Wk 38: Sunshine

Sunshine is being with family...

...is silly faces... 

...and puckered lips frozen from delicious summer treats.

Sunshine is this sweet smile.

Wk 37: Fear

There was absolutely nothing that prompted fear in my photography this particular week. So I basically threw the prompt out the window and played around with light and angles instead. These particular photos were captured at the wedding of one of the boys from my neighborhood growing up. We lived (and my parents still do) on a culde-sac with a million children. Well, there were actually only 18, 15 boys and 3 girls. As you can imagine, there was never a dull moment. Someone was always knocking on our door asking to play or some passel of boys fighting for dominance in any sort of game they were playing. How rich our days were when our community of friends lived within steps of our front door.

While our paths have now widen from one another we still gather at momentous occasions, such as weddings, to honor the friendships we shared for so many years. This particular wedding was held on Bainbridge Island. A trek to say the least to drag our children to but, in the end, I'm so glad we did for in the middle of this gorgeous field was this old truck. I'm kind of obssessed with it. In fact, if I could, I'd probably buy and old truck just for the mere purpose of taking pictures of anyone I know next to it. 

Melt. My. Heart.

 

 

Wk 36: Time

 We watched Jesse grow up this summer. He went from baby to little boy in the blink of an eye. He's been that way from the beginning, determined, physical beyond what his age should expect or allow. These sweet days of innocence and wonder pass so quickly. The picture that encapsulated this theme for me is the one of Jesse coloring. It was his first time putting color on paper and he was very calculated and serious as he did so.

This same week was when my brother Joseph visited from California. Joseph is something special in our family, all my siblings are really, but Joseph and Owen in particular share a special bond. When Uncle Jo-jo comes home for a visit Owen doesn't let him out of his sights for very long.

 Joseph's days are usually very full and the demand for quality time with him is constant. I feel bad for him really for what is meant to be relaxation is almost more tiring than the daily grind of being at school and work. We were lucky to get more than a few days of Joseph joining in our daily life. He played cars with Owen, watched movies with us and spent the last blistering hot day of summer walking around Greenlake with us basking in the beauty of a sun-soaked Seattle and eating a classic lunch of fish and chips.

 What a gift that time with Joseph was.

 

Wk 35: Fashion

Little boys aren't quite as conducive to a "fashion" photo shoot as little girls. If I had a girl there would be pearls and my high heels involved but with boys it's a whole other ball game. Let's be honest, clothing is optional to most little boys, especially in the summer. I don't really even know why I bother buying them shirts at all in the summer because they rarely stay on. Oh wait, we live in Seattle, where the weather is less than predictable particularly in the months from June-August. Rather than force fashion upon my boys I looked for some natural moments- my apron doubled and wrapped around a tiny waist a moment of golden light before heading to church one glorious sunny Sunday afternoon. Fashion at it's finest.

 

Wk 34: Secret

You can throw a rock further if you're not wearing a shirt. 

Wk 33: Out of Focus

 Tonka Trucks could be defined as the essential and classic toy for every little boy.
We've had two of these trucks for awhile. Owen on occasion would fill them up with dirt and they have always been a necessary fixture on trips to the beach. But for whatever reason that little boy dump-truck bond always seemed to be lacking. Then a sweltering summer day in mid-August changed everything for the better.

It was after nap time, the boys had eaten their snack in the shade of our front steps and were ready to engage in the rhythms of constant motion this gorgeous Seattle summer afforded us every afternoon. Knowing that within moments of playing little beads of perspiration would form on Jesse's upper lip and not long after that they would both have sweat dripping down the sides of their faces, I stripped them of their shirts before sending them off into the grass to wrestle. Due to the heat, their enthusiasm for sticky skin-on-skin contact quickly waned so I plopped their Tonka trucks on to the hot pavement of our driveway. Owen, uninterested for the moment, left Jesse to his own devices with the shiny yellow trucks.

  Jesse quickly clamped a chubby hand on each side of the dump truck's bed and started with a quick trot down the slight slope of our driveway. Just like that he was hooked to the vibrations of metal and plastic rumbling beneath his tiny hands. Up and down, back and forth, trotting then pausing to rest in a perfect crouch, the bond between dump truck and boy strengthened. It only took a few moments for Owen to figure out what he was missing and he quickly grabbed the other truck and joined Jesse in his joyous journeys up and down the driveway and street.


45 glorious minutes of repetitive activity later sweat was streaming down the sides of the boys' faces. Tonka trucks by nature are covered in dirt so it was only fitting that the boys take them through a truck wash. It only took a few tentative moments before the boys were racing their trucks through the sweet cool water flowing from the hose I held up high.

(This was my picture of the week)

 

Ode to my bro

My tiniest brother Galen turns 21 today.
He is a bit of a word guy so I thought I would celebrate him by making a list of 21 things I think are pretty awesome about him.

1. He is a painter with words, overly verbose perhaps, but can run circles around anyone with his fantastic vocabulary.
2. He is fearless in his own sense of style.
3. He can finish a book from cover to cover in a day.
4. He loves the Lord.
5. The piano is an extension of his hands.
6. He is excellent at making those around him feel valued and loved.
7. He still loves to listen to Adventures in Oddyssey.
8. Even when we tie his hands when playing word games he still manages to beat us every time.
9. He wears vests and bow ties.
10. He keeps his room immaculately organized.
11. He enjoys a good cup of tea.
12. He calls to check in on our Mom when our Dad is out of town.
13. His artistic talents are impressive.
14. He will engage his imagination to play knights and dragons with his nephew for hours.
15. He babysits like a champ.

 
16. He's the only one I know who counts sugar plum fairies during the Nutcracker, light posts on road trips and knots in wooden ceilings.
17. He has a rapist wit (otherwise known as the keen perception and cleverly apt expression of those connections between ideas that awaken amusement and pleasure) - love, Josh
18. They don't make pants skinny enough for his bony waist.
19. His intelligence is inspiring.
20. He is a master of puzzles.
21. He loves his family. 

We love you Galen Parker! Here's to a wonderful year of new adventures ahead of you.


This picture still pretty much sums up my siblings. 

Wk 32: Truth

Truth: Shooting in fog is the best!
My brother (seen above) probably has more talent in his pinky when it comes to graphic design, photography, basketball, loving his wife, and picking out mopey sounding music than anyone else I know. 
But the truth of the matter is, I think he's awesome.
Anywhoo...we decided to go on a hike to Lake 22 one fabulous Saturday morning with Elias and Theresa.
I love this hike because it's challenging but has all the things a hike should have to be awesome: a babbling stream along the way up, old growth forest, and a majestic alpine lake to relax by at the end.

What made this trek particularly amazing was the heavy fog that settled over the forest, lake and mountains like a cozy blanket. Let me tell you shooting in fog is addicting! Every click of the camera feels like it's capturing a tiny bit of magic. I have always wanted to shoot in fog and it was so fun to do it for the first time with my big brother.

 

 

Wk 30: Relationship

My sweet boy, what a blessing and a joy he is to my life.

 

 

Wk 31: Imagination

(Pick of the week - Imaging they are farmers)
Imagingation is so vivid when you're little. I love watching the stories that unfold between Owen and his "guys" (Josh's old action figures) and dinosaurs or seeing Jesse mimic the sounds of a car or a dinosaur bashing into the ground.

Jesse spends a lot of his time these days imagining that he can talk. There are full conversations held without a single intelligible word being uttered. That being said, if you pay attention long enough (watch out here comes my nerdy linguistic side) his intonation of words is spot on and his receptive language is growing by leaps and bounds.

Our final piece of imagination this week was letting Owen color an imaginary town for his cars. He spent 30 minutes drawing all over the box creating said town for his cars to drive by. We then cut a few "garage" doors into one or two sides of the box and upon it's completion he quickly disappeared to the play room, lost in a world of imaginary play.

 

Wk 29: Color

  Owen and I had a bad week. The kind of week where my patience runs very thin, his questions and testiness are endless and it's all we can do to make it till bedtime civilly. It's not very often I find myself grasping to the last threads of self-control and patience as a mommy (which I humbly recognize is the grace of God) but this week my rope was short. Super short. And Owen's ability to push my buttons was spot on.

But from this trying week came these sweet pictures. An evening of togetherness when I asked Josh to skip his soccer game because I needed reinforcements; because I wasn't sure Owen and I could survive an hour and half, alone, before bed-time. Thankfully he agreed and thankfully we ended up having a great evening which felt like a gentle breeze after a stormy week.

So maybe it's ironic or maybe it's perfect timing that this weeks prompt was "color" because Owen and I "saw red" a lot this week. 

 

Colors of Summer

A few weeks ago we had a family day up at the cabin. It happened to be one of those days where the color and light were irresistible to my photo-happy eye. Every snap of my shutter screamed summer and then froze it in brief snippets that together recorded a delightful day. In fact, I kind of just want them to tell you the story of the day since they do say "a picture's worth 1,000 words" and all.

Wonders of wonders, I even made it in a picture!
One little tidbit just for my memory, this was Jesse's first time out on the boat and all he did was sit motionless for the entirety of our ride. It was hilarious.