Cool Country

Hello L Family! Thank you so mch for choosing me to photograph your beautiful family and those gorgeous chickens! (Did I just use the word gorgeous to describe chickens?) Yup, they were really pretty. They had black feathers with little wisps of irridescent ones - so neat! It was my first time ever even touching a chicken, and that was, well, cool! They are really quite soft and one of them came to her name being called. I had a great time meeting you all!

City Girl

Mom said, "No trees. Concrete!"
We had to drive a ways to find concrete but find it we did, along with some grafiti, some funky colored brick (though a little green tree popped onto the red bricks,)and a super cool fire escape. One of my all time favorite locations.

Caitlin, I hope you love these. You look beautiful,you ARE beautiful, and I hope you find your city and stay there as long as long as you like.... congrats on the start of your senior year!

Abundance

Whenever I meet a senior, there is always something about that person that stands out, something they are that becomes clear to me during a session. I met Kelsey through e-mail. We talked a bit about who she is, what she loves, what she aspires to be. She sent me some pictures of her and her friends. And before I ever met her, I just "got" that she IS abundance. I beleive she is passionate about many things, I can see she loves animals, she's creative, interested, engaged. She is surrounded by people (and a little ferret) who love her- friends, a brother, a Mom and I am sure many more. She lives, and she lives abundantly. I expect that Kelsey will be more of something than most of us can dream of. Thank you for letting me photograph you, Kelsey. I am blessed to have met you!



Art buffs, Kelsey wanted to do an image like "Lady with Ermine" by DaVinci- cool huh?

The Super Silly S Fam

OMG! These guys were so much fun! I fell in love with these boys, they kept me hoppin, but they are just a riot to be around and really just enjoy life! Mom and Dad fit right in with those boys too!










And I think this one should be a HUGE canvas over your couch, S Family!

Thanks for a fun evening S Fam!

Remembering 9-11 with a Lollipop

I am very heavy hearted today remembering all the suffering that this day brought to our nation 7 years ago. I am not sure why this year over other years, but I think it was this family I saw on FoxNews this morning. There were three of them, two boys and a girl, all old enough to remember and mourn the loss of their Father who lost his life in one of the Towers that day. The older boy was talking about his Dad and trying so hard to really remember things like how he smelled and what his voice sounded like, and what his hugs felt like, and the things they did together. I guess it gets harder and harder every year to really remember, and I think that makes the grief deeper and heavier to bear. After all these years it is easy for people like me, who were not directly effected by the tragedy to live on in complacency and foggy remembrance. In a way, that is part of the blessing. It's been 7 years since we have experienced such devastation. I suppose I should be on my knees, thankful for that, for our safety these last 7 years. And I am, but I admit that I forget to be. Today I am remembering. And I am thanking the Great God who allows us to live on another day. And I am breathing in the blessings of a life with my three children and my precious husband, enjoying that they can sit on a step downtown and giggle about a lollipop. That they can be oblivious, at least a little longer, to the frightening time we live in, and just have a lollipop.

Prayers going out to all the families who still suffer from their loss on 9-11-01, and to all the men and women who sacrifice their lives so that my kids can enjoy a lollipop.

Week of Firsts

It's been a big week at our house! All my little ones are growing up and going out into the world and having a blast experiencing some great new things. These two shots of Ella at her preschool dance class are some new favorites of mine from my personal snapshots. She is such a riot. I swear she thought she was there to teach the class.

Max had two big firsts this week- his first soccer practice (it started to rain so I didn't get any good action shots, just this lame one of him sluggind down some h2o), and his very first jui jitsu class. How fun! Max is a boy who doesn't love much of anything but video games so it is this Mom's delight to see a little spring in his step and a smile on his face when he's doing his new activities that don't involve the word Wii.

And though this wasn't Grace's very first ever jazz class, this is her first day for this year, so still a first. Grace takes tap, ballet, and jazz at Creative Edge Dance Studio. If you are interested in having your girls (or boys) take a dance class, I highly recommend any class taught by the devine Miss Kathy! She has taught Grace for the last several years and she always always always impresses me with her ability to get little girls to listen to her while still speaking in this soft soothing voice. Somehow I still need to raise my voice to get my point across!! She is a blessing to Grace and I appreciate all she does.

Extra Extra Read All About It!!!

Well folks, it's an exciting day today!! I got a phone call from my good friend Cindy who left me a message that went something like this, "OMG, Alli, are you so excited? Can you believe it? Congratulations!!" I had no idea what she was talking about until she explained that Mr. Miotke's book was out and I HAD MADE THE COVER!!! (Well, Ella made the cover, that's her on the bottom right) Now, I knew that a few of my images had been chosen to be IN the book, and that was exciting enough, but no one had told me that I would be ON THE COVER!!! How rockin cool is that? (Can you tell I am stoked here?)

I also need to mention that my good friend Julie has her adorable picture titled "Nummy" (LOVE that title) right next to my Ella, which makes it even MORE exciting! Our images were chosen among tens of thousands of professional and amateur photographers' images, so it is amazing that we both ended up on the cover!

Who hoo, I am off to celebrate!!!

Here's a link to the book on Amazon if you would like to purchase it- Jim Miotke has written MANY books on photographing children, so you can bet this one will be as great as his others!

Determination

Meet Kirin. I have this feeling that Kirin is fiercely determined. I can see it in her face, she has this look that says she is going to take on the world. I have been so incredibly fortunate to meet so many seniors this year that impress me, move me even- and Kirin is most definitely one of those. She will make her Mom and Dad proud, this I know. Congratulations, Kirin, as you begin your final year of this part of your life. Best wishes to you as you prepare for the next part of your journey!