School update...

It took a month, but Jake does like school.  That first week was tough while he made the adjustment.  I couldn't believe that by Friday of that week, the counselor and the nurse knew him well. The second week wasn't much better.  He claimed to hate it.  He asked me to find a school where he could just ride the bus around and around and then come home.  By the third week, he was liking it.  However we had work related issues.  I got a note at the end of  this week that he was missing 4 assignments.  Seriously...how?  It's kindergarten!  The missing assignments were stuffed at the bottom of his backpack.  They were papers done during the day that he was suppose to turn in.  Someone obviously needs to listen to the teacher's instructions.  Week 4 brought some behavior issues.  Jake had one particularly tough day.

I'm happy to say that this week has been uneventful.  Behavior has been on track, and I think the work is being turned in.  He's happy.  He loves his teacher. 

In other BIG family news...Kate has decided to move out and get her own apartment.  I am super excited for her.  She's busy shopping for furniture and accessories.  It will be so nice for her to have her own, quiet space when she starts grad school in January. 

I'm way behind on sharing personal images because August was such a busy month for my business.  I picked up an underwater camera at Target...very inexpensive.  It's ok for fun shots like this.  I love that Jake even poses underwater!!

I also used the camera on our trip to the lake over Labor Day along with my good camera and my iPhone.  It made for an interesting combination of images.  There is only so much editing that can be done on some of the shots.  Here are a few of my favorites.

I love these crazy boys!

Our boat day was such a blast!  It was a little rainy and chilly at the start, but that didn't stop the boys from tubing.  My favorite part was docking at this awesome restaurant on the water for lunch.

 Another highlight of the trip for Jake was the huge arcade at The Track. I wish I had videotaped his reaction when he first saw it.  It was the biggest, loudest, most colorful arcade he's ever seen. 

Dan and Jake hit it big.  What a team.

Jake actually topped his sister's all-time winning family record of 500 tickets.  He won 800!

The funny thing is that they both had their big wins at about the same age.

This week Jake had a half day of school on Tuesday.  Henry was heading over to the pond in the front of our subdivision to fish.  I could not imagine why he wanted to fish when it was 100 degrees.  Nothing should bite when it's that hot, right?  Wrong.

Jake pulled out this big large mouth bass.  I was amazed.  Henry pulled out at least 10 smaller fish, too.  The boys did almost everything by themselves.  Papa taught Jake well, and Henry helped with the details...like hook removal.  We only had problems with this big fish.  Henry couldn't get the hook out, and I couldn't either.  We had to call Dan to bring up the pliers.  He got the hook out and showed the boys how to carefully return a fish this big to the water without hurting it.  I wish I had brought more than my iPhone along!

I'm getting ready to meet with another potential bride this weekend.  That is so exciting!  I've been meaning to post this before/after image from my May wedding.  It was my most favorite shot from the day.

My October Saturdays are pretty well booked, so I'm opening up a few Sundays for client sessions.  Email me soon to grab a spot!

Senior Guys...

In addition to all of my senior ladies this summer, I've been able to spend time with a few really great senior guys, too.  I know when a mom books for her senior son, she is the one who cares about these images.  It's usually not important to the senior guy.  The fact that the senior guy agrees to a shoot for her makes me love him before I've even met him. :) 

Senior schedules are always so crazy, so Matt and I met up on a Sunday morning to do his shoot.  There is a cabin at a park where I frequently shoot that actually belonged to a distant relative in Matt's family.  Mom thought it would be nice to shoot there, and I agreed.

 

Thanks, buddy, and good luck this year!

I had another very special senior guy shoot recently.  This senior guy is my nephew.  I still am having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that this is his senior year! 

 

 

Cam and I don't get to spend much time together just talking.  There is usually so much going on at family events.  I enjoyed this time.  I got to hear about his dreams and plans for the future.  Go for it, buddy...and good luck this year!  

Natalie...

I could tell from the first pose that Natalie's shoot would be so easy for me.  She is just a natural in front of the camera.  She's just as sweet as can be and FUN!  We had a blast...lots of laughs. 

Good luck with all of your big decisions this year, Natalie!