daily mantra:

life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it.

the very first moment i met Natalie and Kier, i felt instantly blessed. both of them were so genuine…not only to each other but to every single person they came into contact with. their love…obvious to a stranger walking down the street next to them, and their wedding in the beginning of August was a blend of all of the people they love and who love them.i have never seen so many people happy to be witness to two people getting married, and their wedding party was filled with relatives and friends who had been in their lives and watched their love story grow and evolve into what it is today.

i wonder if men really know how much effort and how many people it takes to get into a wedding dress. it is truly an event all in itself.

{mr & mrs Simmons}

the wedding party was increadible. there were so many ideas and willing posers. these guys were a photographers dream!

happily ever after….

dear Mikki and Katie…

we ended the very last days of summer with an expedition. okay…nothing the likes of Sacajawea and Lewis and Clark, but an adventure just the same. we camped. in a tent. all three of us. those of you who know me {mandy, amanda, mand, the girl who runs, the picture lady…} know that camping to me is the Motel 6 without a vending machine and chipped ice in the hall. {not that i don’t LOVE adventure…i just really love the advances of modern plumbing} granted, the last summer endeavor was in the safety of the front yard of a close friend…who had a toilet just in the house 10 feet away. we take baby steps and celebrate each one.

while laying awake in the tent  as you both dreamed next to me, i realized you slept in the same position. hands behind the head on your back, with one leg out and one arm in, and you both told your secrets in your slumber and tossed violently to the chorus of loons on the lake. Miss Katie, you talked of fluffy kitties {not a shock} and why they chased toy mice….Mikki you mumbled worries about people you love {also…not a shock}. i cuddled Katie in as close as I could to my body…as close as you would let me…and stroked your hair and watched you smile and grimace and breath in rhythm with the waves.

crickets roared in the background, an audience for your beauty and awkward perfection.

this summer has gone so fast. teeth have been lost, the potty training has been conquered with no more diapers or pull ups or accidents in sight. i have been too busy to notice the rapid growth of grass stained feet.

i have not been to busy to notice your amazingness…your perceptive glances…your laughter.

all my love darlings,

p.s. daily mantra: “i find imperfection the most interesting thing about a person” {unknown}

daily mantra:

our dreams, and they are made out of real things
like a, shoebox of photographs
with sepiatone loving…

jack.johnson

… thank you Pam and Noel…

dear Mikki and Katie…

i had to take a break. with sessions piling up, and more shooting than sitting…i took a break from writing down my motherly advice. but, alas…i am back. {spare me the eye roll…people keep telling me you will love these “some day”….the later being the operative words left undefined in time at the moment}.

school shopping. let’s discuss this. i’m going a little crazy as school starts in 8 more days. eight. who has done no school shopping? me…this Mom. brilliant i know. this week i did manage to clean out the dresser to get ready for new pants and jeans and skirts and tights and undies and socks. this week i packed up bags of clothes…relatively new clothes…that your bodies have exploded out of. {now that i think of it…can a moratorium be placed on growing up for, ohhhh….a few years? give or take 10?} in the bottom drawer i found your baby blankets. i think my Aunt Sybil would love that i keep your blankets in her dresser that has been passed down since the 1850′s. i found myself desperately smelling the fabric for any traces of baby smell.

none. damn.

i digress…school shopping.

as much as i complain, and even procrastinate, it still brings me the same flood of delirious excitement. there is nothing more rejuvenating than a new notebook and freshly sharpened pencils. new sneakers…they just sing of puddles yet to be ran through and adventures yet to be had. a too big backpack that i know you will grow into by the end of the school year. there is nothing more divine than that new jeans smell and the way they feel sliding up over your knee caps…still scabbed over from a few summer bike falls. as your mom…there is truly nothing more satisfying than finally saying “yes” to those crazy TWINKLE TOES Sketchers that you wanted so badly….even though i told you, and i quote…”those are ridiculous” about 100 times.

more than anything….the first day of school evokes an otherworldly, transcendental hope. you walk into the classroom, sit down at your desk for the first time, pull out your Tinkerbell folder and new pencils and anything, i mean anything….is possible.

all my love darlings,

p.s. daily mantra:  life is change. growth is optional. choose wisely….{unknown}
p.p.s photo is non related but still adorable. i only have so long to dress you in foolish head ware…i am taking full advantage with these lobster hats.

when i first met Sam and Tim in the Fall of 2009, my first impression was…”wow…these guys are so young”. after meeting with them and their family, and again for their engagement session early this spring, i was convinced that this was a love so full and complete…perhaps years beyond couples together for 10 years. because, while they are young in age, they have known each other in one way or another almost all of their lives. their wedding at the end of July was a true celebration of the joining together of two families who already have an amazing connection.

the flowers were just incredible…everyone knows my love for Sunflowers….but these were exquisite and creative bouquets.

chickens and shoes…heaven.

all of these on location photographs were taken at the GORGEOUS Treworgy Family Orchards in Levant, Maine.

sam.and.tim

daily mantra: who, being loved, is poor?  oscar.wilde