Well hello there :)!! It has been a beautiful summer, full of family and friends and trips, both big and small. I decided in May to take a little blog/social media/photography business hiatus for awhile and focus on my beautiful life. I have to say that it has been the best decision I have ever made! In fact, I have decided to delete my personal Facebook page permanently, and just blog, Instagram, and Facebook from a business standpoint whenever I return to photography. I am loving the time I now have to spend on what matters most...my family and real life!!! :) I hope you will continue to follow this blog...this is the space that I use for personal stories, and where I share the things I am MOST passionate about...writing and photography!!!! I can't WAIT to start writing again, and fill this little blog with stories for my two girls. Thanks for reading along!!! :)

Dear Apple Cheeks,

It is a rainy Tuesday in July, just another in a long string of dreary days, each one melding together, indistinguishable from the one before it. Gray, cloudy, wet, repeat. It is the kind of week that brews cabin fever, little hands becoming restless, patience wearing a little thin. The walls of our home seem to be just a bit closer than they were a few days ago, and let's face it...at this point, we are all getting on each other's nerves. We need to get out...to feel the sunshine on our faces, the soft grass on our bare feet. But Mother Nature has her own agenda, and she has declared it to be yet another bunker down indoors kind of day.

The rain "tap, tap, taps" against the kitchen window as I pour myself another cup of coffee, drizzling sweet cream into the piping hot liquid. I sigh heavily, disappointment exhaled in a breath. You see, I am a bucket list kind of girl. A soak up life kind of girl. I like to savor every moment of the present season...twinkling lights on every surface, homemade hot cocoa, and cinnamon apple sauce ornaments at Christmas; lemonade stands, homemade popsicles, and picnics in the summer. I know I don't have to tell you girls this...you both know all too well that mama has a holiday freak flag, and she waves it proudly. Which is why all of this rain has me in a bit of a panic...it is mid-July, and my summer bucket list-the one with the neatly handwritten to-do's and the cute little check-boxes, is hidden somewhere on my desk, lost in a pile of junk mail. All of this rain is hindering me from making check-marks, as it is nearly impossible to cross off items such as "pick blueberries", "make a bonfire", or "go fishing" in the pouring rain. But today I am desperate. Things are unraveling here. Summer is wilting away, much like the flowers in my planting bed that were so vibrant and perky just a few weeks ago. Time is running out, and boredom has set in, bringing with it a hefty dose of cabin fever. Arguments have begun to break out between sisters, and I have heard the word "Mama" just one too many times. I have to do something (anything!), and so I begin the search for buried treasure....my misplaced bucket list, and hopefully this rainy day's saving grace. I shuffle through the stacks of papers until I find it, stuck between the water bill and a Pottery Barn catalog. My heart skips a beat at the sight of it....you see, it's not just any list. A bucket list is a bright, shiny promise. A promise of a summer well spent, if I can just manage to fill in the majority of those blank boxes with a "been there-done that" check mark. A bucket list is a simple reminder not to let these precious childhood summers waste away with you girls parked in front of the T.V., watching episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants while your I.Q. slowly diminishes before my very eyes. Seriously, girls, look it up...there is research proving that your I.Q. temporarily decreases after watching the show with the sponge named Bob and the morbidly obese starfish. Don't watch it!! :)

The sound of little feet slapping against kitchen tile breaks my train of thought, and I turn from my desk to see the source of all the "pitter-pattering". It is you, Lydia, hair mussed from a restful night, sleepy smile on your face. I start the mental count-down..."one, two, three"...I won't make it to "30" before your sister wakes up. The two of you have an uncanny ability to wake up at the exact same time. I make it to "26" before I hear the first "Mama" of the morning, a little cry coming from the crib down the hall. It is you, Addison, calling for me to come and rescue you from the confines of your bed. I walk quickly down the hall, a woman on a mission, muttering something under my breath about "thumbing my nose at Mother Nature", and "Take that! Bucket List!!!". Little hands reach for me, and I giggle as little lips mumble incoherent remnants from last night's dreams. In case you were wondering, two year olds dream about bears eating sticks :). We make our way to the kitchen, the three of us, and I grab the paper from the desk, holding it high above my head as I declare it to be a bucket list kind of day, despite what Mother Nature may say.

But first things first. Empty bellies must be fed. I decide to forego the usual cold cereal or frozen pancake routine, and make a "fancy" breakfast. I have learned, girls, that any meal can be made "fancy" if you add candles and special dishes :). After a quick inventory of the pantry, I decide on homemade cinnamon rolls....the special, made-from-scratch recipe with the secret ingredient(it's vanilla....shhhh....don't tell anyone), and scrambled cheese eggs. I turn the music on...an old Alabama album, tie a cute apron on, and dance around the kitchen, a wooden spoon my microphone as I sing the lyrics, "Why Lady Why". The two of you giggle, watching your mama spin around and around. I cook the eggs the way they are meant to be cooked...on low and slow, and we sing and sway as I run the rubber spatula through the eggs, sprinkle in the cheese. I let the two of you drizzle the cream cheese icing over the hot cinnamon rolls, and try to ignore the drips that land on the floor, the countertop, the fingers. Soap and water will clean the mess away, but these memories? They will remain. I pour "coffee" for the two of you...a spoonful of the bitter liquid, mixed with sweet, cold cream in tiny espresso cups. Everything is perfect...fancy dishes heaped with cheese eggs and warm, sweet rolls; taper candles glowing, wax spilling down the sides into the glass holders; coffee in tiny cups with tiny spoons, waiting for tiny lips to come and taste.

We prance around the kitchen one last time and I sweep you into my arms, Addison, holding you like a baby, dancing to the music. We giggle, and I spin around to see a little girl with tear-soaked eyes and a shy smile. It is you, my sweet Lydia, and you whisper the words my mother heart needs to hear. "We are gonna remember this, Mama", you say. The words are spoken softly, but shoot through me like a bullet, splitting my heart wide open, and I see the moment for what it is: extraordinary masked in the ordinary. It is what I preach, what I believe to be one-hundred percent true, and what I sometimes so easily forget. Life doesn't just happen on the bucket list days...the vacations, the holidays, the planned activities and outings. Sometimes the most beautiful memories are made on the ugliest of days...the little in-between moments of life.

And so I lay my bucket list on the table beside me as I take a big bite of warm cinnamon roll. I watch you girls lick sticky-sweet icing from your little fingers, eyes shining bright with happiness, and I run to grab a pen, scrawling the words hurriedly across the top of my bucket list. "What does it say, Mama?", you ask. I smile contentedly as I read the words aloud and place a little check-mark beside them. "Make beautiful memories on ugly days".

It is a day and a moment I will never forget. Thank you girls for making life beautiful, even on the yucky, "in-between" kind of days. I love you more than cinnamon rolls :).

Love,

Mama