freely give.

okay, i'm going to take this time to vent. 
why? 
because i have an ulcer that requires me vent.
because i won't be able to go to sleep until i do. 
and because this really upsets me.

this year i've had to set aside the camera and just be a mom.

i won't lie.  i don't like being "just a mom". 

however, tonight i had the opportunity to do another photog get together.  i love these and love meeting the other photographers.  there are some truly wonderful women at these events.  at the end of our session, we had a q&a, asking about things we liked, didn't like, etc. 

one girl said we "shouldn't give away our cd's to clients.  they should be purchased as an extra, because we shouldn't sell ourselves short--we put a lot of time into them.
and we shouldn't do free sessions all of the time.  just have a special project and do one". 

can i just say that there are some serious angry tears on my face right now.  everytime i try to go to sleep, to roll over and just forget it, i tear up again.

i understand trying to push confidence in a person and telling them not to give away their hard work, but what if
that's what I feel led to do?  isn't it my choice?  if i've already stated that i'm not in this to make money, what does it matter how i run my business? 

i couldn't believe how hard her words struck me.  how upset i was.  i think a lot of it stemmed from the way it was said... like i was messing up her business by doing free sessions.

(and please don't ask me who said this... i'm not going to share)

all i heard was the word SELFISH being yelled in my head.  i know from her website, she's not completely selfish... she has some great things that she's involved in, photography wise.

but how can you tell a person that they shouldn't freely give?? 

i just don't understand why people are so selfish with their gifts.  God has given us amazing gifts and if i'm not blessing people with my gift, then i'm doing something seriously wrong.


and if you don't like me giving away free stuff, tough cookie.


i can guarantee that the person(s) who can't afford photos do.
and that's all there is to it.

water for elephants.

this was my book club choice last year and i

was not disappointed.

i was ready to for this movie the minute i was

done with the book.

and now i'm impatiently waiting.

only one more month til reese and rob bring the book to life.

if you plan on seeing this movie, read the book first!
it's so good.

photo weekend.

i just announced a photo weekend on the photography page, so if you're in the area, check it out!

togetherness.

i had my fears about this whole 'sharing a room' thing.

honestly, i think i'm doing more for them

than preparing them for college roommates.

they enjoy their time apart.

they also really enjoy their time together.

what one does, the other has to be able to do.

like take a photo with my camera.

they both liked being in charge of the photo taking.

i don't know if they'll admit it ten years from now, but i'll be sure to remind them that they were once really good friends.

sure emily has sports skills that aiden can't even wrap his head around yet.  and aiden has taunting skills that his uncle josh would be jealous of.

despite their differences, emily loves her brother so much that when he gets hurt, you can hear the hurt in her voice.  she immediately asks him, "you okay, buddy?" 
and if he says no, she runs to find me, screaming frantically that he's hurt.  i don't care for the frantic part, but i do love that she's always looking out for him.

they even play off each other...watch what the other is doing to see what their next move will be.  it's hysterical.

here's to hoping that they remain this good of friends!!

four days of fun.

while people were out and about eating and drinking

as the irish do,

we hung out at home.

my kids really don't know about st. patrick's day.

someday.

but i'd rather not have them pinch me every time i

fail to wear green.

instead, we had some fun with food.

they dripped food coloring into their water/milk

for the day, we ate green and rainbow pancakes for dinner.

i wish i could have been at my friend's house when her kids discovered that a leprechaun had peed green in their toilet.
hahahaha.
her photos were so funny.

friday i made cinnamon rolls, once again acknowledging the fact that i need an apron.  i always get flour all over my shirt from reaching across the counter and rolling out dough.  every time.

while i did that, justin kept the kids busy by cleaning the yard.

they just pulled their stools to the window and watched him for almost an hour.  it was great.

when the yard was a little cleaner,

jus gave aiden a lesson in how to stop the 'soccer ball'

with his foot.

so cute.

the lesson was cut short when our neighbor, the kid's favorite little friend at the fence, came to play.

saturday was a rainy shopping day.  this moment was the best one of the day.  behind me at this time, aiden was sleeping.  the kids were in rare form while we were out shoe shopping. 

sunday we celebrated the arrival of spring by making bird's nests. kinda killin' my diet, but they're way cute, right? :)

for japan with love.

photography fun.

check out all of the photography fun here.