I have really enjoyed reading all these Single Parent Contest emails.  I’m feeling just a tad bit inadequate and pathetic to be honest.  😉  If you haven’t entered the single parent in your life you only have SIX more days to do so!  To learn about the contest and find out how to enter click HERE.

MJW Photography will be closed from April 18-21 as I travel to Oregon for a photographers retreat. I am so excited!  🙂

If you are interested in booking a spring session email me soon.  All April weekend spots are now full, but there is still weekday room.  To find out how you can earn free session credit click on the red heart at the left or HERE.

With all this rain yesterday and today I need some sunshine….

Last summer we bought one of those five dollar water camera’s for Ben to use.  He took it with him each time we went to White Water and our area pool.  I really didn’t expect much from it, with it being five bucks and all.  I figured we’d get the pictures back and see bits and pieces of us that were blurry and dark.  I was kinda right.  🙂  I mean they are very grainy images, but what can you expect from an 800 ISO water camera right?  What I didn’t expect is that they weren’t really dark and there were even a few that looked good!  And if you haven’t figured it out by now it took us this long to get it developed.

After looking through these I’m really wanting summer to get here.  That feel of sunlight hitting your face poolside and the smell of fresh cut grass…okay, I could do without the allergy reaction from the cut grass.  You get the picture right?  🙂

So here is to summertime.  May it come quickly and last a while.

I pray I never know what it’s really like for my brother to be a single parent.  I’m so thankful that not only do my children have a mom and a dad, but that my husband is so active in their lives.

My niece, Taylor Jade was born early at just 24 gestational weeks.  Not something anyone thinks will happen and not something that could have been prevented.  Not only was my beautiful niece born into this world much too early, but she came with a host of problems.  Taylor had a hole in her heart, partial cleft palate and since she was not full term not everything was fully developed.  She was months behind in every milestone and had to have therapy.  It was absolutely heartbreaking to see her walking around pulling her tiny oxygen on wheels.  She had this tank until her heart could be fixed.  Despite so many obstacles God granted our family a miracle.  Taylor will have her eleventh birthday this May.  Isn’t she beautiful?

This is my inspiration for my single parent contest.

I think about my life with 3 children.  Doing laundry, cleaning the house, making sure homework gets done.  I think about getting my kids involved with activities, giving them my undivided attention.  I think about running a business.  Then I imagine not having my spouse to fill in the blanks.

If you are a single parent or if you know one that could really use some good news pass this post along.  I want you to email me their story.  Tell me about their life as a single parent.  I will be accepting stories throughout the entire month of March.  I’ll be looking for these stories to be genuine and heartfelt.

What will they win you ask?  I’m so glad you asked.  🙂

Like last year the winner will receive a complimentary session along with a** $500 print credit!** This credit may be used towards prints, proofs, albums…whatever.

BUT….

This year I’ve gone one step farther.  Trudi, at Illusions for Hair in Bentonville is giving the winning single parent a complete hairstyle.  Cut, color, whatever you want.  Not only that, but she will also do the children’s hair!  My kids and I go to Trudi every month and I gotta tell ya…she’s good!  She even has a stash of suckers in the top middle drawer.  😉

See, told you my kids love her.  🙂

So start sending in those emails!  In the subject line write ‘single parent contest’.  Here is a sample of last year’s winning session.

Can’t wait to start reading!

M

I have to admit this week was very dull around here.  Well, except for the day my toddler temporarily went backwards in potty training and I spend the day scrubbing both bathrooms top to bottom.  Did I mention I was sick with a fever and nauseous from the antibiotics while scrubbing toilets?  Yeah, it’s been THAT kind of week around here.

Yesterday was Ben and Abby’s Valentine parties at their school which I promised to get to.  Ever hear of that expression ‘Life happens’?  Well It did because Levi, the toddler started with a small fever.  This is when the whole backwards potty training started to make sense to me…he must not feel good.  Needless to say I couldn’t take a possibly sick child into my son and daughters class right?  I swore I’d never be that parent, you know, the one that doesn’t care if your kid gets sick?  So I didn’t go.  I tell myself this is okay because we got to do the whole Valentine card/box thing the night before.  Of course Abby’s class was going to make their boxes as part of their party so she only had to write out her Valentine’s, which she separated the dog cards out to give to the boys only.  (I’m trying not to read too much into that gesture.)  Ben on the other hand got to make a box.  He wanted something ‘cool’.  You know, like the iPOD looking one that his friend made.  Seriously?  Whatever happened to sticking hearts all over your box?  So this is where dad comes in because I can’t make stuff like that.  At all.  He ended up with, wait for it, a DS box.  Yes, I know.

🙂

I think tonight I may take the oldest out for a date night, just him and I.  Undoubtedly we’ll end up at Borders because we both love that place!  They hold most of my spending money I must admit.  My only complaint is that they don’t stay open real late, you know, like til midnight.  How relaxing would that be?

🙂

So here are some fun little iPhone Polaroid pics I snapped over this last week.  A few may need some explaining.  The top middle, if you look at what he is holding.  Ya, that would be a whole lot of Levi’s hair on UPS tape.  Boys will be boys right?

🙂

🙂 Til next week 🙂

Mindy

MERRY CHRISTMAS!