Old Friends, are the Best Friends

I just got back from Utah visiting my family, and a very rare meeting happened.  My two best friends from high school/college were all in our home town, and we were able to get together for an evening out.  I have not seen these girls in at least 7 or 8 years!  We had the best time just catching up--lots of laughs of  the funny, weird, things we did.  

This picture is one of my favorites.  We all must be about 20 years old--and can I just say, I hope overalls come back in style.  ;)  Could there be a more comfortable outfit--i think not!!  lol 

Kara hates this pic--but it was the last time we were really "together".  I knew I was going to be getting married, Jen was moving to New York to be a nanny, and Kara was going to  BYU Jerusalem for school.  We were leaving our youth, and heading out into the future.  :) 

 I LOVE this picture--it was taken at the airport saying good-bye to Jen, and we all got kind of teary, because we all knew.

So fast forward 14 years, and here is Jen!  She is about 6 months pregnant in these pictures, so she doesn't have a huge belly like you tend to see in maternity shoots, but, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take some shots of my BFF from my childhood.  And wow, she has only gotten more beautiful with age.  

I'm kicking myself now that we didn't get a better picture of us together on our night out, since who knows when it may happen again.  But here we are after we'd laughed ourselves silly all night.  

I was so lucky to have them for friends.  Love them.

School Pictures

So our school does Spring Pictures.  They bring in a photographer that has a green screen and takes photos, the kids get to choose their back grounds, they love it.  Me....not so much.  I think some of the backgrounds are quite tacky....But...I still buy at least one page.  Even though I know I can get something much better, I can't refuse them.  Lol--something about their faces.  :)  

School.

Mine.

Halloween Friends

I'd like to think that there are benefits to being my friend.  lol  Well, at least when your kid is friends with my kid...there are benefits.  :)  And its even better when it goes both ways.  This morning I got to hang out with with my friends and Will's friends.  He started to get a little bugged when he wasn't in any of the pictures but, we did his photos last week.    Time flies so fast, these babies won't be babies for much longer.

These two Angry Birds were such troopers--they had just come from an immunization visit, and a surprise flu shot.  

Halloween Photo Shoot

I wanted to try a new location in Simi for pictures, so I took my kiddos out in their costumes for a fun photo shoot.  My son, was quite in character--a very serious Thor.  My daughter has been obsessed with dragons for the past 2-3 years, so she was thrilled to find a dragon costume again this year.  My baby loves Buzz lightyear, so I actually bought him Pajamas from the disney store.  They are made much better, and he can where them again and again after Halloween.  That is thrifty Liz for ya!  :)

Go out and get great photos of your kids in their costumes.  Its so fun--here is a link that I love about photographing children for Halloween.  Tips for Great Halloween Photos

Mother's Day

Here are the three reasons I'm a mother.  I was going to write a "mushy" post about the joys of being a mother...but as I'm typing this...child #2 and I are having a disagreement, and he is mad at me.  :)  Being a mom is hard.  Physically, and emotionally, ....but in the eternal picture of things, it is the most important thing I can do in this life.  I have to remind myself of that often.  Many times I feel like I want to be pursuing other interests of mine...dance, piano, photography, teaching....but at the end of the day, I know that the few short years I have with them while they are this little is priceless.  I will have many, many years to myself where I can pursue other interests.  But for now, I'm enjoying every second with them.  Even when we're "arguing".
Happy Mother's Day to all my amazing mom friends.  Especially to my mom, and mom-in-law, I'm a lucky girl.

"She Left Proof"

After my kiddos are in bed, I spend my few precious quiet hours reading blogs and websites on photography, crafts, and food.
I came across a blog where I was so touched by this post.....

"I came across a Blog Post on Under the Sycamore and haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Here's the quote from the She Left Proof project:"

"Many scrapbookers knew Aleida Franklin. She was a wonderful wife and mother and a brilliant artist. I didn’t know Aleida personally, but she taught me something I will never forget.

She emailed me last year to tell me she loved my blog and to ask if I liked my short hair-cut. This lead to a series of emails which eventually led me to remark that I really loved how often she posted pictures of herself with her children on her blog. And she replied to me, “Have you ever seen a photograph of your own mother and thought to yourself how fat she looked? Or how she wasn’t wearing make-up? Or wasn’t dressed in a glamorous outfit?” Of course my answer was no.
She then responded with saying that she made it a goal to take a picture of herself with her children at least once every month. And that to use excuses about how we look, as women, is ridiculous, since our children will never care what we looked like, but only that we had physical evidence of the bond between mother and child.

Aleida tragically and unexpectedly passed away in an auto accident in September of 2008, leaving 2 small children and a grieving husband. After she passed I thought of how those children must feel to have those precious photographs. I have made it my personal goal to follow her wise suggestion and I try to take photos of myself with my children….double chins, make-up free, bed-head and all.

I invite Mothers everywhere to take Aleida’s Challenge. To photograph yourself with your children each and every month.

So what do you think??? Mothers need to get in the picture! Such a simple thing to do, that will mean so much to your children. :) I REALLY need to do this--She goes on to give some suggestions--always have your camera handy--ask your husband to take the picture. Don't let the moment pass when you're cuddled up with your kids.