my kiddos fall pictures

I know a few days ago I mentioned I also took individual pictures of the kids, thought I would share them today:

Saturday Snapshopts & Sunday Stream In One Post ... How Lazy Can I Get?

Ali, over at An Ordinary Mom, came up with an awesome idea a few months back ... and in her own words its "simply about capturing the moments, snapshots of our weeks, captured on your top-of-the-line camera, your bottom-of-the-line camera, or even your old cell-phone… " Click here to read more about her idea and then please come join us for Saturday Snapshots.




And since I'm feeling lazy today I've combined my Saturday Snapshots with Stream of Consciousness Sunday ... all in one tidy little post (well, maybe not so little ... we'll see). Stream of Consciousness Sunday is hosted by Fadra at her blog all.things.fadra. The idea being 5 minutes of free writing ... no proof reading, no editing just write. If you want to join in take 5 minutes, start typing and just empty your brain. Then head over to all.things.fadra. and link up!




So, here we go:





Most obviously on my mind today is my oldest child, Rosebud. She is such a beautiful young woman and has such a heart for the Lord. I hugged (and hugged and hugged and hugged) and then kissed her goodbye, for a whole week, early this morning. And I mean EARLY ... as in 5something am! My hubby drove her to church to join her youth group for a one week mission and service trip to Michigan. They will be working with TeenServe, just like they did last summer in Indiana.


Yes I was annoying and insisted on pictures even at 5something in the morning ... because, you know, I'm going to miss her. I love her! This look is her telling me enough already mom. But I can never get enough picures of my kiddos. You can see the sky behind her is getting pink ... the sun rose just after she left. Yep up that early. But it made for some very pretty pictures.





I made her take this quick one for her little sister, who will also miss her Rosebud like crazy this week. The crown was laying on the floor, we knew the Little Princess Mary would find this picture funny. And after she woke up, some 3 hours later, I did show it to her and she did indeed giggle.




Another one for the Little Princess Sister ... by the castle:




And then of course one with her handsome and charming daddy ... well I think he is handsome and charming



And a few more cause I really am addicted to taking pictures of my kids. Hubby had to work a double shift on Saturday, so I took all 5 kiddos and we went to see CARS 2. We all enjoyed it, yes even the 15 and 12 year olds who were not so sure. We had a good time and I'm glad we got to do something together before Rosebud is gone for the week.




I just love this shot! I lined them all up by the tulip garden at the U of MN Landscape Arboretum, we were there a few weeks ago for my cousin's wedding ... and we had a fantastic time!



Rosebud loves to dance! Maybe even as much as my 92 year old grandpa (her great-grandpa) who she is dancing with



And of course the "sisters" picture ... I could look into those eyes forever!


Its a strange thing ... having one so ready for independence, so responsible and capable and then another one still so young and in diapers! Plus then there are the boys at varying stages in between. No wonder I'm living in chaos! Oh well, I aam glad for my chaos and all their ages and stages. Just wish I could slow it all down some days. Seems like yesterday when Rosebud still needed her mama as much as the Little Princess still does ... and if she grew so quickly ... how much longer do I get to hold on to my Little Princess? If I blink will it be her heading off for a week? Oh dear Lord HELP! And Thankyou!

I ♥ Faces "Let's Hear It For The Boys"

In honor of Father's Day, I ♥ Faces is hosting a "Let's Hear it for the Boys" theme this week. Photos must include at least one male face in them. I have 3 fantastic sons I love to photograph, a very handsome husband, a wonderful father and father-in-law I love to spend time with and both my grandpa's are still very active and fun to hang out with. So, "Let's Hear it for the Boys" could be the theme song to my life most days.

After looking at dozens of photos I could post I finally decided to use one that honors my dad ... Father's Day and all ... this is a photo I snapped real quick a few weekends ago. We were up at my dad's cabin (by we I mean: me, my 5 kids, my sister and her 3 kids and my other sister and her 3 kids, plus my mom, my dad, my aunt, my uncle and my grandma and grandpa ... it was a full house, I mean cabin).

Recently, for two of my son's birthdays my dad gifted them each GPS units and books on geocaching. So as my dad and his brother (the two 'grown-ups' in this photo) tried to wrangle 5 of my dad's grandsons and 4 of his granddaughters off on a geocaching adventure. This is so true of my dad ... he has always loved the outdoors and does everything he can to pass that love along to his 11 grandkids. I was glad they decided there were to many to try all ride in the gator. They posed for a quick photo and then they were off to try locate the 5 geocache boxes my dad had hid in the woods that morning. They had such a great day!