Kimberly

Seriously? The camera LOVES this girl!! If I knew all my photos would turn out this good, I'd definitely go into business! Kimberly looks SO beautiful, and it comes naturally. So fun to take pictures like this...and mama even jumped in on a few :)



Sharon

This sweet girl really works the hair. It looks good no matter what she does with it. It was kind of a prop in itself :) I think she had a good time, and I KNOW she loves her pics :)

Sharon & Friends

Of course they all have names, but to minimize the risk of misspelling, I have chosen to label them according to who was the spokesperson of the group. These friends had a great time during their "shoot". They knew of this awesome place. And now I do :)

Senior Pictures!

Because I love photography, I offered to take senior pictures of some of the kids' friends from school. By special request, I will be sharing my favorites of those photos with you. Feel lucky? Stay posted...

Scarlet Press

I know. This blog has been grossly neglected. I see that I last posted pictures of Janine's bridal shower...back in September!! Since then, she's gotten married, I cooked my first Thanksgiving turkey (quite successfully, I might add), Livi celebrated her first Christmas...and her first birthday :/ Yes, yes, pictures of the party, I know. I will. I must say, it was pretty awesome. But I'm still collecting photos from all the various cameras that were present. Anyway, the reason I'm finally here is to announce my latest endeavor: Scarlet Press. You know I love planning parties, making invitations and paper crafts, taking pictures, yadda yadda yadda. Well, I decided to actually start my own paper crafting business. Enter Scarlet Press. I will be making cards, invitations, announcements, postcards, whatever...for actual profit! So really this is just a shift from Pro Bono Parties :) I'm very excited about this new adventure! I've already been working closely with my dear friend, Lyndsay, who is an up-and-coming photographer in Larned, Kansas. I'm looking forward to the opportunities to expand my skill set, use my creativity (in a productive way) and glorify God in it all :) Want to check out my brand spankin' new website? www.scarletpress.net Take a look and let me know what you think...

This Is What I Do...

So besides running a household of 8 people (can't count Wesley anymore, as he doesn't live here) and homeschooling my children, and shuttling people hither and yon, I spend much of my "down time" planning parties. Lots of times I just make the invitations for parties friends might be throwing, but occassionally I get to do the whole shebang. This is the case with my friend Janine's bridal shower. Please enjoy the following photos of this event (and there are plenty of them, because photography is another activity I enjoy :))...

Practice Makes {picture} Perfect

Kori Friesen, the photographer who took Livi's awesome newborn pictures, does photography workshops periodically, and I was fortunate enough to get to participate in one this week. She taught me how to use my camera to its fullest potential. Of course, I have A LOT of practicing to do...and a lot of experience to acquire...but here is my start. The following photos were taken by me, setting the functions of the camera using my newfound knowledge (meaning not using any of the automatic settings). The first one is Joe and Janine, and I did manipulate the colors a little on the computer after downloading the image. The other 2 are my Livi Claire with no doctoring whatsoever.

Wit Via Text

I have some of the best conversations via text message with my sister-in-law. The following is an example of one such conversation:

Marianne: I have a mouse living under my desk in my room and he's been keeping me up at night :I
Tara: Oh no! The rustling?
M: Yes! And the little booger seems to know I can't get to it! It's fearless
T: Ack!...and what starts as fearless may become cunning. If he starts leaving you little threatening notes you may have to move!
M: It sounds like he's chewing thru wires with the express purpose of causing a devastating conflagration.
T: So who is he exacting revenge upon? Is he a vigilante mouse who lost the only female he ever truly loved? Did one of you perhaps kill a mouse recently?
M: Rascal!! And I think he may actually be the Joshua Mouse scouting out the Promised Land... the rest of the rodentalites are waiting in the laundry room for his report.
T: Better a mouse scout than a mouse scorned!
M: Hahaha!!! Duty vs. Passion. Love for his mouse-god and his mouse-people, or Love for his mouse-mate. Which is more dangerous?! When Rascal serves him up I will interrogate him till he squeals!

Look At This Face!!

Livi Claire, July 24th, 4 months old...


I challenge anyone to hold this baby girl and NOT plant a kiss on her. It's simply not possible.


Love, love, love this picture!! Such a happy girl... and she just loves her mommy :)


So content :) Yes, she's as sweet as she looks. She's almost always happy, never fussy. She melts the hearts of all who come in contact with her. Strangers offer, nay ask, to babysit her :)


Look at these bright eyes! Oh, precious girl!!

August 7th- my friend Amy just taught me how to take a photo into the sun... Livi still outshines it, though :)

Rid Me Of Myself

I KNOW my purpose in life. Why don't I live like it? If I am here to further the kingdom of God, why do I not spend each and every moment doing that? Any other action or endeavor is a complete waste of time, of my life, of me. But it's me that's the problem, me that gets in the way. If I ask God to rid me of myself, and fill me with the Spirit, to do His will, not only do I like the me I become, but I am happy, too. But my nature (my human-nature, my sin-nature) clouds everything, confuses the simple truth. If I follow my nature's lead, I think of myself, my wants, my needs, my time, what I want to do, how I feel, how I'm being wronged, how I'm giving more than I'm receiving... I'll tell you where it doesn't lead: to happiness and fulfillment. If I am made to serve my Maker, to do the work that He has set apart for me, then I pray that that will be my focus every day, every hour, every second of my life. When I pray God to rid me of myself and make me an empty vessel to do with what He will, I become more loving, more kind, more patient. I become the me He created me to be.

Newborn Photos!

Check out Livi's newborn photos! I'm soooo excited to share these. Livi looks angelic and the photographer (Kori Friesen) was awesome, the marriage of which produced these AMAZING pictures! There's really nothing more for me to say...the pictures speak for themselves...

This is in her room :). The background is part of the mural Todd painted.

Kori Friesen's company is called "Captured Memories Photography" and can be found online at http://www.korifriesen.com/. As you can see, she does amazing work. I'm so glad we were able to capture these once-in-a-lifetime moments of our baby girl :)