You know you're a good Daddy when..

..you love Jesus more than anything.

..you pick up the children from school, more than Mommy does.

..you watch boy movies with our boy-man.

..you read the Happy Hollister series to our children.

..you plan.save.work your fingers to the bone. so we can have a family vacay.

..you work 3 jobs so we can survive, and so Mommy can be a mom.

..you recognize when you make a mistake, and quickly remedy it.

..you are a responsible, hardworking, godly man thus teaching our son how to be one, and teaching our daughter how to recognize one.

..you tuck our children into bed most every night, complete with snuggles/wrestling/and prayers. And sips of water. And ice packs.

..you take excellent care of Mommy when she is sick (which is alot) and little eyes are watching that compassionate care-taking.

..you don't eat gluten, even though you could, because the rest of our family can't.

..you know that our son likes Root Beer, and our daughter likes Pink Lemonade.

Honestly, the list is nearly endless. These are the things that are freshest on my mind right now. I didn't get you a card, but thought a virtual declaration would be fitting.

Man alive... I love you. We have been.through.some.STUFF. But there is Redemption and it is amazing. And I wouldn't want another soul to be the father of our 2 squishes that we have been blessed with.

Until next year, when the list grows longer...

This day..

I keep reading how fast everyone feels June has snuck upon us. It has. There is a quote I love that keeps running through my brain.. "The days are long, but the years are short."

Isn't that so so true?

I am sitting here, listening to the quiet hum of the air conditioner. My desk is a mess. There is a book on the dangers of MSG I have yet to crack open. There are papers scattered about. My daughter left her tiny white bowl here instead of placing in the sink. She is easily distracted.. much like her mamma. The bowl has little dots of blue, red, and yellow from her handful of m&m's she was blessed with for dessert.

Sidenote... I'm a big proponent of little treats a couple of times a week. My children are happily satisfied with 20 dark chocolate chips, or the rare handful of m&m's. May it always, always be so. :)

I don't have a huge theme for this post. I was simply overwhelmed with much love for my sweet, ordinary, wonderful family. I have thoughts such as these all the time, and figured I should "pen" them lest I forget.

Thoughts like..

My pre-teen boy-man.. who is the most handsome thing I have seen. His heart is so tender.. I am already afraid of what I shall have to restrain myself from if some girl dare to break it. On the flip side, helping him not become a heartbreaker himself will be a worthy goal. Loving the fact that after a delish BBQ Chicken Salad dinner, he wanted to go play on the elliptical for 20 minutes. Loving even more that he still thinks it's playtime, and not mandatory.

My "8 year old going on 13" sassypants of a daughter, who also has a sweet tender little heart. I fear even more what I shall do to the boy who chooses to casually play with that fragile precious thing. Sometimes (read multiple times a day) her tenderness gets buried under a loud voiced tyrant.. Yay... ;) Jesus obviously knew I needed to pray more.. thus He blessed me with her. Oh what He has taught me. Love that she came home from school and put on one of her fancy dresses to get ready for a concert. She wrote her own song, put on her heels, and was too adorable for words. She is quite shy, so the fact that she feels comfortable enough to do that warms me.

My hubs, who is so stressed right now. Who melts me when he gets a certain tiny smile on his face. It's the smile that makes him look about 5, and I just want to hug his neck off when I see it. He is all man though, so he might not be too thrilled I feel that way... ;) Loving that he loves my super healthy chocolate pb banana smoothies and requests one nightly. (Recipe to follow)

Please don't mis-read. We here at the Tolson house have had more ups and downs in our 12+ years as a family unit that I would care to explain. In fact, we are in a down moment as I type. But, I am still choosing to be grateful for the great things. God's blessings can still be found, they are just harder to locate sometimes.

So, that is this day. Thanks for letting me share a little of it with you. :)

How was your day?

Chocolate PB Banana Smoothie

1 cup of Ice
1 cup of milk (we use rice milk)
2 tablespoons Organic Natural Peanut Butter
1-2 Ripe Bananas (depending on how banana-y you like it)
2 tablespoons Organic Dark Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Dash of Stevia (optional)

That's it.. pop in a blender and blend until smooth. I came up with this as an alternative to the highly caloric Jamba Juice Chocolate PB Smoothie.

Feelings..

Feelings are lame sometimes. I am such an emotional person, so I feel alot. Every minute of every day, I'm hyper aware of feelings.


Have I hurt someone's feelings?
Have they hurt mine?
How are my kiddos feeling?
I wonder what that sad person on a certain blog was feeling?


Feeling, feeling, feeling.

Why did God make us with such enormous capacity to feel. He doesn't just flippantly create things. There is always a purpose. So, I have been asking myself lately.. what is the purpose of feelings?

I feel overwhelmed, almost unbearably, when I feel deeply the love God has for me.

I feel heart broken to my very core when I hear a story of hurtful words said to one of my children.

I feel angry when I see a human being casually hurt another human being.

I feel desperate when I don't see any progress made in the area of my health.

The truth is.. our lives can be completely over-run by our feelings. Isn't that why the Bible talks about the heart being deceitful? We can't trust it.. it doesn't always tell the Truth. Knowing this.. it can almost drive me mad when I hear people say follow your heart. Really? Because, quite frankly, my heart is really untrustworthy when it comes to making wise decisions, and no.. I would not like to follow my heart. I would like to follow Jesus. And trust... that when my feelings are likely to suffocate me, there is power in leaning on His Truth, His Word. I can claim His Truth in any situation, instead of leaning into my own feelings. Lean into Him.

Oh, there is no doubt that it is hard. Maybe one of the most difficult things this emotional basket case of a woman has overcome. But by God's mighty hand, living in the midst of untruthful feelings is becoming a thing of the past. An old me. God is making a new me, and I could feel more joyful about that. :)

How about you? Thoughts?

Gluten Free 5 minute dinner..

You know those days where you just don't have the stamina to cook dinner?? Which is mostly every day for me... haha. Well, tonight was one of them. My delighful daughter woke up at 1am with a bad headache and decided not to go back to sleep until about 5am.

Guess who woke up with a sleep deprived migraine??

That's right.. ME! :)

I think the weather must have had something to do with both of us getting ill, but all is well now, so I am going to stop complaining about it!!

If you know us, you will know that we have been gluten free for about a year and a half. It has been a challenge to find easy suppers that this tired/migrained/fibro-flared up momma can make. I praise the Good Lord for Trader Joes and that gf living has become quite mainstream. It makes it a bit easier. :)

So, imagine my delight at finding a gluten free, preservative free, nitrate free roast beef hash that isn't too expensive! The current price is $2.49 a package and I love that! I mean, I might have danced in the Trader Joe's aisle a bit over this one. It may even have been to a classic Beach Boys song, but one cannot be certain.

And I may have embarassed my children in the process, but really, isn't that my job as a mom??

So, when the migraine/fibro flare knocks at my door, and my sweet hubby is working (read.. I can't call him to go and get In N Out..) I love having a 5 minute, healthier than fast food meal at the ready.

Honestly, I flash fried the organic eggs, wilted the organic spinach and warmed up the hash, and it was on.

And my sweet son inhaled it and proclaimed me the best cook ever... Poor unaware lovie.. :)

Here's a link to the pic. Happy Eating!!

Shout out to Gluten Free Girl...

Well, I sat down to write a post a few hours ago, and I am just now getting to it.

Forgive me blogspot.. I was enraptured by reading about other people and what they are doing today.

I love this time of year. My business side has usually slowed down considerably from the Christmas madness, and I can breathe, take photos when I want, nap, re-connect with friends, cook, read, just enjoy living. I mean, who wouldn't like this season??

One of the blogs I love to read is GlutenFreeGirl's site. When our family first went gluten free, hers was the first site to pop up in my searches. She is such a phenomenal writer that I spent a week devouring her blog from start to finish. And then, I went out and got her book. I'm not sure I would have made the transition as easily if it weren't for people like her.. willing to share their journeys, the ups and the downs.. so I could learn and grow too. Thanks Shauna!

I wish we still lived in WA, so I could go meet her. Maybe one day.

If you are gluten free, beginning, or seasoned.. take a moment to stop by her site. It is a veritable wealth of gf knowledge freely shared. :)

Mean Girls..

Let me paint you a picture.

7th grade. Chubby girl. First chair flute player. Thick straight frizzy hair with a wall of bangs that I made my mom perm every 6 weeks thankyouverymuch. I had such a poof on the top of my head.. girl, I was a mess. Needless to say, I was a walking target for meanies.

However, I was put into Weight Watchers at age 11, (oh, trust me.. I'm in therapy for that!) grew a few inches and over one summer became the skinny popular 8th grader. My bangs had grown out a bit, and I replaced flute with drama club. I even was class speaker at graduation.

Yep.. I peaked in the 8th grade. True story.

Sad sad sad true story.

High school was even sadder than 7th grade. My weight came back on with a venegance and I returned to the social suicide that was "Organized School Music Programs" only this time it was show choir. I mean, I could not get any hotter my people.

Debbie Downer moment, if I may.. I believe this is one of the moments when I realized that, in this twisted culture of ours, if skinny=good, then chubby=bad. Math was not my forte, but that was one simple equation I could figure out. Oh, how I desperately wish I could go back to that sweet little 15 year old and tell her a few things.

Why the outpouring of emotions tonight on my unsuspecting blog?? Well, for one, I am in the full throes of pms. Yay! TMI?? Secondly, my sweet squishy 8 year old daughter is dealing with a mean girl of her own. And boy, I have never wanted to pick a fight with a mean girl more than I do right now, even if she is only 9.

The short of it.. this little girl has been harassing my little girl for almost 2 years, off and on. We have constantly tried to encourage our bubba to stand up for herself in hopes we can teach her some life lessons about how life is hard, Love is the answer.. blah blah blah.. and up until this point, it was mostly playground hierarchy.

However, when said mean girl gets an entire table of 2nd graders to make fun of my daughter over her lunch contents? And my daughter comes home telling me an entire table accused her of passing gas because she was eating a smelley hard boiled egg?? And she doesn't want to eat eggs ever again?? And mean girl told people at the table to smell my daughter's booty?? Umm.. Mamma Bear (and Papa Bear for that matter) are. on. it. On it!

I hate...HATE...that my lovebug has to suffer this inevitable? girlhood tragedy this young.

I implore you to tell your sweet things they are precious and loved and safe.

And that the God of the universe finds them beautiful and captivating.

And He is simply thrilled over them, and has been since the day He created them.

I am absolutely positive of this fact.. if every girl knew these things without a doubt, our world would change radically. I know my world would have been vastly different had I understood that a little earlier.

Please.. let's do our part to stop the meaness.

A recap..

Oh my gravy.. I haven't been on here in a while. July 2009? What? I have been so busy with the business side of things, that I haven't had a moment to breathe and write a bit about the haps with our little family.

A few brief recaps..
* We went to Disneyland with the kiddos during their fall break and even stayed in the ohsoMickey-fied Disneyland Hotel. My sweet deprived children had never seen such decadence.. It wasn't that decadent.. they just haven't gotten out much. ;)

* The holidays were full of twinkle lights and hot cocoa, family time with some family drama thrown in. Add a huge car repair bill to the mix and it makes for interesting times.. But God provides, and we are blessed. That's all I have to say about that!

* Our sassy Miss H turned 8 years old last week. Coconut smoothies and Tortilla soup from Island's was her pick. I will dedicate a whole post to her day as soon as I get her 8 year old portraits done.

* I have been seeing a biocranial doctor to help with my migraines and fibro.. it seems to be working, so yay??!!

I need to get to bed, but wanted to fill in the details. I will be back soon!

He's 10..

My son just turned 10 this month, which means I have been a parent for that long.

Wow..

I just had to pause for a moment to let that sink in.

My husband rocked his father's hat and planned a huge Halo Wars party, complete with a Training Mission, a "fill up your own bag" candy bar, and Dye Wars Battle.

Side Note.... Squirt Guns+White T-shirts+Many Bottles of Red and Blue food coloring+the wild abandon of 8 ten year old boys running amuck=Dye Wars.

I have never seen that many boys running around with that much food coloring on their person. Needless to say, though the parents were forewarned, they looked a little shocked at the deep blue and vibrant red hands their boys were sporting. :)

The sound of my sweet boy squealing like a girl (don't tell him I said that) and continuously hugging his dad was all the thanks I needed. T3 is one of the most kindhearted, loyal, faithful and sarcastic 10 year olds I have ever known. I say this every year, but I am so proud of him...and delight that God ordained him a Tolson and we get to spend a lifetime loving on that kid.


Fun was had by all.. especially my boy. He is certainly going to remember the time his daddy planned a great day for him.


Of course you have to see his 10 year old portrait...Happiest of Birthday's My 10 year old!


Love Birthdays..

San Diego photography presents a Move..

Just to let all of you wonderful readers know.. I have switched over to a blogsite. So I will be making all of my business posts from that brand spanking new thang.. :) You can find it at...

www.sarahtolsonphotography.com

I will still be posting here about the Tolson House, as I do not scrapbook, and this will be my version of a memory keeper for my kiddos. :)

Thanks so much for your faithful readership.. Now go bookmark the other place!

San Diego photography presents Random Thought time..

Some things I am not excited about...

- Chickenpox and Pinkeye and the Flu.... Basically the amazing ability that my children have of picking up every sickness that runs through our school.... T3 just got over pink eye and I was so thankful that we were able to prevent anyone else from getting it. However, my sweet daughter woke up this morning covered with little pink spots all over..

- Having to re-schedule photoshoots because of above sicknesses, or the migraines that have been ripping through my brain on a weekly basis...

- The completely confusing template I have been trying to work on... I am so overwhelmed by trying to figure it all out that I have sort of given it up for now. Truth be told, I have been taking care of sick kiddos so much that I haven't had time.... I really need to get to it yo! This is why I haven't been posting much...

- Girl drama that continues to go on... I am so desiring a community of women that has each other's backs instead of stabbing one another in that same area! Why do we do that to ourselves?? Safety and acceptance ladies!

And because I am so motivated to have the positives outweigh the negatives.. I will add a bunch of things I am excited about these days..

- Umm.. have you even tried the Gluten Free Valencia Orange Cake from Starby's?? For someone who hasn't purposely ingested gluten (the protein found in wheat) for over 6 months... it is a little slice of Orange.Scented.HEAVEN!! I die!

- Learning the Hoedown Throwdown in the parking lot last night with the small group I lead... I am a complete dork when it comes to dancing.. but it was fun and fab nonetheless! Come on.. you know you want to pop it, lock it, polka dot it!

- The wonderful client who sent me Starby's card! Kim... you rock.. and you know me so well! My favorite get away.. Cappucino in hand+browsing through the thousands of books=Perfection.

-Seasame Street... My 7 year old is sitting here enthralled. It is timeless, I must say. :-) Who wouldn't love Elmo and the Pipe Organ number of the day excitement!!! What number will it be??

- My new blogsite... it will be so fine! (Once I get it working the way I want..)

- Great photography friends who are so willing to help one another out.. That is community!

- A husband who continues to take care of.. well.. everything. He is a wonder and I don't know what I would without him..

- The new orange rugs I bought for my front bathroom.. I love them. But.. so does my cat! We fight about the ownership of said rugs alot!!

- A Palm Springs getaway with the hubster next week.. hopefully the pox will have abated so I can go... I'm thinking positive!!



There's my list. What's on yours??


Love polka dotting it..

San Diego photography presents Senior Portraits.. Downtown La Mesa..

A super quick sneak peak of Miss K's senior headshots..

Our chai lattes were delish..

The weather was perfect...

K was adorable..

She rocked her heels and fab belted dress!..

We found some squirrels at Lake Murray..

We got some great shots..

A good day for sure. :)









Love Belted Dresses..

San Diego photography presents ohh.. the eyelashes..

“I am entering this photo in the MCP Actions/Color Inc. Win a Gallery Wrap Canvas Photo Contest at http://mcpactions.com/blog. I certify that I took this photo and give both parties permission to use this photograph on their blogs/sites.”



Love my baby..

San Diego photography presents A little Rocker..

Here's what you can create with a white sheet and some window light. :) It also helps if you have an extremely happy baby boy... which I did. This little dude didn't make a single sad face our entire session. He had his momma and I laughing so hard! :)

Be warned though.. these following pictures have made my sister want a baby. This is the sister that never wanted kiddos.. so I'm telling you, it is powerful stuff. ;)









Love baby beanies..

San Diego photography presents some BFF's...

I loved the idea behind this shoot. Here are 3 best friends.. they have known each other for years.. 2 of them are sisters. One of the sisters is moving back East, and the other 2 are quite sad about it. :( Their idea... take some custom portraits together before the big move happens.

I thought it was a fabulous reason for a photoshoot, so I said yes. :)

Here's your sneak peek girls!


Don't you wish you had a great black and white of your friends laughing...


Work it..


My favorite of the day.. just because of what it represented and the meaning behind this shoot..


Love BFF's..

San Diego photography presents a dead computer...

So.. I had to say goodbye to my computer... I am currently blogging from my hubby's laptop. I have lots of sessions to blog about but you will just have to wait until my sweet man gets my new computer up and running... So glad he knows what he is doing. :) I will be back in a few days...

Much love yo!!




Love Capable Husbands.

San Diego Photography presents Random Thoughts...

- We just moved into a new condo.. I love the new-ness, but hate the process. I'm going a little mad not knowing where everything is...

- My daughter just brought me a $10 bill and said, "Here Mom. This is for you as thanks for all you do." I swear that girl can drive me to the brink of insanity with her attitude... but then reel me back in with her sweetness. Just today we were driving home from an errand, blasting some Taylor Swift, singing together, and I got teary-eyed sharing that moment with her.

- Can I just say how much I love a full size washer and dryer?? You don't even know how great it is to be able to wash more than 2 towels at a time. I am not kidding! Stackable washer/dryers are from the devil...

- My husband introduced me to the wonder/evil/insanity that is an El Aztec breakfast burrito. It is the size of a small baby.. No joke. In my defense, we share it, and I either scoop out the insides, or transfer it to a Gluten Free tortilla. (No wheat for me!) Thus, my arteries won't give out as fast as my husbands. I am not sure if this is good or bad.. :)

- I have a friend coming over for dinner in less than an hour, and I don't know where my cooking items are. So, I better go find them. Why.. because microwaved Chicken and Broccoli doesn't sound super great..

Love Sweet Moments..

San Diego Photography presents Senior Portraits in Ocean Beach...

A few fun facts about this latest senior...

She loooooves Taylor Swift and got tickets to see her this spring..

She has the most beautiful smile... and didn't even have to wear braces. Umm..lucky!

She (and her lovely mom) informed me of the best burger place this side of forever named Hodads! I wasn't hungry, but told them repeatedly that I would be back with my husband because it looked delish... Must plan a date night soon!

She made my job super easy..

Here are just 3 for a little sneak peek. :) Don't you just love editing a great session!! I do. :)

Thanks Miss S... you rocked it fo sho!!







Love Senior Year..

San Diego Photography presents a good friend..

Last week I had the privilege of meeting one of my sweet friends at Balboa Park for some family photos. This particular friend is from Washington and I met her a few years back when we lived up there. :)

She was preggers with Miss L when we met, and after Miss L graced us with her presence.. I could not pass up the opportunity to hold her every chance I got. :) We moved away over 2 years ago...so, you can imagine my delight at re-connecting with Miss L... now 3 and as cute as a button.

I'm not going to lie.. Her big brother was quite the charmer and he was thrilled that I let him use my camera to snap a few pictures of his momma and dad. :)


Click here under Clients to view your online gallery of pictures. :)









It was great to see you guys again! I hope I get to meet #3 very, very soon!!

Love good friends..

San Diego Photography presents a Bean Bag in a park..

I just love my clients and you know why??? They all have the sweetest children that I get to love on every week. Getting a rash from lying on the grass to get the picture is so worth it. I am re-paid in full by every squish and snuggle I get. :)

I also want to point out that the latest and greatest locations aren't necessarily the be all and end all. I took a bean bag to a park and was able to capture these little munchkins personality without a problem.

Oh and great gift idea alert...This mom was given a gift certificate for her baby shower!!

Here are a few of the little squishes.... Hmmm delicious.







Tell me you aren't dying for a snuggle now!


Love snuggles..

San Diego Photography presents some more sistas..

Just a few more faves as I finish up editing this session... These girls just seriously captivate me.. And you know what else??? There hearts are as sweet as their faces. I even bought them milk and cookies afterwards because I just had to.. I couldn't resist. :)













Love Sistas..