Too often I forget to get out the actual camera - not my cell phone - and take pictures and videos of my children.

Nearly every day, I am with them from the moment they get out of bed to the final 'twinkle, twinkle little star.' When they're awake, we have tea parties, draw with chalk, and swing. When they sleep, I work. It's because of them, and for them, that we get to enjoy childhood in this way.

Yesterday - Henry's six-month birthday! - was a great opportunity to capture this. Josephine finally was allowed to play with her porcelain tea set and selected her 'friends' to invite to the tea party. Ken and I received the tablecloth they're sitting on as a wedding gift, which make these photos extra special to me.

As far as editing, I had some fun playing with exposure and coloring, but did not retouch the photos in anyway. To me, something just seems really wrong about airbrushing a child's face. Anyway, Hank's teething pretty hard and Jo was searching for ants earlier, so there's a fair amount of drool and dirt involved. Both - okay, maybe not the drool, but definitely the dirt - are just friendly reminders that these kids are growing up entirely too fast.

And here they are on Henry's one-week birthday. Childhood really is fleeting.