Hey Jillian...

...is it rough being this beautiful?





I'm still editing the first few shots of this session, but couldn't resist posting a few... I'm definitely gonna have lots & lots of new website material from this session!!! =) Thanks, Jillian, for making my job so easy!!! =)

Happy Birthday Tucker!

It's hard to believe that 9 years ago today, my first child came into the world... on one hand it seems like he's growing up way too fast - on the other, it seems like he's been with me forever. I honestly can't remember what life was like without a child!

We always have a small cake on their birthDAY and then the bigger fancy cake at their party. It's a tradition =) This morning I drug all the kids into the kitchen to sing the birthday song... then we proceeded to have birthday cake for breakfast! That's right folks, I'm all about nutrition.


Tucker at 9:
unorganized ~ fights constantly with Nathan (& Jackson, but not quite as much) ~ loves his sister & will do anything she asks ~ forgets to brush his teeth ~ makes good grades ~ always tells the truth ~ is addicted to Nintendo DS ~ couldn't care less about girls ~ fakes asleep in the car when we get home ~ still gives me hugs & kisses ~ thinks his Dad hung the moon ~ is skinny as a rail ~ hates to get his face wet ~ whines about EVERYTHING ~ has freckles across his nose & is getting a few splashed on his neck ~ is the whitest white boy you've ever seen ~ is always inventing things ~ tries to prove himself ~ is still my baby!

Katie ... and some thoughts from today...

I don't think I ever shared Katie's senior pics! I've always been so bad about remembering to share my client pics.

Katie is one of the most genuine young ladies I've ever met.... and though she's beautiful on the outside, her inner beauty is what really impressed me!

Oh - and we share a love for photography! Who knew?! She's building quite an impressive collection with her new DSLR =)
Loving the light in this one :)
She's got her head on her shoulders, and I'm telling you - this girl is going places.

On a completely DIFFERENT note... today was a sorta weird day for my family.

Who decides what price tag goes on your life? I mean... I can imagine that it's tough enough figuring out what sort of price tag to put on a handmade blanket.... something that you sat & patiently put together one row at a time... you start out with this string of yarn, and turn it into something unbelievably beautiful. So, I can understand how difficult it'd be to factor in all your time, hard work, and attention to detail. But a life... I just don't see how you put a PRICE on that.

I've been pondering over this today, because lawyers for my brother's children reached a settlement today with the insurance company. Most of you know about my younger brother, Chris. He died shortly after a car pulled out in front of his motorcycle back in June. Apparently, even though the lady's insurance policy included a fatality benefit thingy, insurance companies just don't pay up for this sort of thing (I know you're completely shocked) ... anyhoo... they (lawyers for his children) did the arbitration thing today. One lawyer made the statement "I'll be glad if we get $50,000".

Okay. I'd really like to know who decided to put that price tag on my brother's life? Because I can tell you, he was worth MUCH more than that to me. That may sound like alot to some people, but it isn't a drop in the bucket compared to what I'd give to have him back. It just... I dunno, APPALLS me that someone is responsible for determining how much they feel a life is worth... that people actually sat down at a table today & went back & forth about how much they thought his children deserved. Like some sort of auction. I mean, does he get a bonus for beating up that boy down the road that made fun of me? Or wait, maybe you'll throw in an extra thousand bucks if you knew he got on top of a firetruck, in the middle of a bad part of town, yelling through a megaphone to "Come to Jesus!" (okay I had to laugh at that) .... or wait, okay take away a few grand because he had an addiction. Whatever happened to people to keeping their word? If they have a death benefit for $300,000 how about just PAYING it? I'm betting that if the poor lady had missed her premium payment they're wouldn't be any negotiating on her part, would there?

But I digress. In a really weird, nontraditional way... my brother is paying for his kids' college... and if I'm looking for the silver lining here... that's definitely something to smile about.