I’m lucky enough that one of the women, Beryl, lives just around the corner from me, so we’ve met several times over coffee and dinner.  Last week, we were paid a visit by the lovely and talented Marcia, aka Mrs. Classy, from Keller, Texas.  We had a wonderful time catching up with her in person, over dinner and then spent some time walking around downtown Leesburg practicing our photo techniques and cracking ourselves up.  If you saw three nutty women with cameras out last Sunday in Leesburg, that was us!

Beryl Young of Be Young Photography is currently located in Stone Ridge, and will soon be based out of Lovettsville, VA.  She does incredible lifestyle photography, and took our family’s photos this weekend.  She’s expecting a new addition to her family, and I can’t wait to help her document her first days with her baby girl this fall!

And this is Marcia Stulher of Classy Kids Photography.  Her tagline is “photography for the classy and sassy”, and that fits her to a T!  She’s a loyal and passionate friend and a fierce business woman. I couldn’t look at her while she was taking pictures of me because all she did was crack me up.  My face hurt after a while from all of her antics, but she could play it cool too.

So this final picture is a special one for Marcia… She kept telling us she didn’t understand the allure of senior photos where the subject was standing in the middle of the street.  I’m still not sure of the symbolism, but I think it’s kind of a fun shot!  My son is worried that she might get hit by the car, and I can assure everyone that she did not.

Finally, here’s a shot of what it felt like to be on the receiving end of these two with their cameras.  If you head over to Beryl’s blog, you can see her take on the same shot.

I’m planning another blog post this week on my thoughts about being on the other side of the camera.  It was definitely an eye-opening experience, and this session combined with my own family session this weekend, has taught me a lot about how my clients feel.  I look forward to sharing that with you this week!

I spent some time this afternoon trying to capture some of the details of my Kindergartner and the things that matter the most to him right now.  This was a lot of fun and something that can easily be done in a free afternoon.  They may not be the pictures that you frame and hang in your living room, but when you look back through your photos years from now you’ll probably have some great memories of what was important to you (and to your kids) today.

Big C got several packages of Legos for Christmas.  A month ago I had to sit with him and talk him through each step as we followed the instructions.  The other morning I got up and found this whole battalion already assembled and ready for action.

He has also become a master at Wii Mario Kart.  He has single-handedly defeated almost every challenge in the game.  He’s working on unlocking his final few challenges right now.  His skill is apparently becoming widely known, as his friends have invited him over several times to have him help unlock things on their games.

Like most kindergartners, he is working very hard on developing his reading skills.  It’s amazing how quickly it comes when it finally clicks.  There’s no more secret spelling going on between his dad and me with Big C around.

This is the growth stick hanging on his wall.  We love measuring him every three months and marking his growth!

This is our newest pal.  His name is Poe.

When your kiddos complain that you’re taking too many pictures of them, enlist them to help you with this detail project.  I even inspired my boys to get their cameras and take pictures of their favorite things too.  They both took a lot of pictures of the TV… but it’s fun to see it all from their perspective.

I am sitting here right now watching the snow fall for the third time this week.  We had a few inches of powder last Saturday, followed by a few more inches on Tuesday and a day off from school on Wednesday.  Yesterday they called school off at 4pm for today as the predicted “crippling snowstorm” made a beeline for Loudoun County.  They’ve moved to round-the-clock coverage on the local news stations so that they can report on the fact that there are no groceries on the shelves.  The way they’re reporting on this storm, you would forget that we lived through the same thing a month ago.  Big C told me the other day, that he thought it might be ok if we lived somewhere that didn’t have a lot of snowstorms in the winter.  Like maybe the beach.  That’s sounding pretty good to me right now.

I’m sure I’ll have more images to post after the weekend, but I can’t let a whole week go by without posting.   First off, these are a few from last weekend as the snow came down.  I overexposed the first one, but I love the action shot.

These last two are from after the mid-week snow.  Compared to the weekend snow which we swept away with a broom, this stuff was really sticky and made great snowmen.  We got an accessory kit for Christmas, which has really come in handy!

For those of you in our area, stay warm and enjoy the weekend.  If you’re somewhere warm, and thinking of commenting on how nice it is where you are, please don’t rub it in too badly!

Day 8
These are Little C’s Frog boots, which I found at Target the day before our December blizzard.  They were the only boots left in the store that fit him, but he seems to love them.

Day 12
If you know me at all, you’ve probably seen me with a Diet Coke in my hand, and my iPhone is never far from my side…

Day 15
This one was taken one morning as I was heading to the basement to run on the treadmill. I couldn’t believe the color in the sky at sunrise that day.

Day 23
This one was taken with my iPhone as I sat in the car wash. I was pretty excited that I caught this shot as the first rinse cycle came on.

Day 26
Although I didn’t win the SOAR scholarship, I am still following along with the challenges that the recipients are working on. The first of those was for us to take a picture of an object that represents where we are right now. This is my picture from that challenge.

Day 28
This one was taken yesterday with my iPhone when Big C and I had our donut date. He chose the “Blueberry Hill” donut.  It was very blue.

So that’s a quick look back at the past month.  I’m honestly surprised that I’ve kept up with it every day.  I kind of thought this would be something that I’d do for a week and then get tired of.  So far though, I’m loving it!  I realize that I am running out of things around my house to take pictures of, so it’s going to get harder going forward.  I’m not sure I’m going to be as inspired come November, but this has been a lot of fun and something to look forward to and challenge myself with each day.  I love that I’ve now taken out my camera and taken at least one great picture every day for the past month.  I’m teaching myself new things about my camera and myself, and forcing myself to expand my creativity. For anyone out there thinking of taking on a project like this, I highly recommend it.  The most important step towards becoming a better photographer is to Take More Pictures!

This afternoon, after Big C got home from school and Little C woke up from his nap, the three of us sat at the kitchen table for a while eating snacks, and playing.  A little snack always makes everything better!

Although I’ve told you several stories about Big C, I’ve been remiss in taking and posting pictures of him.  He willingly posed for one picture this afternoon, giving me his official Picture Smile.

Now that D and I got iPhones, he occasionally gets to play with D’s old iPod Touch.  Here he is deep in concentration.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!  Hopefully everyone here will be healthy enough to enjoy ours!

In junior high, I discovered the sport of Volleyball.  There were occasional quick sprints to get a ball, and there was one time that one teammate had detention so we all had to run around the gym, but aside from that, there was little to no running involved.  I liked playing volleyball.

In college I met, fell in love with, and married D, who loves to run.   He’d rather run after a long day at work than just about anything else.  It’s how he unwinds, clears his head, and makes peace with things.  I don’t “get” that.  In 2001, I spent about a year “running” to try to get in shape, and to not be left out when D went out on his training runs.  I ran the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, and the DisneyWorld 1/2 marathon in Orlando.  The only way I managed to do that was with a forced set of schedules and training plans.  I can’t say I enjoyed a single minute of any of that training,

After having two kids, I’ve come to terms with the fact that the only way I can get my body into any sort of shape is by running.  I’ve somewhat made peace with it, and I do it out of necessity, not out of any kind of affinity for it.  These days, it’s me and the treadmill (remember, I don’t do cold) in the basement, my iPod, and closed captioning on ESPN at 6:30 each morning.  On days that I don’t run, my shoes sit and mock me when I go downstairs to play with the boys.

Today, I ran longer than I’ve gone since last summer when I injured my hip.  I learned yesterday that there will be a 5K in our neighborhood in March.  I’ve made a plan to start training so that I can run the whole thing and not make a fool out of myself.  I just hope it’s not too cold that day….

As part of a positive reinforcement program in the classroom, each day that the students “stay on green” (or don’t have to be reprimanded in the classroom) they receive a sticker.  Each time that they amass 10 stickers they get to go to the “Treasure Chest”, which is a goodie box full of trinkets.  It turns out that Friday was Big C’s day to get a Treasure.  When I picked him up after school, he walked out with the biggest grin on his face, and pulled this from his pocket.

I’m sure there were some snickers from the boys in his class as he chose the pink flowery Bratz bracelet, but he wanted to make things right for his Mommy.  I broke down in tears right there on the sidewalk.

Gosh I love that kid.

It’s a balmy 49 degrees with a beautiful blue sky out today, so I decided to take the camera out with me when I went to get the mail.  I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but I was tired of taking pictures of the inside of my house.  When I got outside I noticed the color on the “coral bark maple” trees that we planted last spring.  During the spring and summer, their leaves overshadowed the beautiful color of the bark (and I’m convinced it got richer with the cold weather).  I thought you might enjoy seeing some color today.

This last one is a picture of one of our little shrubs, called a Nandina or “heavenly bamboo”.    I love the bright colors on it as well.  We worked hard to select plants that would give us color and variety in all 4 seasons, and I’m pleased with how our little landscaping project worked out.

On a related note, thanks for all the comments and suggestions for fixing the bracelet.  He seems to have recovered, and the two of us may get some beads and make me a new one sometime.

Last night that something happened.  I was putting laundry away, when I caught it on the end of our closet shelving and it snapped.  D tried to fix it for me, but the elastic was broken, and it can’t be saved.  I had to tell Big C about it this morning, and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.  He’s such a sensitive, sweet kid, and in breaking this dollar store bracelet, I think I broke his heart.  He cried for 10 minutes in my arms, and later when I went to check on him while he was playing Wii, he was still sniffling.

I think the teenage years are going to be rough.

He was very excited to finally have a picture of something other than the ottoman!  Here’s his result from the $50 Fisherprice camera.