JFP photo blog

Music Man

So I was going to show you all kinds of stuff this week...some Thanksgiving shots, some new albums, etc, etc...BUT last night my big kid earned first place for his musical composition in his school-wide art competition!  I couldn't be prouder and I so wish I was technologically skilled enough to somehow post my (incredibly sub-par) recording here so you all could hear it.  I get teary-eyed every time he plays it...of course that might have something to do with the fact that I can absolutely not fathom how he can do these things or where he gets his skills (ok, I do have an idea, his great, great uncle was a concert pianist and such...aren't genetics amazing?!).  So in honor of this momentous occasion you get to see some photos of him doing one of his favorite things...

These were taken less than a year ago and already he looks like a completely different guy.  I mean, I know little kids change a lot and quickly, but sometimes I forget that works for big kids too.  Guess I better take more pictures of him....won't he love that?!

 

 

 

OK, enough about my fabulous kid for now.  You can be sure that I will let you know how it goes at the district-wide competition.

The Obligatory Snow Photos

So we are now on our second snow day of the school year nd can I just tell you how much I love it when the district announces the closure the night before.  There is all kinds of sleeping in potential.  Never happens.  Nobody wants to waste  minute of their free time by sleeping in.  So here we all are, up and out of bed by 6:30 so I though I would share the obligatory snow photos from yesterday.  Love shooting in the snow...world's best reflector!

 

She just makes me giggle with her little fakey smile.  She's so good to me.  The other two just make faces when I've got the camera (sadly an inherited trait).

 

Unless of course they are actually doing something fun (like hugging their dog) and not really paying attention to me.

 

(By the end of this post, if I'm feeling brave, you may very well have learned where this kid gets his lovely and super photogenic expressions.)

 

 

Guess who had the most fun?  She got to play with her friend at the park...I didn't get a signed release from his parent, but I'm throwing caution to the wind and posting the photo anyway....

 

 
A little post wrestling snuggle.

 

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I'll tell you that todayI am especially thankful for him.  Perhaps not so much his amazing fashion sense (he will be the first one to tell you that form follows function...hence the lovely combination of things) but he is definitely the handiest guy around.  Yesterday he rescued our furnace from imminent death...something about a frozen condensation something or other...and on the coldest day of the year.  Hooray for him!!

And now for our genetics lesson of the day...

 

That's where my poor children get their photogenic-ness from.  And now you all know that I totally feel your pain about being photographed.

Enough of that.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Enjoy the impending festival of eating with your drawstring pants on!

Picture Perfect

Finishing the holiday photo sessions with a bang.  Not just one of my all time favorite families, but we got to shoot outside while it was snowing!!  (Alright, it's not like there was a blizzard or anything, but it sure was fun...and we are making up for it today with snow everywhere!)  Anyway, here is a quick sneak peek to hold mom over until her gallery is ready (hopefully soon so they can have holiday cards to mail out before it's too late!)

A few from in the studio...keeping warm...

 

 

(cute goofy face on the little man and an AWESOME photo of mom...GORGEOUS!)

 

Then we bundled up and headed out....

 

 

Somebody was excited!

 

 

LOVE the hat!

 (and so glad he kept it on for more than a minute...faithful blog readers, you will remember that this is the little man who actually dislikes hats so much that he pulled a hat all the way off during his newborn shoot...I mean days old and he knew hats weren't his thing)

 

Running!  Whee!  Absolutely adore the glee on big brother's face!

 

 

Such big smiles from him...all morning...hooray!

Saved the best for last....

 

Love, love, love.

More coming soon...I'm thinking a snow day tomorrow means a completed gallery super soon!

She's Crafty

She's just my type.

(Just wanted to show my wide range of musical interests...Sound of Music on Wednesday all the way to....well, can you name them?  I bet a few of you can.)

WARNING:  If you are in my family and stand a chance of getting a Christmas gift from me, either stop reading this post now so you can be surprised, or read on so you can pick exactly what you would like.

So we're starting to get a little holiday spirit around here and it all started with a fourth grade school project.  The middle kid will be participating in Market Day at school here pretty soon.  (Think gigantic market where you can buy all kinds of "handmade by fourth graders" loot with fancy, pretend school money...that's the best kind of $).  Anyway, she has opened her own little sweat shop at home, though  I will admit I have been itching to craft so I volunteered readily.  Here's what we have been working on...

 

 

 

This is the one I'm hoping she will hold for me. 

And then since we were already being so crafty, I decided to try out a different project.  I'll tell you right now, the big one is for me.

 

 

I love ribbon.

Happy Friday before Thanksgiving!  Woohoo!  Let the fun begin!

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

(My sincere apologies to Rogers and Hammerstein)

This song has been floating around our house for a few weeks now (someone is learning to play it on the piano and someone else has decided to commit the lyrics to heart) and is completely stuck in my head BUT I thought it summed up this fabulous session perfectly, with a few adjustments...for those of you singers out there (you know who you are and so do I) feel free to sing along.

 

 

Girls with umbrellas and cute matching rainboots.

 

 

Pink leopard leggings with pink frilly tutus.

 

 

The biggest brown eyes that you ever did see.

These are a few of my favorite things.

(Singers, you have to skip the "dog bites" portion of the song here)

 

 

Running and swinging and stomping in puddles.

 

 

A fabulous raincoat handmade by her grandma.

 

 

A wonderful family with hats I adore.

These are a few of my favorite things.

Alright, so that wasn't any kind of lyrical genius, but you get the idea.  Sadly, I couldn't figure out a way to fit in grinning or adorable....

 

 

Here's a little proof that she is both of those things, in spades!

We (or at least I) had the best time at the park!  Love these kinds of sessions!  Thanks for taking me over there and for playing!

Goofs

Sometimes I have to beg my children to be guinea pigs.  Like this last week.  Needed to try out a new light.  Just thought I would share the proof that your kids are way more cooperative than mine, who are complete goofs.

 

 Then a little cheese to try to appease the "great & evil mom-lady"....

 

 

Of course, it is totally hilarious when there is smoke emanating from the evil dragon's ears...

 

 

(I do secretly enjoy that one...but don't tell the little beasts.)

And then sometimes, it's just not worth the fight and I try for something I think I can control....

 

 

(though again, secretly love this one because I have one of all their feet from when the littlest one was born)

Then a moment of obedience and we get this nice photo...

 

but then in the blink of an eye it all falls apart and we get this....

 

 

which I actually love WAY more! 

Nothing better than bringing my kids closer by giving them something to laugh at together...specifically the "great & evil mom-lady".

 

And then, in a moment of weakness, one of them decides to cooperate....

 

 

and it wasn't him.

 

 

Love her....

 

 

and am slightly obsessed with her lashes.  Lucky girl.

 

 

A Few More

Here's a little secret for you.  I always wish I could be sitting with people when they first see their images.  A)  I like to see peoples' reactions and B) generally speaking, I have very specific reasons why I choose to keep each image and I always want to tell you.  (Be sure and let me know if you want to come over to see your gallery for the first tme and I promise to have warm, gooey, fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookies.)  That is especially true for this session....so you are going to get my running commentary this morning (as if that is too different from the usual!).

 

 

I adore this photo because it is, at least in my opinion, an incredibly accurate depiction of how this family is together.  So, so happy, a little crazy (well, they do have 2 year old twins for Pete's sake) but always good for a laugh at the craziness, and always present in the moment with their girlies (which I know from experience with my own is not always easy).

 

 

I think that one is pretty self explanatory.  Adorable.  And they make a great team...bringing many different talents to the table (yes, I said table, and I meant it, YUM.)

 

 

The quintessential 2 year old squinchy face.  Cracks me up and melts me all at the same time.  (Note goldfish in hand...how much more "2" can you get?)

 

 

Perhaps you know my weakness for fun tights and feet/leg shots?

 

 

See comment above.  (And this one has a little different  proportions and is going to be super cool kind of longer and skinnier than normal)

 

 

I love that dad is checking on his girls (making sure no one is making a run for the cliff right there).  I love their choice of coats/fashion (so fallish and cozy).  I LOVE that mom is absolutely, adorably photogenic (yes, I'm a little green with envy).

 

And this one is totally different than anything you've ever seen here before.  A couple months ago mom sent me a link to something similar and was thinking about doing something like it in their new house.  Here's my stab at it....

 

 

Pretty cool, don't you think?  I particularly enjoy that it captures this phase of their life..note that neither girl will hold hands and one of them is leaving.  I think it would make a cool series to do this every year.

Happy Friday!

 

 

 

The Little Man Turns THREE

I can truly not wrap my brain around the fact that my little cookie monster of a nephew is three.  It's totally cliche, but I'm going to say it anyway.  They grow up too fast.  I don't think it was that long ago that he was all curled up on that towel up there in the blog header, and now look at him....

 

You know I am not one to pass up any excuse for photos, especially not birthday photos!  So my mom and I dragged him down to the bridge and while having his picture taken was not high on his list of priorities, we got some really cute "portraits" in the first 10 minutes or so and then let him do his own thing which I think always makes for more fun photos.

 

 

 

 

 

And as I like to do, my favorite for last....

 

Love you Jam!  Happy, happy birthday!

A Teaser

A true teaser as I have barely had a chance to upload the photos from this session, never mind pick my favorites...  That being said, here are a few that jumped out at me while they were being sucked into my computer....

 

 

 

More from this fun session coming soon!

Singing in the Rain

I am always glad to see this family.  This year we decided to try something a little different. We were going to meet at a beautiful park for gorgeous outside photos but it was blustery with sideways rain and we decided to cross our fingers and try for another day.  We totally lucked out (as you know, Ocotber and Novemeber can be tricky that way).  These guys were absolute troopers and while it did sprinkle on us a little, we ended up with one of the better hours of the day together.  (Not long after we finished, my girls' soccer game began and by the end we were all soaked through.)  Here are a few of my favorites...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Just so you know, I started writing thoughts under each photo and it startred getting redundant.  "This one is my favorite."  "This one is my favorite."  Oh no, THIS one is my favorite."  You get the picture.  I love them all...but especially the one above! 

 

 

Or maybe this one is my favorite?  So quiet and serious.  Thanks for a fun morning guys!  Happy Friday everyone!