Housework makes you ugly.

I saw this on Becky Higgins (the creator of Project Life) Instagram feed:


So I’m wondering if that means I need to take this down?



It’s on my wall right when people walk through the front door.  Just so they understand why my house is a bomb most of the time.  And it makes people smile.

Truly, though, this made me reconsider how I approach housework (and cooking dinner, and putting kids to bed, and getting kids to do homework, etc.).  My attitude and disposition will teach my kids SO much more than the actual chores (or whatever it is we’re doing) will.

My attitude, about everything, “will have a deep and lasting impact” on my children’s attitude, about everything. Maybe it’s best that I start to instil a sense of positivity towards chores and housework (even if just to see them do the vacuuming for once – I will get them cleaning the floors with our Bissell vacuum yet!).

I’m still not taking down my sign though.

Summer Bucket List 2014

Each summer we sit down as a family and plan out what we’d like to do for the summer.  My kids contribute and then Mike and I fill in.  

I try to balance summer between work and play.  It’s nice to have a little extra time to teach them new chores and have them help a little more around the house.  Last week Jaida said “summer just means we have to do more chores.”  And I added “it also means we get to have a lot more fun”.  But yes, I do expect them to help more around the house.  It’s good for them.

We also try to use summer as a time to challenge them a little.  Get them to do more things that scare them (stuff behind the boat) or they think are too hard (hiking).  Say Yes to adventure!  And spend as much time as possible together as a family.  

I print off the summer bucket list and hang it up where we can all see it.  My kids keep me accountable to make sure we do the things on our list.  There are usually a few stragglers on the list we never get to (like food fight–they keep adding this every year and we’ve never done it).  But we do our best to fit in what we can.

Here’s this years list if anyone needs some ideas.

If you need a little extra motivation, you can join the Summer Bucket List challenge that my friend does and win prizes for completing your list.

Why it’s so hard to take “good” pictures of your own kids

There’s a reason, well several reasons, why professional photographers tell you not to attempt taking certain types of photos of your own kids. 

The every day stuff is one thing.  But when you try to gather them in one place and have them look semi-normal and do what you ask them to do, that’s entirely different.

My kids will never behave for me like they would for someone else.  And my guess is, yours won’t either.

These photos should speak for themselves.

My kids:

Her kids:



Next time I’m hiring a professional.  🙂

More details on the reason behind these Funbooth photos in a future post.


He couldn’t wait to get here.

Newborn shoots are easily one of my favorites.  And now that I’m (hopefully) done having newborns, I get to enjoy them for a few hours and then give them back to their moms.  

This little guy belongs to one of our family’s close friends, and people we really like to spend time with!  He put his mom on bedrest for over a week and then decided to make an early appearance.  He came EIGHT WEEKS early, landing himself a date with the NICU nurses for several weeks.

Modern medicine saved his life.  So thankful I live in a time when we have SO many resources to save lives.

Welcome to the world little man.  You obviously couldn’t wait to get here.  And we’re glad to have you.

3 tips to improve your phone photography.

A few tips to improve your phone photography.

First, when you open up your camera to take a picture, a little box lights up.  That’s where the camera chooses to focus AND how it sets your exposure.

If you touch somewhere on the screen, that box moves and that is where the camera focus’s and sets its exposure.

Examples.

In the picture below, I touched the screen on the phone where my daughter was standing.  In the middle of her body.  So the camera exposed for HER.



In the picture below, I touched the screen on the phone where the window is.  Up on the waves of the ocean. So the camera exposed for the WAVES outside in the bright sun (and underexposed everything inside)


Here I touched the screen on the phone where the sun was.  So it exposed for the bright sun and left my kids dark.


And here I touched the screen on my phone where my kids were standing.  So it exposed for the kids and over-exposed the setting sun (which is why it’s so bright and you can’t even see the sun setting).  But you can see the surfers which were so fun to watch.



Another tip.  The camera on the back of your phone (the one intended for taking photos) has MORE megapixels than the forward facing camera on your phone (the one intended for facetime).  So when you take “selfies” or pictures with your kids where the phone is facing you, they will be lower quality (so you can’t print them as big) than they would be if you took them with the camera on the back of the phone.  So whenever possible, use the camera on the back of the phone.


And the last tip.  You can use the volume control on headphones to act as a remote for your camera.  Plug the headphones in and press the + or – button on the headphones and it will take a picture.  No more gumby arms.


And.  A bonus tip.  If you get the Camera + app, it has a timer option so the mom can stay in the picture!

For some tips on improving your photography in general, check out this post.

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