fergus.

remember him?

he likes to hang outside with the kids.

and sniff.

but, guess what?

his life is about to change…

that’s right,

there’s a new kid in town.

he’s ace.

the alpha dog.

dun, dun, dun, dun  { insert sound effects here }.

our whole family,

and our neighbor’s whole family,

pulled up chairs

to watch the show unfold.

the kids even brought popcorn.

“better than TV,” they exclaimed.

the dogs played.

and played.

and played.

they swam.

and then they went back

to doing what puppies do.

and then there was the final take-down…

and we decided to call it a day.

fergus and ace shared a drink…

and the puppies went home to their respective homes.

until tomorrow…

xo

A

p.s.  no puppies were harmed in the making of this blog post.  fergus and ace are actually no-kidding brothers.  same mom, same dad, same litter.  we suspect ace may have been first in the birth order.    fergus lives with us.  and ace just arrived today as a very welcome new member of our next-door neighbor’s family.  when i asked their six year old daughter how it was to have a puppy, she said, “it’s AWESOME.”  and it is.  we look forward to watching the puppies grow up together.  and their dad is just around the corner.  it takes a village…  good weekend to you.  A

Three years ago, at age 37, Amy was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer.

She has defied odds and continues to fight with courage in her heart and a smile on her face.

I want you to meet her because she is not a statistic.

If this encourages just one woman in your life to do a monthly check or receive an annual mammogram, then that is great.

Amy’s breast cancer has metastasized to her lungs, but she does not let her “cancer” define her in any way.

She is Amy.

She is a mother.

She is a wife.

She is a daughter.

She is a sister.

She is an aunt.

She is a friend.

She is beautiful.

She lives for these kids, and if she can be here an hour, a day, a month, a year longer,

she will be.

This is Cody.  He’s still growing up.

And appears to need a strong motherly influence.

This is a family that strategizes together.

And plays together.

And is together.

I get the sense that this one likes to relax a little.

Just have to say, this is her own pose.

And, in fact, her own request for a picture “here” “like this.”

She made me smile.

And, in fact, Amy’s children all made me smile.

They’re dealing with a lot.

A LOT.

And they are simply the most sweetest most lovingest children.

And, you know what else they do a lot together?

Laugh.

And that, I think, is part of their successful fight.

All this little guy wanted was to get a family picture with everyone doing “bug eyes” just like he had been doing for many pictures.

Amy obliged.

And you know, this may be my favorite picture of the day.

Is it a beautiful picture for the wall?

Probably not.

But, it’s a moment of love.

Between a mother and a son.

It’s a laugh.

Shared.

It’s life.

Embrace it.

xoxo

A

P. S.  And here are a couple more for Amy and her friends and her family.

P.S.S.  Here is a link to more images of Amy and her family.

And I had to take her picture.  Lots of times.  Isn’t she the cutest?

Meet J and R, Darby’s buds, a.k.a. owners.

Don’t they look so serious here?  I had to ask them to say silly words to get this:

Much better.  What a time we had!  I’m actually putting together an “outtakes” post because some of the images are just too stinkin’ funny.  But, today, you see the boys in all their little-boys-and-their-dogs glory.  And boy do they love this little girl.

But we did have a lot of this:

Until next time ….

xo

A and Darby

(I may just need to get me one of these cute little things…)

I’ve been absent.  I think it may be a February thing.  This year in particular, there was a lot of snow.  Add to that, shorter days, being cooped up, and you get a big hunkering down ~ almost as if I’m wrapping up into my own little cocoon.  I’m so happy to see March, and I want to thank the D family for opening the door out.

So, the D family.  What fun I had.  The best part of my job is meeting new kids, new little people, new little people becoming bigger people.  I LOVE these ages.  And I love seeing how God has worked his magic in creating different individuals from the same parents, same upbringing, same environment = different personalities, different interests, and different dreams.  Let’s see what I found on this Sunday afternoon!

The little sister, E, and her two big brothers.  Would it surprise you to know that on this afternoon, she had just gotten back from a laser-tag birthday party where she was the only girl in attendance?!  Probably not.  With two older brothers, I get the impression she is not your dresses and dolls kind of girl.  The entire session, she was climbing, swinging, more climbing, jumping.  When it came time to climb high up onto a tree-stand play house, she refused her oldest brother’s help and insisted on doing it herself.

I’ve known E for several years now.  She and my E have played soccer together for about three or four seasons.  I’ve done the team pictures and individual shots, and can I just tell you, this girl is beautiful.  And she gets more and more beautiful each year.  Her eyes.  Wow.  As I shot her on this day, I saw shades of her as a teenager.  Mom and Dad, watch out!

The middle child, R.  This guy cracked me up.  Such a fun personality and great sense of humor.  He was hesitant for me to take his photo, so I had to catch him unawares at times.  It became a game, and I had fun playing.  As the session went on, R started coming up with shots for me to try.  Down below, the Abbey Road shot, all his idea.  I liked his imagery.

A family of gorgeous eyes, as you can see.

I love eyes.  Probably just about my favorite part of a person because there is so much there, so much presence (or not, and that tells you something too).  The oldest here, C, had such genuine eyes, laughing and fun.  And what a smile.

He is a budding actor (just had the lead in the high school play), a talented musician (plays four instruments),  and a great guy.  And as he told me, collared shirts?  Not really his style.  He wanted to make mom happy, but when we were done, I had him change so that I could get a few shots of him as he sees himself, doing what he loves.  And here he is.

R ~ here’s your Abbey Road shot!  Love it.

And then it was time for me to go home, though I would have loved to stay and play Rock Band, but you know, my kids were waiting for mom (my other calling). 

I love this last shot.  The sister with her big brothers.  It was such a natural togetherness.  And though there are differences amongst them, the love, caring and support is unmistakable.

Thanks guys for a great late afternoon.

xo

A

So one morning, I took her kids off her hands for a couple hours.  We went for a walk.  We talked.  We explored.  We made silly faces.  We hung out.  And I got to know those kids in a way I hadn’t before.  And these are kids I’ve known for years.  Let me introduce you to their spirit.

Here they are, just the two of them, older sister and younger brother. Gorgeous brown eyes.

The girl, L, is a friend of my oldest daughter.  In fifth grade, she’s at that “tween” age.  That’s what they call it now.  Somewhere “in between” the younger kids and the teenagers.  In that “in between” of trying to figure out who she is, what she likes,  what’s important to her, how she wants to dress, a whole world ahead of her.

You can look at her and almost see the beautiful teenager and further on, the woman, she will become.

But, she’s still young.  And you can’t forget that at this age.  She couldn’t wait to wear some of her new stuff from Christmas.

She was loving her new black boots!  I remember at that age, I wanted heels so badly.  And when I finally got them, I’m pretty sure I wore them everywhere, whether appropriate or not.  But, L here, she was rockin’ the boots.

And her new nails!

Soon she will leave the “tween” phase and move on to a bigger world.  Where there are bigger decisions to make.  Until then, capture the beauty, the innocence, the way they are, as they move forward and onward….

And then there is the little brother.  This guy, like most boys I know, was a spirit in motion.  Here, there, and everywhere.

Climbing, jumping, running, picking up sticks, playing with sticks, throwing sticks.

What an imagination too!  The sticks were guitars, swords, baseball bats, you name it.  Active, active, active!

I did catch him unawares in one quiet moment of reflection.  But, believe me, this only happened for a brief nanosecond.

After we took some shots, we headed back to their house where their cousins had arrived from Pittsburgh.  It was fun watching them all together and reuniting.

The sun started to set and it was time for me to go home and make dinner for my kiddos.

The boy, well he just hopped onto his pogo stick and continued moving ~ everywhere.

Capture it now, I tell you.  Capture it now.

xo

A

Two of the kids are local to my area, and the other two girls are cousins, visiting from Atlanta.  It was amazing to me how much they were all like one big family, more like brothers and sisters than cousins.

Most of my time was spent chasing after them as they ran on ahead.  They kept trying to convince me to follow the trail to the end, though no one seemed all that positive about where it ended.  When we got to this, I told them it was a sign.

Time to turn around!

He is the lone boy in the sea of girls.  Seems to hold his own though.

His sister.  They get along as you would expect brothers and sisters to get along.

And this little girl had a tooth I was just dying to pull out.  It was the mom in me.

She and her sister were buds.

But, together, the four of them were like the three musketeers.  Or like the four musketeers, if there were such a thing.

Do you like the nails?!  They did that in the morning before I arrived.  They were completely loving their nails.  Well, the girls that is.

Is there a cuter crew?  It was so cold that morning, and the kids were having a blast blowing steam.  When I asked them to do it on camera, the boy held his composure.  The girls were all over it.

Same thing with the funny faces.  Every.single.time.  I would get three girl funny faces.  And one boy smile.  So sweet.

And then it was time to go home.

And we ended just like we had started.  The kids running ahead, and me walking a bit more carefully behind.

Neither snow, nor wind, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays {this photographer} from the swift completion of {her} job.

hehe.

Can’t wait till next year!

A

They are all incredibly sweet.  The youngest is there in the middle.  She is very attached to her mommy, but when she opens up, wow, her personality shines.

Here she is when she heard the door open and knew that her cousin had arrived.  She was beside herself with joy and anticipation.

While the younger girls played, I was able to get some shots of the older girls.  Here is the middle sister.  Like my middle one, she has a lot of energy.  I love this shot because she appears so calm and movie-star-like with her sequined dress!

This, to me, shows her personality:

The oldest sister is approaching that age where the girls become more self-conscious in front of the camera.  Hopefully she’ll continue to see how beautiful she is.

Thanks L Family for having me over on such a very special day.  I look forward to sharing all the generational shots in your gallery viewing!

Peace,

A

Note:  This post has been edited from its original publishing both in content and in selection of photos.  A

Here you go!

Hope you enjoyed it!  I was really happy with this, my first attempt.  You can buy the DVD or forward to friends and family, simply by clicking on the links above.

Cheers,

A

Come, meet the boys.

C, the oldest, is eight.  And the twins just turned three.  Those twins were cracking me up.  And each other!

Big brother was always right there, helping out where needed.

It is so obvious how much those little boys ADORE their big brother.  Spontaneous hugs tell all.

They had fun running and racing.

And then it was time to pack up and head home.  Blondie there just cracks me up.  Always smiling.

Thanks for the laughs!

Until next time,

xo

A

So, I sit at home today, in my jammies, deleting all the “sale” emails that keep coming in, trying to figure out my new iMac, eating leftovers, drinking too much coffee, telling my kids to stop bickering, happy that I don’t have to figure out a dinner for tonight, and playing with some shots from yesterday.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving.  Remember?!  I did a crazy thing and scheduled a shoot for the morning.  I knew it would be a quick one, and it was right down the street.  I figured it would get me up, showered, and dressed earlier than usual, so that would be a good thing.  It was.  What a great morning.  I woke up to a wonderful fog cover.  My husband said, “oh, too bad about the weather.”  And I said, “are you kidding me, this is great!”  Fog/clouds are like one big giant softbox.  And this wasn’t a heavy fog.  It was thin, though everywhere.  Beautiful.

I did my shoot with three cute boys – a set of three-year-old twins, and one eight year old.  I’ll share more of that session later.  For now, here are some shots from around my neighborhood.  I knew they would convert wonderfully to black and white.  I love black and white.  Love it.

Hope you do too!

Okay, so everyone can use some color in their day.

And one more, just because I can’t resist.  I just LOVE black and whites.  Stay tuned for more shots from this wonderful day.

xo

A