natalie2019 – Page 2

Spring Home Decor

Spring is just around the corner and I am itching for warmer weather! When it comes to decorating for seasons or holidays, I like to keep my decor fairly neutral, but add a few pieces that fit with the time of the year.

One of my favorite things to do is incorporate antique finds or nostalgic pieces into my decor. I love anything vintage mixed with something new. I also love to make new things look vintage.

Back in December, my Grandpa Ralph passed away. He was an avid gardener and someone who inspired me to have my own gardens. When he passed away, I inherited some of his old terracotta pots. Yesterday as I was cleaning out my garage, I found these old pots and decided they would be the perfect addition to my spring decor. I also used faux plants and some green wooden garland from our furniture store.

Throughout my home you can see a lot of pots in different sizes. Some people might say it’s a little crazy to decorate with pots that have been used, complete with old dirt and water residue, but bringing that authentic feel is so important to me!

What are some of your favorite things to decorate with for spring? I’d love to hear how you decorate!

Boys Will Be Boys

One day, during the summer a few years ago, I thought it would be a good idea to take my kids up the canyon to a small pond and take their pictures as they floated paper boats on the water. Of course I envisioned really cute pictures of them playing together with the perfect sunset behind them.

I only had three boys at the time and dressed them in nice clothes (including one child in white pants). I grabbed my camera, a water bottle, and we loaded up the Silver Bullet (this was what we called our mini van). When we got to the pond, my oldest son placed his paper boat in the shallow water. I took a few pictures of them walking around the pond and looking at the water. This peaceful playing lasted only about seven minutes before one of my boys got mud on another brother’s pants.

Que massive mud fight!

I tried to stop the madness and then realized there wasn’t anything I could do to change the situation in regards to mud being on their clothes. I decided to live in the moment and let my boys be boys. With my camera in video mode and a good distance between me and the mud, I documented what is now one of my very favorite and memorable videos of my kids!

They had the time of their life throwing mud at each other, running around the pond, and jumping in the water!

The bad news is- we didn’t think about how we were going to get back into the van to come home with all the mud. I had NOTHING to clean them off with. Not even a baby wipe! I stripped them down to their underwear, threw their clothes in the back of the van, and told them to carefully put their seat belts on without getting mud everywhere!

When we got back to our humble home I sprayed them off with the only hose we had at our house. The hose was out front and our house was directly across from the police station. Needless to say- I am sure my neighbors and the police officers wondered what kind of a mother I was that day!

Moral of the story is…I am so grateful I let my boys be boys that day!

Document Life

Over ten years ago I took a photography class from a well known photographer in Salt Lake City. My oldest son was not quite a year old and I wanted to be able to take good pictures of him as he grew. The more pictures I took, the better experience I got.

After a few years of taking my own pictures I started getting asked if I would photograph other people. I decided to photograph a few people at no cost to try and build a portfolio for a business. My schedule started to get really busy and I realized I needed to turn my photography hobby into a business. I took a few more classes and launched my photography business.

After announcing my photography business, there were many days where I was stressed and couldn’t keep up with editing. I had to learn to tell people I was full when my schedule was full and not go out of my way to fit in every single person who contacted me. As the years went on, I learned to manage my time more wisely and figured out a schedule that worked for my family and me.

I wish I was better at actually documenting my own family and our daily life. Being a photographer, it’s really easy to find the time to document and edit other people’s life because you’re getting paid to do it. My goal this year is to really focus on my own family and documenting our own life.

Hey There!

“Wow! You have your own basketball team” is something I get told a lot when people find out we have five boys!

Did I ever dream I’d be a mother to five kids? No.

Did I ever imagine that IF I did have five kids that all of them would be boys? Nope.

Would I change it for the world? Heavens No.

These boys are my world (including my wonderful husband) and I am incredibly blessed to call them mine!

A few years ago, a friend of mine, asked me why I didn’t have a blog. At the time I didn’t even question why I didn’t blog. I had just given birth to my third boy and life was insane. We were trying to grow our own furniture business and I could barely stay afloat with the household chores and being a nurse part time. I also had a photography business I loved when I had any spare time.

Now that I am totally done having kids and life is basically full of changing diapers, cleaning pee off my toilet seats, and trying to keep five kids alive, I realize I need an outlet to fuel my creative side. I also need a place to force myself to document my children’s lives, their quirky gestures, the funny things they say, and everything about them! I need a place to journal my own life and my own struggles.

I started this blog as a way to express my creative side and the things I enjoy doing in the little amount of spare time I have. Without creating projects, designing a new room in my house, or photographing our life, I feel lost. This is who I am…the Son Kissed Momma…and I would love for you to follow along our journey!

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