Remembering Mom ...

It's been four years ago today. My own personal D-Day, so to speak. My mother passed away December 7, 2005 due to complications from diabetes and breast cancer. I don't like dwelling on depressing things, so I won't discuss the events of her illness and death here. Suffice it to say, as in any close mother/daughter relationship, I miss my mother terribly. But today, rather than focusing on the bad, I'd rather write about a beautiful Christmas tradition my mother and I shared.

For any of you who knew my mom, you know that she loved jewelry. The nice stuff, costume jewelry, whatever ... it didn't matter, she liked it all. For as long as I can remember, my mom always wore Christmas pins on her coats during the holidays. She started out with just a few and would pretty much rotate those out. After a while, I began to notice a new one now and then, so she added to her collection as years went on. I remember one Christmas noting how pretty one of them was, and she promptly offered the pin to me to put on my coat too. I said, "no that's okay, it belongs to you, Mom" but thankful for the offer. She said, "Honey, it's okay ... take it. I have one for every day in December."

And that's when it started. That year, I realized how much these pins had come to mean to her, and I went out and bought her the most beautiful Christmas pin I could find. In my family we always celebrated on Christmas Day, but she and I would always open just one gift on Christmas Eve. I gave the pin to her that night, and it became our new tradition to exchange the treasured trinkets on Christmas Eve from then on.

Now, I have all the pins. Really, more than enough for each day in December. But I have Annemarie and Kate with whom to share them, and the memories of a beautiful mother/daughter Christmas tradition. So although today is a sad day for me, I thought it seemed like a good time to celebrate my mom's wonderful legacy! Blog posts are always better with pictures ... here are some pics of her collection, highlighting a few of my favorites.

Miss you Mom! And yes, I'm wearing a pin today, just for you.

With love always -- S

"Find something to celebrate. Then find more. Celebrate with others. Celebrate every single day!" -- author unknown

Christine, Randi & The Holiday Hounds

A few months back, I wrote a post about a photoshoot I had with Christine and Randi. You might remember that one ... the spunky, sassy ten year old girl and her mom ... with lots of personality, love in their hearts, and the beautiful souls inside? Well, guess what? I got the opportunity to photograph them again for their holiday photos. Them, and a little added craziness to the mix ... their two very active (and very big) black lab retrievers. Yep, it was hectic getting those two settled down long enough for a photo or two, but victory was mine! ha! ha! Here are some favorite shots of our photo session.

Christine and Randi -- thanks so much to you guys once again for having me photograph you and the pups. I always enjoy working with the two of you and seeing the special relationship and bond you share. My girls still want to meet you, Randi ... maybe next time we'll add even more craziness and add two more sassy, spunky ten year old girls ... won't that be fun? ha! :)

All the best! -- S

The C Family: Holiday Pics

We met sometime ago, back in the early days of motherhood for me, when my girls were small. To help me connect and bond with other stay at home moms, I found a local chapter of the MOMS club. I met so many friends there! Our schedules changed and I wasn't able to keep attending the club's events, but to this day I still have connections to many of those wonderful ladies I met then. Diane and I became friends, shared the same officer position in the club, and now share iHearts on Facebook! :::smile:::: (I love getting those from her!). I was very happy to photograph her and her family for the holidays! Below are several pics from our photoshoot.

Diane -- thanks for all the iHearts and for the great photo session with you, Frederick and the little ones. You have a beautiful family! All the best wishes! -- S

The W Family: A Holiday Photoshoot

Every once a while, you meet someone who makes an impression on you and they leave behind an everlasting mark ... kind of like a stamp on your heart. When my daughter Kate was in first grade, she was lucky enough to have a teacher who did just that. Beth was so wonderful with her! That was four years ago, but still to this day, Kate still gets excited to see her and to hear how she's doing. Obviously, Beth impressed my daughter greatly, and I too, am quite fond of her!

Beth and Jeremy -- thank you so much for allowing me to photograph your family holiday pictures! K, J and M are just too cute and I'm so glad that I was able to capture their personalities in these photos. Here are several favorites from our session! All the best! -- S

Thankful

Today is Thanksgiving, another favorite holiday of mine. I love just about everything about Thanksgiving -- the dinner, the wine, the relaxed feel of the day, the football on tv, and oh yes ... the pecan pie! Yum! But it's also a day to reflect on what I'm thankful for, the many blessings in my life, the things that make me happy. These are some of things in my life for which I'm grateful:


Family: I am blessed with a wonderful family -- my husband and our three beautiful children. Jon, Annie, Kate and Chris truly complete my life, and without them, I don't think I could exist. We share so many memories together, along with the rest of our extended family members, for whom I'm also so very grateful to have in my life.








Friends: Over the years I have really come to realize how much my friends have enriched my life, and even though I try to be expressive about my feelings for them, I doubt many know how much and how often I think about them. Particularly in the last few years, through life circumstances and even through Facebook, I am very grateful for the opportunity to reconnect and keep up with many of my friends!


Music: Always a driving force in my life, having music around, in one way or another, is something on which I depend. It's there to keep me going throughout the day, to pick up my spirits if I'm feeling blue, and to enjoy really at any time. And I'm so grateful to now have three little musicians in my family ... makes me so proud!


Photography: Everyone who knows me knows how much I love taking pictures, and how much they've always meant to me. How cool is it that now I get to do this for both fun and a job? It's SO awesome, and I'm so thankful that I have the opportunity to pursue my creative endeavors professionally.




Little Things: So thankful for all those little things that make me happy and put a smile on my face: Starbucks frappucinos, wine, reading time, butterflies, a friendly face at the local grocery store ... all the little things that add up and can make my day!



I used to not really think about all these things on Thanksgiving, or sometimes not much at all, for that matter. Just trying to keep up with the daily grind would have me so busy that I might take some of these things for granted or at least just not stop long enough to consider it all. But years have taught me to reflect and enjoy the good in my life, and today, this holds particularly true. And for that, I am grateful.

Have a wonderful holiday!

-- Thanksgiving is not a time of the year... but an attitude of the heart. May your Thanksgiving be abundant with the gifts of love and friendship. --

A Mother's Pride

It's finally done! For many, many weeks, my daughters have been practicing for their first band gig. This past Monday night, their band, Speed Limit 180, performed at Junior's in downtown Round Rock. It was a scheduled day off from school, and between getting ready for the gig and school conferences, we were extremely busy! I knew they would do well, but still, I had the mommy jitters all day (does that ever go away? Probably not, right?).

Kate was on keyboards and vocals. Yes, I know I'm biased, but my girl rocked! She is a strong piano player and it all seems to come so naturally to her. It is incredible to me how far she's come in piano since she started just four years ago. Not just in her skills -- I knew that would come with time and practice. But really more in her confidence in her musical abilities. She started out kind of shy and unsure, but as she's developed she's learned to really embrace it and push herself to new musical challenges. You can see it now -- her strong piano skills and ability to pick up music quickly, her adding embellishment to a song where she thinks it needs it, and most of all, her confidence to sing in public. I so admire her voice, and I love the fact that she's no longer shy about sharing her talents with others. She says that this is her thing, it's what she does. Yes, my dear one -- and you do it well!

Annemarie was on electric guitar and vocals. She also been playing the piano for four years, and has been on the flute for a little over a year. With four musical interests (actually, there are more she'd like to learn, but I had to cut her off somewhere -- there is this little thing called school, you know), she is also a strong musician in her own right. Seeing her play guitar now and how far she's developed in such a short time, it's hard to believe that she had wanted to give it up at one point. She was encouraged by her teacher to give it another try, and I'm so glad she did! Monday night, she was having such fun, playing her guitar and performing in front of a standing room only audience. I even saw her winking at one of her friends while she was up there on stage. She's always been a bit of a performer, even as a baby, when she could charm strangers at a restaurant from her high chair with her eyes and her smile. Watching her now, I know that this is what my little love bug girl was meant to do -- and that makes me smile.

So, forgive me for bragging on my girls (but hey, that's what I do). I'm sure I'll post again some time soon about their musical endeavors. But in the meantime, check out their pictures here. And until then ... rock on! -- S











Kate's fast fingers on the keyboards ... she was so good, especially on 'Let It Be" and "Kansas City."

Annie had just winked to a friend of hers in the audience ... so cute!

All The Small Things

As many of you know, my daughters are in a band. One of the songs in their playlist in "All The Small Things" from Blink 182. Sometime within the last several days, they were practicing this song for their upcoming performance, and it made me think of a little ritual we seem to have in the mornings. I drink coffee to get me going ... one from home in the morning, and a Starbucks mocha later in the day to, well, keep me going (yeah, bad habit, I know!). We have a Keurig coffeemaker with those cute little pods. I like the Kona and French Roast blends, and every morning I have a cup, along with my biscotti while I catch up on email and the news with my iPhone as I get ready for the day.

Most mornings, I find the little pods right there by the coffeemaker, waiting for me. Sweet, huh? I suspect a certain little boy does this for me (smile). Usually, the cup is there too (that's done by my girl Annie). And the biscotti? Compliments of my other girl, Kate. And you know what? I just love it. It's "all the small things" that mean so much, isn't it?

And speaking of music, my girls' first "gig" is tomorrow night. Watch for pics of that soon! In the meantime, Happy Monday everyone! -- S



Requirements for my morning ritual ...


Annemarie and I -- 10.10.2009

Christopher -- exact date escapes me, but this was sometime last week. So cute ....



Kate and I both love the chocolate dipped biscottis! That's my girl!