My funny bunnies...

The kids and I have had so much just hanging at home, the past couple days.  They did not have school due to teacher planning and meetings.  We have been working on rubber and loom bracelets, watching movies and just playing.  Luke and Ava are really into Minecraft!

Being Vulnerable....

What I love so much about photography is how real it is, especially these days.  You take a picture and you have such a crisp depiction of the subject.  I love light, especially the light of the outdoors because it is so bright, even when diffused through the clouds.  You can really see everything on the face of your flawless child.  Their skin really is that perfect.  Their sweet little faces change so quickly and it is my job as their mommy who loves photography to capture them in the moment.   Lucky for them, they have all of this recorded in such detail so that someday they can look back with their children and really see the similarities and differences.  It is the combination of these two things that makes them so unique and beautiful.  Not just on the outside, but on the inside as well.  We see aspects of ourselves that we can relate to as parents, and then we see and deal with things that are completely new to us as parents.  This is the gift that God gave us in our children.....  learn to be vulnerable and to not feel as though we need to be perfect.  Just be.... the person we are and strive the be the best versions of ourselves.  Strive to be "real" even if that doesn't look so pretty to our children and most importantly be the person that we want our children to be. 

As I forever pass this blog onto my children, I want them to know these things because as long as I am around, I want to be their teacher but also can't wait to see what I have in store to learn from them.

For this Mommy being real means, laughing at myself and not taking myself too seriously, empathetic but strong, vulnerable and real.  I strive to be accepting and open of their talents whether  I can relate to them or not.  I seek understanding and practice patience to get there.  I have always thought that raising my kids will get easier as they get older.  Lately, I have been tested...   I am learning that certain age related things get easier by default but as their brains and needs mature, they need Steve and I more than ever to be their patient teachers.  It is less a physical feat to take care of them and more a psychological challenge.  Be confident and believe in myself is what I intend to do and I am committing to make sure most importantly, to take care of myself, my body, my spirituality....  and the rest will just fall into place.

I love being a mommy to my 3 extraordinary kids who are teaching me new things about themselves and MYSELF everyday.  God gave me such special and complex gifts!  

The eyes are the windows to the souls and I love to capture that!

New Year's Eve 2013

Blessed to have spent New Years with nana lass, Greg and April and Of Course Steve.  It was low key but fun!

Cheers to a good but hard year.  Cheers to a healthy family and an HSP free Luke!  Cheers to getting some diagnosis' for Luke and starting our journey to overcoming his learning, social and sensory challenges. Cheers to him  learning to read and excelling in math.  Cheers to Luke's amazing visual memory.... His superpower.  Cheers to Ava for such maturity this year...  she really is the best big sis to Sydney and best lil sis to Luke.... My leader.  Cheers to her for finding her artistic confidence and excelling in that and writing!  She amazes me every day. Cheers to Ava for no more training wheels and moving up a level or 2 in gymnastics! Cheers to Sydney for learning to talk in sentences this year!  She has really turned a lot of corners and is just the cutest little 3 year old I know!  Cheers to her for moving back in her bed, and cheers to her Sass, confidence, and passion. Cheers to our sweet little Graycie and of course Mr. PJ. Cheers to yoga, for finding new artistic hobbies, my longest and fastest runs ever, inner peace, and an amazing first year in our new home.  Cheers To Stevo for overcoming a challenging year in work and keeping his head up high.  Cheers to us for being together for half of lives.... 18 years!  I can't wait to see what growth we all have to look forward to in 2014.

Happy 37th bday to mommy

How special am I that I have the best kids and hubby to spend my birthday with?  We ate at my favorite Greek place in mill creek!  I had a great 1 hour run and I got to paint a picture I am doing for our family room,  for most of the day.  It is of a photo I took on Christmas Day of the farm next door.  I am painting on canvas over the photo. Steve bought me a massage that I can't wait to get and the kids bought me a America girl so I can dress up and the hair the way I want.... Haha.  The girls are so particular about theirs!  I guess some big kids never grow up!

Christmas 2013

What a special Christmas we had this year... the first year in our new home.  Nana visited us for a little over 2 weeks and Greg, April and Gavin were here for a week.  We had so much fun that the time flew by way too fast!  We really felt blessed this year for the good health of our family and we were mostly just so fortunate to have the opportunity to spend precious time together.

Santa was too kind this year!  He brought Sydney and Ava a power wheels dune buggy,  the "Green Machine."  Luke got his very own motorized motorcycle that Ava and Mommy like to borrow a lot.  They received razor scooters as well. Sydney received her very own big girl, American girl from Nana that she loves.  Ava received many crafty things.  Luke got the Leap Pad 2 along with some movies, skylanders, mine craft blocks and many other fun Luke kind of toys.  The girls both received veterinarian and doctor play outfits and the Melissa and Doug barn and show horses.

We spent a whole afternoon before Christmas decorating cookies.  We went to the zoo with April and Gavin, spent the day downtown at the Space Needle and the Chihuly museum and brought Greg, April and Gavin to Richmond Beach.  The kids all played together great!

We ran out of time to go sit on Santa's lap at the mall but we did spend some time with him at Redhook Brewery.  Here are a few pictures, more to come soon of all of the festivities.



This was the first time I ever tried to "flood" the icing on the cookies!  I enjoyed doing it!

my special ornament made by Sydney :)

The Nutcracker

This Christmas Eve, I surprised the kids, Nana and Steve with tickets to the Pacific NW Ballet's production of the Nutcracker.  Luke was especially excited because because they were talking a lot about the Nutcracker in his music class this year.  The kids did a great job staying in their seats for the whole musical.  The dancers were all so talented.

My art on imagekind...

As the new Year begins, I will have more time to focus on artwork.  I am uploading images as I have time to work on them to image kind.  This is the site where you anyone can buy prints.  Go to the link  below to check out more :)

The kids are excited that people can buy Mommy's photos and art.  Ava and I drew a picture together that I had printed on photo luster paper and is hanging in her room.  She picked out the fancy frame and is so proud of it.  

http://pamelalassartography.imagekind.com/

Fun with my new lens....

Steve bought me a new macro lens for Christmas!  My other one broke a few months ago so I have been really missing it!

Here are some of my favorite people <3

First snow day in 2 years!

We woke up to snow today!  Luke started school a couple hours late so we played in the snow with our neighbors and built a snowman!

Ava's 5th Birthday Party...

We had a very small and special gathering at American Girl last Wed, the 11th after Luke got out of town.  Ava's closest friends were there.... Nicolas, Pea, Addee and siblings. Of course Luke, Daddy and Sydney were there as well!  Ava got her wish come true as she was able to spend to a Gift card from Nana and extra birthday money from her Aunt Gloria at the American Girl store.  She picked out the biggest horse she could find and a sled dog.  Nicolas gave her american doll the matching Christmas dress that Ava has this year, Pea gave her an AG kitty and pajamas for her doll.  Addee gave her a Monster High Doll.  She was thankful and grateful for her wonderful gifts and to have such great friends!

Luke took this picture!

 

Fun with my new fisheye lens!

All Shy because she didn't want to be sang to :)

 LUKE ATE HIS WHOLE SUNDAE!

Happy 5th Birthday my sweet Ava!

My sweet little girl turned five today. I can't believe the last five years has passed so quickly.  We celebrated Ava's  birthday yesterday with her friends at the American girl bistro.... Pictures to come soon.

Today Ava woke up to a brand-new outfit hanging on her closet with the tall black boots that she wanted.  After we did Hudson sang and many happy birthday we went downstairs and I showed her the cupcakes I made for her to bring it to school.  She really wanted to have puppy cupcakes since she loves dogs. I had researched these really cute ones on familycircle.com.  When she saw them she fell in love with them and picked out which one she wanted for herself and of course she wanted her name on it.  I worked on them for a few hours last night and finished them after she went to bed. They came out really cute and were really not that hard to make, just a little time-consuming.... As could be expected.

Now, we are headed to school so she can go celebrate with all of her classmates, then to lunch with one of her BFF's Nicolas, then soccer. When we get home we will open gifts and go to Red Robin for dinner.