Hodge Podge

So to say this is a Hodge podge of a post is possibly an understatement. To say that I've been crazy lately is definitely an understatement. But they always make for the most interesting times, don't they? Chaos ensues around me. I'm learning to be zen- whatever that means. I take it to mean "block out the disaster of a house while you proof and order clients pictures" or "step over the crap on your way out the door to buy more crap- er,did I say that? um, I mean Christmas Presents- spread that holiday cheer!"

Yeah, I had a mini melt down this morning when I was trying to gather all my gear to do another shoot at the dealership, get Isabelle fed and out to school (OK, so those McDonald's burritos she loves have been her breakfast way too much lately- I think they know my car at the drive thru) and my dear husband calls from work, like I have NOTHING going on today, and asks me to find all the movies that should have gone back yesterday. Oh, and I got bubble wrap stuck to my foot while I was searching for the stupid movie under all the unmatched socks strewn all over the floor because my darling daughter loves to dump all laundry (folded or not) on the floor. Oh, and that darling husband had to have me "find his socks and a shirt please before I have to leave?" and "could you get those bills out in the mail" while you're at it? Yeah- it was more like a nuclear melt down. Nothing Mini about it. Only Isabelle was there to witness it- though she may be scared for life- or she may have not noticed a thing... A girl can dream, can't she?

OK- so back to the Hodge podge- I have some stuff to share. Like I said, I've been busy lately. I'll share just a few of the images from the MANY I have yet to proof and edit. Alex and I went to NYC (was that last weekend? or the weekend before?- OK, so it was the weekend after Turkey day... whenever that was? It was incredible. I was meant to live in the city- I swear it. I LOVE it there. So did Alex. It was just he and I. We went to see Mary Poppins. I had big plans for the day- FAO Swarz, Central Park, Times Square, the show, the Hard Rock, and the SUBWAY. Yeah, never been on the subway- not sure how it works, how you "do" it. We walked it all in the end- I didn't want either of us to miss a minute of the city. We walked from Macy's to Times Square with a few stops along the way. Wandered over to the square, checked out the hard rock (though it was too busy to get in before our show) took pictures the whole way. I think I'll share some of his in a later post. We didn't do anywhere close to what I'd had planned, but in the end, it was amazing. The show was incredible, the place was magical. The windows at Macy's were beautiful- oh and the Pizza we had for dinner was the best I've ever had.










Also, I've been doing family sessions for the employees at the Dealership. I've had quite a few great images come from these shoots, but I only have a few prepped to share... no back story here though- just images for you. Seriously cute kids though- it's fun taking pics of other peoples' kids- they listen a little better!








Love this- the sky was beautiful- Thanks Rob, for pointing it out to me!


well, I hope you enjoied- I have more to share, just not ready yet. Isabelle had her first Christmas Pageant ever today, so I'm hoping that my pictures from that can be salvaged- I had to use ***hanging head in shame*** on camera flash to get the pictures... so we'll see.

My favorite thing today:

I was working on some projects all day today, it was a very busy day for me. That means it wasn't so busy a day for Isabelle. It's not often she's got time to just play freely- to the point that she really gets into her play anyway. Also of note, her imaginary friends of late have been the Backyardigans. To hear her say it it's the "back-ard-agans" with "Pablo, Tyrone, Tasha, 'niqua and Awstin" and she's always calling them on the phone to come over and play, paint her house, whatever. Well today I was able to watch her undetected a few times. It's so incredible to see her pretending. That kind of play, when they move from banging and throwing to this purposeful and decisive play is awesome (not that there's less mess, mind you). Today she had a picnic with them all, I think that Diego and Dora might have been there too. They had napkins (tissues) and food (wooden), played games and had wonderful conversations. There was much discussion about painting the house (yeah, that one comes up allot... wonder if she just doesn't like the brown/tan thing we have going on?) and at the slightest sign of misbehavior by any of her friends' & the "time out corner" came up. This all lasted a good 30-45 minutes and would have gone on indefinitely, until she leaned back and rolled off the lay-z-boy foot rest backwards.

I think that's where she got the idea to play Doctor. Yeah, that's all well and good, since they ARE Imaginary friends and all, but for the marker. Then my child drew out a map of her skeletal system in black (thankfully washable) marker. Fun stuff.

So, my favorite thing today- is my child's gigantic imagination and her proficiency in using it- oh and washable markers.