365 | week nineteen {may 4-10}

 {124 | sweet}

One of my favorite Oreos....Lemon....heaven.

 {125 | little}

I love these little blooms in our backyard each spring.

 {126 | five}

I spent way over 5 hours in the car today, but it was worth it.

I was able to see Grandma and spend some time with my parents.  

It's not often that it's just me that's over there - it was nice.

 {127 | my walls}

Always adorned with some kind of art project.

I especially like this one that Ethan made this year.

As the boys get older, the art projects are getting fewer, so I treasure the ones that they do bring home.

 {128 | thank gosh it's friday}

An early Mothers' Day gift for me from all my boys.  Love them!

 {129 | colorful}

Love this kid and his colorful bib!

That bib has made it through 6 kids now - that's some quality construction!

{130 | makes me happy}

He was pretty willing to appease me with this early morning shoot.

I think he was just as glad as I was when the photography class was over and he didn't have to be my subject anymore!

365 | week eighteen {april 27 - may 3}

 {117 | alive}

 {118 | movement}

 {119}

 {120 | starts with t}

Leading off third base

 {121}

Evening bike event at their school.

 {122 | seasonal}

We were so incredibly blessed on this day to be able to sit right behind the Cardinals dugout during this game!  It was so cool to actually see the players' expressions and hear their conversations.  It was definitely an experience we will never forget!!

{123}

I never get tired of photographing these eyes

365 | week seventeen {april 20-26}

 {110 | the weather today}

 {111 | a product i love}

The Bluetooth connection from my phone to my car.

 {112 | my perspective}

 {113 | technology}

This kid loves technology, but loves simple mechanics and being outside just as much.

 {114 | delicate}

 {115 | me}

{116 | even}

This must have been off-prompt. 

Brian was once again fixing one of the boys' bikes.

365 | week sixteen {april 13-19}

 {103 | classic}

Classic after-school view

 {104 | my drink of choice}

I'm trying to drink more water.  Trying.

 {105 | a piece of jewelry}

These will always be my favorite.

 {106 | local}

 {107 | i found this}

Turned around to find this at the Botanical Gardens.

Every once in a while I let him use the big camera :)

He prefers his phone anyway.

But he has a great eye for photography too!

 {108 | emotion}

Lots of emotion when things don't quite go the way he planned during his NBA season

{109 | fresh}

365 | week fifteen {april 6-12}

{96 | monday}

{97 | peace}

{98 | letters}

Setting goals for getting all the reading points in this quarter.

{99 | yellow}

{100 | what i'm listening to}

Our phones were buzzing with well-wishes this morning as this guy spent his last day at Walmart.

Nineteen years goes by so fast!

Excited for something new!

{101 | my view today}

Having fun with this lovely friend at a photo shoot down on Main Street.

{102 | from above}

First baseball game of the season

365 | eighty-six through ninety-four {Florida Vacation}

I did something crazy on our vacation this year.

I left my big camera at home.

(You were expecting something a little more exciting, huh?)

I love traveling with my DSLR, because I love capturing things that I can't capture at home, so I really never mind bringing it along like some people do.

This time, though, I had just gotten a new camera and had traded some lenses in to help pay for it.  I wasn't really thinking about the vacation the next day, just that I wanted to make this new camera purchase more affordable.  However, when I got home I realized I had put myself in a position of not really having a good travel lens to take with me.   I didn't even want to take the new camera, because I was afraid I would drop it or something before I even got to really enjoy it.

So I decided to take the older camera.....until I realized I only had the 24-70 lens to use with it.  

I love that lens.  I mean really LOVE it!

But on my D7000, the 24-70 becomes a 36-105.

Which really is fine, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want the added weight of that lens and the stress of having to baby it.

I had sold the 35mm and the 50mm, which were my go-to lightweight lenses, so those were no longer options.

So it was the 24-70 or the 70-300, which really wasn't going to work for any indoor shots at all.

I knew I had my iPhone, but I'm not awesome at using my phone for pictures.

It's great for snapshots and I love that it's always with me, but I just never can get it to do what I want it to do to satisfy me when I want a good shot of something.  Yes, I could take some time to really learn it, because I've seen some awesome pictures with it.  But I haven't done that yet, and honestly I  still just love my DSLR and don't know that I care about learning the phone camera.

BUT, because I put myself in such a predicament and I was starting to stress about this whole camera thing, I just decided to take the phone and be happy.

So I left the big camera at home.

And I survived.

And I actually kind of liked not being tethered to it.

When I have it with me I feel the pressure to get a great shot and create good art.

To make everyone and everything look good.

To capture good light and have great focus.

This week, without it, I just captured memories.

I won't lie, I was missing all the control at first, but then I went into vacation mode and had fun.

So these are all shot with the iPhone 6 camera during our Spring Break vacation in Florida

 {eighty-six | salty}

The much anticipated stop at Zaxby's on our drive to Florida.

Those crinkle fries!

 {eighty-seven | something I'm proud of}

We stayed the night with friends in Atlanta.

The next morning the kids took turns on their zipline - so much fun!

 {eighty-eight | feet}

He could not wait to get into the pool this week.  It must have been too cold for the Floridians, because he had the whole place to himself!

 {eighty-nine | still}

For just a moment they were still for a quick picture.

Fun morning ride along the West Orange Trail.

 {ninety | square}

Found this colorful door in France at Epcot.  

This was one of the times that I was wishing I had my big camera but was still loving the ease of the phone overall.

 {ninety-one | season}

So grateful to spend a few days with our family this season!

This was the first time in a long while that everyone felt well enough to get out and enjoy a day of pretending to be a tourist.   Downtown Disney is one of the boys' favorite places.

 {ninety-two | next to me}

A day at the beach is always awesome, but it's even better when I get to have these people next to me.

So glad that Beth and Rick could spend the day with us!

 {ninety-three | my morning}

This was my morning.

And my afternoon and my evening and my morning, afternoon and evening the next day.

Nothing like two days straight of being in a car with your family.

Thank goodness for phones, xbox, iPads and movies!

{ninety-four | pastel}

This has nothing to do with the prompt for the day.

But my excitement of seeing this as we drove back into St. Louis nearly caused Brian to run off the road.  Oops.  

I knew it was coming, but I didn't know how far along it was.

I'm so excited about this being so close to us.  I can't wait to gather my friends and spend the day there.  That will happen, right?  Right.

365 | eighty-five

{my addiction}

After many months of winter keeping me confined mostly to indoor shots (which hasn't been such a bad thing, actually),  I've been addicted, lately, to getting outside and capturing all the beautiful colors springing up.  I love the morning light on this one and intentionally caused some sun flare just because I like it!

{technicalities}

f/2.2

1/125th

iso 100

50mm

365 | eighty-two through eighty-four

{me}

My friend brought this scarf back for me from her trip to China.

Love it and her friendship.

{technicalities}

f/1.8

1/200th

iso 400

35mm

{on the floor}

Packing for our Florida trip.

{technicalities}

f/1.8

1/160th

iso 2000

35mm

{what I'm looking at}

Waiting for Elliott on a rainy day.

{technicalities}

f/2.2

1/200th

iso 250

35mm

365 | eighty-one

{sunday morning}

Our typical Sunday morning routine.
The boys grab a donut and indulge while I get things ready for the 4s and 5s class.
Love those little guys.

{technicalities}

f/2.2

1/160th

iso 250

50mm

365 | eighty

{a bottle}

One of our favorite local treats.

{technicalities}

f/2.0

1/1250th

iso 100

50mm