Yearly Archives: 2016

A few weekends back our little family of three took some time to ourselves and drove about 20 minutes out to Clermont!  Ever since we moved to Florida, I had been dying to get out to an orange grove and pick my own oranges!  A friend of mine told me about this spot called the Showcase of Citrus where you can ride a monster truck bus (Linc’s favorite) and take a tour of the groves, have a creamsicle slusie and then walk through the different groves and pick your own lemons, oranges and citrus galore!

We spent the morning at Linc’s soccer game and then headed out after a Panera lunch for some special quality family time!  I’ve also been teaching Tuck how to use the camera which is something he was never interested in back in vb!  He’s amazing at landscapes and objects but people and portraits was never something he’s been interested in.  It was nice to just take our time and spend the day as a family.  It was also nice to share something I’m so passionate about with my husband!

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There was a lot of walking involved which we all loved! Well, maybe not all of us… Linc was pretty tired and whiny after the soccer game to be honest!  I just loved being outside and the day was kind of perfect in Florida… not too hot and a bit breezy!  The property was amazing and I was already planning out all the session possibilities!  How amazing would a family session be here ya’ll?!  Anyone want to schedule a session in the orange grove?!

One thing that I have cherished since moving here to Florida is the amount of quality time we have been spending together as a family!  I can’t quite put my finger on why it’s so different, but we intentionally spend more time together as a family with purposeful intention.  When we are together we put our phones away.  We make sure that we are having meaningful conversations!  We talk to Linc more about his day and ask him more questions.  Tuck and I talk more too and not just about Linc but about things that matter to us!  We aren’t sitting in the house anymore either and I’m sure the weather has a bit to do with that!

Before (and it’s not just a location thing, I can’t blame it on where we lived, it was the people we were) we weren’t spending great time together.  We weren’t intentional and we weren’t having quality time.  We were on our phones constantly.  We were talking to each other or talking with Linc but we weren’t actually hearing each other.  We may have been listening but we weren’t truly hearing him or paying attention.  Tuck and I would hang out, but it was more like two people being in the same room together and nothing more.  We were often acting like roommates instead of truly being connected as husband and wife.

We also went out and did stuff together on the weekends but it was merely to say we were going and doing.  How often do we do that in this world today?!  I think a lot of people live life this way, rushing around but not really participating?  I mean… we were!  I didn’t really notice it until one day, I just did!  I don’t really know what flipped the switch on!  I”m thankful that it did!

From that moment though I realized we needed to make a change~!  No more phones at dinner especially when during the week we don’t often get a chance to eat dinner all together that often!  During the weekend, we need to spend time together as a family without anyone else competing for that time, especially someone that’s not even present like social media!  Social media is amazing!  I adore it and it has it’s place!  I’m a small business owner so trust me when I say I LOVE me some social media!  But I try to keep it during the week or maybe even first thing when I wake up on the weekend if I must.  Tuck and I try to come up with a plan each month that will work for the family and then we adjust as we need.

This is just works for us and what works for us today.  Who knows… it might change tomorrow!  For right now, we are just enjoying our time together and we especially enjoyed our orange grove… all three of us!

Linc decided he needed to ride on daddy’s shoulders so he could make it about two feet down the road… to the lemons!

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Then our little monkey came alive!!!

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From Tuck’s perspective… can you spy a monkey in the tree???

Family day in the orange grove

mmm I love the smell of citrus!

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We kept walking… and walking, and we found this incredible bus!!  I wanted to get closer but the boys were getting over it!!!  hahaha

Family day in the orange grove Family day in the orange grove Family day in the orange grove Family day in the orange grove

Seriously… this is real ya’ll!  I couldn’t believe it… it’s a meyer lemon the size of Linc’s head!!!  I’m making lemonade with it today!  I’m seriously excited about this!!!  EKKK!!!  Anyone have any good recipes to share?!

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and because you know… life is just funny!

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Hope you all are having a wonderful week so far! Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the middle of the “things” we need to do!  We need to do all the things and make sure we get them all done just so.  But those things, well they just pile up and continue to grow and grow!  We need to make time for ourselves and do the things that fill US up!

We need to intentionally be engaged in the things and the people especially that bring us back to who we are and ground us!  Remember that those “things” they don’t come with us.  They aren’t our legacy and they never will be.  People will remember what you did… maybe.  People will always remember who you were and the impact you made on their lives.  So maybe sit down and really think about that!  Sit down and think about the quality time you have with people and what that looks like.  Take time for YOU and only you and think about what fills you up and brings YOU JOY!

Carve out time for that during the week and make it time that is free of any and all distraction!  If it’s family:  dedicate it just to your family… free of the phone and any other distractions!  If it’s time by yourself (because I’m with ya friend) take a half hour just for YOU and do something that you love and be free of guilt!!!

Try it out for a week… then two and then maybe a month!!

I promise… you will feel better, be more productive, happier and lighter!!!

xoxo

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The Force comes out on Halloween, Orlando Children and Family Photographer Brooke Tucker

Happy Monday Friends!!!

When we moved to celebration, we never anticipated the true gem we had found in this little town!!!  I love my hometown of Virginia Beach, but the more and more days and months we spend living here;  the more we find that this little town in Orlando, Florida is claiming our hearts and becoming our true home!

It’s important to find a place that “get’s you”.  A place that day in and day out, you not only feel comfortable but you can breathe a bit easier and feel totally comfortable in your own skin!  Over the past few months, we realized that this “weird” little town as some people may call it, truly is our kind of town with our kind of people!~

It is a town that is a bit “cookie cutter” some people might say.  Some might call it too perfect and might feel that people are “too nice” or that it’s straight out of a movie, like Pleasantville or Stepford.  In some ways, it kind of is, but we genuinely feel it’s the perfect little spot with it’s one stop light, it’s beautiful downtown where leaves fall out of pumpkins when fall hits and it “snows” at certain times in the winter!

People are actually truly nice and truly happy because it is a town based on community and being outdoors and getting together!

But you see… these are all things we knew already!  What we didn’t know… was Halloween!!! 😉

Ya’ll… Halloween is Bananas!!!

My brother, nephew and sister in law came in town to spend some time and also to trick or treat with us and it was a blast!  We were all kind of shocked at how big of a deal Halloween was around here~!  I knew it was going to be big fun because of the decorations that had been up all month.  I mean, you can’t live in a town called Celebration and not actually celebrate, right?!  But let me just tell you about the actual day… woah!

The Force comes out on Halloween, Orlando Children and Family Photographer Brooke TuckerOur family of three had planned to be a Star Wars family!  It’s super funny because this time last year, I thought Star Wars was a Christmas movie!  I had never even seen a single film!  Isn’t it funny how time flies by and things can change in an instant.  Now Linc has seen quite a bit of the films and is seriously obsessed with all the characters!  We’ve officially become “that family” and we absolutely were not the only ones!

We had plans to meet up with some of our friends but seeing as how we were all on different schedules and trying to get all 6 of us out of preschool, fed, dressed and ready to go was quite the impossible task:  we missed our timetable by a bit!

Unlike Virginia Beach, there aren’t hard and fast rules for trick or treating here!  When we picked Linc up from school, kids were already out ringing door bells!  We made it out by about 530, I think and we were unprepared to say the least!  Going out for Halloween here reminded me of going out for Halloween when I was little!  It wasn’t so much about ringing doorbells and getting candy.  It was about meeting up with friends, showing off your costumes and actually having fun in your entire neighborhood and community… until you just couldn’t walk anymore!

There were activities set up for the kids in some circles.  There were houses that had DJ’s and dance parties.  There were popcorn machines and hot dogs!  Some houses and snacks and juice boxes while others had coolers filled with adult beverages and jello shots for the adults!  Some houses created fantastic mazes and haunted houses for the kids to visit, if they wanted, while there were just candy stops if they didn’t want to participate!  It wasn’t just trick or treat, it was a full on village block party (and that was just our part of the town!)

Kids and parents were all dressed up together and everyone went at their own pace!  Our crew tired out pretty early with their candy bags dragging behind them on the concrete!

We headed home together and I realized then that I knew I had found home!
The Force comes out on Halloween, Orlando Children and Family Photographer Brooke Tucker The Force comes out on Halloween, Orlando Children and Family Photographer Brooke Tucker The Force comes out on Halloween, Orlando Children and Family Photographer Brooke Tucker The Force comes out on Halloween, Orlando Children and Family Photographer Brooke Tucker The Force comes out on Halloween, Orlando Children and Family Photographer Brooke Tucker The Force comes out on Halloween, Orlando Children and Family Photographer Brooke Tucker The Force comes out on Halloween, Orlando Children and Family Photographer Brooke Tucker The Force comes out on Halloween, Orlando Children and Family Photographer Brooke Tucker The Force comes out on Halloween, Orlando Children and Family Photographer Brooke Tucker The Force comes out on Halloween, Orlando Children and Family Photographer Brooke Tucker The Force comes out on Halloween, Orlando Children and Family Photographer Brooke Tucker

I hope everyone had a happy and safe halloween!!!

Sometimes I think it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the days events;  especially on days like Halloween and such!  One thing I love about photography, whether it be professional or iphone or any kind of camera at all, is that it allows you to go back just for a second and remember the time without feeling that rush like we did on that day!  Our children are only little for so long and although some days… boy do those days seem long!  I mean good gosh… there are some days that I know I win mother of the year award… and I can only wish bedtime comes sooner 😉

Who is with me on that?!

But truly and honestly… I know before I can even count my sheep to sleep, Linc will be all grown up and I will look back on these images and wish he was little again!  But at least I have these moments… to remember and take me back to these days!  To help me see the moments even now… that I might miss because as a mom we are always so busy trying to anticipate our children’s needs and wants!

So keep at it friends… keep taking pictures because it’s the moments in between that help us remember!  It’s the moments in the middle that catch our breath and remind us that goodness gracious what a beautifully imperfect life we have when we can stop for just a second and take a real look at it!

xo

B

 

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Everyone has those traditions!  Maybe they aren’t even really “traditions” but memories we hold onto fondly in our hearts.  Things that we remember from childhood that just ,you know, stick!  Things and moments that we know we will continue on with our own children because whether they were big or small, they just meant so much to us!  I guess that’s really how traditions begin. One event or action was so beloved that it was created again and again until it just becomes something we can never live without!

My dad was a firefighter, something I will always be extremely proud of!  When he was on his shift work in the early days he worked 24 hours on and then had 48 hours off.  It was an amazing shift to raise children.  I was able to play with my dad for two whole days and then I also had my mom all the myself for an entire night!  You really honestly truly can’t get any better than that for a childhood!

On those nights that my brother and I had our mom just to ourselves, we always had our own little special traditions!  One of those we called our “romantic dinners”.  No dinner was ever truly the same and thats what made it really fun!  Some nights we would grab fancy cheese and crackers;  other nights (and this might seem so gross to some of you but I LOVE it) we would grab potted meat (devils delicious we would call it), crackers and maybe something else like chips and dip!  There were days that we would order pizza or grill hot dogs;  but no matter what we had to eat the drinks were always the same and they were the BEST!  My  mom always made us feel special by pouring 7-up or ginger-ale into champagne flutes (plastic ones probably) hence:  romantic dinners!

We would sit on the floor in picnic style and we would watch a special movie!  At least that’s the part that I remember!  Sometimes I think we would just talk about our day.  Later when I was older the romantic dinners would continue but they would be less of the romantic picnic style and more of the let’s go out to dinner or to a movie!  The most important part of these evenings was that it was always me and my mom together spending quality time one on one!  I knew that she was creating something special just for us and later, just for me!

The value of that for a child is incredible!  In fact, it’s indescribable!  It’s like a little heart glow!  Do you guys watch Jane the Virgin???  If you do, you know the heart glow!  (Guys if you aren’t watching Jane the Virgin… you must go to netflix now and start… it’s AMAZING!)

Anyway, these romantic dinners have stuck with me all these years.  I’ve never ever once forgotten the significance of them or forgotten how I felt when we would clink our 7-up glasses!

Now, I’m a mama myself and my little one is the same age as I was when my mom started the romantic dinner tradition!

The other night Tuck was at a work dinner.  His old job used to take him away for travel quite a bit and luckily I’m happy to announce we just found out he won’t be traveling anymore!  We were offered a new job and we are so thankful he has accepted!

Anyway… the other night we were a little bummed that Tuck had been traveling and missing a lot of family dinners.  But instead of letting it bum us out and ruin the evening, I remembered my fondness of my mom’s “romantic dinners”!  She took an opportunity to really make an evening with her one on one and make is special!

I immediately ran upstairs and got one of Linc’s favorite blankets.  I spread it on the floor and told him I was going to create something special for him!

I made his favorite Japanese noodles with soy sauce and extra butter and because my boy likes to eat, I also made him a plate of chicken, hummus and grapes.  Linc’s also a huge milk drinker so I had to switch out the romantic champagne flutes (because home girl wasn’t prepared for that either but hey such is life) for milk in his straw cup!

The two of us sat on the floor that night and ate our dinner picnic style!  We clinked our drinks and cheered the night away while watching a movie Linc picked out all on his own!

I also face timed my mama and sent her tons of pictures so she could participate with us!

It was a old tradition revived again and Linc absolutely adored it just like I did when I was his age… just like I do still when I go home and visit my mom!

The best part is that whenever Tuck is away for dinner now (or lunch for that matter) Linc runs to grab a blanket and sets up a picnic for us!  He begs for a “picnic” and it just melts my little heart!  I love how much he loves this little tradition that my mom began with us such a long time ago!  I love that he will have this with my mom too when they are together with each other!

What’s even better… the other night one of Linc’s favorite people came over, our neighbor James.  He came just for a bit and he had his own Chipotle dinner.  I’ve never seen Linc move so fast to grab that blanket!  James hadn’t even made it through the front door to the couch before Linc had set up the “romantic dinner” for his BFF.  I was shocked and had that Jane the Virgin heart glow again that Linc loves James so much to share our special little tradition with him!

As mamas sometimes it’s easy to forget that everything we do has the ability to impact the hearts and the long term traditions our children will carry through with them into the future!  Something as simple as a blanket on the floor and potted meat (haha) can warm a child’s heart so much that it carries over to the next generation and again into the next!

I know for me, sometimes I need to remind myself of this more often:  to take a step back and breathe!  To remember that it’s the little things in life that matter the most!  It’s the intentional,  from the heart,acts that often stick and last through the generations and mean the most!  That’s how traditions begin!

Life gets crazy… I need to slow it down sometimes and that means being purposeful!  Right?

BTW… we also have Donut Sunday’s thanks to our amazing neighbors!

What are some of your traditions friends?  Do you have fun, simple ones like this?  I would love the hear them!!!  Really… I want to hear them!

Creating Family Traditions Blog Brooke Tucker Photography

 

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  • October 29, 2016 - 6:05 pm

    Tammy - I love traditions!!! One that I started when my three kids were small was “mom and me days”. Having more than one child means splitting your time and energy between them and that gets hard. So when they were younger and started school I decided to make special days with them where they could actually MISS a day of school (gasp and I was a school teacher! 😊) and just me and that one child of mine would spend the entire day together. It could be something elaborate like a day at a theme park or something as simple as a McDonalds lunch and a couple hours at different play grounds. They grew to love these days and although it was only a few times a year for each of them (outside of the regular days when it was me and all three of them doing things while their dad worked etc) they all really loved these days. My oldest is now 21 and my youngest is 15 and they STILL love days with just me and them….and still will refer to them as Mom and Me days. 😌ReplyCancel

    • November 3, 2016 - 5:41 pm

      brooketuckerphoto@gmail.com - OH I LOVE this!!!! This is such a great idea! My mom would do the same thing, wake me up and let me know I would miss school to do something special with her… BUT to have a teacher as a mom and to be able to miss school… that’s even MORE special!!! Oh my gosh and especially to get one on one time with your mom without your siblings AND miss school, that’s like a triple treat!!! I love the way you create that time and make it special whether they are going to the theme parks and really going all out OR making it special by “park hopping” and McDonalds! Some days those days are even more special because the focus is totally on the time they get to spend with you!! I’m going to write this down so I can remember this for when my little one is older!!!
      Thanks for sharing this Tammy!!!ReplyCancel

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