Behind the scenes...

I can't tell you how many times I hear from moms, "I hope you got something!" because maybe they feel like their children were... hmm... shall we say, maybe a little less than co-operative for family pictures. Here's a behind the scene look at my own christmas card picture.



So fun!

(And I'll post the actual Christmas card in a couple of days.)

This little one says it all...

Last night we kicked off our Holiday season with a family home evening about the gifts of the season. This year we are trying a few new things. First of all, we told the kids we are going to have a 'home-made' Christmas. We are going to buy them some gifts, but they don't know this. We are also going to make them gifts. I hope the time and effort it takes to make gifts for each other will help us to focus on our family and grow closer. The second thing we are doing is having a box that is wrapped with a slit in the top. This is the box that represents our gifts for Christ. We talked about this last night. When they serve someone else, I told them to write it down and put it in the box. I told them I wanted them to take some time and really think about special things that they could do for other people. On Christmas morning we are going to open the box and read the slips of paper. We'll see how it goes. There might be a lot of slips that say, I didn't lose my patience with Aubree today. And those will be the slips that I will put in the box. ;)



Here's another example of a custom Holiday card. And isn't the model just darling?

Shameless plug...

So, I've tried for hours to add a new header to the blog... but alas, blogger hates me. But check out that cute picture on the left! For my clients this year I am offering one of a kind Christmas card design! This is included with your session fee. You can pick your favorite photo, or photos from your session and I can design a Christmas card for you. More details are on my website or you can email me.

Random Thoughts...

o I have some random thoughts and no one to share them with since I am stuck inside my house during nap time listening to one screaming baby wake up the other baby, who will in turn soon start screaming just in time to wake up the other one who just finally nodded off after screaming for more milk. Anyway, like I said... some random thoughts, but since no one reads my blog, this is as good an outlet as any. And how do I know that no one reads my blog? Because, the site meter I had got so bored from having nothing to do - it left.

1. I was reading Glamour magazine at the doctors office the other day and came across the article, "oh. wow. these bodies are beautful." This article came about because of a UN-RETOUCHED picture in a previous issue of a woman with a confident smile on her face and a little belly. What I found to be shocking was a comment made by a reader in the second article; "Putting a young model who is obviously overweight and living an unhealthy lifestyle in your magazine to make some people feel better only serves to propagate that unhealthy lifestyle" and another, "we have enough problems with obesity in the U.S. and don't need your magazine promoting any more of it."

Stop, STOP, STOP!!! She is 5'11" and 180 pounds. She is a size 12 and an avid belly dancer and softball player. And she is smaller than the average American woman. What part of her is promoting an unhealthy lifestyle? What part of her is promoting obesity? I'll let my shorter friends in on a secret.... tall girls weight more. Hi, we are taller! C'mon! I can remember being 14, a freshman in high school, 5'11" and 140 pounds and being mortified, MORTIFIED, because I weighed more than my friend who were between 5' and 5'5" tall. So, weight issue aside, when are we going to stop idolizing photoshopped pictures of 14 year old pre-pubesence girls and start accepting all of the beauty of our God given bodies?

2. I have a very serious problem with the blog Seriously So BLessed. I didn't grow up in Utah. I went to a high school in Texas where there were all of six mormon, me, my sister, her boyfriend and three other girls. And the three other girls weren't exactly on the popular list. I was teased for my standards. My beliefs were constantly called into question. Try explaining to your friend why you can't go to a school dance because you aren't 14 yet or why you can't go on a date because you aren't 16 yet. Or better yet, have my sister tell you about the time when she was a freshman in high school and was asked to go to prom by her boyfriend (a senior) and my parent agreed to let her go as long as my grandfather acted as a chauffeur! And he drove a Porsche! I still don't know where her date sat! I also lived the majority of my adult life outside of Utah. I cannot tell you the number of times people asked me why I don't drink, why I don't wear tank tops when it was 100+ degrees outside. Basically, I am very used to defending my beliefs and sometimes being ridiculed for them. Which is why I will never understand why anyone thinks Seriously So Blessed is funny. She might be making fun of the stereotype of Mormonism, but it is still Mormonism she is laughing at. I know it's supposed to be irony or sarcasm or whatever, I just don't think it's funny.

Okay, so the babies are sleeping which means it is time for me to get off of my soap box. What do you think?

Honey, how about you take this one?

Yesterday Ella and I were in the bathroom at Nordstrom Rack and Ella asked me, "mom, what's a tampon?" Isn't a kid learning how to read a blessing and a curse!?! So I say, "I'll explain it to you later, wash your hands, let's go!" And so as we were shopping she says, "Oh, yeah mom, what's a tampon?" and then again at REI, "mom, remember you said you would tell me later what a tampon is?" and then AGAIN at Nordstrom I hear, "what's a tampon mom?" Where's Ducky (c'mon, this is a GREAT 'Pretty in Pink' reference!) when you need him to convince your kid it's really a candy dispenser?

So seriously, how do I explain this one? Seriously, to a seven year old? We actually tried recently to begin the conversation with Carter about sex, and it so went over his head. I can't imagine that Ella is ready to learn the intricacies of a woman's body. Of course, then again, if she puts a quarter into the tampon dispenser she will be sorely disappointed when candy doesn't come out!

Darling!

I know I'm their mom, and I'm probably SO biased... but aren't they cute?

My desire...

I recently came across this video. I have felt this desire from a very young age. I told my mom how she should sew a pair of pants when I was just three. When I was eight, I made a coordinating, hot pink, corduroy pant, skirt, vest with a matching plaid-pink shirt. Man, was I stylin'! I also made two prom dresses and a homecoming dress, but I will spare you those pictures. Since then I have created in many different mediums and ways. But all of that has taken a back seat to my four dearest creations; Carter, Ella, Aubree and Vivian. I'm finally at a point where the desire to express myself artistically is so strong, even though I am a little sleep deprived, I feel like I must act. Elder Uchtdorf said, "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul." Photography has been my medium of choice for quite sometime now, I just haven't done it as much or as often as I'd love to. I feel like the time is right for me to re-focus myself on photography and capture the masterpieces that Heavenly Father created.

The following video is an inspiration to me...



And here's a shameless plug for my photography blog, destrylynnphoto.blogspot.com