Caden's turn to Model!

Caden mostly wanted to just run... I got many of him running away from me!

Fish Sticks! aka "Rainbow Fish"

The assignment from school:

Ashley was given 100 Popsicle sticks to celebrate the 100th day of school. She had to create something with the sticks. She could only use glue, paint and the sticks. I was adamant that she needed to do it -- it was HER project. Yes, it was hard to let go of the control! :) I knew this would turn into a competition among parents, even though it was supposed to be done by a preschooler!

She told me she wanted to do a fish -- a rainbow fish. So she painted the water on the box. I drew the outline of the fish. She glued and placed the sticks (yes, I sat there the whole time guiding her). She then painted it (she did let Kody help with some of the sticks and she let him paint the tail). We are all very proud of how cute it turned out!

Couple more of Sebastian

I have been working on making birth announcements for this baby. I am so thrilled with his pictures and I smile every time I look at them. Here are 2 more favorites from that day... He looks so warm and snuggly. Almost makes me want another baby... I said "almost"...

A Newborn Session

I had my first "real" newborn photo session yesterday. Special thanks to Farryl for trusting me and allowing me to be there. It felt so intimate and sacred to be there sharing their newborn's first week of life! I was there when his cord fell off! I took so many pictures! My models were all very cooperative. I want to post like 200 pictures to this blog... instead I hope to have my website up soon so I can put some there. Here are some of my favorites though.

Chair in Bloom

I have been trying out the lighting in different places lately. This spot in our entryway proved to be a great place! Makenna was SOOO not into the picture thing today... So... I sat there and took pictures of the chair while she played around me. Finally, she decided to check it out. I am VERY happy with how some of them turned out. Lighting is so important. I struggle sometimes with getting the light right. This light makes me feel like she was kissed by sunshine... We always say, "Makenna is like a ray of sunshine." because she is always such a happy baby. Enjoy the sweet pics of our ray of sunshine....

New Props

I have been working on some new props for photos. I still need to do some touch up paint on the cube...

The kids have watched very closely over the last few days as I painted the bench and the ABC cube. Caden was VERY excited to get to sit on it! Ashley has a mouth full of candy in her picture! Can you tell?

I have also been learning some more things about my camera so I spend a lot of time just hanging a backdrop and snapping away. My intention is not to get the most creative shot or even the most technically amazing pictures -- I am just familiarizing myself with more features on my camera. Sometimes, I even LIKE the pictures I get when messing around!

ANOTHER Amazing "Winter" Day in AZ

Teeter Totter fun!
Don't you LOVE Kody's "winter" outfit?! He insisted on wearing it.

"What if I want to play basketball later, Mom?" As if that shirt is the only thing allowing him to play basketball?

Leaves... yum!

I had no intention of posting every single day, but sometimes I just want to share! The weather was in the mid-60's so it was a perfect day for a picnic at the park.

We finally found some leaves... I have been wanting to take some "Fall" Pictures. The leaves FINALLY are falling off of some of the trees. Of course, the kids weren't really into cooperating today. "Don't drop leaves on my head! It hurts!" Ya right! UGH! I did manage to get three of them to sit still for a picture (Makenna was off to the side of the pic crying... although as you see, she did get to play with/ munch on a leaf or two.

This is one of the things that I do really love about AZ. I love being outside and the winters are great for that. Now, we just need to get some Snowbird visitors to come from UT.....

Kody on the Move

This was taken by Kevin. I LOVE it how he captured Kody's motion!

Messing Around with the Camera

We had some more great weather so we played out front yesterday. Kevin and I were painting a small bench (I send pics in another post. Of course, the camera is always with us, so I took some pics. I just liked the angles and lighting on some of these....Kody cracks me up now when he sees the camera. He rolls his eyes, and hurries and "poses". He knows what I like, so he sits, poses, and 2 pics later I have what I want and he is done! Caden, on the other hand, rarely will even sit/ stand long enough in front of me to let me even click the camera!

A friend sent this to me... Guess I am feeling sappy lately, but I really enjoyed this.

A POEM ABOUT OUR GIRLFRIENDS
Someone will always be prettier.
Some will always be smarter.
Some of their houses will be bigger.
Some will drive a better car.
Their children will do better in school.
And their husband will fix more things around the house.
So let it go, and love you and your circumstances.
Think about it!
The prettiest woman in the world can have hell in her heart.
And the most highly favored woman on your job may be unable to have children.
And the richest woman you know, she's got the car, the house, the clothes, she might be lonely.
And the word says, "If I have not Love, I am nothing."
So, again, love you.... Love who you are.
Look in the mirror in the morning and smile...
And say,"I am too blessed to be stressed and too anointed, to be disappointed!
"Winners make things happen, Losers let things happen."

Too often I spend my time being stressed about what I haven't done or what I
don't have... Some news about an old friend has made me pause and just be
THANKFUL for all the blessings in my life. We need to take a moment everyday
and be proud of what we HAVE done already and to be happy with what we are today.

Hugs to you all...

This was taken at a relative's wedding --

(Shout out to Allie!) This was actually taken with my point and shoot camera. The picture on the right was taken in Cabo San Lucas. I took the pic, Kevin PhotoShopped it to look like a painting! Fun!

Kevin is my PhotoShop guy and he is slowly learning things we can do with the program. I think this one is pretty cool!

Two for Too

UGH! I hate typos that spell check misses! I really do know the difference between "too" and "two!" Guess that is what I get for posting things late at night! My eyes just skipped over the mistake. Sorry to all you ex (and currant) teachers!

BTW: I am KIDDING on the "currant" and "current"..... :)

Blanket of Roses

I am pleased with how the background ended up. It is soooooo heavy though and defintely takes too people to lift it!

The girls were very cooperative (again). Thank goodness! Hope you enjoy...

Kenna's World

I am calling this picture: "Kenna's World." It reminded me of my all time favorite painting called Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth. The view is what she sees: her siblings "flying" past her, all around her, and all she can do is watch... she can't quite get to them. Anyway, if you aren't familiar with the original painting, go Google it after this.

99 cents for fun! -- Hula Hoops!

We bought some hula hoops at the 99 cent store. I had fun watching the kids play with them. They all tried rolling them "like puppies" and jumping in them. Kody made me smile when he created a Venn Diagram (yes, that is what he actually titled it). If you can't read the writing it, the left hoop says, "Kody, boy, 7 years old, medium hair." The right hoop says, "Ashley, girl, 4 years old, long hair." The middle says, "kids, family." I just loved how his mind worked! He saw the hoops overlapping and thought, "Ah, a Venn diagram." I did not suggest it or say anything. I ran to get my camera after I saw what he had made! They always amaze me!

Taking Pics for February Promo

The kids have been good sports posing for pics the past few days (ok, well almost always...). Here are some pics I took to get ready for my February ad for my biz. I loved the red background! Kevin is doing some cool things with photo shop too changing colors of the letters... more of those pics though later. Enjoy!

Great Day in AZ!

What a beautiful day in AZ! We took down our Christmas lights -- yea! We ordered pizza and ate on our picnic table outside. The kids kept singing, "It's the best day ever!" Great memory... a sunny, warm day... shirtless kids all laughing and singing (no fighting, well almost no fighting... Caden and Kody did fight over a certain piece of pizza). Anyway, made me feel sappy and grateful for what we have. Makenna liked the grass and even tried to eat it. Ashley and Caden thought she was acting like a puppy trying to eat the grass. Anyway... hope you all are enjoying your day and enjoying the little moments like these!