Family Sneak Peek

I had the best time with this family today. The little girl is just beautiful. She's friendly, nice and a great big sister. Their boy was a delight. He would have showed me his trains all day. And don't get me started about the baby... she was a joy! So here's your sneak peek, as promised {individual shots only... and you'll be hearing from me before you know it}

Flower Show

Braved the crowds at the Philly Flower show on Sunday. C and I had a great time. Lots to see - and now we both have spring fever. This year's theme was New Orleans Jazz, so there were a lot of instruments and Jazz themes in the displays.

... and of course, there were the flowers...



After the flowers, I surprised her with a day-before-birthday lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. She had a blast! It was quite the experience for my Avril fan.

The train station on the way home is her least favorite part of a trip into the city. {I refuse to drive in and park - Lansdale for me, and the train in to Market East!} She doesn't mind the train trip, she just hates the noise they make coming into the station. She got a cool hoodie at HRC and had to put it on. Hope she didn't think I'd be able to keep my camera in the bag when she leaned against the pillar while waiting...

Glam In the Snow

Talked my 'glam' model into going out in her favorite play dress and her late aunt's fur coat. {my poor mother-in-law refuses to have it in her house, but can't stand to give it up - it was her sister's pride and joy -we're all slightly creeped out by it and after the shoot it went back in its bag and back into the depths of the closet}

Valentines day... the test batch

DD#1 wants to take treat bags to school {providing they have it with the weather they're predicting} on Valentine's Day. She has a remarkably small 4th grade class - only 16 kids - so in addition to the kisses, I thought we'd put in a nice, big, heart cookie. Saw this recipe on one of my favorite ingredient source's website {King Arthur Flour, of course} and decided to try it. Sneaky mom, putting oats and white wheat flour in a cookie... but they're really good.

Chewy Oatmeal Decorating Cookies

Miss L has had at least 2 this morning {that she asked for... who knows how many she quietly slipped off the plate!}. The colored sugar adds just a big of extra sweetness. Royal icing would be too much.

They're kicking the kids out of school at 12:30 today, and canceling all after school activities... so we'll see what the weather brings. It's a whopping 11 degrees out right now, so the neat-o idea I had for an outside shoot will wait until it's warmer. {ya know, at least 30 or so haha}

Maybe I'll get out the speedlight and try out the new bracket/umbrella combo and see how that goes. Until later!!

Stepdancers

I feel like I dropped off the planet for a week or so... maybe more! It was show time for the ICS Stepdancers. Both my dear girls danced this year... no sitting out {grumping} for L this year - she was on stage too! {and refused to leave at one point}

I'm up to my eyeballs in dancer photos, so here is a peek at the group shot of one of the classes at dress rehearsal.They all did a wonderful job. Great show! Now it's time to get ready for the St. Pat's day Parade.

She Can't Decide

My dd can't decide if she wants to design the clothes, model them, or shoot them! She pulled this dress out of the dress-up box and we went from there. I played with my new actions and here we are...

Go Rockets!

My dear 9 yr old tried out for the 4th grade b-ball team this year... and made it! (Much to our surprise... she's never played before!) But she's loving it, and working hard. Last night they won for the first time. They are really coming together as a team (and they've had some practices - which helps - they were thrown into the season cold). Their team appears to be the only one in their league with girls. We have 3. Go Rockets!

That's my girl on defense! It's been hard for her to get over her 'be a nice, polite girl' upbringing. She's learning to get in there and get in those boys' faces!



(Now... for the photo geeks. Yup. My sweet new 85mm 1.8 lens is making another appearance. I knew it would make a huge difference. The other thing that has made a tremendous difference is the custom white balance. Get it right in the camera, baby!)