P52- Week 31

Hi friends! I had two sessions this weekend, so lots of editing to do, and my computer is acting a little wacky so it will be heading to the shop this morning :(  I will do my best to visit you all via my phone. I'm looking forward to seeing what you've been up to!

Here's my offering for P52. I love mornings...not super early mornings, but summer mornings, yes I do.

I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead!

Linking up with these lovelies: Gina and Tamar.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!!

Friday Photo Journal - Week 31

Hello sweet friends! I hope you are enjoying the summer days because they sure seem to be flying by quickly. Hard to believe it's nearly August already! This week for us was rather uneventful. Just work, chores and some thunderstorms. I do love a good summer storm, but the one last night was a little too close for comfort and kept me and the kids awake a while. Woke up to a wet garage too. Not major flooding, but we had to clean it out to dry. Thankful it was nothing more!

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the week:

I hope you've had a great week. I can't wait to see your photos!

Also linking up with The Long Road to China.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Janie and Jack Clothing Line Review

As I mentioned last week, I recently had the opportunity to select a few items from the Janie and Jack clothing line to see how I like them and share my thoughts with you. 

 Prior to this review, I was a little familiar with the clothing line but hadn't actually shopped at Janie and Jack. Since there isn't a store near me, I visited JanieandJack.com to make my selections. As soon as I pulled up the page, I knew I was in trouble. I love their clothes!! I browsed through each line and found several items I absolutely adored for boys and girls. It was so difficult to choose just a few out of the bunch. The classic style of the clothing and beautiful colors and patterns are just stunning. 

I finally settled on two flower corsage tiered dresses for the girls from the European Vacation line. I also purchased some sunglasses to match. 

When the dresses arrived in a pretty little box, the girls squealed with delight...and I did too! They are truly gorgeous. They are a vibrant red and perfectly twirly. They fit well and I was impressed with the quality of the fabrics and the attention to detail in the design. They are very well made and I can tell they will last for years. 

I took the girls down to the water front for a little photo session and we had a great time showing off their summery fashions.

I will definitely shop Janie and Jack again. While I wish there was a store closer to me, the site was easy to navigate, the service was quick, and the items I purchased fit true to size. 

Some of the clothes are priced a little higher than what I normally would be able to spend on my children's wardrobe, but there were many items on sale and I was able to find the sizes I needed. And, I am willing to pay a little more for well made items that I know will stand up to the abuse from my rugged kids and many washings. I was thrilled with the items I purchased and the service I received. 

 By the way, they are having an awesome sale and giveaway right now. You can enter to win a $200 gift card to shop their collections, and the grand prize is $1000!

Check it out here: Janie and Jack's Summer Celebration.

I was given a gift card to shop Janie and Jack in order to facilitate this review. All opinions here are my own based on my experience with the brand. 

Linking up with Kim for:

WW- City Skyline

When I took my girls downtown last week for a mini shoot, I decided to take a quick shot of the skyline. We don't live in a particularly large city, but I do love the look of the cityscape on the waterfront. Much of the waterfront here is lined with industrial looking structures and the typical port city cranes, barges, containers, etc. 

But the view from Portsmouth toward Town Point Park in Norfolk is kind of nice, I think.

 I don't shoot many landscapes, and this was just a quick snap with a 50 mm lens, because my kids were too squirrely for me to have time to change lenses or set up a tripod. 

 It would be fun though, to venture out one day, without the kids, and capture our city through my lens. 

I'm curious, what's your favorite place to photograph in your home town?

Thanks for visiting! Have a super Wednesday!

P52 - Week 30

Happy Monday my friends! I hope you all enjoyed a lovely summer weekend. It was hot, humid and hazy here all weekend...typical summer weather in SE VA. We didn't do much other than work around the house, but I did have a super fun session yesterday evening with a little Super Hero! More on that to come this week ;)

I did take my camera on a little stroll through the yard. Sadly, our garden has been severely neglected this summer as we've been so busy with work. I did manage to find this lovely little daisy though. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead!

Linking up with these lovelies: Gina and Tamar.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!!

Friday Photo Journal Blog Hop - Week 30

Hello sweet friends and welcome to week 30 of Friday Photo Journal! 

It was another busy, fun-filled week here. 

Here's a peek at our pics:

1. Gorgeous sunset on my birthday.

2. Sweet sleepers.

3. Another sultry sunset. Love!

4. My big girl getting her swim on.

5. My big girl obliging me with a photo session.

6. My littles splashing in Nana and Billy's pool.

7. My awesome new birthday mug :)

8. Clouds and sun flare. I love them. 

9. My silly curly sue enjoying her brownie payoff after our photo session.

I hope you've had a great week. I can't wait to see your photos!
Also linking up with The Long Road to China.

Have a wonderful weekend!

P.S. Thanks a million to all who voted in the Circle of Moms Top 25 Photography Blogs Contest! I am truly grateful :)

Little Things Thursday

Yesterday evening I took my girls out for a little fashion shoot down by the river. As usual with my own kids, it was a whirlwind of pleading, chasing, jockeying and juggling to try and get a few decent shots. Little Miss was all over the place, but I managed to get a couple decent images out of the bunch. This was in preparation for a review post for Janie and Jack, so look for that soon! 

I adore their gorgeous clothes for kids.

 By the way, they are having an awesome sale and giveaway right now. You can enter to win a $200 gift card to shop their collections, and the grand prize is $1000!

Check it out here: Janie and Jack's Summer Celebration.

Linking up with Kim for:

WW - A Quiet Moment

The Circle of Moms contest is over so I promise to stop begging for votes! I am honored to have finished in the Top 25 again this year and so thankful for all the wonderful support from you guys!!
I am also thrilled to have been in such good company. Many of my favorite bloggers and photographers were in the running and deserve congratulations! You can see the full list here.

Thanks for visiting! Have a super Wednesday!

P52- Week 29

Happy Monday all! I was blessed to celebrate my birthday yesterday with family and to receive many wonderful happy wishes from good friends. It truly was a fantastic day! The weather was gorgeous and we hung poolside all day. My family spoiled me with my favorite foods, some lovely gifts and a delicious chocolate birthday cake. All that love surely made swallowing 40 a little easier.
I am so grateful for the many blessings I have in good friends and loving family members!!
 After all the fun and festivities, the day ended on this gorgeous note. This was taken with my iPhone over the fence in my mother's back yard. Wowzers! What a spectacular sky!!

Only one day left in the Circle of Moms contest.  If you have a moment, please click the link below to vote. Thank you so much for your support!!!

Project 13 Blog Circle - July

Welcome to this month's installment of a collaborative photo project I am thrilled to be participating in with several talented photographers. This project concentrates on focusing on our everyday moments. Together we will share our images at the end of each month focusing on various sub-themes related to the over-arching theme of Everyday Moments.

 As we all know, life slips by very quickly and the images shared will be small glimpses into our everyday lives. It also provides us a place to share images that may or may not be technically perfect, these are the ones that pull at our heartstrings. I invite you to follow along with me on this project.

Our theme this month is "a different angle." I shot this last night as I was waiting for a client. It was a breezy night and there were lots of kite-fliers out. 

Thanks for visiting! I hope you will continue on through the blog circle by clicking here to visit my talented friend Crystal!

Friday Photo Journal - Week 29

Happy Friday (already?!). I don't know where this week has gone. It's possible I'm becoming more forgetful since I am getting OLDER. Ugh! I'll be 40 on Sunday and I'm not thrilled about it. Not only do I not know where the last week has gone, I am completely clueless as to where the last 20 years have gone!!  Thank goodness I always have a camera near by to help me remember the little everyday moments. Here's a peek at our week:

I can't wait to see your images from last week. I hope you are busy capturing your beautiful life moments. They sure seem to pass by in a flash.

Also linking up with The Long Road to China.

Have a wonderful weekend!

P.S. I have been nominated by again this year for the Top 25 Photography Bloggers at Circle of Moms. If you have a minute to click, I would greatly appreciate your vote! You can vote once per day for the next couple of weeks. Last year I made it to the Top 5 and it was truly an honor. 

Thank you for your support!!

Little Things Thursday - Garden Visitor

Hi friends! Happy Thursday. I hope you are having a great week. I can't believe it's Thursday already and the weekend is nearly upon us again. I have a couple of shoots scheduled and am wishing the rain away! I'm also not ready for the weekend because my birthday is Sunday and I'd rather skip it this year!

What are your plans for the weekend?

Linking up with Kim for:

Only a few days left to vote. The competition is getting fierce I tell ya! I could use your votes pretty please? It's just a quick click and you can vote once per day. Some of my favorite bloggers and photogs are in the running as well and you can vote for more than one of us :) Check it out here:

Thanks so much for all of your generous support! I am so very grateful :)

Thanks for visiting!

Wordless Wednesday - A Little Dream

Greetings friends! Some of you may remember that last year I won the honor of being in the top 5 Photography Blogs in the Circle of Moms contest. One of my lovely readers has nominated my blog once again this year (thank you so very much!), and I would be most grateful for your vote. If you have a moment, please click the link below to vote. You can vote once per day until July 16th. Thank you!!! I truly appreciate your support :)

On to Wordless Wednesday: I played a little bit in Photoshop just for fun. 

This is very different from my usual style, 

but it can be refreshing to go in a different direction now and then,

 just to see where it leads...

This is where I started:

Thanks for visiting! Have a super Wednesday!

Tuesday Chatter

Happy Tuesday all! I am feeling a bit more chipper today as I have finally figured out my blogger troubles. Whew! Apparently it is an issue that many people encounter and there is NO helpful information in the blogger help files, nor do they offer customer service for "free" accounts, even though they charge $10 a year for custom domains. After hours of wasted searching, I finally found a solution in a chat room on blogger issues. Apparently, when you purchase a custom domain through blogger they automatically sign you up for a Google Apps account which governs your domain. Problem is, they don't tell you the user name and password for this account and you have to find a 'roundabout way to reset it. Brilliant. If anyone needs a solution for this issue, email me and I'll try my best to help.

Perhaps it is time to stop dragging my feet and make the move to WP. The only reason I have not done so is that it's difficult to justify the expense when I make nothing from this little blog. I don't really want to put up ads and affiliate links, but it's something I guess I'll have to ponder.

In the mean time, I thought I'd share this pic of Little Miss. She's getting into the terrible 3's stage (yes, I have always found 3 to be more difficult than 2!). Sometimes she likes to ham it up and sometimes she screeches if you even look at her. It's kind of like a toddler teen stage, minus a few hormones, lol. It is so hard to believe she'll be 3 in little more than a month!

Some of you may remember that last year I won the honor of being in the top 5 Photography Blogs in the Circle of Moms contest. I'm in the running again for 2013 but I have fallen behind and the competition is heating up.  If you have a moment, I would be most grateful for your vote! Just click the link below. You can vote once per day until July 16th. Thank you so very much for your support!!!