Birthday Girls {Childrens Portraits}

This morning I had scheduled into our calendar (it must be on the calendar or it won't happen), taking my girls' birthday portraits. Anna will be 3 & Grace will be a couple of weeks. Hard to believe that time has flown by so quickly.

We did a quick little session around the yard & came out with some super cute (I could be partial) photographs. Anna is quite into getting her portraits made...Grace on the other hand would rather run around and eat dirt, sticks & whatever else she happens to find.

...Our little Cowgirl...

...Miss Dimples, who actually has more hair than her sister did at age 1, so she gets to sport some piggie tails now...

...sisters...

...& they're all smiles, ready for the adventure to begin...

I will post a sample Birthday Invite as soon as it's completed. And possible get to Project 52 once again this week.

Be sure to check back this week for photos of a super cute 6 month old baby boy! We had to reschedule our session from last week, due to some extreme snow (only between 4 & 6 feet) in the area.

Snow Day {My Life}

Happy Snow Day!

My hubby, for anyone who reads this and doesn't already know, drives truck. We're having some crazy weather in our area & he got a snow day today (yay for family time, boo for paycheck time). The freeways' been closed, snow is piling up & wind is blowing like crazy (when it's not snowing). We were discussing it earlier this morning, that we haven't seen weather quite like this for sometime.

We actually got some snow at our house & Daddy helped Anna build a snowman. She couldn't wait & watched the snow until it started sticking. As soon as it was, she was dressed in her snowsuit, boots, & the whole 9 yards, headed outside to build a snowman.

Daddy & Anna's Masterpiece

5 Senses--part 1 -- {Project 52}

Week 3 for Project 52
Theme: 5 Senses

I'm actually going to try to get something for all 5 senses this week, so that means 5 photos for this theme, a challenge to remember to get them done...

You can't touch, smell, hear, or taste these weather wonders... but you most definately can see them.

Sense 1: Sight

It's the pits having a cold or head congestion. My biggest complaint this week, is losing my sense of smell, which also leads to not being able to taste much... when I thought of smell yesterday, the only thing I could think of was not having it & trying anything & everything to get it back...and on this day 3 of congestedness--no relief!

Sense 2: Smell

Hopefully I will have a few more senses to post this week. Today we are cooped up inside, the weather is dreary. Cold, rainy, windy & some parts around here even have snow...

Remembering...{My Life}

Remembering.

It brings tears, & sadness, but also allows us to rejoice in the good & happy.

It's hard to believe how quickly 5 years has gone by, and how so much can change in such a relativly short amount of time.

5 years ago today, we lost our Granny. She was more than Granny, she was incredible, & thinking about her tonight, makes my heart swell with love & happiness.

Remembering all the good that we shared in the 20 years that I shared with her on earth. All the laughs, and smiles...and even the tears. Many nights staying up late playing Rummy, eating a bowl of Corn Flakes (extra sugar), watching & listening to TV. Hearing her sing, songs by her favorite artists & attempting to teach me the guitar (not very well, cause I still can not play). I could write pages upon pages of memories of my Granny.

I will just share a photo, one of my favorite photos.

Granny helping me adjust my gloves for my Aunt's wedding. This framed image was given to me as a wedding gift & sat in the front alter at my wedding. It is definately very, very special to me.

(niether of these were taken by me, the original photo is one from my aunts wedding, & the photo of the photo, was taken by Rare Images at my wedding.)

There are a couple more images of Granny on this post:

I still miss & love her so much. Until we meet again up where the angels fly...

Rainy, windy days...{My Life}

The weather has been some of my least favorite. Super windy, drizzly cold rain & days with neverending grey clouds... It makes for going out of the house, especially packing the kiddos up, miserable & very discouraging.

An occasional break in the clouds to let the sunlight through, is very welcome.

...Week 2 : Weather: 2 ....Saturday mornings sunburst...

I've been spending lots of time organizing cupboards and paperwork, getting all those lovely end-of-year tax things in order & getting ready for Baby B to join our world.
I really have been enjoying my days & evenings with my family, doing...a whole lot of nothing important. We had our first real movie night on Friday. For the first time, ever in our relationship (almost 5 years) we actually rented movies to watch at home. We don't watch movies very often, so it was a real treat. Anna picked out Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs something she saw on a commercial & wanted to see. We had a "Pizza Place" and enjoyed our evening in.

...Posing with her newest love...baby dolls....

It's hard to believe that in less than 1 month, my girlies are having a birthday! 3 years has passed so quickly, but not nearly as quickly as the past year. Add party planning to the to-do list, along with birthday portraits (hoping for some decent weather this weekend)...

...A 'horsey' party is on the horizon....

Grace is so full of personality, I love watching her change & learn new things. Her big sister definately teaches her a lot... a lot of what she shouldn't do....

...at 11 months, she gets her first ponytails, and something was incredibly funny...

In a few (hopefully) short weeks we'll be welcoming our 3rd & final (yes for reals this time) child into our world. Baby B should be arriving mid-March. I can say that my body is fully ready for pregnancy to be over. It's offically difficult to do most simple things (like breathing & sleeping). I, however, am not ready for more sleepless nights & starting the routine over again. It will all be a blessing & I'm sure at this time next year as I reflect on the wee-ones, it will be a happy time.

...taking advantage of getting dressed up for date night, I employeed my hubby to get a few belly pics for Brody's book.... 31w1d (or something like that)

Now off to finish up a couple of cupboards & work on the Christmas, turned birthday quilt...

Check back by the end of the week for some new portraits of a super cute 6 month old baby boy!

Weather {Project 52}

One of my goals this year is to take at least one photograph per week. So I've adapted a challenge to suit my style & schedule, and instead of taking a photo a day, I've assigned a 'theme' to each week of the year, 52 of them, hence the name Project 52.

The first week, theme was Affection, I posted a couple 'affectionate' photos from last week.

This week the theme I assigned was "Weather".

...We have a GORGEOUS view of Mt Shasta from our home, and lately, we've been awaking to fog, yucky, wet, gray, depressing, fog. However, somedays it's amazing...amazing that it doesn't settle into every little place, or even reach into the highest places (those would be clouds right?!). Sunday, the fog was having one of it's better days, and graced us with this beautiful framing of the Mountain. About 30 minutes later, it was completely socked in & we couldn't see any of this...what a way to start the day....

I may get a couple more 'weather' shots up this week. The winds here have been crazy, at one point we were having 42mph winds with gusts up to 49mph. The fence line surrounding our house & the property, is currently disguised with Tumble weeds, so many in fact, that the County road crew was out this morning, with a plow, front end loader & dump truck, clearing the roadway...it's quite a sight.

Next week there won't be the lengthy explanation, just the photo, theme {5 senses} & a little about the image(s).

Newsletter {Client Connection}

Here is the 1st edition of the new monthly newsletter, Client Connection.

Newsletter

I am putting the 1st edition up for everyone to view, but future editions will only be sent by email. Each month there will be a special that is only offered in the newsletter. There will also be a session highlight or two, and a little about whats going on in our house, some product spotlights & lots more!

My goal is to have this delivered to inboxes the first week of every month.

You can subscribe by sending a quick message to me here: SUBSCRIBE

New...{My Life}

Beginnings....a new Year...new dreams, ideas & plans...new projects...a new baby.....lots & lots of new.

Happy 1st week in the New Year.

I've been busy getting end of year paperwork & new year paperwork completed, along with starting to plan a birthday party for 2 very special girls, and beginning to get things in order for a new baby to come into our house.

If you are interested in having your portraits made by me prior to May 1st, you need to make your appoinment before March 10th, which is the last day I will be working until May 1st so that I can have my little boy & recover from the surgery.

New Years Eve/Day was pretty uneventful for our family. I woke up on NYE with the worst migrane I've ever had, thankfully it subsided somewhat so that I could take a few photos at my sister & brother-in-laws vow renewal.

We were in bed by 10 & up on NY day by 7:30, to tackle my least favorite mom-job, cleaning house. Lately I've been into getting things more organized, maybe it's getting ready for the baby, maybe it's just for a little sanity....

I have been working on getting lots of new stuff ready for the business, starting with the 1st edition of the Client Connection, a monthly newsletter that will go out (tentativly) the first week of every month. Adding a few new services & products, along with changing the pricing structure around a bit. Hoping that 2010 is the best year for business so far.

Thank you to my wonderful clients from 2009 for helping me grow & learn. You've all been wonderful & I am looking forward to capturing many moments for you in the coming months.

At home, we're still planning meals 2 weeks at a time, but I've been trying to pick a few recipes each time from a new magazine or different cookbook, something we haven't had before or a new twist on old flavors. One of the things I did this week was make a cake (I don't bake on a regular basis, but enjoy it the same).

I chose the White Chocolate Raspberry Torte (Taste of Home Dec/Jan 2010). The cake is yummy, not really heavy & the filling is yummy, really raspberry-ish. But the frosting that tops this thing... is Oh.My.Goodness. YUMMY! Light, fluffy, yummy. I now know what kind of frosting will be topping my girls' birthday cake.

FROSTING:

1 pkg cream cheese, softened

1 cup vanilla chips, melted & cooled

1 carton frozen whipped topping, thawed

Beat up the cream cheese until fluffy, beat in the melted chips, fold in the whipped topping.