My Photography and Life Blog...

Henry is 4! What?!?

2010-11-15T10:22:00.004-07:00

What is it with time?? When you're a kid you want it to hurry up for goodness sakes!! I remember it taking FOREVER to get to Christmas, my birthday and summer vacation. Now, I want it to slow down, please and thank you! I can't believe that my kids are growing up so dang fast! First my girl turned 6 and NOW my boy has turned 4! What?!?!? He is such a tall, smart thing that it drives me crazy!! Handsome Henry is in to everything that boys are in to: cars, dinosaurs, planes, dragons... he LOVES that movie "How to train your dragon". I've had to Redbox it 3 times already since I am not going to buy it yet. It's nuts. For his birthday cake, Henry wanted "Toothless" from the movie. Luckily for me I found a dinosaur cake pan at the party store! What's the difference between a dinosaur and a dragon, you wonder? Wings. That's it! I had saved some fondant from Evie's birthday cake and after a few sucker sticks and a bit of black food coloring/paint later and we had a pair of wings for the "dragon". I think it turned out pretty cute:

And thanks to Auntie Kathie's birthday present, we even had Hiccup to ride on Toothless:

Evie turns 6!

2010-11-15T10:06:00.007-07:00

My first baby turned 6 a week or so. It is exciting and just a little bit sad. Time is just going too fast for my taste, but it is fun to see the transformation of my baby to a toddler to a big girl that goes to school! We had a good day. I took treats to Evie's class and then we went out to lunch at IHOP and had pancakes for lunch. It was pretty silly! After we got home we started the cake decoration extravaganza that took me the whole afternoon and burned quite a few brain cells. It turned out pretty cool, though. If you remember, Evie's cake

from last year was a beach scene with sharks. This year, she wanted a pirate ship with the "Pirate Girls Nine" from the TMBG song. Here is the link to the TMBG song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsAXEYoHdTM.

This is what my cake turned out looking like:

She's definitely an interesting girl! But at least she's a happy one!

Evie'

2010-11-15T10:06:00.001-07:00

Halloween 2010

2010-11-04T10:36:00.004-06:00

When Halloween hit our house this year, it found the oddest assortment of goblins and spooks inside!! See for yourself:

Here's the whole gang:

GRRR!!! A scary ninja!

Pretty Princess Tiana!

And a very sassy Candy Corn Witch!

The trunk-or-treat was rainy and cold. Our family party was cancelled due to sickness. However, we did have our own little family party on Halloween where we bobbed for apples and ate chili and corn bread, so it wasn't a total loss. Happy Halloween everyone!

Julianna turns 2!

2010-11-04T10:28:00.003-06:00

September 20th was the day that my baby turned 2! Can you believe it? I am struggling with it myself and it was about a month and a half ago. I'll tell you, though...I am ready for the 2 year old demon to leave and the sweetheart to return. I don't know what it is about 2 year olds...maybe they get possessed by an evil, self-expressing demon...maybe they have their brains switched out by aliens while they sleep and then it is returned when they are about 3 1/2. Whatever it is, I am not the biggest fan of the demanding, tantruming, defiant demon that now inhabits my 2 year old's body. My other kids grew out of it (for the most part), so I am hopeful that I will be my daughter's biggest fan again. Right now, though, I cringe a lot of the day and feel like the worst, meanest mom for the rest of it.

But, she is awfully cute, though...so I guess that makes up for some of it!

I've been a bit busy!

2010-11-03T23:07:00.003-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted since the 4th of July! Holy cow!! I am so far behind. Instead of trying to catch up, though, I'll just give you a snippet of what has been keeping me so busy!

Lindsey's bridals at the City and County Building:

Pretty fun, huh?

And then I was in Lava Hot Springs for Margaret's and Nathan's Wedding:

It was a wonderful day! Congratulations guys!

And then it was time for Lindsey's and James' wedding:

Yay! Smiles all around! Congratulations!

What with that and everything else, I've been a bit busy! :)

4th of July

2010-07-09T23:09:00.005-06:00

We did the 4th of July simple this year. We had a bbq with my cousins from Arizona and their family. It was a lot of fun. On Monday, we did sparklers with the kids. Evie and Henry had a blast. Julianna did one sparkler and thought it was great, until she burned herself on the stick while trying to throw it in the water bucket, and refused to do any more sparklers for the rest of the night. Poor baby. I really do feel bad.

After sparklers we had ice cream on a stick.

It was a pretty nice holiday. I like just doing the simple things.

What happens when Mamma leaves the table

2010-07-09T23:02:00.003-06:00

This is what happens when I leave the table and the kids run out of food but are still hungry:

At least they like the food!

I love it when my friends have birthdays!

2010-05-30T00:19:00.003-06:00

I love it when my friends have birthdays...then I get to make things like this:

YUM! It was white cake with fresh strawberries and bavarian creme "mousse" filling with whipped topping, ladyfingers and chocolate covered strawberries. YUM YUM DOUBLE YUM!

Jenae and Shane

2010-05-15T09:44:00.003-06:00

This is the wedding announcement I designed for my friends Jenae and Shane. Pretty cool, huh?

Furniture...Refinished

2010-03-30T09:29:00.013-06:00

When we started to decorate my daughters' room, I decided that the low shelf by the window would just have to be a window seat. I figured that if I condoned their climbing up into the window to sit, then I wouldn't get so stressed out about it when it happened. Right? So, I made them a seat cushion and pillows. However, I didn't want them ruining my nice WHITE wainscoting with their dirty feet, so we decided to buy them a stool. So, off to Ikea we went to get a stool. They have this really fabulous stool for like $20 that is SUPER sturdy. However, the downside of the stool was that it was also plain wood. Kind of boring for a room that is floor to ceiling girly-ness!

This is what the stool started out like:
Boring! Nathan found someone's post on LifeHacker that had taken this same stool and refinished it using paint and wallpaper. So, we stole their idea! Here is what mine turned out like: Ahhhh...much better! So cute! When I finished it, Julianna came over to it and caressed it lightly and said, "Pretty". I think she likes it!

But, why stop there? When Nathan's grandfather retired, he kept busy doing woodworking. He made a bunch of the stuff that we now have in our house. I have been using one of the end tables that he made as a kids' arts and crafts table. So, I decided to refinish it the same way at the stool. Of course, I asked for permission first. I asked Nathan's mom if it would be "blasphemy" if I refinished one of Grampa Moore's tables. She said, "no" and that it was probably about time to do it anyway. I told her what I wanted to do and she thought it would be okay. Here is what the table looked like before I started the transformation:

I had to patch a couple of big gouges in the top. Then, I started to paint. It took 3 coats to cover all the dark finish. Here is what the table looked like after the painting was done:Please excuse the mess! Looks much better already, doesn't it?!? Then I put on the wallpaper. Unfortunately, I had to do 2 strips because the wallpaper wasn't wide enough to cover it in one. I think I did a pretty good job, though:And, because I am oh so smart (and I've been around my children for more than 15 seconds!), I decided to put a plexiglass sheet over the wallpaper to make the table easy to clean:Ahh....so cute! I have decided that now I need to either find a table exactly like this one that Grampa Moore made or find a great DI deal and refinish it all boyish for my boy's room. Way too fun!

Laser Day

2010-03-17T15:30:00.007-06:00

Laser treatment days are NOT among my favorite days. For those of you who don't know, my eldest was born with a port wine stain birth mark on her face. It actually starts at the crown of her head and extends in a triangular shape to the middle of her upper lip. It is caused by faulty nerves that do not tell the capillaries in the skin to close, so her skin is constantly flooded with blood...that is why it is so red. There are lots of complications that can occur with birthmarks like this, so we are choosing to have it treated.

This is what she looked like as an adorable little baby:

1 month old:

And 6 months:

At 12 months we met with her dermatologist to discuss treatment for her birthmark. It is called a Pulse Dye Laser. It looks like a laser pointer pen attached to a really big machine. The dermatologist says that when the laser hits the skin it feels like a "hot rubber band" hitting the skin...again, and again, and again. When she was 15 months old we had her first treatment. We opted to go for the topical anesthesia. This is what she looked like after application in 2 little spots: Looks like she's been through a war, doesn't it. They only zapped 2 little spots that day, so it wasn't too horrible...except for the topical stuff. After that, we opted for general anesthesia. It is better with the general because she doesn't squirm and they can get closer to her eye with the laser. It still makes me nervous to have her little body subjected to general anesthesia, but so far she has done great.

I think she's had 16 treatments so far. 16 treatments in 4 years. It makes my heart hurt every time. Some treatments aren't too bad- some bruising, not too much swelling, but it's okay. Some treatments are really, really bad- lots of bruising, blisters, swelling, pain. Today's treatment is one of the bad ones. I think it is probably the worst she's ever had. Her upper lip is so swollen that she can't hardly open her mouth, even to eat or talk very loud. She's been sitting in the same place for about 4 hours, sipping smoothies and watching TV.

Here's what she looks like today:It just makes my heart hurt. In 2 weeks it will be healed. Hopefully these treatments can continue to lighten the birthmark. She always has to wear a hat and sunscreen while outside because of these treatments. She goes to kindergarten next year, and I just worry for her. She'll do great...but I still worry.

I think the treatments have been working and the birthmark is lighter. Here is a picture of her a couple of weeks go:
Quite a difference since she was born, but it has been a long hard road to even get this far.

Moore Family Pictures

2009-12-30T00:55:00.003-07:00

I am surrounded by talented people of one sort or another. My neighbor, Kim Wetzel, is a photographer as well and she took my family's pictures for Christmas. She did a really good job.

Here is the whole family:
Here are my boys! So handsome!

Pretty Evie!
Happy Handsome Henry!
Cute Cindy Lou Who (Julianna)
Kim has a website: www.wetzelphotography.blogspot.com
Check her out if you want cute, affordable pictures of your family and kids!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-21T13:26:00.003-07:00

Since I probably won't actually do a post on Christmas, I thought I'd wish you all a Merry Christmas today!

Today I had a root canal. Yuck...I know. I am none too pleased with the situation. But...when I got home, I decided to go check the mail, and on the way back I looked up in time to see our skinny, scrawny little tree that is covered with leaves all spring and berries all fall. The berries haven't fallen off or been eaten yet this year, and this morning was really, REALLY foggy so it froze all sorts of wonderful crystals on to our little tree! So, I ran inside, grabbed my camera, and this is what I got!
Pretty cool, huh?!?

Cool tool images

2009-12-03T22:32:00.003-07:00

We've been finishing our basement. The process started back in March, and we have slowly been completing projects. Today we got carpet in our family room. Yay! Going through my pictures, though, I found that I had taken some cool tool shots at the beginning of the project and then did nothing with them. So, here they are:

Saw

Tool bucket

Nails

I call this one "Measuring the Stars".

Pretty nifty. I think it is probably about the coolest thing that even mundane objects can be used to make such pretty, interesting pictures!

Pre-Snow Photo Shoot

2009-11-14T20:45:00.003-07:00

I LOVE it when the weather cooperates just long enough for me to take some really fun pictures of a really fun family! I also really love it when I get the chance to hang out with an old friend and her family! Today I went to Wheeler Farm at 9:30 in the morning (yes, that is right, 9:30 a.m.!) and took pictures of a really great family! They are adorable! We shot pictures from about 9:40-ish until about 10:40-ish...and then I hopped in my car and went to work. By the time it was time for lunch, the clouds had parted and the beautiful fall morning had turned into a winter wonderland! It was crazy! I am so glad that we were able to take pictures this morning before the weather turned nasty!

Here's a few samples of what we got this morning:

Henry's 3!

2009-11-12T09:42:00.003-07:00

Yesterday my boy turned 3! Can you believe it? (Unfortunately, he is in the stage where it is hard to get good pictures of him, so please be forgiving of the craziness!) Like his sister he put in an extensive and detailed order for his birthday cake. He wanted a train on a bridge. And not just any bridge...a trestle bridge. And not just any train...Diesel 10. And, Diesel 10 needed to be a toy. Hopefully, my adult brain understood his 3 year old brain, because this is the cake I came up with:Kinda cool, I thought. I used my mom's chocolate cake recipe, and let me tell you...it is the only chocolate cake from scratch recipe that I have made that isn't horribly dry! It was tender and yummy! It is definitely going into the recipe stash!

Well...it looks like Henry's pleased! That really is ALL that counts, after all!

My very creative and interesting 5-year old

2009-11-03T20:40:00.003-07:00

Today is my daughter's 5th birthday. Here she is:

So sweet, so cute, so innocent. Right? WRONG!!!

This girl is so dang creative and cranks out such a volume of "art" and "crafts" that I can barely keep up with her. This year for her birthday she put in an extensive and quite detailed "order" for her birthday cake. I thought it was quite funny until I realized she was completely serious.

So, this is what my sweet, cute, INNOCENT girl came up with for her birthday cake:
Yes, a beach scene...but not any beach scene! This is how she described the cake to me: "I want a round cake with sharks. And a girl on the beach. And a 'no swimming' sign". The execution was left entirely up to me. The girl is made of fondant, laffy taffy (thank goodness it was just Halloween!) and Tootsie Roll (again, thank you Halloween!). The sharks are made of twinkies, fruit roll-ups, mini-chocolate chips, icing and a funny cracker for the fin.
Here's a little bit of a close-up shot...and yes, those are feet coming out of that sharks mouth! That was Daddy's idea, and she loved it! She said, "Yeah, because there's a 'no swimming' sign and you're not supposed to swim with sharks". Where does she get this stuff??

Well, at least the birthday girl was pleased. When I finished the cake I laughed so dang hard! It has got to be the funniest cake I have made to date and probably will be the funniest for a while! Way to go, Baby! Your cake idea was fabulous!

I love this family!

2009-10-28T10:42:00.003-06:00

Saturday I was cold and tired and fighting wind and rain and even hail at one point. But, it was all in the name of getting great pictures of a family that I have been taking pictures for for 2 and a half years! That's right...2 and a half YEARS! I first took their pictures when Angie and Cody were having a wedding reception and she was like 7 months pregnant with her adorable boy, Carter. It has been so much fun to watch them grow, especially Carter! He is adorable! We went up Millcreek Canyon to Millcreek Inn and shot as many pictures as we could in about 30 minutes due to the cold weather and a crazy, busy 2-year old! It was good to see them and have a little fun! ;)
Aren't they just adorable? I think so!

Julianna's 1st birthday!

2009-09-28T21:50:00.003-06:00

So, here's the birthday girl:

And here are the birthday girl's butterfly cupcakes:

And here is the birthday girl's flower cake:
I think I did a pretty good job on everything. Very cute, eh? We had a good day.

Crandall Family

2009-09-14T11:06:00.003-06:00

This family braved early Fall rain to have their portraits taken. It was a lot of fun, even though we had to hide under a tree for a bit!So cute!

Addicted?

2009-09-13T16:20:00.002-06:00

I think I'm addicted. Last night I stayed up until midnight making raspberry-peach jam. This afternoon, I totally fell in love with the jam. For it's taste? Nope. I haven't even cracked open a bottle yet. I fell in love with it's COLOR! And, then what did I do? I took pictures of it! I took pictures of JAM! There must be some term to describe whatever I am. All I know is that I love my jam!

Take a look:
I mean, really...who wouldn't love a sight like this?!?

Salsbury Family

2009-09-08T16:47:00.003-06:00

This wonderful family supported the YW in my ward by purchasing a bunch of stuff at the silent auction during our fundraiser back in April. One thing they bought was a photo shoot with me. I hope they will be pleased!

Here's a little sample of the cuteness that happened yesterday:

Goleman-Brown Family

2009-08-10T11:36:00.011-06:00

Yesterday I was privileged to take family portraits for the Goleman and Brown families. They were celebrating a new baby in the family...what a better time to have fun pictures taken?

Julianna stands!

2009-08-10T11:31:00.005-06:00

WAY back on July 18th, my baby pulled herself up to stand! She was so proud of herself!

California Vacation

2009-07-14T18:04:00.007-06:00

I really have to get me a good point and shoot camera! I was on vacation in California for 10 days, we did a bunch of fun stuff and my kids were ever sooooo cute, but I only have 41 pictures to show for it! Blah!

Well...here's some highlights!

Here are Henry and Nicole...this is pre-sand castle stomp!

Here is cute Nicole laughing in the water:

Here is Henry, running and laughing:

Here is Julianna after eating a mouthful of sand:
(She's gonna end up being a rock and dog food eater, I can already tell!)

And here is cute Evie at the Garden Store:

Well, at least these pictures are cute!

Mutant Lettuce

2009-07-14T18:01:00.003-06:00

Okay, so if any of you are wondering what would happen if you left your perfectly fine lettuce plants and went on vacation for 10 days...well, let me spare you the experiment...I have done the dirty work for you!

They turn in to crazy Mutant Lettuce! Check it out!
AAAAHHHH!! They are going to take over the world! Well...the garden, anyway!

Cuteness in the sink!

2009-06-11T14:01:00.005-06:00

So, every time I take my kids' pictures I think, "Who needs Kiddie Kandids, anyway?!" Today was no exception. I finally got around to taking Julianna's 8 month pictures today. Yes, I know that she will be 9 months old in 9 days, but so what...she's still 8 months old until the 20th, so I am golden! :) Anyway, I have also decided that I don't need some grandiose background set up to get really sweet pictures of my kids. Today I just stripped her down to her diaper and put her in the bathroom sink. Ta-dah! Instant cuteness! It was a little challenging trying to take her pictures in the sink: what with older sibs trying to play with her or be in the pictures, and then she would wiggle around so that she was facing the wrong way, it was a bit of a challenge. I tend to shoot a ton of pictures of kids and hope for the best. I ended up getting some really cute pictures.
Hi there!

Who's that baby?

Oh! Isn't she just the sweetest thing??

Henry vs. The Big Horrible Attack Rug

2009-05-08T10:10:00.007-06:00

Ok. So if you read my post about Easter, this is why my attempts at nice pictures of my kids will have to be delayed for a little while.

Henry is like a big puppy dog. When he was born, he had the biggest hands and feet I had ever seen on a baby. And, unlike a puppy, he isn't "growing into" his big appendages. Oh, don't get me wrong...he is growing...like a weed, but his hands and feet are growing at the same rate as the rest of his body. I guess it is something that he comes by naturally. Grampa Szymanski apparently had huge hands with fingers the size of large sausages...well, that is how Nathan describes it anyway.

Our new house came equipped with carpet in the dining room. Who ever thought that was a good idea needs to be drawn and quartered. I mean, seriously! Have you ever tried to keep carpet clean under a dining room table that has 3 small children flinging food around? It is an exercise in futility! So, to try and minimize the messes and the number of times I have to get the vacuum cleaner out, I bought a bamboo area rug to put under the table. Here it is:
8 months ago it started out looking nice. Now, it just does the job. Bamboo is wood, and funnily enough, wood breaks when you put a table and chairs and people on it enough times. Then, Nathan painted and as is usual for Nathan's painting style, he got paint on the rug. Oh well. The plan is to replace the carpet with laminant flooring. But, I digress.

The rug is a little warped in places, and I and my family have been tripping over it for a while now. I hope you can see why:

Yup, that is a good 1 inch of clearance. Up until today it was just a minor annoyance.

However...this bamboo rug morphed into the Big Horrible Attack Rug this morning when it attacked my child.

Henry was running around the table in circles like he always does. It's pretty funny, until I get dizzy from watching him. He had just gotten up to full speed when he tripped on the Big Horrible Attack Rug and fell face first and hit my hutch. The sound of the crunch just made my heart drop out of my chest! He hit REALLY hard. He...well, just see for yourself:

It looks worse in real life. He has a nice gash on his cheek and a bruise forming on his eye and cheek. So, we won't be taking pictures until after he has healed!

So, in the battle of Henry vs. the Big Horrible Attack Rug the score is: Henry: 0, BHA Rug: 1

That is until Mamma got involved! The BHA Rug is now in the garage waiting to be put in the trash! HA! Take that Big Horrible Attack Rug!!!!!

Easter

2009-05-08T10:01:00.003-06:00

Okay, so I know that Easter was like a month ago. I have been meaning to dress the kids back up in their Easter finery and take nice pictures of them, but it looks like I will be delayed again. So, I thought I would post a few pictures of the kids doing their Easter egg hunt. It was fun. Evie is still in her dress, so you can see what that one looks like at least. Henry just had a brown tie that matched with Daddy's new brown tie and Julianna had a dress that matched Evie's.

Here we go:
Isn't she cute?

Here's Henry searching for eggs. A white shirt and tie just doesn't stay on long after church!

And, I am sorry, but the only picture I took of Julianna wasn't a very cute picture of her or of her Gramma that was holding her. I think I'll spare you that one!

Shark!

2009-04-14T22:56:00.003-06:00

My 4-year old is showing a real liking for art and crafts. Today she drew a picture of a shark. Here it is:

Pretty good shark, huh? It'll be the last bit of shark I end up seeing if I ever get too close to one!

Park day- March 18th

2009-04-06T22:19:00.004-06:00

I took a bunch of cute pictures of Evie and Henry during our outing to the park back on March 18th. At 4 years old, Evie usually hams it up for the camera which results in not-so-cute pictures. But I actually got a good one of her while she was on the slide:
I think it is definitely one to print and frame! So CUTE!

My favorite one of Henry is on the slide, too, but this one is more of an action shot. Can you say, "HI-YA!"Yup, you guessed it...he is ALL boy. What a character. :)

6 months old- a couple weeks late

2009-04-06T22:10:00.004-06:00

I am really behind on my blogging. There has been so much and yet not much going on. It is how my friends from college, Christian and Rob, would put it "Same sh*$, different day". The only thing that seems to change are my kids. Sometimes the changes are good. Like Julianna is now 6 months old...well, she was on March 20th. I said I am a little bit behind on my blogging! Sheesh! Here are a few cute pics of Julianna at 6 months:

Here she is blowing "raspberries" at me when we went to the park:
And here is her royal cuteness in the bath. This was the first bath she has taken when she sat up by herself and played with toys. It kinda helps to not have big sister and big brother in the bath with you!

5 month cuteness

2009-02-24T09:36:00.003-07:00

The other day my baby turned 5 months old. I was totally on the ball and took her 5 month pictures on her actual 5 month-iversary. I totally dropped the ball, however, and failed to put any new pictures up on the blog. Well...at least I got it half right, and the other half is just a bit late! :)

Anyway, here is a picture of her royal 5 month cuteness:She's so funny. She loves playing with toys and with her sibs. She won't take a bottle for Daddy, but she WILL eat a whole jar of carrots for Daddy...but she won't eat solid food for Mamma or if Mamma is around. She chews on her binky just to hear it squeak. She has recently discovered her toes and wiggles and wiggles when she is tickled. She is 5 months old and her eyes are still blue. I wonder when her eyes will change color, if at all. She grabs my face and gives sweet baby kisses (translation: slobbers) that just make my heart melt. She blows raspberries and can talk over her sibs to make herself heard. All in all...she's just the cutest and we love her!

Happy birthday to me!

2009-02-07T10:00:00.003-07:00

So, yesterday was my birthday. I love my birthday. I feel it to be my own personal holiday. And, since I decided several years ago that I will NEVER get old and that the "number" does not define me, I don't care that I am now 33 years old. I say, BRING IT ON!!!

My birthday didn't go at all the way I had planned it. Instead of doing something fun with my kids I had to clean the house. Instead of making my traditional Hawaiian Chicken for dinner, I went out for Brazilian barbeque with my hubby. I even had a grand scheme for my birthday cake. I had it all planned out in my head. I was going to make a sponge cake and then pipe a basketweave pattern on the cake with whipped cream. On top of the cake I was going to artfully mound glazed strawberries and then use chocolate covered strawberries to garnish around the base.

Well, by the time I had cleaned the house, taken care of the kids all morning and afternoon, made the sponge cake, the chocolate covered strawberries, glazed strawberries and whipped cream...I was way to tired to haul out even one piping bag or one little tip to do any sort of decorating. So, instead, my cake turned out looking like:
I know it is not nearly as artful as I had planned it out to be, or is it any sort of grand, decadent dessert like my friend, Sierra, is learning to make in culinary school...but boy! It was yummy! My absolute favorite dessert is strawberry shortcake, so this is my little spin on it. The sponge had orange zest in it which was yummy with the strawberries. The strawberries were glazed with vanilla sugar. And...there are very few things in this life better than chocolate covered strawberries.

So, happy birthday to me!

I love my big bay window!

2009-01-22T23:33:00.006-07:00

So, today I took pictures of Julianna (mostly) because she is now 4 months old. Kind of trippy to realize that she is indeed 4 months old, but there it is...I can't change it. My kids were in a particularly restful/happy mood today, so I whipped out the camera a shot about 70 or so pictures. No big set up, just in my livingroom with daylight coming through my big bay window. I love my big bay window. I have used it several times before while photographing my kids, and let me tell you, it is fabulous! So much light comes streaming through that I don't have to use a flash! It is like we are outside taking pictures, but without the cold! I absolutely adore natural light and the fact that I can shoot pictures of my kids inside my house using natural light is a wonderful, wonderful thing!

Here are a few examples of what we accomplished today:

Aren't they cute? I love it!

Gratitude Journal

2009-01-11T00:34:00.000-07:00

This year for Relief Society, we have been challenged to keep a "gratitude and service" journal. We made little notebooks and we are supposed to write in them everyday- 1 thing we are thankful for and 1 thing we did that was of service to others.

My journal is going to be simple...I have the simple pleasures and services of being a mostly stay at home mom. But, I thought I'd share with you my entry from yesterday:

1-9-08: I am thankful for a 4 year old daughter who in response to the question: "What does leg start with?" answered: "A foot".

It is always amazing and pretty much the cutest thing to see the world through the eyes of a four year old. I am starting to understand the Savior's direction to us to "become as little children"...only my little children could have ever gotten the lesson through my thick skull. And I am grateful for that!

Henry Boy

2009-01-11T00:29:00.001-07:00

This is my Henry boy. I never thought of anything being special about the fact that we call him "Henry boy", we just always have done ever since he was itty-bitty.

At lunch with Grampa before we came home from California, he heard me call my son "Henry boy" and he started to tear up. Apparently, my Grampa's gramma would call him "Henry boy" when he was a child.

I did notice that every time I called to my son, my Grampa perked up...it must have been a challenge for him to figure out who was being talked to, with two "Henry boy"s in the place!

Henry to the power of 2

2009-01-11T00:13:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that we name our children for members in our families. My son is named for my grampa, Henry. Over the Christmas break the two Henrys were able to spend some quality time together...they were contemplating the origin and the functionality of trains as only a 70-something Henry and a 2-year old Henry can. It was terribly adorable. Here are two of my favorite pictures from the encounter:

In this picture Grampa is explaining that the train isn't broken, that there really is supposed to be a hole there. (Don't ask me where the hole was that was causing this problem, it was of some serious concern to little Henry, though!)

In this picture, little Henry is asking Grampa where the train came from and they are having a rather in-depth discussion on the subject that the train came from Aunt Chelle.

All in all it was just about the cutest thing I had ever seen!

3 months old!

2008-12-22T13:59:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? My baby is 3 months old already! I am perfectly astounded! Time has gone by so fast! She is sooo cute, though! She is such a little character, too! She turns on the charm when I walk passed and she wants to be picked up. With her smile, it is hard to resist! Well...just see for yourself:

Nathan has his master's degree!

2008-12-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

On Friday December 12th, Nathan graduated from WSU with his Masters degree in Education!!! YEAH!! I am pretty excited!! He has been working on his masters for over 4 years, so to have it complete is a wonderful feeling! He will be applying for a PhD program for 2010, so he is nowhere near done with school...but at least he will have a little time off to do things around the house and with the family! And, he even let me take a nice picture of him all decked out. Usually, he makes some funny face or looks constipated when I take his picture!

I have the cutest girls!

2008-11-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

So, today my mother-in-law paid for the studio rental fee and we gathered all the children in the family for a photo shoot. If you can imagine complete pandemonium, you wouldn't be far off. We had 9 children 8-years old and under, 3 of them were 2-years old and 3 of them were infants. The oldest child was 8 and the youngest was 4-weeks old. I am surprised we got as many good shots as we did...but OH BOY! They sure tired me out! It turned out that my "low-key" boy was the one that decided the photo shoot was over. Can you say "Exit stage right"? That is exactly what he did. Just thinking about it makes me giggle.

I do have an absolute favorite picture from the whole shoot, and of course, it is of my girls.
Aren't they sweet?

So much happens in a year and a half!!

2008-11-22T17:04:00.000-07:00

I have been photographing the Dalton family for a year and a half now. Angie contacted me when she was very pregnant with Carter and they wanted some "couple" pictures for their wedding reception. What fun we had at Red Butte Garden!!

Then, I got to meet Carter when he was 6 months old and it was time for Christmas pictures. He is such a doll!!
After that, we went to Liberty Park to shoot Carter's 1 year pictures. He just gets cuter and cuter!
Today we went to Wheeler farm and shot some pictures for their Christmas cards! What fun!

I have had so much fun with the Daltons the past year and a half! I am so glad that they have kept me as part of their fun, fun lives!

2 years old

2008-11-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

My boy is now 2. That is one of those statements that kinda puts a shiver down my spine. Time flies so fast! My sister-in-law commented the other day that 6 weeks goes really fast when it isn't your own child...I countered with that it goes really fast even when it IS your child! I am still reeling over the fact that my oldest is 4...and now my boy is 2!!!

He had a good day, though. We opened presents in the morning and he spent the whole day dragging around his new Tonka dump truck and his new train. The dump truck we found at DI and is mostly metal (like the old style ones) and so he had a tough time taking it everywhere he wanted to go and gave up dragging it around at about lunch time. The train, however, is apparently his new best friend and took a nap with him:

He also had a train cake. I asked him what flavor he wanted his cake to be and he said "blue"...we did not have a blue cake, however. Daddy vetoed that. I made a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling. I even made the cake from scratch (I am tired of how box cakes all taste the same, regardless of the flavor!). Here's a couple pics of the cake:

The cake is a little cockeyed, but that is okay. I used cupcakes for the smoke stack, but I didn't have any bamboo skewers to keep it from tilting, so it started to droop as I was icing it. The whole cake is a little crooked because I used styrofoam under the cake to hold it up so I could put on the wheels and the styrofoam wasn't perfectly flat. Oh well. I think it turned out pretty darned cute even though it would never get me a job on Food Network. LOL!

When we sang "Happy Birthday" to the birthday boy, he was so excited that as soon as Daddy lit the candles he blew them out again. We had to re-light the candles and give him strict instructions to wait to blow them out! He's so cute!

I have the bravest boy!

2008-11-10T14:56:00.000-07:00

Today we took Henry to the cardiologist for an echocardiogram and evaluation due to his heart murmur that was heard at his last pediatrician's appointment. The heart murmur was heard back in August...it has been a very busy 3 months so I haven't been sitting and stewing over a possible problem, but it has been a source of background worry. Our appointment was at 8 a.m. so all of us were up really early. Nathan gave Henry a blessing yesterday for him to have courage during his appointment. We had to divide and conquer to get things done this morning, but everyone was together for Henry's appointment.
When the ultrasound tech took us back for the test, she warned us that she would do as much of the test as Henry would let her and then she would stop once he got jittery enough that it wasn't going to work any more. But, Henry laid still for the entire time!!! The tech commented that she doesn't have 5 or 6 year olds do as well as Henry did! She really didn't expect to be able to do the entire test. He was so good and brave! Okay, so it didn't hurt...but just imagine being 2 years old and having someone put cold jelly on your chest and poke and prod you with a weird stick! I am so proud of him!

Blessing

2008-11-01T15:35:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow is Julianna's Blessing. I took pics of her today in her dress to simplify my life tomorrow. She's so pretty!

Halloween

2008-11-01T15:30:00.000-06:00

We had a pretty good Halloween. Plans got changed, but it was okay, because everything worked out for the best. I opted to do the kids' costumes on the cheap this year, and they turned out pretty cute!

There was Evie Butterfly:

And Henry the Train Engineer:

And Julianna Banana:

What a bunch of cuties!

Pumpkin Picking

2008-11-01T15:24:00.000-06:00

This summer my family participated in a community-supported agriculture program (CSA). All summer we received farm-fresh produce which tasted WONDERFUL! We are definitely participating again next summer. At the end of the season, they gave us a letter saying that they were having a Pumpkin Picking activity at the farm and that we could go and pick pumpkins. It was pretty fun. The kids picked their pumpkins and we carved them into jack-o-lanterns the following Monday for FHE.

2 weeks old!

2008-10-04T20:04:00.000-06:00

Can you believe that it has been 2 weeks since my baby was born?? I sure can't! We had my mom here for the first week, and I have been flying solo with 3 kids for the other week. Yikes!

I did have some fun today and took pictures! Isn't she just the cutest thing??

2008-09-20T15:49:00.000-06:00

My baby was born today, September 20th at 10:51 a.m. She was 9 pounds 7 ounces and 21 inches long. She has a ton of dark hair. (I guess the old wives' tale about heartburn really paid off in this instance!) She was born at home in a birthing tub. She is only about 5 hours old now, and I feel really good. My water broke at about 6:30 a.m. It really was a beautiful morning here. Right now, I am watching a thunder storm cleanse the earth...I love the rain.

Evie and Henry were really good to me during the birth. They kept coming over and stroking my hair and giving me hugs and kisses. Evie got scared when the baby started to crown because I was yelling, but we coaxed her out of her room and she was able to watch the birth with Henry. Nathan, my mom and my midwife and my kids were the people that where there. Nathan was great. He stayed calm and held my hand and rubbed my back and whispered that he loved me.

Today is the day!

2008-07-23T11:22:00.000-06:00

Well...today is the day! We are scheduled to close on our new house at 3 p.m. I am totally excited, and a little nervous as well. Not only will we be moving to a new house, but it will be a completely different environment than we are used to. For one thing, we will have a yard! I don't know what my kids will do with themselves! We are also leaving the church group we have been in for 5 years, which is exciting, but also a bit scary as well. I was told by my very observant daughter that not only does she have to make all new friends, but so do I. Too true. I hope we can find and make some friends in the neighborhood that will make us feel welcome and won't be too judgmental. I always worry about how people are going to respond to the sight of my daughter's very prominent facial birthmark...even though we are getting it treated and it is looking so good in comparison to what it started out as! I guess every mother is overly protective in her own way, and this is mine. I hate it when new people ask, "What is wrong with your daughter's face?" To this question I generally have 2 initial reactions, neither of which I act on. The first reaction is to punch the person in the face. The other reaction is to ask them, "Nothing, but what is wrong with your brain?". As satisfying as those reactions would be, at least one of them could land me a night in jail, so I generally opt for the polite approach of calmly explaining about her birthmark and the subsequent treatments. It's really amazing to me how judgmental and rude people can be.

Anyway, wish us luck on our closing. We have been completely debt-free for a week now...no mortgage, no student loans, no car payment...so now we will have a mortgage again, albeit a relatively small mortgage...but it was still nice to feel like we had no financial obligations and a huge chunk of money just sitting in the bank gathering interest. :)

Tori and Dustin

2008-07-01T22:38:00.000-06:00

I spent last weekend in Idaho and Washington. I flew up to Spokane in the morning the day before my cousin's wedding and spent a lot of that day running around with my aunt and cousins and then taking Tori's bridal portraits that evening. We left the house at 7 p.m., tried to break into the project office where we were taking the portraits, and ended up having to have Tori change into her gown out in the great outdoors. We only were able to shoot for about 1/2 an hour, but we got some pretty nice shots all the same. Click here to see one of my favorites.

The day of the wedding was pretty hectic, but the wedding was wonderful (of course) and we had fun shooting more pictures! Here are 3 of my absolute favorite shots from the temple:

We found it!

2008-06-13T09:55:00.000-06:00

Even though I don't want to jinx this whole process, I am just so excited I can't contain myself from shouting it to the world...We found our new home!!! It has been such a long and exhausting process I was starting to give up hope. We seriously looked at close to 40 houses before we found this perfect gem!!! It isn't even a house we had on our "list" to go look at. It is one of our agent's listings and since Nathan and he were in the area looking at another house, they popped by for a little look-see. Nathan loved it and decided that I needed to go see it, too. It is perfect. It has nice high ceilings and is very open and airy with lots of windows and natural light streaming in from everywhere! I am sooooo addicted to light that this is a very good thing! The basement is unfinished, but that is okay. I figure Nathan and his dad would implode if they didn't have a project to do! :) The basement is amazing, even though it is unfinished. It has 10 foot high ceilings! In the basement! There is even a little cubby room that will be perfect for food storage!

Here's a pic of the outside:

Such a grown up!

2008-06-09T10:02:00.000-06:00

Yesterday during Primary, my 3 1/2 year old gave her first real talk! On the first Sunday of this month, she decided that she wanted to give a "talk" during Testimony Meeting. She went up to the front and sat with her Daddy until the end and then he prompted her what to say. She did really well...it was pretty cute. Then, she decided that she wanted to give the talk during Primary. Of course we had all week to prepare, but I forgot all about it until Saturday night at about 9:30! Daddy wrote her talk for her on Sunday morning, and they practiced together until she had it all but memorized by the time we had to leave for church. She did really well when she was up in front of the Primary actually giving her talk. I asked her if she was scared and she said, "No." She is growing up so fast! Sometimes it makes me a little sad! But I am so proud of her and how brave and smart she is, so it pretty much cancels out the little bit of sadness I feel when I think about my baby growing up!

I love Liberty Park!

2008-06-07T23:35:00.000-06:00

Today I had a photo shoot with a family that I had shot twice before. It has been so fun to see them go from excitedly awaiting the birth of their baby to seeing their baby at 6 months old and now to see their big boy at 1 year old. We shot at Liberty Park. We stuck to the south side of the park near the pond, but we got so many cute shots! With a park as big as Liberty Park we could have spent hours taking pictures all over the park, but I am very pleased with the 45 minutes that we spent and the pictures that we got. It was so much fun.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

Chocolate Clay Roses

2008-05-23T22:39:00.000-06:00

Tonight I dropped off my first wedding cake. The couple were real choco-holics. The cake was chocolate fudge brownie with chocolate mousse filling, covered with buttercream icing and chocolate ganache. Top it all off with chocolate clay roses, and you have the second most chocolatey cake ever...the first place would have been covered in chocolate icing and all that. When I got to the reception center and set it all up, I pulled out my camera to take an awe-inspiring picture only to find out that I left the batteries at home. ARGH! I ended up not using one of the chocolate roses, so I was able to take pictures of it when I got home. Here is what a medium sized chocolate rose turned out like:

I also made the large sized roses and rose buds...but they all made it on to the cake. The mother of the bride said she'd email me pictures of the cake, so hopefully I won't be completely deprived of pictures...hopefully!

Literary Inspiration

2008-04-05T00:51:00.000-06:00

So, I am not the most reliable of bloggers. Oh well. I guess you just have to savor what you get!

I have been busy, of course, but with things that are really run of the mill. I take care of my kids. I clean the house. I got the stomach flu that just won't go away...well, it is either the stomach flu or my "baby in my tummy", as my adorable daughter would say, is not being very nice to me lately.

I did do something that I am proud of...I crocheted a baby blanket. Never did that before. I have crocheted doilies, scarves, granny squares by the dozens, purses and dolly dresses...but never a baby blanket. I found the pattern here. The weight of my yarn wasn't correct for the gauge, so I had to improvise a little, but it worked out perfect. Instead of a brown satin ribbon, I used a pink and white checked ribbon and it turned out cute, cute, cute! I am giving it to my friend for her new baby girl that she is having in July.

I am also making embroidered kitchen towels for my mom and mother-in-law for Mother's day. I found the patterns here. I found a good deal for the flour sack towels at American Chair.com (yes, American Chair, even though they sell all sorts of kitchen, bath and bedroom textiles). I got 10 towels for $10. I bought 2 sets and will have 6 towels left over. I am going to make my own design for the last six towels and give them to a friend that is in culinary school in Denver. Today I ordered a light box from JoAnn.com to help me with the pattern transfer...a "bright window" was just not cutting it! As soon as my light box comes in the mail I will transfer all the rest of the patterns (I have done Monday through Wednesday so far) and do the stitching. The stitching doesn't take very long. I can crank out 2 or 3 towels while watching a movie with my hubby after the kids go to bed.

I am trying to cut costs and still give nice gifts. It means a little more time for me...but I was inspired by the Victorian women in Jane Austen and Elizabeth Gaskell's books...they always have their "work basket" handy and sit and sew or knit or whatever during the evenings while there is little else to do!

Easter Bunnies

2008-03-23T21:11:00.000-06:00

In an attempt to help guide my family on the path of healthy eating, I opted to have the "Easter Bunny" give my kids muslin bunnies for their Easter gifts instead of baskets filled with candy. The fun thing about these cute bunnies is that they have outfits that match the clothes I made my kids for Easter. They were a big hit. Evie wouldn't give up her bunny for more than 2 seconds today- she had a little girl at Church that wanted to see it, and she refused her even a small glance in the fear that she wouldn't get it back. Henry spent a bit of the day "honking" the bunny's nose. Very funny. Here are a few pictures of them with their bunnies:

We had an Easter Egg hunt with the cousins yesterday, and then Easter dinner tonight. It has been a nice weekend. We will probably do the zoo tomorrow seeing as everyone will be home!! Yeah!

I have the bravest girl ever!

2008-03-12T12:11:00.000-06:00

We just got home from the hospital. Evie, for those who don't know, was born with a port wine stain birth mark on her face that we have been getting laser treatments in the hopes that it will fade and be unnoticable. This morning was such a laser treatment. This morning we had to wait quite a while because the attending anethesiologist was busy doing another case before he could come and do Evie's case. While we were waiting, another family came in. They had a really cute little boy that had a port wine stain on his face, but he has more bad effects of the condition than Evie does. When I was talking to the boy's mother, I really started to see how lucky we are that Evie's birth mark, while red and covers her face, does not effect her development or her eyesight. The little boy's sister was the same age as Evie and the two little girls sat and played until the anethesiologist came in. It was very cute. When it was time to take Evie back, she just took hold of the nurse's hand and led the way to the OR. She didn't seem to worry about the fact that she had left Mamma and Daddy behind. When she woke up, she was very calm and didn't cry. She hasn't cried after a treatment for a long time.
She really is a very brave girl. I think that part of it is that she is just naturally brave and strong, and part of it is that she has a lot of faith. Before each laser treatment, Nathan gives her a priesthood blessing- and by golly, it really helps. It really is amazing to see the amount of faith that this little girl has that her Heavenly Father will help her through her troubles. Her birth mark is fading really well...we have a lot of treatments left, I think, but there is already a significant difference in her birth mark. I am grateful for that.

Cutest, Gooey-est Couple Ever

2008-03-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Matt and CarrieAnn's wedding. I don't know if I have ever seen Matt so happy, and I have known him for 4 1/2 years. They are perfect for each other...they just fit so well and have a great time together. Everytime I have seen them together they are always laughing! They had a wonderful day, even though there was a small hiccup when they got to the temple, but no big deal. The weather was not ideal, but at least the snow stayed away until after we were done shooting our pictures at the temple. It was windy, but not too cold. CarrieAnn liked it because then we could try and use the wind for fun. It turned out, though, that the wind just blew her veil out of her hair, and it had to be retired for most of the shoot. Their reception was really good, too. I don't think I have seen that MANY people at a reception...well, a Mormon reception. I mean, there was a steady stream...no a river, of people coming the entire reception! It was crazy, but they had fun. I got tired, and probably didn't take as many pictures as I have at other weddings, but they still ended up with almost 300 shots, so I don't know if there is going to be any complaining.

Capitol Bridal Shoot

2008-02-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

Today I had the wonderful experience of shooting bridal portraits in the Utah State Capitol Building. What a wonderful building! There was a bank of big windows that we started at, and that turned out fun. Add columns and stairs and so much marble it starts to all blend together, and you have a recipe for really fun pictures. I almost fell down the stairs twice today because my scatter-brained brain lost track of where the first and the last step were. That would have been bad...I probably would have broken my camera and hurt myself. But, lucky, I came out unscathed. There is a huge overhead skylight over the big marble staircases...Oh my goodness! It was perfect! I didn't have to use my flash hardly at all! I was so excited! I don't like flash photography (except in the studio) and I am really more comfortable doing natural light photography, so it was perfect. We were inside away from the cold and the snow and the wind, but I got to use mostly natural light! It was great!

I have a couple of favorite pictures from the shoot. Here they are:

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2008-02-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

So, we aren't really "celebrating" Valentine's Day this year. The last couple of times we celebrated Valentine's day, we ended up with babies born in November. So, Valentine's day is now outlawed in my house.

But, I thought we would do something fun anyway. I made heart shaped petit fours for dessert. I am making a heart shaped pizza for dinner. And Evie and I made "Love Bug Crowns" this morning. It turned out pretty cute. She was excited that she gets to be the Love Bug Princess. Here's a picture:

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

My Big Boy

2008-02-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

My baby is 15 months old! Boy! It has gone by soooo fast!! I took him to the doctor today and he is 35 inches tall and 25 pounds 11 ounces. In 3 months he has grown 2 inches and gained 14 ounces. He is so tall! I noticed the other day that his little spine sticks out through his skin! He is beginning to take after his big sister...Tall and Skinny!

Isn't he cute?

Really cool soft light box

2008-02-05T22:10:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I bought the coolest thing ever. I did a ton of searching on the internet trying to find a doable solution for CarrieAnn that wants her bridals shot in the Capitol Building...but I don't want to haul around stand-mounted lights and umbrellas and soft boxes and all that crap. I like to be moveable when I do pictures! Anyway, I found a 12 inch by 16 inch soft light box that can attach to my Speedlight that attaches to my camera. It is so cool. I was even going to buy a off-camera mount flash bracket...but the nice salesperson at the store gave me a better idea. Instead of spending an additional $100-$200 on a bracket, she suggested just putting my camera on my tripod and then hand holding my flash with the soft box attached...that way I can move it to where it needs to be manually and easier. My pocketbook thanks her!
I am shooting CarrieAnn's bridals in a couple of Saturdays, so I will post the results from my really cool soft light box when I get them!!

Matt and Carrie Ann

2008-01-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

I had the funnest time shooting Matt and Carrie Ann's engagement pictures today. We started on the top of her apartment building, and then walked around the neighborhood a little bit to get some fun "urban" shots. It was great, and they are just the cutest, gooey-est couple!

This picture is my favorite from the whole shoot:

Congratulations Matt and Carrie Ann!

I love brush embroidery

2008-01-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

So my newest fun cake decorating technique that I used last night is called "Brush Embroidery". You use a flower shape fondant cutter to lightly mark where you will outline. Outline the indentation with thin icing, and then immediately brush the icing in towards the center using a damp artist's brush. It was so easy...and it looks so pretty!

This cake is for my brother's family. They just had a baby, and I needed to practice my decorating...so they get a cake! Happy baby!

P.S. My sister-in-law was confused about the description above...the brush embroidery is the little purple flower. The top tier is kinda "quilted"...I used a sharp knife to cut the lines and then put small dots in icing in the line intersections. I hope this clears things up!

Wedding Cakes

2008-01-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

Next month I am shifting (or sifting, I am not sure) my focus from wedding photography to wedding cakes. All I know is that I need to stay home with my beautiful children, and I need to help make ends meet. My friend and I were supposed to work together on the wedding cake business, but after 7 years of decorating wedding cakes, my friend has had enough. So, she is helping me get started and then she is done, and glad about it. Hum...I wonder...

Anyway, I am starting to make "demo" cakes and experimenting with different things that I have seen in books and magazines. I made a cake Monday for my friend that is pregnant. I had to cover a "boo-boo" with a drape, but overall, the effect was pleasing. I had fun doing this little cake. It took me a while to do, but I was experimenting, so I wasn't really rushing anyway.

Here is a picture:

Turned out pretty. This next one is my favorite picture:

After I took these pictures and before I took the cake to my friend, my wonderful daughter ate 4 of the fondant flowers! I put the kids in the car and went to get the cake and noticed that something was a little funny...then I realized! I asked Evie if she had eaten the flowers off the cake, and she said, "No, I only ate 3 flowers." Shame on me for not being more specific! But, it made my friend laugh when I gave her the cake, so I guess everything turned out okay.

Full Initiation

2007-12-30T11:28:00.001-07:00

I keep my son's hair pretty short. He is only 13 months old, and I have already buzzed his head about 6 times. Yesterday was haircut day. After I buzzed my son's hair, my daughter decided that it was her turn to have a hair cut, which was fine. I had cut her hair about 3 weeks ago, so I decided to keep her happy I would cut layers into her hair. It turned out really pretty. She has some natural curl that just bounced and was fun. Then, it was bedtime. In my haste to get the kids in bed and have a couple of minutes to myself so I could finish off the dishes, I neglected to put the hair cutting kit away in the closet. My mistake.

We put the kids to bed, and I went downstairs to finish my chores so that I wouldn't have a huge pile of dishes and dirty counters when I got up in the morning. Over the flow of the water some 10 or so minutes later, I hear my son hollering. I run upstairs to find out why he is having problems, and lo-and-behold...Evie has the hair cutting kit on her lap, the scissors in one hand and a big chunk of hair in her other hand.

My first reaction was one of surging anger...and I crossed the room quickly. In my 4 steps across the room, however, I reminded myself 2 things: 1- it was only hair, after all, and 2- I was the one who left the hair cutting kit out in the first place. My daughter is very curious and mischevious. She loves to explore her world and learn things for herself- which is great, however it usually leaves me with several messes to clean up after she is done exploring. She had taken several whacks out of her hair by her right ear, which makes sense because she is left-handed. Considering that she is only 3, she is pretty coordinated. A good thing, too, otherwise I would have had Van Gogh as my daughter!

I didn't yell too loudly, but my hubby came rushing down to find out what the matter was. He got the supreme priviledge of holding Evie on his lap as I had to cut off all her hair. Her hair grows really slow, and finally, at the age of 3, she had a nice head of thickening, shoulder-length hair. It has taken her whole life to get it to the place it was before she cut it off. Now, she has a very, very short bob hair cut. One side is still a little shorter than the other, but I opted for a slight lopsidedness for a while instead of having to cut her hair even shorter.

Here is a picture of Evie, pre-hair cut:

Here is a picture of Evie, POST- hair cut:

She is still beautiful, but it really does change the shape of her face. Hum...new rule: Scissors only cut paper!

Violin Recital

2007-12-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

Last night, I snapped a couple of pictures of my sister-in-law to use on her violin recital invitation. MaryAnn has been playing violin since she was a little girl, and she still takes lessons. She plays so much that she has a permanent "hicky" where her violin rubs on her jaw. It is pretty cute, actually. Anyway, I snapped one picture with the flash, and hated it immediately. I cranked up the ISO and just used the light that was coming from the lamp I positioned her next to. The pictures turned out really nice, even though there was not much "prep" that went into creating them. This is the one we chose for the invitation:

Poor MaryAnn felt so silly...she was worried about her face looking chubby (how silly!) and I was trying to get her eyes at the right angle and so she had to imagine looking at her music at a specific angle. But...it turned out pretty, huh?

Probably the funnest people I know

2007-12-03T23:15:00.000-07:00

I had a photo shoot on Saturday. It was not ideal. It was snowing, I spaced out on the way to the studio and had to turn around, and my clients beat me to the studio. I had to borrow a light meter to set the studio lights. I dropped my camera a couple weeks ago and bent the hotshoe guide metal, and so the lighting remote would not fit on my camera. The studio owner had to fix my camera. On top of all this, I set the lighting and proceeded to shoot everything 1/3 of an exposure too low. Not my finest hour.

Even with all of this, my clients were the coolest people I could have had to hang out with for an hour. Their baby is a 6 month, 20 pound, chubby little cherub. What a doll! The parents are fabulous, too. All we did was laugh the whole time. This was the second time I have had the pleasure to shoot their pictures, and I hope it won't be the last, because we had a blast!

This is why I love my job!

Isn't he adorable?

Probably the funnest people I know!

First blog

2007-12-03T23:05:00.000-07:00

Hello world! This is my first ever blog entry, so please be kind! I thought I would finally listen to my husband and get my blog up and running. This blog will be dedicated pretty much to my life...and it will mostly be in pictures. I have the cutest kids, and thank goodness I also own a photography business so I can justify taking pictures of my cute kids. I also have the opportunity to work with people and have a great time in the process!

Here are a few quick pictures of my cute kids, just to let you see how cute they are!

Biker Babe Evie!

Duck Face Henry!