New family member

So for months and months I've been looking for a new pet.  

Cute and cuddly but low maintenance was the criteria.  

Then one day a friend posted on FB that three kittens had been abandoned on her property and she was

 looking for homes for them.  I pretty much knew as soon as I saw that sweet face I'd found our new pet. 

 Elijah named him Casey Jones, but basically calls him "meow meow" 99% of the time.  

He's been such a fun addition to the family.  

The kids love to play with him and he's a total snuggle bug when they've worn him out.  

I've never been a huge pet person.  I like animals, I just didn't grow up with them so unlike most of you I 

don't feel the need for a fur baby in my house.  This lil guy has won my heart though.  

I'm sure glad he's joined our funky bunch.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the green ninja and I!

Sawyer

I haven't done a newborn shoot in years, and never in the first week of life.  I was so excited when my dear friend told me she was expecting and quickly informed her I would be showing up at her home soon after she gave birth to capture her precious boy in all that newborn magic.  I had dreams of a sleeping bundle easy to pose and perfectly still...a dream model right?  Yeah, he was not on board with that plan.  Little Sawyer, just like his mommy, was wide awake and full of energy.  So although my expectations were far from reality we rolled with it and I still see so much beauty in these photos and the details of his first week of life at home. 

Congratulations Stephanie and Donovan!

He is perfect and I can't wait to watch (and capture) him as he grows.

Malice in Wonderland

This collaboration of creativity was so much fun!  

Sydni loves all things make up and is honing her skills to one day win Face Off on Syfy.  

She wanted to do a creepy Alice and Mad Hatter styled shoot 

so we came up with some ideas and I had a blast!  

Now I really want to do some more Halloween styled shoots.  Anyone game?

Practice makes perfect

He's filling the house with music.

Granted, it's Yankee Doodle and Rockin Robin.

Giant 2nd grader

Today was the first day of school for E-man.  He was a little nervous and a little excited and a lot sleepy.  Last year he was the new kid at a new school so there was a lot more nerves and tears than this time around.  In fact I think this was the first "first day" I didn't shed a tear at all.  I guess I'm finally accepting the fact that he is going to grow up no matter how much I fight it....na....it's still hard as heck!  He has officially become the age where getting a genuine smile from him in a photo is a challenge.  He either wants to give me a crazy eyed fake smile or pose like Rico Suave.  It took more tries than I'd like to admit to get this shot and all in the midst of rushing to get to school on time.  And since our front door photo on the first day tradition has remained in tact I went ahead and threw together this little diddy.  

It's a mess but oh well.  The point is...look how BIG he is!!!  I mean seriously he's a giant now.

I am excited about his teacher this year.  She's young and fun and kind of adorable.  

E just keeps saying she's funny and since he loves to laugh I think it's a good match.  

Well, ready or not here we go!

August Break day 22

"Shadow"

August Break Day 20

"Peaceful"

 

August Break Day 19

"Black & White"

Taken with my new phone. Just left my baby (SLR) at the shop.

 

August Break Day 16

"Look Down"

I fell off the wagon. Hard.

It's been a super duper uber busy couple of weeks.  

I fell off the August Break wagon, HARD, but I am still smiling.

Getting to spend some time with my beautiful niece and sweet nephews who live out of state is worth it.

Here are some lovely wild flower photos to make up for it.  Yeah I said my own photos were lovely.  

That's allowed right?  Sometimes artists get a lil stoked off our own work, and that's ok.

We are wrapping up summer.  Summer is busy but I love it.  

I am sad to see it ending but I'm off now to make the most of what is left of it.  I hope you are doing the same!

August Break Day 5

"Three"

August Break Day 4

"Orange"

August Break Day 3

"Window"

August Break day 2

"Patterns"  

Well naturally when a vintage Pyrex collecting junkie hears the word "patterns" she's going to think of Pyrex patterns.  I started collecting about a year ago, partly because I love the bright and fun colors and patterns but mostly because it was something I could dig for at my goodwill and yard sale stops which is my idea of fun.  It's becoming more and more difficult to find these treasures and most thrift shops have caught on that some of these are highly collectible and can go for crazy $ on ebay so even the beat up and faded one's are priced too high.  All of my pieces have come from thrift/estate/yard sales. I get so giddy when I find a piece in good shape that I have wanted for a deal!  I use some, display some, plan on selling some...so I can buy more.  I'm not a hoarder!  I just love the hunt and how pretty they look when on display like this.  

These are a few of my favorites pieces.

August Break Day 1

This time around the August Break host has provided some daily photo prompts.
You can choose to ignore them or let them spark an idea for your daily photo.  I love that about this project.  

There are no rules, no pressure, it's just about taking a moment each day to savor something about your day.  

Summer is flying by and I want to pump the breaks before it's over.  

Today's prompt was "Lunch" and since mine was full of summer freshness and color I decided to roll with it.

*Boca burger patty not pictured (it was niether colorful or fresh looking.)