More from Arizona . . .

I just cannot get enough of the laughter!  So many smiles, so much fun!

Thanks guys for being such great sports!

Yes, I did come back . . .

Although I have to admit I would have loved to stay in Phoenix because of the weather and friends.  But I missed my hubby and kids.  Here is just one shot from my trip . . . a fabulous family we photographed in the desert.  I’ll have more to share next week.  

He’s 6 months old!

Could he BE any cuter???  I’ve photographed him 4 times now.  The first was when his Mom was pregnant with him.  He wasn’t always too keen on the camera, but that didn’t stop us from getting lots of good images.  Those blue eyes are such a treat!

Thanks Janice and Jason!  Your gallery is coming soon!

This one had me giggling.  It looks like he is trying to read my logo.

Who is that cute thang in the mirror???

I couldn’t decide on color or bw for this next one.  What do you think?

Love how he is hanging onto Dad’s shirt.

Love this one with Mom!

And this one with Dad!

The Wall . . .

Here is the finished wall of pictures.  You have no idea how many times those pictures have been rearranged.  My husband would catch me staring at them and he KNEW that meant there was a change a brewin’.  They have been this way for weeks.  So I think it is safe to say they will remain like this for awhile.  Each image is 12×12 mounted on 2mm styrene, sprayed for protection and then framed without glass.  Framing without glass cuts down on glare and really allows the pictures to pop.  Love that!

You can see this wall as soon as you walk in the front door.  It really makes a statement.  And it really helps to cure the winter blahs that can easily set in this time of year.

I copied got the idea from Tara Whitney.  Hey!  I used different images!  😉

That silver thing is an air purifier.

This is the other wall in the living room, just to the left of the wall of images.   This is how it looked right after I finished it.  Neat and tidy.

This is how it looks now.  A little more stuff, but not too bad.

It’s winter . . .

and at least we have snow.  If it has to be this cold we might as well have snow.  Photographing snow can be quite tricky.  The light on this particular day was blah . . . completely grey and overcast.  Not so nice for pictures.  So I added texture to the images to give them that something special.  I LOVE capturing my kids doing kid things . . . running, giggling, playing hide-and-seek . . . whatever it is that makes them kids.   Of course I like shots when they are looking and smiling and humoring me with my camera, but I love the other moments even more.

And in case my mother is reading this . . . my children DO NOT wear their best clothes to go play in the snow everyday.  They DO NOT wear a little sweater instead of a coat on a normal play in the snow day.  Actually, these were taken last week when the temperatures were a balmy 22 degrees instead of the single digits we have now.

I wish you could see this first one BIG . . . it looks so much better.  Which reminds me I need to get working on my new blog with bigger images.

Come to Mama, Sweetie.  I love you.

I could have removed that scab on her lip, but I didn’t.  She picks her lip after I have tucked her in bed, before she goes to sleep.  I don’t like that she does it.  But she does.  And part of me doesn’t want to forget it.

Internet Friends . . . They’re Real

I went to visit Melissa and her new baby Elle on Wednesday.  Melissa and I are good friends that met on a photography forum.  We live about 1 1/2 hours away from each other so we try to get together several times a year.  Even though the internet can be a shady place at times, I have found many good friends there.  And it is so fun to meet them in person!

So on Wednesday I headed down to Cincinnati to see Melissa, totally ignoring all the weather advisories about snow.  I’m a “believe it when I see it” kind of person when it comes to weather.  Well, turns out they were right!  We did get a lot of snow where I live and that made the roads very slippery.  That meant I had no choice but to spend the night in Cincinnati with Melissa.  We kept saying it was like a fun girls’ sleepover!  I had a great time intruding on  her daily schedule.  🙂  Her entire family were such gracious hosts.  And I was so glad to be put to good use feeding and holding baby Elle.  So sweet!  Owen, her 3 year old, let me sleep in his bed while he crashed on the floor in the big boys’ room.  In the morning when they were all getting ready for school, I heard Owen say to Melissa, “who is STILL sleeping in my bed???”  I laughed .  It reminded me of the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears.  So funny!

This is a picture of Melissa and baby Elle.  So sweet.  And I just LOVE the way babies smell.  I really think it should be made into a perfume I can spray on my 3 children.  My 5 year old son would just love that.  🙂

And the other interesting part about my little adventure was that I went to IKEA.  I don’t get to go to IKEA very often so I made the most of it.  My van was so jam packed with stuff, I literally thought it was going to drag on the ground.  I even had to fill the tires up with air.  It was a sight to see that is for sure.  My van (a 1993 Toyota Previa) already looks like an egg.  So this pretty much made it look like a lopsided egg that was about to crack at any minute.  But I made it home.  And I will post before and after images of our dining room as soon as it is done.  All those boxes loading down my van contain the cabinets and shelves we’ll be assembling and putting up.  I’m so excited!  But first I have to get my taxes done.

Newborn . . .

Oh dear.  I am so taken with this sweet little baby.  She has the most adorable expressions!  And of course she smelled like a little piece of heaven.  I had a wonderful afternoon photographing her and her family.

There are lots more I love, but those will have to wait for the full gallery.

Thank you for having me Marc and Kristen!  It was such a pleasure!

She was one week old when I took these.  Can you believe this sweet smile???

A friend made this quilt for her.  It is beautiful!!

Maybe . . . if that friend is reading this . . . she could email me the locations of the quilt pattern and  all those beautiful fabrics.  I love quilts and have made one for each of my kids.  I don’t have much time for it anymore, but seeing this makes me want to quilt again.

On Break . . .

Many of you may know that we homeschool our children.   Right now we are on break.  I’m taking my break quite seriously.  Staying in my pajamas all day is not really unusual while on break.  I mean, if I don’t have to go anywhere, or gain my children’s respect as their teacher, well then there’s really no harm in it, right?  I do feel awkward when the UPS man comes to deliver packages.  I just really hope he drops the package and leaves and doesn’t make me sign anything.

But I’ve been starting to think it is bad to wear pajamas all day.  My husband came up with a catchy little phrase . . . Mama Pajama.  And now my kids like to pretend every meal is eaten at a cozy little restaurant called Mama Pajama’s.  I think it is funny so I go along with it and pretend I am the head chef at Mama Pajama’s where the mandatory dress code is of course, pajamas.   And just to clarify, when I say Mama Pajama the words rhyme, but normally when I say pajama, it does not rhyme with Mama.  That sentence was so not necessary, but it makes me laugh.

But today, we’re getting out of the house!  We need food to stock Mama Pajama’s pantry.  Too bad the UPS man can’t deliver that!  So today I am presentable.  And should anyone see me they will never know that I am Mama Pajama.

Here are a few pics from our break . . .

I love these mats . . . can’t wait to see what this looks like printed and framed.

And here are some of those yummy Christmas lights . . . can’t decide between bw and color.  Doesn’t the color remind you of something straight out of the 70s?  That orangey tint.  I’m thinking I kind of like it for this picture.

And this is me laying on the floor playing with my new toy (camera), taking a picture of my son playing with his new toy (a light up remote control car thing).

My daughter sleeping with her new pig.  I took pictures of all my kids sleeping, because with my new camera I can take the pictures without flash.  I’ve always wanted to do that!  Yes, I turned the light on, but still.

Ignore the difference in bw conversions.  I’m all over the place.  It’s break remember!

And this is a little bit of what we’ve been doing while on break . . . that’s Candy Land for those of you that don’t recognize it.  Perfect for 3 year olds (and all of her family members that must play with her).

That’s all for now.  I’ve decided not to include the pictures of me in action as Mama Pajama dressed in my hot pink polka dot frumpy pj’s.

Merry Christmas!!!

Just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  I hope you are enjoying this season.  I love the holidays.  My husband is off work this week and we have been having fun hanging out as a family.  One of the things we have been doing a lot is Wii Fit!  I love it .  .  . we all do.  The kids are into it which is good because I don’t like when they sit on their behinds and play video games.  At least with Wii Fit you have to be up and moving all the time.  For me, it’s like exercising without all the dread.   Cause I can have a lot of dread.  I dread exercising, but not with Wii Fit.  Okay, this is starting to sound like an advertisement.  Not my intention.

So anyhooooo, here is our Christmas card!  I actually designed this card myself, which is not something I generally do very well, but I liked this one.

And here is a collage of some of my favorite images of our family from 2008.  I used something very similar to this for the splash page of my website (so you may have already seen it).  My splash page is here.  It’s the first thing you see when you go to my website.  I have most of these photos hanging on my wall.  I used (9) 12×12 frames and hung them in a square (I still need to print 2 of the images).   It makes me SMILE!  It adds so much color and personality to the living room.

Also, if you are on my 2009 session interest list I will be emailing you in the beginning of January.  I was supposed to do this a long time ago.  It will get done.  Just taking time to enjoy the holidays with my family.  Thanks!!!

October Family Session . . .

Yikes! I’m behind on blogging. I knew this would happen. It’s okay though, this is my sister-in-law and her family so I gave her plenty of warning. Family always gets pushed to the bottom of the to-do list, but they are well compensated. 😉 I really like these images . . . capturing their family as they are right now with energetic little boys running and playing. We had fun hanging out at the park . . . I love that this park with it’s beautiful lakes is very close to my house. Aren’t my nephews adorable! They’re cute and FAST. I was literally running to get a few of these.  Oh how I love taking pictures of my family!

Apparently my brother-in-law was talking again and missed the start of the race.  He deserves every bit of teasing I can dish out . . . you should see what I have to put up with!  lol

Like father, like son . . .