{ pinky swear. }

{ part of the conversation between Kenna and I on 'stranger danger.' }

Me: There are lots of ways a bad person might try and steal you. One way is grabbing you and carrying you out of the store. If someone were to try and make you leave with them what should you do?

Kenna: Well, I'd just ask them very nicely, please don't grab my arm and drag me away.

Me: OR you kick and scream and bite and yell that that isn't your Mom or Dad.
Sometimes a bad person might not grab you. Instead they might ask you to come to their car to see their baby kitties.

Kenna: OHHHHH I love baby kitties! Don't worry mom, I'd come right back in! But first I'd see if they wanted to take Kinzley too!

Me: Honey, there are no kitties. They are lying to you to get you to come to their car quiety. You can never ever leave the store with anyone no matter what they say.

Kenna: Ok. I promise I won't.

Me: Ok, what if a really nice woman tells you she has lots of candy in her car and you can pick out as much as you want. All you have to do is come out for a couple seconds. I won't even know you are gone.

Kenna: Hummm. ALL the candy I want?..........I GOT IT!  I'll just make her pinky swear that she won't steal me.

Evidently we have some more work to do on this subject......



{ps... yes it was very hard to publish a post with no pictures. }

{ move over Anne Geddes }

Anne Geddes isn't the only one who can turn a baby into a flower!







Ok, technically my sister made the baby and the flower, I just took the pictures.

Anyways I digress...

Isn't she the sweetest little hydrangea you have ever seen?







My sister just opened up a facebook page to show her designs. I'd give you her etsy store link however her store is just about empty. Which in this case is a good thing since she's been selling like crazy! If you are interested in a flower petal set, feel free to become a fan of Buggaboo Boutique on facebook and contact her there!

{ Jolie Arlenna...6 months }

It's hard to believe my littlest niece is already 6 months old!

Actually she's a bit over 6 months now, poor girl had croup and delayed her 6 month photo shoot by a couple weeks.

Thank goodness she is now feeling better! Although this happy go lucky girl sure wasn't cracking a smile for my camera. The second it's put away the giggles come pouring out. Good thing she's cute when she's serious too ;)

This first one is her Valentines photo...

Then the actual 6 month photos...

How I love this girl and her big brown eyes!

My sister made the head bands used in each of these pictures as well as the orange hammock. Just a few more days until her etsy shoppe opens!

If you think those were cute {just you wait} for the last ones we took of Jolie modeling my sister's designs!!!

Happy 6 months Little J! You have blessed our family more than you could ever know!

{ blessed. }

Blessed.  

{Martina McBride}

I get kissed by the sun each morning

Put my feet on a hardwood floor

I get to hear my children laughing

Down the hall through the bedroom door

Sometimes I sit on my front porch swing

Just soaking up the day

I think to myself, I think to myself

This world is a beautiful place

I have been blessed and I feel like I’ve found my way 

I thank God for all I’ve been given at the end of every day

I have been blessed with so much more than I deserve

To be here with the ones that love me

To love them so much it hurts

I have been blessed

 

I have been blessed.

{ black and white wednesday...Valentine beauties. }

My girls and I had a photo shoot this past weekend in which I took {way} to many photos {again.} Seriously if they would stop posing themselves and giving me 100 different expressions I wouldn't end up with nearly as many.

Technically it's their own fault!

Since I have so many to share I thought I'd break it up and post the black and whites for black and white Wednesday and post some colored ones tomorrow.

I started with this little cutie.




She decided to wiggle the.entire.photo.shoot.driving.her.mother.crazy!



Next up was Miss Competitive who decided to show her little sister how well she could pose {and hold still!}



How can she be so pretty when she is so serious?



Yet equally as cute with her 7 year old grin?


I did end up with a handful of them together,


before Kenna decided she was exhausted from all the smiling. : )



How blessed I am to call these two mine!

Be sure to visit The Long Road to China for more great black and whites.

And if you can't wait until tomorrow to see the colored photos, they are all posted on my Photography Facebook page :)

{ I heart faces...red... & a free action ;) }

I was multi-tasking a little while ago, editing photos I'd taken of the girls this last week and browsing facebook ;) when I realized the {I heart faces} theme this week was red. Since my girlies just happened to be wearing red I figured I'd give you a sneak peek of our photo shoot and enter this photo...



There will be {lots} more photos of these two coming but in the meantime check out the I heart faces blog to see more great photos.






For you photographers---I have been a long time fan of Jodi at MCP Actions. Right now on her facebook page she has a free action called Mini Fusion which is what I used to edit this photo. Seriously go get it now! It makes bright colors pop but is adjustable to create a more vintage look like I did to this photo. While you are there you might as well look around at all her actions. I love her work!

{ Love never fails. }

Love is not proud

Love does not boast

Love after all

Matters the most

Love does not run

Love does not hide

Love does not keep

Locked inside

Love is the river that flows through

 

Love never fails you

Love will sustain

Love will provide

Love will not cease

At the end of time

Love will protect

Love always hopes

Love still believes

When you don’t

Love is the arms that are holding you

Love never fails you

When my heart won’t make a sound

When I can’t turn back around

When the sky is falling down

Nothing is greater than this

Greater than this

Love is right here

Love is alive

Love is the way

The truth the life

Love is the river than flows through

Love is the arms that are holding you

Love is the place you will fly to

Love never fails you

While many of us love Valentines Day, giving and receiving the love from those we love, Valentine's Day is a hard day for others. There are those who may be in a  loveless relationship and those who so desperately want to find the person who will love them the way they deserve to be loved. 

While we don't get to see beforehand the plan God has for our life we do know this....

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

{John 3:16}

Regardless if you are feeling loved today or struggling through this holiday, there is One who loves you enough to send His Son to die for you. You are loved and He has not forgotten about you!

{Love never fails you....}

  

Lyrics used from Brandon Heath's "Love Never Fails." {Click the song title to see the video and hear the song!}

{ Daddy Daughter Dance 2011. }

{ sleeping arrangements. }

Yesterday at nap time I quietly snuck into Kenna's room to take a couple photos of her sleeping in her bed.

If you have read my blog for any period of time you realize why I'd want to take a picture of my 4 year old IN her bed. This is my child who sleeps on her floor with her head right outside the door. 8 nights out of 10, she at some point comes into our bedroom with her favorite pillow and blanket and I step on her when I crawl out of bed in the morning.

This is just a normal part of our life.

However last week the girls and I hit some thrift stores in hopes of finding Kenna a desk so she could make junk crafts just like her big sister. We did find a couple that would work. I wanted the $62 {that price even 1/2 off} antique one with curves legs. She wanted a white square one that cost $12. After realizing the chances of the top of the beautiful antique desk was going to be covered in glue and glitter and paint was pretty high, we ended up with a square white desk. {which I somehow had to pinky swear I'd paint pink in the spring}

I really am getting to the photos of her sleeping. Stick with me!

After getting home last Saturday we immediately had to get her desk situated in her room. Me being me, didn't like where it was so I ended up changing the layout of her room.



What I didn't realize that simply by moving her bed to the opposite wall, she'd go to sleep in it and stay there all night. Evidently her head is now close enough to the door to feel secure enough to stay there.

{You may notice the girl laying on the floor in front of the TV, that I didn't end up getting pictures of sleeping IN her bed.}



I didn't get photos of her sleeping in her bed because when I opened her door she wasn't in there! I looked around for a few seconds and didn't see her anywhere. That's when I noticed a basket sitting outside her closet door. A basket that is suppose to be in her closet.

I opened up the door and found Kenna fast asleep....




I couldn't help but laugh. She even had a water bottle, the leapster and a flashlight!

Then later that night she went back to her bed and slept all night.

Today at nap I open her door to put some clothes away and once again left to grab my camera.

This time...


She clearly isn't concerned with comfort!