I Heart Faces: A Bit of Whimsy

 

Wordless Wednesday: “I’m Stuck!”

A New Perspective of Thankfulness

I wanted to publish this post on Father’s Day, but things came up, and I didn’t get it completed by then. In times past, I probably wouldn’t have written the post since I missed my *deadline* but I’m really trying to go with the flow a little more these days, and to not let things like my artificial deadline deter me from getting things done that I really want to get done. Now that I’ve gotten past all the rambling . . . my thoughts:

I’ve always been thankful for my family; well, at least from the time that I knew how to be thankful for such things. I was thankful that I had a home that had two parents. I was thankful that my parents made time for my sister and me, and that they were always involved in my life. I was thankful that my home was focused on God, and that I was raised in a Christian environment.  I could continue on about some many other things that I was thankful for in regards to my home and upbringing.  I truly was blessed by the home that I grew up in.

However, now that I’m a parent myself and as I watch my husband parent, the level of thanksgiving and respect that I have for my parents has increased dramatically. It is hard work being a parent (I’ve said this before) and I don’t even have a teenager yet (or close for that matter!). I am so thankful that my parents made their job of parenting a priority in their lives.  Although I am far from perfect, I know that I wouldn’t be the person I am today if my parents hadn’t done the things they did for me.

I initially thought about all of this because I was thinking about Father’s Day, and how blessed I am that my husband is the father of my children. Although I always expected him to be a great father, seeing him in action as a father is amazing to me. I have learned so much from him, and I look forward every day to our journey in parenthood together. I am so thankful to have a home that is dedicated to God and serving Him first.

Happy Father’s Day to fathers everywhere, but especially my dad and my husband! The world needs more strong dads like you!

(To see last year's "D-A-D" shot click here!)

I Heart Faces: Boys

 

Photo Challenges

Parenthood @ The Paper Mama

New @ Simplicity:

(newborn baby Troy)

Taking Ella’s Photo (The Many Faces of Ella)

Ella's Faces from Lisa on Vimeo.

Wordless(ish) Wednesday: Cell Phone Photos

I love that our cell phones allow us to capture little moments that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to capture because we don’t always have a regular camera on hand. Here are some on my favorites of the kids from the past few months (my husband took several of these – he’s better with his cell phone camera than I am!).

I Heart Faces: Bright and Vivid

 

Trying to Learn to Be Creative

Creative is not at all a word that describes me. In fact, most people who know me well would probably say that I am not creative at all. Oddly enough, I have fallen into a hobby (photography) that I believe requires creativity if you want to be great at it. For me personally, I find that I can get the technical side of photography most of the time, but lack adding that special touch of creativity that really evokes emotion in the viewer.

Recently I came across the blog of a husband and wife photography team, Bobbi+Mike, (I honestly think it is amazing I hadn’t come across them before considering how much reading I do in regards to photography) and I couldn’t believe how their photos really drew me in – I felt truly connected to the individuals in them even though I did not know them. I was also amazed when I saw their shots of each other shooting their subjects. It opened my eyes to how plain and boring I am when it comes to how I position myself relative to what I am shooting. Sure, I get down on my kids’ level sometimes to shoot, but I never really thought about getting on different levels with adults, or not shooting an individual straight on, or a great variety of other positions. Bobbi+Mike inspired me in a lot of other ways as well (including Bobbi’s Healthy Train posts – not even related to photography), and I’m excited that I came across their blog because I know I’ll be a better photographer because their work challenges me to be a better one.

So, here I am, trying to learn to be creative when it comes to my photography. I’ve heard some folks say that creativity is something that can’t be learned – you either have it or you don’t. I sure hope that isn’t the case because I really want to learn. I’m not going out trying to copy anyone else’s work. Rather, I’m taking on the challenge of trying to teach myself to see things in different ways, different perspectives, so that I can do a better job showing connection and emotion in photos.

Who inspires you? And, because I hate to have a photoless post, especially in a post about photography, a few shots from today.

Photo Challenges

Family @ The Paper Mama

Cell Phone @ Simplicity

Sweet Shot Tuesday @ My 3 Boybarians

Best Shot of a Child

The Paper Mama is having another fun competition: your best shot of a child. I know I’ve shared this photo many times, but I think it is my best of shot of a child (probably why I’ve shared it so many times!).

Troy’s Lullaby

I’ve never been very fond of the traditional lullaby that I know. Something about the words isn’t very settling to me.

Rock a bye baby on the treetop

When the wind blows the cradle will rock

When the bow breaks the cradle will fall

And down will come cradle, baby and all.

Needless to say, although I sing a lot to my children, that isn’t one of the songs you’ll hear in our home. Instead, our home is generally filled with spiritual songs ranging from songs about prayer to creation to the Bible (Ella’s favorite right now is a song about Noah, Jonah, and Daniel).

Singing definitely has a calming influence over Troy – he especially loves to hear me sing. Interestingly enough, Troy even has a favorite song – I call it his lullaby. He can be crying and terribly upset, and this song will often calm him down, even when other songs do not. We’ve even encouraged Ella enough to sing it to him that when he starts crying, she’ll often start singing his lullaby to him: “Jesus Loves Me.”

Jesus loves me, this I know
For the Bible tells me so

Little ones to Him belong,

We are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

The Bible tells me so.

Although it is just a simple tune, I appreciate the truths that I presented in it – especially the fact that we know these things because the Bible “tells us so.” I must always strive to do the things that God instructs through His Word, and remember that my knowledge of Him comes from His Word.