Black Friday bruises and more Photos

Did you guys have a great Thanksgiving? Mine was awesome. Went to Iowa and stayed with all my husband's family at the Girl Scout Lodge. We got to see all his extended family. It was great.

Did anyone brave the crowds and go shopping on Black Friday. We did. More for the fun of it than for any great deals. People were crazy. Especially at Wal-Mart. But I partook and got some great deals and some of my Christmas shopping done. I don't really have any bruises, but I could have. Everyone was elbow to elbow and there was a lot of shoving going on. It's not for the faint of heart, that's for sure.

I finished my huge weekend of photo sessions before leaving for Iowa. I just never got online to post them. I took a vacation from the internet and it was glorious and wonderful....but I missed it. So here they are:

Thanks for looking! Toot-a-loo.

Those Lips

This was a hard session to edit.
I couldn't decide on which photos because I loved them all.
This guy will be a heart throb. Just look at those lips......and his arms?! Those are some rubber band arms. I could have eaten him up! Try not to drool as you look-

More Photo Sessions

Sorry- I have been a bit busy. Trying to catch up the work load.
Here are some pictures from the weekend in Detroit. Almost done- but not yet.

Thanks for looking! More to come....

A Busy Weekend

I am still trying to catch up from this weekend. We took a little road trip and went to my SIL’s house in Detroit. She invited some friends over on Friday night and we had a little 31 Gifts par-tay. It was fun! She (my sis-in-law) is definitely a hostess with the mostest. She offered lattes and cheesecake and a yummy avocado salsa.

And then she set up 5 families for me to shoot photos of on Saturday. It was very busy…but it’s one of the best ways to spend a Saturday.

Then I came home on Sunday to do one more photo session for a good friend of mine.

But now I am up to my eyeballs in pictures. Photoshop will be open on my computer until I go through all 6 sessions. Here is the results of the first session I did.

Co-Co Krisp

This is a nickname we have had for son #2 since he was born. His name is Cole. I’ve always thought it was cute and makes me think of my favorite childhood cereal- Cocoa Krispies.

I think my husband is the one that came up with it. Little did I know it was after a well-known baseball player. (I know, I know. Spelling is different). Shows how much I know about sports.

Our Co-Co turns 8 today. I still can’t believe how fast he has grown up. Time goes too fast. Don’t blink because you’ll miss something. I have to remind myself daily to stay present in the moment.
Cole is the most sensitive, sweet boy you would ever meet. He has to make sure he gives my husband and me a hug and kiss every single night. He loves to cuddle. He has cried at movies like E.T. and Air Bud. He is an introvert and very shy.

But he is also a fierce competitor. He likes to win and it doesn’t matter what it is. Video games, board games, to sports- he wants to come in first. He has a hard time losing and it’s something we are working on.
We love our sweet Co-Co. Happy Birthday!

Favorite day of the week

It’s true. Thursday has become my favorite day of the week. Pretty much.

I get to watch my DVR’d show Work of Art from last night. Have you seen it yet. Love it. Definitely not a show for little viewers though.

And I love the new series- Project Accessory. Check out the first episode online! I’m always excited about Project Runway, but I think I love this even more. It’s a little more up my alley, since I’m not an excellent sewer. It’s on tonight. I’m anxious to see what kind of challenges they are going to come up with. The first challenge was so interesting to watch- and who won was definitely my favorite. Tell me what you think!

Halloween Pictures

I LOVE HALLOWEEN! Always have. Always will.

It’s a chance to dress up fun, wear funny makeup, make people laugh or give them a little scare. I used to drag my friends trick-or-treating with me all the way through high school.

In college, my roomie and I put on masks and layers of thick clothes. We walked into each of the dorms’ lounges and walked and stared and never said a word. Some people would just stare at us, others tried to find out who we were. It was soooo much fun.

My boys share my enthusiasm for this holiday. We love figuring out what they will dress up as. This is what we looked like this year.

I know, pretty scary right? Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Challenges

I’m going to set some challenges for myself.

First, I want to carry my Nikon slr around with me more. I need to have it out and available. I need to shoot more pictures with it for obvious reasons. The more you use it, the better you know it and the better you get with it. Also, it just plain takes better pictures. This is with my slr.

It is Noah (son #3) calling for the ball in his soccer game.

And then I have a little Nikon s6000 that I carry in my purse. It’s just a lot more convenient to carry around than my D300s. Here is a picture from this weekend’s birthday party that I used my s6000….and regretted it.

It’s not bad, but not great either. Practice with your SLR!

Second challenge- Keep running every week at least 2, hopefully 3, days a week. Increase your running time by one minute more every week, while keeping your speed the same. Needed to put this out there to keep myself accountable. Thanks for letting me.

Pumpkin Carving

So, for the past few years, I’ve done some intricate pumpkin carvings around this time. I look forward to Fall so that I can go pick out the perfect pumpkin to do this to. I take a photo, and with a few easy steps, have a stencil for carving. I can’t remember where I first saw it, but if you google it you will find lots on it. There is a good tutorial here.

I will post the results of the last couple of years so you can see what I’m talking about. Sadly, this years creation has already gotten ruined by some pesky squirrels. But, gladly, I already took photos of it! I will show what it looks like with my flash on and then without.

This is from two years ago. It’s my youngest son Jayce.

This is the one I did last year. It is my other son Cole.

And then this year’s pumpkin is my husband and me.

 

It is a little tricky and somewhat time-consuming. But worth it in the end. It may not feel like you are doing it right. To test- put a candle or light in it and turn off the lights. That gives you a good idea if you are on the right track. Hope you guys try it and have fun with it!

Front door redo

I was badly in need of an updated front door. Our door color was a strange tan on the outside and it showed every. single. speck. of dirt. In all honesty it was gross. And we had a bright brass door handle. So I followed some great instructions from over on Young House Love and updated our handles too. Note to self: Next time take pictures or detail drawings/notes of the assembly of the door handle.

Here is a before and after. Almost forgot the before picture in my haste. I’m a little impatient like that.

Here is the after.

I even spray painted the doorbell. Looks 100% better. In hindsight, writing my name in the cement right in front of the door with the power washer probably wasn’t  the best idea.

Oh well.

Updated pictures

I finally got my boys’ pictures done. Now to actually get them printed. That is the hardest step for me. In fact, I never got last year’s pictures even printed. Bad, bad mom/photographer.

In these pictures we were losing light very quickly and I didn’t bump up my iso like I should’ve….. We also had some uncooperative participants because of fighting with his brother and getting in trouble right before his turn. Oh well. They are what they are.

Do any other photographers have such trouble getting good pictures of their own kids?