a little Ellie photo-love

Besides the everyday paparazzi happening around here, I haven't done an actual photo shoot yet for little Ellie, but I couldn't resist sharing a few quick photos of her sweetness...

You are welcome Uncle Michael and Sarah! :)

sweet sweet moments captured forever

I just posted a few pictures of my kiddos with their grandparents from a shoot I did with them, oh...last fall! 

I am a huge slacker, I know...even more so because I am just giving you the link to the post on my 

photography blog. Forgive me? And then go check out the pics because they are so very sweet!

http://smileabunchphotos.blogspot.com/2011/01/grandparents.html

Valentine's Day is my FAVORITE

I am sure that some of you out there already know this, but I am pretty much completely obsessed with Valentine's Day! I know some people hate it...and some people celebrate singles awareness day...but even when I have been single on Valentine's day, I have still always been a huge fan. When I was in 8th grade my mom gave me makeup for Valentine's day...which was a totally big deal, because until then I wasn't really allowed to wear makeup. When I was a sophomore my crush brought me a yellow rose on Valentine's day...it is the friend rose because we couldn't date because I was not 16 yet, but still, it was twitterpating and cute! When I was a senior I spent the evening making, frosting and delivering sugar cookies with a different crush's little sister. My first year of college I think I was dating 2 different people simultaneously...so Vday was a little complicated, but the next year, Seth and I were "not dating" and he gave me a live plant...a little strange, but he has more than made up for it in the years since...except the year that he decided to take part in a door to door vacuum presentation on Valentine's day which took the full 3 hours between when I got home from work and when he left for his night shift. Still, I LOVE Valentine's day!

Anway...remeniscing tangent there for a minute...since it is my favorite holdiay, I am celebrating with a Valentine's Day Photobooth. Do you remember this cute little valentine from last year?
(that space at the bottom is where he signed his name...
it was a homework assignment for the kids to actually sign all of the Valentines)

Well, so many people commented on it, that I am offering them to you this year! No more lame-o valentines! Here is the flyer for the photobooth...they are by appointment only and you will have the images PLUS your choice of super cute, designed-by-me, much-cuter-than-the-one-above, printable valentine cards 
before Valentine's Day! YAY!

You can also find more details about it at the smileabunch photography blog.

And, a little plea for help: I would LOVE your help spreading the word...since I can only take such a limited number of sessions this year, I am trying to keep up momentum by packing as many sessions as possible into this one day! If you send 5 people my way and they book a session, I will do your session for FREE! Please refer your friends and family to this link:

 http://smileabunchphotos.blogspot.com/2011/01/grab-your-sweetheart-valentines.html 

or my Facebook Fan Page for info!

THANKS!

I did a super quick practice shoot yesterday so I would have some pictures to use for the marketing,
and I have cute pics of all the kiddos, so I will post a few here when I get a chance!

Almost 2

I can't believe my baby girl is almost 2 years old, but when I look at this darling little face I don't see a little baby anymore, I see a grown up girl who can do so many things!

I took this a few weeks ago when she was playing quietly in her room with all the "big girl toys" aka Petshops and My Little Ponies. She is quite the beauty and so silly and warm and cuddly, but very shy, so she only shares all of that with the select few friends and family that she knows well. I love you sweet baby girl! I love how you tell Morgan to "have great day - yuv you!" every morning as he heads out of the car to school! I love how you yell "I'm A-wAAAKe" with perfect clarity when you wake up from your naps! I love how you can peel a clementine all by yourself! I love how you cleaned up the wrapping paper piece by piece before you could unwrap anymore! I love how you snuggle with momma while you suck your thumb when you feel nervous! I love your sweet smile and your contageous giggle and your little mischeivious determination!

xoxoxo!

-mommy

photos found

On my little rampage from earlier today, I decided to continue my sorting

of pictures and just couldn't resist sharing a few gems...for no particular reason!

I can't get over how colorful the leaves were just a few short months ago!

Now all that we can see is a blanket of white!

Wonderful in a totally different way!

My attempt to document my presence in the life of the family...

camera on auto...focus on auto...unsteady hand...still priceless!

does this picture even need words?

I find such delight in knowing that these girls have each other for sisters!

Makeover #2

Starting up a photography business has required a lot of practice shoots.

Much to their dismay, my kids are about as cute as little models can get, so they have been the primary subjects every time there is a new location, prop, or accessory I want to try out.

So, I have a lot of pictures of those 3 little munchkins, but the only pictures on display in our house have been kiddie kandids photos we had taken of Morgan when he was about a month old and Chloe when she was about a month old. There they hung in my living room - 6 pictures in ugly cheapo Walmart frames, while my hard drives are brimming with updated adoreableness (not to mention better photography).

Seth has been urging me to get these pictures off the hard drives and onto our walls for months and finally, for the sake of "business" in response to many inquiries to see the different products I sell, I placed a massive print order, took a trip to Michael's with a coupon to use in addition to a 40% off framing sale and took down those 6 little 5x7s and 8x10s.

The result:

LOVE this new look!

A Trip to The Beach

With Seth's schedule and the ever-closer approach of the end of school, a new job,

a move (possibly somewhere far away), and all of the changes that will come with it,

VACATION

is just something that isn't really in the cards right now.

So, every time daddy has a day off, we try to pack it full of fun adventures.

We do a pretty good job of making the most of our time together as a family,

and of course I always take the pictures to prove it

...as if we were on vacation and these things may be once in a life time...

even though we could go back today...or tomorrow...or any day!

And I am good about posting them on the Project 365 blog...

because that is just about all I have been able to keep up with...

but usually 1 picture of my 20 favorites is just not enough to share these experiences.

(Not to mention that this blog is looking like a whole lotta black and white,

and my goal for this year is to bring color into my life.

I have been aquiring colorful furniture, colorful, flowers, colorful clothes for everyone in the family, colorful accessories, so I am going to get back to colorful blog, too!)

Last week we headed to the "beach" (the Great Salt Lake).

We tried to go early, but we didn't get there until the sun was already high

...not really great for pictures...

but the sky was blue and the beach was gorgeous and three little people and their favorite daddy

LOVED playing in the water.

And I loved it too...but from a different perspective.

I loved watching the exploration, the excitement, the fun and the love through my lens,

and I wanted to bottle it up and squeeze those moments close to my heart.

I got a little teary as I watched them play...because I love these 4 more than anything else!

these sandy toes are about the sweetest thing ever!

she was in heaven...she hasn't been to the beach since she could walk and play and enjoy and she loved it!

and these pointed tippy toes and lifted skirt make my heart so happy!

-LOVE-

internet and other tidbits

for the past couple of weeks, my internet communication has been limited to what I can do on my phone (which, by the way...I am new to the whole internet phone thing and wow - how did I ever survive without it?), or what I can do on a super de duper slow internet connection that may or may not go out at any given second...like right in the middle of uploading a blog post or a bunch of pictures or even a facebook status.

But on Tuesday, something fabulous happened! This little family of ours finally caught up with the rest of the world and now have our very own high speed internet connection - cable internet - and a wi-fi network that has a full signal everywhere in the house! Oh.my.goodness - it is amazing! Who knew that fast internet could make such a difference!?

So yeah, now is the time to expect more from me, blogging friends! I am actually pretty up to date on Project 365, but haven't been able to upload the images, so check here in the next day or so for a lot of updated pictures! And there are some really really good ones...so feel free to browse back a bit.

I will also be able to update our picture site, which is now a part of my smileabunch photography website, since I am about 6 months behind there. To access our family pictures, click on family and friends in the bottom right corner of the home page and it will take you to a place where you can enter a password. If you would like the password, email me or leave a comment with your email address and I will send it to you (as long as I know you and you aren't a stalker - stalkers will just have to get by with the blog pics)! It won't be up to date for a few weeks, but I am determined to catch up! :)

Finally, I have a lot of fun announcements (and maybe even some super fun giveaways) coming down the pipe on the smileabunch photography blog with the start of full pricing coming on August 1. There are only 2 weeks left to get a session and a disc for $125...so give me a call and book one before the schedule is full.

Now is the time...

If you have been wanting to get pictures done by me,

but you have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to come along...now is the time!

For the past few months I have been offering discounted (about 50%) introductory pricing,

and it will be ending on AUGUST 1, 2010.

You can see all the details at the smileabunch photography blog.

Availability is limited and I am currently booking for late July.

We are busily enjoying some summer fun, but hopefully I can carve out some time to update this blog soon.

Plenty of stuff happening around here, just no time to blog about it!

And please keep your fingers crossed that my next post is not out of sheer embarassment like the last one! ;)

Glad it could entertain you though...and yes, we do know our neighbor well and he is just about the best neighbor you could ask for...so it wasn't really scary as much as embarassing!

p.s.

pictures are coming on the project 365 blog...promise!

Presenting...SMILEABUNCH PHOTOGRAPHY

All that talk of photography and practice sessions and big giant projects that have been

consuming my life are finally ready to "reveal"

(just in case you didn't already figure out what I was up to).

So, it's official...

smileabunch photography

is open for business!

YAY!

Check out the new website and the smileabunch photography blog and tell me what you think!

And to celebrate the opening of shop, I am offering a special holiday mini-session deal!

Click on the image for more details!

Also, the launch of this site will change the way you access our picture galleries.
From the smileabunchphotos.com webiste, you can click on the "family and friends" link at the bottom and it will take you to a page where you can enter the password (which has been updated so email me or comment if you would like it). The galleries may say "password protected" but since you already entered the password you shouldn't have to enter it again. You can also click the link to "Check out more pictures" on the top righthand side of this page  and it will take you to the same view you used to see, and you will enter the password in the first gallery you open instead.
Please let me know if you have any trouble with this. 

I Promised!

I promised pictures and that I would get back to the typical nature of our happy family blog after my soap box rant, and I didn't want you to think I was lying! :)

I swear I am lucky I have not gotten in a car accident recently because lately I cannot keep focused on the road while driving because I am scouting out all of the awesome locations around here (and everywhere I go) for taking pictures! And, of course, when I find one, much to my kids dismay, I haul them along with me and take their pictures!

Yesterday, I spotted Olympus Hills Park from the freeway (I think that is what it is called anyway) and remembered what a cute place it is and the kids were dressed cute in some new bright and colorful clothes (in an attempt to appease my longing for spring) so we went to the park after lunch on a little photo adventure. Brynn was kind of cranky, so we only took a few pictures and then we took Seth back with us later in the evening. By that time it was getting pretty cold and late and the light was almost gone, so we only got a few then too, but the results were still pretty stinkin cute.

This whole Mom thing rocks!

Anyone have any great photo locations to share

so that I don't get in a car accident looking for them?

Seth, the kids and my car would really appreciate your suggestions!

Alive...

and well

and super duper busy!

If I told you I would do your photo shoot and I haven't gotten back to you with a date yet...

just know I didn't forget you, I am just running behind...

perpetually

{but hopefully not permanently}

My house is a complete mess

and my kitchen sink would make flylady gasp in horror!

I get to help in preschool tomorrow,

need to do the taxes

(well, gather all the paperwork and input the info into the form so my accountant can do the taxes),

schedule a playdate with my sewing machine (miss you my friend),

and a playdate with my living/breathing friends,

and re-finalize all the details of the upcoming ward party that I had already finalized once

(or thrice, but who's counting).

On the other hand...tomorrow is Thursday...

which means NBC Thursday night...

and that I will probably not address

anything on my list.

Also...on a completely unrelated topic...this season of the Bachelor...gag!

And yet, I watch?

A Princess Photo Shoot

Just wanted to say a BIG thank you to all who have offered to be guinea pigs for me! I am SOO excited! I think I have enough now as far as families and kids, but could still use some help in the baby under 10 days old or pregnant picture area...if you are pregnant right now, you realize you could help me out with both of these at the appropriate time, right. ;)

And, I did a little photo shoot with Chloe this week in my "pseudo studio" I set up in my livingroom to practice different kinds of lighting. Here are my favorites.

Pictures are so fun...and she is just breathtaking...I might be a little biased though!

Want to be a Guniea Pig?

Okay...here goes...

I have a favor to ask of my blogging buddies...

and I do this with a little hesitation

(partly because I am worried no one will be willing

partly because I am worried too many people will be willing

and partly because this is a step toward something that is a little scary/exciting/new for me

and partly because asking for favors is pretty much waaay outside my comfort zone)

but, I'm going to do it anyway...

As I've mentioned I am taking a photography class.

It is awesome and I have learned so much.

And it has me pretty darn close to something that has been a dream of mine for a couple of years now.

But, I have a gajillion pictures of my kids in the last couple of weeks

and they are getting sick of being my subjects

as evidenced by their recent non-smiles in all my pictures.

Plus, I am really trying to get better at taking pictures in an actual "photo shoot" setting.

So, I'm wondering if anyone out there

(and by out there I mean out there in Salt Lake City)

would be willing to be guniea pig for me for a FREE photo shoot?

It could be Family...Kids...Maternity...Senior pictures...

or brand new baby (preferably under 10 days old).

I would GIVE you the best 10 edited digital files to do with what you want...

(and you could order professional prints through me

or purchase a CD of any/all of the additional digital files, but that is totally optional

- and I don't mean costco or shutterfly prints...I am talking about professional prints

from a professional printer that you can't order from without a business license)

So, wanna be a guinea pig?

Email me your name and phone number if you do!

THANKS!

8 GB in 5 days

I have completely filled an 8GB SD card with pictures in 5 days. I formatted it on Monday and today, I ran out of space and had to start deleting stuff. That is kind of sick, don't you think? That is why I have another 8GB card...if only it had been with me!

The most exciting part...I am shooting (pictures, that is) in full Manual Mode!

It is so exciting to be in full control and have the pictures turn out right every time!

And of course that means I am going to share,

'cause I'm pretty nice like that!

braving the cold today so I could do some homework for my photography class

Those eyes!

Must....grow...taller...

she loves to look in the mirror and make faces at herself

and pose for the camera

the dress ups they got for Christmas are getting some serious use! Arrrgh!

A few weeks ago I ran out of Dr. Pepper. If you know me, then you know this is a VERY bad thing. Since it has not been on sale and I am not a fan of paying $4.99 for a 12 pack, we made much more regular gas station runs and trips to Mom's house. When I finally restocked, this is what I saw every time I set my drink down. And in reality, this is always the case!

Sword=nose picker

Yay...Brynn can concentrate!

and be adoreable!

And walk!