This post is sponsored by Disney Story. To find out more about this brand-new story-creation app – and how it puts the power of storytelling in your hands – click here.

If a picture’s worth a thousand words, then a number of pictures pieced together to tell a story is worth–well, maybe a book.  Always interested in fun (and easy!) ways we can tell our family’s stories with photos, I’m loving the new Disney Story app which gives you a new way to set free and share the stories locked up on your phone.

Summer vacations, birthday parties, a fun night with friends, first ballet recital–Disney Story app allows you to take your phone photos and videos of these events, easily drag them into “storybook pages,” add your own text and captions, customize your layout and share your storybook with whomever you’d like with a touch of a button.

We quickly made a story of a recent trip to the beach. It took only a moment to create, and what would otherwise be some disjointed photos and videos of a great evening has been quickly pieced together to create a virtual storybook, easily shared with family and friends.

Click here to see on Disney Story site.

Download the Disney Story app from iTunes–for FREE–right here!

Disney Story Twitter

Disney Story Facebook

My friend Lola–just a hop, skip and a jump across the state–is back in sponsorship, bringing her beautiful, functional camera totes with her. 

Lua Handbags are handmade, durable and designed by the talented Lola who offers a collection of fun fabrics and designs.

Mine has been lugged across the country–from San Diego to New York–and has held my camera, extra lenses as well as all my day-to-day necessities like diapers, wallet, phone, etc. and it’s still in great shape.

And my camera clutch is perfect for smaller outings (looks like a purse yet cushioned to protect) or great to throw in a bigger beach bag.

Lua Handbags also offers the new Cross Body Bag, great for professional shoots when you want your gear close by–but still fun for everyday use. 

I’ve had the opportunity to meet Lola in person.  She’s a loving mama of two who’s rocking out her business dreams at home.  More behind the business with Lola:

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Q.) I have both a Lua handbag and clutch and love them both for different reasons. What went into the design of these bags and what were key features you wanted to be sure to include in their creation?

As a photographer and a busy mom of two kids under three years old, I was always carrying my camera and “lots of stuff” with me, without a proper place for my camera. And I certainly didn’t want to carry an extra bag for my camera, so I decided to combine them and created the “Lua Bag”: a large bag, big enough to carry your camera and extra lenses, and still have space for other “stuff” (diapers, snacks, wallet, keys, etc.)

The cross body is the “professional photographer” version. Same design as the bag. Just a bit smaller with outside pockets and a side strap, meant to be worn while shooting if needed.

The clutch is the “to-go” camera bag. You can take it on its own, or you can place it inside any other bag. It is perfect for vacations, beach trips, and/or every day outings.

Q.) I’ve taken my Lua bag on several trips and loaded it up, and it’s still in excellent shape. What’s the secret behind its durability?

Yay, that makes me so happy!!!! The secret: that it is handcrafted here in Fort Lauderdale with lots of love :), extra attention to detail, and that we use quality materials.

Q.) How did you go from teacher mama to mama who creates awesome camera handbags?

I always loved photography and dreamed about becoming a professional photographer. Before becoming a Special Ed teacher I went to school for fashion design where I fell in love with fabrics in general. Then I worked as a Special Education teacher for 5 years, and always had a camera in hand. After my son was born (second child), I stopped working as a teacher, decided to stay at home with my children and made the leap to merge two of my passions photography and fashion. Lua Handbags was created.

Q.) The name behind the business?

Lua is my daugther’s (firstborn) middle name. 🙂

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Lola is offering 15% off any bag for the month of May, using Code ETST.

Welcome Lua Handbags!

Check out the Lua Facebook Page as well.

Yesterday ended up serving as a perfect microcosm of motherhood itself, the bookends of challenging morning and evening routines outlining the hearty middle parts of sleeping babies resting on shoulders, small hands reached out for bigger hands in invitations to come explore, and staccato little girl laughter that seemed to never end.

What started as a day with a trip to Walmart–three kids piled in a cart, one crying; a bottle propped up to feed the baby; and a foam Funoodle that wouldn’t stay put in the cart–and ended with poor Nella who woke up twice in the night needing her mama; was filled in the middle with good.  Lots of it.  Some of that good we worked to create but most of it fell naturally into place.

Our favorite spot on the Isles of Capri offered only a skinny stretch of beach yesterday–the rest of it covered by high tide.  But we worked with what we were given, moving our blanket from dry spot to dry spot throughout the day and scattering a line of rainbow-colored toys along what we’re completely aggrandizing by calling it a beach.  It was a strip of sand, really.  But we create our own reality, and to my kids it’s a beach with shallow water for wading and dense sand for digging and hidden treasures for discovering–like broken shells and harmless jellyfish.

And friends.

My kids were covered in sand last night–every inch of ’em sugared with sand that gradually fell off in the carseat, on car mats, onto the garage floor and in a long trail along our tile that finally led to the bathtub.

And with kids finally bathed, beach bags unpacked (or not), wet towels hung out and a few shoulder spots that missed sunscreen patted down with aloe, we ended our day last night exhausted yet satisfied.

I think those two words describe this whole thing pretty well–exhausted yet satisfied.

Red suit, Popina Swimwear

I love what these babies bring to the middle of my days.

We’ll continue to search for neglected skinny sand stretches and turn them into colorful beaches. Accept challenging bookends to our days and fill them with happy middles. Take what we’ve been given and add to it, creating our desired outcome when we can.

And that might come out as a vague metaphor but I’m smiling thinking of about a hundred situations I know I can apply it to right this moment.

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day.