Life Lately

Posted on the 16 August 2013 by Sara Maurer @smaurer18
Well hello blogger land! I know, I know, this isa non link up post.  I'll give you all a minute to let the astonishment sink in. ;-)
Life lately has been completely wonderful, with the occasional busy meltdown on my part, but all in all, it's been pretty fantastic. I can't believe the summer is almost over!! Actually, is it terrible of me to look forward to the beginning of school? I love listening to the kids playing in the neighborhood, but, not past 8:30pm. I'm and old fart and I go to bed around that time every night, so, when noisy kids enjoying their summer freedom mess with my sleep, I look forward to them going back to school prison. I swear, one of these days I'm going to turn into that lady that chases the kids away with a broom. I encountered a lady like that once, and she was terrifying.
Anyway.... life has been keeping us incredibly busy! July was packed full of family time, photo sessions, and a lot of running around. The beginning of August has followed suit. I've been scheduling more week night photo sessions vs. weekend sessions, and I think it's worked out pretty well, aside from a few snags.
:::The pros: I get to spend a lot more time with my boys on the weekends! And, I get to sleep in a little...till a whopping 7am..whoo hoo! It's also given me some time to relax, which has been so SO nice.
:::The cons: I am so busy during the week, that I barely get time to spend with the boys. I come home from work, spend maybe 20 minutes there, and then leave for a session. This also involves me getting up earlier in the morning, like 4:30am, so I can get some editing done.
You win some, you lose some, right?  In reality, I'm just trying out different schedules/appointment times to see what works best for me and my family, because I am a mom and a wife first, and my family always comes first, before anything else.
The weather has been amazing the past few weeks in Illinois, and because of the lighter workloads on the weekends, we've been able to spend quite a bit of weekend time outdoors.  I've been trying to get my camera out on a more 'candid' basis so I can take random shots of Ryder and Darren, because really, I don't do that enough!  I'll look back on these pictures one day and be so thankful that I have them!

   Gah, his eyelashes are SO long!  I wonder if I'll always fawn over them?!  

Love this man. :-)


 This little guy LOVES the slide.
Love this picture. :-)And this one...when did my baby get so big?!Seriously....where does the time go...?


I miss taking landscape shots!! I'm going to have to venture out sometime soon to get some new ones to add to my collection. :-)Beaaaaauuuutiful sky.  I can't wait to edit these up a little bit.  These photos are SOOC (straight off of camera) so I can't wait to 'play' around a bit when I get more time.
I think this one will be nice once I figure out how I want to edit it.  I have a vision in my head, but I just haven't had the time to sit down with it yet.
Of course, Ryder had to come investigate.

Cutie pie. :-)
 Can you tell he's allllll boy?!  He loves jumping and running around all over the place!
Tonight, we're taking Ryder out to the Fairbury fair.  Last year wasn't a rousing success, so, I'm hoping he's more into it this year. 
Have a great weekend, folks! Darren and I are having a little date weekend away, and I'm really looking forward to it!
Happy Friday! :-)