JFP photo blog

Traditions

So, perhaps you can tell it is officially December on the blog?  We are busily finishing up all the photography related holiday stuff and happily moving onto the family fun portion of Christmas.  That means less blogging and more playing.  Here's a little taste of one of our favorite holiday traditions....a trip downtown to see the big man, ride the carousel, see some snow falling, and a special out-to-dinner treat.

 

The boys.

 

 

(Note the giant swollen lip...guess who is going to be singing "All I want for Christmas are my FOUR front teeth")

 

 

The girls.

 

 

The snow falling.  A gold star for you, if you can spot the newest addition to our tradition. 

(Here's the link to last year's photos in case you need some clues.)

If you have a favorite holiday tradition leave a note in the comments so we can all adopt your as one of our new ones.

More blogging sometime...in the meantime enjoy all the fun holiday stuff!

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!

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.

 

 

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!

Happy Horror Halloween!

Just a little morning after glimpse at what it looked like at our house last night...and to all the little kids in he neighborhood: it will be safe to come over soon!

Our green vampire...sadly we didn't get the blood oozing down her chin like she wanted.

 

 

Our purple witch.  Don't think I want to run into her in a dark alley.

 

A witch who's all about the accessories.  (A girl after her auntie's heart.)

 

 

If you were unlucky enough to be a kid from his school, he probably came put out the bushes and scared you half to death.

 

It wasn't all so grim around here this week though...a little Monday morning cuteness...

 

 

 

Wee, adorable nephews to balance out all the spookiness.

 

And here's a little taste of what the boys around here spent a substantial chunk of time on....

 

 

The ghoul had red flashing eyes and was rigged up on a pulley so it flew over the trick or treaters' heads.  Definitely spooky but not the creepiest part of the whole deal (at least in my opinion). 

 

Check out the guy in the window operating the ghoul.  Yikes!  No wonder so many small people refused to come up on the porch.

Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween!  Good luck surviving your sugar-fueled beasts for the next few days!

 

Peace, Love & Ice Cream

I am new to this whole "have your birthday party somewhere" phenomenon.  We are boring, old, stay-at-home-for-your-party kind of people.  But this year we tried something new....maybe because we have a new Ben & Jerry's in our neighborhood?  Maybe because I was less than organized?  Who's to say?  Regardless, I am a changed woman.  I am officially adopting Ben & Jerry's slogan of "Peace, Love & Ice Cream" as my own personal motto and swearing out my allegiance to them here and now. 

BEST.  PARTY.  EVER.

Here's a little taste of the birthday girl's fun....

 
(You can click on the photos to see them bigger)

And my very favorite shot of the day....

 

Someone was super excited that her dad came to her party.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that one (and yes, I know she is a little out of focus, but I don't care...sometimes catching the moment is more important than technical perfection.) 

Moral of that story:  life is better with Ben & Jerry's.

A Mind of Her Own

My baby is SEVEN today.

I still a little stunned by how fast that happened.  Pretty sure she was a tiny baby yesterday.

 

Squeak.  Love her.

So here's the thing.  You know how you want to raise your daughter to be a strong, self-confident, sure-of-herself kind of girl.  Well, apparently that's working too well.  She knew exactly what she was going to wear, how her hair was going to be, and where we were going to take these photos.  No help needed from the riff raff.  And here she is in all her self-styled glory.

 

 

She has the best laugh.  It is a high, squeaky, school-girl kind of laugh and it will make you giggle, every time.

 

 

I can't get enough of it.

 

 

 

Also a pretty good "thinking" face.  (She's pretty much this animated, ALL the time.)

 

 

With "her" dog.  She's an animal nut.  I'm pretty sure she's going to be a zookeeper when she grows up.

 

 

My sweet girl.

At 7 she is confident and capable.  She is thoughtful and is constantly on the lookout for other kids who might need help.  She is cuddly and hilarious.  And she really doesn't give me much to worry about...with the exception of the THREE head injuries last week.  (Clumsiness due to growth spurt leading to a scraped chin, a black eye with large egg, and a soccer cleat to the other eye. Yikes.)  Luckily for me (and her siblings) she has outgrown most of her "super naughty" phase which included  fun things like cutting her own hair (more than once)and putting gum in her sister's hair in the middle of the night.  But even at her most mischievous it is impossible to stay mad at her.  Love you sweet girl....happy birthday!

My Boy

Today my baby is TWELVE.  Not that I am biased or anything, but I think he is a particularly fine specimen of the adolescent boy.  I am so excited for him as this year is turning out to be one of his favorites so far.  Middle school is just his thing.  First of all, he gets to play in a band EVERY day...he truly couldn't ask for more out of life.   Here's a little recap of a few of the things I love most about him....

 

1)  He is a musical genius (in my humble opinion).  He plays the saxophone well enough that he got moved up to seventh grade band..nicely done.  And he is in the middle of composing a ballet, among other things.

 

2)  He's pretty darn sporty...soccer, cross country, and snowboarding are his sports of choice.  Oh, and I can't forget fishing.  (Sidenote:  look at the size of the feet on that kid!  He is going to be a giant.)

 

3)  This is the child who makes me thankful for Google EVERY day.  When there is something he is interested in/obsessed with (currently: composing for a choral group, I believe) he asks 8 million questions (none of which I can answer) and I send him straight to Google.

 

4)  He is an all around good kid.  The little kids love him (once they get over his large size and loudness).  He does stuff like make me coffee and Toaster Strudel, for Pete's sake.  He still hugs me (though admittedly, not in public...he reserves the side hug/arm around me for then).  He wasn't even embarassed of me when I had to scrimmage with his soccer team.  AND, he humored me  nicely for these photos.

 

I couldn't be prouder of him or more excited for where life will take him.  Happy birthday kid!  I love you and couldn't have asked for a better birthday present EVER!
  

Lucky Me

"Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good."

(I know there are at least 3 of you faithful readers out there who can name that movie and are probably singing the song now.  Sorry if it gets stuck in your heads all day.)

 

You know the saying, "what comes around, goes around"?  Well, I must have done something right as a kid to end up with a son like I've got.  This is what I found this morning when I came downstairs....

Not only did he make and pour my coffee (which he has been doing ever since he has to be up so early for middle school), but he made me some of his special "birthday-week-toaster-strudel".  I am actually getting teary eyed thinking about it.  In case you didn't know or don't realize the significance of this, toaster strudel is a hot commodity around here, so the fact that I got ANY is pretty substantial.  The fact that he made them for me out of the goodness of his heart (and that I didn't have to nag/bribe/threaten him to get any) speaks volumes.  Perhaps he is buttering me up for tomorrow?  Because as much as I love sharing a birthday with him, I do tend to get a smidgen bitter about having to get up at 5:00 on my birthday to make his birthday breakfast...luckily, he likes what I like and even though I could probably get away with making toaster strudel, I will valiantly whip up a feast in honor of his big day.

 

Check back for his birthday photos tomorrow.