Team Up Thursday - Hello

I am super excited to be joining up with Christina again for Team Up Thursday. I cant believe its been almost 4 months. I definitely had planned on getting back into it after only a few weeks of giving birth, but it just didn't feel right. Now that we are settled into a routine, I am ready to work with what's left of my brain and get back into the swing of it! :0)

Christina came to the table with a whole bunch of ideas for a theme. Appropriately enough for our first week back, we decided to go with Hello.

I love Christina's photo this week. I think it truly embodies the quote, "A picture is worth a thousand words." I told her that I cold totally see her setting the timer and getting back to Nadia as if she was "sliding into home base". The more I look at it the more I see. With Christina's eyes, you can tell she's smiling. Nadia's eyes look like she is making a surprised face. I love the grip C has on Nadia's hand. You can just see the fun that they had getting this shot....Plus its got great bokeh.

My image for this week simply shows what I've been up to in our time away. I have been playing with my Lensbaby more and more, which has been really fun. But the Lensbaby isn't the only baby I have been busy with. :0)


For more "Team-Up Thursday" diptych's, head over to Megan's

It Was All About The Food

My mom and I took the girls to a Lebanese festival this past weekend. I brought my camera expecting there to be colorful outfits with dancers and live music. I was very excited, but there was none of that....at least not in the afternoon when we went. The band was just setting up around 5pm when we were leaving, so I think we should have gone a little later in the day rather than earlier. It was in the parking lot of a church and was put on by the parishioners. There was Arabic music played over the speakers...which I totally loved. There was also a silent auction, a big bouncy house/slide for the kids to play in and fabulous food.

My great, great Grandfather on my Mom's side came to America from Lebanon. While growing up I always had a sense of my heritage, but never became interested in it until my late 20's. My Mom and I often go to a Lebanese deli to enjoy raw kibbi, tabouli, stuffed grape leaves and stuffed kusa. It is a nice treat for us to go there because neither my Dad nor Keith like to eat our "funny food", as they call it.

So even though there was not much excitement while we were at the festival, at least we got to enjoy the music and the food!

Trying to get Ella to just smile like a normal little girl in front of the camera is another story! :0)

SMILE ELLA!


NO REALLY, JUST A REGULAR SMILE....


COME ON.....


JUST ONE SMILE FOR ME PLEASE.....


CAN YOU ACT NORMAL?
THANK YOU!

WW - Nature Around Me

For more Wordless Wednesday images, click here and here.

Little Present for Myself

I got myself a little present that just arrived the other day..... The Shutter Sister's new book, Expressive Photography. I was finally able to sit down last night and look at it and I ended up reading it cover to cover. I just loved, loved, loved the whole thing, since it is jam packed with beautiful images and knowledge. It made me want to pick up my camera and start shooting.

Thank you Shutter Sister's for such a wonderfully inspiring book. I hope you get the chance to pick it up for yourself too!

Oh, The Tangled Webs We Weave

What We Do For Fun....

Bored as hell? check
Mall? check
Vivacious 5 year old? check
iPhone? check

This is what happens when my child says, "Mommy, Look!"




Now, I debated posting this one, only because.....well, I'm sure you know......But the thing is, this one was actually the funniest of them all. Ella HAD to pose with these mannequins because she wanted to be bare foot like they were. So that's fine and all, but there was little to no room in between those mannequins and all I could do is hold my breathe and pray that she did not knock them all over as she made her escape! I mean really....Couldnt you just see them tumbling over as they scatter left and right and how freaking embarrassed I would have been? OMG.


Ah, Good times.....Good times.

How Big Is Olivia? Soooo Big!!

Although my life is starting to look something close to normal now, this whole newborn stage really flew by way too quickly....especially when you know this one is the last. Out goes the sleepy and squishy newborn face and in comes the beautiful characteristics and personality.

Yesterday, Olivia was officially 3 months. She coos at us, her actions are as deliberate as they can be, she is sleeping at least 3 hours at a time and I am only getting up 2 times a night. Ella has even started watching cartoons for a bit before she wakes me up. Most mornings, that means I get to sleep in until 8am. I'm giddy about that one!

Yup, both my girls are pretty much growing up way too fast.

Note to self: Stop. Take it all in. Smile. Repeat.