Merry Christmas!

Well, the cards have been sent out!  Here are the winners for the photos.  It was hard to pick and when I send my cards out I always have my mother in the back of my head saying "but, you can't see their faces...but, he isn't smiling...but, it doesn't look like christmas"....so, this card was for my mother..and her generation of ladies.  I hope I made your card dreams come true!

Busy week with wrapping up the last "to do" things on my Christmas lists...yes, lists.  But, they are all good things and I am lucky to do them.  Santa's cookies got decorated last night, I am off to get more wrapping paper and wrap like crazy while Ava is at school and Jose is home to help!

Enjoy the snow everyone...we are so happy when it first snows.  Keep that feeling alive during the season.

Love and Peace,

goodbye

Another beautiful person has lost their fight with cancer.  Goodbye Maureen, you were much loved and my heart is broken for your family and friends who held you so dear.  It has been a tragic loss.  May gods light shine upon you and may he hold you in the palm of his hand.

one of my favorite portraits this year...

I just love the color and expression and the background and everything!

Thanksgiving!

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

It has been a while since I wrote, and wanted to just write a quick note.

Thanksgiving was wonderful once again.  My family went to my sisters house where we were joined by Jose's parents this year.  It was nice because we don't get to see them often (usually 2-3 times a year) and they usually cannot stay at a place close to us (they usually are most comfortable staying in Milford) but, this year they stayed at an Inn close to my sisters house and they were able to spend a good portion of the day with us.  We had a small gathering of 26.  The kids were great and had a blast playing with their older cousins.  Manny discovered the ever popular "baa baa clock" at my sisters and was obsessed with it.  Basically, it is a clock that is a coo coo clock, but instead of a coo coo, it has a sheep that looks a lot like a wallace and gromit sheep that comes out and baa's.  Ava used to love it and now Manny is obsessed with it.  He made anyone who was holding him take him over to the clock and make it baa for him.  (it has a little button that lets the sheep come out)

Friday we cleaned up the house, Ava went for a playdate that she was dying to get to with her friend from school, picked up our new minivan, and headed to quincy for our left over turkey sandwiches.  As you can imagine, there was not a lot left but I managed to have mine.  :-)  I am going to make a turkey just to have the sandwich because it is the best part of thanksgiving.

Saturday my mom came over and picked up Ava to take her to her house for a sleep over.  It was a little strange to not have her here and only have Manny here.  He really misses her and looks for her when she isn't around.  We decorated the house for Christmas...had no decorating fights this year...(amazing) and it was cold enough for a fire at night.  I totally crashed on the couch by the fire.  It was so nice to relax.

Sunday we headed out to meet up with my sister and her family to cut down a Christmas tree.  We went to Newbury to a tree farm but we were not impressed with the trees they had so we headed over to Newburyport for some lunch by the harbor, saw Santa come in on a boat, and the town had a tree lighting.  The stores in town are all little shops that are just delightful.  We got a couple of ornaments for Ava and Manny (his first, ava picked it out).  Ava got a Clara holding a nutcracker (that is what she was for halloween this year) and she picked out an elf boy holding a rocking horse for Manny.  The store had a million beautiful ornaments in it and it was hard to choose.  I left feeling like I should have just went ahead and got the "burger meister, miester burger" ornament...oh well.  We headed next door to the candy store and got a count down to Christmas chocolate goodies for Ava.  I think Santa may be bringing a couple of those HUGE candy canes just like the ones in the store....hmmm...if we are good!

Today the students come back on campus and I am back to work.  I have a senior portrait today and then I concentrate on my year in the life projects.

I am hoping to convince my husband to get our tree tonight.  The ones you cut down yourself are supposed to last a long time.  I hope so, we don't have a lot of free time to go get a tree this year so it looks like the sooner the better.

2 weeks of school and then we are on Christmas break!!  YAY...my favorite time of year.

Happy Holidays everyone!  I promise to post some photos...later.  ;-)

Twins!

Happy Birthday Ava!

Yesterday we  had a small party at my parents house for Ava's 5th birthday.  I usually throw a kid party for Ava each year, but this year I really just wanted to celebrate with my family and make it easier on myself.  My mother made home made classics in our family.  We had eggplant parm, sausages, meatballs, salad, bread, some rice croquets that were not rolled and fried...just rice this time...still yummy.  My mother had a really fun time preparing for Ava's party.  She decorated the dining room with the party decorations Ava picked out...all Strawberry Shortcake themed.  It was kind of funny because Ava doesn't have any strawberry shortcake dolls or even books, but she picked them out in the party store and the room looked very festive.  My brothers and sisters all came (except for Anthony who was at the Patriots game) and my nieces and nephews all sat around the table like little kids.  (they range in age from 27-17) so it was funny to see them all excited like little kids to have the party.

My friend Christine stopped by with her kids for a quick hello and I was so glad she came.  Ava loved her day and all her barbies that they all showered her with.  She slept with them last night and zoomed the barbie vespa down the hallway this morning first thing.  She was so happy and very very polite about all of her gifts really appreciating every single one.  I have some photos, but not many since I got to enjoy the party as well and every precious moment with my family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

another senior portrait...

I did this portrait last week, but have not had time to post...enjoy!  This kid is one of the nicest kids I have worked with.

ballet, cake and brother...

Happy Birthday AVA!!

5!  Today Ava turns 5.  I cannot believe it.  When she was born I felt like I had already known her.  I was so happy she was finally here.  She is an amazing daughter and I cannot believe how lucky I am to have her.

Today she is having a special barbie birthday cake at her school and I will go and take photos of her with her class.  Stay tuned for 5 year old photos!!  :-)

Senior Portraits continue...

Most senior portraits are taken during the summer months.  Seniors are excited to start school, and they have a glow of the summer still in their cheeks.  My seniors portraits continue during the year...this is because there is no rush to schedule a shoot during the summer when the senior is free...here at school, the senior is in their element...not all seniors I photograph necessarily want to be photographed...and it is really a shame...because they usually look like this:  (and yes...she DID NOT care about her photos...this was "for her mom")

Birthday Cake

I can't believe that Ava will be 5 years old on Wednesday.  It is just incredible how fast the time really goes and what happens in a short span of 5 years.  She has learned how to eat, drink, sit, crawl, walk, talk, sing, laugh, and now she is learning to read.  Our girl, 5.  In 5 more years she will be 10.  I was in 6th grade when I was ten.  I went on my first school trip when I was ten.  I liked my first boy at ten.  I hope her next 5 years are just as wonderful for her as the first 5.  In 5 years, Manny will be 5 about to turn 6.

Here are her cakes...(thats right...she is getting two...one for her party at my moms and one for her school on her birthday)...she picked them out.  :-)  The doll one is for school, and the strawberry shortcake is for the home party with just my family.

Workshop and photo shoots

It was an exciting weekend for me.  First, let me say how nervous I was to teach a workshop.  I have taught photography many, many times.  The class was always in a setting where I had complete control over the materials and the cameras.  I taught a workshop at an over 55 housing community that was so beautiful.  You could get lost in the village.  I had 23 people in my class and they brought their own cameras.  This is always tricky since each camera has the settings in different places.  Although, each camera has just about the same settings, most people do not know how to use their cameras and I would say a good 50% of them never read the manuals.  It was a fun class and a challenge.  All in all, I got really great reviews (they had to fill out an evaluation) and I am considering doing it again teaching them how to use their cameras.  This one was mainly how to store your images and where you can print them.  I also gave a little instruction on how to take a "good" photo...something a bit more dynamic.

Following the workshop I headed home to meet up with my family, have some lunch and then head back out to take some photos of baby Patrick.  He was so adorable and smiles so easily.  It was nice to have some quiet time with my friend too while I shot a few photos of him.

After the shoot I headed to my sisters house where my family was patiently waiting for me.  We spent the remainder of the night there and had dinner.  My nieces and nephews where there making it an intimate gathering of 10.  (if you know my family, you know this is a small number)  We had a lot of laughs and my family really spoils my kids with attention.  My nieces and nephews all play with both of them...the boys even play barbies with Ava...it is so funny and fun to watch.  Ava really cracks them up and they are all much older..(the youngest a senior in high school).  The kids are at such great ages (my nephews and nieces) because they still like to play and pretend to be little again without having it be a bother.

Sunday we had a quiet day and it was wonderful.  We did the mundane...had some breakfast, went grocery shopping, had a fire and some home made soup.  These days are very few for us because our weekends are always filled with places to run to or work that has to get done.

Here are some photos of baby Patrick...I could just kiss those cheeks!!!

its been a while...

It has been a long while since I last posted.  I hope these photos from the past few days/a week will make up for the lost time.  Enjoy.  :-)

Todays shoot on campus...

We have a BEAUTIFUL campus here in the fall...

Parents weekend

These past couple of days were parents weekend at the school.  The parents come and have parent teacher conferences with the teachers.  There are a lot of athletics on campus and there is opportunity to raise money or in my case have a table promoting my photography.  I have done this in the past and it is always successful.  The past two years have been difficult for me to have the table because of personal reasons, but this year I was all set and more than ready to have a nice display.  It really pays off because parents can talk to me face to face and it reminds them about me.  It was very successful and I am happy I had the time to do it this year.

I was off to a photo shoot later on...one of 5 in four days.  Here are some shots from last night.

photos, photos, and more photos...

I made it through my week of photographing very well!  I really love my job, so it makes it fun to work.  I have another busy week ahead of me...6 shoots and a table for parents weekend showcasing my work...I love being so busy right now.  The mad dash to the holidays has begun.

Some photos to enjoy...