A Snowy 10th Wedding Anniversary

Good Day, Everyone! I hope this finds you doing well. It just sort of came to me that I haven't done a  photography post in a while. Not from lack of photos...I've actually been keeping pretty busy with shoots over the last few months. I guess I've just been "forgetting" (or too lazy...) to write up a completely post. Well, I think it's time I mended that! :) As I said, I have lots of shoots to share with you and I'm proud of the growth I can see in my photography skills.

This first shoot that I'm going to share with you took place just before Thanksgiving last year. At first I was worried because it had begun to snow, and I didn't feel very comfortable shooting in it. However, we went ahead and braved the elements...and I'm VERY GLAD we did!

This lovely couple decided to celebrate their 10th Wedding Anniversary by getting dressed up in their wedding finery and frolicking in the snow a bit! ENJOY!

Are they not the most gorgeous couple you've ever seen in you life? The love that these two have for each other just radiates from them. I feel so privileged that I was called upon to photograph this celebration. Happy Anniversary, Josh and Jessica!

Friday Five-O #47 {A Mini Book Review Included!}

Good Snowy Morning, Dear Ones!

I hope this finds you warm and comfortable indoors.

Lord knows I love snow and all things winter,

but yesterday's snowfall made me want to run about, 

kicking up the powder with my trusty camera by my side 

and then bury myself in bed

with a pile of library books.

But unfortunately, I'm adult and I work a job

and I have responsibilities so that didn't happen...

but I found ways to enjoy the snowy day anyway :).

In addition to the lovely snow,

it has been a quite a busy week!

Come along with me and I'll tell you all about it

on today's:

Friday evening I was privileged to photograph

the Robison's glorious 25th Wedding Anniversary Vow Renewal.

To say that I was a nervous wreck...

would be completely accurate.

However, with the help my favorite photographers

(SHOUTOUT TO CJ PHOTOGRAPHY!!!!),

I think it's safe to call my part of the night a success! :)

It was a grand celebration! :)

Saturday I spent the morning editing photos from the night before

and that evening went out for Bowling Night with the College & Career Group

and two very special little guests :).

Sunday evening I finished this book
(it took less than 48 hours).

I've read a lot of reviews that compare this book to Gone Girl,
but in my opinion,
this one is WAY BETTER!
Gone Girl I couldn't wait to finish!
I wanted to be done with it
and never think about it again.
That chick was eternally messed up!
And NOT in a good way!
This book was completely opposite.
Yes, in The Good Girl the leading lady is messed up,
but she's real and you can identify with her emotions.
Now, plot-wise, The Good Girl is pretty messed up too,
but in a way that's endearing and you don't want it to be done
when you turn the last page.
If you've never read either book,
my advice is this:
Skip Gone Girl and dive into The Good Girl! :)

Monday and Tuesday were spent
preparing for an Early Dismissal Day at TJ.
As I've mentioned before,
Early Dismissal Days REQUIRE a well-thought-out plan!
Luckily, I had one :).
I decided to call this half day
"Peter Pan Day".
Here are two examples of the projects I had the kiddos do:

Thursday as I mentioned in the beginning of this post,
was a gloriously snowy day.
It was loveliness EVERYWHERE!
See?

I know a lot of people are tired of the cold,
but to be honest, I am not.
I'm tired of my little TJ Darlings being cooped-up inside
and I'm tired of being scared that I'm going to slip on ice,
but other than that...I love winter! :)

How has your week been?
H ave you read any good books lately
that I need to know about?
Are you a winter lover like I am
or are you breathlessly waiting for Spring?

I would love to hear your stories!

Thank you so much for visiting today!
I hope you come back soon!

A Profile of the Children: Superboy

When you work in childcare, you're often faced with the challenge of loving the unlovable. There's frustration and annoyance, angry questions and sullen answers. But there's also the undeniable, excruciating feeling of having your heart ripped apart when you realize this child behaves in an unloving manner because they've been on the receiving end of such actions more times than you care to think about. And you know that God has placed you in this child's life for a purpose. This is a profile of one such child that completely broke my heart...and in the end: completely stole it.

I call him: Superboy

(via)

Superboy
Impossible and wild;
Daring and defiled

Superboy
Solitary and proud
Head in the clouds

Superboy
Cunning and smart
An overflowing cart

Superboy
Untouched and in need
Desperate to be freed

Superboy
Sweet and deliberate
Secretly considerate



Superboy
Unstudious but charming
His passion alarming

Superboy
Breakable beneath
His wrought-iron sheath

Superboy
Wrecked and undone
A friend to no one

Superboy
Under my care
Love and hope to spare

Superboy
Challenging and sad
Took everything I had

Friday Five-O #46 {Take Me to My Happy Place...}

Wow!

What a CRA - AZY Week it has been!

I will be telling that story soon,
but on today's:

I'm going to focus on the positives! :)

On Friday, I made a trip to my Home Away from Home
(the Library)
and left with a beautiful pile of new books to read :).

*sigh* What a lovely sight!

Saturday was Valentine's Day
and this is how I spent my day! :)

If you've never read Love Monster by Rachel Bright to your kids,
I HIGHLY recommend it! :)

Sunday after an amazing church service,
I took my darling Annagale out for a belated birthday dinner
at Famous City Bistro.

I generally do NOT order a burger when I go out to eat,
but that day, a burger sounded amazing to me.
Furthermore, I am usually VERY hesitant to try new things.
Most times I find something I like at a restaurant
and order that every time.
However, this time I was very glad I didn't do that!
The burger was A-MA-AZING!


Monday, this lovely arrived in the mail.

I read this book for the first time last fall
and loved it!
So glad I finally have my own copy! :)

Thursday at work, in addition to my usual duties,
I was called upon to play hairdresser.

Pretty pleased with how it turned out.
Especially considering I had no bobby pins,
only tiny elastics to work with! :)

How was your week?
How did you spend your Valentine's Day?
Have you tried any new food/drink items lately?
Was that "weird" for you?
How have you been fixing your girls' hair lately?

Thank you so much for visiting today!
I hope you come back soon! :)

Friday Five-O #45 (Val-oween is Coming...}

Good Morning, Everyone!

Happy Friday!

I hope this finds you doing well!

This week has been busy as usual

but also LOTS of FUN!

You know, with tomorrow being Val-oween

and everything.

(I've heard Valentine's Day referred to "Val-oween before,

but when my cousin used the term again last Sunday,

I was like, "Oh Yeah! I forgot about that.

That's a positive way to look at a very commercial holiday!
Okay...I'm a little twisted...what else is new?!)

Anyway, c'mon with me and I'll share some Val-oween Fun
with you on today's:

Friday was Homemade Donut Night at the Dahl House!

Yum, Yum, YUMMY! :)

Saturday was re-decorating day.
(Yes, that means I finally took my Christmas tree down).

Still in love with my favorite Christmas present:
my antique window! :)

Sunday brought my turn to work in the Toddler Class.

It was a VERY good day!
Love these precious kiddos! :)

Monday evening and Tuesday morning,
I had the TJ kiddos start working on their Valentine crafts
(I say 'start' because I actually had quite a few
different Valentine crafts planned for them...)

You better watch out! Or the Love Monster will get you! :)

Also, Tuesday was Nanny day...
and I had the privilege of capturing this:

Oooohhhh! Don't you just love baby toes?!

Thursday I watched a movie that I had never seen before
but was anxious to (FINALLY!) see:

And to be honest, I've gotta say...
I didn't think it was that great.
In fact, I was pretty disappointed.
I love Audrey Hepburn and always will
but My Fair Lady and Roman Holiday had MUCH better story lines!

How was your week?
How have you and yours been gearing up for Val-oween?
Have you ever (FINALLY!) taken the time
to watch a popular film or read a popular book
only to be disappointed that you wasted your time?

I would LOVE to hear your stories!

Thank you so much for visiting today!
Please come back soon!

Dear Little One {February 4, 2015}

Part One:

Dear Little One,

I don't know you yet. You're still very much a stranger to me, but I want you to know I absolutely cannot wait to meet you. I'm very excited to see what color your eyes are, if you have hair or not. At this point, I don't even know if you're a boy or girl...but again I cannot wait to meet you. You probably don't know this yet, but I'm sure you will be told quite often over your lifetime: you are a Miracle. A gift directly delivered from God. And I am ever so thankful for you.

Your family is very special to me and I have no doubt that you will add to that specialness. If you grow up to be anything like your big sister and brothers, I'm sure you're going to have a curious streak. You're going to ask a lot of questions and probably stump the adults in your life at least a time or two. That kind of stuff is good for us adults. It keeps us on our toes. Never stop asking questions.

Now, I'm going to give you a warning: Sometimes life isn't fair. Sometimes it hurts. And sometimes it doesn't make sense at all. Those times are hard to handle and even more difficult to understand, but here's the secret: those bad times won't last forever. They are only temporary. I promise. I also promise that there will be lots of good times. With lots of giggles and sunshine, yummy food and cuddles. Your family will always be there for you...through everything. And that is a guarantee.

Something that is very important to me that I hope someday becomes important to you is: Reading. Reading is one of the most magical experiences a person can have in life. Reading will take you places your feet will never be able to go and make you feel things you may never have felt otherwise. I'm going to be honest: it's not always easy learning to read, but once you have, I promise it will be lots of fun! Please, pretty please...just humor me and try it.

I have one last thing to tell you, Precious Baby, before I sign off. I want you to know that you already have a place in my heart that no else can ever fill. I already love you with my entire being and I promise that will never change. Even if you grow up to have green hair on your head and purple polka dots on your skin. Even when you have grumpy days. Even when you make bad choices...because we all do every now and then. Even then, I promise to love you forever. But even more important than all of that, I promise that Jesus will love you no matter what. It was through His miraculous power that your mommy was able to become pregnant and carry you for nine months. That same miraculous power will be available for you as long as you have breath in your body. Jesus loves you and, just like I do, has a special place for you in His heart that no one else can fill. I hope and pray that someday you will know through personal experience how much Jesus loves you. And I hope I can be there to see it.

I love you, Little One. And I haven't even met you yet. 

Part Two:

Dear Little One,

I have now had the privilege of meeting you. You are beautiful and beyond sweet. I saw you for a few moments before you were hustled off to the hospital nursery...and I fell even more in love with you than I already was. I stood outside the nursery windows and took countless photos of the scrub-attired angels taking care of you and your daddy watching over you. You gave us a little bit of a scare at first. Your blood sugar was low, but came right back up after you were given a bottle. Then, however, you had some issues with your oxygen level. It wasn't terribly low, but it wasn't sufficient either. I'm going to be honest, I shed more than a few tears watching you receive supplemental oxygen. I sang to you through the window about the Peacekeeper Who controls the wind and the rain. Your family and I placed you into Jesus' capable Hands and after a few hours, your oxygen level came back up to normal and you were just fine.

I didn't get to hold you tonight, I had to go home and get some rest. And I wanted your mommy and daddy to get as much time with you as they wanted without having to share you. But don't worry, I'll be back very soon. And I'm very excited to hold you and cuddle you and kiss you.

I love you, Little One. And I'm very glad I was there when you arrived.

Welcome to the World, Findley Alexander Darrell DePinto!

Friday Five-O #44 {Hello, February...}

Good Morning, Everyone!

I hope this finds you doing well.

Let me begin this post by saying,

"WOOHOO! We made it through January!"

As I've mentioned before, 

January is my least favorite month of the year.

I get depressed (and usually sick) in January.

And this year was no exception...

BUT...I'm happy to report,

I MADE IT THROUGH! :)

The last week of January was rough...

mostly because I was finishing up a week-long viral sickness...

but all in all, it wasn't terrible.

Come along with me

and I'll tell you all about it on today's:

Saturday was wet and dreary
and I was still feeling pretty yucky,
but my cousins and I still got out
to take some final maternity photos
(the little bundle of joy arrived on the following Wednesday!).
Honestly, at first it seemed like everything was against us.
Our original plan to do photos
in the "new" nursery didn't work out,
so we were forced to brave the blustery, drizzly February weather.
Upon arrival at our photo shoot location,
we discovered we didn't have all the props that we needed.
Daddy was promptly sent to retrieve the forgotten items
while Mommy, the kids, and I shot the photos we were able to
(with multiple breaks to warm up in the car).
Upon Daddy's return,
we finished up as quickly as possible
and I am very happy to say,
the photos turned out GREAT!

What do you think?

Sunday was an all-around Snow Day!
Hello, February! :)
Church was cancelled and I didn't budge from my house
until after 7pm and that was only to dig out my car
for work the next day.
The snow truly was glorious
and I happily snapped photos from my bedroom window :).

I told you I didn't budge from my house until after 7pm...

I was really hoping for another Snow Day on Monday
complete with school cancellations,
but, unfortunately, that didn't happen.
So off to work to work I went at 6:10 Monday morning,
not completely sure I was going to make it up the street
(we hadn't gotten a snow plow yet...).
But I made it safely to Thomas Jefferson
and to the YMCA after that.
On my way to the YMCA,
I made a pit stop at the Lakeview Library
to return some of the little children's books,
and HAD to take a moment to capture the following photos.

As I've mentioned before,
the Snow was GLORIOUS! :)

Tuesday was...kind of weird.
First of all, I had the worst case of nausea of my life.
(Which then repeated itself the next morning too...
yeah...its not morning sickness...
physically IMPOSSIBLE.)
Then it was just like the whole day was an emotional roller-coaster.
I had this very sweet moment while nannying:

But then a very high-stress afternoon at work...
and this time, it wasn't really the kiddos
giving me high blood pressure.
Upon arrival at home that evening,
I had dinner with mom and helped her clean up the kitchen,
and decided to just call it a night.
But I just couldn't relax...
or rather, the spinning of my mind wouldn't LET me relax.
I ended up sleeping fitfully.
Not how I wanted to go into "Marathon Wednesday".

And believe me! Wednesday was a Marathon!
It was little one crazy thing after another.
But it ended on a Wonderful Note!
The Arrival of Mr. Findley DePinto into the World.

Isn't he beautiful?!

How was your week?
Have you had any new arrivals in your family lately?
I would love to hear your stories!

Thank you so much for visiting today!
I hope you come back soon!