Adorable Avery

I have a sweet spot in my heart for girls named "Avery" because it's the middle name of one of my daughters. But even if this little one had been named Alfalfa or Timbucktoo or some other ridiculous name I still would have adored her. A squishy two-week-old babe with fuzzy red hair...what's not to love?

Oh yea....we even managed to work Big Bro into the shoot. Don't ya love his vintage bike?

Little Munchin

You may remember Callie from her newborn session, but you probably wouldn't recognize her. She's grown so much! She's a cute little munchin. See for yourself:

Look how well she fills up Nana's antique bowl!

This little outfit was to die for. I was especially fond of the itty bitty hat!

"Heeeeey. What's happenin' " :)

Here's one with a vintage look. She looks like a little porcelin doll to me.

And her sweet ride: the antique buggy.

I Spy With My Little Eye....

....ME!

I was proofing a recent baby shoot and I just happened to catch a glimpse of myself in her itty bitty eyeballs. Pretty neat, huh?

Anti-Procrastination Night

So, tonight at roughly ten p.m.-ish, I set aside some time to catch up on all those little things that have been on my "to-do" list but I haven't had time to finish. Don't you hate those? Every time you walk by, it's like they are taunting you: "You'll NEVER get around to finishing me!" Tonight was officially "anti-procrastination night." Or should I say, last night and this morning was officially "anti-procrastination night" since it is two a.m. now.

What have I learned from this experience:

1) You can get a lot done in a little time without distractions.
2) If you are working late, turn on as many lights as possible--it will boost your energy a little bit.
3) Act like casino management: hide the clock until you're done.
4) The little nagging things don't take as long as you expect. Case in point: there has been a stain on my carpet that has been driving me batty, but I just have not put it at the top of my "urgent!-these-things-need-to-get-done-right-away" list. Consequently, I have walked past that stain every day for a month and it has added a lot of stress to my life. Tonight, I sat down with my handy-dandy little green machine and--I kid you not--in less than three minutes, the stain and stress were gone. If I had just taken three minutes out of my schedule to attend to the stain, I might have experienced fewer headaches in a month's time.

I should have learned this lesson long ago when I first found the FlyLady online ("anti-procrastination night" is actually a variation of her "anti-procrastination day"). FlyLady's mantra is: "you can do anything in 15 minutes." Try it: it's true! I've cleaned an entire kitchen from top to bottom in less than 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, your office desk can be completely cleared. In 15 minutes, you can pick up your entire house. Set a timer and be surprised, I tell ya. I don't really follow the FlyLady plan, but there are lots of tips that I've incorporated into my family life and my business life.

The moral of the story is "things don't take as long as you think" and "never start a blog post at 2 a.m." :)

Courtney ~ Senior 2008

Not much time to blog today (you know, the end-of-the-school-year craziness with the kiddos), but I wanted to share a few from Courtney's senior session. These were done in the Camargo metro area (okay...for those of you who aren't locals, that was a joke--Camargo is teeney-tiny). Just goes to show you that there are great places for photos even where you least expect them! Did I mention that was named an All-Stater in Fast-pitch softball and her team just won their second all-state championship in softball? Go Leedey!

This one is really sweet. Her mom wanted a picture by the tree they planted in honor of their first son who died at birth. Courtney is their second child. You can really see how time flies--look how tall the tree has gotten!

I love senior sessions--they are so much fun!

Speaking of which, if you are part of the class of 2009, it's never too early to start booking your senior photo sessions!

Megan Franks of Four Seasons Photography provides custom senior photography in Elk City, Hammon, Camargo, Leedey, Clinton, Weatherford, Woodward and the surrounding areas of western Oklahoma.

Happy Mother's Day!

Lookie at what I got for mother's day:

A gem of a birdhouse (with custom wrapping paper, no less).

And a one-of-a-kind stepping stone!

But as much as I love my wonderful gifts, the best gift ever has to be these two little critters:

For all the moms & moms-to-be...hope you had a blessed Mother's Day!

What I WISH Today Looked Like

...but today the sky is a sad shade of grey (this one was from a beautiful February morning, if you can believe that). That's okay because May showers bring, well...May flowers, right??

Happy Sabbath

Something different...I loved the angles in the room: on the ceiling, on the cross and behind the cross. Hope you are enjoying your Sabbath day!

When Two Became One: Scott & Elizabeth

Ready for a really long blog post? Buckle your seatbelts, 'cause here we go....

So, without further ado, here's a handful of images from Scott & Elizabeth's big day:

I love the excitement in Elizabeth's face as she tells her daughter how beautiful she looks. Aw...a sweet mommy/daughter moment to start the day!

Doesn't she look gorgeous? The fluffy tulle taught Miss K a lesson early in her life: beauty can be painful! We had to do some serious work trying to keep her mind off of how "scratchy" her skirt was. :)

Scott & Elizabeth chose to see one another before the ceremony. Elizabeth had to pyche herself up before she went into the room to meet Scott. She was taking deep breaths and waited a long time before she would even tap him on the shoulder so he could turn around to meet her. Of course, there were a lot of tissues involved soon after.

I love this one.

Here's Scott and the boys. Don't ya love the chocolate brown tuxes? They were a funny bunch, I tell ya!

(Case in point)

The ceremony went smoothly and beautifully and soon, we were off to the reception.

The reception was held in the Ballroom at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Scott & Elizabeth met at SWOSU. Elizabeth said that Scott was afraid of her when they first met, but I didn't confirm it with him--lol.

Brides are so detail oriented. Aren't these treat boxes too cute? The "P" is for Elizabeth's new last name!

Of course, there was cake cutting....

There were some casualties.



Then it was time for dancing. The first dance was with Elizabeth and her grandfather to whom she is very close. They danced to "That's My Job" by Conway Twitty. More tears!


This is one of my most favorite images of the night...but I didn't take it! Nope, this was taken by my super-duper assistant/photographer-in-training and husband-on-the-side: Tim!


See? Here he is in action. But I digress....



Let the dancing begin! Leave it to the dynamic duo of Elizabeth and Kelbie to get things started. You may remember them from Elizabeth's bridal session.

They just kicked their shoes off and danced the night away!

I've got to tell you how very, very much I enjoyed getting to know Elizabeth & Scott. They are sweet and funny and it was so nice to witness the deep love they have for one another. I'm so glad you guys let me hang out on your wedding day! Thanks!!

For more fun, check out a short slideshow of some of the day's events HERE.

P.S. Just in case you are in the wedding market: Jody Lang of Weatherford was the wedding coordinator and Chris Henson with Radioactive Disc Jockeys was their D.J. They both did a great job!

Megan Franks of Four Seasons Photography can photograph your wedding day in Weatherford, Elk City, Clinton, Woodward and the surrounding areas. Visit www.fourseasonsphotos.com for more information.

Stay Tuned

Scott & Elizabeth's wedding day coming soon!

Paradise for Little Girls

Tuesday was H's birthday. It was also the day that we were scheduled to be in the Dallas metro area. Lucky her: she got to spend part of her special day at a special place called The American Girl Boutique & Bistro.

Maybe you've never heard of American Girls. The company boasts that its goal is to celebrate girls of strong character. They have a line of historical character dolls--each with their own line of storybooks--that follow the life of girls throughout different periods of American History. I love 'em! It's a great way for kids to connect with the past. They also have Just Like You® Dolls that are designed to look like the child and a line of baby dolls ( Bitty Baby® ) for little girls. Before I ever heard of American Girl dolls, I first heard about the magazine whose motto is "You're great--just the way you are!" Who wouldn't like that?

There are only a few American Girl stores; we were fortunate that one is located in Dallas (the others are in far-off exotic lands like L.A. or Chicago). As we sat outside the two-story building waiting for the doors to open, I must admit, even I was pretty excited.

See? We were all giddy waiting for those doors to open!

H's doll is Nellie, an orphan from the Victorian era whose well-off best friend Samantha helps her secure a better life for herself and her sisters.

This is Bobo's Bitty Baby® named Chrissy (because she got her for Christmas).

Really...Where do you start in a place like this?

Maybe the doll hair salon?

Yep, you heard me right: the doll hair salon!

Nah...just head straight to the dolls!

Or the doll accessories....

These are no ordinary dolls, my friends. They are TALENTED dolls. They can play piano, ride horseback, rollerblade, do ballet, read...you name it! We were particularly fond of this gal as H is the resident fiddler in our family.

Pure, unadulterated joy! (You don't see that very often--lol!).

At the end of our day, H gave me a hug and said, "This was the best birthday ever." All we did was take them shopping and let them spend some of the money they had been saving...but I'll take credit for it anyway! :)

If you have little girls and are in the Dallas area (Galleria Mall), I highly recommend checking this place out. Be forewarned: the dolls are expensive, but there are accessories and books for any budget. Even if you don't buy a thing, it makes a great mommy-daughter outing that is sure to be remembered!