MariGracyn

As I said in my last post... I'm a little behind on blogging sessions.  So, today I'm going to share my favorites of my favorite 4 year old!  I've had the joy of knowing MariGracyn for almost 3 years, and have been honored to photograph her 4 times.  I adore this family, and I love having this sweet child in front of my camera!  I loved this session.  Beside the fact that she is so cute, and happy... she had the cuuutest dress!  The colors just pop perfectly :) Hope you enjoy!

I couldn't help adding this one, just for fun :) I told her mom, "This is when you know the session is finished :)"

52 on Friday: Week 49

Week 49: Make Believe

How can it be December already?!?!?  I have always thought that time was flying, but doing this 52 week project has made it seem like the Earth is spinning twice as fast.  So, here we are, December is here- Christmas tree is up- stockings are hung- the kids are placing their nativity pieces on the Advent calendar... and 2012 is almost behind us.  I absolutely love Christmas.  I love to see the wonder in the kids' eyes, as they dream about Christmas Day.  Here are my kiddos longing for the magic of Christmas Day to be here :)

52 on Friday: Week 46

Week 46: Reflection

Last night David and I were watching videos we have of our kids from several years ago.  In one of them, Conner, who just turned 6, was walking around with his pacifier in footie pajamas.  Now, he has two wiggly front teeth.  Where does the time go?!?!  So, after reminiscing last night about my little ones... who aren't so little anymore... I thought I would share an old photo of the kids and a new one.  You'll have to bear with me- I know the first picture isn't the best quality, but I lost all the photos from 2008 when my laptop crashed... so it's downloaded from Facebook. 

I hope each of you will hold your little ones a little longer this week- time is running away from us. 

Here is Laura's Reflection photo for this week :)

52 on Friday: Week 45

Week 45: Bokeh
Bokeh is a photography term that has been defined as the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light. 

I was really excited and looking forward to this week :) The fall colors in Searcy are peaking and I had big plans to get out with my own kids and get some fall portraits.  But, instead I have spent nearly all week in bed sick.  So, I have pulled some old pictures of the kids that demonstrate bokeh.  I certainly hope that these fall colors will last just long enough for me to get out there! And I'll be sure to share those pictures with you :)

I hope you'll take a minute and head over to the Zoe Portrait Art blog to see how the talented Cheryl Weaver captured bokeh this week!

52 on Friday: Week 44

Week 44: Tricks or Treats

We had so much fun this Halloween!  Although it took me a few weeks to get over the disappointment that my children did not want to dress up as a group.  For the last 7 years my kids have worn costumes that go together- last year they were Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Lucy, and before that they were pirates :) (I think that was one of my favorites!) But this year, they let their unique personalities show.  We trick-or-treated with several friends after roasting hotdogs together.  Here's a peek at the fun we had.

Now you can drop by and see how Mr. Jon Yoder celebrated Halloween!

52 on Friday: Week 41

Week 41: Golden

Golden.  I envision tall grasses... my kids running around at dusk... beautiful light as the sun is setting... but when I open my eyes... it's only gray outside. 
I'm for sure not complaining!  This is my favorite weather- I love rainy days, snuggling in my hoodies and warm coffee with a good book- or a load of laundry fresh and warm out of the dryer... but, when I'm looking to shoot a 'golden' picture- dreary is far from what I was hoping for. 
So... I turned to my arsenal called 'the hard drive'.  And dug until I found a field of tall grass with my kids running as the sun began to set.  I know I've shared a few of the pictures from this night, but I know I haven't shared this one :) So, here is my little golden ray of light on this dreary fall day :)

52 on Friday: Week 37

Week 37: Retro


ret·ro/ˈretrō/

Noun:

Clothes or music whose style or design is imitative of those of the recent past.

It's crazy to me to see so many of the styles from when I was a kid being worn by the kids now.  I have to admit- I don't really let Hannah dress that way... I look at the '80s fashions that are so "in" and cringe.  But, I guess since I wasn't around for the '70s bell bottoms; 'flare' leg pants manage to make it into our house.  So here's Hannah in her bell bott -.... er... 'flare' jeans and her chucks... which have both made a full circle to being back in style. 

Don't forget to stop by Mark Gregory's blog to see how he interpreted our theme!  Happy Weekend :)

52 on Friday: Week 36

Week 36: Relax
Relax... that's something that doesn't happen all that often for me- and I'm sure for most of us.   And while I've got my friend's little one year old here, you sure wouldn't think that there would be much relaxing going on.  But, the truth is, I can't work at the computer while she is here, so... what could be more relaxing than playing on the floor with this beautiful little girl?  I enjoy the days that Hadley spends with me, we play and read stories, we dance to songs like "Jesus is My Superhero"- which seems to be her favorite, and we make a huge mess of the table (and Hadley) while eating lunch :)  She is so sweet! 

 So, here's what my relaxation looked like. 

Please take a minute to stop by Laura's blog to see how she was maxin' and relaxin' this week.  Have a great weekend everyone :)

52 on Friday: Week 34

Week 34: Texture

Today is my daughter, Hannah's, 11th birthday.  Here she is with her baby blanket, Ginky, that my sister-in-law made for her before she was born.  She used baby flannel, so soft... Hannah wouldn't (well... she still won't) sleep without it.  I remember when she was a year old, she left it at my mom's house after a weekend visit, and my mom drove 2 hours to leave it on our front seat while we were in church (because she knew Hannah was going to throw a fit without it).  She used to rub a particular corner of the blanket on her face while she fell asleep- and it wore a hole through it... hence the big patch job... but, now... poor Ginky is beyond repair.  Not that that stops Hannah from sleeping with it each night.  What was once a soft cozy quilt is now literally loved to pieces. 

Happy Birthday, to my baby girl :)

Have a great weekend everyone, and be sure to stop by Laura's blog to see her texture picture.

52 on Friday: Week 33

Week 33: Future

Last night I dreamt that this week's theme was exhaustion... I wonder why? Could it be that school is about to start?  Or maybe becuase my children have fought incessantly for the past week? Or maybe that I just had too many cups of coffee yesterday? Well, whatever the reason, I was very concerned in my dream because I knew that I hadn't photographed exhaustion... but I did let the kids play 'grown-up' yesterday so that I could grab some shots of what their 'future' mornings might consist of :)  They sure thought it was fun!

Here's Laura, stop by and see how she depicted future today! :)

52 on Friday: Week 32

Week 32: Broken

This is Bird.  Conner has loved this bird for most of his life.  You can see his love scars.  When Conner was 2 my sister's dog chewed the three little hairs off of Bird's head.  Conner brought Bird to me with tears in his eyes and said, "Bird is broken!".  It broke my heart to see him so sad about his friend, so Bird got a 'new haircut', as Mommy transplanted hair from another stuffed animal onto Bird's head.  Since then, Bird has been lost in the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, where I backtracked nearly a mile to try and find him (only to realize he was right where I started looking). He's been left at Walgreens, where I frantically tore the store apart until we found him (sitting among the stuffed dog toys).  And most recently Bird received a lateral abdominal incision as Conner learned to cut with scissors.  Most nights Bird sleeps wrapped tightly in Conner's arms, although Conner will go to sleep without him (finally...).  I swear, this little bird is so much a part of our family, I can't imagine him not being with us.  And, as Conner prepares for starting Kindergarten in a week, I can't help but enjoy him being little for a little while longer while he totes Bird around.  I know he'll grow up soon enough, and won't need to carry his broken little buddy with him everywhere he goes. 

 

I hope you have a great weekend.  Take a minute to stop by Annessa's blog to see her broken post.

52 on Friday: Week 31

Week 31: Water

This theme was pretty well timed for me.  I just spent a week at my Mom's house in Cherokee Village, AR.  The highlight of this summer trip for the kids... (and maybe mom too:) ) is the little beach on one of the lakes.  We always get up and head to the beach right after breakfast, so we often have it all to ourselves.  The kids let me have some fun with my camera... before nearly dragging me into the water! 

Aiden spent the whole week under the water looking at the fish.  These little guys have no fear and will swim right up to you... I know... one bit me :)

Dive into Patti's blog to see her water photo!

52 on Friday: Week 29

Week 29: Eyes

Eyes.  For me, eyes are the first thing I notice about a person.  I love how different every person's eyes are.  I have brown eyes, and I have always thought they were so boring, but my husband has beautiful blue eyes.  Being the nerd that I am I knew that since my grandfather had blue eyes, and my mom had hazel, that there was a chance- albeit a small one- that I could have a recessive blue eye gene to contribute to our children.  Baby number one... brown eyes.  Baby number two... brown eyes... I was beginning to doubt that I would have a blue eyed baby.  I prayed and prayed during pregnancy number three that God would let this one have David's blue eyes... well... baby number three was a success!!! Conner is my little blue eyed guy, and here he is showing them off for you!!!

I hope you all have a great weekend, and please head over to Jon Yoder's blog to see whose eyes he photographed.

Lovely Little Girls

Right before we left for vacation my husband's brother and his wife gave birth to their second beautiful baby girl.  We quickly planned a trip to visit them so I could capture her while she was still tiny.  Newborns are my absolute favorite age to photograph!!!  She and her older sister were so much fun!  I love these little blonde curls- I'm sure the new baby will have her own sweet curls before we know it :) Thank you guys for letting me photograph your sweet little one!

52 on Friday: Week 26

Week 26: Shadow

26 weeks! This marks the half way point in my 52 week project.  I absolutely can not believe that we are halfway through 2012.  I want to apply the brakes to my life, can we just slow down a bit, please? 

This week's theme is Shadow, to contrast with last week's Light.  I knew right away I wanted to play with a silohuette.  Hannah was such a trooper to come and have fun with me.  Have I ever mentioned how blessed I am? I love this kid :) I love this life. 

I hope that you all have a great week, take a minute and see how this week's short circle of friends have interpreted shadow, here is Mark. 

9 months old

I mentioned last week that I would be catching up on some sessions I haven't had a chance to blog, and today I'm excited to finally share this little man's 9 month session.  You can see his 6 month session here and see how much he's grown!  I love this age (I know I say that with every age) he was crawling and pulling up, and I can't wait until his next session- he'll be WALKING!!! :)  We took a minute to grab a few family shots as well.  Here are my favorites!

He was still very stingy with his smiles, but those big blue eyes are just precious!

We ended our session with Oreos and milk :) He thought I was pretty great by the end of the session! Mom and Dad??? not so much :)
Thank you two for letting me make a mess of your little guy!!!