Tuesday, May 7, 2013

A First Mother's Day Photoshoot in Black & White

 
This little guy has made his mama the happiest woman in the world!
He's almost three months old and has a very strong personality!
His facial expressions and pure strength never cease to amaze me.
I'm very lucky to be able to rock him to sleep, bounce him through
cranky periods, and see his face light up from big smiles and silly voices!
Taking pictures of him is so pleasant!  
Just look at his adorable face. 
Who wouldn't want to hang out with him and take pictures?
Enjoy his first Mother's Day shoot in black and white tones.
Please comment/critique. 
I'm not a professional photographer.
I just enjoy capturing faces and moments.
 








Monday, May 6, 2013

JR aka Bubba

J.R. aka "Bubba" is raising Money for Connecticut Children's Medical Center! He just spent a week at CCMC and sadly isn't a stranger to the medical center, but he is such a happy and strong little boy with an amazing twin sister, baby sister and mom and dad!  Together they are trying to raise money to give back with the hopes that they can help other children receive the loving care that Bubba has.  

Please consider donating here today! Every little bit helps!

If you can't donate, don't worry, just vote for the little cutie here! He is the bottom left Superman!

And most importantly, say a little prayer for all the children who are in need of medical care, lots of love, and every one's prayers!

Now enjoy some adorable pictures!!  This mama and papa makes some cute kiddos!



JR at the March of Dimes in 2012
Photograph by Farrell Photography

Photograph by simplyKstudio Photography

Much love.


Friday, May 3, 2013

My Derby Hat & Silly Boys

A beautiful lady that I am honored to call a friend and fellow dancer made me a special headband for the Kentucky Derby tomorrow and for the local racetrack.  I absolutely love it and think it fits me perfectly! 

Photo courtesy of my Hubby!

Photo courtesy of my Hubby!
So, what do you think?  I am in love!  I've been wearing all night and cannot wait to show it off tomorrow!  Thank you so much to the coolest, sweetest, most endearing and thoughtful French lady!  You are a true sweetheart and I am so lucky to know you.  Your work is amazing and your dancing is breathtaking.


This evening J-man had a sleepover.  It was a boys' night until I came home from dance.  I realized that boys are just as giggly as girls are at this age.  I also noticed that they love to look at themselves in the mirror and play with their hair.  They even let me take pictures of them! 
 
J-man is the short one and he's older...poor little guy.


 
They are silly.  Love 'em!
 
Much love.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Funky Town & Coffee

Yea, that’s where I have been residing for quite some time and while most of the time I have controlled my funks pretty well, sometimes, I just let them get to me.  Monday and Tuesday, I let my funk get to me and I ran with it.  I drank beer out of a wine glass, told my husband I needed me time, I started watching The Good Wife on Amazon Prime, and I have planned out a ton of creations that I want to work on in the coming days.  I feel much better!  It’s amazing how a little bit of self pampering and an abnormal routine can help me kick a funk to the sideline.   

So, these crafts! 

1.       I want to finally print some photos and use them in my house!  I’m especially excited about using mPix for my profession photo printing and printstagram for printing instagram photos!  I want to try both out before I use their products for gifts, but if all goes well, there will be some very neat coasters in the future and some sweet photo walls!

2.      I have a ton of scrap fabric that I don’t want to get rid of because I love the pattern, but the pieces aren’t large enough to make a single object.  A patchwork apron is in the making for my little niece.  My plan is that as she grows, the apron can grow with her by adding a row or two of patches!  I think it is a wonderful idea!

3.      Baby bottoms are adorable!  Baby bottoms in funky printed drawstring pants are wicked cute!  I plan on making some sweet drawstring pants for some lucky little kiddos! 

I’m mailing a package today and I am happy about it! 

P.S. Stamps excite me!  I love all the options for pictures and they are all FOREVER, so when I lose them, I don’t feel horrible.
 
P.P.S. Enjoy a Cup of Coffee today and make sure you are focusing on the golf balls in your life.   Here's a little story for you (to explain the "golf balls" analogy):
A professor stood before a philosophy class holding an empty jar. As the students took their seats, she began filling the jar with golf balls. When they reached the top, she asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then took a bag of pebbles and poured them into the jar, and they made their way into the spaces between the golf balls.
Again she asked the students if the jar was full, and they agreed that it was.
But the professor had another trick up her sleeve. She brought out a bag of sand and proceeded to pour the grains into the jar, filling up more of the remaining space. Again the question came: “It’s full now, correct?” The answer was a resounding “Yes.”
The professor then took a sip of her coffee and dumped the rest into the jar, filling up spaces that no one thought were there.
“So what does it mean?” the professor asked.
A witty student raised his own coffee mug and asked, “There’s always room for coffee?”
The professor, along with the rest of the class, had a good laugh. Then she said, “Imagine that this jar represents the space in your life. The golf balls represent what’s most important — family, children, health, friends, things that you’re passionate about — the things that at the end of your life you would be glad you paid attention to.
“The pebbles are essential but less important, such as your house, your car, maybe your job.
“The sand is all of the small stuff in life that we’re trying not to sweat.
“The coffee, well, you already answered that one. There is always room for a cup of coffee with a friend.”
The professor continued, “There is room for all of this only if you put the golf balls in first. If you put the sand or pebbles in first, there won’t be room for the golf balls. The way we pay attention to our lives works the same way. If you spend your attention or mental space sweating the small stuff in life, you won’t have the capacity to pay attention to what is most important to you.”
It is a great exercise to do every now and then. Ask yourself: what are the “golf balls” in your life, the things that really matter? At the end of the chapter, Dr. Goldstein recommends a “Now Moment” practice to help us identify and remind us of what truly matters in our life.
Find a jar and some golf ball or nice stones. Label each golf ball or stone with something that really matters in your life. If you don’t have a physical jar and golf balls or stones, you can draw a picture of a jar on a piece of paper along with golf balls. Actions speak louder than words, so check to see where in your life you’re bringing action to your values. maybe you’re taking your partner out to dinner, responding to people and yourself with greater kindness and compassion, being less judgmental, playing games with your kids, getting back into exercise or yoga, or spending time in meditation.
Now put that jar in a prominent place somewhere in your home or office where you can’t miss looking at it. Every time you intentionally look at the jar, your mind is likely to incline towards what truly matters. As you do this, you prime your mind to respond to those values during the spaces of your life.
What are the things that truly matter to you?
Much love.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Making Learning Fun

J-man is in 5th grade and hasn’t had homework since October.  In my opinion, it is an outrage and absolutely unacceptable.  I’ve voiced my opinion to his teachers and their response was alluded to the fact that only a small percentage of the students were doing their homework, so they felt it was more constructive to only have in-class work.  I disagree.  Children need to learn how to study for tests outside of the classroom and they need to practice what they learn in school.  Even in grad school, I solidified and sometimes learned concepts through me “homework.”  The repetition is vital for children. 

Since he isn’t receiving homework, my husband and I have given him our own assignments.  We have him read nightly, print and create math worksheets for him to complete, have him write poems which are generally amazing, and most recently, we started reading riddles to him.  This last one is fun for the entire family and really makes him use his brain power and think outside the box.  We only started doing this last week, but it is definitely my new favorite learning tool!  Ryan and I join in on the fun as well and it’s hilarious when J-man solves it before we do.  The most rewarding part is when he realizes that this riddle is like the other riddle with the X, Y, Z characteristics. I can see the wheels turn in his head.  It’s adorable!

Jared’s favorite one is I come once a year, twice a week, but never in a day.  What am I?

There are some wonderful websites that provide riddles of all levels and varieties!  I strongly recommend playing around with riddles with your kiddos!  Learning is fun!  Let's use that brain the Good Lord gave us to it's fullest potential!

Much love.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Dirty & Colorful

This weekend was full of mud, color explosion, friends, and running! Saturday started with an early wake up call, spinach and eggs and coffee for breakfast, and hot pink and black running attire.  That was just the beginning to a very eventful morning.  A couple girl friends and I teamed up for the Dirty Girl 5K Mud Run and it was a blast!  As you can see, we were exuding excitement and energy before starting the race!
 
 
The race was for women and only women which made it super fun!  There were kids, grandmas, teens, mamas, everyone and anyone!  The team names were hilarious!  "Jiggling Jugs" was one of my favorite ones! 
 
We scaled walls, climbed ropes, crawled through mud pools, ran, slipped, and laughed a ton!  It was an absolute blast and we got muddy!!


Yea, that's me on the left.  Go Big or Go Home is my motto!
After the race, there were showers to clean off at and being that I have never showed on site after a run, I had no idea what to expect.  Well, I walked into the tent and it was full of naked or virtually naked women of all ages and sizes.  While I was slightly shocked, I was not at all self conscious of stripping down and I was thoroughly impressed by how comfortable and confident so many women in their bodies.  It was one of those moments that I will remember for a long time because there are so many articles, shows, theories, studies on how insecure women are with their bodies.  Well, go to to a mud run and shower with a bunch of women and you will realize that there are a heck of a lot of confident, beautiful women in this world.  There will always be insecurities, but always remember that we are unique and beautiful in our own special way.   Thank you to the wonderful women at the Dirty Girl this weekend for the reminder!

Sunday was another early to rise morning with more eggs and spinach, but this time instead of hot pink and black running attire, it was white and COLOR!

 
J-man and I were headed to our very first Color Me Rad 5k!  J-man loves to run, so I have adopted the hobby so we can share something together and so that I can help him pace himself.  He likes to sprint and then virtually walk and then sprint and walk...not how a race is run.  This was the largest scale race he has ever done and it was a roaring success!  He let me pace him and was a little frustrated in the beginning because he really wanted to run ahead, but by the first mile marker, he was quite happy running the pace we were going (approx. 10 min/mile).  
 
There were five "color stations" that we ran through.  A few were dry cornstarch and food coloring and few were colored water and corn starch.  Oh heavens, the color was flowing and J-man was all about it.  I swear every color thrower loved him and targeted him!  He just has that "throw the color at me" look about him.

Moldy looking teeth.  I'm in his glasses!
 
I picked up the pace at the 2.5 mile marker (or what felt like the 2.5 mile marker and turned out to be right) and J-man turns to me and says "Can we run faster?" to which I reply "We already are."  He gave me this look of "Oh really, I don't think we are."  Less than a minute later, he says "Yea, we are running faster.  Is the finish line close?"  I just chuckled and said "Stay with me."  We slowed a bit, but the second I heard the music and could see the finish line ahead, we sprinted.  He did phenomenal!!  I am so beyond proud of him!  He crossed the line with a huge smile on his face and then said "I can't feel my legs, but I felt like I was gliding at the end!"  That is exactly what I wanted him to experience.  He finally ran a race at a good pace with a nice close and he knew it!

Happy kiddo!

We did it!!  My elbow is still stained blue because that's where I sweat.  lol

To close the day off, we cleaned, gardened and made homemade tomato soup, little man's favorite!  I used some herbs from my garden too which makes me so very happy!

 
I hope your weekend was stellar!
Much love.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Derek Hough + Virginia Beach = Happy Sarah!

Do you watch Dancing With The Stars?
Have you ever watched Dancing With the Stars?
Do you know the hot blond, Derek Hough?
Come on. I know you secretly adore him.
He's cute.
Has wicked  awesome moves.
Uses his hands when he talks.
Flirts with old ladies.
And smiles a lot.
Oh yea I met him on Saturday.
I kept my cool.

On Saturday, Derek came to Virginia Beach for STYLElicious A Show for Women and Arthur Murray Virginia Beach franchises opened the show!  Wendy and Taras are absolutely stunning dancers.  They feel every ounce of the music through their bodies.  It's breathtaking and beautiful.  I know I say this often, but I truly am extremely lucky to be part of such an amazing studio.  The passion, the love, the true friends that I have made, the exercise, the high expectations, the constant challenge, the people...it's perfect!




For the ladies... DEREK HOUGH!
I adore the facial expression!!!  
He's a hand talker!
Asking a lovely lady to dance!
Rocking the dance floor and I seriously mean rocking it!  The both had moves! Just check out the faces in the background! Everyone was stoked!! I will be her when I'm 70+ years old!
Much love.