Because the week is filled with hectic schedules and not as much family time as I'd like, I love love LOVE to savor our family togetherness through the lens on the weekends. This is the most special time because we're all together the entire weekend and being with my family (and capturing it all) is my number one passion of all. (all photos taken with iPhone and edited with the Adobe Photoshop Express app)

This weekend, I savored (through my iPhone lens), a weekend filled with Disney on Ice, a mother-daughter pajama party, fort building AND a little more awareness of how I'm starting to change when it comes to social media and being on my phone.

I absolutely LOVED Disney on Ice. Especially since the kids did AWESOME going to a late show on a Friday night, after a full week of school. Woohoo!

Except, we forgot that all the girls wear Princess dresses and C was so SAD that she didn't wear hers, but luckily, once Frozen came on (at the end), and the entire place was singing, she didn't look SO sad anymore. Ha!

She cheered up once we got her a spinning Frozen wand, but her happiness would come and go.

There were too many girls in their dresses to remind her that she wasn't wearing one.

Luca LOVED his sword! Ha!

We were lucky no one was sitting in front of us. ;)

During intermission, I was reminded of my younger days and when I'd go to the Florida Panther's hockey games with my Dad. I haven't seen the Zamboni man in a LONG, LONG, time. It was a nice memory!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Finding Dory.

Then next day we relaxed at home all day and I sat at the kitchen table and worked on adding thumbnails to every blog post.

It was nice to have this time to focus on my blog again, while D cooked in the kitchen and the kids played contently (whaaaaat!?). It's all coming together and I've still got it after all the time I've been away from it.

It was neat going back and seeing all my old posts, too. SO many moments and words I've forgotten, but still need to SEE and hear.

That night was our annual mother-daughter pajama party at C's school. This year was bittersweet, as this will be our last time attending since we will moving.

And because of that, C was VERY upset that she didn't win bingo. :(

The next day we ran some errands before the stormy weather came in. When it did, C made herself a nice little getaway in my closet. She sure was cozy while it was thundering and lighting and raining hard.

Luca and D would join her and D would turn all the lights off and tell scary stories. What a guy! ;)

Then at the end of the day, like, right before bed, the kiddos wanted to build a fort. So D did this for them instead. I was happy because I didn't feel like putting away tons of sheets at 10 at night. Ha!

I just LOVE her little sign.

Kids and family clubhouse here!

When I look back on the weekend, I realized that I've changed.

While at Disney on Ice, they kept announcing to share pictures and use the hashtags, #disneyonice and #followyourheart, while watching the show and I just kept telling myself, "Nope! Not doin' it!"

But, when I saw the Zamboni man during intermission, I immediately texted the picture to my parents to show them my memory I was having with them.

As the show started again, my mom was still continuing to text me with questions about the show and the kids.

When Finding Dory came on, I was still answering her questions, and then I started texting her pictures, because she loves Finding Dory, too.

As I was looking down, typing out my texts back to her, I immediately connected with how I was missing the show because I was way more focused on my phone.

I realized that texting wasn't making me feel good and the show was. And, I was loving the show so much that I didn't want to miss a thing!

It's not everyday that I get a night out on the town with my entire little family and everyone is sitting down oh, so contently and oh, so happy and NO ONE needed to use the restroom. NO ONE! Well, Luca did, but it wasn't until intermission and D took him. SCORE!! LOL!

So I stopped texting her, put my phone in my purse and continued to watch the show with the kiddos and D.

I realized that a few years ago, I would have been taking tons pictures, editing them and then posting them to social media as fast as I could, using the hashtags they were telling us to use.

But...I just can't do that anymore.

My heart is SO sick of focusing on my phone and social media all the time. And when I go deep within myself, it just doesn't feel good anymore and I yearn for the days when social media and phones didn't exist so much and I didn't know every little thing happening with everyone in the world, all day, every day.

Yes, yes, yes...I love love love saving moments through the lens, but instead of taking the picture and then sharing it right away to social media (or even in a text), I now take the picture (s) and put my phone down to focus even more on the moment.

And when the show is over, or even days later, like here on my blog, I'll share those moments or I may not even share those moments at all with the outside world.

I've learned that it has to FEEL GOOD first!! If my heart really wants to share, I'll share, but if it doesn't, I won't.

Words can't express how amazing this is for me, because this is something I've really been striving to do for awhile now.

It's just too easy for me to get sucked back into being glued to my phone and posting pictures as fast as I can to social media.

Even Disney on Ice is bringing up my struggle ...be sure to post your pictures to social media and use these hashtags...over and over again. Ha!

But that constant way of living doesn't feel so good to me anymore, and hasn't for a few years now.

So this moment that I had on Friday night allowed me to SEE and FEEL just how much I AM aware of doing things (and taking action on..whoa!!! because it's NOT easy!) that make me FEEL GOOD!

I love my phone, but I LOVE that I'm not allowing it to consume me as much anymore, because it's way better to BE fully present to the people I LOVE and who are sitting right next me and it's way better to BE fully present for all the REAL LIFE moments that are happening right in front of me, making me smile BIG and filling me with HAPPY tingles from head to toe!

And yes, that's exactly what the Disney on Ice show was doing for me, and yeah, taking pictures does that for me, too, but, I'm FINALLY learning (and doing!) is that if it doesn't feel good, I'm not doin' it!

And that is HUGE, HUGE, HUGE for me!

Because I know, now more than ever, that when I'm 90 years old and I'm looking back on my life, I don't want to FEEL sad and angry, because I realized that I spent WAY too much of my life looking down at my phone and missing out on all the FUN life offers.

Until next time...

The camera...one of my favorite creative tools to help ME connect within + savor (fully enJOY!) all the JOYful moments that fill my heart up with LOVE (something that's hard to do when my mind is running five miles ahead or behind the present moment)