I’ve had this idea in my head for months now. I wanted to create a series of images that capture our family engaged in play. We have a spot in our house by a big picture window that has gorgeous afternoon light. We often gather as a family around that little area because of the sense of calm it resonates. For this series, I captured one image each day for three days depicting the memories we create there. Here are the three images and the stories behind them:

I am so inspired by my husband. He has so much natural talent for so many things. One creative outlet he has is playing the guitar. My son has always been fascinated by my husband’s music; we even used to lull him to sleep as my husband gently strummed away. His favorite word is “goo-gar” and shouts it ecstatically every time he sees anything that slightly resembles a guitar. I was lucky enough to find a toy guitar at a local market and scooped it up immediately. My son loves his little “goo-gar” and plays it all the time. Often, when my husband comes home from work, My son immediately runs to his guitar, picks it up and insists his daddy gets his so they can play together. The following moments melt my heart. I hope he continues his love for music and I’ll be able to capture an image just like this one in 10 years when my son is grown and can play beautiful music just like his father.

Besides music, another pastime my son enjoys is reading. I have pictures of him at three months old holding a book and staring at it in wonder. He’s been like that ever since. His room has a bookshelf that is overflowing with books and he loves to read them all. He’s now at the stage where he will pretend to read his books aloud to himself. It tickles me so much to watch him recite his favorite stories in his own toddler language. I hope he continues his love for reading. Both my husband and I love to read and love surrounding ourselves with books of every genre. Some of our favorite dates are going to the local bookstore for coffee and browsing. I look forward to bringing our son there in the future.

I love to watch my son color. I have always loved art. I used to spend hours drawing six-legged cats and dragons when I was very little. My school papers are covered in sketches since that’s how I could pay attention in class. In high school, my best friend and I even started our own mural painting business – and made good money for teenagers! Drawing and painting have always been my first loves, my comforts in dark times, my emotional outlets and mediums for my creativity. I hope my son can find the same power in art as I did at such a young age. It is truly a gift to be able to transfer onto paper all the wonders that are stored in your imagination.

I hope you enjoyed this little peek into our lives. I am framing all three and hanging them in our family room right next to our magic spot. Even though these images have no smiles or eye contact, they speak so much more about my family than a posed picture…. They really do tell a story.

This family was a blast to hang out with. It was pretty much impossible not to get a picture full of laughs. I enjoyed spending a Saturday evening with you guys. Enjoy your sneak peek!