I heart faces~Vroom Vroom (or choochoo)

This weeks theme on I heart faces is Transportation. This was taken in Lancaster, PA. We were visiting the train museum and trying to find Thomas when this old train came pulling in. I found this conductor so interesting, his dirty clothes, the glasses, his gritty hands all tell a story of a hard working life.

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Summer in Review~ 2010

The initial purpose of this blog was to give family and friends who live far away a fun place to go to see what our daily life is like. So I could post pictures of the kids where I can write a little something more than a caption under the photo and tell them what we were doing on a given day. It has since turned into something so much different. I realized that I liked talking to other moms and blogging about crafting.
Who doesn't like to get gratification on what they put so much hard work into?
Whether it be motherhood or the arts.
 I love keeping up with other moms and realizing that I'm not the only one who has difficulty on the subject of raising kids . Being a mom is the best reward, and the love of your children outweigh the hardships, but sometimes it gets hard. So it's nice to know you're not the only one out there.
 I love the crafting outlet that this blog allows me. You know you can spends hours, days, heck even weeks trying to finish a project and you show it to your husband and he looks at it for about 10 seconds and says, Looks great honey. Really? Are you sure you looked? I know I've been lacking in the department of posting crafty stuff. The truth is that I haven't really done anything. I know, its crazy. Our summer has been so busy that I can't find time to sit and do anything.But I am currently little by little working on a quilt for my sister. It's going to be super special and very meaningful. I will share when I'm done piecing the top.
 The last thing I love about blogging is photography. It's a long time passion of mine and I'm grateful to be able to talk and share with other people who share the love with me. I've learned alot and love the outlet that snapping pictures provides. I may not have been sewing, gluing or glittering, but I have been taking alot of pictures!
So now that school has started, and it's safe to say that summer is officially over (YAY!! I can't wait for fall!!!) I will wrap up with our summer in photo's. I have so many from all our journeys, and I didn't chose the best ones to share, but the ones that mean alot to me!!
This is what this weeks theme on I heart faces is!!

                                                      P #3 Learned to ride his tricycle.With lots of falling of coarse!~ June 1st

Our Garden grew lots of yummy veggies and fruit. I hate to say it, but I'm kinda glad it's over now ~June 2nd

Flying to my sisters. P #3 Waiting for our flight and loving the planes! ~June 4th

Longwood Gardens, PA~ June 6th

Rehearsal dinner for Carmen's wedding ~ June 10th

Carmen's Wedding ~ June 11th

Family BBQ ~ June 12th

Washington D.C. ~June 14th

Camping at Knoebles P.A. ~June 16th

Amusing ourselves at the amusement park. This was honestly the coolest place. I can't wait to take the kids back.

Rehoboth Beach, DE ~ June 18th. I was so bummed that my battery died in my camera and was only able to get a few shots while we were there. Beautiful beach, and it was hot!!!

Dust Devils Game~ June 27th

The hubs and I managed to sneak in a date!! We went to dinner and to see Eclipse~ June 31st

4th of July on the river

We had MANY MANY days of playing on the slip and slide. This picture just cracks me up!! ~July 15th

P #1's  9th Birthday~July 16th

Birthday party at the pool ~July 17th

Visiting great friends that I miss very much! ~July 25th

We took a long drive to Long Beach, WA. It was dreary and cold but SO much fun! ~July 30th

P#2 cut off all her hair and donated it. ~August 3rd

Water Park with Family who came to visit.~ August 18th

Playing at the local park with my niece (and nephew, but he was at the skate park) ~August 22nd

Football Started!!! ~August 30th

And the end of summer,Thus the begining of school

What has everyone been doing? I haven't really been keeping up on my blog reading either:( If you've posted something share a link and I'd love to see what you've been up to!

I heart Faces~ Photojournalism

This weeks challenge on I heart Faces is photojournalism. This one is tricky, I guess you could consider photojournalism as any photo you take really. Don't they all have a story to tell? From the time you let your 6 year old make dinner for the first time because she begged and begged, or your 9 year old losing his teeth, or taking that long anticipated trip and the journey to get there. I could post a bazillion pictures I've taken over the years, and write in detail what was happening at that very moment. I guess that's the beauty of photography, you may not remember exactly what you felt, saw, or even smelt on a given date, but with your photographs you can look back and say, Oh ya, I remember how you loved to ride your bike around the neighborhood, and this was right before you crashed and skinned your knee, I had to drop my camera and run after you. I wrote about this before here. My promise to always document life...

So here's the story behind these photos. P#3 was not feeling well. I tried and tried to get him to be his normal self, but he kept wanting to be held. I had things to do around the house and asked him if he would sit with Titan. After I set him down right next to his dog, he decided it was time to play. I love how you can see the love he has for his dog in the look of his eyes. How you can see that Titan doesn't like a 2 year old all over him, but P#3 had to get that kiss. It's really amazing what photographs can tell you. If you listen you will hear a story behind every image.

I Heart Faces ~ Beach Fun

This photo was taken on our recent family Vacation to Longbeach. It was so hard to chose just one from all the beach photos I have. I have one that I absolutely love of Miss at Rehoboth Beach, but she is wearing a bikini and I thought it was inappropriate considering strangers read this. I love this photo of her too, she is just so photogenic!

Go here to see more Beachy photos:

Locks of Love and a new do!

Last week P#3 asked me AGAIN to cut her hair. She's been wanting it cut for awhile, and I always was reluctant to cut it only because I know how much she loves her hair and because her long hair was HER. She kept telling she wanted  to donate it to Locks of Love because " I know that kids in the hospital would be happy if they had hair" I finally gave in and let her do it. I know its for such a great cause and some little girl or boy will be happy to have it. While the lady was cutting off her pony tail I cried a little,  I know how silly that is, but I was also so proud of my little girl for doing it. After it was done, she looked at me and said," I really hope someone will want my hair and the pink strip" (my sister did that for her on vacation) And I have to admit that she looks beautiful, hair long or short.

If any of you are considering cutting your hair visit Locks of Love to see if your hair is eligible for donation.

I heart faces~ Surprise!!

This weeks theme on I Heart Faces is Surprise! Open to interpret however you want. I chose a photo of  P #3, taken when we went to the beach last weekend. He was happily playing in the mud when a wave came up and splashed him. I think I may say "freakin" too much because he YELLED "It's freakin cold!!!"But I think he was generally surprised when we got there, and I don't know how many of you have ever been to the Washington coast, it's not really that warm of a place. We drove 6 hours from the desert to get there, leaving behind well over 100 degree heat, where you can swim in the river and it feels wonderful, to arrive in 55 degrees and the ocean is freezing. But all 3 P's LOVE the water and that couldn't keep them out, it was just a little shocking at first!

Go over here to see more surprised photos

Vacation Part 4: The Wedding!!!!

Sorry its taken me so long to post something. I wanted to post pics of the wedding and since I didn't take any myself, and the photographers are so beautiful, I wanted my sister to come and guest blog to show you them herself:)

Let me introduce her to you.....
Carmen, blog world. Blog world, Carmen.
My older sister.
She is a dog lover with 2 little pups; Hailey and Bennett.
She is a very talented stylist, and has he ability to make you look like a super model.
She loves to craft. And after planning her wedding, wants to become a wedding planner, and is actually doing it for a girl she works with. Go em sis!!
So with out further ado here she is to answer questions I asked her:
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Please tell everyone something about you:
~ I Love the color coral, it my favorite, and as you see in the pictures, it played a major roll!

What was your inspiration behind the details of the wedding? :
~ I wanted it to have a rustic and elegant feel, something along the lines of Rachel Ashwell. As well as have the colors ivory and coral, also to have a touch of the beach, since that is one of my favorite places to be.

How long did it take you to plan everything:
About 10 months start to finish. If you really ask me, it took about 8 years to plan, since that's how long I was waiting to get engaged:)

How did you feel on the big day?:
~ Overwhelmed with happiness, being surrounded by family and friends who you love. Beautiful because it is the prettiest day of your life. And VERY IN LOVE

What was your favorite part of the whole wedding experience?:
~ Planning and designing things with Christina online almost every night,everything from the jam jars to her coming to visit in May and searching for the barn wood for the wedding sign. The night before the wedding at the Bed and Breakfast with just the girls.And of course marrying my other best friend:)

Now on to the photos, How did you chose your photographer?:
~ After nearly 6 months of looking I kept hitting dead ends. The kind of photography that I liked, the photographers were really expensive. Until I heard about about Mathew Wright of  Fig Tree Photography through a Friend, and he was perfect, within my budget and a great guy too!

Here are some of my favorite photographs, I hope you all enjoy them!! Thanks for letting me be here with you today.
 ~ Carmen

                                                                   

All the small details:

Most of which Christina and I made ourselves

How cool is that?

Card holder

the Ceremony:

The Reception:

I just love this photo:

I'll be back soon with more from our trip.

If any of you live in the Philadelphia area and need a wedding planner, you know where to go:)

-Christina