Being the perfect mother that I am, I drove to the nearest gas station/grocery store I could find.

It happened to be a Walgreens and Hannah asked to eat Starbursts for lunch.  Heck, she could eat 12 packs of Starbursts for all I cared!  We needed food and FAST.

As I quickly surveyed the unfamiliar store, I noticed some starburst-like candy by the register.

Perfect I thought.  We’ll take 290 packs.

And then . . .

I shrieked!

HOLY HANNAH!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!

HI-CHEW my friends!  Have you not read my post about HI-CHEW, the greatest candy in the whole wide world?  (Please, read here!)

I must be doing something right for the universe to plant such wonderful candy at my fingertips in the USA of all places.

Seriously people, you have never tasted a party in your mouth until you try this candy.

We bought LOTS of packs.  We needed them!  I believe in a healthy lunch just as much as the next mom, so I was sure to get a variety of fruit flavors so Hannah could have lots of fruit in her lunch.  :)

David was as equally excited as I was with this gold mine of a find.

The big question is this . . . now that I don’t have to buy 100 pounds of this candy (clearing out every store I can) when I go to Asia, what am I going to buy to put in it’s place?

Honestly, I was telling Hannah about this great candy and how I would bring some back from China in a few months, and now . . .well . . . should I save the luggage space and just visit my local Walgreen’s store on the way home from the airport?

She was there, with no assistant, with TRIPLETS.

(Deep breath, deep breath . . .)

The Lord knows better than to send me triplets because I would never dare to leave the house.  EVER.

Yet, there she was, happy, beautiful, and skinny as ever, with her FOUR kids in tow.

I was excited to see her, yet felt totally inadequate in her supermom presence because I brought my niece along to assist me with my TWO children.  I really prefer the odds of one-on-one versus two-on-one.

Last night as I was working on several images for clients, Hannah walked up to me and said, “Mommy, you are the perfect parent for me.”

WHAT?!

I stopped straightaway and looked at her standing there with her arms outstretched.  I squeezed her and thanked her for telling me that and then she said, “This calls for some celery!”

And then I was all, um, where have I done you wrong?  Celery is not a common food of choice for celebrations, but who am I to tell her any different?  She thinks I’m a perfect parent!

More fun things she said last week:

Thank Thee to live on the earth and to live in life.  (Overheard during one of her personal prayers.)

Jesus, why did you make Emme not walk?  I was just wondering.  (Hannah asking very specific questions in her prayers.)

Mom, I really like living on earth.

One of my favorite conversations with her came last night as well when she said, “Mom, can we go to China?  Kai-lan lives there and they use chopsticks!”

I told her it was too far away . . . it’s further than New York (she knows how long that drive is!) and it would just be too long of a trip to take her right now.  I then told her I was planning a trip there in a few months, but I couldn’t take her. With a sad face she looked at me and said, “Oh.”

I thought for a second and said, “Hey princess!  I’ll bring you some chop sticks!” And she was all, “You will?  Oh you are the NICEST mommy EVER!”

In that moment, I realized for the millionth time that this child was custom made for me.  Not only does she think I’m perfect, but she is totally happy with a booby prize of chop sticks!

I love this kid.

Terrible.  I know.

It’s almost the end of August, and these are the first pictures I’ve taken of my kids.

I know.  Time to gasp.  :)  But seriously, a large part of me felt completely guilty for NOT recording their sweet little faces in almost a month.  I mean, capturing my kids was the whole reason I pursued photography in the first place.

You know you take a lot of pictures when your four-year-old throws her hands up to cover her eyes and says, “MOM!  WHY DID YOU BRING OUT THE REFLECTOR!”

Well, because the lighting called for it.

Without the reflector, the lighting looks like this:

Grey, dark, and dingy.  THIS is not at all what a nice warm summer day feels like!

She tolerated the reflector when she looked away. (Or she may have been so busy and important filling up her pool with cold irrigation water that nothing could bother her concentration.)

I also like taking pictures of my little guy.  He is one handsome fella who can’t say “reflector” yet, so he has yet to lecture me on my equipment of choice when photographing him.

On the other hand, he does ask me, “What are you doing?” about 100 times a day.    Half of the time I feel interrogated (the inflection in his voice is quite convincing!) and I think, “Seriously, YOU ARE TWO!  I shouldn’t have to answer to you!”

But he is such a cute two-year-old.  :)

Today I received a print from Canvas On Demand.  My friend Leigh emailed me a Canvas On Demand coupon for a 16×20 canvas for $25!  (Prints this size usually run about $125.)

If you don’t know if that’s a good deal or not, it’s a STEAL!

The quality and color turned out fantastic!  Click on this link to get a coupon of your own!  You’re going to LOVE it!

• 1-2 hour photo session with me for a family portrait, baby pictures, senior pictures, or engagements
• $100 print credit!
• Purchase any additional prints at 25% off my regular prices (see price list on my website www.emilylesher.com)

What does $100 print credit look like?

• One 20×24 wall print
• Two 11×14 prints
• One 11×14 print, one 8×10, one 5×7, and one 4×6
• One 16×20, one 8×10, one 4×6
• Two 8×10′s, two 5×7′s, two 4×6′s

You can mix and match any size combo up to $100!  This is fun!

September Head Shot Photo Shoot Session $75

Includes three high resolution images on a CD!

Purchase additional prints from your shoot at 25% off my regular prices!

If you are in the Utah County area, contact me at emily@emilylesher.com to schedule an appointment!

Hello Pam.  Thanks for noticing my absence.

Honestly, I’ve got nothin’.

I’ve just come away from a  very, very bad week.  The kind that changes your life FOREVER.  (So you know, heavy stuff.)

To top it off, I was extremely busy with photo shoots last week (check my photo blog cause I’ve been posting there) which was great, but a bit stressful given our lovely week.

Sometimes life SUCKS.  BAD.

A few days ago, I photographed the kids of the dentist who fixed Hannah’s teeth.  During casual conversation with him and his wife, I started crying.

HELLO.  PEOPLE.  CRYING ON THE JOB.

Totally not cool.  Did I mention I don’t know these people?  Yep.  Just met the wife 30 seconds before the shoot and I’ve only seen the dentist while he was working on Hannah’s mouth.

What can I say, I’ve been out of sorts.

I have no juice.  I have nothing to write.

I have audibly reminded myself like a trillion times, “It’s not the challenges you receive in life, it’s how you handle them.”  David asked me why I kept saying that (out loud, to myself mind you) and I told him, “BECAUSE I NEED TO HEAR IT.”

In an effort to help, many people try to think of someone else they know who’s situation was worse than yours, and how things turned around and there was this beautiful ending . . .

Well, let me tell you folks . . .  IT DOESN’T HELP.

I’m not interested in comparing crappy situations.  Those heart warming stories (while nice and all) do not make me feel better one iota.  I know people are just trying to help, but seriously . . . JUST.  STOP.  IT.

I just want to be heard by people I know and trust, and then in some weird twisted way, I feel SO MUCH BETTER when people say. “Seriously, that DOES suck.”  What can I say?  I’m a woman who wants to be heard; the “problem solving” conversations are not helping.

Interestingly enough, earlier in the week I came across this video which I bawled throughout:

And you know what?  I have the most important things in place in my life.  I have a wonderful husband, two darling, healthy kidlets, a  supportive family, and I know God has not forgotten about us.

I have no idea what his plans are though.

Melanie!  Congrats!  You are going to LOVE these clips!

These Daylilies are darling.

And I love this Daisy.

I love this little lady bug!

So, how can you get some of these in your hands?  Easy!  First, you can order directly from the Daisy Ribbons website.  You can use coupon code DAISY to get 20% off your order of $30 or more.  Score!

Second, you can win some right here!  Kelley is very generously giving away 2 of her lovely garden clips of $12 or under to a lucky Emily’s Musings reader.  You have several ways to enter, so make sure you put each entry in a different comment below so I can keep up:

• Go to Daisy Ribbons, pick out your two favorite items and come back here to tell me what they are (Be specific about your choices, because they are what you will receive if you win!) – 1 entry
• “Like” Daisy Ribbons on Facebook – 1 entry
• “Follow” Daisy Ribbons on Twitter – 1 entry
• Place an order on the Daisy Ribbons website – 2 entries

This giveaway will run through Wednesday, August 18th, so hurry and enter!

Amidst all the family fun and activities surrounding my niece’s wedding, I was able to get together with my friends.

We live all over (especially me!) and the stars aligned that night for us to get together.

In this photo: Me, Katie, Ashley, Lindsay, Katie (who lives in CO), and Pam (who lives in AZ).  (We are missing Tricia who lives in Houston and just had a baby.)

It was such a fun night, talking and laughing the night away while eating fried ice cream.

Getting together with these girls was the shot in the arm I needed to keep me going.  It’s been a L-O-N-G four years of medical school, and it was fun to jump into my carefree self and laugh the night away.

She is in pure sleeping bliss.

I also love it when she entertains Dallin in the morning while I try to pull myself out of my deep-sleep-coma.

This kid should be earning an allowance!

She brought in a little step so she could dump toys into Dallin’s crib so he would be happy.  Then, she pulled up a chair, and proceeded to “read” a made up princess story while holding her travel size Book of Mormon.  I love how they are feet to feet.  Hannah is one good little mother-hen around here!