I was happy to run over to the Maumee Valley Country Day School Teacher’s party to take some quick shots of the yummy food that the Two Seasoned Chicks had set out.  They’re so versatile, this was a whole different spread from the bridal shower I shot earlier in the year, but still so delicious! This first shot is of the best bread I ever had:

And the wonderful ladies behind the food:

Right around the same time, I ran over to the wonderful photographer, Sarah’s house for a fast Christmas session with her and her adorable son.  Sarah recently moved into my hood and I ran into her while out walking the dog, I’ve been so lucky to get to know her better since then.  I’m excited to be going to a big photographer’s conference with her soon!  Isn’t her son so handsome?

First up in this set is another of my favorite families that I’ve had the pleasure to watch grow and it was so much fun to see them again, the last time was little brother’s newborn session and he has changed so much since then!  He and big sister were so in love with each other and it was really sweet to see.   Oh, and thank you for the card…I recently went out to the studio and got it after not being out that way for a while…love the card!!

This next mini was sort of an engagement session, I get to shoot this couple’s wedding next year!  It was so nice to meet you, I can’t wait for June!

And finally, another favorite and famous family…at least on the walls of my studio and the blog.  I always love seeing these guys, and was amazed at how big little brother had gotten!

Mom is a very talented graphic designer and I have loved seeing her cards the last few years.  But this year she outdid herself and I had to share some pictures!  How creative is this card??  Her website is linked above, under more of Toledo:  Viridian Creative

I hope to keep blogging more tomorrow…the third day of mini sessions, then my trip to Chicago to shoot the R family, then Stacy and Lonnie, Megan, Hayley and Matt, Colleen, Sarah, GerryAnn, Jody, Nancy, Rebecca, Kirsten and Scot’s wedding, Kimi, Sarah, the Two Seasoned Chicks (yum!), Rachel, Danielle, Elisabeth and Brett’s wedding, Bridget, and Heather…and maybe some from last night when I helped second shoot another wedding…and this week I have two newborn baby boys, a newly turned two year old, and two little girls to capture!  I definitely needed those days of rest!

I wanted to get back to catching up on the blog because I still have about 24 more to go to catch up.   Starting with the second day of the holiday mini sessions at the Whitehouse tree farm. First up is an adorable family…these three were so sweet!  It was so nice to meet you all!  And how cute is the little girl in her mom’s sunglasses?  These shots make me smile, it was so warm that day I think I was in short sleeves and all the poor families had picked out winter clothes for the session.  And to think tomorrow it’s going to be below zero, ick!

I had to add one more of little sister to show how cute her hooded sweater was

It was so great to see this next family again!  This little guy was just turning one around this time and I had the pleasure of taking his newborn pictures in his adorable room.  He was so happy and handsome at the minis…

This next family was another I had the pleasure of meeting at the minis.   As I was picking shots of each child for the blog, I realized I was choosing the same ones that they picked for the back of their card…so I included that here.

Love these, how cute are mom and dad?

More in a minute!

Cute, cute, cute!!!

This one cracks be up because big sister was trying to get the ornaments to stay on the tree…so intent on it!!  Of course I had none of those wire hangers for safety issues so she was trying to thread the tiny hole at the top onto the tree needles.

These next two remind me of Charlie Brown’s tree, I love her look of wonder in the second one…

Such a gorgeous family!

This next family was so much fun!  I hurt from laughing so much at with them

I think they had fun too…

I had to include this last shot…this family is one of my favorites and it was my third time seeing them…and they prefer to not have their pictures online…BUT I had to share the prop they brought, it was so cute in between the trees with the wreath

Only about 20 more posts to get caught up on the blog…I’ll be putting them up this week inbetween getting caught up on my Christmas shopping/wrapping/cards!  I hope everyone is enjoying the season and is more prepared for Christmas than I am!

Thsi first family is a favorite of mine…I’m so honored that friends from my kids’ school asked me to do their family pictures.  The middle boy is in my oldest’s class  and their youngest is my middle son’s new kindergarten buddy.  Dad is our soccer coach… they’re such good kids and we had so much fun!  Check out the handsome boys:

Such a cute family

This little one was in the studio for pictures not too long ago and it was great to see her and her mom again and meet dad!  This first one with her little belly hanging out kills me!

She’s so adorable and that outfit is too cute!

This was the third time I had the pleasure of photographing this gorgeous family…it’s been so fun to watch them grow!  The last time I saw them was almost a year ago when their little guy was a newborn!  I couldn’t believe he was almost one already!

The cookies from my favorite ladies at Two Seasoned Chicks were a big hit if you can’t tell from their faces!

The rest from this day will be up in a few minutes!

November 1:     SOLD OUT!

November 7:     3, 3:30, and 4:30 open

November 8:     SOLD OUT!

As promised, here is the information about my holiday mini sessions!  I just put them out through my newsletter and facebook and already they are almost gone!

November 1 – only 4 and 4:30 PM left!

November 8 – SOLD OUT!

If you are interested but can’t do November 1st and need a weekend date, please let me know!  I will be starting a waiting list and if I have enough interest I will add another Saturday or Sunday.

A few answers to questions already asked:  Yes dogs are allowed, yes these are great for couples too!  I’ll work to reschedule everyone if it is pouring rain, but if it snows I’ll be excited!  And my 2009 holiday card collection will be out soon!

Before I crash for bedtime, I wanted to share some sneak peaks from the mini sessions…feel like I accomplished something from my list!  I had some new faces and some repeat customers! I loved how everyone dressed perfectly for the setting!  All beautiful, beautiful girls!

And mom asked to add on a little time in the studio to get her in her dance costume, gorgeous!

Q was soooo adorable!

And I just loved his personality, we had so much fun!

He was VERY active, so the session consisted of lots of us chasing after Q and lots of fun running shots:

Toward the end he broke out a little air guitar, how cute is that?

Here’s a link to the story. Luckily there’s no video yet…we didn’t do the interview part until after I spent a good 30-40 minutes running around in the middle of the hottest, most humid day we’ve had yet this year!  Not a pretty site!  But Norm did a great job putting together my unorganized thoughts and tips and it was fun to learn that he is a photography professional himself with some great race car shots!

I can’t believe how fast this summer is flying by!  I am getting ready to head up to Detroit to go to a workshop, so I wanted to post about the mini sessions before I go.  I will be back Wednesday night, so if it takes a while to get an email or voice mail response back from me in the next few days that is why.  I’ll have my laptop, but I know we are going to be busy day and night…

And I know that I owe some sneak peaks,  I will try to get at least one more out before I go, but no promises!  It’s been a busy week and I have been working all hours to get some galleries and orders done before I go.  I also had a fun request from Norm Van Ness (a great photographer as it turns out!) over at NBC channel 24 and managed to fit taping a session and editing pictures for a “Darn Good Question” segment.  It will air either this Tuesday or next Tuesday at 7PM, so watch if you would like some tips on taking better pictures of your kids!

OK, mini session info:

The summer mini sessions will be colorful, fun, and nostalgic! I’m going to have several themes to choose from, and they will all be in cute spots around downtown Grand Rapids. Backgrounds will be picket fences, steps, flowers, or alleyways which I will choose based on the theme.

Themes (choose one):
Lemonade stand with bowl of lemons, old table & cloth, etc.
Watermelon slices with trike/wagon (or parents can buy an ice cream cone from a local shop)
Old- fashioned pull toy (for babies)
Colorful pop in glass bottles with straws: 7-up, orange crush, etc. (older children only)

I suggest colorful clothes and bare feet or sandals!

Dates:
Friday July 31 8:30 AM – 11 AM and 6 PM – 8:30 PM
Sunday August 2 8:30 AM – 11 AM
20 minute sessions every half hour, your session will be shortened if you are late.

Cost: $250 (plus tax)

You get:
Mini session fee, with at least 10 proofs viewable online
Designer 3×3 mini accordion album (see pictures below)
3 full resolution digital files on disk and loaded online at mpix.com
OR $240 credit toward prints at lower collection prices

Additional albums can be purchased for grandparents, spouse, etc for $25 each

Who:
Best for one or two children
Three or more children will be treated as a group with no promise of individual shots (I will try my best!)
Babies must be sitting and comfortable on the sidewalk or little red wagon