Girlfriends...

Friend; noun, a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.

Girlfriends...don't they make all the difference in your world?  Well, the good ones do...no doubt about it.  They're someone to turn to, to lean on, to share with, to laugh with, to hold your hand or your hair (you know you're friends for life when there's hair holding involved...ha)...friends pick you up when you're down, they spin you around when you're up, they encourage you to do better & be better, they hug you goodbye, drink after you, pick the lint off your backside, and tell you when you've been ridiculous and the list goes on...I'm so thankful to all of you gals that I'm proud to call my girlfriends.  No matter if you're a friend of mine from this town or on my list of coastal friends...just know that I appreciate and respect all of you for the beautiful individuals that you are and I love that each of you contribute something special to my life somehow...making it richer and fuller than I ever could have imagined.  I can only

wish all of these things to be true for my daughter in her life starting now...

Here's to all of my girlfriend's!!!  I love ya girls...

Our Getaway...

Lisa, how was your vacation?
It was quite possibly the most fun I've ever had with my crew.  It was the first vacation with just us 5.  The kids were fantastic...smiling and laughing and hugging the entire week.  It was dream-like I kid you not.  9 days 750 miles from home was good for our souls.
What may surprise you about this trip is that my iphone & little waterproof camera were used 99% of the time...no fancy gear.  I just didn't "go there" this time around.  I kept it simple.  So here's our trip crammed into one song and I love it! http://video214.com/play/IzEThJ4O2llZgsdrQxzWkA/s/dark

Oakville Senior Photographer: The Beautiful B & J

They were dreamy times two...need I say more?  I secretly think they've done some modeling and were just withholding that information...haha!  Ladies you know I'm kiddin' ya again...you were simply fantastic.  It's not often you get a beautiful, intelligent young lady all in one package...with a personality to boot!  I was lovin' every minute of our time...thanks for sharing your gals R!

Saint Louis Twin Photographer: Fun Times 2...

here's a peek at life with twins...one going right & the other left, but aren't they just adorable...i can't wait to watch these little sweeties as they grow...

click to enlarge

Oakville Family Photographer: D Family Fun..

This was a session I was really look'n forward to...they're such a sweet & fun family. We agreed to meet in this quaint little town outside of Saint Louis. Unexpected surprises upon arrival were..."park here for $5 signs"...walking into town...and a nice town festival complete with live accordian music & horse 'n buggy rides. We really lucked out! It was a good time with great company...here's a taste of our morning...

click to enlarge

Friday Nights

OK people...retrain'n your brain is hard. For example...tonight...the boys had baseball games & I suggest with gusto that we go for ice cream after! Woot woot! Wellllllll, Daddio the king of our castle redirects my outburst with a gentle "or we could go to Dierberg's and pick up all the ingredients to make our own"....oooooh I nod approvingly...this makes sense. See our plans went from standing in line (undoubtably next to a screaming tangly hair'd toddler)...debating how to spend our $20 on ice cream...swatting the mosquitos from our skin...and ultimately sitting on a sticky curb where we will for sure experience a near death episode as teenagers tear through the now jammed parking lot in search of a non existent parking spot toooooo sitting around our own table...kids giggling...& making our own extravagant ice cream concoctions. Did I mention no mosquitos? That's cause for celebration right there! So we did it...we made our night simple...we saved some dough...the kids had a blast...and there's lots of the sweet stuff left over for several more of these kinda nights. Happy Friday everyone...our simple summer continues...

click to enlarge

Simple Summer

OK...so I vowed to "be present" for my kids this summer. They are my priority...they trump my business and even my cleaning of the house (convenient eh?). In my head (a scary, jumbled up place to be sometimes) I had this vision of a simple summer for them. Remember when you were a kid? What did you do? Well, I can tell you my summers were full of...front yard kickball, lemonade stands, mud pies on the air condition (one my mom may not have appreciated), live news broadcasts from my front porch, playing in the sprinkler and so many more wholesome childhood memories. When I think about those times it makes me happy. Was my childhood perfect?...no, far from it, but those dreamy summertime memories all coated in sugar sure made things seem great. Our ways of life in today's society are changing...pulling us from the basics that give us fulfillment...and while I don't want to "go there" on my fancy dancy soapbox I'd just like to say our kiddos are suffering from too much schtuff so in my own effort to fight the battle against "too much schtuff" our family's gonna try a good ole "simple summer" this year. We're talkin' lightning bugs & pickle jars, lemonade stands & popsicle kinda times...and along the way I'll post pictures...'cause that's how I role. I hope it sparks something in you...with your families and above all I pray it brings a plateful of happy memories to all of our scrumptious little ones! Happy simple summer friends...

iphone pic

After a long day of playin' outside we opted to watch "Alice & Wonderland" in Jules' room (not a large space by any stretch of the imagination) & nothing fancy... but I'll tell ya bein' all scrunched together like that made me :) I adore that they love "touch"...all 3 love to be in physical contact w/me, Steve or w/ each other...touch is good...very good & it's basic...