"the girl with a bug in her name."

this first shot was taken by junebug,
who seems to be following in her mama's footsteps.
composed and clicked all on her own.
i love that she caught wendy teaching the kids how to play lacrosse.

the last time we saw nate & wendy,
addie was 10 months old and andy grilled her first brat.
they've added a couple of girls since then.

(sidenote: hayden said as we pulled in the driveway,
"what do you mean they only have girls??!!")

june, who is their own little court, and millie.
wendy and i were comparing notes on the two four year olds
when she explained it is kind of like when nemo touched the boat.
YES! just like that.

we had so much fun
hanging out,
catching up,
talking shop.
can't wait to do it again.
and i think we're going to maine.
asap.

for jan.

this project has been in the works for quite some time...
a family who lives apart, coming together.
that snapshot in time, captured.
it was special for me since i've known jan for so long.
before there were girlfriends and husbands and wives and grandchildren.
to see what has grown and become this life that they know now.

i loved the whole idea of this shoot.
it's actually been one of my greatest aspirations.
to separate the distance between us.
to bring burundi
and orlando
and denver
and alaska
and wisconsin
just a little bit closer together.
so we, too, can be all in one shot, finally.

at the carwash.

soundbytes:
"dad sure is good at getting his car all scratched up."
"do you know why you always need to wash it once and rinse it twice?"
"mom, can you just let me do this please?"
"court, do you want to go through the sprinkler?"

me: "so is this one on the house since it's father's day?"
him: "on the house?! i was going to tell him he owed me more than three bucks! I'm working real hard here."

on father's day, andy got a few more scratches
and some extra soapy spots on his commuter car.
all for three bucks.

wren again.

black and white, as requested.
i love that she is still so tiny and snuggly.

ducks for a day.

happy father's day!

happy father's day to all of the fishermen that i love, near and far.
we celebrated last weekend with a fishing trip on lake michigan-
court celebrated their return by spraying them with the hose!
love you much dad, andy & papa
xo, t

fishing, part one.

he puts his own worms on and takes the fish off all by himself.
she isn't the least bit squirmish or afraid to tell a tall fish tale...

"it was THIS big!"

they come from a long line of fishermen-on both sides of our family,
so it comes as no surprise.

graham.

it's like he read my mind.
(all poses courtesy of sweet baby graham)

kk & addison.

my favorites of jenny's girls. xo.

little miss wren.

after entering this world in quite a whirlwind,
little miss wren seems awfully calm & content.
especially in her mama & daddy's arms.
so glad i was finally able to meet her, sara.

girls in the garden.

jenny's happy girls.
my enthusiastic assistant.
trying to get a giggle from them,
still in the shot.
and kk's tongue, sticking out at me.
which made her sister smile.

ode to limes. (and apples)

the only thing i have to say about apples, is
"seriously, is this not the cutest helmet EVER?"
it practically had her name on it.
and besides, her old helmet was cracked.


when i got home late last night,
i discovered a hand written note from my husband:
i named it "an ode to limes"...

dear tracy,

we are tropical fruits and therefore we really like to be warm. (mexico, florida keys, etc...) please stop putting us in the refrigerator. some of us can hack it for a while, but most of us turn brown and go hard as a rock within days.

beyond the ethical issues at hand (citrus torture, etc) this is also an issue of financial concern as the nice man that buys us will likely run right back to the grocery store and replace our fallen brethren.

although internet literature is woefully inadequate regarding key lime husbandry, we did manage to find the attached answers for you on Wikianswers.

tracy, thank you very much for considering our plight. please consider using your valuable refrigerator space for your organic peanut butter instead.

sincerely yours,
the limes



i am forever and always doing little things like this
that drive my poor husband crazy.
i love that he can find the humor in it and
make me laugh out loud
while he phanagles an apology out of me,
along with a vow to never again refrigerate limes.
xo, t

33 weeks.

she was the one who always knew she wanted to be a mom.
from day one. she named her first doll
(and incidentally, every doll after) "baby beth".
while i was busy cutting all the hair off of all my dolls,
she was nurturing and loving hers.
she was everyone's favorite babysitter.
and such a great aunt. i mean really.

starting her sixth week of bed rest,
she's had to work harder than most
to get to this point.
we managed to sneak in a baby shower,
but her belly pictures had to be done
in the hospital.
with my flash. (ugh.)
court would not stop hugging and kissing her cousin.

hang in there, jamer.
soon, you'll be out of the chair
and she'll be in your arms.
xo, t