Project 52 - The End

As hard as it is to believe, 2013 is nearing its end.  Overall it was a pretty good year for us.  My husband got a different job at the company he has been with for 5 1/2 years.  A salary position with an increase in pay and benefits.  He just started it last month so we'll see how it all works out once he gets a few months under his belt.  My photography business is growing.  Referrals are coming in, which is the ultimate compliment.  The kids are all growing and doing well in school.  Keira is getting more opportunities to play her violin, which is becoming a passion of hers.  It is such a blessing to listen to her play.  Despite the fact that Nick isn't crazy about his teacher, he's gotten straight A's so far this year.  He's growing into such a caring, loving young man.  And Alex continues to improve in some subjects he finds challenging.  He's becoming more and more independent, which is bittersweet since he's my baby.

I hope to participate in Ashley's Memories, Dreams, and Reflections later this week, so be sure to check in to see lots of favorite pictures from 2013.  But for now, here are a few from last week ...

My friend, Laura, taught a group of us how to finger crochet scarves.  I really enjoyed doing that, so I looked on YouTube for some videos and taught myself how to knit a ruffle scarf.   Same yarn, different technique.  This is the first I made - for my sister for Christmas.  She loves Pittsburgh's sports teams so black and gold was a perfect color for her.  I have made a few more since then.  It is something I can easily do while I listen to Alex read to me.  That way I'm being productive and not going stir crazy sitting still for so long.  :)

Keira's violin teacher gave her these really cool 3D-like glasses that make our Christmas lights look like stars.  I had Keira hold the glasses up in front of my lens so I could get a shot of our tree.  Cool, huh?

Keira played Lindsey Stirling's What Child Is This on her violin during Christmas Eve service at our church.  As soon as I get it uploaded to YouTube, I will share it.  She did a fabulous job.  Anyway, I had a friend take a few shots of the whole family afterward.

We had a wonderful Christmas, but the pictures are still on my camera.  I have yet to upload them.  I've been working diligently on some other things - decluttering, PTO Treasurer stuff, and editing/printing lots and lots of pictures from 2012.  Yes, I am still behind on that.  But I'm working on it!  I'm almost done with October now.  Thankfully I've been doing a decent job of editing/printing photos from 2013 so there won't be much catching up to do there.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season - Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever it is that you celebrate!  Have a blessed New Year!

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Project 52 - Week 51

Last week had so much crammed into it, it seems like it lasted a month!  Is that possible?  :)  I mean, our church's Christmas play was just last Sunday but now that feels so long ago.

Anyway, just days before Christmas and not one gift is wrapped.  Maybe today I'll get a few done.  If not, they just won't be wrapped this year.  I'm not fretting about it.  Keira and I want to make some cookies.  Mainly to give as gifts to family.  And because they are fun to make.  And eat.  :)

But enough about that.  Let me show you a few photos from our week ...

Sunday morning was our Christmas play, The Legend of the Candy Cane.  The folks in this photo were the masterminds behind the whole thing so it seemed fitting that they get their picture taken in Mr. Sweets' candy shop.

Sunday afternoon I had a mini snowy session with this lovely couple.  It was COLD!  But we still had a good time.  And I discovered how fun it is to do photo sessions in the winter.  I hope I get to do more!  (Her eyes are so gorgeous, don't you think?!)

My boys crack me up.  We bought new Santa hats this year since our old one had seen better days.  The boys agreed to let me snap a few shots of them together.  I don't really know what they are doing here, but I'm sure they are up to no good.  :)

On Wednesday afternoon I had another mini snowy session with this family.  When Rachel contacted me, she said she wanted a "fun" session so I did my best to deliver.  This idea isn't mine originally.  Sarah did something similar during her Christmas minis and posted a photo to Facebook.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to try it too.

During our Wednesday night Children's program we had a Christmas party for the kids, which included a White Elephant gift exchange.  Only the kids didn't bring gifts; we provided them.  Things like old dish cloths, stale bread, last year's phone book, and old muddy boots were among the "gifts".  Most of the kids got a good laugh out of it.  Like Sarah who got a kick out of her old dish cloth.

On Friday afternoon I helped at the Christmas party in Nick's classroom.  One of the games the kids played was a dress up one of your teammates game.  Nick's team won.  They had to dress Clayton up like a Christmas tree.  The other teams were a snowman, a gift, and a reindeer.

Keira loves to bake.  Another great thing about having a teenager in the house.  If I need something made and don't have time, I can typically ask her to do it and she does.  So I gladly returned the favor.  I helped her make cookies to take to her youth group sleepover Friday night.  She needed help getting the Kisses unwrapped and placed once the cookies came out of the oven.


We had a family date on Saturday at the Carnegie Science Center.  The kids had a great time in the sports center.  Keira and Nick kept going on the BOYO.  It was like a human yo-yo machine.  FUN!  We also sprinted against each other and rode in the roller coaster simulator.  It was a great day!

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Project 52 - Week 50

Another week flew by!  Doug was on vacation and we went shopping three days in a row.  Not full days each time, but still.  That's more shopping than this girl is used to!  We also attended Keira's winter concert, I helped at the boys' school's Santa Shop, we had our church's Christmas dinner, and a couple play rehearsals.  

Saturday was my birthday and we had plans to get dinner and then go to the symphony, taking the kids with us this time.  However Mother Nature had other plans.  The snow came down, turned to freezing rain, then back to snow.  Our road (a main road) didn't get touched by the snow crews until almost 7:30 p.m., which was when the symphony concert was to start.  So we opted to stay home.  Except Doug, who got called out to give his parents a ride home.  They were in an accident earlier in the day (they are okay!) and were stranded.

So instead of a night out, we had a night in.  Popped some popcorn and watched a movie.  It was nice and relaxing.  Though disappointing because I love the symphony.

Due to my busyness and the fact that this post is a day late, I'm only sharing a few pictures from last week.

If you were here a week ago, you already saw this photo.  If you didn't see that post, click on over to see a baby picture of her.  She was so stinkin' adorable!  Anyway, December 10 was Honey's 5th birthday.  She wasn't being super cooperative about getting her picture taken.  Must be learning that from the boys.  :)  But somehow I managed to get her to be still long enough to get this shot.  We are so blessed to have her as part of our family.

Friday was Alex's Grinch party at school.  The kids were encouraged to dress up like a Who, with a silly hat and colorful clothes.  Of course, I forgot about the hat thing until Thursday night.  So we threw this one together quickly.  I cut a party hat out with the Silhouette machine, added some cotton balls, glittery ribbon, and washi tape.  Alex wanted to add the jingle bell that he had gotten from church.  I snapped this photo of him quickly on Friday morning.  I didn't notice that he had buttoned his shirt wrong and apparently it was like that all day.  Too funny!  Oh well, maybe Who's button their shirts wrong like that all the time!  :)

Last, during the snow storm on Saturday, Keira agreed to go outside with me and let me take some snowy pictures of her.  This is one of them.  We didn't last long.  One, because it was really cold and windy!  Keira kept her eyes closed until I was ready to snap because the snow kept getting in her eyes.  And two, because it was getting dark and I really had to crank up my ISO just to get this.  And even then my shutter speed was super slow.  (Notice the snow flake streak that I couldn't edit out?  Yeah, that bugs me.  I might need to work on it a bit more.)

This week is another busy one.  I had a mini photo session on Sunday in the snow.  A sweet young couple that was crazy, I mean, fun enough to come out and play in the snow with me.  And I have another mini session tomorrow afternoon with a young family.  Snow sessions are fun!  Even though it is hard to adjust settings when your fingers are freezing.  I need to remember to bring hand warmers to keep in my pockets.

We also had our Christmas party at Bible study this morning.  My good friend, Laura, taught us how to make finger knitted scarves.  And I actually finished mine!  Not there (I was taking pictures) but at home this evening while Alex was reading to me.  Tomorrow night is our kids' Christmas party at church and I have several things to prepare for that.  Then Friday the boys have their Christmas parties at school.  I'm helping in Nick's class again.  And I got asked to walk around and take pictures for the yearbook.  Not sure how I'm going to make that work yet.

I was hoping to have time to wrap presents, but that might have to wait until the weekend.  I'll have to lock myself in my room to keep the kids from peeking.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

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The last two weeks ...

First of all, my heart is breaking for my friend, Gina, from Kleinworth and Co. who lost her mom last week to cancer.  If you could please keep her in your prayers while she deals with this loss, I'm sure she would truly appreciate it.


So, I guess I fell off the face of the blogging planet for a week, huh?  I don't really have a good reason to have neglected my blog except that I didn't feel like posting anything.  I thought about it, but then decided to do something else.  :)

Anyway, I didn't share pictures from Thanksgiving week and I usually share photos from the prior week on Monday, so I will share both weeks now.  Just a few, so don't freak out or anything.  :)

A couple days before Thanksgiving we got some snow.  Heavy, wet snow, but snow nonetheless.  Keira agreed to come out with me to play in it.  (My version of playing in the snow involves a camera.)  :)  I took some pictures of her and then she took some of me, which you can see here.  She looks so grown up in this picture!

That week I also snagged a very good deal on a Kitchen Aid mixer.  I've wanted one for a long time now and finally have one!  The boys had a great time playing with the box it was delivered in.  I think we're going to give them cardboard boxes and packaging tape for Christmas this year.  :)

Fast forward to last week ... Alex, my youngest, had his eighth birthday on December 5.  I took this picture of him on December 4 having his last sleep as a seven year old.  {sniff sniff}

We celebrated Alex's 8th birthday on Saturday with family.  I have a friend who is an excellent cake maker.  (You may remember the Angry Bird cake she made for Nick's birthday last year.)  She was available to make Alex's cake this year.  When I asked him what he wanted on his cake, he said he wanted a soccer cake.  And he wanted a soccer ball on top like Nick had the big red bird on his cake.  As you can see, Laura delivered on that request!  He was so excited to get to eat the soccer ball all himself!  When I was putting the candles on it, the first candle I put on was in the center of the ball.  But then the other 7 candles weren't symmetrical and it bugged me so I added one to grow on.  :)

Also, I got an early birthday/Christmas/Valentine's Day/Mother's Day, etc. etc. etc. gift.  I bought a 24-70mm 2.8 lens - slightly used.  I had some money set aside and pulled some from our savings once I got a thumbs up from Doug.  It.is.incredible.  In fact, the photo of Alex sleeping and the photos of his birthday party were taken with that lens.  It is super sharp and lets in so much light.  So much nicer than my other wide angle lens, which was pretty good outside but not to great inside. 

So that's it for me.  We have another week full of activities.  Keira's school concert, play practices, Christmas shopping, and a family date to the symphony on Saturday, which also happens to be my birthday.  Have a great week!

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Project 52 - Week 47

Last week was full of mixed emotions.  My Uncle Bill passed away on Sunday.  He was my mom's brother.  We weren't close but I was sad for my mom.  She's the oldest of the three kids and now the only one left in her family.

On Monday I went with a group of ladies from church to Kraynak's, a Christmas display and toy store, and Daffin's Candies (chocolate!).  It was a really nice day.  We had a good time.  Although I wish we would have had more time to spend at Kraynak's because I didn't get to see as much as I would have liked.  A good reason to go back!

I also spent some time at Panera with my friend, Laura.  We don't get together too often anymore, so it was nice to just hang out and talk.  She makes awesome custom hats (find her on Facebook) and is incredibly busy this time of year, so she crocheted while I worked on something for our Wednesday night kids' class at church.  Thursday was parent visitation day at school and then our church hosted a blessing party for a family who lost all their belongings recently in a house fire.

On Thursday night I also learned that the brother of one of my friends from high school died.  I had just taken their family portraits the Saturday before.

I also learned that my dad's brother, Joe, passed away Thursday.  My dad has been gone for many years and I hadn't seen Joe probably since my cousin's wedding 20 years or so ago.  But again, my heart was breaking for the family.

On Saturday, after doing some things around the house to prepare for company coming on Thanksgiving, we had a family date.  Doug suggested we go to a railroad museum.  There is a huge model train display that he knew Alex would love.  Keira and Nick liked it too, even though they may not admit it.  :)  While we were there I saw this woman that looked familiar to me.  So I walked up to her and asked her if her name was Lori - she said yes.  Turns out she was the midwife that caught Nick when he was born 10 1/2 years ago!  I hadn't seen her in many years.  She's retired now, enjoying her grandchildren.  Once we found Nick, who had gone downstairs with Keira, I introduced her to him.  Of course, being the curious 10 year old that he is, meeting the woman that caught him when he was born sparked a whole slew of questions about pregnancy and childbirth.  Doug and Nick will have to have "the talk" very soon!

Another thing I did last week was watch Becky Higgins on CreativeLIVE talking about Project Life.  I didn't watch all the segments but I did manage to catch quite a few.  And my spark is reignited to get busy working on my Project Life books.  I still have to finish my 2012 Project 365 book.  All the pictures have been in it but the journaling needs finished.  So while watching Becky, I worked on my book.  She also reminded me about how important it is to capture the little every day details of our lives, which is what this post is mostly about.  I used to do this a lot, but when I got busy photographing other people, I stopped.  Time to get back to doing that!

So after that long-winded introduction :) let's get to some photos!

These photos were actually taken on November 16 but they are of the family who just lost their dad/brother/son to cancer.  His funeral is today.  He was just 39 years old.  His wife asked me to take them for her.  She thought Terry would think she was crazy if she asked him to make his hand look like an L.  She made the heart for the O.  They have 2 kids who made the V and E.  Knowing that I was able to help them preserve the memory of him makes what I do even more rewarding.  (More photos of this session coming soon.)

This is the group of ladies I spent the day with on Monday.  I knew all but one of them.  I asked one of the women that works at the candy shop if she would take our picture so I could prove that I was there too.  :)  She took one look at my camera and said she would if it was on auto.  I chuckled and told her that my camera has never been on auto and that I would set it up for her.  She agreed and I think she did a great job.

I had to stop at Michael's on Thursday to get poster board to make a sign for the house blessing party.  So while I was there, I picked up a Project Life corner rounder.  I love that the craft stores are carrying Project Life now!

Capturing the every day little things ... like these tiny rubber bands that are all.over.my.house!  :)

I moved up slightly in the world of cell phones and got a T-mobile prepaid phone.  I now have unlimited text and talk and can get online too.  I haven't tried that yet, but hope to figure it out this week.

I think I mentioned that Keira lost her cell phone during Kourtney's photo session.  She's been without one until now.  Since I got a new phone, she gets my old one.  Here she is customizing it to meet her needs.  And, taking advice from Becky Higgins, I did not move the stack of towels that were sitting behind her head, because life isn't always perfect.  That stack of towels will no longer fit in our linen closet because I just bought some new towels so I set them on the back of the couch.  I need to find a new home for those - possibly a shelter or something.

Something we do on a regular basis is visit our local public library.  I had never taken pictures there until now.  Alex loves to pick out a movie or book while we are there.

On the drive home from the railroad museum on Saturday, we drove right into a snowstorm.  We could barely see the cars in front of us.  We didn't end up getting much more than a dusting though.  Although the forecast shows some significant snow coming tomorrow into Wednesday.  My kids are pumped!  (Doug was driving - for those of you worried about me shooting while driving.)  :)

Before you go, I wanted to tell you about two giveaways I have going on right now.
The first ends today.  It is for a Christmas story called The Sparkle Box.  
The second ends tomorrow ... a music CD for pre-teens, teens, or young adults called 1 Girl Nation.
Check them out and get entered to win.  The music CD doesn't have any takers yet, so your chances are good!  :)

I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving full of time with family, friends, and yummy food!

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I guess it was bound to happen ...

Last night I got home from a busy day of running.  Some friends (old and new) and I went to Kraynak's, a Christmas display and huge toy store, and Daffin's Candies (chocolate!!!!).  We also had too much food as we ate lunch at the Golden Corral.  I got home later than I had anticipated, got the kids in the car and ran some errands that needed done.  We got home around 7:30, did the usual homework and bedtime routine.  

Once the boys were tucked in, I did my normal Facebook check to see what had happened that day.  I noticed I had a few new 'likes' on my page, Kimberly Vensel Photography.  Sometimes when someone likes my page and I have no idea who they are, I will click on their name to see where they came from.  I'm curious that way.  :)

This one particular new fan had one of my photos posted as her cover photo.  Well, not exactly.  It had been altered, but it was definitely my photo.  My first reaction was anger.  I was fuming mad!  What?!  Who?!  Why?!  I noticed that one of her facebook friends was my niece and the photo that she had as her cover was a photo I took recently of my great-niece, this niece's one-year-old. 

After a little investigating, I discovered that she is the baby's other grandmother.  And that this same photo had been altered a couple times.  I contacted the mom (my niece) to find out if she knew anything about this.  She felt horrible about it, which she didn't need to, since she didn't know anything about it.  After some conversation, she said she'd contact the woman (the baby's father's mom) and tell her about it.

I debated how to handle this.  Stealing someone else's photo not only isn't cool, it is illegal.  After pondering whether to contact her directly or not, I opted to post a general blurb to my page.

Just a friendly reminder to all my awesome clients and their family/friends ... you may use one of my photos as your profile picture or cover photo, and you may tag them and share them, but please don't alter them in any way, by cropping or editing or removing my watermark. It is considered a copyright infringement and is frowned upon. Thank you for respecting your photographer.

And then I waited.  And fumed a little more.  And downloaded the photos that she had on her page that once were mine, but had been altered.  Badly.  Just wait until you see.

After about 30 minutes, she responded that she was sorry.  Her uncle had altered my photo and she would ask him not to do that anymore.  I responded by asking her to kindly remove the altered photo from her cover photo.  And I told her that if she wanted to use my original photo, she was welcome to, but that my watermark needed to be on it.  So she did.

Anyway, I thought I'd share the photos here so you could get a chuckle out of them the way I did.  Once I was done being angry about someone stealing my picture.  :)

Here's the original photo ...

Here's the photo that was in her cover on facebook.  Awful edit #1 ...

And after scrolling down her page to try to figure out who this person was and why she'd be using my photo as her cover, I came across awful edit #2 ...

Notice the hack job trying to remove my watermark.  Although I'm kinda glad he removed my watermark because I wouldn't want to claim either of these edits as mine.  :)

I'm sure this man meant well, and maybe wasn't aware that editing my photo was stealing.  Hopefully he won't do anything like this again.

I'm not posting this so you can bash on these people.  That won't be helpful.  Even if it is tempting.  :)  Just wanted to share so that you can be aware that stuff like this happens.  And you can chuckle at awful editing jobs.  :)

Sharing this for Project 52 since I took the original photo of Bella on Veteran's Day.

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Project 52 - Week 45

As winter approaches I find myself not picking up my camera unless I am shooting a session.  Pictures of the every day stuff haven't been a priority lately.  I must remedy that.  Especially for when I go to work on my Project Life and I don't have any pictures to use.  :)

Last week I barely picked up my camera.  I didn't have any sessions, but I was working diligently to process several sessions from late October.  I also went to see Big Daddy Weave in concert at a local church, helped at the boys' school's book fair, and celebrated 17 years of marriage with Doug.  We went out to eat at our favorite restaurant.  Keira took a photo of us before we left (< -- click that link in case you didn't see it on Sunday).

This week is starting off strange.  We missed church yesterday because Nick was sick Saturday night into Sunday.  Today I photographed my great niece who just celebrated her first birthday on Saturday.  She was born on our wedding anniversary.  How cool is that?  I'll never forget her birthday!  :)  We did her pictures inside because it ended up being colder than predicted for today.  Once we got home Alex started not feeling well and I started getting a sore throat.  Ick.  The weather folks are calling for 1-2 inches of snow starting tonight, so tomorrow might be a stay-at-home-and-snuggle-to-keep-warm kinda day.  We'll see.

Anyway, the only photos I have to share from last week (besides the photo of Doug and me) are these of my new Kelly Moore camera bag ...

I was so excited to take a picture of it right out of the box, I didn't notice that the one pocket cover wasn't latched and it a bit askew.  That bugs me but I didn't remember to take a new photo.  :)

It is called the 2 Sues bag and according to the website, has two fronts.  Of course, I chose Eggplant as the color for mine.  It is so much nicer than my old camera bag.  I should share a photo if it sometime to compare.  If I remember.  No promises.  :)

What did you do last week?  I hope to get a chance to stop by to see!

Before you go, if you are on Facebook, I'd love for you to go over and 'like' my page ... Kimberly Vensel Photography.  Thanks a bunch!

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Project 52 ~ Weeks 43 & 44

So apparently I forgot to do a post last week.  That's part of the problem with being a bit overwhelmed with stuff to do - I forget things.  Oops!  :)  So I'm combining two weeks into one.  But don't worry, I won't overload you with photos.  Just a couple from each week.

{week 43}

According to Josh's parents, this is how they seem him often.  I was glad to be able to capture his personality during his senior session.  His mom said he went from dreading his session to really enjoying it and looking forward to seeing his photos.  That is a wonderful compliment!

Kourtney also had senior photos done during this week.  I had given her the choice between October 12 and 26 and she chose the 26th.  But when it came time to have her session, it was freezing!  So different from the weather we had on the 12th, when it was shorts and t-shirt weather.  We still enjoyed ourselves though.  We went from the top of a cliff down into a valley with this beautiful waterfall and then into a pitch black train tunnel (you can see a photo of that here).  It was great to explore areas that I hadn't been to before.

{week 44}

I'm still working my way through those senior sessions (and one more!) partly because of this sweet little girl.  She spent a couple days with us while her mom and dad went away.  She reminded me how much work it is to have a toddler in the house!  We had a good time though.  The kids, especially Nick, loved having her here.  He had someone to entertain.  :)  Which is actually what he was doing that you can't see. He was outside the window playing peek-a-boo with her.

Last, the boys carved pumpkins the day after Halloween this year.  Better late than never, right?

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Project 52 - Week 42

I won't bore you with telling you how busy last week was.  Because they've all been busy lately!  Mostly fun stuff though, which is good.  Instead I'll show you some of what kept me busy.  Here are a few photos from the sessions I did last week.

Sunday afternoon I photographed this lovely family.  Nikki and I have known each other for years and when she asked me to take their family photos, I was so excited.  And nervous.  Funny how I get nervous photographing people I know and not so much with strangers.  :)  We had fun though.

Monday I taught part two of a photography workshop.  This was a follow up session where the ladies could practice what I had taught them in part one.  Nick agreed to come model for us.  He did a good job.

Alyssa was also our model.  She's such a natural in front of the camera and I just love photographing her.  We have plans for more fun photo shoots.  We just need to make the time to do them.

On Friday I photographed this little guy.  He's turning one in a couple weeks and his grandmother wanted to surprise his mom with photos.  Developmentally he's not where most 1 year olds would be, more like 4-5 months, so I didn't have to chase him around or anything.  He pretty much stayed where we put him.  :)  He was a real sweetie.  

Friday afternoon I photographed an adorable couple.  They were married last November but didn't hire a photographer for their very small wedding.  The bride regretted that and was referred to me by a friend.  So they got all dressed up in their dress and suit and we had a blast taking pictures.  She had a lot of great ideas and was open to my suggestions which made them really easy to work with.  They even drove their 1982 Porsche to get some photos in/with.  Nick, who was my assistant, loved the car.  He loved their dog (whom they also brought along to be in some photos) even more though.  They wore each other out running around together.  The bride requested that I not share any of the photos online, and as much as it pains me not to :), I must honor that request.  So you'll just have to take my word for it that I got some really great shots.  ;)

Saturday morning, after a very rainy night,  I photographed Jason for his senior portraits.  It was a damp, chilly morning, but we still had a good time.  He was also pretty easy to work with and had some great ideas of his own.

I have two more seniors to shoot this week and a couple more sessions in the works and then I might get a break.  I've really been enjoying myself but I have so much editing to do, I feel guilty doing anything else.  Like writing this blog post.  :)  Which is why I need to go now!

I hope you have a great week!

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Project 52 - Week 41

This month has been a blur.  So very busy!  For those of you that blog daily, I don't know how you do it!

Last week I was able to photograph two different seniors, teach Sunday school, take the boys for their 6 month dental checkups, attend Bible study, organize our Wednesday night kids' club at church, get a quick lesson in paper quilling from my friend Sherry, see a great play called Once Upon a Mattress (think Princess and the Pea) that was directed by a friend of mine, and get in a nature walk with the kids and a visit to a farm.  Whew!

This week I have several more photo sessions.  So I plan to spend as much time as possible this week processing the ones that I did recently so I don't get too far behind.  I'm really enjoying all these sessions, but I have to be honest and say that I'm looking forward to things slowing down next month.  I hope.  :)

So today I just wanted to share a few photos from my recent sessions ...

On Tuesday I went to a friend's farm to shoot Josh.  He was fun to work with.  He thought I should just snap a few quick pictures and be done.  :)

However, he was excited to get his photo taken with his horse, Holly.  That was the one thing he requested, which I why I went to their farm.  She's such a gentle creature.

I had posted on my Facebook photography page that I had Saturday available - the only Saturday this month that I wasn't booked with photo shoots.  A woman that I graduated from high school with then contacted me saying she'd like her daughter's senior pictures taken, so that's what we did.  Sam was a real trooper.  Even though she wasn't crazy about having her pictures taken.  We did have a gorgeous day though!

Friday afternoon, before going to the play, the kids and I took a nature walk at a local nature reserve.  I always try to get a group shot of the kids when we are all together because we seem to be all together less and less these days.  Keira goes to Youth Group functions and tends to be missing from our adventures.  So the boys mostly cooperated when getting their pictures taken.  Nick is still my tough one these days.

That's it for me!  Hope you have a great week!

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Project 52 - Week 40

Just popping in for a quick photo share.  My day got away from me so I'm very late getting this up.

I had the privilege of photographing a friend's family this past Saturday.  She is the mom of this sweet little girl that I had the privilege to photograph as a newborn.  That baby girl is the youngest of six, with five older - and might I add - adorable brothers.  They are balls of energy as boys can be.  But they did pretty well when asked to cooperate to get pictures.

When you plan for a fall photo shoot in southwestern Pennsylvania, you never expect the temperature to be near 80 degrees, but that is exactly what we had.  But they did pretty well without melting.  :)  We also had rain on Saturday but we managed to squeeze in between drops. 

This is the only photo I had a chance to process so far.  Thanks to another busy few days.  I'll share more when I get them done.

Before you go, I'm giving away an adorable children's board book that would be great for a special preschooler in your life.  Or to donate to your church or library.  Go check it out!  {Rufus and Ryan Go to Church!}

Thanks!  Hope you have a great week!

Linking with Gina and Tamar.

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Project 52 - Week 39

Hello!  Fall is in full swing around here.  The leaves are changing to beautiful hues of yellows, oranges, and reds.  We had a gorgeous week.  Sunny almost every day.  Cool almost every morning and evening.  Perfect fall weather!

Of course, last week was another busy one.  I helped start our PTO fundraiser at the boys' school, went to Bible study, celebrated my friend Laura's birthday with breakfast at her house, took Keira to the dentist for her checkup, and had a family photo shoot.  And if you saw yesterday's Scavenger Hunt post, you know that my baby girl went to her first homecoming dance.  We are entering into another phase that I'm not sure I'm ready for.  But I guess I better get ready because it is here whether I like it or not.  :)

So the couple photos I'm sharing today are very different from each other.  But they show just a sampling of my week ...

I had been noticing this dandelion fluff in my front yard in the mornings while waiting for the bus to pick up the boys.  Thursday morning I finally had time to get out and capture it with my macro lens.  I'm kinda sorta in love with this photo.  :)

Alex has been asking for me to take his pictures on train tracks.  He's a HUGE Polar Express fan and loves everything about trains.  So Friday we sought out some tracks that were somewhat secluded and made him happy.  He now has train track photos. 

Before you go, be sure to check out my giveaway for a couple books ... Grace Unplugged and Own It.  The movie, Grace Unplugged, will be in theatres this Friday, October 4.  I can't wait to see it!

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a fabulous week!

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Project 52 - Week 38

First of all, the winner of the Bash and the Pirate Pig book is Tamara!  Congrats, Tamara!  I'll get your book sent out to you right away!

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Can you believe it is fall already?  Wow!  Why does time seem to be moving so quickly these days?

Speaking of time moving quickly ... Keira turned 15 on Saturday.  FIFTEEN!!!  How did that happen?!?!  My once 6 pound, 5 ounce little baby girl is now taller than me and talking about learning how to drive a car!  Yikes!

Anyway, we had her birthday party ON her birthday, which only happens ever 7 years or so.  :)  Family gathered at our home to celebrate with her.  I showed you a picture of her cake in yesterday's Scavenger Hunt.  It was delectable, delightful, and delicious.  Really.  It was so worth taking a break from my sugar fast in order to have some.

The weather on Saturday was gray, gloomy, wet, rainy, and cold.  Ick.  However, around 6:45 the sun decided to peek through - just in time for golden hour.  So Keira and I rushed outside to have some fun.

Well, I rushed outside, came back in and made her come out and miss a few minutes of the movie she and the boys were watching so I could get some pics of her on her birthday.  Other than the ones of her with her cake and gifts.  In the cold, wet grass she stood barefoot for just a minute or two while mom snapped a few shots.  She's such a trooper.  And look at the fun shot we got!

Keira is growing into a beautiful, intelligent, caring young woman.  I couldn't be more proud of her.

Linking with Gina and Tamar.

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Last Swim of the Summer ... Project 52 ~ Week 35

A friend of mine had told us about a pool nearby that we had never heard of.  It is tucked out of the way on a road that we don't travel often.  So since we finally had some hot summer-like weather last week (right before school started), I took the kids there to check it out.  It wasn't super busy and the kids had a blast!

Nick spent a lot of time getting out and jumping back in off this platform.

Keira enjoyed playing around with the boys for a while and a few friends she made while there.


Alex was excited to be allowed to swim in the deep end.

Once the pool started to get even less busy, the boys decided to go play in the shallow part where the fountains are.

To say they had fun would be a gross understatement.

They had so much fun that we can't wait to go there next summer!

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