from his new album, which I highly recommend.

Feel free to email me anytime, and I would love to have your email address included so that I can write you back! You are all fantastic, catch the love~

xo~Amelia

a dog, a cheetah, and a ballerina

Who would ever imagine the grief I would have just trying to get one, ONE, decent picture in a dimly lit parking lot of three sugar starved girls?! Someone might think that they were eager to hop from car to car collecting candy or something... geez.

Actually that was exactly the case. Our church had a fun "trunk or treat" night and these were two pictures that emerged from the MANY I tried to take. The last is my favorite.... because it's truest, and because Masyn looks like she is being strangled by an invisible force (AKA patience).

My throw back music musing is another installment of my nostalgia series. Anyone else love Hanson? ;o)





xo~Amelia

nostalgia part 1

Perhaps it's the recent change in weather or maybe all the changes I have been going through personally. It might just be my age and the time in life when people get mushy and sentimental. Whatever the case, I have been carried away many times lately in my mind to my experiences growing up. I thought I would share some. I believe I will do this in a few installments so that you don't get sick of me and stop reading.

The smell of rice the other day reminded me of playing in the back of my dad's 18-wheeler rice trucks, sliding down with the rice as they unloaded it into the dryers. Dumping loads of rice out of my tennis shoes when I got home and itching for 3 days.

Then there was the tractor driving... what an adventure for me, at 14, I felt very grown to be able to handle a huge piece of equipment, and a trailer to boot! Those long, long summer days are some I hope to never forget.

Austin radio is quite diverse. I'm constantly hearing songs from my teenage years. I remember dancing with girl friends. Pretending I knew how to 2-step, but in reality just scooting along and hoping my dance partner was doing the 2-step. I miss dancing, I think I have forgotten how.

A specific tree has an aroma that throws me back to our summer vacations on the Guadalupe River. Swimming for hours on end, getting so tan that you could see tan lines through my clothes. We had a routine there, even though it was mainly to relax. We swam all day, napped, and then had special meals. At the end of the week we would all walk to a nearby cemetery and the teens would do something to scare us younger ones. That was my favorite week out of the entire year, for the first 15 years of my life.

Who would know now that I would be pet-less?! Growing up I had a million pets. I was the worst at naming them, ironically, since now I name everything with great care and thought. My first cat was a wild grey siamese cat, I named her Pooh-Bear. Poor cat. She was beautiful, maybe one day I will have another.

I loved to watch shows like Full House, Family Ties, Just The Ten of Us, and eventually grew into shows like Friends and Almost Home (which I might add...had some extremely COOL guest appearances by celebs before they made it big). The other day I was thinking about old MTV, when Jenny McCarthy was still on Singled Out.

All of these memories mean basically nothing, besides the fact that I am officially old enough to "have a past." I just find that lately I really know who I am, and I see how everything I have lived has shaped me. My likes and dislikes are reflections of my past, and I just feel like stopping to appreciate the life I have lived so far...and carry that with me so that I am grateful for something new each day.

Today I am grateful for many things, but to name one...my sharp and vivid imagination that keeps these mental images crystal clear for me.

xo~Amelia

the city beat

just a quick little picture share and some music I love....

My boy, Jon McLaughlin (LOVE him) singing "Beating My Heart" from his new CD...and a photo I shot from the balcony of a hotel in Houston, TX Friday. I didn't get to go to Quilt Market, but I did get to be "press" at a little soiree at a skyline hotel.



This view was gorgeous, but terrifying for someone afraid of heights (such as myself). I like to push myself to embrace fear though, so I did look over the edge, once. :o)

I'll be sharing more thoughts soon, this morning I couldn't get my browser working, so I have to save my "lengthy" post for tomorrow when I have more time, I'm dead beat tonight!

xo~Amelia

big girl panties

I've dreamed of this day, longed for this day, and I am proud and excited to announce: Evelyn is wearing big girl panties! We aren't 100% accident free yet, but she is doing super good. Hurray!



She did ask me to buy her more pull-ups, but I held out, stood firm, and two days later we still have not purchased more disposables! This is very good news, I'm ecstatic.

While you enjoy tonight's music musing (Brett Dennen singing "Just Like The Moon), have a look at my good friend Lisa's gorgeous kiddos... in photos from a session on Sunday.







xo~ Amelia

more love, more music ;o)

It's late, I worked all day, ran 3.2 miles, and edited more pictures....

Dear readers, my post will be brief in words, but heavy in music and pictures. :o) Enjoy my new favorite boy, Brett Dennen singing "Darlin' Do Not Fear" and if you have time, look him up, he has a TON of awesome music!!!

Here are some more pictures I love from my session Sunday with my sister and her fiance. I'm so bias, I think they are super cute and I can't wait to see what their kids look like one day.









xo~Amelia

sister woman is gettin' herself married

Forgive the cruel, slang subject line. I've been watching "The Long Hot Summer" and "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" too many times lately. I have that old "sister" line stuck in my head from both.

How fitting though, that this really is my sister, and she is really getting married....in less than 2 months!! I'm so excited for her. Of course I was thrilled to be allowed to snap some engagement shots. Here are a few I have peeked at so far. I'll share a variety later in the week.

I love this one...



...but who can resist a smooching shot?



(sorry mom)

I heart them, aren't they sweet?!



More snuggles and kisses...





It feels so good to be shooting again. That sounds terribly crazed, but I'm not 100% lunatic, I'd estimate about 50% (on my good days). *grin*

Music musing is none other than Natasha Bedingfield. The song is called "Put Your Arms Around Me."

xo~Amelia

before you know it...and a p.s. tag

I do apologize for the lack of activity on my blog this week. I have two very good excuses (excuses nonetheless, but they are good) for the slow pace.

My first valid reason for being so quiet is that this week marks my first as a full time employee. So if you will lend me your grace while I adjust to being away more, I promise that I will not make a habit of abandoning you all for a week. :o)

The second thing is perhaps the bigger obstacle to my posting. I haven't made any real connections as far as photography goes in my new town... so I'm sort of running out of subjects and I know you must all be sick of seeing my girls play by a muddy lake. Good news on the horizon is that this Sunday I will be snapping my sister and her fiance, hurray! Also, I have a family session in a couple weeks and seniors from back home that are beginning to schedule... I'm so ready to share new pictures!

Thanks for all your patience lovely readers!

Here is a melancholy tune from the great Amos Lee, it's called "Colors" and I just love it. Hope you enjoy my musing over music and nothingness.

xo~Amelia

P.S. I was tagged to list 7 random facts about myself and the tag others. I'm going to tag: Chelsea, Gyl, Patrice, Jen, and Patty.

Fact 1: I'm addicted to perfume. Seriously, I want new perfume ALL the time.
Fact 2: I now use Anti-aging face wash.
Fact 3: Snickerdoodle icecream is my newest weakness.
Fact 4: If I could only keep ONE pair of my shoes, I would choose my red suede Chie Mahara's.
Fact 5: My favorite household chore is ironing (I know, there is something wrong with me... I've known that for a looong time).
Fact 6: I love pets, when they belong to someone else.
Fact 7: I was married in flip-flops.

merrily by the lake

Because of my long and lazy break, my trigger finger feels a little rusty. I have been trying to practice more lately in preparation for upcoming photo shoots. Since I don't know many (pretty much zero) people in the new town, my girls have to be the subject on which I take aim. I'm sure when they are grown and see all the pictures of themselves they will be thrilled.*

* let me interject on this point. "I am the last of 6 children and upon a recent visit home, it was evident to all seated in my mother's living room, that there are about 2 pictures of me as a child."

Even if the girls don't love these pictures later, I do now, and I will cherish them forever.



They don't always like each other and they may not always play together perfectly (or even nicely at times)...



... but they really love each other. It warms my heart when they stick up for one another. I'm a big softy when they beg on behalf of the other to help get them out of trouble. I even think it's sweet when I hear them playing together hours after I have tucked them into bed.

Because that is sisterhood. Those are the things they will remember.

They will be best friends for life.



Avery, the-wanna-be-boss-and-almost-little-mama. She is growing up and beginning to grasp that she has to treat her younger sisters will care and not dominate because of her age. It's a precious gift to see this change taking place.



Masyn, oh Masyn. She's ten times perkier than any other child I've ever known, and to match her "perk," she is full of "quirk." I love it, she is pure entertainment and love bundled together. Not always the easiest, in many ways the hardest to raise, but also extremely rewarding.



Then Evelyn came along and rocked my whole world...and I couldn't be happier about this tiny surprise! Evelyn has spirit! She is so stubborn at times I feel like I will rip out my hair, one piece at a time. Yet, I have never known a more affectionate child in my whole life. We don't go anywhere without hugs and kisses (at least 2 for everyone), and multiple "I love you up to the sky and back" quotes, which she melts me with entirely. Yes, I need her in my life, she reminds me to tell everyone how much they mean to me and to touch, love, and embrace everything I hold dear. My sweet "Eve-win Bwair" as she calls herself.



These are memories I never want to lose, and I don't want my girls to miss seeing when they are all grown up.



Sisters are definitely something to take delight in!

xo~Amelia

ps. Music musing tonight features Jack Johnson singing "Better Together."