hope there’s a moment for you to curl up someplace cozy with a good book.

i love this happy back to school image from our recent bella bliss [limited edition] session!

link share:

the mindfulist: your life considered -  is a new blog I’m really appreciating…simple suggestions for being more aware of the beauty in each moment

a home renovation I adore

incredibly cute wedding invitations

really cute canvases from courtney @ studio c.

The stylish Sarah Darcy of Classic Bride has featured two posts recently about our images that we thought we’d pass along (yes, *how* nice!)

thank you, thank you, Classic Bride!

a link to the features: emily & chad’s engagement session *  becca & sam’s wedding *  megan & jesse’s wedding

really liking this 3 mo fall calendar from modern hive…perfect for planning a wonderful autumn!

hope your long weekend was extra nice!  xo

just popping in with a hello and a peek from a session with three amazing girls & their incredible parents.  mom’s style quotient is off the charts which made this shoot extra extra fun…so was seeing them again at ballet under the stars a few weeks ago!  oh, and before i forget…i want to pass along a couple links:

an article about playful parenting i love (thank you to the author for permission to post a time bit here)

idea #4: “the cereal trick”

In their book How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish describe an approach to help kids get unstuck from something upsetting.

In the illustration, a toddler asks his mother for a certain kind of cereal, a cereal that they don’t have in the house.  Instead of arguing back and forth over the cereal, the mom tells her little one, “I wish I had the magic power to make a giant box appear!”  The authors write, “Sometimes just having someone understand how much you want something makes the reality easier to bear.”

I like to take this technique and run with it.  For example, one day our two-year-old was angry and pouting over not being able to go to the zoo that day.  Instead of trying to explain how it was too hot and the animals wouldn’t be out and we would all be cranky and disappointed, I said, “I wish we had a zoo right in our backyard.  Wouldn’t that be so cool?  What animals would you like to have in a backyard zoo?  Oh yes, definitely crocodiles.  How about giraffes?  Yes, and hippos, too!  Hey, let’s draw a picture of our backyard zoo!”

…playfully creating a fantasy seems help smooth over the feelings of frustration and disappointment that are often the source of unpleasant behaviors.  Read the rest of the article here :)

And this cute etsy shop is getting some love from some of my favorite people, including Whitney @ English Paper Co….darling return address stamps. (Is it painfully obvious how weak-in-the-knees i get over cute paper things?).  -m-