an evening at the park {tampa food photographer}

the idea was a kernel of inspiration months ago: how fun to do a family afternoon at the park? each family would come geared up to play old-fashioned games and enjoy generations and ages celebrating the everyday over food and laughter. 

when mccormick gourmet asked if we'd like to host our second "dinner party chain" dinner party for them to feature, it was our chance to make the vision happen!  we invited some sweet friends and the plan began to unfold.

we shopped days before the party.  then to stay relaxed (i may or not be the mom who gets a wee bit crazy-grumpy overwhelmed when i need to rush to "get it all done..."
  

want a tip my mom-in-law taught me?  lay out the serving dishes in advance, complete with serving utensils.  she'd even put little notes in the bowls so she'd remember what dish went where.  especially important for this outing, because i wanted to pretty it up.  no average day at the park for us.  we hit up dollar tree and bought a roll of pretty kraft wrapping paper and some sweet little vases.  publix had baby's breath (apparently, my daughter is a little deprived in the floral department; she'd never heard the name baby's breath before!)  i had cheap plastic storage totes for the dishes and the white stoneware was packed up for transferring once we safely arrived at the park.

a. is such a natural teacher.  she had the boys in giggles as they measured and whisked.  early on as a mama, i relished my time alone in the kitchen.  though it makes for a bit more chaos, i find that having my children alongside me is not just joy and learning for them, but help i have come to depend on.

prepping the ingredients for each dish in advance helped us sail through preparation and photographing so we'd have the memories to hold on to.

friends around make it even more fun, and making messes is easier to clean up when there are extra hands on deck.  :)

 i'm not gonna lie.  it was a mad dash of craziness bit hectic getting out the door with two huge rolling crates, three coolers (we were packin' for a crowd!), and six kids.  trying to heave all that food without dripping raw chicken juice onto fresh shaved brussel sprout salad and keep track of vases and baby's breath and... well - we really needed everyone on hand.  but having a little bit of elegance and interactive meal was so worth it!

the menu:

 Orange Spiced Grilled Chicken

i can never leave anything as-is.  we used a beautiful pork marinade from this recipe from McCormick Gourmet to season our chicken breasts, then grilled them on-site along with the corn.  which, by-the-way, would be my exception to never leaving a recipe alone.  make this corn NOW.  as-is.  and don't hate me when you want to devour the entire recipe yourself.

Grilled Corn with Smokehouse Maple Chipotle Butter

(to be honest, most of us could've made a complete meal of this one. insanely. amazing. side.)

Vanilla Slaw

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Strawberries

Green Beans & Grape Tomatoes with Caramelized Garlic

Tina's Zucchini Salad

(such a surprising and delightful fresh salad made with zucchini instead of cucumber!)

Rosemary Macaroon Thumbprints

a little tip: be sure to use the sweetened, packaged, baker's coconut for this recipe.  we use dried raw coconut that hasn't been sweetened.  4 extra egg whites and 1/4 cup of maple syrup later, we still had more of a savory coconut crouton than a macaroon.  these still managed to all but disappear.  :)

Maddie's Peanut Butter Bars & Cake Pops

(how glad am i that now our kids' friends bake, too??...)

these were so good!  i'll have to ask her for the recipe.  :)

  food always tastes better warmed by spring sunshine and shared with friends.  :)

as our kids have gotten older, we are even more convinced that spending time with every age is a vital part of growing into an amazing person.  we love that our kids have other adults we respect to look to for wisdom, and that they know the importance of serving a little person who needs help.  we're making it a point to carve out more time for just "being" with other families so that kinship builds.

these kids have been prayed for, loved on, and are growing into people we respect as our friends.

"come on, sis... try and beat me!"

it's been a long day.  take me and my full belly home for a hot bath and a bed.  :)

we were all happy-tired when all was said and done.  but friends pitched in together to load cars and caravan out of the closing park as the sun dropped below the horizon.  we can't wait to do it again.

how have you been inspired to carve out your legacy?

art and passion {fine art children's photography}

for a while, i've had a desire to take some of my portrait work and infuse scripture into it... i also had a desire to try to sell some art pieces in the local Christian bookstore.

dear martha invited me to bring in some pieces, and when i brought her some florals (which i thought were unique and original) she gently said, "this isn't your passion.  why don't you incorporate your babies and your children's work?"  out of an inspiring conversation came a vision for what i'm calling the warrior series.  i pray that these pieces will be an inspiration to those who see them, and to us, when i hang these pieces on the wall as a reminder of how small we are, and how big our God is, and how large we become in the universe against darkness when we are in His will....

now, lest you think my photographers'-children-models are perfect and well behaved all the time, i present an outtake.  this ain't nothin' compared to the faces he made while the waves lapped at my clothes and the lighting malfunctioned and i acted oh-so-human and very nearly forgot the passion and vision with which we'd tromped to the beach to create these images.  :)

oh yes, and love the swim trunks hanging out.  he's wearing big brothers trousers because in our mad rush we forgot anything besides the orange floral swim trunks, and can you tell how happy he is about that wardrobe impediment to his preschool freedom of creativity?

..."i have hidden your Word in my heart, that i might not sin against you..."

my heart longs to hold onto your truth, Papa, and yet i focus on the little things of this world that distract.  i want your word before me...

e.

i love you, little-boy-who's-not-so-little.  mommy has long roads to walk to learn more patience and a gentle spirit... and you are a precious gift Jesus will use to help me get there.  your smile takes my breath away.  your forgiving spirit and your quiet "go-with-the-flow-ness" are a priceless blessing for our home and our family.

you are growing, and soon you will be taller than me and i pray i can keep up, because you have places to go, and things to do, and people to see.  and they will love you, because you are wonderful.

love, mommy.  :)