halloweening

my mind is so scattered.  i have yet to post our apple picking pictures, and i have 4 photo sessions to edit, but today is halloween and i am getting these done.  we've had so much fun celebrating this holiday this year!  we hosted our first adults only halloween party last week, a party i've been wanting to host forever but we never had the space.  we've had classroom parties, decorating, many visits to the pumpkin patch, pumpkin carving, and on and on and on.  it's been exhausting and fun and time to rest the spooky til next october.  happy halloween everyone!

one. two. 34.

yesterday was my birthday.  i am 34.  34 years young.

i think i'm pretty much where i wanted to be at 34.

here. with these people. happy and full of love.



another blogger mama gave me a great little saying that she says to her children, and i've adopted it.  i have my girls repeat it to me frequently, whenever i remember and whenever we need a little motivation.

i am smart.
i am beautiful.
i am strong.
so strong.
i am loved.

that's my mantra for this year. love and happy, strong and smart and beautiful. inside. 

i have many blessings. and how thankful i am for each of them. here's to an amazing year. 

away she goes.

i don't want my children to follow in my footsteps.  i want them to take the path next to me and go further than i could have ever dreamt possible.

i don't know where i first heard or saw that quote, but it stuck with me.  especially that day 6 weeks ago, when we got her dressed in her very best, carefully braided her hair and made her stand on the front steps for the ceremonial first day of school photo opportunity.  her first day of kindergarten.  from the moment she was born, it all seemed too far away.  but now it's here.  how did it arrive so quickly?  where did my little one go?

she rode the bus to and from for the first day.  she was excited, said she loved it, and then said she didn't want to do it again.  more on that to come.  it's been a battle.



we are so very proud of her and the arrival to her big school debut.  i took a few moments to interview her on her first day, and record some of her favorite things at this time.  i look forward to seeing how this changes yearly.

for the love of {apple} pie

the first day of fall happened upon a sunday a few weeks ago, and we happily soaked up the start of this favorite season with an apple-picking-donut-eating-pie-making adventure.  the pie didn't turn out as pretty as i've made in the past; i more or less pieced the crust together.  but what i remember most from that cool, overcast afternoon inside was the time i spent with my big 5-year-old.  her eagerness to core and peel each apple with our peeler, her excitement about measuring and pouring each ingredient and smelling each spice, her helpful little soul and our conversations about a whole lot of nothing that meant everything...it was special.  and even if in the end only 3 pieces were eaten, i realized i don't make my annual apple pie for the taste alone.  i make it for what happened this day- for the undisturbed time i got to spend with my girl, for the words and love we shared making something special together, for the memory i was writing in her mindful scrapbook.  i will cherish that.

young love. ♥

oh to be young and engaged, what a wonderful time of life.

meet laura and pat.  gorgeous little couple and super fun to be around.




laura was my graduate speech-language pathology student many years ago.  she was always so happy, so positive, so energetic, and amazing with our speech students.  fast forward years later, where we keep in touch through the wonderful world of facebook, i find out that she's engaged.  she later asks me to take some engagement photos for her and pat, and i happily agreed, knowing full well that laura doesn't take a bad picture.  like not one.  scrolling through my over 200+ photos i took of them, i don't think there was a single one with her eyes closed or without a radiant smile on her face.



must be love. ♥



they brought their pup, and he was just as photographic.  and such a good dog.



happy engagement, laura and pat.  here's to many happy years together!

trio.

how cute is this little nugget?
 

jasper is the third child of my college friend, vanessa.  she and her family just moved back into the area from chicago a year ago, right before jasper was born.  we hadn't lived in the same town in 12 years, and it's so great to have her back.  although, even now with us living 15 minutes apart, we still don't see each other as often as we like.  but it will get better...when kids are in school, when we don't have as much work, during the summer, yada yada yada.  the daily grind just seems to always get in the way.

but when she asked me to take pictures for jasper's first birthday, how could i resist this adorable little man and his older, equally adorable, siblings?



jasper is so loved.  and so happy.

preschool is here!

gosh, it seems like just yesterday i was in labor, not knowing whether i'd be meeting my little boy or girl.  and here she is, 2 1/2 years later, starting preschool.



this one is an absolute firecracker.  she challenges our patience and our ability to multi-task.  but she is absolute love, too.  she is always ready with a hug and a kiss, always asking to be held, always the snuggler, loves to read, will go nowhere without her poppy lovey, has the most radiant smile.  you honestly cannot help but to smother her with kisses even in the midst of her most trying moments.  i don't know how she does it.



she's also a big plate of ham and eggs.



she adores her sister, and wants to do whatever she is doing.  and when she's told no, she snatches something that harper is playing with and runs off in the opposite direction with the biggest grin on her face.  it drives harper batty.  but they really do love each other.



i'm looking forward to this first year of preschool learning and watching my little one grow.

maddison

meet maddison.  my second senior photo shoot.  also co-shot with my friend, laura, because the first time we just had so much fun.  this one was darn fun, too.  maddison was easy-going and a beauty to photograph.



maddison lives next door to my sister, and so i've known her since she was a mere 7 or 8 years old.  and to think she's graduating high school this spring.  i just can't fathom how time flies by so fast.



i had a little harper helper show up for this one, too.  she did a great job holding my reflector.  i'm sensing a budding photography hobby, perhaps.

the harper & crosby project - september 2013

happy october 1st!  without further ado, here are september's daily instagram photos.  we enjoyed the last bits of summer.  we started school and had a few bus issues.  we went apple picking.  we had swim lessons.  we attended a tigers baseball and a msu football game.  we played outside.  we had a sick day.    we started ballet.  we played with friends.  we did homework.  we savored up september.

and now we move into october, my favorite month.  falling leaves.  pumpkin patching.  sweater weather.  halloweening.  my birthday.  looking forward to october and all it holds.  happy fall!