game night.

last, last weekend,

all three of my siblings

and their "friends" 

(as my dad would call them)

were under one roof.

it was monumental.

so we all joined in and played a rousing game of trivial pursuit.

my parents actually have four trivial pursuits, 

and all are pre-1981.

this rad photo was taken by B

who perfectly captured my sister 

being completely offended 

that her answer was not correct.

B and i thought that since we were the eldest 

that we would have the advantage.

but my sister, Aunt WW, and her boyfriend came from behind to take the title.

here's Aunt CC and her husband dealing with the loss.

but that was after we tried convincing my brother's girlfriend 

that while she was on the phone 

he nearly won the game.

she didn't believe it for even a second.

and while my brother didn't even come close to winning the game,

he certainly won for having the funniest answers .

he is hilarious.

really, truly.

1496. game nights

1497. doing crafts with K

1498. a new (hopeful) OT

1499. going to bed early

1500. chocolate covered popcorn

picture me {im}perfectly.bossy

if you know me, 

you know that i tend to be bossy.

quite bossy.

i'm the oldest of four children, 

so i think it comes naturally to me.

in every circumstance but one.

when i take photos of people 

other than my children

i tend to be the exact opposite of bossy.

i become laissez fair.

i know. 

do you even believe it?

hardly, i bet.

but having that mellow attitude 

isn't really good for me 

when i am taking photos.

i know that being bossy isn't the best thing.

but it really does come in handy,

sometimes.

and for me, it's when i am taking photos

of people other than my children.

for instance, 

my sister and her husband came for a visit 

and brought along my little nephew, baby E. 

so of course, we had to schedule a beach shoot for them.

and my bossyness just came out naturally. 

typically, when i take photos of those besides my children

i feel very anxious and intimidated

but not with my sister!

just ask her.

i was as bossy as bossy can be.

but it worked because i think she's used to it.

and you know what? 

she responded really well to it. 

and i think her husband 

just rolled his eyes and went along with it. 

but in real life, 

i do tend to be too bossy.

so be sure to picture me {im}perfectly.

how cute is this shot?

so cute.

i had such an awesome time 

shooting them.

and i can't wait until they come and visit

so we can do it again.

this was the very first time i got to meet 

sweet little E.

and i soaked up every little moment i could 

with that darling baby boy. 

head over to erin's blog

where she reveals her {im}perfect mothering 

when it comes to her kids' nap schedules.

picture me {im}perfectly

is a weekly project to reveal that we don't have it all together.

i will post a 

picture me {im}perfectly

blog post every wednesday 

where you will be able to link up to your blog

revealing that:

you are not picture perfect,

your kids are not picture perfect,

your house is not picture perfect,

your crafts are not always picture perfect,

let's 

encourage, 

inspire and 

remind 

other women 

that none of us have it all together.  

<a border="0" href="http://capturingmotherhood.blogspot.com/search/label/picture%20me%20%7Bim%7Dperfectly" target="_blank"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_TEajznl6Lw4/TTTZOgmZkqI/AAAAAAAAHAw/NH8EssqyeZc/s144/pictureme8.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />

add my button to your blog post

until next wednesday

and link up to your direct posting

and feel encouraged. 

1491. seven minutes to catch up

1492. really, really loud music in the car

1493. wonderful talks about Jesus

1494. seeing and hearing what He is doing in others' lives

1495. hot dogs for dinner

the exhibition.

if you remember,

i recently posted about a new little project

i was working on.

well, here's the full scoop...

last spring,

the university i attended

emailed all of the alumni from the school

asking for art submissions to

be displayed in a special alumni exhibition this fall.

i submitted three photographs, 

and they picked one of them!

and it's on display until the end of november.

to be considered, i had to submit 

an artist's statement 

(thank you, google for explaining what that was to me), 

a brief bio and 

a resume 

(mine hadn't been updated since 2004).

i felt so overwhelmed and out of the real world loop

that i almost didn't turn in my entries.

but, thanks to my husband's encouragement 

(and for giving me 10 minutes away from the children 

to get all of the papers in order) 

i did.

and i am so very happy that i did. 

it was really special for me to have a photograph on display.

a photograph where i captured 
a fleeting little moment of my child.

it is called:
playing in the dirt.

and she was as happy as can be 
to have a photo of her in an art gallery. 

and he was as happy as can be 
because that's just who he is.

the fam and 
the photo.

the bigs and me.

and the lovely flowers from Auntie B.


And why do you worry about clothes? 
See how the lilies of the field grow. 
They do not labor or spin. 
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon 
in all his splendor 
was dressed like one of these.
Matthew 6:28-29


1486. the cheerfulness of sunflowers
1487. the perfect afternoon at the beach
1488. meeting up with a whole group of great girls
1489. extra little people in our house
1490. a husband who cheerfully bathes the bigs

austin.part three

here is the third, 

and final part 

of our fabulous trip to austin. 

B wrote an incredible political novel  

which comes out in may 

from thomas dunne books/st. martin's press

(don't you worry, i'll be sure to give you 

the full rundown when the time comes).

a good chunk of the book takes place 

in and around the texas capitol

so a guided tour was a must. 

i will spare you from having to see 

the hundreds and hundreds of photos i took there

(because i am a good little research assistant, of course).

but i'll show you a few of my favorites.

here's B in the house chamber

(we got special permission to enter 

the roped off area and go up on the dais).

a well-worn staircase.

it was so unbelievably hot there.

it really was. 

i just couldn't get over the heat.

so after that,

we did what any good tourist does.

we went to chik-fil-a.

and then we headed out of town 

to a swimmin' hole.

it was like nothing i had ever seen before.

and there were a total of six other people there.

B was super adventurous

but i am a bit of a wimp 

when it comes to stuff like this.

i got all the way to my knees.

but then i got spooked by the turtles and fish 

i was convinced would try to eat me.

i know that my sister, Aunt WW 

would have jumped in without a second thought.

but that is not me. 

not at all.

the best part, though is that 

B knows that this is who i am 

and he loves me just the same.

phew.

because seriously, those animals 

were totally going to try to eat me. 

i just know it. 

so while huck finn swam around,

i hid behind my camera and captured it.

he even jumped off the rope swing. 

and just think,

if i had been swimming around, 

we wouldn't have these photos.

the air was about 109 degrees

and the water was a crisp 70 degrees. 

the tree trunks just went right into the water

and this little waterfall had a little cave behind it.

which B told me about

when he went swimming under the fall.

the water with the clouds in the sky.

we headed straight to the airport after that 

and it feels like we haven't stopped since.

To the LORD your God belong the heavens, 

even the highest heavens, 

the earth and everything in it

Deuteronomy 10:14

1481. an unexpected adventure with the bigs

1482.a fabulous visitor

1483. so much help with dinner

1484. quickly defrosted chicken

1485. a wild weekend

austin.part two

(click here for part one)

even though we didn't set one alarm,

B and i both woke up promptly 

at the exact time our children would have been waking.

in another state.

we headed to brunch with two other couples

and then saw the city of austin.

we visited a popular coffee spot

and just sat.

yeah, that was weird.

we were greeted by this friendly turtle

and B enjoyed a nice cold cream soda

while i had my coffee fix.

we then headed back to the hotel for a quick swim

and then got ready for the big event

(the wedding).

it was beautiful

and heartfelt and

the minister was the bride's brother.

i know, how special was that.

so special. 

the bride and groom were equally laid back.

which was hard for me to handle 

since i am 100% type a.

like i needed to tell you that.

the location of the reception was incredible.

it used be an old church in a small town in the center of texas

and the building was moved to austin in the late 90s.

it was light and bright and just perfect for a party.

we had a lovely time at the reception.

B and R.

also known as "two of the three pranksters."

the other prankster and his lovely wife.

the bridesmaids all had different dresses on.

and even though that maid of honor 

probably would have helped our prankster husbands, 

she couldn't because she wasn't allowed any essential information 

 like the whereabouts of the bride and grooms bags, either. 

all eight of us.

us wives.

pretty soon, it was time 

for the bride and groom to leave the party.

(isn't her dress just adorable?)

they were sent off in a sea of bubbles,

and that was that.

the day ended with a beautiful sunset, 

filled with streams of clouds.

and i have decided that austin is just about 

as beautiful at night as it is during the day. 

No one will be able to stand up against you 

all the days of your life. 

As I was with Moses, 

so I will be with you; 

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Joshua 1:5

1476. being almost on time

1477. getting to pick K up from school

1478. more artwork than i know what to do with

1479. new little friends

1480. truth spoken into my life at CBS


part three will be next week!