I'm behind.

You knew it was too good to last, right? I'll play catch up with my holiday book this weekend, hopefully. We have Saturday and Sunday jammed with activities, but I'm hoping to find a little time in the evenings.

Here are a few peeks at my final shoots of 2011.

And a peek at what's coming...

I'm up to date!

I'm thrilled that my holiday book is caught up. I am also thrilled that it's very different from the book I did in 2009. I'm really trying to think outside the box on this one and include things that might not be expected.

I have a shoot that I'm presently editing and one more to do tomorrow. Then it's time for a Christmas vacation!  I'm excited about what's to come in 2012! I'm ready to do some upgrading in the studio. I need a permanent wall fixture to hold my backdrops. That's something I will research during my time off. I'm also excited to have booked my first wedding for 2012. I can't wait to celebrate with Erin and Jared!!  You will get a sneak peek later in the winter when we do their engagement shots. Can't wait!

Here are a few more studio favorites from the last few weeks. I am trying to be careful not to share any potential Christmas card shots! I did that one time and learned my lesson. Thankfully the client was my sister! ;)

Holiday Book Continued...

December 1...

This is always a special day at our house because the children love chocolate!

This beautiful family came to the studio last weekend. I just love the shots I got for them.

And just because I couldn't resist...

Our Tree Topper...

Do you even believe the cuteness here?

New Holiday Pages...

Are you impressed that I'm managing to stay on top of this project?

Beautiful nieces...and some Thanksgiving Day fun!

My Holiday Book...

Despite my crazy holiday shooting schedule, I'm on track with my holiday book. I would call it a December Daily book, but I decided to start with Thanksgiving. I wanted to include the time I spent with my Aunt Janie preparing for Thanksgiving dinner. Here are the pages I have so far. I'm not including the Thanksgiving day page because it includes our Christmas card picture. I'll post it later after I've sent out my cards. By the way...those are ordered! Now I just need to get control over the shopping list. My kids are done, but that's about it.  I normally finish much earlier, but I'm not stressing yet. I have one more week of shoots, and then I can concentrate on my shopping and wrapping.

I'm using book templates by Katie Pertiet at DesignerDigitals.com.  I decided to keep my background paper the same on each page and change it up a bit on each page by using other solids and patterns. I'm not sure how I will like that and may end up changing so that each page is the same.

I'm ready to work on today's page...should get it knocked out tonight. I have some adorable pictures to share. These will probably end up being a page in the book if I come up short. Sometimes I cheat. ;)

I've been struggling with Jake's behavior lately, so we started a star chart. He randomly earns stars by listening to me the first time I ask something. We promised a trip to FroYo when he filled his chart. Gummy worms are his favorite topping.

He randomly places those stars! ;)

He doesn't miss a drop!

I have another studio shoot to share. Laura and I were very close growing up. In fact...she gave me a surprise 16th birthday party! I'll never forget how special that made me feel! We lost touch after she got married and moved west. I thought about her a lot through the years and would occasionally hear updates when my parents would run into hers. I was thrilled when we found each other on Facebook! We've been able to keep up on FB for a few years now. She is a big reason why I love FB!

Her family came in town for Thanksgiving, and she asked me to take family pictures. I love her girls...LOVE them! They kept me entertained.