8:52 for the love of feet...

I am slightly obsessed with my kids feet, just sayin'

And here are some more I took last week just for fun!

hmmm, my floor always seems to be messy :)

street musing

I am posting over at the Mortal Muse blog today, I would love if you came over and say hi! 

Here are a few more pictures of our walk in the puddles!

7:52

60 degree weather + 2 feet of snow = lots of puddles and one happy 3 year old!

What fires you up???

These are things that I love, make me happy and FIRE ME UP!  I am printing this house to have next to my everyday list so I can look at it everyday and be reminded of these beautiful things!

What fires you up?

And to anyone interested, Lara Casey from Making Things Happen has a tumblr blog that she has been posting challenges everyday to help you make things happen.  It has helped me immensely to get more organized and focused in my everyday endeavors.  Especially as I try to balance motherhood, household, husband and business. 

I would love to hear how YOU find balance in your life.  I know many people who are mothers/small business owners.  Even if you are not, there must be a balance in our lives to stay sane.  Many days I don't feel sane or that I didn't accomplish anything, but I am working on it and trying to create new habits!  A few things that have helped me lately: 

*download and write down 5 things to accomplish each day from my to-do list

* declutter for 10 minutes each day

* no computer while the kids are awake

So what fires you up?  How do you find balance?  I would LOVE to hear from you!

xoxoxo

April :)

6:52

Preschool this week we learned about the letter U.
I had the kids bring an umbrella.
This is what happened 3 minutes after getting out said umbrellas.
BOYS...

Want to win a pretty picture???

My friend and neighbor (when I lived in Utah) started a new blog.  She is a beautiful writer and amazing artist.  She is bribing people to visit her blog by giving away one of her beautiful paintings.

So go and say hi!

5:52

This isn't the best technically sound shot that I took this week but I really love the story behind it.

My little man had his FIRST sleepover with his favorite girl-friend (as opposed to his favorite boy-friend) last night and they had so much fun. How great to have a play date for over 24 hours!!! Mason made sure she had lots of books and stuffed animals to keep her nice and comfy :)

It took a little while for them to get to sleep because they were so excited! And today Mason is a little bummed she left, so he decided to take a nap on "her bed" on the floor!

*I think it is funny 3/5 of my week shots involve sleeping children* I guess it is a time for parents to stop and reflect how much they love their kids (no screaming/crying/running/crashing craziness) Not that craziness is bad, but it is nice to get a break :)

My first texture!

Today I am at Mortal Muses talking about texture, well the fact that I have never done one before...

Anyway it was fun being pushed out of my box!

Before

After

Come over and say HI!

Everyday

During Make Things Happen we talked a lot about what distracts our focus from business, the clutter in our lives and the environment we work/live in.  I realize that distractions, (ie, facebook, google reader, flickr) and clutter are two things I need to try and fix to help me feel more centered and balanced.  I think so far I have done pretty well.  I cleaned off my desk a bit and emptied the book shelf above my desk to reorganize (still in progress)  I have taken time to de-clutter most rooms in my house even if it was only 5 minutes of cleaning/organizing I feel much better.  I also I have cut back on internet distractions, I only check in the morning really quick, 15 minutes, during nap time, and then after the kids go to bed.  Each time I try to keep it brief and move on.  I unsubscribed to alot of useless blogs (people of walmart etc).  I feel so much better about these achievements and hope to continue so I can stay focused and be less stressed.

Also everyday there are 5 things that I know I need to do to feel balanced spiritually, physically and mentally.  I made picture above that I am printing out and framing to put on my desk, one in my room and one in my car.  Why?  So I can remind myself to do it, visually seeing these essential things help me to actually acheive them!

PRAY.  I have been taught from a young age how important prayer is.  In my home we do really well and blessing our food, saying nightly prayers as a family and Danny and I say a prayer together every night before bed.  But I am missing a huge component, personal prayer.  I used to be really good at this especially at the end of high school, through college and when were first married.  I got worse with the kids mostly because I was too tired.  I had a huge epiphany the other day with my son Mason.  He kept whining and grunting for a snack.  I knew what he wanted but I wanted him to use his words and ask me nicely.  Oh my goodness, our Heavenly Father is the same way!  He knows what we want, but we need to ask him with real intent in our hearts.

READ SCRIPTURES.  I feel lately that I am in a spiritual rut, again I am blaming the "tiredness' of having kids but that is no excuse.  I know I need to make time in my day for personal study because it does make a huge impact on how I feel spiritually and my relationships with others (kids & hubby especially)

EXERCISE.  I try and go to the gym a couple of times a week while Mason is at pre-school which is great and feels good.  But there are days when I can't/won't go to the gym but I have other resources.  I have lots of workout tapes and dvds.  Even if I only do 30 crunches or 10 push ups I am going to do some sort of physical exercise everyday!

EAT FRUITS AND VEGGIES.  During December and beginning of January I participated in a Healthy Habits challenge.  One of the components was to eat at least 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of veggies every single day.  I felt so much better reaching for healthy snacks.  The last few weeks I haven't pushed myself to eat as many veggies so I am going to start again!

SLEEP.  I need sleep.  I do not function well.  My plan is to get to bed by 10:30 every night so I can get a least 7-8 hours.  If that doesn't happen I will try and squeeze a nap in.  Either way I am going to give my self enough sleep so I will feel better mentally and be more patient with my kids!

What are things you need to do everyday to feel centered mentally/physically/spiritually?  

If you feel like the 5 things I chose are also for you, you are welcome to print off my everyday list for personal use.  Just click on the picture above and save it to your computer.  I made it as a 5x7, not sure if it will work as a 4x6.

I am in a Happy Place

Since I decided at the end of last year to start my photography business I have been kind of freaking out...

"what do I do now.."

I did some research and found  SO MANY people say how awesome Easy As Pie is written by Alicia Caine.  I took the plunge and it is amazing but I still was missing a major important factor, my business plan!  I kept hearing about that little plan and put it to the side.  Well that smart Alicia put together a Happy Place Business plan and I thought "well it seems like it is important I will take a gander." 

Let me tell you it is awesome!  Not only does she help you in all the important things that need to be considered and planned out in your business, she gives her real life examples that she has already experienced.  I can feel her genuine love for her readers and her authenticity seaping from the pages.

If you are interested in starting a portrait photography business I highly highly recommend everything Alicia has to offer :)

xoxo April