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A Pretty and Very Fun Family Session ~ Homegrown Family Session

Nov 12, 2013

I really love Suisun Valley! During the fall, the colors are amazing and in the spring, the valley is full of bright yellow mustard. I learned that the mustard flower is actually a beneficial weed. It keeps non-native weeds from taking over, it is beneficial when tilled into the earth and it somehow protects the grape vines from frost. I didn’t quite understand that part, but the lady was very convincing. 😉

This family session was super fun. With so many family members included in the session I decided we weren’t going to go far. Sometimes, I like to walk around and shoot in a bunch of different locations, but with so many people and lots of them (thanks to Heather ;)) kids, I didn’t want to roam far. AND I brought my trusty sidekick… Mr. Sossaman. He’s handy, adorable and an extra person can help keep things going.

You know a session is going to be magical when you coordinate with the family. I could have totally jumped in and nobody would have known!

Or… a whole bunch of people would. 😉

As Jeramy and I walked up I saw two handsome guys in sweater vests. I LOVE a sweater vest. We weren’t sure if Mr. Chuck would want to be in many pictures… He’s a bit shy, but I think I won him over with my sweater vest complements. 😉 And I have to say, aside from the out takes Jeramy got, Chucks pics just might be my very favs. While we waited for everyone to arrive we started on who was there. I don’t want anyone to stress on photo shoot days! No fussing at each other or kids. Don’t stress! We’ll go with the flow and have fun!

We talked about just doing a big family shot and then individual families, but Elliot had other ideas. He wanted to show off for me and I couldn’t resist this face!

I was looking for a blog link to this stunning couples wedding… I can’t find it. Maybe I didn’t blog it, because I don’t do weddings. Well… trust me! It was beautiful. And the images were great. I wanted to print one on canvas. BIG! Jeramy thought a big canvas of Holly and her folks in a cab would be kinda awkward.

But, it is such a lovely image! 😉

Now thats one good looking family!

Not sure what Heather told Mauro… He looks mildly shocked. 😉

(Honestly, non of of us our shocked much by what Heather says.)

Cousins!!!

Thanks you guys for a great evening! I’m debating if I should post the out takes! OH!! They were pretty fantastic!

If you are reading this and you are on the fence about getting your whole family out for a shoot, don’t wait! I promise, it will be quick and painless! I’ll bring Jeramy and I feel pretty confident that It will actually be really fun!

And right after Jeramy and I went into Vezer for a lovely wine tasting!

A photoshoot and wine tasting! It was a great date! 😉

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Here's a great post I just read on the Homegrown Photo blog. I really think you should check it out!

Class of 2014 ~ Homegrown Senior Session

Oct 29, 2013

Mary Rose has a knack for making friends. And more often then not, those friends have fantastic families, who we fall in love with. It’s true. Mary Rose has a gift, and her friend making skills have brought to our family, life long friends.

These ladies… I love them dearly. We all love them dearly. Clarisse has been one of our two babysitters the past few years. My kids love her… I love her! She’s wonderful. Coming home to her studying with one of my girls snuggled up to her… it makes my heart melt every time.

So, another baby sitter is growing up on us! It’s totally wrong.

I was so excited to get Clarisse in front of my camera! She’s as beautiful inside as she is on the outside. We decided to make this session a fun day for both families and we headed down to their (and one of our) happy places. We started in Henry Cowell State park. Very pretty, kid friendly State park you should go. Then after lunch we headed to Seabright Beach in Santa Cruz. LOVE LOVE the beach!

Clarisse, We sure do love you! I could go on and on… Its true, everyone can see that you are absolutely stunning. Lots of people can be pretty, but you… it’s a light, a sparkle that shines from your eyes, and your smile, you can even hear it in your giggle. You are amazing. I am so proud of you and who you are. I am so thankful that my girls have you to look up to. No mater what you chose to do in life… I know you will bring your joy, big heart and your sparkle that really does make this world a better place.

I have so many photobombs from my children… I could do a post on JUST them in my way. 😉 I’m so glad I got a few with all my fav ladies!

My senior pic wen’t half as adorable!

BEfore the sun went down we had little sis jump in some photos! Are they not the most adorable two EVER?

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Here's a great post I just read on the Homegrown Photo blog. I really think you should check it out!

Using MY Time Wisely ~ Momma Moments

Oct 08, 2013

I am not complaining. Not at all. And I totally get that everyone has a crazy life! I do sometimes think my life is more crazy then the next persons at times, but only because I’M not dealing with crazy the right way. Get what I mean?

Can you believe I have a family of 7 and I don’t meal plan? Heck! I don’t even make a grocery list! So, I decided to get working on meal planning and get disciplined about grocery shopping. AND to really plan out my days. Planning out my days is BIG!

When you have a big family and they are all little… it’s totally workable. When all but one are in school… a totally different story. Drop off’s, different pick up times, different schools, homeschooling, volunteering in classrooms, assessments and Drs appt…. And sometimes those Drs. are in SF! Date night, yoga, band rehearsals and youth group, Bible study and mom’s group. My days can be crazy. How I am not crazy???

It’s by the grace of God. I tell ya!

(Just proof reading here: I might be crazy… I’m not sure)

A couple days out of the week, I was feeling like I wasn’t getting much time WITH the kids. And then memories of my childhood came flooding back to me.

Picnics with my Grandma Joan.

She was a major part of my childhood before I was 8. Grandma Joan was running me to school, dance, swimming, Brownie events and helping me with school work, church events and family dinners… the list goes on and on. AND she had my Aunt Jennifer who must have been in High School at the time. I can’t remember how she did it. She did raise 5 kids and was a preschool teacher so, by the time I came around… Well, it wasn’t her first rodeo. 😉

I very vividly remember having a picnics with her often.

This one memory is so vivid… We were picnicking at my Aunt Jennifers school. My grandma Joan was SO ahead of the times. She packed the lunch in an old bread bag. I’m pretty sure… I could be wrong, but in my memory it was an Homepride wheat bread bag. She was big on the reuse! 😉 She wrapped the sandwiches in wax paper and pulled out real spoons from her bag for our fruit on the bottom yogurt. We sat at a wooden table under a big tree and ate. My aunts school uniform was a lot like mine only mine had a pinafore top. I recall watching these people, who looked like adults to me, wearing nearly the exact uniform as mine except they didn’t have to wear the pinafore part… I thought they looked cool.

That memory got me thinking. I’ve started planing my days out better. Especially the crazy days. Instead of rushing home to make lunch searching for something they all want to eat, and then making them rush out with half eaten sandwiches in hand… I make sure I have lunch planned and made. That way, we can just get Maggie, stop at a park eat and play for a bit, THEN go get Brady, come home, and go down for naps before I have to leave again! A simple little adjustment and… VOILA! On my crazy days an 45 extra minutes of fun I get to have with my girls. The girls aren’t stressed because I’ve rushed them around and I get to have some fun with them! AND hopefully we are making special memories of our own!

Just think if I eliminated shopping nearly everyday and I used my crockpot more! AND how about pre-assembled meals? Just ready to toss in?! A much less stressed out me and add up all those extra minutes!!

Sometimes I work with Mary Rose while the little girls play and sometimes I’m playing with them. But, the last time… I laid down. Listened to the three girls giggling and soaked up some sun.

It was nice. I guess thats what they call, using your time wisely.

I’ll show you my meal planning calendar after I try it for a while. It’s looking good now, but may need a few adjustments.

How do you use your time wisely? Or do you? Are you a meal planner with tips? What is the craziest time of day for you? What have you done to make your crazy better?

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Here's a great post I just read on the Homegrown Photo blog. I really think you should check it out!

Always Right There.

Oct 02, 2013

Big kids at youth group, Jeramy at the gym and me at home with the littles. I had stuff to do and they were going crazy. And how could I blame them? The weather outside was lovely! And so was the light. I think outside was beckoning me too. I wasn’t getting anything done.

They needed a walk. I needed peace.

I barely got the question out, “How about we go on…”

YES!!!

As we started on our walk we heard a rather loud meow. Our Harley boy needed some love. It’s not often that he begs for a belly rub so when he does we are ever so happy to indulge him!