faldesign

wrapping up the summer!

2010-08-20T07:15:00.000-07:00

check out this gorgeous crew i met at the duck pond! little sis was on the go and kept us all hopping around! big sis doted on little sis, the love was so apparent! warmed the heart to see. little sis was in charge and said everything she saw, "bunny!" "fish!", such a contrast from my little guy the same age, whose word repertoire is "uh-oh", it blew me away to watch her take it all in.

you were a joy to work with!

stellar children!

2010-06-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

met a new family at spring creek park yesterday! it's one thing meeting a family you've shot before. you know what you're getting into. you know personalities. you know tricks to get them to smile. you know likes and interests. but then there's that exciting world of the unknown awaiting a completely new family. are the kids going to be shy? are they going to be out of control? i make mental notes of things to try and routes around the photo site. and you just don't know until they get out of the car and you see them searching for someone, as i am searching for them. sometimes there's a warm up period. try to figure things out. these kids? they were a go right from the start! friendly, polite, fun, and eager to participate! let the fun begin. we darted here and we darted there and shot a huge variety of shots it was hard to pick a few favorites for the sneak peek.
here are some of my favs:

all the kiddos:

doesn't joy just exude from her beautiful eyes!:

this was my shy guy, but i think he proved he can pull out a sweet, kind smile when he wants:

this guy? he was FUN! a mile a minute and definitely keeps this family on their toes!:

getting some sillies out:

i *heart* this:

extended family . . .

2010-06-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

i love when you include the grandparents! they're not always local, they're not always willing ;-)! but when you do it's amazing! i love to see the generations. i love to see the family dynamic. i love to capture them at this point in time so they can remember it forever!

the whole clan:

nana and poppa with the kiddos:

relaxing and getting our sillies on:

little miss pretty pants:

big cool guy:

capturing the siblings:

one good looking bunch!:

beautiful day to play with ducks!

2010-06-08T11:45:00.000-07:00

what a day to be outside playing with these two cuties! glorious day, and great kiddos who put up with me chasing them! big sis started out on fire and then was ready to play and little brother who needed some warm up time. sweet kiddos, check em out:

big sis has an ornery grin eh?:

snuck a little grin out of this shy guy. check out his right eye! that's a big sister for you! now it will be documented forever. you can get her back when your older ;-):

what a sweetie:

my favorite pose for a girl on the move and who has no need to conform to society's need for a family portrait ;-). i think it captures her personality and her phase at the moment!:

sweet moment:

daddy can get the grins out of this guy!:

summer fun

2010-06-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

break out the kiddie pools
apply the sun block
we're ready for summer fun around here

gracie's grin when she gets caught doing something she's not supposed to be doing:

which was this, but at her brother. she was more then pleased to demonstrate for the camera:

snackin' in the pool:

jackson taking a turn getting her for a change:

backyard peonies. how uplifting:

one of our new favorite activities. going out for a nature walk after bath time in our jammies. we bring colored pencils and journals and sketch and talk about what we see. this is a neighbor with very elaborate plantings that is a favorite stop:

the neighbors garden's close up:

jackson hard at work sketching an iris:

gracie's chose a beautiful single rose for her first sketch:

tyler chose to drink a bottle instead ;-):

we even saw a hot air balloon! that was a fun addition to our journals (mom drew the balloon, j wrote the sentences):

another mom and j collaboration:

tyler getting a little antsy with all this stopping on a walk!:

nothing pretties up a pair of pjs than fancy sandals!:

grace trying her hand at pushing tyler. think that will remain a mommy job!:

one of jackson's favorite spots, the tree tunnel!:

j hard at work again. he really took to this task:

brotherly love! t adores his brother and j is never short on games to play with him, 'eat your feet', 'tickle my belly', 'where's tyler?' and all result in big grins!:

monkey boy on our dogwood in our front yard:

tonight maybe we'll draw the trees . . .

campus tour

2010-05-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

met this sweet little girl on campus friday morning. so much fun seeing how much she has grown. i met her at a Fall photo party when she was 12 months. such changes 12 to 19 months! no long a baby, very much a big girl. a full head of beautiful hair, cute little pigtails, and full mobility. 19 months also brings with it stranger-danger, so we had a good bit of warm up time and she was still watching me carefully but with such a beauty every shot is a keeper.

hello eyelashes!:

daddy time:

just love this look of, 'why is the strange lady following us!':

miss independent:

a big smile snuck out!:

a toss in the air can always bring out a giggle:

bye bye chelsea . . .

2010-05-20T05:42:00.000-07:00

sad is the day that i will no longer watch Chelsea Lately. funny, clever woman that i thought she was, she choose a lazy, ill suited stab at innocent, hard working people with intellectual challenges. completely unnecessary, completely disappointing . . . i thought she was better. i hoped she was better. when will comedians understand - there's nothing funny about the "R" word. there's nothing funny about making light of their life struggles. if someone who stands in front of thousands, setting a standard for what's funny, tells tasteless jokes, how are the people who laugh along with her expected to understand it's not alright?

she was an honest, laugh out loud, funny girl. i always enjoyed her. no subject was off limits. until now. she went there. first off mistakenly saying that people with down syndrome are not intellectually challenged. she tried to divide the population of people with ID, as if would someway make the joke alright. it's not alright. it's so unimaginative i think. really? a comedian with a big name? using the "R" word? really? you can't think of anything better? something actually funny? i thought you were paid to be more creative than a 7th grade boy. (no offense to 7th grade boys, i actually think, please i hope, that children are being raised differently then even the short while i ago when i was raised)

i no longer need to waste my time. waste my energy. i had her books on my list to get and indulge in, now it looks like my reading list has a little more space on it. perhaps for something a little deeper. definitely for something a lot less offensive.

since she wasn't big enough to stand up against it. i ask you to. change the channel. toss the book. silently make the stand if you cannot stand on a soapbox and say it outloud.

all this an hour after watching "what would you do?" where actors staged an angry supermarket customer berating a hardworking young man with down syndrome who was bagging their groceries. it was emotional night for me. the show was interesting. by far the hardest thing to watch is the actor saying such awful things. having such horrific things pass their lips. as my adrenaline was rising i had to keep reminding myself that these were lines. these were actors. they were trying to get a rise out of surrounding customers. most were disappointing. few were inspiring. i have to think that in the heat of the moment some might just be scared to get confrontational. in my little world there would never be someone who would speak so ignorantly. but i know that's not true. i also have to think that those whose lives have not been touched by intellectual disability just might not fully understand. and that's ok. i didn't fully understand once too. but once you know better you do better right? so spread the word. spread the education. and if you're ever faced with setting someone on the right path i hope you do. i hope you step up and fight for my son. fight for everyone whose living a life, not that they choose, that they have been given, and live with with all their heart.

gardening

2010-05-12T10:15:00.000-07:00

i love gardening.

or i shall admit i used to love gardening.

eric would laugh at this whole prospect of "gardening" and correct me in saying that i love to plant. the follow through always trips me up. watering, feeding. he usually steps in and takes over after i've done the initial planting because he has this funny objection to dead plants. it used to be a treat to get flats of flowers in the spring time and arrange them and plant them. then when i started having children it became a great mother's day treat to buy the flowers and get indulged with peace and quiet and time to plant the flowers. then i had another child and suddenly there was less and less time to plant and it was getting more rushed and more like a chore. phooey. i took a little break from planting. of course we did the usual every year. spruce everything up. lend eric a hand spreading some mulch. letting the kids run around with the watering cans watering the plants, i.e. the sidewalks.
i didn't think having yet another child would spark the interest in the hobby that i got too busy to pursue. it took a little twist. this year on mother's day we took a family trip to lowe's and picked out vegetable plants and seeds and some flower seeds and a few annuals. the initial idea was for eric to take the kids to plan the garden while i was blessed with some peace and quiet, but as anyone in the northeast knows it was downright frigid on mother's day this year. the kids lasted about 15 minutes and eric rushed to finish the rest of the veggies but left the flowers and seed for warmer weather. i sighed and figured we'll find the time somewhere. well just the other day after i picked grace up from school the time presented itself. for awhile now grace has been bored with her time after being picked up from preschool til the time her older brother gets off the bus. i'm such a mean mommy, i never let her dig holes in our yard and i don't allow her to cut and glue and paint unsupervised, but this day i allowed her to dig in the dirt, pull out the plants and place them in the pots and pat them down. tyler supervised through his eyelids which made the time extra special. just mommy and daughter. doing an activity with one of her favorite things, flowers. i think we both enjoyed it! and my hobby was rejuvenated. maybe just briefly but i had visions of being able to resume gardening on a grander scheme as the kiddos get a little bit bigger, but for now a few pots outside the back door will do.

poor child struggled so to lift the watering can! mommy made her use THIS one because it would look nicer in the pictures ;-)

proud of her finished product:

then we had some fun with our new bubble rocket:

even mommy had a go:

which apparently allowing her to use the camera to shoot mommy launching the rocket sparked an interest in photography! here's her study of mommy:

and i'll spare you from her study of the grass, her brother's snacks, tyler crying, and anything else that came across her path. not sure how many other 4 years olds get to experiment with a canon 30d, but she was enjoying herself so i just couldn't say no as i was composing what i was going to tell my photo clients the following week why i was going to have to cancel if she dropped it!

happy gardening!

follow that duck!

2010-05-04T10:24:00.001-07:00

i met two cuties at the duck pond this morning! what a beautiful morning, what beautiful girls! we took a walk, smelled the flowers, watched the ducks, and looked for turtles! what more could you want. and i had a little girl that wanted "MORE ANIMALS!" next shoot, the zoo! ;-)

daddy's little girl:

getting some giggles:

what a cutie!:

what a beauty!:

infectious grins:

and four makes . . . COMPLETE!

2010-01-27T08:26:00.000-08:00

i had the honor of shooting miss katherine's first shoot! I've been shooting her brother for ages, i'm so excited to watch this family grow. they do make nice looking kids ;-) can't wait to watch these two grow up together.

could this be the sweetest?:

just checking out my sleepy sister:

lil sis' feet and big bro's feet:

oh i just adore my brother!:

COMPLETE!:

have i told you how much i LOVE to shoot this kid?!?:

and mom makes everything better:

lovely all around . . .

2009-11-16T07:36:00.000-08:00

lovely day, lovely family, lovely little boy, lovely location! we had a great sunday morning with this little guy! 19 months and on the move! outdoor shoot was most definitely what he needed. we had fun chasing him around and he did awesome. he was rewarded with ducks at the end ;-)!!!

BIG fan of the fake sneezes! don't know what it is, but it cracks me up that kids think sneezing is quite so funny!:

also a big fan of juumping! so much fun:

picture perfect:

on the move! sitting down was not in this guy's agenda! but i love it!:

super sweet!

ENJOY!

brothers . . .

2009-11-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

check out this handsome duo! brothers through and through. they were awesome! we bartered nice pose pic for mom for a silly pic for the boys. i think it was a fair deal. win win. check em out!

nose to nose (it's sure to get some giggles ;-):

big bro:

lil bro:

can you see the love?:

but wait! there's also plenty of wrestling!:

always one of my favorites:

this has their personalities and the kind of day we had written all over it!:

a bunch of blue eyed blondies!

2009-11-12T08:10:00.000-08:00

although we've known this family for awhile now, this was my first time shooting them. i was so excited to come to their home and see the kids in their element and get to have some fun. we've got the same arrangement, boy, girl, boy and just about the same ages! hmmmm, now that i think about it mine have blond hair and blue eyes, wait a minute?! did i just shoot my own children!?!? noooooo! these kids were put together better than mine and behaved better than mine! maybe i'll swap them, mom will never know . . .

can you just eat this little guy up?!!?:

pretty as a princess:

fun loving big brother:

one for the holiday card!:

one for fun!:

children, children, everywhere!

2009-11-12T07:41:00.000-08:00

meet this beautiful GROWING family! it's been sometime since i've seen them and the big boys have grown up so much, into lovely young boys, and they've added a munchkin of a little sister and are expecting one more little brother! wow! mom's got her hands full. but when i was there, i had my hands full. we had a big session with TONS of pics! enjoy!

cute as a button!:

what a cute crew:

handsome guy:

look at those cheeks! i could just eat them up!:

surrounded by love:

i just loved this! she has no clue her world is going to be turned upside down!:

family time

2009-11-09T09:24:00.000-08:00

here's a peek of a family shoot from last week. i got to shoot them last year and was looking forward to shooting them again! the girls just got older and prettier and they are always decked out in their Christmas best ! ;-)

our main focus, that family portrait!

lil' sis

big sis

sisterly *LOVE* ;-) these two were silly! love it!

family fun!

2009-11-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

i LOVE getting outside. i LOVE to shoot sweet families. i LOVE to shoot friends! it was a win win win today. these boys did and awesome job! mom and dad were worried but i assured let's throw caution to the wind and let the boys do whatever they wanted! i believe their boys are going to knock their socks off ;-)

it was hard to get this one still, but when you did his grin is a winner!

i just love this shot! i know this handsome fella since he was 5 1/2 months old. just blows me away to see him so old and mature and just READY for pictures!

i think mom and dad will agree, this shot just says a lot about their boys ;-) sometimes it's just better to sit and look at a distance. little bro's eyebrow arch says it all!

love love love this shot! i'm going to have to do it more often. how often is this the proper representation of your life? kids running circles around ya! so much fun!

are they not the cutest! and this was with the boys running and tackling all around!

and one for the mantel . . .

i HAD to throw this one in! doesn't little bro look like a pirate! he's going to love this one i'm sure!

boys will be boys!

2009-10-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

here are two handsome guys! we had fun running and playing on a GORGEOUS Fall day!!

a few times i got them to do this:

most of the time they were doing this:

and this:

and of course some jumping:

and definitely some exploring:

Krazy Kids!

2009-10-14T06:04:00.000-07:00

it's that time of year again . . . i get to check in with a few of my favorite families to see how much they have grown! here's a krazy krew of 3 kiddos 4 and under. there wasn't a dull moment to be had. we had a jam packed session of cute poses and fun free-for-alls! any of you who have worked with me know what i ALWAYS say, the kids rule the shoot! grumpy faces do not make for good pictures so i do my best to balance out what we're looking to get and what the kids are into doing. i always think kiddos shine their best in their individual portraits, when all the attention is on them, and one of my favorite ways to get siblings is to get them in action. here a simple game of "ring around the rosie" captured the moment for me. the three kids playing and laughing and just being, well, kids! LOVE IT!

head shots . . .

2009-09-24T06:58:00.000-07:00

i had so much fun with fellow artist, heidi, yesterday! she was in need of some head shots and i was in need of having some fun playing with light and posing!

a girl and her glass . . . :

this shot rocks!:

sexy sexy:

the half grin kills me! but these are "happy" eyes ;-) :

i LOVED you in natural light too! very photogenic!:

miles of smiles

2009-09-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

here's a super sweet family. check out ALL these kiddos! 4 in one shoot! and yes, they are one of those families . . . beautiful kids, great behavior, sweet to each other, they listen during the shoot, they're kind to each other, i could go on an on! if i could clone them i would! i had so much fun running around, inside and out, trying to get it all done. i didn't want to leave it was all working so well. can't wait to edit the rest and check them all out!

YES! all looking and all smiles! no photoshop required!:

check out this sweetheart:

he loves his daddy:

and the big bruiser disguised as a 2 year old girl in a frilly dress:

just twirlin', what else could you want to do?:

senior time!

2009-09-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

gotta love those seniors! so much fun when you get to play around with light and poses and not just run around! we had a jam packed session with a few outfit changes, inside shots, outside shots, there's sure to be something for everyone here! hope she has as much fun as i did!

my fav!:

adoring sis got in on the action too!:

a walk in the park . . .

2009-09-01T12:16:00.001-07:00

what a fun family to shoot this morning! so often i spend the whole sitting trying to get kids to come out of their shells, not so with this family! the big kids we're very agreeable and energetic which always makes for great shots and tons of variety! and they were able to help with little sis who may not have enjoyed the chilly morning as much as the rest of us! it's a lot of fun to watch the family dynamic and see so many different personalities come out of one family. and how fun to have to big siblings fighting over who gets to hold their little sister (i'll take that over fighting with each other like they do in my house any day!)

look at this beauty! she had more and more fun as we got going:

and this one had enough energy for the whole family! don't you just love that smile? you can just hear the giggle that goes with it:

quite a task getting all three to sit still and look, but that's the challenge i love!:

this little sweetheart adores her mother! it's plain to see:

an my fav, kids just being kids and capturing the moment of being together:

family ties

2009-08-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

what a fun shoot when you get to incorporate multiple generations and branches of the family tree! quite often i have families i've shot before schedule their shoots when they have visiting relatives to include them in the shoot. i've shot ian and his family for a few years now and it was fun to watch him run around with his cousin and have fun with grandma!

what a handsome devil:

sisters and their kiddos! what fun!:

having fun with grandma:

cousins:

a little loving for mom:

dad too of course!

baby audrey

2009-08-13T07:50:00.001-07:00

wow! the addition of a baby really slows things down in my house, never mind it's the third baby, it's summer vacation, and things have just been piling up! let's try to do some catching up.

here's baby audrey! i took her brother's newborn photos and designed his announcement so i was thrilled to hear the added to their lovely family and i was going to get to come over and take nathan's little sister's photos too! (not to mention LOVE the name audrey!)

in mama's arms:

sweet kisses:

what an angel! wonder what she's dreaming about?:

they always seem SO small in daddy's hands:

baby blues and blond curls! what more could you ask for?!?!

2009-06-15T11:49:00.001-07:00

check out this beauty!
boy has she grown! and gets cuter and prettier each shoot. it's so fun to watch the kiddos grow and change. everyone has their own personality and their own warm up time and comfort zone. this darling was excited to see me from the get-go and we started on fire! huge grins, bright eyes, and such an interest to run around with me and explore. she was a dream, what a way to ease back into photographing. mom and dad said they attempted a department store shoot while i was "out" on maternity leave without any success. this girl is home grown and prefers home!!! nothing wrong with that! you can tell she's most comfortable there and she's starting to have a real comfort with me, which just has me so tickled! the family is expecting another in october and i can't wait to see the next beauty and how big sis takes it all in!

why does pride make you cry?

2009-05-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

it's a simple question. i never gave it much thought. i'm a big crier. i big, sobbing, red eyed, blotchy crier. i cry when i'm sad, i can cry when i'm happy, and i was a little taken aback when we took jackson to his first organized sporting event and i welled up a bit. eric had decided it was time to sign him up for something and we settled on baseball to be the best option. here in town we have a short 6 week challenger baseball league. a wonderful organization for kids 6-18 with disabilities to come together and play just like all kids. we debated about signing up for the standard t-ball league but reflected on the fact that in the long term this is going to be the league he played in so why not start now. i held my breath. he enjoys playing in the backyard and at the park but as for following rules and playing a certain way, i wasn't quite sure how that would go.
he was excited for his first day of baseball. he even dug out his giant red plastic bat to bring along, didn't have the heart to tell him they would probably have bats there for him to use. he acclimated to the field right away! started warming up playing catch with another boy. he was introduced to his buddy for the game (each week different little league teams pair up with a challenger team to help them along in their game). his buddy's name was tyler, that threw him for a little loop, how could there be TWO tylers!?!? but pretty soon with the help of dad and tyler he got right in the mix and followed along.
he was the last on his team to go up to bat. he picked up his aluminum bat and went to the plate and looked back to make sure everyone was watching, and that's where it hit me. my eyes watered looking at his beaming smile. there was so much pride in me, overflowing, watching the pride in himself as he took his stance and eyed up the pitcher. swing and a miss, miss again, and then he connected! the slightest forward motion but everyone cheered and tyler motioned for him to run to first base. on the way to first base he fielded his own ball and got redirected to second base and then around to third and home. he was told to touch first base which he did ever so intently, bent over in half with a single pointer finger! everyone cheered and he stood up and took a bow! ever the showman! as a photographer i was sure to bring the camera, but when questioned where the video camera was i hesitated and said "how exciting is this going to be?!?!" boy was i ever wrong! as we wiped our tears of laughter and joy from our eyes we grumbled at the fact that we didn't even get it on tape! how hysterical!
time to switch it up and take the field. now this is more of what i was anticipating. a little sitting down, a little playing with tyler, and little of diving for balls laying in the field. that's a hard concept to sit and wait for a ball to come your way. but for his first time out there he did great! and how awesome to be surrounded by the families who have gone before you. to see the friendships in the players, excited to see each other at yet another game. to stop and think about the future and think about all he'll learn from playing ball and being part of a team. what a wonderful outing i can't wait for the next time. this time i'll be sure to bring the video camera . . .

getting his big red bat in the backyard

warming up with will

playing with dad

my little ball player!

up at bat

tyler guiding him to first

rounding third

tah dah!

taking his turn on the field

sitting on the bench

in the field

his uniform

mr. cool

celebratory ice cream, chocolate of course!

his sister and brother there to cheer him on

talk about photogenic!

2009-04-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

this little guy is all smiles! at 1 year old i anticipate taking some time to get adjusted to me turning their house upside down and having this stranger point a camera in their face, but not so with this little guy. laughing and giggling for 45 minutes straight! he was so easy he's going to spoil me for my other clients. there were so many favorite shots i had trouble picking for the blog so i just posted the collages i mocked up since they give you a little sampling of the whole shoot.

park time!

2009-04-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

here's a happy little boy i've had the pleasure of shooting quite a few times since i first met him in the fall. what a perfect time to shoot him so often as he's grown and changed so much over the past few months, check him out here. i think this was by far his favorite shoot, since he's figured out how to WALK and we were outside at a park! yeah! i love to get outside as much as the kiddos!

just take a look at this little munchkin, but don't bite his cheeks too hard ;-)!

back in business!

2009-03-26T05:43:00.000-07:00

phfew! that was a LONG blog break! something about being WAY too busy in the holiday months to keep up with everything and having a real quiet jan & feb. but things are going to be picking up here shortly with some photos shoots before my next personal little model arrives in May.

so here's a sweet family with a VERY rambunctious 16 month old! it was all about blake. figuring out what would make him smile, trying different things to get him to stay with us where we were taking pictures. this little guy had his own agenda. parents wanted real sitting pretty portraits, but i love what we got, a sweet family playing and interacting which really shows in the pics.

money shot! just look at the gleam in his eyes!

this is one of my favorites. so often you forget to capture those moments hanging our in a bed just being silly.

Trick or Treat!

2008-11-08T05:51:00.000-08:00

a little overdue, here are the rugrats as Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. currently Jackson's favorite movie, so Woody was a natural choice, and i like it when they're part of a set and a friend had a great Buzz costume, so it all worked out great! jackson still likes to wear his "woody" boots out (and the bandanna and belt but we try to keep those for IN the house!)

Woody

Buzz

and puppy makes three...

2008-10-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

two big kids! well, more like three kids but one was canine! i love big kids! they listen, look, smile, on cue. not that these two didn't behave like brother and sister, there was plenty of that, but they were behaving just as one would expect a 10 & 12 year old to behave. it reminded me a lot of me and my brother.
and since the majority of my clients are of the under 8 set this was my first encounter of kids picking their own outfits! now keep in mind, Big Sis looks beautiful in the shot of her in the tall grasses, almost reminiscent of summer at the beach, but..
it's october.
in pennsylvania.
and it's somewhere in the range of 45-50 degrees out with the sun quickly setting! i was shivering just looking at her! but it did light a fire under us and we worked fast and furious to bang this shoot out.
plus we had their Little Sis, their pug puppy, Poppy (say that 3x fast!) i always hold my breath when a client stops and tells me, "and, um, we have a dog we'd like to include in the photos". agh! give me a terrible two year old any day! dogs are so unpredictable and i spend the whole shoot holding my breath that i'm capturing what the family wants. kids, i can look and tell if they're giving me a funny face. dogs, that's another story. but this one was a dream! i believe she was actually competing with Big Brother to see who could be the biggest ham!
take a look....

they certainly LOVE their puppy!

look at him! so mature!

and, NO, we are NOT at the beach, although we might wish we were.....

sugar and spice and everything nice...

2008-10-26T17:07:00.001-07:00

it's that time of year again! to shoot one of my favorite little girls! and to boot this year she has a beautiful little sister! i'm sure Big Sis will teach her everything she she knows. Big Sis has been one of my easiest clients to shoot since we start a few years back. one of those kids who always takes a great photo, listens beyond any other child, and is just the cutest thing on top of all that! i've always shot Big Sis outdoors but Little Sis required us to spend some time inside this year and they both did great! no struggling to get everyone to look, no temper tantrums, what a joy. i can't wait to watch these sisters grow up. next year, i bet Little Sis is just running around after Big Sis!

see!??! what poses, and it all comes natural!

gotta LOVE a happy baby!

ugh! i can just eat her up! and catch my reflection in her eyes? so cool!

WE ARE.....

2008-10-26T06:05:00.000-07:00

PENN STATE!!! you know in all my years of taking photos in Happy Valley this may very well be the first time i had a family do a Penn State theme. i loved it, it was really cute!
and as previously mentioned this is another growing party of five! only this five has 3 three years old and UNDER! phfew! everyone took turns wanting to be the star, but i have to say Baby stole the show! at 4 months she was right on cue in the family photos and hammed it up in her solo shots. and then she was DONE, kaput, and went to sleep in daddy's arms.
i've been shooting Big Sis since she was, hmmm, probably only six months old, and CRAWLING!!!! it's so much fun to watch families grow and personalities develop. i think it's safe to say that if these guys have any more kids they're going to look EXACTLY like the ones they have! the genes are strong in this family!

party of five

2008-10-26T05:56:00.000-07:00

i have to say, it's my observation that families of five are on the rise. it seems more and more folks i know have three kids. i have an ongoing jest that the more kids you have the less poses i take and just more of each pose to try and ensure that everyone is looking at the same time! (and to cut back on the photoshop work!)

here is a fun family with a lot of different personalities. we mixed it up and ran the race against the sun, the cold, and just being plain fed up with taking photos! i like to try to get a good mix of posed photos and families just being families and having fun. i love the "kiss-the-baby" photo! shares a moment doesn't it?

where's my daddy?!

peek-a-boo!

check out this monkey....

2008-10-25T18:58:00.000-07:00

what a cutie! i know, i say it all the time, perhaps i just LOVE kids! but this one was such a sweet tempered, mellow, chill, dude! actually mom was questioning where his big smiles were during our session. we pulled out all the stops but alas, still rather serious. i assured her we still got some great shots and sometimes big baby stares are just as beautiful as grins. i also relayed a story of another child who wasn't acting like themselves and then much to the surprise of everyone they turned out with the signs of a cold soon after our session. this was true of this little monkey. i just posted the photos though and mom was thrilled with the results, and informed me that he's still trying to shake the remnants of the cold that he did get. poor little guy!
take a look, does he look like he's on the verge of getting sick? i could just eat him up....

such a photogenic family!

Ariel on Broadway!

2008-10-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

oh time is just flying by and i cannot keep up with myself. i realized i never followed up on gong into NYC to see the Little Mermaid on Broadway! what a delight! i had just a few passing concerns that grace might be too little but I as anxious to give it a whirl. what a lovely time! my mother and i took her into the city for the day and it was such a treat. she was plenty happy just to ride the train into NY! we walked through the city, had lunch, and went to the show. it was great, we thoroughly enjoyed it all.
i totally thought there would be more little girls who would come decked out in costume but there really weren't any. gracie had on her mother-made ariel dress (really a sundress but we layered for the october day)and she has a special "show" hairdo that seem to stop everyone in their tracks and compliment her on her hair. really just two french braids that joined into one. but it was special for her.
she spent most of her time divided between my mother's lap and my lap and the time she wasn't sitting with either of us she was standing, mouth agape, hanging onto the seat in front of her. i was afraid the show was going to be too long for her but at intermission she got upset that it was over. after i assured her that was more we pottied and came back. this time i told her that the next time it stops it will be all done so she was prepared. next time i'll have to rephrase that because at the end of each scene much to the giggles of those surrounding us she nervously asked "is it over?!?!" everything was going so completely well i knew there had to be a hitch. ours were the ribbons that shot out at the end. no, she was scared by it, she was tragically, and dramatically sadden by the fact that she didn't get one to take home. a terrific wonderful experience marred by not being able to catch a $.02 ribbon being shot our over the crowd. curse you disney on broadway folks, why did you have to take it that far! we calmed her down as we left and tried to tell her that all the other little girls had to give them back to shoot out at the next show. sometime you just have to lie.
and the icing on the cake we got to see my aunt marsha and her granddaughter stephanie on the train ride home after they had come into to see legally blond. gracie is just crazy about big girls so she gave me up in an instant to sit with steph and mooch her skittles on the way home.
yeah! i'm so glad that everything went so well (aside from the ribbon incident) that i will be inspired to treat her to something like that in the future!

waiting for the train into NYC

having fun on the train ride

at lunch with grandma

waiting in line to go into the theater and get our seats

having tootsie rolls while we wait for the show to start

getting a delicious NYC pretzel for the train ride home

meeting stephanie and aunt marsha on the train home

take a look if you can stand uber adorableness!

2008-10-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

this kid is CUTE!!!! i warn you. there was not a bad photo taken! he just looked up with a gleam in his eye and a twitch in his smile. too young for "cheesey" smiles, just natural adorableness! we spent a lot of time running after him trying to pseudo get him to cooperate but when we gave in and just let him find his way around, we got what we came for! i love these kinds of shoots, when Mom isn't a 100% sure we GOT it, and is worried about his compliance and then he gets to WOW her in the shots!

kozy kabin kamping

2008-10-06T18:17:00.000-07:00

a last minute decision to go away fro the weekend lands us in a little kozy kabin on a campground in mexico. mexico, pennsylvania that is.....

perfect weekend camping. it's almost unthinkable to think about tent camping and all that work for just a weekend with two kids, so finding a place that provides the shelter, great compromise. it was just under an hour away which is good too, not a long a haul. campground was huge. the most RVs i ever seen on one campground. seems a lot of the folks rent spots for months at a time and probably spend most of their weekends there. on the plus side, big campground had a great playground, and lot of activities (a great pool for nicer weather of course). we also rented a golf cart to tootle around. that's all the kids need for entertainment!

the kids loved the cabin itself. with a ladder to the loft to crawl around in they were set going up and down, up and down. saturday morning they had a scheduled Halloween craft, and after lunch they had a Halloween parade, trick or treating and a party afterwards. what a great way to make the most of our Halloween costumes. on saturday night they had a haunted hayride and a haunted house. we weren't sure what the kids would think but i'm determined that they won't be scaredy cats like me! they were pretty ok with everything surprisingly. jackson didn't care for the men who shot off muzzle loaders on the hayride (it was part of a scare tactic not just random scary guys) from faraway he thought they were fireworks, but from close up he was not too fond. and in the haunted house the thing thing that scared the kids the most was when grandma margie was in front and screamed when she was scared!!! they were very thoughtful though and had an "out" just before the last scariest part of the haunted house. through most of it gracie was just trying to figure out why there were people in gorilla suits and strangely why there was someone in a bunny costume! i think most of the haunted house "employees" were thoughtful enough to realize how little they were and they didn't go all out.

jackson was just excited to get his "Woody" boots out and wear them. i'm convinced the cheap Wal-Mart boots hurt his feet but he just WON'T take them off! and gracie has finally settled on being buzz lightyear. she waviered with Ariel for awhile but when we found a great buzz costume to borrow from a friend, who can resist blow up wings!!?!?!

the kids craft project

can't go camping without MARSHMALLOWS!!!

sitting by the fire side

swinging on the playground

gracie's new favorite thing to do, "digger-diggers" in the sand box

the Halloween parade

practicing her princess wave

trick or treating

a modified Woody (from Toy Story) this weekend he was a cowboy until i get the rest of his costume finished!

she LOVES to toast the marshmallows but prefers hers straight out of the bag

NYC Buddy Walk 2008

2008-10-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

one more buddy walk done! after so many years of beautiful weather we were bound to have a rainy one eventually! what a soggy day! it really cut back on before the walk activities. we all huddled under umbrella's trying to stay as dry as possible.

the weather didn't seem to deter people coming out though. pretty amazing. it cleared up as we were walking. and the rain certainly didn't stop jackson, who preferred NOT to wear his rain coat, and was all about the "buddy RUN"! why walk when you can run?! answer - because the your mother has to carry you when you tire out!

thanks to all who came out to walk and thanks to all who supported us! i can't believe this was our 5th NYC buddy walk.

Jackson's Joggers

the man of the hour

anna smiling in the rain

as jackson calls it "buddy RUN!"

j-man

getting a little tired from all that running. j has to work on pacing himself.

emily, sam and aunt lyn

ron and anna

all done! time for dry clothes and lunch!

sisterly love

2008-09-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

here are a few cuties! what a pair! big sis was fantastic! totally listened to direction and turned her poses on and off as needed and did whatever little sis needed to feel comfortable. super cute family!

you might as well sign this girl up for the lead in annie now!

what a cutie pie!

sisterly love

what love!

first big girl haircut

2008-09-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

can you believe it?!! a child with this amount of hair has never been to a salon. she's always been styled by mom. well we decided that it was time to get her first official haircut (this way the trims by me in between don't get too crazy). we were trying to pump her up but not much seemed to be work. "no haircut, mom!", "i want YOU to cut it, like jackson's in the kitchen". i didn't have high hopes she'd follow through. especially since when we got there and had to walk up the stairs to go in she stopped short on the stairs and started crying and wouldn't budge. people went around her and gave us sympathetic eyes. i'm not sure if they were sympathetic because she was sad about her getting her haircut or if they were just plain sad that they might potentially have to get their haircut with a screaming lunatic in the nice peaceful salon....
anyway, a few tears and "i don't want to get my haircut"s later the receptionist produced a lollipop which, like magic, produced some smiles. our hair dresser was running late so we spent some time watching the other ladies get their haircut and discussing what was going to happen.

before, just a little wild and woolly.

sassy smiles with her lollipop while we wait.

getting her hair washed in the sink like a fancy nancy with princess shampoo!

good spirits for the actual haircut. don't be fooled, this was a M&M induced smile.

AFTER! not a whole lot different but neater.

busy big family

2008-09-08T17:07:00.000-07:00

here's a handful of a family! twins just under two and a little brother! i love a challenge! and the mother! i don't know how she does it! she looked lovely (we also took some family pics) and she was calm and cool through the whole shoot. i went with the angle of lets-capture-them-in-action! because that was about all i was going to capture, these girls on the run! we had a beautiful backdrop, the grandparents house in the rolling hills and they even had horses! baby brother was not as eager to be in the limelight but sometimes that's the nature of a 9 month old, they get to choose when and where they want to do things! he was quite agreeable for the family shots and i couldn't really ask for more than that!

girls on the go!

we got a hint of a smile!

he returned!

2008-09-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

for the first time in my life i set my baby in a strange vehicle, driven by a stranger, to be taken somewhere that i don't frequent. i'm not one of those weepy mothers who can't believe their baby is in kindergarten. i am genuinely completely excited and proud that he's there. i did stop a few times throughout the day and wonder "WHAT are they doing ALL day?" i knew his preschool schedule inside and out, this is just another schedule i'll have to figure out. the draw back of jackson, shall i say, is the lack of his communication skills? so i can't ask him how his day was and what he did, but the bonus is that we have people that tell us. he has a binder in his backpack with a note from the day. his special today was music and "He LOVED it!!!", he did a good job in PT, he ate most of his pizza, applesauce and apple juice, his art projects were his first day hat, and his "kissing hand" poem, and he played with play-dough (which i am skeptical about since he never wanted to play with play-dough before). all around good news. the best news was i sent him on this strange bus and guess what? he came back. although he didn't bound off the bus as excitedly as he bound on. i had to reach in a coax him out. something tells me he'd be more than happy cruising around with miss heidi in the big yellow school bus!
so i think he's set and we're going to do this all again tomorrow. in celebration he got to pick where he'd like to go out for dinner, surprise surprise CiCi's Pizza. (i'm not that organized to realize that he had pizza for lunch and i had already promised him pizza for dinner, don't turn me in to the nutrition police!)

first day of school!!!!

2008-09-03T06:15:00.000-07:00

today is the first full day of school and i have one 5 year old boy who is READY!!!! he was very excited to put on his new backpack (which looks strikingly similar to his old backpack) and go to the bus stop! with such anticipation we actually had to sit patiently (or not) in front of our house for a little bit and then we made it to the corner with just a few minutes of waiting for the bus to arrive. living so close to school a nice perk is that the 4 kids at our stop are the only kids on the bus! the next block over starts the walkers and we just squeak in. miss heidi, the bus driver, runs the same area for the middle school an hour earlier and picks up lots of kids but with the elem. so close there are only 4 and it's the only stop. which is great in my mind! less time for J to think about getting into trouble. plus, aside from J and one other kindergartner there are 4th grade and 5th grade girls! what more could a mother ask for! they were both put in charge of making sure J doesn't
1. dump the contents of his backpack on the 2 minute drive to school
2. gets off with the backpack when they arrive at school
J was so excited he bounded up the steps of the bus and made his way to the 3rd row. then i had to scurry on after him and instruct him that miss heidi (and his mother) would prefer that all kindergartners would sit in the first row.
who knows what he's getting into today at kindergarten, but i have a feeling i'm going to have one tired little boy getting off the bus at 2:56.

the girls....

2008-08-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

wendy

heidi

manya

caroline

& me!

these are my girls! friends from the start of college where we all got roped in to rowing crew (or were at least roommates with someone who did!) we just went on our annual girls weekend. what a joy to look forward to and what a good time was had by all. i hear of weekends that girls just partied till dawn, and those who were able to travel great distance on some exotic adventure. but i don't think that's what this weekend means to me. i like to just - be. just get around my dear old friends and tell stories from our past, laugh at the same old jokes, and talk about fresh new events in our lives. since we're all over the U.S. i look forward to this time to go and sit and - be. hang out at a coffee shop like i would love to do with all of them throughout the year. window shop and walk around town with out a care and just - be. the weather helped us out this year. in Breckenridge, CO is was 50 and chilly, and rainy! so we were forced to just hang out and - be, and i couldn't be happier. sure there were great adventures planned and I'm sure we'll get another chance but it didn't stop my good time one drop. to me, it doesn't matter so much what we do it's who we're doing it with. like trying to cram a year's worth of coffees, movies, and bottles of wine into one weekend! it's not enough. i guess it never will be, but i take what i can get. we chitter chatter right to the airport and then, some, even on the plane home. there's always something to say and the joy of being able to just - be, without all the little "mommy i need help"s, "mommy he hit me"s in the background. time to just focus on each other and ourselves.
i can't wait for our next trip and i'm excited to get started planning. like one of my wise dear friends just said "you just can't make old friends". you've got what you got and i cherish them immensely. i love that we all bring something to the table. different backgrounds, different careers, different lifestyles and such, but i think what makes us works is that that's what we love about each other. we're eager to hear from each other and learn what the others are doing. those without kids allow us to go on and on about them, and we crave to know what exciting adventures others have gone on that we have not been able to.
well i could go on and on. i just love this time we have together and i just get so excited when i hear anyone talking about their girls weekend. it translates into the same thing no matter who is doing it and where they are going, time to just - be.
be together
be free
be fun
be happy
be whatever you feel like being.....

the girls...

snow topped breckenridge, in AUGUST!!!!

cheers to jenny who was there in spirit and is certain to be at next years!

Danny Boy

2008-08-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

check out this sweet angel! he really is as sweet as his big, beautiful eyes suggest! what a mild mannered boy and a big flirt! mom really wanted the big gummy smiles she's so accustomed to but nothing bowls me over like eyes that look like they want to know everything! and what's cuter than little piggies!!!!!

our week in the poconos

2008-08-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

we had dreams for a more exotic family vacation, but one thing led to another and we ended up in our own backyard. we drive through the poconos every time we head to poppy and grandma's house, what an unusual sensation to stop and get off the highway and make that our home-away-from-home for a week of family vacation time. somehow seeing deer on vacation is SOOO much more exciting that seeing the deer we see all the time at home.....
ron and his family came for a short visit over the weekend. ron and eric were able to steal away to the nascar race and emily and i occupied all the kiddos. we also had mimi's family come up to their family house for part of the week. it was fun getting to see them outside of home and do new and exciting things with them.

a brief recap of our trip in photos...

playing baseball and all sorts of games right out back of our condo. we were on top of a ski slope (well, they called it a ski slope, keep in mind we're still in PA you have to use your imagination) and had a beautiful view.

swimming in the icy waters in the pool associated with our condo. gracie and i were the only ones brave enough to go in!

jackson taking a turn driving mimi's pop pop's boat on lake wallenpaupack when they visited us over the week.

again, little miss swimmer braved the waters to dabble in a little lake swimming.

and here's little miss pass out realizing that a weeks worth of vacation activities is proving to be a little much for our BIG girl. she actually fell asleep sitting up while the boat was moving full speed holding on the hand rail. poor thing....

FINALLY jackson braves the chilly waters on his own time and in his own way hours later.

now THAT'S a bubble bath! what more could a girl want than a jacuzzi bubble bath!

a trip to claws n' paws. a local "zoo". never saw a giraffe so close up before! they do feedings there and he comes right out to you!

family portrait on our way out.

things i didn't have the camera for were a trip to the county fair. we had a GREAT time on the rides and winning expensive really cheap stuffed animals and getting to see all the farm animals up close. and a trip to the amusement park which started out iffy with whiny and tired kids but ended up being a great afternoon of bumper boats, go karts, mini golf, and a little swimming, of course by just me and grace:-)

action packed, fun filled, great time had by all. vacations don't necessarily mean the same thing once you have kids. we still go go go, partly because we want to do fun things in new places but partly we know the kid's need to DO stuff will eventually drives us out anyway! so we may have over planned but we enjoyed everything we did and you can tell the kids did just about the right amount that when their heads hit the pillows at night the fell asleep fast and hard.

Shameful representation in our Hollywood movies...

2008-08-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone.

I am contacting all of you in regard to Ben Stiller's new movie that is scheduled to be in theaters this Wednesday. It is called "Tropic Thunder." I was informed by the National Down Syndrome Society that there are significant portions of this movie that depict people with mental disabilities in an extremely derogatory light. The entire movie's premise is "actors making fun of actors" and "using extremes to make fun of movie plots", but part of this "poking fun" includes a pretend movie entitled "Simple Jack." There is one particular conversation in the movie between Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr that discusses Stiller's character acting in "Simple Jack" which is a movie that outwardly exemplifies prejudices and stereotypes of people who have mental disabilities. The derogatory word "retard" is used repeatedly and in a negative connotation to those who have a disability. I specifically viewed a clip of this portion of the movie and I was horrified and disgusted. There is one particular part of the clip where Downey Jr says "nobody goes full retard" and means that when you play that role in a movie, you never are completely changed into that particular character, where Stiller felt like he was "stupid" or in his words "retarded" as a result of playing Simple Jack. There are many more parts within this movie that are extremely offensive in the same nature.

As a mom of a child with down syndrome, I was so disheartened and disappointed that the stereotypes and ignorance that I try to combat every day of my life within the community were going to be featured, highlighted, and even made to be "funny" on the big screen. I know Hollywood is anything but upstanding when it comes to morals and decency, but I feel the line needs to be drawn somewhere. It would not be acceptable for another minority group in our country to be disrespected, so why should it be any different for those with disabilities? Do people think they cannot voice their thoughts and defend themselves? If so, they are severely mistaken.

I ask you to spread the word about this movie to anyone you know as well as discuss it with your children who may be part of the target audience. This will not only result in less money that ends up in Ben Stiller's pocket, but it will also provide you with a "teachable moment" to open their eyes to the world around them.

Thank you
Fara, Eric, Grace and especially Jackson Lippincott

something new...

2008-07-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

i recently had a different opportunity. a fellow artist/crafter friend of mine approached me to help her photograph some of her product. a change of pace for me. instead of running around after kiddos trying desperately to get them at their best, we were able to take our time and set up a shot. it was a completely different animal. i'm so used to worrying about getting the subject comfortable and in good light now i had to check clothing to see if it was laying right and looking it's best. we were both pleased with the results and i think it was great groundwork. next time we'll know a little bit more going in to it.

Happy Birthday to GRACIE!!!!

2008-07-21T19:09:00.000-07:00

today was miss gracie's 3rd birthday! where has the time gone! i cannot believe it. quite a big girl these days. we had a very excited, full, fun birthday. she picked a special dress to wear to school and got to wear all of her "firework" hair clips in the her hair. (auntie manya, just so you know, she still asks about you and your clips and always thinks it's special when she gets to wear them :-) she picked to make cookies as her treat to bring to her classmates, and oddly enough her favorite cookie is gingersnaps. i warned her that it's possible that the other children in class just might not like them but i suspect that was part of her plan! she'd finish off the ones the others left behind! yesterday we made gingersnap cookies from scratch. gracie was a big help and loved bringing them in herself to share with her friends and much to every one's surprised the other children loved the cookies (either that or the teachers told me that and ate them themselves!)

she was excited to leave school after lunch because we were going to the mall to get her ears pierced! she has been talking about it for about a week and had her mind set on earrings. we've talked about it in the past but it was always a passing moment or short lived infatuation, but she was persistent this time and we felt she was ready. she was SOOO excited! i tried to tell her that it might hurt without scaring her. i'd hate for her to be blindsided and look at me like "WHY on earth wouldn't you tell me that were going to be making HOLES in my EARS!!!" we arrived at claire's only to find that they only had one person working there today. in the past we've seen little ones get double timed and have one person shoot each ear at the same time. eric and i paused but felt if they only got one in we'd be able to talk her into the other. the woman was great with grace and she was all ready, never really put any thought into the fact that it might hurt. the woman did one ear and within 5 seconds she did the other and then grace figured out was going on and started to cry. the woman said that ws the trick get that second one in during the shock period of what-just-happened-here?!?! and we were able to go to the hello kitty section and distract her by picking out some new earrings. she was good as new, even better because she had shiny new earrings in! what a birthday treat!

we came home and opened her presents. she got a fancy nancy book and a fancy nancy tutu, but the most beloved was a littlest pet shop set of her very own! she was very excited and we got it out right away and just kept thanking me for picking such a great gift! very sweet.

no big birthday party here but she got to pick where we were going for dinner, CiCi's Pizza it is! and she got to pick her friend mimi to come along (mimi who is actually a friend of jackson's from school but who gracie just adores) i can't really complain because selfishly it meant that we were going to get a night out with good friends as well, even if it was over pizza with macaroni and cheese on it!

fun-filled, jam packed day! good day all around. happy 3rd birthday my little chunky monkey!

ready for school!

running full speed to get to Claire's

sitting like a big girl all ready to get her ears pierced

showing off her new earrings after only very few tears

showing off her hello kitty tattoos she got in her birthday card

this afternoon was a hot one so gracie gave her new ariel snorkel set a try

can't leave out the j-man on this day

at birthday dinner with her buddy mimi

passing off CiCi's brownies as birthday cake!

family pic

mr. dirk in charge of ALL the kids in the arcade!

gracie got to play the grabber game as a birthday treat. keep this girl out of vegas because i think her gambling habits are forming early!

arts fest

2008-07-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

here's a little visual blog of the weekend. very LONG, very HOT, very TIRING, but super successful and all worth it! all around great weekend, great show. hot, steamy weather but the people still came out. loved seeing folks i haven't seen in awhile and catching up with local friends and getting to see old customers who stopped in to say hello and how pleased they are with what they purchased years before. doesn't get any better than that! all my new products were received quite well. and i love to see the totes and messenger bags i work so hard on go home with very excited customers. alright, must go put my feet up!

me, doing my thing

a complete set on display, sling, mat, tote, single serve, binkee bungee.

a favorite of passersby this show

FUN inside!

new product that was a hit, reversible, reusable shoppers. go green!

another new product that was a hit, i had one left! reversible smocks.

one more new product that everyone loved, binkee bungees, a natural addition to the baby gift set.

gift set for a client that i made beforehand to put on display

a great new messenger that was happily sold!

still looking for a home, the inside fabric sells this one!

see?

gracie's version of helping. she liked stopping by to see momma work and wanted to know why i went to the fair so much.

i bet you couldn't do this if you tried....

2008-07-06T17:45:00.000-07:00

yes, that's the j-man sleeping.

during the fireworks.

he didn't go to sleep beforehand, he fell asleep right in the middle of the thunderous roar of the 45 minutes long fireworks show. you know the booming, the kind that you feel in your chest? yes, that's when he couldn't take anymore and went to sleep. CRAZY!!?!?

i thought that was pretty remarkable. other than that we had a lovely fourth of july. E's parents came up as well has his brother and his family and a friend of KT's. we played and bbqed, and trekked over to the show. here in quiet little central pa we happen to have the one of the largest all volunteer non profit july 4th festivals and fireworks displays. not too shabby. the whole days draws 50,000-70,000 people. all in walking distance from our home. if anyone would like to learn more visit http://www.4thfest.org/.

the in laws took my kids back down to their house afterwards. it was weird for E and i to stand there afterwards waving good bye to EVERYONE and to go back in to a QUIET home! quiet and productive home for the rest of the weekend. E hung drywall, i sewed sewed sewed, getting ready for Arts Fest. i'm excited about the amount of inventory i have. i know i'll always want to have more, but i have more now than i ever had for any other show. now let's just hope folks come looking to buy!

a little face painting to get into the festivities

J's full 4th of july regalia, compliments of school

all the kiddos sporting presents pap and gram brought back from their trip to CO

showing a little pride in the red white & blue

maddie pushing N & G on the way to the fireworks

street fair saturday

2008-06-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

what a morning we had here! there was a little street fair scheduled so we thought we'd check it out. dad had work all day so i thought we'd take a walk downtown and if nothing else tire the kiddos out so we'd get good nappage today. we started out on one street and i have to say i was a little disappointed. i noticed they changed it up a bit, there was one block that was the "kid zone" and another block a few blocks away that really was just a sidewalk sale for the downtown shops to unload their extras. we cruised through the sidewalk sale had a snack and it was nice to stop, have no set plan and just do as we please. usually we run like chickens with our heads cut off. today we just did whatever we liked. gracie mentioned she wanted to go to the duck pond on campus that was nearby, why not! it was fun to take them. i do so many photo sessions there i always say i'd love to shoot my kids here. of course today i didn't have the good camera and i think i would certainly need another hand. today i was a little preoccupied in making sure jackson didn't go for a swim while i was trying to set up a shot! but they were thrilled with all the ducks, especially the 3 babies and jackson even had the keen eyes to find the elusive turtle.
afterwards we headed to the "kid zone". friends of mine from the junior women's club were face painting and gracie was very excited at the prospect. she picked a butterfly and jackson, unfortunately refused. he needs time to watch and decide it was all too fast for him! then we moved on to the inflatables. a block full of variety of shapes and sizes and bouncy jumpy fun. we started with the bounce house. grace was excited right away. jackson had to watch her once to decide that it was worth taking off his shoes. then..... i couldn't get them out. yes, i was that parent. the parent with the worst kids at the fair. after being instructed a few times from the guy running the bounce house to exit neither of them were budging. jackson had laid down in defiance and grace was WAILING!!! oh joy! so my BFT got to squiggle and wiggle my way in and drag, literally DRAG my children out. good thing i knew so many of the fellow parents waiting patiently with their well mannered children. one of whom was my ob/gyn. i was sure to tell her that perhaps she won't be seeing me quite so soon with hopes of being pregnant!! maybe when they're 20 & 23..... it was one of those ridiculous moments, but we recovered quickly and we even returned to the bounce house after the slides. the guy looked at me funny attempting again but this time they were much better. grace, i have no idea where she gets her nerve, she climbed up this STEEP blow up ladder to go down this giant slide. poor jackson just couldn't quite make it, which was probably good because i imagine that he would've gone to the top and gotten stuck there not wanting to go down either Way. good thing there was a slide that was one step down. we tried the second one and they could both climb up and slide down and they enjoyed it!
it was a hot day and we were busy. i couldn't imagine going home and first making lunch so we went to Rita's for ices instead! what a treat! and to boot they both took a nap when we got home! happy kids, happy mommy!

my little movie star

monkey see, monkey do

what a duo

CHEESE!!!! look ma DUCKS!

fine, i'll hug him, stop asking....

waiting to go in the bounce house!

the ladder to the BIG slide

little miss serious

free show!

ices, yum!

sensational senior

2008-06-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

change of pace for me today, i worked with a lovely young lady. senior season is upon us. they're already booking appointments and getting the process started so they'll have their photos ready for their senior yearbook. what a treat for me to have someone who smiles on command, listens to directions, and is a beauty to boot. makes my job easy! it's amazing how much more time you have for 3 outfits changes and tons of poses when you're not playing peek-a-boo and gaining trust.

playful shot

doesn't she just make you want to smile?

lovely young lady

generations of smiles

2008-06-16T17:32:00.000-07:00

usually my subjects are children of all shapes and sizes and personalities, occasionally i shoot an immediate family, and as a treat i get to shoot generations of family. i love when families take the time to capture those moments. shy grandma or not, these are photos i hope families will cherish for years to come. so often we're behind the camera, which is all well and good, but it's important to take the time to hand the camera over and capture the...family.
today's shoot was terrific! mom won the session in a silent auction, which makes it all the better! she was careful to arrange it when the grandparents were in for a visit. so, yeah i have adults who look and smile when told, and one photogenic young man with tons of personality! we mixed and we matched and had a great session.

posing it up

one for the wall

the apple of every one's eye

mr. turtle who is sure to engage even the toughest subject WHEN we can find him!

SO sweet!

father's day presents

2008-06-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

gracie's showing more of an interesting in creating things these days and loves to make them FOR people so i decided to use father's day as a perfect example to ACTUALLY use my creative skills and make something. since jackson's still not too fond of crafts i went on the fact that he enjoyed rock painting the other day so we just took it to another level. we collected rocks off the path in the backyard and went to town. jackson was in charge of the bees and grace in charge of the lady bugs. we painted, glittered, winged, antennaed, and googlied eyed. and i tried my best not to take over! they came out pretty cute and we sent one to poppy, gave one to pappy, and wrapped one up for dad to open tomorrow!

my two little crafters

adding googly eyes

the finished bugs

but adding them to a simple keepsake box seemed to give them more purpose than giving someone rocks.

smile for doughnuts!

2008-06-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

sometimes you just gotta love big kids! they smile when you ask them to smile, they sit where you ask them to sit. takes a little of the guess work out. today's family was just super! great kids that did a lot of what i asked of them. they sat and posed for those great-for-grandma shots and they showed a lot of their personality to get a huge variety of shots. they showed a lot of love for mom, who can't dig that?! i loved getting to capture their little family and their many sides. mom was also one of those super cool moms who recogonizes that sometimes funny faces and crazy hair is just their kids. that's the way they are, take it or leave! and she was certainly taking it. makes me more relaxed to shoot when she's fully aware of what she's getting. and who wouldn't just eat these guys up....

what a beauty

great kids, sat a posed so nicely...

...and goofed off too

can't you just FEEL the love?

having fun in the trees

handsome guy, we bribed him by telling him we were going to pass his photos around school if he didn't behave! ha ha, you have to be creative.

perfect!

Great Wolf Lodge

2008-06-09T04:58:00.001-07:00

we have just returned from a wonderful little trip and a great discovery! we had heard about great wolf lodge before but didn't really think about. last December friends of ours invited us to join them at the GWL in sandusky ohio. for those who don't know, GWL is an indoor water park/hotel. interesting concept. don't need to go far, come out of your hotel room and walk to the fun! great with little kids. unfortunately last December a huge snow storm rolled in and we were not able to make it. our friends, coming from pittsburgh, we able to make we, sadly, had to reschedule. we just made it up this past weekend. we left friday morning and even packed a picnic lunch (in the spirit of saving money and enjoying the beautiful weather). turns out that was one gracie's favorite parts of the trip! we arrived in beautiful sandsusky ohio around 3 or so and you never saw 4 people check into their room and change in to swimsuits faster! very corny but very cute place. looks like a GIANT log cabin. they have wooden bears and and lodgy type decor everywhere. but super kid friendly. everywhere you turn there was something fun to look at or play with. while i was checking in eric walked around with the kids and in the lobby you can view down to the next level and see the water park. well, you've never heard such squeals of delight! it was like they just discovered gold or something! "MOM! SWIMMING POOL!" mind, you we didn't keep this a secret. all week long we told them we were going to the water park. it seemed as if this was some awesome discovery.

anyway, we made our way down to the park and couldn't try everything fast enough. there was a pool for swimming and water basketball, a kiddie pool with tiny little slides and dumping buckets, a HUGE tree house with all sorts of things to turn and pull and squirt water, there were BIG tub slide, and small kids slides, and a lazy river and the only things we didn't do was the larger single person slides, as we were not ready to through our kids down something without us!

we were holding our breath a little because miss grace was a superstar at sesame place last may, she was a bit of a scaredy cat at the water park at massanutten last summer. but she rocked it! couldn't get enough! eric took jackson on the huge tube slide that truthfully looked a little bit much for me, but he just giggled the whole way down. i eventually tried it. figured if my 5 year old thinks this is the best thing ever it can't be THAT scary. it was a little fast but quite fun. we decided to try gracie and she loved it too. there was a HUGE staircase to go up too. so you know it had to be good if they were willing to truck up there each time. i was grateful also, to do something a little more exciting than swimming.

they kids had EXCELLENT behavior all weekend too! which makes for a nice vacation. that first late afternoon we went swimming for a little while and then wanted to come in to wash up for dinner and we were expecting a lot of resistance but they both went rather agreeably considering! i love having children that are an age that you can talk to and explain that we can come back and it's time to do something else fun. we had dinner in one of the park's restaurants. cute kids stuff. gracie got to have a "bears in a blizzard", a vanilla milkshake with oreo cookies and teddy grahams on top! what more could a little chunky monkey want!

after dinner each night we went to the arcade, which gracie refers to as chuck e cheeses, as that is how i explained it to her. dizzying lights and sounds sure to delight any child! they spun around not really knowing what to do first, but i enjoyed some games of skeeball, and we ran around until bedtime.

we ventured out for lunch and dinner on saturday. i believe there was another day or two we could've explored sandusky ohio. we drove to the shore of lake erie and looked out but we didn't have much time to get out and walk around. there were also some other little historic towns. we had dinner in Norwalk, in a cute little revived diner. everyone loved the kids there and it took me 45 minutes to realize most everyone else was over 65 so i think kids were a novelty in that town. we had lunch at a weenee hut! if you can believe that. eric mentioned it and gracie got it in her head she wanted a hot dog so we gave it a try. what a pleasant surprise! cute place and i got to have a hot dog with guacamole, tortilla chips, cheese and sour cream. YUM!

all in all a great weekend! good times, good children. the next time we venture to GWL though we might try the one in the poconos, it's a little closer.

our little picnic lunch

j coming out of the BIG slide

g coming out of the BIG slide, there's a HUGE smile on her face

dad and g waiting under the big bucket

enjoying some air hockey in "chuck e cheese". note this is after he adamantly stated he wanted to go upstairs and take a nap, aka go to sleep, as he had had it for a day. but mom and dad started to play air hockey and he got a second wind for that!

i couldn't resist

2008-06-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

it was just one of those moments. the moons aligned or something. i haven't gotten great, really great, photos of my kids in awhile. crazy, right?! i know! i'm a photographer. but they are like, so over getting their photo taken. and then, with no planning, no grooming or outfit planning, all because we picked our first blooming peony, BAM, they were the perfect little models. just playing outside this evening, they couldn't take turns fast enough to say cheese. i was a little worried it was getting to dark out but i was so pleased with the photos i couldn't resist posting. i know it's sort of like cheating. these are my kids and they were in a great mood and we had the right prop, but great photos are great photos! if only i could live 24/7 with all my clients so i'd be there at just the right moment.....

the key to the smile

2008-06-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

this one made me work for it. apparently this little guy thinks being one year old is A LOT of work because he is VERY serious! nothing a good toss in the air couldn't break up. but that's about it for his smiles. we decided to go with his more serious, pensive look, it was more in character! he was definitely daddy's boy! it's so interesting to shoot so many different personalities at different stages in their lives. this little guy was just really into his "home base" and couldn't really get comfortable if dad wasn't immediately in reach. i just have to laugh at shoot where dad arranges and brings the child by himself. so different. just dad and child, no diaper bag, no snacks, no favorite toy, nothing..... not even for a little boy who had messy pants, a sure fire way to a grumpy face. he did have a whole box of tissues in the stroller, thank heavens for that! but only a dad would show up to a shoot with just the subject! we made this little guy work it for a long time and then we finally decided to give him and a break and let him go. posing and smiling was just not his idea of a great day!

First Ever Centre County Buddy Walk!!!!

2008-06-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

we did it! we finally organized out first Centre County Buddy Walk! after all these years attending the nyc buddy walk and talking about starting one up here the day has finally arrived. and while i am not a nervous person by nature i was looking forward to getting through this walk to start ironing out the kinks. and low and behold as the day progressed i began to realize the day was going off better than i could have imagined! as with doing anything the first time you expect hiccups, but really it was a remarkable day. we set up (in the rain!) with ease. we had 100 walkers!!! and everyone stayed to picnic and do crafts and play for the afternoon. so different from our nyc experience, where we go, walk and leave and head to a restaurant for lunch. at this walk we knew so many families and there were so many children it was such a great way to spend the afternoon. both walks are great in their own respect but i enjoyed this change of pace of hanging out and playing. plus, being our hometown walk i did have jobs to do and helped out. i took tons of photos and hope to put together a book of the walk to have in our library.

here are some of the highlights of the day:

mr. j eager to get there!

jackson's joggers

j-man was even excited to do, gasp! crafts! he made a lovely painted rock with googly eyes!

j had a hard time seeing mom "work" and not want to come running over!

pappy and j

mom and grace

HE DID IT!!!!!

2008-06-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

jackson is officially a preschool graduate! i'm so proud! now he can go out into the world and make something of himself!
it was a little haired there for a moment. we weren't sure if he was going to go through with it. but, instead we got a glimpse of what to expect in 12 or so years at high school graduation. we are raising the class clown. their school graduation is at the end of the year ice cream social at a local park. the whole school is invited. it was a lovely evening. we made it over and started to play at the park before the ice cream was ready. well, who wants to stop playing on the playground to eat ice cream?!?! not jackson! so first off he didn't really want to partake in the ice cream part of the ice cream social. but on the other hand his sister would drop anything to have ice cream was unfortunately not allowed to have any due to some earlier bad behavior and not finishing her dinner. so we have one child whining to go back to the playground and one child whining to have the ice cream that her brother is so willing to leave behind!

good times.

so we play a little more and then they make an announcement to gather around and we'll commence commencement. all the children (9 or so, big group this year) line up and sit on one side of picnic bench. they are given little mortar board party hats for the festivities which last a fleeting 1.2 seconds on jackson's head.

illustration No.1 of jackson's not giving a flying hoot to sit there and follow through this:

so they start calling names and each child walks up to the teacher and receives their medal and their framed diploma. eric and i are catching eyes and rolling them. no way j-man is walking up their independently tolerating this thing around his neck and not using his diploma as a frisbee. the little boy alphabetically before him gets up gets his things, smiles nicely for his mother and takes a seat. i hold my breath.... "Jackson Lippincott"
and voila!

the ham and a half goes to the middle of the group throws his hands up over his head and starts cheering! the crowd goes wild! i begin to wonder if it was all an act. throw us off with some obstinate behavior just to pull this silliness off! he knew what was going on and he knew he was the center of attention. he proceeded up to his teachers got his medal and diploma and ran back to dad to take his seat. not only can you NOT predict his behavior he goes above and beyond to keep you on your toes. he know wears the stinkin' medal everywhere!

let's take a look at well behaved jackson:

and here's the proud family:

all in all a lovely evening and a very memorable end to jackson preschool career. but i do glance to the future and worry if our hands are going to be a tad full.....

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T17:49:00.000-07:00

this is grace

this is grace on crack

what a little pistol. i believe the 2nd photos does her justice. she's in a screaming-for-no-reason phase. not a bad screaming. not tantrum screaming. just screaming. for screaming sake. for fun. she find great joy in it. we're currently working on "screaming is for games. go penn state", or "go penn STEAK" if you are grace.

today is mother's day. for a change we had a nice subdued mother's day. no traveling, no big plans. i'm learning that it's not what i WANT for mother's day more than it's what i DON'T want for mother's day. i don't care what we do, i just want a day off from taking care of my children. no potty trips. no cooking. no feeding. we did alright today. i got a lovely breakfast in bed. then we just caught up on my disney channel and tickle tortures in bed. we ran a few errands as a family. had lunch. took a nap. ordered in yummy sushi for dinner! and i'm in my pjs waiting for desperate housewives and brother & sisters. perfect day. i was even relieved of laundry duty.
not bad. not bad mom. not bad. a slow rainy family day.
i hope everyone was celebrated as they wished. i am surrounded by so many mothers. so many different mothers. i cherish them all and learn from them all.
Happy Mother's Day

school photos

2008-05-02T06:55:00.000-07:00

i recently took pics at a local Montessori. 60 or so, 2-6 year olds, FUN! some kiddos i know from private shoots, and a lot i shot the previous year. so nice when it all runs smoothly and the teachers and parents are so pleased with everything. quite a compliment when even the shyest of children open up and get some good shots taken. of course with a small group i was able to offer some collages, not your typical school photo, but then again when you're dealing with little ones sometimes that's the best way to showcase their personality.

HELLO! do you not just LOVE her. such a cutie! which such a flare for drama!

yes, 1 child out of 60 actually took a bite of my apples!

could he be any more excited for his school photo!

i used a lot of this style collage for this shoot. seemed the best way to get the most out of their personality and it showcased siblings best too.

big top times

2008-05-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

so, the follow up from the circus. it was a grand success! well, they had to get over the fact that there were not going to be any dinosaurs (we just saw the dino show at the same venue and they now believe the dinos live there) and we had to get over that we were not going to see a basketball game (we see many a game over the winter in the same venue) but once we were in and the crazy stimuli of the circus took over they we're quite excited to experience that too. don't go on their enjoyment from the photos, they were pretty much in awe. they really did totally enjoy themselves although it looks otherwise from the photos. didn't get any of jackson clapping his hands off! and gracie has found her new profession in life. sorry auntie caroline, no more "what do you want to be when you grow up? a soccer player" not it's "an elephant" which really means one of those girls in the great outfits that gets to ride on the elephants!

they took turns sitting with poppy and grandma and then back to mom and dad. it was funny at one point they were with mom and dad and poppy was at the end of our group sitting two seats away and he just looked like and old guy who went to the circus by himself! but i'm sure we looked silly when the kids were sitting with them. the show was that good though, that even though the kids were occupied elsewhere we were enjoying ourselves too.

gracie's new profession

me and J at the circus

J & G at the circus with poppy

things that make me happy...

2008-04-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

seems with the nicer weather bringing a general uplifting of spirits everyone is doing a "my favorites" or a top ten post. i can classify something or start a list of random things, but all these other statements of joy led me to one of my favorite things this time of year. the dogwood tree in the front of my house. we've lived here almost 2 years. when we were just looking at the house the dogwood was in full bloom and SOLD the place! looking through my dogwood glasses i overlooked what it meant to live sandwiched between colleges students and right in the middle of the main drag the college kids walk to and from the bars (hello! what's wrong with the sidewalks you ungrateful, disrespectful, undisiplined..... rrrrgggg! i digress let's keep it PG) but every year, the tree begins to blossom and create a pinky purpley mask over our home. our home is super cute in the first place, the tree just makes it picture postcard perfect! along with this bloom is the increasing number of college kids who venture out in the warmer weather, to which i muster up a smile because it can only mean that the semester is coming to an end and they will all be scattering back to where they came from soon!!! i always questioned those who found joy in the departure of the students when i first moved here. but it wasn't long before i learned the blissful peace of our little town without roucus parties and the great ease felt when you can go out to your favorite restaurants WITHOUT a reservation!

our little flowering abode!

happy birthday to .... ME!!!!

2008-04-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

yeah! happy birthday to me. i know i know, as you get older you're not supposed to look forward to your birthday so much. but i still like them. i get to chose the restaurant, i get to order what i've been secretly desiring (i.e. chocolate chip pancakes at the waffle shop this morning), i get to splurge on desert. what's wrong with that! every one's birthdays should make them feel even just a little special, FOREVER..... i mean as long as we're still having them we should celebrate them. why not! i have a wonderful family, great friends, and i look forward to this day (sometimes spilling over into the week) because i know what's coming, the guarantee that i will be calling, talking, emailing to most of them. happy day for me! this year's birthday wishes even started coming in early. it made me feel very special. my parents had come in on friday and made sure to stay until this morning. we had a lovely weekend. we got treated to dinners out without children. we had fun all around. it's always hard to have poppy and grandma drop the kids off at school because no matter how much you try to tell them they won't be here when i pick them up from school they don't always understand that and it's so sad when they come bounding in the house calling their name and then i'm left to tell them the bad news. any, that was a tangent.
birthdays are fun. i love getting birthday wishes from to top of gracie's lungs. she's very good at shouting, well, just about anything these days. and she as excited for me for my birthday as if it were her own. i think that helps my birthday enjoyment. today, i don't need any big bashes, no lavishes gifts. just a card from the children (one of which can actually sign his name now and one of which is absolutely convinced that a few scribbles spells her name) a little sweetness from a husband, and the noticeable lack of directions and instructions for the day, and some happy thoughts from my few but most amazing girlfriends!
oh happy day, happy birthday to me! i invite you over to the virtual coffee shop for a little snack and a little chat, that's the only thing that could top this day!

flashback!

2008-04-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

first off, it's not enough that i have a mini me, but i have found myself unconsciously dressing her in outfits of my past! the weather is just starting to get nice here in the tundra and we've been layering. not quite ready for shorts, but too nice for long pants and long shirts. so short on clothes the other day i'm dressing grace for school and i reach for a skirt. cute, ok. with what? ok, found a shirt with one of the many colors in the skirt. good, but it's not THAT nice out today. ok, hmmmm, pink leggings, perfect. didn't think much of it until the 3 or so comments later that day on how cute she's looked, how she looked like a shout out to the 80s. take a double take, yeah, she does look like a sort of G rated madonna, it's the leggings and the skirt combo. one friend commented that she looked like her circa 1988! funny how i didn't even see it until everyone else noticed. i was just proud of myself to be able to find 3 pieces in her drawers that all coordinated!!! to boot it was hair-do Wednesday, so she was sporting a rather involved do. (her brother has a standing appointment Wednesday mornings so we always try do to a fancy hair do that will keep her occupied while i arrange it and out of the way of her brother's hard work!)

the sunglasses add that extra style!

a close up of my handiwork!

walking the elephants

2008-04-24T06:55:00.000-07:00

walking the elephants? yes, walking the elephants. just what is says. small town living has it perks. i don't know how they get the elephants into madison square garden in manhattan but here in the middle of nowhere they WALK the elephants from the train, down the main street, up to the venue holding the circus. quite a site! it's one of those things we always enjoy doing but never hear about it until the day before or even the day of. we happen upon the news and scamper around to make time to go sit by the side of the road and wait for the elephants. free entertainment, can't beat it! this year we had our patience tried. we arrive at 2:45 to anxiously wait for the elephants to arrive between 3-3:30. by 3:45 nothing. well, they are elephants how fast do they really go?!?! we got word that there's been a delay. 2 hours. ok, we made a trip to the supermarket and made it back to restake our claim to the bank lawn at 5:00. waiting. waiting. by 6:15 i couldn't take it anymore. never mind the kids, i was ready for dinner. with a defeated air we reluctantly packed up and head out for a fast bite. at 7:15 we were done with dinner and go to head home and low and behold we ended up in a slow line of traffic no doubt trailing the elephants. we hurriedly turn around and make a different approach. it occurs to me that we might be able to beat the elephants and see them from the other direction. sure enough, we park and get out and soon after, FINALLY, we see ELEPHANTS! "look, ma, elephants!" followed by our best elephants imitations. quite exciting even if we logged 5 hours attempting to see these beasts! the marched on down, turned the corner and headed up to their home for the weekend. we have since bought our tickets to the go to the circus on saturday with poppy and grandma, and boy do they have a hard time with purchasing tickets and not being able to go immediately. i'll follow up with out trip to the circus soon!

getting ready for the elephants!

nothing like log rolling down hills to pass the time

here they come!

luckily we ran into miss sharon who helped me watch my kids and prevent them from running in the street and getting trampled, while i, of course, was taking pictures...

look! horses too! somewhere in there was gracie's imaginary pink unicorn that she most definately saw!

you know your gynecologist likes you when...

2008-04-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

....she gives you a hug when she comes in the room! took me by surprise! has this happen to anyone else?! don't get me wrong, i actually really enjoy my doctor. we've been through a lot. we've had both our children at the same times and she really is a lovely woman. definitely someone i would see outside of the office if, hmmm, how do i put it delicately, she didn't know me so intimately! dentist, maybe, gyn, nope, don't think i can go out to dinner with you and your husband. too bad, too. i'll have to resort to more tradition venues to obtain friends.

UGH! i guess you can eat your vegetables!

2008-04-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

what?!?! i know i know, did i get that right? i think i stumbled across something. while making dinner this evening my curious, hungry 2 year old was constantly back and forth between the living room and kitchen inquirying what i was doing. after requesting multiple snacks and consistantly being told that dinner will be served shortly she resorted to tippy toes to see what was on the counter. "what's tat?" looking at the bag of frozen vegetables. i reply, "it's frozen vegetables". she answers "i want 'rozen 'egebales". so i gave it a second and thought, why not! she'll either decide that she prefers them cooked or she'll eat a few carrots! well, turns out she likes her vegetables frozen better then cooked! after asking for more more more i was telling her no, dinner will be ready shortly, then paused and said "ugh, fine just eat the vegetables". as it came across my tongue, i thought how ridiculous that i would be bothered by the fact that she was haunting me for more vegetables!?!?! veggies are veggies and if she's like to eat her lot frozen, then so be it!

oh how i long to keep my child in a crib forever....

2008-04-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

it has just occurred to me that nap time is officially gone out the window when my 2 1/2 year old is done in her crib. oh, how tired i will be! i was previously proud of this accomplishment, trying to devise a way to get the most out of it. we now dangle the "big girl" bed in front of her to encourage potty training. "if you stay dry you can sleep in the big girl bed, if you don't it's back in the crib". this does not affect her as much as i had hoped. her response is usually, "oh, yeah! my cribbie!" but we do have both options crammed in her small room at the moment. and just the other day during "quiet time" at our house (the time from when i pick them up from school at 12:30 until when i'm ready to take them on) she was allowed in her big girl bed for some sitting quietly and book reading or even, gasp, actually closing her eyes and resting a little. i hear her making up stories and moving around and whatever other mischief she can come up with. i am, myself, enjoying a book not 5 feet away from her in my own room but i have no visual. i vaguely make out the scratch and creak of the reeds of a basket that holds all of her stuffed animals. "i a baby, i a baby" begs for me to get up and peek around the corner. this is what i found:

as a photographer, she has seen me place many a baby in a basket for a photo and apparently during this quiet time session she found it within herself to reenact such a stage! smart girl, too! she recognize the possible uncomfortableness of it all and was sure to place her pillow in first. oh, to have caught her in the act of lugging the basket up on to the bed!! this is when the true realization washed over me, she will no longer be confined to one walled device where i have complete control what she can and cannot play with...... like i said, there go my own beautiful mid day naps out the window.....

raising children that are more politically active than myself

2008-03-31T17:36:00.000-07:00

now i know, at 2 1/2 and 5 they are not technically politically active, but i am trying to expose them so that maybe they won't fear it as much as myself. on sunday i got a call that friends of ours were heading into town to go hear Barack Obama talk on Penn State's Old Main Lawn. Interesting. you're bringing the kids?!?! yeah, we thought it would be great to tell them one day that you saw him talk. hmmmm, i'm buying this. not something i would venture to do alone with both kids but this couple is doing it with their three kids so safety in numbers! i agree to join them and show them the way to campus. we expertly dodge lines and crowds and end up realtively close, and since i'm 5' 10" i actually have a vantage point. so far so good. gracie loves the "party", they're playing good music and she's cutting a little rug. between both families we brought enough snacks and enough toys to occupy the kiddos. i'm able to take in about 75% of the talk as i monitor, and i'm impressed, this is the most political things i've done in ages. i'm usually so cynical of politics in the first place, but i will say hearing something in person adds a little extra. he pushes that he doesn't take money from special interest groups and i have to say that's refreshing. with any result it was invigorating to take part, and hey, if he wins we can say we say him when....

my little politicians in the making

really, he's there, i highlighted him

nose ring etiquette?

2008-03-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

OK, maybe the 2 people who would ever read this have found themselves in the same situation and would know how to handle it better. let's paint the picture, is a lazy Saturday, I'm out with my kids running errands and we stop for some lunch at a local pizza shop. but because my kids are up at the crack of dawn and had breakfast hours earlier they're ready for lunch at 11:00am! i stall a little but, still, we're inside sitting down for lunch no later than 11:20, so there's NO ONE else in there besides myself, my two kids, the young woman who works the front and the own just in the back flipping pizzas. the young woman, has a more alternative look, no big deal, she's super nice and friendly with the kids. she brings us coloring books and is quick with the order and very attentive. so after awhile we are well into our meal and she has been back and forth to service us, she turns to leave our table and head back to the cash register, which only a mere 6 feet away, and sweet little Gracie asks in her stage whisper, "WHAT'S IN HER NOSE, MOMMA?". she is, of course, referring to the U shaped piece of hardware between her nostrils with the balls on either end. much like you would see in a bull's nostril? that's the best image i can conjure up. i swallow my mouthful and pause. realizing i need to supply an answer or the question will surely be repeated (what doesn't get repeated by a 2 year old?!?!) also realizing that i am sure this young woman has heard the question and due to the size of the establishment we will never be out of earshot, i quickly answer, "it's like an earring in her nose", and change the subject by offering her more of her favorite Parmesan cheese on her pizza. i realize that could have gone much worse, but time froze for a second because really there wasn't a single sound in the whole place for minute and a half the question and answer took place.

so, do i just leave it at that? she took notice of the world around her. is it too early to say, no no no, honey, nose rings are not for you. because she asks for earrings when we pass Claire's in the mall. am i to expect a request for a nose ring now too? self expression is great, and earrings are appropriate at any age, but i think i have to draw the line at a nose ring. you have to go through some deep self exploration before deciding that's the choice for you. well, i guess i have to make better dining choices for us now, I'll look out for busier, nosier places!

what does it mean to be the parent of a child with special needs?

2008-03-27T10:49:00.000-07:00

it means you're going to have to fight. it's almost one of the first things you learn. but i have to say we've had it pretty easy. no major battles as of yet. our biggest issue is calling the eye doctor to express that we're having concerns about our son's vision and we'd like to move up our regularly scheduled appointment, their response was we have an opening 5 months from now which is only one month sooner than our regular appt! frustrating? yes, battle? no. you just call "Super Pediatrician" and the eye doctors office calls back first thing the next morning explaining they have an opening tommorrow. but "Super Pediatrician" can't help us with this one. this is going to sound foreign to most but PA is considering adopting a "Consultative Model" for therapy services. the short of it is that instead of seeing your physical therapist, your occupational therapist, your speach therapist and your developmental teacher on average of an hour a week, EACH, you'll now only see the developmental teacher regularly and other therapists much much less as they will teach you everything you need to know, so you can essentially do it yourself. ha! DIY therapy, the title to my new book. why go to school to become a therapist when you can do it yourself! to big budget balancers in the government that sounds like a great savings, to a parent of a child with special needs it sounds like you're throwing us out to the curb..... before i rant and rave i'll sum up my feelings with my letter to those who can make a difference.

To Whom it May Concern,
We’re going to be parents! Oh how exciting. I always knew I wanted to be a mother. Now I’m at the right age, I married to a wonderful man, and it was so easy. I can’t wait for this little one to arrive. We’re going to go for walks, take them to the school bus stop, and go to baseball games in the summertime. I have so many plans…. The results from your amniocentesis are in. Yes, your baby has Down syndrome.

Millions of babies are born each year. There’s no prior schooling, you just have to be of reproductive age. It’s very natural. Many people plan on this their whole lives. No one plans on having a child with special needs. I was never educated in caring for a child with special needs. What am I going to do with a child with special needs? I’m going to love him. I’m going to care for him. I’m going to defend him until I no longer have breath in me. All those things come without trying. It happens when you learn they’re growing inside of you. It happens when you labor to bring them into this world. For me it was automatic. The best way to support him while he’s learning how to walk, the right way to spoon feed him so he doesn’t end up with an entire meal of sweet potatoes up his nose and down his chin, the right things to be teaching him so that we’re pushing his development and helping him strive to be his very best, those are the things that I’m now forced to learn. My peers watch their children crawl when children are supposed to crawl, walk when they are supposed to walk. Their children guide them to the next step, the next developmental milestone. Meanwhile my family continues to grow. Not only did I welcome a sweet baby boy, but I also gained a physical therapist, a speech therapist, an occupational therapist, and a developmental teacher. These loving, caring supporters swoop in to save my life and the future of my son. They provide me with the information I so desperately need. On a week to week basis. On a week to week basis my son is ever changing and needing new things. On a week to week basis I have new questions. On a week to week basis I add to my ever growing list of concerns. I already learn whatever I can from them and implement it into our daily routine, but I didn’t go to school for this. I have suddenly ended up in a crash course for early childhood development. Students in this field don’t go to class once a month. They don’t read a book on their own and get handed their diploma. Considering that most parents of children with special needs acquire quite an education from their children I cannot, in my wildest imagination, think of suggesting taking away the learning tools of these parents, the therapists. We already fight to enroll our children in typically developing programs. We already fight for the funding to give them everything that we possibly can to further development of these smart, loving, willing to learn children. This support team of teachers and therapists are the people who let us know what our children are capable of. They tell us to teach them, to love them, and support them and they show us how to do it. How are we supposed to help our children strive to be their very best if we’re left without our “textbooks”, without our “professors”, without our “education”.
I am striving to give my son all I can. He is entering Kindergarten, at a typical age of 5, with the ability to read and the love of learning. I will love him no matter what he accomplishes or who he ends up becoming. But if we’re looking for him to be his most productive self, someone who can give back to the community it’s imperative that you understand that he and I and my family would not be who we are today if it wasn’t for our “family”. Our “family” of physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and developmental teachers, and the time they devote to our needs and to our education.

how could i NOT share this munchkin!

2008-03-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

one of my "pushes" to start the blog is to share my craft, or shall i say craftS? i'm lucky enough to get invited into some families lives to take photos of their little ones. aaaaggh! you can just eat these kiddos up!! i just wanted to share some pics from my last shoot. shy little bugger to start, but the beauty of the in-home shoot is she eventually came around and was a perfect little model!

hmmm... what IS all this hoopla about blogging?

2008-03-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

well it seems like everyone and their DOG has a blog these days. i was content to peruse other people's blogs daily until i came across one that incorporated their work into their blog. hmmmm.... good idea. mainly because there are little things that happen on a day to day basis that you don't get to share with long distance friends and family and rather than bombard their inbox i thought creating a blog would allow them to check it when they needed to procrastinate on *insert dreaded task, i.e. scrub toilets, do laundry, cook dinner*
ok, i'll leave it at this and see what else i can pick up on creating this mystical, must-have, blog!