This Is Your Life

On Sunday I got to work with a family with 2 girls and 1 boy. During the shoot I couldn't help but think - is this what my family is going to be like a few years from now? They have the exact same kid "line up" as we do/will have in a matter of weeks - girl, boy, girl.

The youngest wasn't too thrilled about being in front of the camera, but she gave us some good pictures to work with anyway. Her brother cracked me right up. I can just see my Josh being like him a few years from now. He made me work for some good smiles and then when we turned our heads he had climbed a tree!

I think the whole 'dangerous adventure' thing has become a bit of a theme in my photo shoots...and it's got nothing to do with me. lol! My clients and/or their kids decide that they're going to do something crazy and without fail I end up having to say "I feel like I should have had you sign a waiver that I'm not responsible for physical damage..." And that's part of why I love doing this! :)

Enjoy your little preview! More pics to follow on the fan page! :)

Giggles, Adventure & A Bit of 2 Year Old 'Tude :)

I knew that I would have a blast doing pictures for this family because their kids are just too darn cute. But other than the cute factor, I didn't really know what I was in for. It is amazing how much you get to know people in such a small amount of time.

Melanie had told me ahead of time that her youngest (A), could be a bit of a stink about smiling for pictures. When it came down to it, what worked best was having A say that her brother stunk. Even I couldn't help but smile! I nearly busted a gut when Melanie told A to sit down and A said 'and do what??' like a teenager would or when she said countless times 'we done yet?'.

Miss E was just as much fun - giggling with every smile and SO cooperative! Big brother N was Mr. Adventure. I am not pretty sure that instead of having people sign a 'Model Release Form' that I should have them sign a waiver saying that I can't be held responsible for any bodily harm that their children cause themselves.

Thank you Melanie and Jay for allowing me to take capture these moments for you! I hope you guys had as much fun as I did. :) Looking forward to working with you again!

Seriously...aren't these kids just adorable??

New Faces, New Places

On Monday I had the pleasure of meeting Andrea Walker and her newly expanded family. Andrea was the winner of my 'Super Easy Contest' back in August (http://taracollyerphotography.blogspot.com/2010/08/and-winner-is.html). This past Sunday was actually her little guy's due date, but he decided to show up early to enjoy the fall colours and give his Mommy and Daddy something a little extra to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

We were getting some great shots amongst the mature fall trees and in a little field when I heard a riding lawn mower start up just past the trees on the lot beside us. I guess we were kind of/maybe/technically on 'Private Property', but I didn't think it was a huge deal as the fence was pretty much non-existant and we weren't really past the so called fence anyway. Regardless, I was a bit spooked and suggested that we move across the street to another spot. Just as we were packing up Mr. Riding Lawn mower Dude shows up and starts speaking with Andrea's husband. With the mower still running it was hard to hear what he was saying, but Andrea and I both thought we had heard him say 'what are you using the pictures for??' At that point I was nearly shaking in my boots - were we going to get in trouble? what would he do??? But, to my surprise and absolute amazement he was asking if we wanted to take some pictures with his horses!!! I felt like a kid that had just been offered candy! Of course, I said yes and we headed back to see the horses. This gentleman was absolutely incredible - grabbing carrots for us to feed to the horses and allowing us to just hang out on his property to snap some great pictures.

Thanks to Andrea and her wonderful little fam for travelling up to meet me (esp with a fresh babes!). Enjoy your little sneak peek (more on the Facebook fan page because I just couldn't choose!!)!

Keepin' Up With The Jones'

With all the hype of Thanksgiving over the past week or so it got me thinking about just how much we have to be thankful for. I've been guilty in the past of buying clothes for my kids because I felt like if my kids looked good in their clothes that it would give the impression that we were a well put together family and we weren't suffering financially. While cleaning out the kids closets recently I realized just how ridiculous I had been in that area. It made me sick to my stomach that I had been trying so hard to "keep up with the Jones'". Why?? Why do I care so much about what others think? The only person's opinion that I should care about is God's. So...I'm trying to make a fresh start. As tempting as it is to go out and just purchase whatever we WANT in clothes for the kids I'm going to wait and pray. Pray for God to provide the appropriate clothes for our kids. My kids DO NOT need amazing clothes and I want them to grow up appreciating what they have and understanding that God has provided for us.

So as much as I don't want to "keep up with the Jones'" anymore, I had to keep up with them on Friday. :) A little while ago our church had a silent auction to raise funds to send a team of people to Peru on a missions trip. As a contribution to the silent auction I offered a photo shoot. The Church Secretary, Charlene Jones, was the lucky winner.

I was so looking forward to working with these guys. Charlene is so friendly and has such a warm personality (great person to be a Church Secretary!) and her husband Bill is quite the character, trying to get his wife and daughter laughing during the shoot. I had a great time working with these guys and shooting in the gorgeous, warm fall weather (that felt more like summer!).

I hope that you all have a great Thanksgiving and thought about all the things that you really are thankful for.

Markham Fair

Yesterday we did something that we had never done before as a fam - we went to the Markham Fair. Scott had been several times before as a child, but we hadn't been with the kids. Grandma Gail came along with us too (and quite enjoyed the movie in the van on the way there. lol!).

We weren't sure how Josh would be with the kids because when we take him to the zoo he usually just chills in his stroller. To our surprise he looooved the animals. He even went so far as putting his hand out to the sheep! The kid had absolutely no fear!



Speaking of no fear...Leah had absolutely no fears whatsoever about going on any and all rides at the fair. She wanted to go on a whole whack of rides that unfortunately she wasn't tall enough for, but I was really surprised that she rocked some of the rides by herself!!



Little update on the kids this week:
Leah:
- her line of the week - "fine! I won't be your friend ever again!"
- we finally got to meet her friends from school at the BBQ on Thursday. Derek is just like her - somewhat loud and busy, but super cute (the little dude wears glasses! so adorable!) and Ireland - she is in SK but it looks like she's somewhat of a mentor to Leah, it's REALLY adorable! AND how awesome is this - her parents are Christians! It was great to finally meet these 2 as Derek seems to be the only person that Leah talks about from school (other than the few times that she's mentioned 'Ilerand' hehe!).
- Leah went on her first field trip this week (to the apple orchard) and afterwards she explained to Scott, Grandma Gail and I exactly how we should pick apples. School is definitely a growing experience for her. :)
Josh:
- his line of the week - a very loud, repetitive "BAH!" while sitting in the stroller after seeing the sheep. not sure if he was trying to immitate the sheep, but I like to think that's what he was doing. :)
- he loooooves raisins! (thank you Gioia!) I was really afraid to give him anything other than bits of bread and other soft foods, but thanks to our wonderful friend who is watching the kids while I'm at work he is loving raisins! but um...I really don't like changing his diaper after he has them. lol!
- he is walking like CRAZY these days. he's gotten so good at it that he's able to stand up on his own (no help from furniture, etc) when he falls. now if only he could go down the stairs by himself instead of being seriously scared - although it's kind of funny. :)
- although he's still not really saying much (there's just a lot of eeh eeh and grunting going on) he has said constant "Mamamamama"s and "Dadadadada"s this week
Baby:
- kicking Mama like craaaaaaazy this week. sometimes she kicks so hard that I jump!
- Monday marks 30 weeks!! um hello!?! where did the time go???