He picked these flowers for me.

And now, in a few short weeks, the house will get really loud with all of the older kids, and summer will be upon us. Once summer hits, everything shifts around here. Charlie disappears with Nathan and Eddie, I put all of my energy into keeping everyone fed, photography really picks up, and people from away start coming up for their summer vacations. Which means a lot of beach time and all of that good stuff. But do you know what gets put aside? Baby bonding time. And Charlie bonding time. I’ll pick up where we left off with Aliisa, Patrick, and James when school starts again. But Charlie? My long, quiet days with him are soon going to be just a memory.

He’s going to hop on that big yellow school bus with all of the older kids in the Fall, and for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, he’ll be spending his time with his teacher, not his mom. That’s a really big deal. Waahhh!! I don’t feel quite ready to give him up yet. I want to hog him to myself for a while longer yet, and have him think that I’M the most beautiful woman in the world, not his new teacher.

Grade school teachers are at the top of my list for people that I admire and like. How else would I ever be able to send my little beings up to be in their care for that many hours each week. They rock. They’re the next best thing to me…:)

But still. It’s just so hard to see my children grow up on me. I recently had a fun visit with a mom who is now empty nesting. She said that sure, she misses her kids, but all along, she had the frame of mind that they weren’t HER kids, they were just in her care for their growing up years. Borrowed from God. The most lovely gift you could ever receive, but yet, they’re not our’s to keep forever. This is so true.

But how are our hearts supposed to handle that??

I came up with an anology:

To an old man with a weak heart, it would be like giving him some heart medication one day that makes him feel full of life and love and happiness, and it makes him want to live life to the max, run around town, dance on the rooftops. He does this for 5 years, and then you come along and say, “Hey, that was fun, wasn’t it? But I’m going to cut your dose in half. Have fun trying to figure out how to function on just half of your meds.” Then 13 years later, boom, the med gets taken away. And he has to try to figure out how to live without it.

Becoming a mom is the most natural process in the world. But it is also the biggest, bravest thing you could ever do. Because deep down, you always know that these kids aren’t going to be there forever. They’re all going to grow up and move away. And that’s going to have to be OK.

They still have to build a floor for it. David is balancing on the frame boards.

And we are a classy bunch. I asked David what he was using to push himself around, and he said “A paddle.” in a duh voice. A homemade paddle. A stick and a wide board.

I did a photo shoot with Maija’s 3 girls at the end of April. It was a beautiful, warm day, and the snow was gone down by the water. We were comfortable in our summery clothes. After this photo shoot, at the beginning of May, winter came back. We had one more big storm hit the area, and then another one went just south of us and skimmed us with an inch or two. We wouldn’t have believed that we were still going to have to deal with snow when we were at the beach for this shoot.

I love these girls. They are so pretty, and they carry themselved so nicely. Their beautiful names fit them perfectly.

Johanna is graduating from high school this year. She is my kuumi girl, and I’ve always had a special spot in my heart for her. I used to babysit her a lot.

Amanda likes having two older sisters.

The water was ice cold. Hanna and Leona are toughies. Amanda isn’t quite so sure.

She’ll inch up to the dry ground, thank you….:)

Every time I see Amanda, I look at her eyes from a photographer’s point of view. Wow, was it fun to finally have my day with her..

I’ll admit, this is posed. I had Claire position their arms just so. But it’s a good posing, right? I love this shot.

Sandy toes…that is as summery as you can get.

Fun to compare profiles.

Eddie and Silas had a ball running around the beach and park as we took pictures.

Fun pose!

Nathan brought his buddy, Lowell, along. Total coincidence that their shirts match.

My camera kept veering back to this girl and her lovely dress.

This picture was fun. We were going back to our vans in the parking lot, and the inspiration hit. I am so glad that we finished the night off with this shot.

They had the foresight to realize this and come up with an ulterior plan. I just loved their idea. Loved it. While the bride and groom went to have some quality time with the wedding party, I went up in the front of the church with all of their siblings and their families and took pictures of individual groups. It was a great way for them to get nice pictures of all of their nieces and nephews all dressed up, and on top of that, the families will have a nice memento from the day. I can’t get over what a good idea it is. Their wedding album will be so much more meaningful and interesting with these pictures added to it.

Mary and Steve:

Sherri and Scott:

Travis and Jennifer:

Lars and Bree:

Lori and Brent (Lori is about my age, and our family sizes are the same. It was really fun to visit her.):

Susan and Aaron:

and in black and white:

Kathy and Dan:

Sarah and Dan:

Noreen and Mike:

Greg and Nora:

Paul and Christy:

Lyle and Heather:

Christina’s parents, Paul and Marilyn:

Steve’s parents, Dennis and Loanne:

Their wedding was such a fun day for me. These pictures bring it all back.

And a couple of the darling siblings. They were so proud of their smiley baby.

Patrick hamming it up.

We have to keep all of his shorts and pants folded, or else they fall down. And they still ride low. He’s a skinny guy with a crazy fast metabolism.

I just love the crookedly buttoned shirt. These are the things that I’m going to miss when the kids grow up on me.

Vivian smiled right away for us.

She’s four months old.

And she has the most beautiful blue eyes.

I loved the little pink outfit that her mom had gotten for her.

heart-shaped legs

After the pink outfit pictures, I pulled out this adorable crocheted one piece outfit that Barb P. made for her etsy shop, jitterbeans. It is so cute, with the ruffly butt. I have more fun stuff from Barb that I plan on using within the next week or so on my new niece and nephew. It’ll be fun.

When Sandi was gone to dress the baby, I took some pictures of Vivian’s older sister and brother. I couldn’t resist.

Romi on the left and Jacob on the right. It was Romi’s birthday on the day I was there. She had a Barbie Princess cake all decorated and waiting for the party.

Romi looks so much like her mom.

I could have taken this cutie home.

For this specific collage layout, I picked one that had a stand-out in front of the stand-out, and I was able to choose my own quote for it. I chose the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote because it is so very fitting for our family trip to Florida, and because it has always been one of my favorite quotes. I used to have a bookmark with this specific quote on it.

The picture of the pictures ruins the quality of the actual photos. I focused on the quote, and they’re at tad out of focus. But wow, did it turn out beautifully!

I’m going to add stand-out collages to my list of products. I’m so excited about them, that I’d like to offer a deal for the first two people that order one. Just to give you an idea on prices, this one will be priced at $230. It’s a 24×18 collage. There are all different sizes and shapes. But for the first two people that order one of these, I’d like to offer a $50 discount on whichever size they decide to order.