JFP photo blog

c is for cookie

Oh how I wish I were in the second grade right now!  Madelyn's class is working on their "how to" projects and presentations and I just saw the list of what they will be teaching each other...oh the things I could learn!  There will be lots of different cooking, (if you know anything about us it won't surprise you to know that Miss M picked chocolate chip cookies), origami, palm reading, apple dolls, and the one I need, how to change the oil in your car!  I may just have to go sit in for the presentation days...I am intrigued and impressed!  Anyway, the kiddos are making posters detailing the steps in their project and they had the option to draw or use photos...hmmm, I smell a project for me too!  Here's some of what we came up with....

Step 1:  Wash your hands.

 

 

Step 3:  Cream the butter.

 

Step 3:  Add sugar, brown sugar, salt, & vanilla.

 

Step 4:  Add eggs and baking soda.

 

Step 5:  Add flour and remember to mix SLOWLY....we did have quite the excitement with one of our trial batches with regards to high speed mixing and exploding flour...you'll have to use your imagination as I stopped shooting to leap over and turn off the mixer.....

 

Step 6:  Add the best part, the chocolate chips.

 

Step 7:  Scoop batter onto cookie sheets.

 

Step 8:  Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.

 

Step 9:  Finally, enjoy!!

 

 

If you weren't hungry for cookies before, I bet you are now...and guess what??  She makes the best chocolate chip cookies ever and we are on batch #6 in the last 3 weeks, so please come over and help me eat them before I can't wear any of my pants!  Happy Friday and be sure to check back next week for a few newborns and a bunch of one year olds!

 

 

Hats

So the weekend before this last one wa the U District Street Fair!  Yippy!  We have a tradition of going that involves getting there EARLY, picking out a fun little something, having an elephant ear or two, and getting the heck out of dodge before the crowds get so crazy that I freak out.  This year was an even bigger success, trinket-wise, than years past.  The kids usualy get some kind of sparkly, stuffed creature...this year was a smidge different as Henry was too cool for that and Benjamin got to get in on the action with his first Street Fair snake....ahhh, brings back the days of little Henry and his snake obssession!  Anyway, that is nothing new for us...but this year we found the BEST hat spot EVER...and you know how I feel about hats!  The girls' scored big, partly because the hats were fabulous and partly because their grandma is a sucker for cute girls wearing knit/crocheted items!    Thanks mom!  Here are a few shots of them in their new hats....

 

 

I have a feeling that come fall, this hat may become lost in my hat collection....how will I ever remember not to wear it around her??  Maybe I'll just have to get a few more of these...they are so stinkin' cute and super, super soft and comfy!!  The woman who makes all these hats has a shop down at Pike Place Market, Me and Mom's Hats (might have to have a field trip this summer!) and also a website, (click here) though I don't feel like the photos on the site do any justice to the hats...hmmm, perhaps I need to work myself a deal.  Anyway, way cute hats for newborns all the way up to grownups..check her out!!  Happy short week!! 

 

Oh wait...here's a funny one to get you through the day...

1st Birthdays

A friend of mine had an idea for some 1st birthday photos she wanted to try.  She's even invited her PEPs groups, so you can be assured there will be plenty of fabulous...and probably hilarious..photos to come.  These are some test shots I took this weekend while I had my hands on someone who would actually fit in this antique highchair.  I've got the big parts worked out and am just tweaking some of the little details...so enjoy these for now and know that there are MORE coming soon!

 

 

Now for some funny ones....

 

"Hee hee, I'm cute and this is funny!"

 

"Wait a minute...what is this thing?"

If you look closely you can see that I had a big lick of the frosting in order to show him it wasn't poisonous...that didn't even work!

 

"Don't let it get me!"

So I even actually dabbed it on his face in or to try and get him to taste it...he was having NONE of it.  Ahhh, the torture of dessert!

Anyway, you all get the idea.  I'll be finishing up all the details next week and seeing all those sweet 1 year olds on the 1st!  Can't wait!!

 

Inspiration

A friend sent me a link to a new blog (designmom) the other day because it had some FABULOUS family photos on it (check them out here)...turns out to be a super cool blog about all kinds of things I love.  The author is a designer/art director and a mother of 5 and she writes about "where design and motherhood intersect"...love it!  Anyway, the photos were so great in part because of the location (Central park...who wouldn't want to shoot there?), in part because this family is absolutely adorable, and my favorite part...the way the mom "styled" the whole family.  Now I am not generally a big fashion risk taker, and my ability to mix colors is somewhat limited, but I can copy with the best of them.  When I saw these photos I wanted to give these bright colors a try and my goal/challenge was to find all the stuff in the kids' closets...I did have  a dream about new shoes for my biggest...grass green Converse...but he was having nothing to do with it and it wasn't in the budget to buy a pair of shoes he was only going to wear once!  Here's what I came up with...a little more subdued colors and a more outdoorsy feel but we live here not there, anyway I like how it came out...besides I got the big man to wear a tie..YAY me!

  I love this one!   And my admiration for designmom grows and grows...what nicely behaved/well trained children she must have!  I had trouble getting all of them to look at me at the same time and not be making a dorky face...though I ALWAYS enjoy a shot of the little man shouting!

 

He shouts at me a lot...though not in a mad way (usually), he's just an emphatic kind of guy.  See where green shoes for H and maybe yellow sandals for A would have been spectacular?? 

I also managed a few individual shots of the kiddos....though don't hold your breath for a shot of the little man...the best shot I have of him is of his buns going up the stairs away from me!

 

 

 

Isn't he getting all grown up?

  This one caught me off guard.  We were walking over to where I thought I wanted to take photos and he wandered off the sidewalk to explore a little.  When he turned around I saw it.  You would never guess he is standing about 3 feet off the sidewalk which is on the busiest street in our neighborhood.  I love that it feels like he is out in the middle of a field!

 Anyway, all that to say I love me some inspiration.

Just For Fun

This last week I had the opportunity to take some company photos for a local builder, and while they were fun, they aren't really blog-kind-of-fun photos, besides I was way too lazy to get everyone to sign a release....therefore, today you get some random shots that never made the blog before now...

Awhile ago Georgia's cousin, Jack came to stay for a week and I thought it would be fun to take some photos of the two of them together.  HA!  If I thought toddler twins were a challenge before, they've got nothing on two dogs!  Here's the best that I got...enjoy!

 

 

I love that it was cold out and that you can see some of their breath on the door glass, though you can be sure that after a week with two dogs, a lot of what you see on the door isn't breath!

 

Funny dogs!

And finally, a non-dog photo that describes how I am feeling about this cold and windy and rainy  weather...bleah!

 

 

Happy Mother's Day

In honor of all you mothers-to-be out there, I thought I would offer you a little early present....

When you book a newborn session

 

 

You get a maternity session for half price...

 

 

I've got two takers already and my calendar is getting alarmingly full... so just let me know if you have any questions!  Can't wait to meet all these new little people!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there and especially my mom!

EDITED TO ADD:  Hey look down below (I just noticed)....it's that same momma from above and those are the little girls that were in that belly up there!  So amazing!

Mission Accomplished

I know I posted some of these the other day but I am just getting finished with the whole bunch of shots and looky what I got....hee hee!

 

 

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THESE!

Who's That Girl?

(Where can I get one?....that's for all the Grease 2 fans out there) 

 

Well, it's Crazy Hair Day at the big kid' school today and if that isn't Crazy Hair I don't know what is!

Happy Friday!