Beth Carter Photography

This week we have had such amazing weather, and my kids have taken full advantage of it.  They have recently made friends with a couple of other boys that live on either side of us, and Sydney just learned how to ride her bike without training wheels, so every day they are outside after school hopping from yard to yard, playing, and riding bikes.  I love it!  Gets them away from the TV and they don’t fight as much with each other when other kids are around. Can anyone else relate to that?  I brought out my camera the other day to capture a little bit of what “after school” looks like right now for them.

Doing homework in the driveway to enjoy the cool breeze….

Playing sword fight with other neighborhood boys…. (forgive the quality of this image, it was shot across two driveways b/c my child wouldn’t let me take his picture in his costume that he dressed himself in!)….

Riding bikes while wearing a Spiderman glove and a pirate’s eye patch (which he took off when he saw my camera)…

Eating Popsicles for snack time….

Creating an obstacle course in the driveway….

You earn points for everything you don’t hit with your bike (hey, I don’t make up the rules)….

Riding a bike with NO training wheels!…

Here’s hoping for more beautiful weather before the Florida heat takes over!

Just for fun, I am committing to try to take better and more pictures of my own kids on a regular basis.  I am guilty of not picking up my “good” camera for my own family…I’m just as happy to use my cell phone or point and shoot to capture moments in my own kids’ lives because it’s easier or more convenient.  But I realized the other day that I’m missing out on so many great opportunities to preserve little moments of their daily lives in a fun or beautiful way, instead of a boring snapshot.  So, I’m going to try to pull out the “big” camera more and more. Hopefully every day, maybe not.  And I’ll share bits and pieces here if you don’t mind, kind of as a way to keep me accountable to this little project of mine. Another photographer and mother who is simply amazing at capturing gorgeous images of her own 5 girls said it best, “I know these few images will help me remember so many of those precious daily moments of family life and motherhood.  I encourage you, mothers … take out your camera, leave it out and take too many photos - you will not regret it.”   This will be my attempt to take too many photos….so I don’t forget.

Ever since Sydney became really good at reading, she loves it!  She even reads in her bed after we say our prayers and tuck her in at night.  Her favorite books are non-fiction nature or animal books.   She knows more about spiders and cheetahs than I would think possible for a 6 year old.  Yesterday I caught her enjoying the awesome breeze outside and reading her AR book in the driveway.