puma weekend and a little edgy urban!

i feel like i am finally catching up with shoots and work and unpacking and...so much. it feels so good to cross things off my list:) i have been wanting to post some pictures from our time in michigan, so hopefully every week i will get that done, because if their in one thing that makes me feel instantly better...it is knowing that i have posted memories.

i am so that girl that saves just about everything for the sake of a memory. yes, i save movie stubs, old pictures...even really blurring, crumpled ones where you don't know who is in the picture. i save diaries, old stuff from school like brownie and girl scout badges, old homecoming and prom dresses, old shoes...ugly ones. you name it, i save it and with the birth of of my two babies...it's only gotten worse. i save most of peyton's school projects and when i actually have a fight with myself...convincing myself i have enough...i don't need more, i feel guilty and almost usually pull it out of the garbage hang it somewhere.

my new way of coping/accepting is throwing things in the trash and then pouring something on it...like spaghetti sauce or something really gross like raw eggs or old sour cream;0 it works pretty well. then i'm feelin' all cool and proactive on cleaning up the clutter and then BAM, "(whiny, pained voiced) mommy, you threw away my project. why did you throw away my project? (big brown accusing eyes staring at me)."

"i'm sorry sweetie, i thought you threw that away. i'm so glad you found that bc i love it! (little white lie), i'm going to hang it up right here on the fridge!!!!"

okay, i'm officially on a tangent. all i really wanted to write was i want to post some pics from our michigan trip bc i know that my blogging has really suffered since starting my business. i love to do both and i really want to better document our family experiences. it's so important, bc regardless of how much you THINK you won't forget in a year, two years,...ten years-we will. we will forget the little tiny details of our days and i so don't want to forget all of it.

here are some pics of my sister-friends...we have literally grown-up together and we try to take at least one day a year to go somewhere and hang...actually we do this like twice a year. last year we did chicago. this year for out annual puma party (i think a puma is what a woman is before she is a cougar???) anyway we went to a vineyard in michigan, had a two hour long win tasting and then headed back to net's lake house to get ready to go out for the night. like always it was amazing. love you girls! my cam died three pics in, so as someone so nicely stated to me after i about had heart failure, "well i guess now you have to enjoy yourself!" ;0

baby bro is feeling a little under the weather. i took him to the docs yesterday to rule out the h1n1??/swine flu. they swabbed him up and said..."no swine flu here! just a common cold!" whew. then, i learned that kids 5 and above can not get the swine flu shot unless are considered high risk. peyton just missed the cut-off:( i am so one of those peeps that wants her children protected, but worries about the side-effects. i feel lucky that we have vaccines available to us, but at the same time, as parents we are forced with the decision of getting them done or not/guilt both ways/pros and cons both ways. oye. lOL i just wrote oye!

i spy two sweet babies mesmerized by the snowglobes...

even though i am finding it hard to escape the beautifulness of christmas...even at bed bath and beyond...!!!!!! we are getting ready for halloween!

two words:

BAT GIRL

another two words:

BAT BOY.

another few words:

head-to-toe HOT PINK LAME' for peyton...WT????????

as i started to hyperventilate while losing all hope that peyton would choose something a bit more...cute, i realized how happy Peanut Butter (peyton and beckham) were. beckham said, "i have a SUPER cool costume, mommy. i bat boy!!" he then put his hands up like superman and ran fast enough that his cape would fly behind him.

peyton, looked at me and said, " mommy, i don't want to be a mermaid, i want to be bat girl with beckham!" she then gave me her best superhero pose...both hands on hips and she was workin' her stand to boot.

three more words:

i give up.

it is officially over for me. a ladybug one year, cowgirl, and then cinderella and tinkerbell last year...i made the choice the couple of years, went along with her choices last year but she still wanted my opinion. it's all over. no apologies, she's batgirl now!!! i admire her choice making with conviction skills-something i lack:)

they're so excited and i am so excited for halloween.

beckham kept saying this over and over last night, "this is my trick-or-treat day costume mommy. ye-yaaa!"

now on to a wonderful family i met and photographed for the first time last summer. caterina and her beautiful little ones are a joy to spend time with and easy to photograph. this gorgeous mama is starting a new chapter in her life and wanted to start it fresh with new family pictures. she recently moved to an urban downtown area outside of detroit.

she was not familiar with the downtown area, but i asked her if we could do some edgy urban shots and that i would find the location (with my sister, heather's help cause girlfriend has a cool apartment in the same town) and we would have some fun!!! she was all for it and then thanked afterward saying she never knew she could have so much fun in an alley (or a three!!!) welcome home, caterina. you are an amazing person!!!!! xoxo

xoxo

have fun and be safe this halloween!!!

happy birthday to my sweet friend, jenn!!!!!

you make 30 look great!!! i love you!!!