Back to school. Be still my heart.
It's August 19, 2015, and we went back to school today. August 19. Exactly 31 days until the end of summer. Summer is over? Wrong. It's just getting started and we are back to school. This is Ohio. Ohio is dumb.
Anyway, as many of you know, this is the time of year that I post photos of our morning and reflect on the past. I intend to carry on this tradition. You're welcome.
These kids. These kids. What would I do without them? I'd shrivel up and stare into a long tunnel of nothing. I'd travel the world. I'd have no idea what my purpose was. I'd play my guitar so much much. I'd have too many cats. I'd stay up later than 10:00. I'd cry at water parks. I'd rock a bikini.
Motherhood is such a concept. It changes everyday. Every minute. Every second. But it all comes down to this: Without it, I am nothing.
This is a big year for my silly little family. We have built a beautiful home and are about to move into it. This is exciting. This is terrifying. So many things happened in this house. An engagement. A lot of painting and de-manning. A positive pregnancy test. Another one. A third one. Just kidding. A few jobs. Some tense moments. Some unbelievable pizza. Some spinning rooms after nights out (and night in). Some scraped knees. Some weepy eyes (for no reason whatsoever). A lot of hugs. Too much crayon on the walls. It's been a great home. BUT IT'S TIME TO F*CKING GO.
So this is our last set of back to school photos at this house. It was a good morning. The kids didn't really give a sh*t about leaving us, but we gave lots of sh*ts about them taking off. That's how it should be. We are doing something right.
The next time I come back to this blog I will be a miserable, miserable woman. I'll be in the throws of "where did all of this crap come from? Do you really need this shirt from 1984? Whey are there so many cold vapor mist machines? This children's tylenol is hard as a rock. I don't ever remember eating whatever is stuck behind this stove." But if anything, it will make for an interesting read.
Nine
Lydia turned 9 on June 20th. I'm a little late with these! Celebration number one was waking up a year older at the cottage. Celebration number two was a canvas painting class with her friends, sister and cousin. These photos are a little monumental...as they will be the last set from our home. We're moving on up next month.
Here's a little Q&A for Miss Lydia:
Q: What was the best day of your life so far?
A: I have to pick three. The day I went to Disney, the day I went to Cedar Point and the day I went to the Taylor Swift concert.
Q: What was the worst day of your life so far?
A: Ummm, I think it was the days we discovered I had head lice and a wart.
Q: What are you most afraid of?
A: Um, heights.
Q: What are you most excited about for the upcoming year?
A: I'm amazingly excited to move into a brand new house!
Q: Aside from mommy, daddy and Mallory, who is your favorite person?
A: I have to pick like 20! But I choose Grandma Rain.
Q: What's better? Bubble gum or steak?
A: Oooh steak!
Q: What's your one wish for the world?
A: I wish for world peace. And nobody would get any sicknesses.
Q: What's your favorite word?
A: Wolf
Q: Are you ready to go back to school?
A: Kind of. I'm a little shaky over it, but I think I can handle it.
So there ya have it. Some words of wisdom from our girl :)
Visual Story Telling
I'm in my final week of a class through The Define School called Visual Story Telling. It's the mother load of awesomeness. It's taught by the hugely talented Molly Flanagan. If you have any interest in story telling photography, I strongly urge you to check out all these links!
I put together this little series as part of the final lesson for this class. We just came off the heels of a crazy weekend so we are taking it easy today. There is so much happening in our lives right now so this day was a much needed and warmly welcomed change of pace.
I'd say the best part of this was Mallory's squeal upon contact with the ice cold water. It was like a cross between a woman in the throws of unmedicated labor and a cat in a bathtub. The worst part was her losing control of the hose and it flying right at me and my camera. Not cool. No worries, though. I protect my gear like a ninja.
So here is the story of our afternoon.
Cool News!
Hey, guess what?? Two of my photographs were just accepted in the Toledo Museum of Art's Toys Toys Toys exhibit! Toys Toys Toys is the sister show to main event titled Playtime. You can read all about this upcoming show here:
http://playtime.toledomuseum.org
The first piece selected is called There's Room for Everything. It's meant to show that technology isn't a bad thing. Lydia is seen here playing just as intently with a classic toy as she is with her Kindle. I told her where to sit and simply handed her the different items.
The next piece is the same photo featured in my previous blog post. It's titled Saturday Morning. This is a candid shot of Mallory playing with all her stuffed friends while I get ready to make our breakfast.
Opening night is May 22nd. Always such an honor to be included in these shows!
These Songs in My Head and These Scenes in My Life
So can I stay here with you, till the day breaks?
There's something you should know
I ain't got no place to go
So can I stay here with you, till the day breaks
How happy it would make me to see your face when I wake