MIA? Not really.....

Just been super busy with the holidays... sessions, editing, ordering, delivering, you know the drill!

The boys sang a few songs from their Christmas Play in the mall Wednesday night (you too can have their autographs for a small fee) so we decided to stop by & see the big man himself. Yes, you guessed it, MALL SANTA. :)

Not sure what Cassidy is doing, maybe praying for more presents?

Disclaimer: This photograph is courtesy of Mall Santa's helper elf photographer. :D

Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season! What are the elves up to, you ask?? Well you'll just have to stay posted...

They're Baaaaaaaack!

The kids have been driving me crazy asking me when their elves were gonna come back. Generally, Santa doesn't let the elves come stay with children until after Thanksgiving, but he must have heard my kids begging! They arrived in the mailbox today, equipped with magic pencils (they were HUGE!) and a book for Cassidy.


Ignore the nasty faces, we had just finished eating ribs :)


It seems attitudes immediately get better around here when the elves arrive - here's Jackson sharing PS3 time with Wyndham. <3

A bit of elf history - blog posts from last year :)

Adventures of Wyndham & Axel
Elf-scapade

Spencer

I don't get the privilege of shooting senior guys so much - but I had such a great time with Spencer! He actually enjoyed having his picture made, I think it shows!



One of my new faves - pretty cool color & angle if I do say so myself! :)

The perfect family portrait

...is impossible when you have 4 kids. *sigh*

In EVERY.SINGLE.PICTURE. one of the kids (usually Jackson) is running away, blinking, swinging to hit someone, picking his nose, or something of that nature. I did get a pretty funny one after one of the boys ummmm (can I say this on here?) passed gas - Cassidy was holding her nose. I won't mention which one did it for fear of causing him to hate me for the rest of my life. ;)



You know that perfect picture you have in your mind, the one where everyone is just sitting there with beautiful, oh-so-natural smiles on their pretty, clean little faces? Yeah, me too. We didn't get that. Oh well, it's not perfect. Which is *totally* us. =)

Back to work!

So my doctor wasn't too keen on the idea of me going home on Wednesday with my Potassium still low, but hey, I'm pretty persuasive if I do say so myself! I planned on going back to work on Thursday, but that didn't pan out, so I went back on Friday/Halloween - in full costume of course!

Here's a pic someone snapped at work with their handy dandy point & shoot. This is Shaun, the dead prom queen (kids- don't drink & drive, this could be you!); Lori, the last minute kitty cat =); and myself, as a rather sophisticated Geisha girl.



(Yes, I am mildly retarded, and no, I don't have a clue how a Geisha girl poses for a photo, thank you very much.)

Fun fact: Me & Shaun, along with 2 others (I'll have to find a pic of them) won the costume contest! Hip hip hooray! =)

Oh, and FYI - A few things I learned during my short stint as a Geisha girl.
1) You can pick up HBO with your hair accessories.
2) You WILL have a mild case of whiplash the following day after you catch the chopsticks on the door facing approximately 7 times getting in & out of vehicles. Ibuprofen works wonders.
3) White makeup is hard to put on & cakes up something fierce. Simply avoid tanning for 6 months and contract some horrendous stomach bug the week prior to Halloween for that authentic pale Geisha Girl complexion.

Happy Halloween! (better late than never, wink wink...)

IN the hospital?

Not supposed to work that way for a nurse, I don't think, thank you very much! I'm SO ready to get out of here. Not that the people haven't been super nice, not that my doctor hasn't been helpful... it's just I'm stir crazy & READY TO GO HOME. I dunno if I've ever mentioned that I'm needle-phobic (oh, go ahead, laugh, I know you want to...) - but I am, & I'm REEEEEEAAAAALLLLLY tired of being stuck.

I guess if I'm griping, I'm feeling better, right? ;) Please say a prayer that I can go home today, because if I can't, I might just sneak out anyway...

Little Ham!

One of my faves of the little ham from the 'ham. (Birmingham, that is!)



My job is pure torture, I tell you...

Yee Haw!

We're drug-free Y'all! [Red Ribbon Week - Day 3]

Hillbilly Nate


Had to get a butt shot to show you guys the back :D Nate's gonna kill me for this...

Hillbilly Tucker (who isn't in the best of moods in the mornings, might I add....)



(PSSSSSSSSSST..... see that poll... over there in the sidebar? <---------- GO VOTE!)

Red Ribbon Week ~ Day 2

It's Red Ribbon Week at White Plains Elementary!

If you know me, you know I HATE drugs... so we try to be supportive of anything anti-drug in my home. I forgot to take a picture yesterday (Don't let drugs turn your life inside out!) ... but I couldn't let them get away this morning without breaking out the ole 5D.

Today's theme - "Tell me a story of a drug free world!" Mission: dress up as your favorite storybook character. Without further ado, I give you Harry Potter & Jengo Fett -



3 reasons you SHOULDN'T be laughing right now:
1. It's just NOT NICE. =)
2. They decided what they were going to dress as, not me.
2. Costumes are slim pickins' - we had to improvise Harry Potter with a vampire cape (we snatched off some gargoyle thingy), a wand (stick) out of the back yard & some coke bottle glasses that should come in handy tomorrow (HINT HINT). Yes, those bad boys are going to work double-duty.

STAY TUNED...

A promise is a promise!

I'm literally about to fall fast asleep at the computer, but I told Ayda's mom I'd blog a pic, and a promise is a promise. Can't disappoint! =)

So here's one of the very first shots I took of Miss Ayda (my new friend)... are those dimples TO DIE FOR or what???


I'm dying to proof this session... but my brain is fried! Off to bed - nite nite!

Fall Break? Part Two

So. My husband gets the bright idea to head to Six Flags even though we already had SOOOO much fun (note my sarcasm) at the zoo on Thursday. "They're only open all day on Friday, Saturday, & Sunday" I remember him saying. Since I'm booked with shoots, & he was working Saturday, Friday was pretty much the only option. We couldn't pass it up, really - we were getting free admission, free parking, and free meal tickets... almost too good to be true.

It was.

So we invite Tucker's best friend Joshua & his dad (Greg). Forecast calls for rain, but we're optimistic people, so we headed toward Atlanta, even though it was drizzling a bit...

and it kept raining.

and raining.

and... you guessed it.... raining.

About 30 minutes into the trip, I *mentioned* something along the lines of "Hey, it's still raining - pretty hard..." Hubby & Greg are laughing away, talking politics, football, random stuff. Just not the weather.

So. We arrive at Six Flags. And it's STILL raining.... and they... well, they look closed? (weird, huh? Seeing as they are OPEN ALL DAY on Friday, Saturday, & Sunday, right?) So we decide we'll just take a trip to the Georgia Aquarium (which, by the way, is the largest aquarium in the WORLD). We hop back on the interstate, and I look back at the Six Flags sign that says, in bright, flashing lights "OPEN TODAY 6-11"...

Boy, was hubby glad it was raining. I heard Greg mention something about the Griswald's....

Anyhoo, we made the best of it - it was a really beautiful aquarium. It was SO incredibly packed (guess everyone else had the same idea on a rainy day!) that it was hard to take pics, but here's a few...





I P.R.O.M.I.S.E. that I try to get this kid NOT to point with his bird finger. I've gotta break this habit before he starts kindergarten & gets expelled... *sigh*


HAPPY FALL Y'ALL! =) Back to work for me tomorrow. BOOOOOO!

Fall BREAK? Not exactly...

Ahhh, fall break. Nate's spending the week with his Mawmaw & cousins, the boys are going camping with Dad... so I took the entire week off with the intention of relaxing, getting some of my photog "stuff" done - and absolutely NOTHING else - no cleaning (okay I can never escape this...), no cooking (I got bored & whipped up a feast fit for Thanksgiving by Tuesday), and definitely NO public outings with the kids. Camping lasted all of one day, because Eric simply couldn't take it any more. We actually got date night on Wednesday - dinner & a movie! By Thursday, we decided to go to the zoo. Naturally. Because boredom makes the brain mushy.

BUUUUUUT, I'm thinking - perfect photo opp, right? Wrong. I didn't charge my battery & my camera died about 30 minutes into our little trip. My husband thought it was quite funny. (I did not. Hmph.)

I decided to snap some shots of Cassidy on the way there while I had her all strapped down...
this is what you call a severe case of P.C.S. (Photographer's Child Syndrome)

Heh. Revenge is sweet....

Ohhhh, I'm kidding, totally kidding. I don't torture my kids with 20 foot snakes. Pinky swear. I did giggle. Quietly, though. PROMISE!

I thought these stinkers would quit fighting long enough for me to get a PERFECT PARROT shot, but noone really felt like cooperating. *sigh* Nice bokeh, though. =)

This little guy was cute (and STILL)... hey, it's not easy being green. (snicker)

The Lorakeet exhibit - the kids LOOOOOVED this!


Tucker was really mad because this one little guy just stayed with him even when his nectar cup was empty. Then - Jackson to the rescue - he yelled & ran him off. Tucker kept insisting that it was his new "pet bird" and he would have stayed with him forever if Jackson wouldn't have run him off. What are little brothers for?

Just showing you that I actually *do* attempt to photograph my children. They just don't cooperate. Grrrrrrr.

And the last shot of my 3 rugrats before the camera battery died (boo!):

By the time we got home, I was so exhausted that I fell into my bed & straight into a coma.... *sigh*

So we planned a 6Flags trip for the next day.... ugh. We never learn.

Playing catch-up!

With all the web & blog changes, I've been SO BEHIND on posting client images... time to play catch up!

Another beautiful girl in my line of beautiful seniors =) And get this! She brought along a few people to her shoot - a couple shots in, I look over - and WHAT? I see this man I used to work with at Winn Dixie (way back in my high school & college days) ... I'm like, SHOCKED of course, because I haven't seen Randy in years! So I ask her, "How do you know Randy?" ... and she's like, "He's my dad."

WHAT?!?!? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..... I can't be this OLD!

But notice I said I was only in HS. He must have already been old or something. HAHA!!! So it TOTALLY doesn't count.

TOTALLY doesn't.

Anyway - I had SO MUCH FUN with Mallori!! She was up for pretty much anything - and had some suggestions herself. I was SO excited that she was bringing along a restored car (camaro I think, but I'm so not a car expert...) - originally we discussed her wearing a poofy prom dress for these shots, but I think the jean jumpsuit really suited her. At least her boyfriend (& all the passerby, & most of the guys - ok ok, ALL OF THE GUYS - on her facebook) thought so. HA! (Daddy watch out!)



Can I brag one sec? OF COURSE I CAN!!! It's my blog!

This one made explore on FLICKR:

A few more of my faves:


Are these two CUUUUUUTE or what?

Awwwww.....



Hope you enjoyed your shoot, Mallori! =)

Notice anything???

Some of you know, some don't - I lost everything in a hard drive/external drive CATASTROPHE quite a while back. I've sent it to multiple experts in hopes of recovering some data, but so far I've not recovered one. single. solitairy. thing. It was very upsetting... I even put down my camera for a LOOOONG time.

I finally decided, after my brother died, that life is way too short to dwell on the past... we must live each day, each minute, to the fullest. I picked up my camera again, and rediscovered my love for the art of photography.

I'm still rebuilding my portfolio, but went ahead & launched my new website ANYWAY! It's still a work in progress, but I hope you enjoy it.

To kick off my new site, I'm offering 50% off the session fee for anyone who books by October 31, 2008.

Take a peek - www.stephaniearnoldphotography.com - let me know what you think!!!

Introducing...

... my newest little nephew, Toby Michael Husk.

Congrats Christy & Matt!

The many faces of Jackson

I love this little stinker. He's CHOCK-FULL of personality. You'll notice his hair, I'm sure, which is actually a grown-out version. He decided to cut his hair "all the way to the skin" & wound up looking like a dog with the mange. So we had to shave his ENTIRE. HEAD.



A conversation we had the other day:
Jackson: "Mama, are we having a birthday party?"
Me: "No, baby, who's birthday is it?"
Jackson: "Well it was yours. And I wanted to invite somebody."
Me: "Well honey, my birthday's already over. I'm not having a party."
Jackson: "Well, when I have a party, I already invited somebody then."
Me: "Who?"
Jackson: "God. He's coming to my party. He comes everywhere with me."
Me: "He does? How's that?"
Jackson: "Because, silly, he lives in my heart. I love him."

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. =) Makes a Mama proud.

The hat

My best friend, Jamee & my brother Chris at Jackson's Birthday Party, May 2008 - the last time I saw him alive and talking. Notice his hat. The "Jesus" hat.

At the funeral home, one of the guys (Ben) from his singles' group at church told my mom that he'd tried to get the hat from Chris. My mom asked him if he'd like it. This sort of shocked me, because my mother was hanging on to everything she could get of Chris'.

Later on, Chris' daughter informed my mother that she wanted the hat. So my mother went on a search for this hat, trying to find an exact replica. I don't think she ever found one.... and I think Trinity forgot about it.... so the hat was all but forgotten.

Then yesterday, I saw where one of his buddies from the singles' group, Andi, lost her aunt. My heart went out to her. Andi has been so kind to me & my mother since losing Chris. I sent her a message telling her that I was thinking of her. And this is what I got back:

Thanks girl. I hope you're doing well. Chris' hat gets passed around to people who are having a bad week. He's still bringing joy to us! Maybe I'll get it this week. :) Love you! .

Yesterday was 3 months since his accident. I have struggled so much lately. What's bothered me the most is that I feel like people will forget him. And then... this message from Andi... that I feel sure was sent as a reminder that noone will EVER forget him. =)

And just for kicks, here's a picture of Jamee & Chris before the Who's Who Dance in 1994... 14 years ago! =)

I sure do miss my little brother.

Trinity in a WHAT?

A tutu. Yep! I have photographic evidence. :)



If you only *knew* my neice, you'd think this was virtually impossible. And it almost was - until she thought that "some other little girl" could just be on my website in the tutu... she was happy to oblige... even though she's not exactly the tutu "type". =)