What’s a girl to do when her brother and sisters refuse to play? Why she invites her best friend over for some tea and dress-up girly time, of course!

Tutus. Frilly dresses. Tiaras. Tea.

And drama.

What’s a tea party without a little bit of drama…

…and a whole lot of cuteness?

I mean, really. Have you seen a more beautiful Snow White?

I think not.

Photographing the Ordinary Moments in Your Child’s Life

There’s nothing I love more than photographing the ordinary moments in my children’s lives; the unscripted everyday moments that collectively make up our extraordinary life together. These shots are often the most-treasured, yet easily captured. Here are a few simple tips to help you get started:

Stand back and make yourself invisible. There’s nothing I love more than candid shots of my children – unrehearsed, unstaged and unexpected moments captured when they were just too busy living in the moment to notice.

Some of the things we treasure most about our childhood were often forgotten about in photographs; the Raggedy Ann doll we clung to as we drifted off to dreamland or that smelly, tattered lovey we dragged around for three years straight. Preserve those treasured childhood memories by photographing your little ones with their favorite toys, games or books. 

Don’t forget the little details. Honor your children’s individuality by capturing the little things that make them unique. Your child’s quirky sense of style, super neat penmanship. Or the way your little girl sticks her tongue out when she’s concentrating really hard. It’s all in the details…

So tell me, what are some of your tips for photographing the ordinary moments in our children’s lives?

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I’m thrilled to be teaming up with the fabulous Alicia of Project Alicia for the Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge – a super fun weekly summer photography meme aimed at capturing the lazy crazy days of summer, complete with inspirational themes. We’d love for you to grab your camera and join in the fun!

Here’s what you need to know:

Share your favorite images inspired by the Crazy Days of Summer theme-of-the-week and grab our sweet button while you’re at it!

Please share your photos with others by linking directly to your Crazy Days of Summer blog post or Flickr photo, not your blog’s home page or Flickr Photostream. Feel free to share your photos in our Crazy Days of Summer Flickr Group as well.

The linky will remain open from 12:00am Friday – 11:59pm Wednesday.

Make a few new friends by visiting and commenting on the previous entry in the linky list.

Each Thursday, a few of our favorite images from the Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge will be selected and featured at Project Alicia and Live and Love Out Loud.

Next week’s theme will be blue skies. For a complete list of upcoming themes, head on over to the Summer Photo Challenge page.

Alicia and I are so excited about sharing our crazy days of summer with you and can’t wait to see your photos. Don’t forget to stop by Alicia’s blog, (Project Alicia), after linking up here at Live and Love Out Loud. Her photography is amazing!

Whoops! I almost forgot to mention… There are only two weeks of our Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge left. Week 12, 19th- Blue Skies and Week 13, 26th- Sweet Summer Finale. You won’t want to miss them. The last week we will have an amazing prize package giveaway filled with photography and scrapbooking goodies galore that is growing by the day. You qualify by entering a photo. It is that simple. So, make sure to mark your calendars! Someone is going to be one lucky winner.