Portraits are supposed to be fun! Posing and staging is only half of it! Personally, Candids are my favorite! One of my favorite things about Devon is her ability to make any session fun. It doesn’t matter if it’s a tantrum, nervous mom getting her first boudoir shoot since kiddos, a Dad that “really hates getting his picture taken” or that senior that is only doing portraits to appease Mom and Dad… It’s a fun experience here at DSP!
Here are some of our favorite candids that we absolutely love!
“I love my baby brother!!!!… Sooooooooo much!”
“Don’t mind me… just struttin’ my stuff with the newest fad… Wear necklaces around our teeth!”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEAUTIFUL MATTHEWS SISTERS!!!
“Nothing like a cold ocean touching your toes to make you run like the wind!”
I don’t know about you, but 2020 has been the most “fly by the seat of your pants” kind of year I’ve ever had. A lot has happened here in the Porter household, Bradley turned 4, Andrew turned 2, we all got Covid-19, my husband made Chief in the Navy…. With quarantine on roulette and each day being a “wing it” kind of day, routine is pretty much non-existent AND THAT’S OKAY!
I’m sure I’m not alone in saying I beat myself up a few times when the kids threw a tantrum around dinnertime because they missed a nap, or when I look back at the last week and realized I hadn’t accomplished anything I wanted to because there was no routine or habits that had stuck through this crazy year. One thing I’ve learned though is to give myself a little bit of grace, we are all going through something that was not only unexpected, but affected our every day lives. Kids don’t understand and in some cases, neither do the adults. We will get through this!
This too shall pass, it’s almost the start of a new year and we can all do with a fresh start. “This too shall pass”, so hang in there everyone… One of my new habits will be blogging more often to you all, we are not alone, even if sometimes it feels like it. <3 Hang in there and I can’t wait to see more of Devon’s incredible photos of your beautiful families as we roll into the holiday season.
It’s been a rough time with the world as it is. COVID19 and everything that you see in the news. I personally have been having a hard time with this. I dealt with postpartum depression/anxiety with both of my boys and didn’t realize that’s what it was until well after Andrew (my youngest) was born. I saw a therapist and finally…. FINALLY… got out of the funk that I had become accustomed to as my norm. Well now there is a new norm in the world, and I was MAD. I was mad that all of the things I’d lost interest in, namely getting out of the house… was not a part of this “new norm”. For a while I was just cranky and kept saying that I would come up with creative ways to keep my kids entertained. It’s more than just entertainment at this point, we’ve been at this COVID mess for almost 6 months with not much of an end in sight. I woke up day before yesterday just angry at the world, angry at God, angry at the situation.
This morning, God decided to give me a wakeup call. Looking back on it it was like he was screaming “WAKE UP CHILD! There is so much beauty to behold!” but of course, I’m only human and wasn’t paying attention. I decided to do my daily readings (which I’d skipped the last few days…) and go on to read all about “living in the moment.” Later, I turned on Jeremy Camp Radio (my favorite Christian singer right now) and the first song that came on was Jeremy Camp’s “Live In the Moment.” Okay, so it’s kinda redundant right? Love that song, but okay I get the point. Then the next song really hit home. Hillsong’s “All is New.” The first couple of phrases goes like this…
“Your love’s making all things new You’re working in all for good And for the things of this world There is hope renewed In the life that is found in You.”
Right there, I felt like I ran into a brick wall, looked around me and felt like I woke up from a dream. It is okay to be mad sometimes but I’d let it control me. Times are hard, the world is a hard place to live in right now, but I have to believe in something greater and that it will all be okay. Take in what beauty is around you, your kids, your family, the blue skies, music, whatever moves you. Just DO IT.
So seriously, here are some ideas of things I’ll be posting about in the future, because I am determined to not let this “new norm” be a “new funk” for me. There is so much to enjoy and “stop and smell the roses” during this time, let’s try some.
Flashlight Tag – I did this as a kid, who remembers this!
Races around the block – doesn’t matter your age!
Gardening – I have a garden, I should learn about it
Photography – This is a big one, I’ll explain more in one of my upcoming CreativeChaos blogs!
Beading- one of my long lost hobbies
Organization – I have gone through so much of my house it’s not even funny. I’ve found things that I didn’t know about.
I have more ideas than I can list here but stay tuned every Friday for a new blog post!!!
Hang in there you guys, “this too shall pass” it sucks right now, but let’s not let it define us and the “funk” we allow ourselves to get into. There are so many beautiful things about this world and our lives, we just need to learn to appreciate them a little more. <3 We’ve got this.
Time as a senior is generally sacred, a right of passage… Senior skip day… the day at the beach that was allowed instead of all of those days at the beach looking over your shoulder to make sure nobody recognized you weren’t in class… prom… the day when you could get all dressed up, and dance like there’s no tomorrow… the graduation ceremony… the incredibly long ceremony that hundreds of people sit through for that 30 seconds that the person they love walks across that stage and completes the journey that is high school…
You were robbed…. BUT….
You have so many interesting stories to tell future generations… that masks were a fashion statement, that senior photos with toilet paper and masks were fun and that this crazy world we live in today didn’t stop you from graduating…
YOU DID IT… Not only did you graduate, you graduated during a pandemic… a global, earthshaking pandemic. You persevered, you fought, and you did it. Senior class of 2020, I applaud you. Don’t ever stop fighting and persevering….
So here I am sitting at my desk, about to start my anatomy homework… today is no different than any other day I sit at my desk to work or do schoolwork, but today was just hard. Looking at my two little boys and thinking, “am I ever going to be able to take them to a playground to play? Will Bradley be able to start preschool? Will we be able to go on that road trip to see my husband’s family 1,300 miles away? Will my mom get to meet Andrew?” These questions, and more were running through my head today. I have several signs on my desk that I’ve surrounded myself with that remind me on days like this that “This too shall pass”. So I’m not sure which one of you need to hear this today, but I sure did.
Sign #1: “Take pride in how far you have come and have faith in how far you can go” – As a species, we have made it through, the plague, the flu, swine flu, and so many other terrifying diseases. Technology has come so far and we will find a treatment. We have made progress and know more about Covid, as terrifying as it is. We will get through this.
Sign #2 – “Let your faith be bigger than your fear” – Everyone has different beliefs, but my faith will carry me through this, I need to focus on the bigger picture, instead of being scared of the what-if’s.
Sign #3 – “Too blessed to be stressed” – Yep… This is true, I am very fortunate in these hard times, my husband and children are home with me and are happy. When today being Memorial Day, so many families aren’t as fortunate… My thoughts and prayers are with those families, and remind me to be thankful for what I have and hug my family a little tighter today.
So while this morning has been hard. We all have hard days, we all have sad days, but like my last two signs say… “if it is to be, it is up to me.” (Thanks Dad for the 2 letter word idiom) and “girl, you’ve got this”.
All of these speak so true, we just need to remember… this too shall pass. So hang in there… You’ve got this.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the wonderful mother’s out there. Whether you’re a biological mom, adoptive mom, soon-to-be mom, grand-mom, step-mom, all around mother figure and everything in between, I hope you have a beautiful and wonderful day today, and are celebrated for the amazing people you are.
During this quarantine, our patience has been tested! Creativity has a new definition, and time is sometimes irrelevant. Did I do that yesterday morning? Or this morning? Wait, it’s only 3:00, it’s not bed time yet? I hear you. I’ve been there, but you know what? This too shall pass. Personally, this quarantine has been a beautiful reminder of what mother’s and family are supposed to be all about. We are forced to go back to basics and spend quality time together, get creative, play games, and just be present in the moment.
Today, I am spending my day with my wonderful husband and beautiful boys. Had to get creative because they have been going stir crazy, so I made a tape race track in my living room. We have had race after after race and I’m exhausted and it’s only 1:00. Andrew is down for a nap and Daddy and Bradley are outside playing. Mommy is going to kick back and read a book.
Enjoy this time together, take those few moments for yourself too. You’re beautiful and you deserve it. Happy Mother’s Day! You’ve got this!
Do you have a favorite board game or card game? Did you have family game nights as a kid? I did! I remember we used to have family game night once a week when my brother and I were kids. We could never agree, so we always each brought one we wanted to play and my parents picked between the two.
During this difficult time when we are all self quarantining, board games and card games are making a huge comeback! Monopoly, Risk, Life, Guess Who, Phase 10, Uno, and so many more are being played more and more often! We have always enjoyed games so this is exciting for us to have time to play and Daddy home to join in the fun.
But after game after game of monopoly being whooped by my sister-in-law, my husband and somehow even my three year old, I wanted to get creative. So we are creating our own Monopoly!
We only used graph paper and markers. The movement pieces are beads I had with some hot glue on the bottom for stands! The possibilities are endless! What game would you create your own version of?
So this is what quarantine looks like at our house. Chaos.
If you have two littles like I do, I’m sure you are going absolutely bonkers. With two boys, I hear a lot of fire sirens, abc’s and have played game upon game of “firefighters” and lost about 700 races, had 400 meltdowns, 800 loads of laundry, and so much more… But you know what? That’s okay! Even though my ears are constantly ringing (due to the high pitched siren my 3 year old produces, how he does that is beyond me.) I wouldn’t trade this time with them and my husband for anything. Daddy is home from work (he’s active duty so having him home is always a blessing!) and we have been able to have more family time than I could have ever hoped for. We are on day, what, 14 (I think) of this quarantine. If you’re like me, all of your ideas for entertainment have all been exhausted and your backups of your backup cards have all been played. So what now? That is what this blog is all about.
Photo by the wonderful Devon Shanor!
We are not in this alone, whether you have small children, children of school age, children out of the house, no children, living at home, husband or wife deployed, home alone, or everything in between. This is for you. I will be posting a few times a week so, lets get off the couches (I know, they sure are comfy right now…) and do something, creative in the chaos… let’s do this!
