Happy Halloween

This year we had two Jedi Knights, a Cowboy and a sweet little Strawberry Shortcake! We opted to not host our annual party though and I was feeling a bit bummed about it but we still managed to have some fun trick or treating and celebrating at Church too!

Josie got a hold of an empty bag and said "I gotta get some candy in here"...and then on the way home she took off her hat and said "I'm takin off my shortcake now Mom"...oh my gosh I love this, I am such a blessed woman!

Hope you guys had a fun night I am off to raid the kids candy loot next!

capturing our blessings :: an invitation

For the past two years my sister in-law, Kristen and I have joined together each November to pause and reflect during the season of Thanksgiving and seek out nuggets of blessing and beauty each day behind the lens. The project is called, Capturing our Blessings and it has truly become an annual ritual I look forward to. It's simple, we take one picture a day of something we are thankful for. Kristen emails her photo to me without seeing each others first and I post them side by side as a diptych - as one seamless image of blessing.

This year Kristen suggested that we invite our two sisters in-law to join us as it has been quite a full year of gifts for each one of us individually and as a family. 

I don't often share personal information about my extended family here but many of you know that my husband, Chris has three brothers and all of their wives are truly some of my closest friends. In 2012 each of us has welcomed a new baby into the family - being pregnant side by side has been an incredible experience and one of the reasons I am sure that God intended our own family to grow even when it was not yet on our hearts. 

So in May our family welcomed Zeb. In June, Rachel and Bryan welcomed John a baby brother for their sweet two year old Amelia. In July, Kristen and Kyle welcomed baby Luke their third beautiful boy along with Evan and Miles! And then just last Thursday Jenny and Jeff along with big brother Wesley finally got to meet their sweet daughter Elliot. A baby they have longed and prayed for the past few years. She is perfect, they all are and truly some of the greatest blessings we have ever received.

So this year we will carry on the tradition of finding beauty in the ordinary, similarly to the Ten on Ten project but once a day and will be sharing those images here with you. Side by side a set of sisters, friends, mothers, wives. Our lives are full and blessed and we all long to keep that at the forefront of our minds and hearts as we enter the season of Thanksgiving and Advent.

We also want to invite you along as well to capture your own blessings and post them on your blog, facebook, instagram - really wherever you choose and reflect on the sweet things that you have been blessed with too!

The project will begin this Thursday, November 1st and will carry on throughout the entire month. I hope you will consider joining us in some way, reflecting on how blessed we all truly are!

The photos will always go in this order: Rachel, Jenny, Rebekah and Kristen to play along on Instagram use hashtag #capturingourblessings

Happy birthday Levi!

My sweet second born you are five today, FIVE!! There are times that I find myself in such awe and wonder at the boy you are becoming. You are my little artist in every sense of the word, full of deep creativity and passion. I often find you lost in creating, singing to yourself in your own little world. I see myself in you more than any of your siblings - a deeply shy and sensitive soul, sometimes misunderstood, quiet and funny and comfortable around people you know well.

Today you must have spent six hours sitting and sketching, I found piles of paper all over the house. Except for the special lunch out with Grandma and your wish for more tracing paper that she granted on the way home you were lost in thought, drawing away. You looked up at one point and said "Mom, tracing paper is just so, handy!"

Levi I think about the past five years and how our family has changed and grown. I am so proud of the ways that you have stepped into being a big brother so tender and sensitive, you love your siblings more than anything in the world and it is such a gift to behold!

I adore you bud, your tender heart and eager joy. Your name means "joined in harmony" and I have always felt that fit you perfectly. You are the sweetness that adds beauty and harmony to this family. I am so very honored to be your Mom and can not wait to see you continue to grow into the man God has made you. I love you Levi to the moon and back. Happy birthday sweetheart! Love, Mom

thank you!

Honestly you guys, thank you from the bottom of my heart, I have been so very deeply blessed by all of the love, support and kindness about the start of my new adventure! I love you all - this community of friends I find here is unlike anything else I have ever been apart of.

May you have an incredible weekend enjoying the fun festivities of the season!!

an exciting announcement!

Such an exciting day for me friends I am super thrilled to announce that I have decided to follow a little dream that I have had on my heart for quite sometime now. Starting this month I am taking my photography professionally and offering portrait sessions for those living in the Seattle area!! It has been a journey falling in love with capturing life behind the lens for the past five years through projects like Ten on Ten, taking thousands of photos of my family and friends and many of you guys too encouraging and inspiring me to take a little leap of faith and start Rebekah Gough Photography!

Through the end of the year I will be offering a limited number of Holiday Mini Sessions, 45minutes, 20 plus images on a disc for your 2012 Christmas cards. More details can be found HERE!

Thank you all for your countless words of encouragement and love I am super excited about this next step and if you live nearby I would love to meet you!

xoxo,
Rebekah

Zeb's first trip to the pumpkin patch

I sure love looking at these photos but lets face it four kids in the pouring down rain only lasted for so long. I think the final scene included something like this: Chris and I standing in the downpour and mud cleaning off an entire wheelbarrow full of pumpkins with baby wipes while the younger two screamed, someone spilled their hot chocolate all over the van floor, I then started cleaning the van with the wipes, there was mud everywhere...oh you know. I might have cried a teensy bit too once we were locked and loaded. I looked at Chris like a crazy lady and we both sighed and agreed that these wonderful traditions always sound so much better in our head. But I am so glad we braved it this year for our new little guys first time...and I have a feeling the kids had nothing but a blast so I guess in the end it was all worth it! Gotta love the pumpkin patch, did you brave it this year? :)

Organizing the kids clothes with ThredUP

So I know you guys know this above scene...especially if you have multiple kids wearing multiple sizes. Each time the weather shift or they go through a growth spurt or you have a new baby one of them grows out of a size and it's time to clear out the drawers, again!

I can barely keep up with my laundry let alone keeping the sizes sorted. And not to mention it gets super expensive buying these little ones new clothes only to turn around and find that they have outgrown them!

So I was super excited when I heard from Carly about an awesome company with an amazing concept called ThredUP to help busy Moms handle this painful process and re-sell their gently worn items as well as restock their kids closets at really low prices, my ears perked up!

Here's the details: ThredUP will help you clean out your kids closets by sending you a big green bag to fill up. It fits around 15lbs of gently worn clothes that you then ship back to them. They do all of the work to resell it in their online shop and will then pay you a portion of the profits to either cash out or use to purchase new items!

Sounds easy enough! They also sent along a few cute things for Josie and I was pleasantly surprised and thrilled at the quality in the gently used clothes we received. Nothing ripped or stained, they truly sort through and find the best quality! I am currently in the process of filling up my bag to send off for resale - find out more about this awesome company HERE!

blue dress c/o ThredUP

I just love discovering amazing companies like this, thanks ThredUP we are huge fans!!

ps. free shipping on your first order right now through the month and they just added a bunch of fun boy items too!

Fall French Press

You guys know I am a big coffee lover, I live in Seattle so I mean what do you expect? It's one of the things I love about our city, a good cup of coffee on pretty much every corner!

I also love to make it at home and during the warmer months I enjoy my cold brew on a hot day. But as the weather has turned to Fall I have been making a spicy, orange infused brew in the afternoons with coconut milk creamer. Its a little bit spicy and festive and just makes me happy so I thought I would share it with you today!

Orange Spice French Press

1/2 cup of coarse ground coffee
1 teaspoon of allspice
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of orange peel

dump all of the ingredients into your french press, fill with hot water and stir to combine. Let steep for five minutes, press and enjoy! Sweetener and cream definitely bring out the spices but if you like it black it is just as good!

Happy Birthday Josie

And just like that I blink my eyes and you are two years old already.

I spent the early morning with our four guys, setting the table, making breakfast sneaking out for balloons and donuts (Simon insisted on spending his own money to buy you your favorite maple bar) and then we tip toed up to your room to surprise you. You surprise us by being in your birthday suit, your pj's and diaper were on the floor!

You cracked us up by squealing with glee to see us all singing our hearts out for you and you could not wait to get up and celebrate. You whispered to me as we were heading to breakfast, my happy birthday is downstairs.

Your luminous joy and sense of humor are the most amazing addition to this house full of brothers. You do not miss a beat and hate to be left out, and lets be frank you have them all wrapped around your little finger better than I ever will. We are all head over heels for you little lady. Your insane verbal skills and silly toothy grin. The way you try to look over your shoulder and play coy to get a smile. The songs you sing and the sweet hugs and kisses and giggles you share.



You are and always will be one of the greatest gifts I have ever known. You are my girl, my sunbeam, my heart. Love you little JoJo, forever and ever and ever. Happy birthday Jolene Joan-Claire!

grey friday

The cool, grey weather has finally returned to us here in the PNW. It was one of the most gorgeous late summer/early falls that I can remember though and so I think we are all trying to embrace the change with thankful hearts. We broke out some warmer clothes this morning and my little grey eyed baby girl put on her raincoat as we headed out the door. I remember receiving this cute pink pony jacket at my baby shower for her and got a bit misty eyed when I realized that it now fits two years later.

We are hoping to get a ton done this weekend and visit a pumpkin patch too. I might have to squeeze in some crafting time if I can find a little pocket here or there I am craving it and have not been able do much since baby Zeb arrived...parenting these four is haaaaaard work, I am not going to lie. I am thankful that I get to be their Mom though...now a few more hours of sleep would be nice too but one of these years I am sure I will feel more rested!

This little lady turns two, TWO on Monday! She said to me this week "mama my birfday is comin up" I asked her if she would like a cupcake or a donut to celebrate with her candles. She thought for a second and then replied "I wanna coke"

oh brother, they crack me up.

Happy Friday!

Ten on Ten :: October 2012

Thank you guys all so much for joining me today - I love this monthly ritual of looking for beauty and am always blessed by what you guys find! If you haven't had a chance to link up you can do so HERE the linky will be open for the rest of the week! Until next month, Happy photographing friends!!

read more about the Ten on Ten project HERE!

Ten on Ten :: October 2012

Happy tenth everyone I am excited about all the possibility that this day holds and hope that yours is off to a great start! When you are ready add your set to the linky below and if you have never played along all you do is take one photo an hour for ten hours and capture the simple beauty you find in your day!

Find out more about the project HERE.

<a border="0" href="http://www.rebekahgough.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k578/rebagough/Screenshot2010-10-11at110042AM.png" border="0" alt="ten on ten button" /></a>

Ten on Ten is tomorrow!

A happy Tuesday to you all - just popping in to say hello and remind you to charge your camera batteries for tomorrows installment of Ten on Ten, I am hoping you will join me!

sweet potato black bean tacos

Chris is working late again tonight so at about noon I headed down to the kitchen to find something hearty that I could throw together knowing that later in the evening I would not have any relief coming in to help me get dinner on the table and timing would be tricky trying to get Simon from school, nurse the baby, and take care of three others who would be hungry and tired.

And oh boy am I am tired today too. I didn't want to get caught having to shovel some sort of convenience  food into my belly or worse go hungry and get all snappy with my babies while trying to get them fed, bathed, snuggled, read too, homework done and tucked in.

I thought I would make some sweet potato chili with the potatoes I had on hand but realized after I started chopping that I was out of diced tomatoes so I veered and decided to just "wing it" which is so not like me in the kitchen. Not like me at all. I like a recipe, a formula, I don't like to mess up but I was desperate and needed some sustenance quick so I threw some onions and green chilies and garlic into my pot and when those got all caramelized I threw in the sweet potato and then popped it all in the oven for a few to roast. When it came out I added some black beans and ended up with some yummy taco filling that was just the ticket to keep me going well into the craziness of the evening hours!

I decided it was yummy enough to share the recipe tonight and selfishly I don't want to loose this one I can tell I will be making these hearty tacos again and again!

Sweet Potato Black Bean Tacos

1 red sweet potato peeled and cubed
1 can of black beans drained and rinsed
1 yellow onion halved and sliced into thin rings
1 small can of mild green chilies
2 cloves of minced garlic
vegetable oil
dash of cayenne
dash of cinnamon
salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and add some oil to the bottom of an oven safe pot. Saute the onions for a few minutes to soften and then add the green chili's and garlic and saute a few minutes more until it begins to caramelize and the onions get very soft. Sprinkle in some cayenne depending on your taste and a sprinkle of cinnamon too. Generously salt everything as well and add some fresh cracked pepper to taste. 

Toss the sweet potatoes in a little bit of oil and salt and then add them to the pot and cook over the stove for about a minute before transferring it to the oven, uncovered for 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are nice and soft. 

Remove the pot from the oven and add the drained and rinsed beans and let them warm for a minute. Serve inside a warm tortilla over a bed of mixed greens. I topped mine with some dairy free sour cream and chipotle hot sauce. I could totally see this over some blue corn chips too!

I had these for lunch and just finished them off after getting my younger two in bed. Off to get the older boys to bed, hope you had a wonderful Thursday!

sweet anticipation

I had the honor of photographing my beautiful sister in law, Jenny this morning along with my darling nephew as they anticipate the arrival of baby Elliot Ann. Jenny you are absolutely glowing right now and I am overcome with joy that you will have that baby girl in your arms in just a few weeks!

It's moments like these spent with people I love that make my heart sing!

you can see more from this set on my flickr page HERE.