Merry Christmas!!!!

Santa just stopped by to leave his goodies and I thought I'd say Merry Christmas! More to come, of course.

The loot for the kids- it may look huge but we are so proud of ourselves, we showed a LOT of restraint this year. Well... as long as you don't count the Wii. Whoops!

Of course Sully, Lucas and Henry cannot be forgotten. Christmas Day is also Sully's birthday, so he also got a dog bed. Sullivan probably will not use it... but Henry hopped right on, so I'm sure he'll borrow it if Sully is not interested!
Eddie absolutely could not wait one more second to play with the Wii. I got him the tv as a surprise last weekend- he got it early because I could not get it out of the car!- and he pretty much has just stood in this location for a week watching it. ;) He hooked up the Wii tonight saying something about 'calibrating' but I think he's lying, he just wants to play before he has to let the kids have a turn!
At first, it was a complete debacle because the tv didn't fit in the bookshelf where the old tv was. So, it sat on the floor for about 4 days before we extended the bookshelves and created more of a wall unit. I was not happy about my mantle redesign but I fell in love with it and can't believe I doubted it- it looks awesome and it's the perfect spot. Hopefully he will share with the kids when they wake up in the morning!!!!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! Lots o' pics to come!

Need a good laugh? Then watch me!

I was reminded not so subtly that I never put Disney pictures on the blog! Really?!? I had to go back and double check, but sure enough, that fact is correct. Unless days start lasting for 25 hours, I don't have time to upload Disney pics from our September trip, but to tide you over, I have possibly the BEST video ev-ah. Yes, even better than the dancing elves. Seriously. Watch at work if you dare, because you WILL laugh out loud.
In Downtown Disney, there is a funhouse mirror in Goofy's Candy store. While we waited for our candy to be made, the kids discovered it and just this one video made the cost of the video camera worth every penny! I am convinced they put this mirror in the shop for parents to have a giggle, rather than for kids.

A Mason snow day

We got a "Mason" snow day today. A Mason Snow Day is not your average snow day. Anyone who lives in Mason knows about the Mason Bubble, which is the apparent but invisible bubble that shields us from pretty much any and all precipitation. Is it pouring rain downtown? It's sunny in Mason. Did Indiana get 7 inches of snow? Well, we didn't see a flurry here! Time and time again, we have literally watched these horrible red lines of storms- snow or rain- come right at us on the radar only to dissipate and break up right when they hit us. It's VERY weird but true. Ask anyone! Haha! So, today was no different. The weathermen called for 2-4 inches overnight and we woke up to find nada. Took the kids to school only to glance outside at noon to see a complete white out. For about an hour, it snowed like crazy and we got about an inch. That's about all we ever get around here, so my poor kids think that's snow. *sigh* I spent 6 years in Michigan and a few more in Denver, THAT is not snow. ;) One day we'll show them.
All decked out and ready to go:

Jack wonders if this is really necessary?
Snow angels! Sort of.

Neily, Cameron, Hannah, and Jack freezing their rears off:

Okay, so my posts are going a bit out of order, but oh well! On Saturday, we put up our family tree! We have always had a tree in the living room, but last year since we were hosting Christmas, we decided to put up a fancier, matchy matchy tree (okay *I* decided) in the living room and a fun, family (read: all of the crazy ornaments the kids bring home) in the den. We also really wanted a live tree, so we decided that the den tree would be a perfect match. Actually the plan was to cut our own tree down, but 25 degree weather and snow altered our plans, and wouldn't you know that the kids were just as happy picking the tree out at Lowes. ;)
We have a family tradition of hot chocolate (I swapped out mine for vanilla spice egg nog) and Pepperidge Farm cookies- Neily sees the Chessmen and Milano cookies in the store and says, "Christmas cookies!" Yum, yum, yum. It was a lot of fun now that Neily and Jack are old enough to remember traditions and ornaments. Jack can't keep his hands out of hot chocolate, digging for mushy marshmallows, though, so be forewarned that you should NOT share a sip. Just tryin' to help. :)

It's here, it's here!

I ordered a canvas of the kids, I'd been dying to have one, but I was waiting for the perfect picture. I wanted something really different, but, well, my coupon code was about to expire so I chose my latest favorite. It arrived today (funnily enough, as I was pulling up the FedEx tracking information to stalk to truck, the doorbell rang) (oh, and Jack ran to the door and answered it in his Spiderman mask, lol!) and it! Is! GORGEOUS! Now I see why people get addicted to these things, they are worth the investment. This is art... so pretty! I need to figure out a way to put a picture of this on my website so that people see how awesome they are and order them. Truthfully, my profit margin on canvases are not that high, but they are THAT beautiful that I think everyone should have one! I just want to stare it all day. My next order is going to be the one of the tree in my previous post, won't that look cute out during the holidays?

The tree is up! Snapped this 'magical' moment after we got it up, but don't be too fooled- this included a lot of bribery and Eddie standing just to the left forcing Jack to stand still and keep his hands off the Santa. Merry Christmas!

Don't trust 'em...

Today, I had someone come over for a headshot. I always get a babysitter for the kids while I do shoots but this was literally going to take under five minutes and it was just silly. I considered sending them to the neighbor's house, but even that was just overkill. I put them upstairs in our bedroom with Sullivan and turned on a movie and said STAY HERE and don't go crazy. We have some wild kids. When left to their own imaginations, if they are going to get along (that's IF) it never fails that they act like wild animals. ;)
As I was leaving the room, I put on my best stern Mommy voice and said, "Do NOT leave this room. Do NOT be crazy. It will be a few minutes, you have everything you need, I will be right downstairs. I am trusting you."
They gave me those wide, sweet eyes and the angel look and said, "Okay Mommy!" Right before I shut the door, Neily said in that *voice* of hers, "Well, I don't know if I'd trust us too much... we might get up and arm wrestle for a second."
WHAT?! I had to cover my face so she didn't see me laugh. Where would she even come up with that? I didn't know what was worse, the fact that she's so smart she could reason that so quickly or the fact that they are SO not afraid of me. Hm....

A recent newborn session

I HAVE to share these because I am really, really happy with how this shoot went and I think this little thing was absolutely precious! She almost made me want to have another one. Almost. ;) But, like the rest, in the end what I left with was not so much a feeling to have more but rather a desire to re-live Neily and Jack's newborn days. That's what I miss the most, but I don't really feel the pull to have another one. Especially not in a house of this size!
Anyway- on to the snuggly newborn! This is Baby G, and she was 8 days old in these pictures. She was awake and calm for about an hour, and then she fell asleep without so much as a whimper and let us move her around. I LOVE photographing newborns, some people get very stressed out but I think they're awesome.

A puzzle for you....

When Sully is left alone in the crate, he whines, cries, and poops. Every time.

When Sully is gated into the kitchen and den alone, he whines, paces, cries, chews and poops. Almost every time.

When Sully is left to roam the house as he chooses alone, he sleeps on his bed quietly and doesn't touch a thing.

So, if you YOU were his owners, what would YOU suggest we do? Hmmm....

Is this obvious enough?

I have learned over the past few months that being a photographer and running a business are two very, very different things. I've enjoyed (mostly) every second of my shoots, I love meeting families and having fun at our shoots.
HOWEVER... I learn something new every day and today I learned that I am too trusting!
Today, I found out that some people had right clicked and saved the images from their online gallery and then reprinted the web sized images. Web sized images are... web sized. They're not meant to print. They are about the size of a wallet at their largest. So, if you blow it up to normal, it looks blurry, pixelated and, well, crappy.
I know I should have been watermarking all along, but honestly it felt silly. I really trusted that people would know better. And most everyone has- nearly every single client has placed their order quickly and simply, even when they know they could get cds for cheaper, they have opted to order through me and I appreciate it. It tells me that they value the work I did, and that's nice.

BUT, for those that don't seem to understand that I work for hours traveling to a shoot, taking the pictures, editing the pictures, and then preparing the orders, do you think they'll understand THIS?

Am I correct in assuming that a big fat copyright over kids faces will stop people from stealing my stuff? ;)

Dare you not to laugh out loud!

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