I just have to tell a funny story on myself in sharing these images. Check out this gorgeous kindergartner in the first picture. I was so impressed with her gorgeous hair and her older brother told me that she (with the help of her mom) irons it every day (is that the right terminology?). I said, “WOW! Would you believe that I don’t ever brush my hair?” They looked at me and without missing a beat, they answered right back in unison, “yes!” I love my super short messy hair, but I guess one byproduct is that it looks kind of like a bird’s nest on my head. Yes, I’m letting it all hang out here today!

If I can, I may be able to blog one more round of these sweet faces. For now, enjoy!

For instance: is that baby in the pink really giving me the finger?

Yes, I played peekaboo.

So funny to watch little sibs getting kisses and hugs from their big brothers and sisters. The hugs were not always welcome.

And how about the cheeks and lips on this first baby? I could have kept her all day long.

That’s just some of the fun I had. I have a really funny story to share, but I’m going to wait for the next post. It involves some really good hair and I want to show her picture when I do.

Some sneak peek images have already been posted on my facebook fan page–stop on by! Mamas, if you are on facebook and would like to have any of your images added to that album, add me as a friend and I’ll get one in there!

The theme: Simplicity. We’re setting up a very simple “room” and just having fun! We expect our kids to show up happy, silly, goofy, and laughing. If she wants to bring a favorite toy (exhibit A: my husband’s “Pooh Bear” from when he was a child–his mother saved it for us), or the rain boots he won’t ever take off, that’s awesome. The dates are March 5 & 6.

Of course, when I think of children and cherished objects, I think of my five year old and her pink blankie. This hasn’t always been her go to blankie–when she was a baby we had a small one with ladybugs and her name on it, and another that had castles and fairies, but as she grew, she decided she needed a bigger one. I think the important part of the combination is her thumb, anyway.

I do recommend that you go a step or two beyond what I did with my girl–seeing as how I didn’t brush her hair or wash the red marker off of her index finger (the index finger right under her nose). Oops.

If you are a local mom and want to support our MOPS group and get some beauteous pictures of your children (you do not have to be a MOPS member), you can sign up to be part of this event on the MOPS of New Hope website (don’t ask me for coupons or times or anything, because I don’t know). All of the coupon sales benefit MOPS of New Hope, and so does a portion of the proceeds from print sales.

Special thanks to Nathan Holritz of Photographer’s Edit for developing the presets which are the basis for these conversions (if you use Lightroom, click the link and get them!).

I have been having so much fun looking through these pictures this week. I wanted to do another blog post and had a hard time deciding between pretty faces, funny feet, and babies. Babies won. Check out some of the under one crowd:

I just finished a three day marathon shoot for a local MOPS group. It was really exciting and really tiring all at the same time. I don’t know yet how many families came through in those three days but I’ll just say I have quite a lot of pictures to go through! I’ve actually made it through one whole time and pulled some of my favorites… some are outtakes, some are funny, some are just fun. There’s probably not any rhyme or reason to why some are my favorites and some didn’t make the cut, but these were just too good not to share.

Mamas, I’ll be sharing these on facebook, too, so if we’re not friends on there yet, friend me and I’ll be able to tag you in your pictures!

We did this fundraiser for the first time ever last year, and it was a lot of fun (tiring, too, but mostly fun). Session coupons are $15 each–all of that money goes directly to support the local MOPS group. Each family has a 15 minute session (if you weren’t there last year, let me assure you, you can get a lot of shots in 15 minutes!) and receives a free 8×10 as a thank you gift from the MOPS group. We are selling prints and a portion of the proceeds from those sales will also go directly to the local group. Oh, maybe I should mention that we’ll be all about “play” this year… think bubbles, balls, wagons, trikes!

This shoot is open to the public. For more information, details, and to buy tickets, please do not contact me. I’m just the girl with the camera. All that kind of information is available by going to the MOPS of New Hope website. What I can do for you, though, is show you some pictures from last year. Enjoy!

I will close by mentioning that due to the work involved in this project (last year was 70 families in two days), I will not be scheduling family sessions in the second half of February through mid March. So if you are contemplating a family session for the first quarter, please go ahead and contact me now!

All of my mommas should have received an email from me this afternoon with instructions, reminders, and more details about what happens now. If you are a momma and haven’t gotten that email, shoot me a message and we’ll get you taken care of. Those same details are available online. It’s been a blast!

I have to say, I’ve really enjoyed doing this project. MOPS has a special place in my heart and it’s nice to know that I can give back to our group. The steering team who toughed it out with me and set up the whole thing was just fantastic (really, all I had to do before last Thursday was just show up with my camera). Wow, this sounds like it’s my last MOPS post, but it’s really not, because you know I have a bunch of Friday pictures to go through still!