where the magic happens.

taking pictures of life with our kids generally falls into one of the following scenarios:

1. the kids are dressed decently, teeth brushed, hair somewhat tamed (i.e., like on a sunday when we’re headed to church) but the setting is not so very nice.  like our rather uninspiring ‘hood.
2. the kids are NOT dressed decently but rather are wearing random playclothes, teeth may or may not be brushed, hair might have been tamed the day before, but we happen to be in a nice, inspiring, uncluttered setting.
3. the kids are still in pjs, one has poopy pants, teeth definitely not brushed, hair hopelessly disheveled, AND we are in a downright unpleasant setting.  like in our house at nighttime with the dark wood paneled walls and the red living room carpet in all their full glory.  

any one of the three above scenarios is where our daily life regularly happens.

getting the whole family into a hypothetical scenario 4 where all are dressed in coordinated, complementary clothes, all are sparkling and clean and smiling, and we’re in a beautiful setting perfect for picture taking?  well, that would take nothing short of a herculean effort.

and my back just can’t take herculean efforts these days.

my point, and i do have one, is that the memory-making magic of our family life happens in the  disheveled mess of our daily life.  poopy pants and all.  it’s those little daily moments that are here today but gone tomorrow that i want to remember forever which is why i keep trying to capture the little details that make up the story of our family. and so i’d like to remind us all to find ways to savor  the fleeting moments of everyday life because that’s where the sweetest and best stories are.  🙂

anyway, that’s all’s i gotta say about that.  and with that, i bring you shots from our recent lark on the campus at ucla which happened to fall under scenario 2.  it was a fun afternoon where the kids got to play, i got to shoot them (with my camera, of course!), and we got to spend some quality time being together.

it’s a bird!  it’s a plane!  no, it’s super-mikey!

this is my allie-girl.  she’s very girly.  and sweet.

this is my baby.  she on occasion needs to ruffle my feathers.  just to keep things interesting.

this is my boy who has always liked to watch water.

occasional feather-ruffling aside, this one makes her daddy laugh like no one else can.

she also throws in some sugar now and again just to remind us why we like her so much.

my rag-tag little crew.  i just wouldn’t be me without them.

and this is how my shadow (including the 7-month belly) looks lately.

my dear hubsters and his iphone.  it’s a love-hate thing.  more love on his part, more hate (wow, such a strong word!) on mine.

believe it or not, lauren took this shot!  (with mikey’s assistance in holding up the camera for her). not bad, eh?

this is my son who is growing up much too quickly.  he now has two other loose teeth wiggling and jiggling around in his head.

hey yo, yo, yo!  wanna see my latest dance moves?

first you lean it to the left.

then you slide on to the right.

now you shake your little booty.

and throw your hands up in the ai-yeh.

now screeeeam!!!

word to your mother.

peace out.