I Have A Sophomore In High School!!

How did this happen? One day I turned around and my little princess loving, gap toothed toddler became a teenager!! One that in less than a month will be able to drive on her own, go on dates, have upperclassmen in her classes. It's all going by way to fast and I'm not ready!!

Space...

So I'm recently unemployed and spending a lot of time thinking of what I want to do with my life and what direction I am heading. I've spent almost half of my life being a mother and a wife, recently I started taking pictures and that is really the extent of my experience in the working world. This is not the greatest thing when unemployment is at an all time high and you find yourself, a single mother of three kids with no job and no real relief in sight. I am trying not to let it overtake my life. I'm trying to enjoy the time I have with my kids and live in the moment. Don't get me wrong, I'm trying like mad to find a job as well, but I also want to live in this space I've created and really find who I am. One of the advantages all the free time has given me is to really be with my kids and hopefully I will get some fabulous pictures of them, too. For now, though, here are some from our recent trip to the zoo.

Ice

Since this 40 degree weather feels like a heat wave after the -4 earlier in the week, I ventured outside to take some pics of the ice in our creek. I look at it everyday from my kitchen window and just think it is so pretty, so I thought I'd share.

A Sneak Peak of Little MJ

Here's one from the baby session I did yesterday.  I am still hard at work on them, but I thought I'd put one up.  This little stinker was wide awake the entire time pretty much.  

London's Calling....

Our friends are currently stationed in London with the Army, but were home for a little while this past week.  I got to take pics of their beautiful daughter, which, I must say, she could be a model with the eyes and the hair.

Six Months....what a difference!!

I got to take pics of this little cutie, who is on my baby plan. I had to shoot one so we could have a then and now shot. Same bow, similar pose same beautiful eyes. It is so fun to watch them grow. She is a little beauty isn't she?

A Beautiful Baby and her Big Sister

I got to take these two lovely ladies pictures today. We had a little bit of a stressful time with big sister, but she is only two and it's hard not always being the star of the show when your two. Mom was worried we didn't get anything, but I think all in all we did pretty well.

Family Game Time!!

The boys got Star Wars Monopoly for Christmas and as with any Monopoly game, it takes forever and never really ends. I started out playing this game with them, Maddison took over for part of it and finally Andrew played to final counting of the money. I really hate Monopoly, but Jack just loves it and this Star Wars version is his idea of heaven all the cool game pieces and the Star Wars money which has a special name and then there are the cities and stations you can build and the special dark side and light side rules, I mean it's every boys dream right? Anyway here is a quick snap of the boys wrapping up the game.

My Christmas Family Session

Both of these families came in from out of town for the holidays, so I got to take their pictures for Grandma and Grandpa. It was such a fun time four kids ages four to four months and the two older girls were just a riot. The one with dark hair came all the way from London and her little British accent was just adorable. The lucky little guy slept through most of it, but we did manage to get a few of him. You'll have to excuse the color on these, I am having some trouble figuring out this new computer as well as my new version of photoshop and I think I have some setting wrong, because the color is off on these.

Happy New Year!!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. We are recovering from stomach flu and dog seizures, but all looks bright this new year. Here are a couple of snapshots of our busy Christmas morning.

My New Office Setup

So I finally got my Macbook Pro, the new 15 inch and I got the new 24inch display as well. I am so excited, I got it sort of set up last night. I do need to get the wall mount so that it will fit on my desk a little better, but I am so excited about all the editing I will get to do on this big beautiful screen.

Snow Day!!!!

The kids had their first snow day today. The boys played outside while Maddison and I stayed in and wrapped presents. It was fun for the most part, though, they did get bored and ended up watching way to much t.v. and video games. Now all electronics are off and they are playing something involving a fort/tent, so all is good.

Finally, I Got One!!!

So I took this guys brothers pics last week and he just wasn't ready yet for his turn. We also didn't get any of them all three together, so I went back this morning and with a little bribery got them done. I'm not above bribery, especially when it gives such good results.

Adding Texture...

I've been playing around with adding texture to photos, it's a neat way to change things up. I like the way this picture looks like it might have been taken years ago, I'm still perfecting my skills on this, but I think I might start offering it to clients.

Happy Holidays!!!

I had my final session before Christmas today, and what a dream session it was. For starters, this sweet little girl was just perfect. Never fussed even through all the clothing changes. Then their house was every photographers dream, tons of natural light, there really wasn't a bad place to shoot. So thanks little Miss E and her momma for letting me capture this wonderful time in your life, it was truly a pleasure.

Fun Session!!

My favorite family in all the world finally let me take their pictures today. My best friends family is one that I have never formally taken pictures of, even though we are together often. I finally got a time nailed down and got them taken today. I'm only showing one because there might be some presents involved and I wouldn't want to give anything away, but aren't they beautiful.

Sunday Morning Randomness

This is what I do when I'm procrastinating real work. I work on pictures that don't need to get done. It's funny how that works isn't it. I love the Christmas bokeh and thought I'd share, and of course I had to add the one of Jack concentrating so hard on Guitar Hero.

Christmas Frenzy

I'm nearing the end of the holiday rush, and wrapping up my last few sessions. Today I got to take pics of kids from the old 'hood. It was good to see friends that we don't get to see as much now that we don't live in the same neighborhood.

Sneak Preview

I got to take these two cute little guys pics today. There will be more to come, as their younger brother was recovering from the flu and just wasn't quite ready for pictures. These guys did great though, you can tell it wasn't their first time.

Fun Family Session

I had a fun little family session the week of Thanksgiving. This family was awesome, up for anything. We had a great time and I am finally winding down on the holiday rush. Only two more sessions to go before we take a little holiday break.