These were taken in March and I am just now getting to fall in love with them. I love so much their interactions with me and each other here. No posing except to say, “Make an Anna sandwich!”
Yesterday as I dropped Drew off at school and drove the back way home down sunny streets I felt so full and happy that this is my life. That they are my children. And that I get to be with them every single day. All of the normal things I do all day long are so very important to them, although they don’t realize it yet because they seem so ordinary. Not all days do I manage to remain so positive. Some days I wake up and wish I could just stay in bed because there are so many things to get done and so many personalities to manage. But once I finish the morning chores and they are at school I know I did the right thing by getting up and cutting those strawberries just so for Anna’s lunch. By helping Mckenna choose just the perfect necklace. (Or two. Or seven.) By hugging Nathan and telling him how awesome I think he is before we get in the car. By making Drew a surprise cup of hot cocoa on a cold morning he is walking to school, and putting it in a fancy coffee to go cup so he feels grown up and cool.
Everyday ordinary things that are so important. Don’t forget it – you are important too.
As I was thinking this, I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes:
Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are… Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect Tomorrow. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in my pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.
– Mary Jean Iron
I have been in the position of wanting more than all the world the return of a normal day, I have dug my nails into the earth, and so I do everything I can to stay in this frame of mind. This quote was a wake up call to me once upon a time.
This must be simmering in me at the moment, because I also talked a bit about all of this in an interview posted on Davina Fear’s blog today in her Women and Business series. If you would like to read it, you can go here.
xo
Tara
PS – thank you all for joining me here, as I make it through day after day of normal.
As per usual, you have written what was in my own heart. It’s so, so easy to rush through each day in an effort to race to the next…but why? Each day has the opportunity to be our best day, filled with memories that will embed themselves in the souls of our children. It’s the little things, it really is. I need to remind myself daily to stop, breath, to give over to the process of just…being. :)
Wow. A recurring theme today. A comment I made on a blog post of mine earlier in the week about not remembering a normal Friday because I was too busy, prompted another blog buddy to post this today…
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HugzBeforeYouGo/~3/yMmAx_-bEb0/ordinary-is-extraordinary-for-lisa-who.html
And the theme so easily echos your sentiment today, that I know it is a message meant for me. My ears and eyes and heart are open.
Thank you!
how is it you can fill me up. from so far away. when i really barely even know you. i feel like i get more support from your words (because we feel so many of the same things) than i do from my own family. granted, my family sucks and i get very little support. they really don’t get it. what it’s been like for me. putting our lives back together. trying to feel…something…anything…again. wanting…really NEEDING the return of happy, good, feelings. i’m sad today, as you can probably tell. i am always full of such mixed feelings. so happy for where we live now. yet so sad because james is not here. i am left to be everything for the boys, to do each of those ordinary things each day. i wish more than anything the boys could have one of our ‘old’ ordinary days back. when their father was alive. life is different. not bad. it will just never be the same. i am trying hard to be grateful. to find a place of happiness. just wanted to tell you i read your post, saw your photos, and had a little mini breakdown right at my desk! lol… maybe because yesterday, james and i would have been married for 19 years. and i tried hard not to let that get the best of me. i’m tired and always oh so much more emotional when i am tired.
love love. you are just one of those people that fills souls.
great post tara! i jumped to the interview and kept smiling and shaking my head a lot as i read it — MUCH (if not all of what you said) resonated with me. you’re an inspiration…
really appreciated reading this! for the encouragement that the normal and ordinary things we do as moms are so important to our kids. i need to be reminded of that as it feels seldom esteemed in the culture i’m surrounded in now. love the quote and interview as well.
Beautiful post!
This is a beautiful post, as always :). Looking at these photos of your children and reading your grateful words, it is so apparent why you are such an incredible photographer. You capture their wonderful connection and spirit! BUT, what makes you special is that you are able to capture this in others, your clients, who you don’t know as well as your family. That is a true gift! Thanks for the smile I’ve got right now.
love the photos and love the post so much. Thank you for being honest + real! I have been a faithful reader for 3+ years!
Love the sentiment in your post. Loving my ordinary days is a quest I am on, also. Have you read the book, Simplicity Parenting, by Kim John Payne? I have read it twice now and am trying to internalize the ideas in the book. Simple, ordinary days are my goal, even on the inevitable crazy ones. Good luck on your continued quest.
Tara, you will never know how that quote is so utterly perfect for me right now. God bless….
Hi Tara, I’m a long-time Tara Whitney blog stalker, first time commenter. I felt compelled to comment today because I came across that quote JUST YESTERDAY and I fell in love with it. Great images.
love the quote. and love the normal. wish we had normal all the time. thanks TARA for having this wonderful thing, this means of communication, so that when we visit… we get happy too. :)
you don’t know me, but i love your photos…they inspire me. i TOTALLY needed that post today, so THANK YOU!
i LOVE these. i love the way drew always looks at mckenna. so much love. you’re such a good mommy….walking another day of normal with you. and loving it ;). xo
how very sweet of a post tara.
isn’t it awesome to see your life
and actually love it for what it is,
right here and now?
love these pix and interactions!
tara
Those photos are just oozing your babies love for each other! They all look so content! And that quote is so great. I love normal days!! Thank you for sharing this :)
I love the way you think and write about life…
I have to share with you that the reverence with which you write of your family and mothering moves me, and inspires me to be a better mother to my own minis. Thank you.
a million happy faces because of this post:)))))
Reading this after my whirlwind of a day in the NICU (as a nurse not a parent) truly has calmed my nerves:) Thanks.
I’m completely in love with that quote. I need to read that each and every day. I think I need to share it on FB! It’s something everyone needs to remember. And your kiddos…too precious. I’m lovin’ the Anna sandwich!
Stunning. I must work harder to cherish every single average day.
thank you thank you thank you……..you have no idea! Seriously. You are an amazing inspiration!
I love normal. I crave normal. Thanks Tara for that awesome quote!
What a refreshing post! I’m crying and I love it. After quite a tough period in my life, I have just started to like “normal” again. I have two small kids and a hubby who works a lot, and is usually away from home most part of the week. I used to LOVE normal. But when kids are small it is so much about caring, cleaning, washing, cooking… – and the things you used to love doing become just c h o r e s…
YES – I can feel that “loving normal” is coming back to me, and this post just helped me a bit on the way. THANKS!
Great photography style. I also believe in bringing out the realness in people through photography. The more fun you have the better the pictures turn out. What some people see as ordinary others see as extraordinary. Much Aloha!
love this entry tara. iron’s quote is one of my favorites too — i’ve had it on my homepage for ages–knowing that eventually ALL of my clients will just “get it.”
another quote you’ll appreciate in the same vein: “Time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life. – by Brian Andreas of the Storypeople
Totally with you Tara. Another absolute Fav quote of mine is from the late great John Lennon and I think it is along similar lines;
“Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans”.
I live so much BY that quote- reminding myself to live in the now, that this is the life we will all look back on as a family as having lived. My coffee cup even says “Love the moment”. These things I am having trouble doing right now. I am struggling with where I am in my life. But having the kids, being able to be mother to them, that is something I do find deeply satisfying. Knowing them; knowing their needs and desires, and yet still learning more about them as they grow.
FIrst of all, I love the Anna sandwich! Everyone’s personalities in those photos are so clear. I can’t believe, either, how photogenic Anna is. The camera loves that girl. And second, I really loved those moments you shared about how you love them in everyday ways: the strawberries, the coffee cups, the necklaces, the comment about awesomeness. The kid in me could totally relate to how special and important those moments really are. And finally, that quote helped place my upcoming weekend in perspective. We’re going away for a few days, just us and rest and conversation and rejuvenation … the quote helped me embrace this opportunity a bit more, to drink it up, to notice the moments, to enjoy the sunshine on my face. My soul needs it. Thank you.
I love this!! One of my most favorite quotes!! :)
this was so pretty, tara. thank you thank you.
oh my goodness, thank you SO much for sharing that quote. It knocked me off balance a bit with how perfect it is!
I have this quote on my refrigerator door so I can see it every day and be reminded. Love these shots of your kiddos.
This was exactly the quote my heart needed to hear tonight with the onset of a quiet summer before us. Thank you so much for sharing such a poignant post!
I love this reminder to love every day – I’m going to endeavour to keep this thought with me on our Bank Holiday Monday! Love your blog SO much :)
I love that quote, Tara! Beautiful! Beautiful images as always too. :)
I am always so grateful when I get hit with a little burst of joy at the ordinary. Thanks for reminding me that they’re out there.
Love, love, LOVE this post, Tara. You make my day brighter with just a visit. Hugs to you and those great kids in the sandwich. oxoxoox
u r good mama ; )
yes YES yes. every single day. :)
This post brought me to tears. Your beautiful children, that fabulous quote. You are an amazing mother…thank you for sharing your normal day with us.
I’ve been a fan of yours since what seems like a forever ago when I clipped out a published scrapbook page called “Kenna’s Quirks.” I was in high school at the time but even in my dumb teenageness knew that you were magnificent. : )
Just when I think that I’m not moving fast enough, not successful enough or just plain not “enough” I stop by here and am reminded that I am, indeed enough. “Just be” is all I need to do. Thank you SO much for that Tara. Thank you for being so much to so many of us just by being you. : )
Love.
one of my favorite quotes. sigh. my heart is full from the reminder. thx.
tara- thank you, you are so wonderful. your sharing helps remind me to keep things in perspective & remember what is truly awesome in life. enjoy this incredible, normal day! xo, liz
Just came across your blog – and it’s wonderful! Gorgeous pictures, too! Definitely and inspiration. :)
So true. A great reminder to treasure every beautiful imperfectly perfect day, reveling in the company of those we love. Passing this quote on to friends today in hopes of inspiring more reflection on the goodness that is in front of us each day.
Awesome post and photos, Tara. Thank you so much for sharing!
Wonderful memories.