Nonnie and Poppie's Photo Shoot {A Sneak Peek}

This weekend my husband's parents, Nonnie and Poppie, asked our family and his sister's family to come over for a family photo shoot.  Their beautiful new outdoor fire place was finished just in time and seemed the perfect location for photos.  Even Jack the dog joined us for a few.  We had a lot of fun taking pictures and trying to guess when my remote trigger would work. 

This is Nonnie and Poppie with their Grands (Hannah, Rachel, Poppie, Nonnie, and my nephews A and AA)

 And all of us in the next picture below~we are all smiling and all of our eyes are open! Delight!  Pictured left to right are:  Mr. Incredible (my man of 21 years), Me (did you recognize me?), Hannah (our baby), Rachel (our daughter that ya'll prayed for and is now in college), Poppie, Nonnie, AA (we often call him our Lieb), Aunt Sissie (Mr. Incredible's sister-I accidentally typed sitter-that's funny!), A, and Uncle G.

Eva-Class of 2012 {A Senior Sneak Peek}

At the beginning of this school year, I had a "That's My Senior" contest.  So many voted and it really came down to the last second....and Eva was the winner with the most votes.  We have been counting the days until her Senior Photo Shoot.  We got in a lot of locations during her photo shoot.  Eva is beautiful inside and out and I am proud to be called her Senior Photographer as well as her teacher.  Eva, enjoy your Sneak Peek and have a blessed Senior Year!

The "W" Family {Sneak Peek}

This past weekend I had the blessing of photographing this sweet couple who will be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary this summer!  As usual, I arrived early to scope out the lighting and this sweet couple did too.  I am so thankful that they did.  We were only able to shoot about 45 minutes before a ginormous wind storm arrived. 

A Photo Shoot with My Nephews~The Outtake Version

"The highlight of my childhood was making my brother laugh so hard that food came out his nose."

Author: Garrison Keillor

If you have ever done a photo shoot with me, you know we are going to have fun.  I like real belly laughs and giggles, capturing true family connections, pure love and joy. That's part of my style.  I don't like plastic poses and photo sessions that feel like torture.  I always try my best to make sure my clients enjoy the experience.  If I am having fun, hopefully they are too. 

My nephews know their Aunt Kiki well and they know that photo shoots are to capture special memories but they are also fun!  Their sweet momma had talked to them about trying their best to listen to what I said and to hurry up because the sun was quickly setting.  They were being so good...and then I said to my oldest nephew...go ahead pretend to choke your brother...you know, for fun!  His eyes shot over to his momma who smiled and then it was game on! 

My youngest nephew couldn't wait for his turn.  In between the real deal shots, he would pretend to choke his big brother and then we all giggled a lot!  I'm not sure how the middle picture happened but boys will be boys and I think it is absolutely hilarious.  No, these probably won't go over the fireplace mantel or be wrapped in fine canvas, but I like them just the same.  It captures a true side of brotherhood...and I like how their eyes dance with a bit of mischief...and then I thank the Lord for the blessing of being their Aunt Kiki and that I was able to capture their fun personalities and their special brotherhood bond and pray that they always love each other the way they do today. 

Jacob-Class of 2012 {A Senior Sneak Peek}

The oldest son of the sweet "N" famiy is a senior this year!  Typing those words takes me back to what seems like yesterday when Rachel was enjoying her senior year.  We decided to take a few senior pictures with Jacob's letter jacket and I am so thankful that we did... the colors of fall really make his jacket stand out in these images.  Jacob, I pray that you have the most wonderful senior year!

The "R" Family {A Sneak Peek}

I am quickly wrapping up the 2011 sessions. This family was sweet to allow me to reschedule their appointment after 40 fire ants landed me in the emergency room a weekend ago.  I am thankful that they were willing to push it back a week...the weather could not have been more beautiful.  "R" family, I hope you enjoy your Sneak Peek:

The "N" Family {A Sneak Peek}

This past Saturday evening, I had the absolute blessing of photographing the "N" family. Mr. and Mrs. "N" are two of the finest teachers in our school district and they are raising two of the finest young men in our school district as well. I have had the privilege of having both of their sons in my computer classes. They are incredible young men inside and out.

I could have spent hours with this family. Their love for each other shines so brightly and they are crazy fun to be around too.

"N" family, thank you for the blessing of getting to capture your family photos. I hope that you enjoy your Sneak Peek.

A Photo Shoot with My Nephews

My photo sessions for 2011 are quickly winding down.  I am filling orders and designing custom Christmas cards, albums, canvas, and standouts like crazy.  My sweet sister-in-law patiently waited for a break in my crazy busy schedule so that I could photograph my favorite nephews. 

We couldn't have asked for a better day.  I absolutely love the colors of fall.  My nephews were so much fun and willing to go anywhere...even braving a few ant beds.  I was confident that if any fire ants were around, they would find me and not them.  Thankfully, the fire ants didn't make an appearance in this photo shoot after all. 

I can't get over how much they have grown in one year.  Here are a few of my favorites from our photo shoot:

I think this one is my absolute favorite:

But then I look at this one and think to myself, "This is my favorite!" 

I'm so thankful that it is their momma that has to decide and not their Aunt Kiki.

Start Each Day

And today really is my birthday!  I saw this advertisement above from Kate Spade and thought it was cute and a great way to live...although the best way to live is to start each day with the King of kings and Lord of lords and to try to live for His purpose, His plans, and His delight.  Oh, it's not easy...the more birthdays that I have, the harder it seems to get some days.  Can anyone relate?  I'm thankful for His plans, His love, His compassion, His patience, His mercy, and His grace, do-overs, second chances, forgiveness, and that He blessed me with the absolute best parents in the world, the most incredible husband and in-laws, and my girls....oh my girls, there are no greater treasures next to Jesus. 

Photographer Down

This is that wonderful busy time of year for me as a photographer. The last several weeks have been flooded with photo sessions, late night edits, and designing lots of custom Christmas cards and filling orders. And I have loved every minute of it...but I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. My last day to place orders for my clients is November 26th and then Kiki's Corner Photography will be closed until January 2nd so that I can spend Christmas with my family.

This past weekend I had 4 photo shoots. Saturday morning began bright and early with Laci's Senior Personality Photo Shoot. We had so much fun; we even braved an old building where thousands, okay 50 pigeons nearly made me pee my pants as they flew over our heads on their way out of the building. I even squeeled a little bit. And this is how Laci reacted:

That evening I had another photo shoot of a sweet family, but I can't post pictures until after Christmas~they are a sweet surprise for family members.  The photo shoot was so fun.  Their little one was happy, they were happy, the lighting was perfect, and I was happy because my man came along too.  I love it when he joins me on photo shoots! 

A few minutes into the photo shoot I noticed my right leg started itching.  I thought maybe I had gotten into stickers or something.  So, I itched my leg a bit and continued on.  Towards the end of the photo shoot, I knew I was breaking out in hives all over my body.  I tried to stay calm and professional and not scratch.  When we told our our sweet clients good bye and drove home, I started scratching violently.  It was bad!

As soon as we got home, I jumped into the shower and took two Benadryl.  Yes, hives had taken over my body; I even had them on my scalp! 

The next morning I woke up to 40 terrible looking bites on my right leg, and a few on my hands.  My right ankle was terribly swollen.  We called the nurse hotline to see what to do and it turns out a trip to the emergency room was in order.

Long story short, it was fire ants.  My right leg is getting better but it has been terribly painful.  The doctor couldn't believe that I didn't know I was getting swarmed by fire ants.  I was just focused on my clients and getting the perfect shot.

Needless to say, on a small scale, my leg looks like a freak show and it has caused a lot of pain.  Thankfully, this morning I was able to walk on it without terrible pain and the swelling is finally looking better.  I am always a bit clumsy on photo shoots but this is over the top.  Oiy!



Laci's Senior Personality Photos {A Sneak Peek}

I had the absolute blessing of taking Laci's Senior Personality Photos.  She is one of my students and one of my Senior Editors for the Yearbook.  She is fun, quirky, a breath of fresh air, crazy creative, funny, exceptionally smart, a joy to be around, and so much more.  I was so thankful that she chose me to take her senior photos.  Laci, I had a blast spending Saturday morning with you and your mom. I hope you enjoy your sneak peek and the rest of your senior year!

Hoop Time is Finally Here!

Watching my baby girl play basketball...makes even some of the most difficult of weeks seem so much better! Hannah (#50) played in her very first high school basketball game.  It was quite a thrill to watch her put on her first high school jersey. 

Being the proud momma that I am, I made special gift bags for Hannah and the entire JV and Varsity teams.  Our girls won 65-6! 

 It was fun to watch her on the court again.  I loved every second that she was on the court...and loved it even more getting to sit next to her sister (Rachel suprised her by coming in to see her first high school game), her daddy, my parents, Mr. Incredible's parents, and my sister-in-law, my nephews, and Mr. Incredible's Aunt Sug.  Delight!

Rainbow Cupcakes A La Hannah

The band's theme this year is everything Beatles.  Some of the band parents and I decorated the band hall right before contest in the 70's Groovy vibe style.  It was fun.  The week of competition I designed t-shirts and sold them with the theme on the front and all of the band member's names on the back.  I sold 126 shirts in one day~crazy!  And right in the middle of all of this, Hannah told me that she wanted to do something special for her fellow band members and directors~70 members in all.

She saw rainbow cupcakes on the internet and really, really wanted to make them for the band.  I promised that we would find the perfect time to make them and thankfully we did. We made them on a Thursday evening after school.  We started at 6:00 and finished at 12:30.  There was lots of joy and laughter in our kitchen and shouts coming from the final World Series game as we rooted for our Texas Rangers. 

My baby girl is blessed with that "P" word (patience) and she worked tirelessly on her cupcakes. We mixed together the cake batter and then carefully added just the right amount of  food coloring to each bowl. 

She carefully lined the pans with foil cupcake liners and then it was time to begin:

She spooned just the right amount of purple in the bottom of each cupcake tin:

Then layered the blue over the top of that and then green, etc.

All of that became much too time consuming. So, we regrouped and poured the colored cake mixture in ziplock bags, cut the tip of the end and used them as if they were icing bags.  This speeded the process up greatly. 

Finally, 72 cupcakes were carefully retrieved from the oven and set out to cool:

We could hardly wait to see what they looked like on the inside.  Hannah carefully, peeled back one side to reveal the awesome rainbow cupcakes:

After they were cooled, we added the canned frosting and sprinkles to the tops. They look like ordinary cupcakes at first glance:

But the groovy-est surprise waits inside!  Hannah was excited to share her creations with her friends.  Making cupcakes for over 6 hours with my baby girl was a blast! 

Falling From the Sky

The other evening, we were blessed with rain. I was so busy working on ordering prints, designing photography albums, and Christmas cards for my wonderful clients that I didn't even notice. Mr. Incredible called to me as soon as he got home from work. He sweetly said, "Sweetheart, grab your camera!" I'm so thankful that he didn't let me miss this. The rain on the horizon looked liked sheets of gold falling from the sky. And with the drought our part of Texas is in the middle of...that's just what the rain means to us~drops of gold falling from the sky.

She Came Home!

I didn't mean to leave you hanging about Hannah's band contest on October 29th.  The band did well in the District/Regional  Marching Contest and advanced to the Area Contest.  The band played and marched well  and advanced to the Area Finals where they tied for 4th place.  No, it didn't qualify us to go to state but we are still very proud of the band.

If you remember, Rachel was the Drum Major last year.  She promised several band members that if they made it to the Area Marching Contest, she would be there.  True to her incredible nature, she kept her promise and traveled with her daddy and I to watch her sister and the band march.  It was a glorious day to spend together.  I snapped this photo when Hannah saw her sister was home.  No, it's not the best picture I have ever taken; I took it through my car's windshield, but I love it!  That is pure sister joy right there!

Hannah Banana

I didn't have a spare second to post my Hannah banana in her costume last week.  So on this rainy (thank you, Lord) and overcast Monday morning, I thought it might be fun to post them.  She was the cutest banana I've ever seen.  By the way, no she didn't go trick or treating, I think high schoolers are too old for that, but the band was able to dress up when they played at the previous game. She got a bit tickled because so many fans from the other team wanted to take their picture with her.  Banana paparazzi~who knew!  Ya'll have a blessed Monday!

Inner Peace

Our School Secretary sent this email to me this week and I thought it was pretty cute...hope you like it too!

"This is so very true:
If you can start the day without caffeine,
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without alcohol,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs, 
Then You Are Probably ............

The Family Dog!   And you thought I was going to get all spiritual."

Haaaaaaaaaaaa!  Ya'll have a great weekend!
I'm linking this with my friend Kim's Friday Funnies post.

Photo of the Morning

I had such a wonderful time capturing these two brothers and their amazing parents.  Their family pictures are beautiful but I couldn't resist posting this one.  No, this picture won't be the one to put over the sofa or the fireplace, but it makes me smile every time.  That precious little brother, who has the happiest disposition his momma tells me, didn't like where he was sitting.  But, the look on his big brother's face is priceless and gets me every time I look at it!

Sweet!

On our Back to School Shopping trip to Frisco this summer, I bought myself a sweet pair of shoes from the Cole Haan outlet store. They are black patent leather and they make me feel like I am back in first grade, sitting next to my mom and dad on the church pew on a sunny Sunday morning trying not to click my shoes together too many times so I don't scuff them.  I just adore my new shoes and the wonderful childhood memories they bring whenever I wear them.