He loves to help.

You've seen him in the kitchen. Here he is outside. Dan was heading out to rake leaves, and Dan can not go outside without his little follower. Sure...it slows down the process, but I keep reminding Dan that someday soon he will have to threaten to get outside help!!

Yes...our grass really does look this gorgeous...thanks to Dan. He rebuilt our burnt out yard this fall, and it looks amazing. People stop him all the time to ask what seed he used and what he did. 

The boys brought me the last beautiful rose on my smaller rose bush. It's so special to get a rose. Thank you, St. Therese!

I am FINALLY feeling better. I've been battling this sinus thing for awhile and even got an antibiotic last Friday. I didn't take it. I was determined to try to beat this myself...and I think I did. I am feeling much better tonight. My fingers are crossed that tomorrow is good. It's crunch time to get ready for Thanksgiving. Did I mention that I'm hosting it...for the first time?  I've been in denial for most of the month of November, and then I decided that I better buy turkey before it sold out everywhere. These things happen, right? So..Friday I dragged my sick self out to the grocery and bought turkey.  Denial over. My aunt is coming over on Wednesday to help me do most of the work. Everyone is bringing food. I think I'm good. No stress!!

Kate's friend, Tom, came in town to see her this weekend. Tom is a very good friend...as close as you can get without making it official, I guess. It would be hard for them to be official since he's going to school in Florida right now.  They met at Duke during Kate's second summer program. After we took them to dinner, I convinced them to pose in the studio. I know Kate is happy that they did.

I also got some adorable family shots that I'll share soon. I'm hoping to use the tripod to get some over the weekend that include me!

Tom won Jake over pretty quickly. I clued Tom in that Jake was obsessed with sewers. Tom said something like, "Jake, do you like sewers?"  The look on Jake's face was priceless. He was so surprised and excited that Tom would bring up one of his favorite topics. Tom said, "What can you tell me about sewers?"  Jake looked up at him and said, "Sewers are eberywhere!" We all giggled!

I hope to get back here with more pictures to share before Thursday; but, if I don't, Happy Thanksgiving, my friends!

Run the show...

The kids do. They run the show...at least when I'm the photographer. It's all about keeping them happy. Reagan had her smash cake session to celebrate her first birthday. Here's the thing. She wasn't in the mood for cake. This was about as close as she got.

Jake even tried to coax her closer. He took a taste and encouraged her to do the same. Nope...not happening today for Reagan. 

It was ok with me. Maybe another day, Reagan. I'm sure Mom thought we got nothing. Surprise, Mom! I love these!!!

It doesn't matter.

I keep repeating these words to myself. I am so behind. It doesn't matter when I'm loving what I'm doing, right? I'll eventually catch up, won't I?

I finally bought turkeys yesterday. I was afraid if I didn't act soon, stores would run out. What do I know? I've never hosted Thanksgiving before! So...they are in the freezer. It's a step in the right direction.

Kate's friend, Tom, came in town from Miami to visit this weekend. We took them out to dinner tonight. It was so nice to be together. Once we got home, I convinced them to come down to the photo studio. ;)  I got some ADORABLE shots. I'm hoping to get them edited tomorrow.  In the meantime, I have some pictures from another shoot to show you, just finished the pictures of all the kiddos in Jake's preschool,  took a few pictures of a one year old today that I am still working on, and am doing a mini session tomorrow.  It's been a busy week. On top of it all, I've had a slight cold...more of just an aggravation. I have fluid in my right ear that is driving me crazy, and I am wondering if I'll have a voice tomorrow. This is like day 8, so it should be winding down, right?  Tell that to the cold!

Drew, Nicholas, and Sam came over last week for pictures. We actually did two separate shoots since Sam wasn't super happy the first time we tried. Drew and Nicholas are such big boys and really hung in for both of the shoots. They were treated to some time in the big bounce house once they were done!  You might remember these faces. I did a family session for them right after the baby was born. :)

I'm scared.

We were just driving home from the mall when Jake announced, "I want a gun for Christmas."  I asked him what kind. He said, "A big one."  Oh brother. What should I do?  Do I buy one and possibly encourage behavior I'm not going to like, or do I ignore?  I just realized as I was typing this where it came from. He watched Home Alone on Monday. Now he thinks he is Kevin. He is jumping from and tumbling off of furniture. Kevin is armed. Now Jake wants to be armed, too. I'm thinking no more movie and no gun. Despite this he hasn't lost his sweetness. He told me at breakfast this morning, "I love your kisses. I love your hugs. I love eberyting."

I've been a busy photographer, and I need to get posting! I have one shoot I'm editing and am involved in a picture project for Jake's preschool. My pictures of the kids in black and white will be framed and displayed at Trivia Night. Parents can then purchase them and the proceeds will go to the school.  I'm really excited about this because it will be great advertising for me and benefit the school.  I will be able to post a few samples after I check with the parents for permission.

My studio is really shaping up. I am excited to have this to use over the winter and will be running some winter specials.

Jake asked if he could pose with one of my new chairs. I've been adjusting lights to find the perfect set up, so I was so happy that he asked. Look at the cute shots I got!!!

Of course, he had to get silly, too. Do you like his choice of prop? I never thought to drag in a laundry basket. ;)

Yum!

This weekend we were treated to a fabulous dinner at Dan and Kathy's house. They have friends who are amazing chefs. They prepared a gourmet meal for us that was just incredible. Seriously...dinner on Sunday night was a letdown. What are you going to prepare after eating a meal prepared by two chefs?

Kathy's house looked gorgeous. The wine was amazing thanks to my Dan. The conversation was fun. The kids were angels...thank you, Jake! Thanks to Dan and Kathy for allowing Jake to tag along! I should have taken more pictures. I put my camera away right before the meal was served, and I was then too focused on the food to think about dragging the camera out again. My favorite dish was the pasta. Of course, the pasta was handmade. I got a shot of it hanging in the laundry room before boiling time! It had a wonderful cream sauce, butternut squash, and walnuts. I could eat it every night.

I think this is going to be a food themed blog update!

Kate came by to pick up a few things on Saturday and ate the last hunk of banana bread. Her brother wasn't too happy about that, and we did happen to have some overripe bananas lying around. So yesterday we made banana chocolate chip bread.

 Do you believe I left him alone with the sifter??  What I won't do for the shot!!  By the way, he got just a little bit on the counter. He did really well!

 We buy pasteurized eggs so I don't have to worry about the testing!

I prefer to make mini loaves and freeze what we aren't using immediately. Here is the recipe in case you are interested. I got it from my friend, Christina.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup butter
2-3 mashed ripe bananas
3 tablespoons milk
2 cups sifted whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Cream sugar, egg, and butter with mixer until fluffy. Combine bananas and milk in small bowl. Sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda in medium bowl.

Alternate (stirring by hand) the first 2 mixtures (creamed mixture and banana mixture) into the sifted mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

I bake 4 mini loaves at 350 degrees for approximately 35 minutes. The tops should be brown and cake tester should come out clean.

Congrats to my daughter!!! She made the Student Admissions Committee team at her university and will now be conducted campus tours for interested families!