pumpkins

he's been coloring pumpkins, spelling pumpkins, talking about pumpkins and dreaming of pumpkin pie.  and finally he joined his class on a trip to the pumpkin patch!  it's that time of year folks, and ashley broomall & co are simply in heaven.

cinderella pumpkins in color or black & white...which is YOUR fave?

xoxo.ash

cool autumn evenings

we are going to make the most of these cool autumn evenings.  they've been a long time coming and we are oh so grateful they are here.

xoxo.ash

pure awesomeness

these are my two guys on their first day of school.  they're so handsome and fun and they don't get much airtime on this here blog.  therefore, i must share these sweet smiles with you all.  i had time to snap just one picture as we rushed out the door that morning and i was pleased as punch to see that it captured their very sweetest sides.  i love these little men.  even when they're tearing my house apart with their killer wrestling moves.

happy almost-hump-day!

xoxo.ash

autumn for breakfast

i am getting achy for autumn to present itself to us here.  one morning last week we woke up to a chilly fifty-something degrees.  the boys practically thought we had moved to the yukon.  {they've adapted to this warm weather much better than i have.}  but it was only a ghost of colder days.  it was gone before lunch time.  the next morning the sun was shining and the a/c was running as i chauffeured them to school once again.

this morning i opened the windows to find that a mist had settled itself over our backyard in the early hours.  it looked like the kind of mist that nips your nose and tingles your cheeks.  it looked like it could be autumn out there.  so i set off to the kitchen to make a breakfast fit for the season, not daring to open the door and find that the beautiful fog was actually warm and soggy.  in our mostly empty dining room, we sat around the table and enjoyed homemade cinnamon raisin oatmeal, orange slices and cinnamon toast.  it was delicious and i still haven't opened a single door.  i decided i should make autumn for breakfast more often.  it might just pull me through these final days of slummer.

happy weekend.

xoxo.ash

good morning sunshine

yesterday morning after dropping the boys off for school, k and i came home to the most beautiful sunlight shining through the trees beside the house.  being that i haven't taken her ten-month-old photo yet, i saw this as the perfect opportunity.  so i ran inside and grabbed my camera and got some sweet shots of her all bathed in the morning light.  bed head and all!

oh how i love this sweet baby girl!  i haven't updated the blog like i promised and my baby is ten months old.  how does time get away from me so quickly?!

happy wednesday!

xoxo. ash

it's me, just checking in

hello friends!

i have so much catching up to do on the blog right now.  our arizona trip was a huge success!  i enjoyed it so much that i have really been struggling to get back into the swing of things at home.  with school starting soon it seems like my plate is good and full but i'll be squeezing in time here and there to share some of my favorites from my undocumented sessions.  including my session with this sweet doll.

i hope august has met you all without a hitch. 

happy tuesday!

xoxo.ash

a good six years.

it's hard to believe that i have been a mother for six years and one day.  but it's true.  this sweet boy celebrated his sixth birthday yesterday.  we woke up early to pickup fresh donuts for breakfast.  he took his brother and cousin along with him to lunch and a movie.  he has been so anxious to see madagascar 3 and boy did he love it!  all day long he has been repeating "chimichanga!  these pillows are filled with baby birds!"  i laugh hysterically every single time.  we finished off the evening with family, pizza, gifts, cake and ice-cream and some good old fashioned fun outside with his new bike and roller blades.  it was a good day to turn six.  and it's been a good {and by good i do mean awesome} six years.  and i love this boy like crazy!

embrace the new normal

here's my little mini photog in training.  you can see the focus on his face can't you?  i love this boy!

it seems like for the last five years i have been telling myself "after such and such event, life will get back to normal."  normal being not so crazy busy.  it finally hit me yesterday that there is a new normal around here and that new normal is completely, insanely busy.  so now that i have made this profound realization maybe i can work on embracing it.

we are gearing up to sell our house right now which will mean attempting to keep a house looking show worthy while tending to two wild boys and a baby girl who happens to love momma's full attention all the time.  we'll be building a home out on eight acres of gorgeous property right next door to my brother and his family.  all of us, including tilly pup, are so thrilled for all of the opportunities this will open up for us.  i am definitely excited and definitely a little overwhelmed at all that we will be taking on in the next several months.  so have patience with me please.  i may disappear for spells at a time but i'll be back!

happy monday!

xoxo. ash

oh what do you do in the summertime?

one of my favorite things about the summer months is that i can corral my two little hoodlums out into the backyard after supper and watch as they burn off all kinds of energy.  it works out well for all of us because they get to enjoy themselves and i get to enjoy an easy bedtime.  it's a win win!

what are some of your tricks to staying sane in the summer?

xoxo. ash

a mother's heart

{saturday morning baby blues}

it's been almost six years since i first became a mother.  my mothering methods continue to change.  it seems i've had to make adjustments with each of my children to be the mother that they need.  it's amazing to me how i can feel the same amount of love for each of them, yet i love them in different ways.  gage is the boy who made me a mom, yet garrett and kelsie have both played their part in shaping me into the mother that i am today.  motherhood is truly such a blessing to me.

happy mother's day to all of you women who carry around with you a mother's heart.

xoxo. ash

p.s.  i did a four part mother's day post on my personal blog last month.  if you would like to read it you can start here.

reading a book print

this is a photo i took while surveying the property that our future home will be built on.  it was a beautiful evening and the sun was setting with brilliant colors.  i felt like i could very well be experiencing an elizabeth bennet moment.  are book characters real people to me?  certainly.

i adore a good book.  i adore a character who i can fall in love with.  and that is where the idea for this print came from.  i've seen this quote floating around the web at one point and i just thought it was perfect for this photo.  now to have it printed and to find a happy place to display it in my home.

what's your favorite book?  i have too many to name but i can tell you that i do thoroughly enjoy all of jane austen's work.

it's nearly the weekend!

cheers. ash 


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