The real sleeping beauty

It has always been her older sister, Ella that was the princess. Since Ella was 2 all she wanted to do was wear princess costumes. But now at 3 1/2 Madeleine has become obsessed with these princess costumes. It definately has to do with the new Cinderella movie we just bought them. The two girls will act out the scenes of the movie - so cute. If no one agrees to be the step mother (which happens often!) they pretend that they are the birds and mice that help Cinderella get her dress ready. I love it because this keeps them busy for a very long time. But...this post really is about Sleeping Beauty. I thought Madeleine was in her room playing dress up. When I went to get her for dinner, this is how I found her. You can't tell but she's asleep on the floor right next to her bed in her full get-up. Glass slippers and all! She came to dinner...it wasn't pretty. Then an hour later we put her to bed. Needless to say she wasn't tired so spent the next couple of hours putting on an aray of princess costumes very secretly. I didn't even find out until I heard the velcro rip 2 1/2 hours after I put her to bed. Ha! Busted! I couldn't resist this picture...she is so sweet while she sleeps. A spitfire while she's awake!

Baby on a rock

Sorry my posts have been few and far between for the last little while. With the preschool shoot almost behind me, hopefully I'll be better at posting my own. Last Saturday we had such a nice day outside. The weather has been gorgeous, not too hot, not too cold...and no bugs - yet! We spent the day planting cold hardy veggies in the garden that was made on mothers day. Nothing fancy, just some lettuce (different varieties) some herbs and some broccoli. I keep meaning to plant peas but haven't gotten around to it yet, hopefully I won't be too late. After the garden we went on a small hike into the forest to see the "fairy dust". The fairy dust is only sawdust from a tree that Paul cut down last fall. The girls LOVE it. They throw it in the air and spin, they sing and they get all giddy with it. They even put it on Bronwyn's bottom (our dog) to see if it will make her fly. (They are in a Peter Pan stage right now!) I love the imagination of children, so refreshing. After the fairy dust we hiked back down by the garden and played in the creek. Madeleine is now just able to negotiate the slippery rocks and get the idea of not stepping in the deep parts so it doesn't go over her boot. This picture is her of her sitting on the biggest rock in the creek. She took forever to get to the top by herself (well with her baby of course which was more of a hinderance) then when she was up there she stayed there...singing goodness knows what at the top of her lungs. I love to get pictures of her doing her thing because she is so hard to photograph when she knows you're coming!

preschool kids...

It's been a very busy week. I had my preschool photo shoot this week. Whew, I'm happy it's behind me now. I was so worried about bad lighting and hot spots and I got beautiful dreamy mist and overcast skies. Pure pleasure for a photographer! I'm in the midst of editing 70+ kids with at least 3 photos each - so a lot. Here are a couple to share...

Happy Birthday Friend

I can't belive that baby Carl turned one on mothers day. Hows that for a mothers day gift? He is so sweet. I took many photos of him on that day but I couldn't resist sharing this one. He had his fill of bannana bread cake with loads of chocolate on it...so he had to suck his thumb. Too cute!

Bell Belle

Her name is Belle. Named after the city of Bellvidere, VT where she was born. For some reason we have taken to calling her Bell belle. She is just your ordinary looking cat but she is very different from any other cat that I've known. We got her when she was only 5 weeks old (she is now 9 months), she was so tiny that I thought it was too soon for her to be away from her mama. But the vet assured us it was OK. We also have a dog, Bronwyn who is always intrigued with cats but loves them. We believe that Bell Belle thinks that Bronwyn in her mom! Whenever we go walking outside on our property, she follows us. She has crossed creeks either jumping the whole thing or by slowly picking her way over the stepping stones. Where ever we are in the yard she is close by. When we play on the swingset she lays out underneath the slide. She even walks like a dog! The one thing that clued us in to the alter personality was when she joined our dog in eating food bits thrown on the floor by our toddler. Have you ever met a cat that ate mac and cheese?!!

This weekend she had to go in to be neutered (I can never remember if it's neuter or spay for a female but you get the idea). For some reason I felt really hesitant. Would her personality change? Would she resent us? The children certainly couldn't understand why we wouldn't want kittens around. But we still did it. She is fine. This portrait of her was taken the day before we took her to the vet...just in case.

I should also add, just in case he feels left out. We have another cat named Bogart. I've had him since 1993. He's old and thin and has a big bump on his side. But he's very accepting of Belle and we love him for it.

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers out there. I had a great mothers day today. We spent the whole day in the garden. For my special day my husband dug me a vegtable garden! He got 5 cubic yards of compost and and rented a rototiller then got busy! I now have a beautiful spot to grow fresh veggies for everyone. I'm so excited! This week I'll be able to get in the cold hardy veggies like lettuce, peas and brocolli then do the rest after Memorial Day. I'm hoping to grown some corn as well! I finally got a pic of myself with all the kiddos. The wheel barrow is a great container for children...they are all in one spot and usually smiling and looking in the same direction!

About Madeleine

We got a dress from my mom. It wasn't one that I would have chosen and I think it was actually for Ella. But when I looked at the dress then looked at Madeleine, they matched. They were both orange! Today for some reason, she looked so cute and I was dying to take her picture ALL day. But she's funny about the camera...never looks into it and always looks down with a silly smirk. I got a few of her today that are really different for her. I can't really say that I've captured her as she really is because these pictures make her seem much older and more serious than she is.

School pracise shot

This shot was taken at the school were I will be doing school pictures. Ella and I went there for a practise shoot. This is about one of the only ones that turned out light-wise. There is one sole pine tree to offer shade, this was taken under it.

Ella in the sun

Oh my goodness, it's been ages since I posted. Sorry. My internet was down for 4 days. At least it was over the weekend so I was busy doing other family things. Next week I am taking school pictures of over 70 kids! The owners of the preschool are set on having the pictures done outside - yikes! It will be high sun when I am there and with no shade to speak of I am very nervous about racoon eyes and unflattering shadows and hot spots. So.... I practised on Ella. This picture is taken in the sunlight with my husband holding up my reflector to block the light on her face. I think that will work. My only worry now is, how do I do the whole class?

Sunset daffodil

I loved the way the daffodils look so delicate when they are backlit. I took this one during that irresistable time right around sunset.

I'm not quite sure what that red squiggly line is on the right. I'm sure it's something to do with light getting in somewhere. I don't really like it. If someone can clue me in so I don't get that when the shot really matters, I'd appreciate it.

Family Picture

I'm still working on getting all my pictures together from our trip but here is one of all of us. Photo taken by my mom (she taught me everything I know)!