Baby G came the other day for a few family shots.  Towards the end of the shoot he started getting tired so I pulled out a large ornament for him to hold.  He wasn’t so sure he liked it at first . . .

But then he couldn’t get enough of it . . .

Seriously – could he be any cuter?

What expressions he had!

Your shoots are always so much fun G! Can’t wait for the next one!

Jacquelyn, the mom of the “P” family, was one of the winners this month of a free sitting – and booked right away.  I got to meet her four beautiful daughters at the Mines last weekend for this shoot – and what personalities they had!  Full of spunk and each one so different!  Here is just a sample from that day . . .

I love this one – oh the personality!

Work it, work it . . .

Thanks for the fun shoot – so glad you guys won!

Four kids, lots of smiles, a few frowns (maybe a little crying, but don’t tell anyone) and that pretty much sums up the “M” family shoot from today  -

Now this is some sheer talent – how many guys can hold a squirmy toddler and still throw a spiral football?

A few outtakes and then – perfection!

Thanks for the fun “M” fam – I’d do it again in a heartbeat!

Just in case you don’t know what I look like – here I am today with my three babes.   I wanted to have some fun with this photoshoot.  I wanted to laugh and play – I get to do that all the time with my customers but not so often with my own children.  Since my dad is up from NY (I get my photographic talents from him) I grabbed him for a bit to shoot some. 

The gorgeous “M” family stuck it out yesterday even though it was super windy and cold.  And how cute is Miss Molly, their lab?

Sometimes you find a good location to shoot at that you just fall in love with – this family property in Powhatan was simply gorgeous!  There were little pockets of amazing light that I LOVED! 

Normally on a shoot I will take 150 +/- pictures.  For this cousin shoot  I took over 300 – that tells you how much fun it was.  I had a hard time picking out what I thought was the best for this blog post – do I pick the best with my mommy eyes or my photographer eyes?  I couldn’t decide so I picked a few of both.  Hope you like them too!

and a group hug at the end – thanks y’all – I love when I catch myself smiling while editing and that happened quite a bit today!

Other than the fact that I drove my car into a ditch at the end of this shoot (haha – don’t ask!) I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard in a long time!  My cheeks hurt when I left this shoot today from smiling so much – that is how much fun these guys were!  Wouldn’t you love to be a cousin in this family?  I bet they will grow up together and be close friends. 

So . . . only five pictures for tonight because I promised I would have a gallery done ( and I’m still working on it) – but I will put up a few more tomorrow.  This picture makes me wonder what was going on behind me – haha!

and doesn’t the littlest one remind you of Shirley Temple in this picture?  I wonder what she was saying?

I said “show me some sass” . . . .and this is what they did -

If you don’t smile when you see this one you might be a grinch (just kidding!)

What an awesome time!  Thanks so much for having me out guys (and getting my car out of the ditch!)

So November 22nd is always a special day for me because not only is it my birthday (yippee – when you get to be my age having a birthday is SO darn exciting!!  Haha – NOT!) but my parents always come up from NY to visit and we have special traditions we do every year.  This year I didn’t think they were going to make it BUT . . . looks like they are going to come after all.  This means so much to me – my parents have been so supportive of my career, wishes and dreams all my life.  I miss seeing them and am so thankful they can come.  Which brings me to this blog post – that I am so thankful for my family, friends and wonderful customers (who very often become my friends) that I wanted to give something special away on my “special” day.  I want to give one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE things away  (I feel like Oprah or something).  A 12×12 cavnas from my favorite canvas place, pixel2canvas.  They are a husband and wife team who has twins,  based out of Las Vegas.  Let me tell you just one reason why I love them (*this is beside the fact that their canvas prints are the BEST around and will last for 100 years).  As Garry (my cousin w/the brain tumor) was given only a few days to live this September, one of his friends called me up and wanted to buy a large print of their family that I had taken over the summer.  We talked about what she was looking  for and I decided I wanted to kick in some money and together we were going to get a canvas.   If you don’t know anything about canvas prints, they are very expensive- but SO gorgeous!  At the time we knew the funeral would be sometime soon (and we were hoping to display this canvas there for everyone to see).  I called P2C because it typically takes a week for them to deliver a canvas all the way to VA (or NY in this case) and I didn’t know if they could print it in a few days, much less ship it that fast (without it costing a fortune).  I explained the situation to the CS rep, who not only said they would get the canvas to NY, but they would pay for the ENTIRE thing (canvas and overnight shipping) for Kristen, Garry’s wife.  I was completely speechless and could only blubber a few thank yous before I got off the phone in total shock at their generosity.  The canvas arrived two days later, in time to be hung in Garry’s hospice room for him to look at, and was absolutely the most gorgeous canvas I have ever seen.  The colors and richness of the canvas blew me away.  I was so thankful to the company for how quick they acted (so Garry could see it) and the generosity and kindness they showed us.

SO, with that being said, I am going to pay it forward and give away a canvas from my favorite company, Pixel2canvas.  This is a random act of kindness giveaway – but has a few rules.  

I love to have the first person who comments on my blog posts win something -but that is not always fair to people who work or have commitments – and for something this fantastic I want everyone to have a chance. 

So, between now and November 22nd, just make a comment on this blog post and you will be registered.  If you are a fan of mine on Facebook, mention that you will get two entries.

On November 22nd at 9pm  I will announce the winner. 

*** This contest is open to anyone who has purchased products from me (at anytime).  This includes fundraisers and portrait parties.  As long as you have purchased something in the last four years, you are eligible to win.

**** Also your name will not show up on the blog, but I will be able to see it on the admin. part of this site – so don’t worry if you don’t see your name.  You will be entered.

Yes, the “K” girls get to have two blog posts because I just don’t have enough time to get all their fantastic pictures from today edited for this post.  The “K” family won a contest I had on facebook a while ago and I was  SO excited to take their pictures.  Mom brought a bunch of clothes, shoes, and hair accessories to play with – how cool is that?  It made me miss the times when my girls were younger and I could pick out their clothes.  Not so much anymore. . . .

So the first day we met it was about 45 degrees and super windy.  After about five minutes we decided to try again the next day.  Thankfully the next day turned out to be awesome – sunny, warmer and not windy.  So a few of these pictures are from the first day – but most are from today.

See where they get their good looks? 

I loved to look at snowglobes as a child – this picture brings back that magical feeling you get as a child after you shake one up . . .

We had a lot of fun on this shoot – can’t wait to show you the rest!

So . . . if you’ve been following me for a while you might know that I love random acts of kindness.  I love to take people by surprise by doing something out of the ordinary because it’s so much fun!   At this moment in my life I am so, SO thankful that I am able to continue doing something I am so passionate about – that brings joy to not only myself but other people (my fantastic, wonderful customers).  What I have decided to do is every now and then during the month of November I will post on Facebook about random acts of kindness which will be linked to this blog.  Each time there will be a different prize.  The first person to comment on the blog post (NOT on Facebook because that is against their rules) will win.  Some of the items will not pertain to everyone (ex. 3×3 albums – you will have to have had a session to win those) – but other things like a free sitting fee will apply to everyone.  Keep your eyeballs open – these will be at all different times of the day during November (so everyone can play – night owls, early risers, working people, stay at home moms – whoever).  Maybe this will insprire you to do something as a random act of kindness -  it is a wonderful feeling to know that a little effort may have made someone’s day!

Mmmmk – go!  Someone post a comment and you will win . . . . . one free digital file (high resolution) that will be emailed to you.  This file can be printed to any size, any amount.

And now for a picture – because I can’t post without one.  My three lovies and Vegas, our funny lab.  What is so funny about this picture is that right after I snapped the shutter Vegas took off running after something and Maggie was running behind him holding on for dear life.  I was laughing so hard I couldn’t even yell at him – it was crazy!  That’s what I get for taking him out in public – haha!