My 11:05 Project

I love to take pictures of my family but I am also the kind of Mommy who always wants my children to look nice in pictures. Most of the pictures I have ever taken are posed & I make sure my girls are wearing something cute & their hair is done (usually) & they are looking, in my opinion, "picture ready". I have begun to realize over the past year that this is an area of sin for me. It's a control issue, which is really just selfishness, pride & selfish ambition, if I'm being completely honest with myself. I have also come to realize that I have extreme fear of man, which is again, just pride, in the area of sinful comparison of how my pictures look. I love to go on photography websites or other friends' blogs & I have been sinfully comparing my pics to others & feeling "inadequate". I realized that this is hindering me in sharing some really precious pictures of my little girls just because I know they don't measure up to the ones my friends take. I have a really nice camera but I just haven't taken the time to learn how to use it properly. I am going to be learning but in the meantime, I am trying (by God's grace!) to not let my pride & discouragement about my own lack of photography skills affect me! I'm trying to grow in the area of humility so I'll be sharing some pics that I would normally think don't look as good as they could. I have the most adorable little subjects to practice on, so I'm having tons of fun learning! : ) The kind of pictures I *like* to take are not really a realistic representation of everyday life with 5 little girls 10 & under but rather what I would "like" for us to look like all the time. I absolutely adore my sweet little girls & no matter what they look like, if they have disheveled bed head, sleepy eyes, a crazy outfit or not-so-neatly-little-girl-painted-finger-nails, they are mine, they are precious & I want to capture these sweet everyday moments because that's what life is all about! So, in an attempt to capture the everyday real life of a 34 year old Mommy who loves God, is crazy IN love with my Hubby, absolutely adores my 5 little girls ages 10, 8, 6, 2 & 4 months, home schools, changes diapers, does laundry, tries to be faithful to have my devotions with God everyday & just really enjoys the sweet & simple mundane of everyday life.......I am starting a little project for myself & I'll be posting it on my blog every once in a while. I decided that every few days I would go around the house & take pictures of my girls at a specific time of day no matter what they are wearing, what they are doing or what they look like. I chose "11:05" am. I chose this time because "11" is my Hubby's favorite number & we have "5" little girls. This is gonna be *real* life folks! : ) If I were really brave.......ahem.......HUMBLE, I would be posting pictures of mySELF, but I'm not that godly yet! I would love to be one day but definitely not yet! : ) I loved seeing what my camera captured today when I was NOT trying to "make it happen" myself!

Amy in the living room!

Ashley doing school!

Abby being really silly!

Ava peeking through her hair!

Anibella happily sucking on her fingers!

I love these 5 little girlies ( & their cute Daddy too, of course!) so much & I'm so grateful to share my plain ol everyday life with my sweet little girls! : )