Gretchen Fawn Photo - part of the Snoqualmie Moms Support Collective

My son and his happy go lucky, usual smile!  As he grabbed a little garden stick, something came alive inside him. His inner warrior came to life right before my eyes. He went around slaying all the dragons and saving all the princesses on our walk. It was nice to have brought my camera now that I am doing a 365 photo challenge!  We have had our walks rained out the last few days after a particularly hot and dry summer, it's been a huge shift. The energy that my boy has now is a little overwhelming at times. How am I going to help him use it up when it's raining every day? I don't mind at all walking when it's wet out and we have pretty good rain gear. But when it's torrential downpour and windy blowing the rain in your face the whole time, I know my son won't be much for running around.  And mamas, I have been meaning to ask some of you how do you keep the rain out of the boots? Both of our regular pair of rubber boots and our bogs have gotten rai...

My kids got me up at the er, ungodly? hour, or is it Godly hour?, of 6am today. Really guys, no one needs to be up at that time of day. Why can't we all snuggle in until 8? That would be perfect in my book.  Alas, since little munchkins, Daddy and both sisters had to be up for work and school, I dragged my tired self into the kitchen to make them all a wonderful, healthy breakfast. But really, the truth is, I dragged my tired self in for a french press of coffee and I also made them eggs which the girls won't eat. Me and the boys, including Daddy, gobbled up our eggs and enjoyed the semi-silence while teradactyl baby, who only screams at the top of his lungs as a way of communicating something that we cannot figure out, shoved eggs into his precious little mouth. It was great. All 5 minutes of it!  At 7:10 I had completed everything in my morning routine and had nothing but time and more coffee to urge me on.  Everyone headed off to their places and I had about 12 hours...

Let's be honest here for a minute. The days are sometimes long with kids at home aren't they? I'm trying to think of a few things to keep the kids occupied sometimes so I can get to the things I need to do! My yard needed a bunch of pruning, my pots needed watering and so much more. I had these sticks sitting on the porch all summer and this day, I thought of making a quick teepee! I grabbed something to hold the top together and some clamps and my son was delighted! I was too since it gave me a few minutes to do some stuff! You know what I mean!   I'm hoping some summer comes back around. It's been such an abrupt switch this year. I feel so cold! My bones are cold. I was saying I was ready for some rain, after all it had been over 60 days without rain here. Must have been some kind of record. Now I am cold and whiney. Rain, rain go away, come again another day......  I made the best of the rain today and took my 3 year old puddle jumping! Stay tuned, those images...

  We packed up the kids and the car to it's maximum capacity and headed a few hours out of our way to see the Tree of Life at Kalaloch Campground in the northern part of Washington State. After being in said car with two teens and two littles, I wasn't entirely sure this was a brilliant idea, but we were in it for the long haul and made a day of it. As I am writing I remember my husband Joe climbing on top of the car to find the sweaters we needed and I took a picture. I will post that on my FB page(https://www.facebook.com/Gretchenfawnphoto/?hc_ref=ARTetT4UihadwmnU5eDZV8ivaujnHSeEBsHh3wSRFX2715O8GlTkc7KxOAyBv2nLQDQ) for you to see. Sometimes getting to the place takes it out of me and my energy is all drained, but I purposed myself to get some pictures of our family and try to enjoy the time we had at this amazing place. My 3 year old jumped in with vigor. Isn't that like a three year old? They may have a hard time, get in trouble, whine and complain, but then be totally...

Grandpa and Gramma stopped over for some of their stuff they left here when they were in the process of moving last week. As soon as Daddy came home little man remembered the geode he had been waiting to smash with him that Grandpa and Gramma had sent home last weekend. I said, "Go for it!" knowing I wanted little man out from under foot for ten minutes so I could finish up making the dinner.  I am glad I went out to see and grab my camera, I get shy or lazy sometimes, even after being a photographer for over 20 years, but I never regret taking the pictures. As always, today was no exception. Little mans sweet excitement with Grandpa and Daddy was fun to see.  Actually, my favorite part was when little man insisted he get to swing the hammer and Daddy gave a very, very hesitant ok while nervously giggling. And also as soon as it cracked open after 10-15 minutes of smashing, little man wanted to crack it again! Nothing like that excitement. Makes you want to do it again and ...

             Ten months old and this guy cannot eat enough. He loves tomatoes and beans for now.   I stumbled across the idea of freelensing recently when looking at another photographers images and noticed something different about them. Freelensing allows for some unusual focus points and light leaks. It also gives an extra dreamy feel to the images which become something of a game to see what you can get. The downside is it opens your camera to danger and you could drop your lens. Yikes! I will have to get some gear I don't care about too much to try this more, but these I took with my new camera and lens.  I do love them. Baby sits here each meal, to my left side at the table in his little booster seat on his ancient  step up chair. It happens to be pink but we don't care about that. It works and it's a short season till he climbs up to the table in a chair with his brother. We are by far function over fashion here at our hou...

  Some days I wake up and I just know my soul needs to leave the four walls of my house and go to the Ocean. This was one of those days. My husband was out of town for the weekend and I had had a really hard night with the baby. My 3 year old knows no bounds to his energy! So to the beach, I shouted, to the beach!!   We have a favorite little park near the beach at Alki that we were able to park at and my Dad was able to come over from Burien and meet us too. We strolled down the pathway along the water my tiredness took a back burner. I felt mostly relaxed and I was so happy to breathe in the fresh, not smokey air that we had had a week previous in our area due to wildfires and also relieved to be cooler. I had a jacket on and after this hot, dry summer, it felt great!  I already shared my baby son's sad face on Facebook when my Dad put some rocks on his feet. He fell apart and couldn't recover. (see that here: https://www.facebook.com/Gretchenfawnphoto/posts/510091602...

It's the simple things in life that we love to remember through our images.   His hands wrap gently around his little boy. Our surprise baby. His smile lights up the room and his sisters adore him and covet his beautiful long eyelashes. His older brother is just chomping at the bit to play with him. Oh the day when he will run and play and ride bikes. It can't come soon enough. His Daddy scoops him up in his safe, loving arms and carries him around as he does things. He's grown more patient and more willing as an experienced Father of five kids. I love him more everyday and when I realize and remember this journey we have been on for over 20 years together, my heart fills afresh with love and blessings.    Each day I pray for his little being to love the Lord. To grow into a man who loves his family with his whole heart and is a blessing to others. I wonder sometimes what he will look like when he gets to be a teenager. Will he be awkw...

The boys and their tonka trucks  They sit together and consider in their wee minds the way the wheels spin. They don't know why, but it's drawing them together and their mama loves it! These small moments amidst the whirlwind of feeding them, cleaning them up, potty training, teaching them to be gentle and so much more that goes into my mothering day, make me so happy. It's a small glimpse of where they will be in a year or sooner. Playing together. Laughing, fighting, rough housing. How can I be the momma of two boys now after raising my three girls? It seems like a dream still after all these years of waiting and wanting another baby, now I have two!    Sure, I get overwhelmed, I get tired and I drink a lot of coffee, but often, I look down at the hair at the nape of their necks this curls up just slightly, and I sigh with the feeling of immense blessing. Of deep heart desires I never thought I would have gifted to me. Being a mom of older kids and grown kids al...

It's been a whirlwind of the last three years. After trying, praying and waiting for another baby, we were shocked to have the arrival of our son, ten years later. And then we were pleasantly surprised with another baby boy. That brings our totals to three girls and two boys. What a journey this life is. All the while, I stay home, have homeschooled, but am not currently, and run my photography business. Now that our littlest is approaching a year old, my hiatus is over and I am ready to start capturing your amazing family, senior session, real estate and more! I am redoing my blog, my website that had my domain name stolen. Please ignore the Gretchenfawnphotography.com as you will see, it's been hijacked. The new sight is at www.Gretchenfawnphoto.com and I hope to have it live within a week or so!  Our oldest daughter and her boyfriend are far right. They live about 40 minutes away. The rest of the crew is at home. Two in school and two at home with me. It's quiet an amaz...

Do you ever have those moments where you just gotta grab your camera and capture the sweetness that is permeating the little moment you're living? Last Friday I was home with my boys, outside eating a sandwich and trying to get through the day until an early nap for my son, who was falling apart from a late, hot night before when I looked over at the baby. He was just happy sitting there in the shade of the lilac bush smiling and playing with his tonka trucks. He loves to spin the wheels and he wiggles his toes in the most endearing way. He's almost ten months old, yet he still isn't crawling. Which I do have to admit is mostly really wonderful! He's safe for now, but when I turn around one day, he will certainly be crawling for a cord or penny. (he got one the other day). Life, in all it's moments, high and low, brings those unexpected sweet moments and this mama is gonna grab onto them!  Spinning the wheels.  Crossed little feet. he's started sig...

After going back to babyhood after a ten year break (my kids being 18, 14 and 10 when little guy joined us), I will never be the same! My heart is so tender at times and so instantly angry at other times. My naturopath tells me this is due to hormones and their paths and aging! Oh yes, 40 knocked at my door and what could I do, but welcome it in. Life truly is a journey and as I have wished for as long as I can remember, I long to enjoy all the moments I can despite exhaustion and weariness as my passengers. Going back to teaching my little boy everything really delights my heart! I love to have him repeat my words. My daughters also love to delight in his sweetness. It's funny to see my 11 year old antagonize him like the pecking order is so ingrained in children and animals for that matter, that she can't help herself despite her age. I sometimes ask her how old she is and for her to think over what she should be doing compared to a 1 year old and it's like something that...