the wind blows- i heart faces

It is spring and that means we have emerged from our cave and been outside A LOT....as much as we can, and have been cleaning up what we neglected last fall.   But with spring yard clean up come the leaf blower....and that means motorized wind fun!  The kids love it when their Daddy pulls this out and tries to blow them over!

can't you just see how much fun this is for Jack!?

www.iheartfaces.com

i heart faces- winter wonderland

We live in a winter wonderland....otherwise known as Wisconsin.

This is one of my favorite shots of my bright eyed boy.  He is full of life,  he is sensitive,  he is incredibly loving and nurturing.  And just look at those blue eyes and freckles....

In a white winter wonderland he is a burst of life and color!

Check out all the amazing entries at i heart faces!

paper mama photo challenge: sparkly!

the paper mama photo challenge: Sparkly!

Well, you know I love a photo challenge.  Another one for today from "Paper Mama".  And only one photo comes to mind.  I found this chandelier long before Tessa came home, and I love that she loves it and the way it sparkles in her room!

Check out the paper mama....and her total awesomeness!

i heart faces- best face of 2010

Please vote for my photo by clicking this link here:
 i heart faces- best face of 2010 photo contest
Photo #187!!!  Thank you!!!


I don't know about you, but choosing the best face of 2010 is truly a challenge!  



But here goes....(drum roll) it is our sweet girl!  Not a big surprise, as this face had more face time with my camera than any other in the past year!  2010 was a big year for our family and for this sweet face, and here is why.


-saw that sweet face for the first time in her referral photo (she was 10 weeks old)
- studied her sweet face in the social report from the care center
-kissed her sweet face for the first time on Feb 26th, 2010
- wiped tears away on this sweet face and later saw her first smile for us at the care center
    in Ethiopia
- and over time saw this sweet face go from uncertainty to the smile below...connected, loved, secure

And as I type this, that sweet face is sitting next to me singing her rendition of 

"Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me".....   

But I think her sweet face is shining on all of us right now.

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i heart faces- pets

i heart faces: pets

I am a pet lover....can't hardly imagine our house without pets in it.  We love our pets.  

And so I present to you....  "The day Bob the Bulldog met Toad"

i heart faces- paper!

My entry:

Paper....the i heart faces challenge! 

I love paper....my love of paper started with the letters from my grandfather with "fivers for fun" aka...$5. bill.  As I think about it I love books ( I want to write a children's book desperately), printed photos, stationery, the hand written note, magazines, card board boxes....paper is wonderful isn't it?  And so I share my paper moment with the boys.

 I have been waiting for the perfect challenge to enter this photo in of my cardboard-loving boys.  Last summer they tackled an ever-so-large box, where they played all day. ..all day... yep, all day!  Paper can just be so blissful! Of course, I speak for all of us. Notice the windows and the mailbox in their new paper home.  To further support the paper theme, the boys declared this box was made into a paper store where neighbors were subjected to their paper "sales".    I used picnik's "reverse process"to create this vintage feel....I just love that effect.


I am entering the photo up top....the one below is just for fun.  It was a hard choice because I love the glow on the boys in the box below (did I make the right choice? hmm).
Enjoy more great entries at i heart faces!




Just for fun....not my entry

i heart faces- orange!

i heart faces- orange   photo contest

I love orange....I even have an orange guest room in my house!

Here is Jack from last spring making bubbles with his tiger.  

He was so excited to have a matching Tigger hat to boot! Can you see his Jack Jack spunk?!

The second photo  below is just for fun....it was a hard decision!

Smirk! i heart faces

Smirk: A smirk refers to a smile evoking insolence, scorn, or offensive smugness.

The i heart faces challenge is "Smirk"...and my little guy Jack Jack has it perfected.  This shot was from just last weekend at Cheese Days.  Of course, that cheese head cap that is helping him feel "smirky".

Check out i heart faces for all the great Smirk entries~

i heart faces: beach fun!

i heart faces:  beach fun!

This is one of my all time favorite shots of beach fun...it is 2 years old and from our day trip to New Smyrna Beach.  A beach I have very special childhood memories of. 

Here, my son Drew is making his own memories! 

That excited expression says it all about beach fun!

I heart faces challenge: pets!

Meet Bob.  That is Bob the Bulldog.  B.O.B.= "best of the bulldogs"

So, while we are having all kinds of fun in Minnesota Bob had to stay back in WI because the lake resort doesn't allow "Bob types".  Bummer.  But I can tell you this, Bob is in "Bob Heaven" at home because he is staying there with Joe.  Joe loves Bob.  Bob loves Joe.  Joe is doing some work in the yard as we still recover from last summer's construction/septic system destruction.  Bob is hanging outside with Joe, he is sleeping with Joe and is loving life.  


So, it is perfect that this weeks i heart faces challenge is about pets....we are missing Bob, but are so glad we have him to come home to.  I love this shot of Bob.  It is so Bob.  He crawled into this big pile of leaves last fall and popped his head up at me.  Then stayed there long enough for me to capture it!  Notice that leaf on his silly head.  I love it!


To see more fantastic pet shots go to i heart faces!

barefeet- i heart faces

Barefeet....this is from our Memorial Day weekend with Auntie Margo visiting. Here Tessa is wrapped up in Auntie Margo's barefeet. How adorable is that!?

Yellow- i heart faces

The i heart faces challenge this week is YELLOW!  I took this photo 2 summers ago of sweet Allyse.  And when I saw this challenge, I knew there was only one photo for me to enter!  Not only is she wearing yellow, she is surrounded by the yellow hue of the play car's top.  Love it!  Sunny, smiley, sweet...so yellow!

Click here to check out all the fantastic yellow entries

i heart faces challenge: faces & flowers

Faces & Flowers....2 of my favorite things in one photo challenge!  

This photo kept coming back to me as the one I wanted to share simply because I love it.  I love it because it was one of those sweet moments with Jack Jack that I did not stage, it just happened naturally.  It was of his own heart that Jack came at me with a bleeding heart flower in his hand, giving me the flower and his heart all in the same sweet gesture.  I couldn't ask for more.

I heart Faces: "Celebrating Mom" photo challenge

This week the i heart faces challenge is to "Celebrate Mom"! 

 I am rarely in a photo these days, but last week my husband caught some shots of bath time for Tessa and I.  I just love a bath with my baby... and I love this photo of us. The warmth of the photo, the contrasts of both of our skin and hair, the closeness of it, and the angle of how I am smiling at her while she looks up at Daddy.  Today I am celebrating my motherhood... this year I became a mother of 4 and am grateful for every loving, crazy, messy, laughter-filled minute of it.

Click here to see more fantastic entries!

She Smiled at Me in Ethiopia

She smiled at me.

She smiled at me..... so today I can send you this smile from Ethiopia.


The I heart faces challenge this week is simply: Smiles. I have a load of amazing smile shots, especially of my little people who all have amazing smiles.  However, this shot of an Ethiopian girl out the window of my bus absolutely captures me for so many reasons. Brings me back to that moment when I was needing a smiling face out my window. Sadly, most the children that came to my bus window didn't share this smile.
She smiled at me...she exuded hope with this smile.       Smile today.

I Heart Faces: "Collages" photo challenge

The I heart faces challenge this week is "collage".  While I have painted many collages using my photos, creating one digitally is entirely new to me.  I love expanding my photo creativity!  I did my homework and created my very first collage of my "fiddleheads" last night using picnik.com (posted in previous blog entry).     What fun!...it could possibly become my new obsession! 


 Of course, my submission "born of my heart" has to be about bringing our sweet girl in my arms.  And how perfect....the bleeding hearts are in full bloom in my garden helping me symbolize it all.   


Click on the collage to take a closer look and enlarge it.   (I wasn't able to display it any larger on the blog because of the shape...my technical savvy only goes so far)


Do check out all the amazing collage submissions on iheartfaces.com! click on the icon below

I Heart Faces: Dramatic Black & White

This week's photo challenge is about Dramatic black and white!  Love that!  
This photo was taken on our recent journey to Ethiopia to bring our daughter home.  Not only was this apart of the most emotionally dramatic moment in my life (early March-Hosanna), it is made even more powerful and dramatic in black and white with the way the shadows fall on her face as she prepares the coffee ceremony.  It was a beautiful moment and I hope you enjoy it too.

I Heart Faces: Angles

I Heart Faces: "Angles"

This weeks challenge is about trying to capture a moment from a different angle...perhaps to give you a new point of view, something new and interesting! Of course, my subject is my sweet girl. From any angle she is just breath-taking. Here Tessa sits on top of her dressing table (where there is a mirror) and I am just below her with one hand on her back on the other on my camera. I catch her admiring her sweet, beautiful self and noticing me. There were so many great shots to choose from (some on the previous blog note) but I kept going back to this one....I love this angle because you can see different angles of that sweet face.

I Heart Faces: Bundle Up!

While this blog has mainly been focused on our adoption, and rightfully so, today I am indulging in my love of photography for the "I Heart Faces" photo challenge.

I Heart Faces: Bundle Up!

To enjoy a "snow day" is to be all bundled up and ready to embrace it!

I love this shot of my son, Judson because when I look at it I see his whimsy.

I see his free spirit and love for being ever present in the moment...

it reminds me to do this myself.