The Art of Life

…but things have been very busy! Lots of sessions done this summer & fall and many more to go…yet no time to blog. I will try to get back to blogging more regularly as soon as I catch my breath.

On a similar note…I am currently BOOKED for 2009. And I will not be scheduling any sessions during December or January. If you would like to get on my list for late winter/early spring, just let me know.

I hope everyone is staying healthy and warm…hard to believe winter is nearly here again!

I just wanted to give a quick update regarding business. As many of my readers know we are a homeschooling family…with crazy amounts of {great} stuff going on around here. I have always done my best to balance work with my kids at home with me 24/7…however, this year, with a 2nd grader & a pre-Ker, my level of work involvement will be substantially decreasing. I am so passionate about what I do and it is a huge release for me, so I cannot give it up completely (and my wonderful husband has already made arrangements for additional work to cover the loss of income), but my schedule for work is now very part-time. It has just become impossible to do it all…by the time the kids lessons are done, chickens fed, gardens tended, meals made & cleaned up, laundry, housework, errands, etc. its 10 at night and next to impossible to sit at the computer for hours and work like I used to. So, I just wanted to say that while I am still going to be taking sessions, it will be on a very limited basis. Also, since my office hours will be reduced, it may take me a little longer than usual to return calls…but I can assure you that for those clients I am working with I do give my all!

We had a wonderful summer & I truly enjoyed all the great sessions I was able to shoot this summer…some great friends were made in the process
We are back on the school routine now and waiting for all the activities to start back up.
life is good…

I had the honor of photographic this beautiful family at their friends lake house and I just love love the way these have turned out! So much beauty and love and joy and fun in this family…and lots of action with those three sweet boys! I know mom has been so patiently waiting for this sneak peek…and here it is…

{click on images to see bigger}

Thank you G family for letting me share an evening with you & those oh so handsome boys!

One of the greatest blessings I have ever received from my work as a photographer is the connections I get to make with people and the joy of watching a family grow. I photographed this family the first time for their maternity session of their now 2&1/2 year old beautiful boy…and now, many sessions, laughs, and chats later, I got to photograph their newest addition, baby K. And what a handsome boy he is. Welcome to the world, little man

And lest his equally adorable and wonderfully spirited big brother be forgotten…

Thanks so much P family for letting me spend time with you guys…and for letting me love on little baby K

Hope you all have a wonderful & safe 4th of July! God Bless America!

Just a quick note…I will be out of town next week, the week of July 6th, and will not be able to respond to emails or calls. If you send an email or leave a message I will get back to you when I return. Thank you!

I am still here! Sorry for leaving my faithful visitors hanging for the last 4 months! After receiving a few “where are you?” emails I figured I better post something! Life has been completely busy since fall. I have taken a short hiatus from work and it was much needed. After Christmas my mother-in-law made such a miraculous recovery that she came home and since then has been faithfully involved in rehab and is back to her old self! What a wonderful blessing…we are so thankful to have her back!

At the end of February we began a huge remodeling project of our house, removing a main, weight-bearing wall, gutting our kitchen & replacing the floors in over half of our house. We did all we could ourselves and it was a tremendous amount of work and stress, but we are greatly enjoying the new kitchen and are so thankful to have done it!

We went from this (which we had already painted/removed cabinets & attempted to improve upon the very 1970 hideous kitchen we moved into 2 years ago):

to this:

We designed it ourselves, did all the painting and demo ourselves and we worked with some awesome people to get it finished. It was a LOT of work but I could not be happier…it feels like the entire flow of the house has changed and just finishing something that had felt unfinished for so long was like a weight lifted.

We have also added some new members of the homestead, six ladies and one gentleman:

My dear husband has been slaving away to get their coop build and last night they were finally able to leave our old aquarium and enter their coop! We are really looking forward to enjoying their eggs in a few months!

And…on the subject of adding more animals to our household…our 9 month old tiny girl cat had her own babies 2 nights ago and boy are they cute!

My girls turned 7 & 4 this spring and its hard to imagine how fast the time has gone by! They are growing up…sniff…sniff

[and no...I did not style her like this...she did this all herself...a day in the life of the homeschooled child ]

when did my baby sneak up and turn 4???

I have started slowly taking on more sessions so I have some upcoming sneak peeks and I also have some favorites from last fall to share…so little time to keep up with it all! I have managed to update some of my website galleries so check those out…you may find yourselves on there somewhere! I will try to post again soon…I have an almost endless arsenal of images to share! Just wanted to catch up and say…I am still here! and now once again scheduling sessions on a very limited basis.

I know I have been MIA for a while…it has been a nice break, as I have been able to get some house projects completed and others planned, I got all my bookkeeping done & have just been enjoying the days at home with the kids. As you may know, we are a homeschooling family, and as my oldest daughter nears the end of 1st grade, my responsibilities as her teacher (& mother!) have increased. So, this is why my sessions will be more limited in 2009. However, I have added some new options (like digital offerings, super easy build your own collections for maximum value as well as spending bonuses!) so there is really something for everyone this year…as well as incredible value!

I am back in action now, scheduling sessions for the rest of winter & the spring so call soon to get on the schedule as it will fill up FAST. If you did not get my newsletter, I will let you in on on my newsletter deal (but if you sign up for the newsletter you will get the scoop next time!)

Any session booked by March 1 (for a session scheduled before November 1st) 2009 will receive a complimentary 5×7 print AND be entered into a drawing for a set of 25 2-sided Christmas cards!

Also, for all newborn sessions booked and held in 2009 will receive a complimentary set of 25 2-sided birth announcements (session must be held in the first 7 days after babe’s arrival).

I am looking forward to a great year & meeting new friends as well as revisiting old friends! God Bless!

I just want to wish everyone a wonderfully blessed & safe Thanksgiving! There is so much to be thankful for…and as an American I am overwhelmed with thanks and appreciation for what our forefathers went through and the sacrifices that have been made to provide us the freedoms we have today…freedoms that we need to protect & respect. I just love America…and I am thankful it is my home.

God Bless America & Happy Thanksgiving!