KHP is looking for a few outgoing, friendly senior girls and guys to serve as Senior Reps for 2009-2010.  As a Rep, you’ll actively promote KHP’s Senior Photography to all your friends and in return, you’ll receive a free session in the Spring of 2009, images for your Facebook or MySpace page, 50+ business cards with your images to pass out to friends and family, and a 20% discount on all products ordered.  It’s a really good deal folks.

If you’re interested, please take a few minutes to click on the link below and fill out the application. 

I’ll only be taking a few senior from each high school, so if you’re interested, get that application in!  Also, spread the word to your friends!

During these cold, dark days, while I’m having some winter blues, it’s nice to have something to look forward to.  January and February are my vacation months–mostly because I need them after the crazy-busy holiday rush, but also because it’s not a very popular time to schedule outdoor photos.  Not unless you’re going for the bundled look! 

The Glenn Family was scheduled for an October photo session, but due to unforseen circumstances, our session was rescheduled for January…and I’m really thankful it was.  Their gorgeous home had wonderful light and we were even able to do a few shots outside due to some really nice winter weather.  Add in three beautiful little girls and you’ve got yourself a January day to look forward to!

This bassinette was used by all three girls and was built by their grandfather.  Their dad slept in it as a baby!  As soon as Caroline is done with it, it will be passed on to the next family member.  Isn’t that cool?

I love books.  For my birthday, I thought I’d give my husband an idea of something I really wanted, let him say ‘no’ to trick me into believing I wasn’t getting it, and then act all surprised when I did.  That plan really backfired this year.  I desperately wanted a Kindle–the brilliant e-reader designed by Amazon that was plugged by Oprah this fall.  I figured I could save money buying books AND save the Earth by investing in the Kindle.  Yes, it would be an investment because it’s kind of pricey.  Well, long story short, I told my husband, he said ‘no’ (which he rarely does), and then he went on to list all the ways in which the Kindle was a risky and wasteful purchase.  And, I did not receive it for my birthday, as I still thought I might.  It’s okay, I’m over it.  In fact, I don’t even want the Kindle now!  I’ll just spend more money on books and kill a bunch a trees. 

Anyway, I’ve been on a huge reading kick since this summer, starting with the Twilight Series.  If you haven’t heard of Twilight, and it’s three companions, you need to come out of the cave you’ve been living in.  I even got my husband to read them all–and that’s saying something.  Here are some of the amazing books I’ve read recently:

The Host by Stephanie Meyer:  This is the same author of the Twilight Series and she’s amazing.  This is very different from Twilight and you have to have a bit of love for science fiction (or can tolerate it) to get into this one. 

A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel:  This is one of my all time favorites so I reread it this summer.  My friend Leanne gave it to me back in 2002 and I just adore it.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert:  Good book.  Not one of my all time favs, but still eye-opening.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls:  Sad, disturbing, frustrating, hopeful, and true.  I love memoirs.

Comeback by Claire and Mia Fontaine:  Great read especially if you are a mother with a daughter–and especially important if you have a teenage daughter.  My friend Elaine gave me this one and I’m so glad she did!  Another memoir.

The Shack by William Young:  This is fiction, but I wanted it to be true so badly.  That’s my only complaint.  You need to have someone you can talk to about this book as you read it–or at the very least, journal about it.  I also highly suggest writing in the margins, taking a highlighter to it, and never letting anyone borrow it.  It will be one you’ll want to revisit over and over again. 

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan:  I skipped the gym this morning to finish this.  I just love books like this–honest, touching, real.  Another memoir and one you don’t want to miss–especially if you or someone close to you has experienced cancer, or you have a close relationship with your dad.

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris:  I’ve been hearing  about David’s books for years and I just recently picked one up.  His books are memoirs, but each chapter is just a short story from a time in his life.  He. is. hilarious. 

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett:  I don’t have this one on my stack because I loaned it out.  It’s a bit intimidating to look at–about 960 pages if I remember correctly.  I am a horribly slow reader because I like to soak up every word and visualize the scene, often rereading sections over.  I never scan and am appalled by people who do.     This is an epic story, spanning the entire lives of the main characters set in the Middle Ages.  It’s just amazing.  If you get to the middle and you want to give up, DON’T….it’s worth it.

And here are some on my nightstand that I’m prepping to read:

I may skip Marley and Me since I saw the movie–and since we have a 9 year old yellow lab, I just don’t know if I can endure more crying.

Please, please leave me a comment or shoot me an email if you have any book recommendations!

And quickly, I wanted to share a couple pictures from Jake’s first basketball game last weekend.  I can’t believe how much fun I had.  Although I yelled only positive encouragement, I’m sure the parents in the stands wanted to kill me.  I was one of those mothers.  I haven’t played since high school and I cannot stand watching basketball on television, so I totally surprised myself by how into it I was.

Jake is the tallest on the team, so he did the tip-off.

Have a wonderful weekend…and don’t forget those recommendations!

I took my holiday vacation VERY seriously this year.  I had visualized two weeks of sleeping late, staying in my pjs all day, and watching enough movies to burn my eyes out.  Well, mission accomplished.  Laziness ruled in our household for most of the holiday vacation.  In fact, one day I was so determined to be lazy, I actually hurt my back laying around watching movies all day.  That’s when I started to feel pathetic and the crazy overachiever Kelly took over.  I decided that our storage room MUST be cleaned out immediately.  The 15-20 containers that held my boys outgrown clothes got pulled out and sorted into bags of Good Will donations or donations to family/friends.  I kept just three containers of Jake’s clothes to be passed on to Cody.  I still had an entire wall of teaching materials to sort through, but then I fizzled.  Back to several days of laziness.  It was a strange, but wonderful holiday and I can honestly say that I was thankful for the structured work week to commence.

Our holiday started with hosting Christmas Eve at our home with Jason’s parents and brother Jeremy, his wife Jamey, and their daughter Madelyn, visiting from Florida.  Sadly, Jason’s mom was very ill and couldn’t make it to the house, but Jamey and I managed to pull off the meal nicely anyhow.  Most of the day was filled with enjoying Madelyn’s delight in Riley–and that’s just about all I took pictures of!  I told you I was on vacation! 

So this is what Riley REALLY wanted to do with his new headband.  That’s okay though because Miss Madelyn decided to give him lots of little fruit loop treats! 

And then he was her friend for life.

After dinner and church, we headed back to the house to open gifts.  Riley’s belly was full and he was tuckered out from all that attention from his new playmate.

I recently found an old fortune cookie fortune in my purse when I was cleaning it out.  It said, “A PHOTO DOESN’T CAPTURE YOUR CHARM.”  Well, I don’t know if it captures my charm, but it sure captures theirs…

I just ADORE how goofy they are!  And I love how in the photo of the cousins below, Cody’s doing his eyebrow thing and Jake’s patting Madelyn’s head like she’s a pet.  Hilarious.

I’m including this photo just to annoy my sweet hubby.  He was baffled by me taking pictures of the fire, but I just thought those new sparkly firelogs that spew rainbow colors are so cool!

After all the family went home, we set out the milk, cookies, and carrots for Santa and his reindeer. 

I hope you had a wonderful holiday with your families, whether it be lazy or productive or something in-between.