My brother and sister made a quick trip home over Memorial Day weekend!

When the 5 grandkids are together – we HAVE to get an updated picture!!

9. 5. 8. 6. 9.

This guy – he has short legs like his dad. But he REALLY wanted to climb this.

And then he lost his shoe. And I laughed. And I took pictures. And then I helped him up after he got his shoe.

But. I laughed.

Can you find the Enoch guy!?

I noticed birds building a nest on our light. We have LOTS of great nest spots on the back deck. But NOT here. So I put a snake up. But they didn’t care. The tin foil worked!

Boxes from the FOOD PANTRY!! Imagination!!

Enoch’s favorite snack – dry elbow noodles!! I find them EVERYWHERE!

UNO!! SUDOKU!!!

BANDITS!!

We got LOTS of apples at the FOOD PANTRY so we made apple crisp!!

This guy – his mind RACES!! He’s getting stuck & obsessed again. It’s how his anxiety comes out. So we’re all working together.

And I can honestly tell you that the majority of our time together is joyful!

THAT PICTURE – can you HEAR his laugh!? It’s my new favorite!!

What are YOU doing to spend your days!?

Which one will win!?

He looks VERY nervous!

SNAKES!! Thankfully I’m not afraid of snakes – because we’ve run into LOTS of them!

We lost a car – and the boys tried their hardest to find it – BUT I had to stick my hand in that hole and search for it!

MEAT STORAGE!?

Mom – will you hold my hand!? YES SWEET BOY!! Because one day – you won’t ask me!

Throwing cars off the waterfall – finding the small silly things during this crazy time!

Another snake!!

MORE SNAKES!!!

Enoch said – Mom!! This looks like a tiny little honey bee nest. It’s so cute. Can you press it in a book so I can give it to the girl I’ll marry someday!?

And then my friend Ericka told me about Trypophobia!? Have you ever heard of that!?

ONE MORE POST about our day!!

QUARANTINE 2020.

I wonder if the memory will always be so vivid in my mind. We were at after school care playing with classmates. The breeze was blowing and spring was on the horizon.

The governor called for all PA schools to close for 2 weeks.

We went to my parents that night. I had a wedding reception Saturday. I stocked up on groceries – those that I could – before coming back home Sunday evening.

It’s been a little over a month. A month of distance learning. Almost a month of Jared working from home. A month of virtual playdates.

A month of changes. A month of less spending. A month of less income. A month of social distancing.

I decided to carry my camera with me earlier this week to document our day.

Toys that have sat in the corner are being played with.

GAMES. Carcassonne. RAT A TAT CAT. Scattergories. DOMINOES!

Enoch and I were on a team for Scattergories and our letter was L.

Enoch – we need to think of a word that starts with L – something that you are afraid of.

Losing you mom. CUE THE TEARS.

Enoch – we need to think of a word that starts with L – something in this room.

Love mom. CUE MORE TEARS.

I asked the boys what words they wanted to put in our windows. Since everyone coming into town sees our house FIRST.

My mom made us some masks. And Enoch reminds me EVERY SINGLE DAY that he wants to go to Wal*Mart and get a TIME WATCH as soon as we are allowed.

Most days – I wake up and put on my robe. It’s chilly downstairs but our boys run hot. Clothes are optional at this point.

Our kitchen table has been reserved for SCHOOL. Thankfully we have an additional laptop that Fitzy can use while Jared works.

DISHES. SO MANY DISHES. SO MANY TIMES A DAY.

Helpers. Little chefs.

ART CLASS!!

It’s been a hard financial hit for us. I can’t work and Jared is working but not at full salary. BUT LOOK AT OUR FRIDGE. It’s full.

And so is the freezer. Because of food pantries & school lunch programs!!

We brought the basketball hoop to the kitchen since Jared is working in the playroom.

So. We do schoolwork and we play games. And we do dishes. And we listen to music. And we watch TV.

And we go outside. We play in the ravine.

We give accidental crazy haircuts. And keep them. To embrace our weirdness.

We race cars.

We play.

Stay tuned for the rest of our day!!

We spend our summers outside. The past two summers have been spent creek exploring. WE LOVE IT!!

In September – I asked Megan if she would take photos of us in our FAVORITE creek!!

BUT – we grabbed a few shots with the neighbors first!!

The boys brought some LEGOS with them. Because this shale is the PERFECT place for LEGOS!!

I ADORE THAT SHOT!!

That might be my FAVORITE picture of us!!

LOVE IT!!

Those shots – they mean the WORLD to me!!

I LOVE THAT ONE TOO!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH MEGAN!!!! These are my FAVORITE family photos yet!!!

When the sun starts setting earlier – I need to be with you beautiful people before Jared gets out of work.

Jared’s parents live right next door & while they are still here and not traveling the winter away – they keep the boys for us.

She LOVES the silhouette shots and had been asking to fit them in somewhere – but my late fall schedule was completely packed!!

Unfortunately – someone had to cancel because their son was pretty sick and needed to recuperate.

So I scheduled a silhouette session for them!

She had asked if I would bring the boys along – I had planned to surprise them anyway!!

It’s a BIRD!! It’s a PLANE!!

I LOVE THAT ONE!!

OHHH!! THAT ONE TOO!!

He wasn’t scolding him – but it sure looked like he was!!

I LOVE THAT ONE TOO!!

THAT ONE!!!!

SWOON!!!

They said – can you get a picture of us fighting!?

BROTHERS!!!

THANK YOU for watching those sweet boys while I take photos of beautiful people!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!

For the past SIX years – Missy & I have taken our kiddos to Corning to make a pumpkin!

Ericka & Samm joined us last year – so we all planned another trip this year!

JACK JACK!!

Missy brought along her sweet little god-daughter – isn’t she ADORABLE!?

Fitzy had been WAITING & WAITING to make a LAKERS pumpkin this year!!

LOOK AT THAT TOOTHLESS SMILE!!

We LOVE this time of year!!

Mara got her turn with Grace too!

GAH!!! THAT HANDSOME HUBBY & THAT GORGEOUS BABY GIRL!!

We went looking for caterpillars but didn’t find any – Aiden wanted a picture in the field!

THIS MADE ME LAUGH SO HARD!!!

Aiden & Enoch wanted to take pictures of ME!!

THAT SWEET FACE!!!

I ran inside to grab that sweet girl – because I NEEDED some photos of her in the flowers!!

MY FAVORITE SHOTS!!!

ABSOLUTE PERFECTION!!!

Enoch needed a turn with Grace too!!

Did you know that I wanted to be a photographer for National Geographic and NEVER photograph people – unless they were in those remote places that Nat Geo sent me to!?

NOW – ALL I do is photograph people. Babies. Toddlers. Kiddos. Families. Seniors. Engagements. Weddings. And then it starts all over again!!

AND I WOULDN’T CHANGE ONE THING!!!!

On Friday we had a fire and fireworks with our friends and then on Saturday we celebrated Jared’s birthday with our family and friends – and THEN on Sunday we had lunch AND dinner with said friends!

It was a GLORIOUS weekend!!

EVERYBODY wants a turn with that sweet baby!!

Grace LOVES Fitzy’s face – I mean – who wouldn’t!?

She also LOVES grabbing handfuls of his hair!!

And I LOVE taking pictures of the scene instead of interfering!

She KNOWS that she’s got everyone wrapped around her finger!

I had a session Sunday night – and I wasn’t sure if I would make it back home in time to grab my camera – so again – I brought it with me!

And am SO GLAD THAT I DID!!! Because we ALL need pictures of us just hanging out – doing our every day things – because we will forget.

That beautiful friend of mine and her beautiful baby girl – they NEEDED these moments captured!!

Last week we met up with my friend Megan at our FAVORITE place in Mansfield to have our family photos taken!!

When I get them ALL back – I’ll show you!

But here are a couple – just because!!

This might be my FAVORITE picture of us – EVER!!! This is my favorite spot on the creek – and that’s my favorite guy!!

When we started – I told Megan I wanted mostly all lifestyle shots of us just exploring the creek – like we’ve done SO MANY days this summer!

But I did want one of all of us looking at the camera – THIS IS PERFECT!!

And THIS ONE!!! This is EXACTLY what I had envisioned in my head!

It’s SO VERY hard to NOT take your own family photos – and while I ALWAYS love our photos with Megan – this year – they were AMAZING – exactly what I envisioned!!

And I’ve only seen a handful of shots!

After our photos we went to dinner – ICE CREAM!!

Those boys – those amazing miracles!

Did you know that I never buy clothes for family photos!?

Typically I pick my outfit and then Jared picks his around that. And then I go through the clothes for the boys and pick out something that will compliment the colors we have!!

The boys are OBSESSED with basketball right now and I found these REAL basketball jerseys on clearance at WAL*MART and they LOVE them.

So when they asked if they could wear them for family photos – ABSOLUTELY!! Because that’s how I want our family captured – REAL.

After ice cream we went to Mara’s for a little fire and some fireworks to celebrate Becca’s birthday a little late and Jared’s birthday a little early!

This is the first time my kids have ever really SEEN fireworks! When Fitzy was little – we took him but they were too loud and he never wanted to see them after that!

MOM – LOOK!!! I’M DOCTOR STRANGE!!

That Mara – WE LOVE HER!!!

Get together with your people. As often as you can. I promise you – it will make ALL the difference!!

Becca and her baby Grace – you MUST make sure to grab that little girl before Becca does – because you will NEVER get her after she grabs her!!

Did you know that I LOVE grainy photos!? They’re my favorite!!

I am SO glad that I thought to grab my camera before we left!!