Friday, September 21, 2007

NATALIE & CRAIG

Calvary Church- Souderton, PA


Natalie has been a friend of ours for years. She and her family attended the same church that we did. A young teenager at the time, she let us know that she was available to babysit our two kids....she didn't know what she was getting into. As years progressed, she was one of our only regular babysitters, as well as mother's helper. She was even present at the birth of two of our kids. Now she is married herself, and ready to start a family of her own. Craig seems like a great guy, and I am really happy for her. I'll start my kids on babysitting classes soon, let me know when you need their services!
Congratulations Natalie and Craig.

Monday, September 17, 2007

MONDAY NIGHT


I have never been a huge sports fan, but for some unexplained reason, I have found myself really enjoying watching football. I don't have time to immerse myself into all football, but I think I can spare the time to at least follow the Eagles. It is a great excuse to just sit for 3 hours or so and eat fattening food and drink a little beer. And I don't know if it is a benefit of working for myself or not, but I can also get some work done at the same time (yea!). It definitely turned out to be one of those games that made the work not seem like a bad thing since it was keeping me from watching every bit of the second loss of the season.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

SEVEN



This is the 3rd or 4th time I have photographed Ann and Carl and their growing family. I first met them at Ann's sister's wedding, where (if I remember correctly) she was pregnant for the first time. I photographed their first child soon after, then with his triplet siblings (a couple times), and now with their latest sweet little girl. I have always had trouble shooting my 5 kids together, but I think it is hardest working with your own children. It is really a whole different story shooting someone else's kids. It is fun to watch them play and get tons of fun shots. Of course it is always a challenge to get 5 kids under the age of 8 to be agreeable at the same time...but the real challenge is making sure the parents are looking good. Since I took sooooo many pictures, I am less than 1/4 through these shots, and there are a number of good ones! I am sure I got a bunch more within the 400 or so I still need to go through.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

PROJECT

n. proj·ect (prŏj'ěkt', -ĭkt)
An undertaking requiring concerted effort
v. pro·ject (prə-jěkt') pro·ject·ed, pro·ject·ing, pro·jects
To calculate, estimate, or predict (something in the future), based on present data or trends

Jonah and I started this treehouse around a year ago. There is much more to do to finish. I built the same kind of treehouse at my last house for my older kids (when they were younger of course)I got about this far with that one as well...just a platform. I had drawings of multi layered dwellings that progressed up through the tallest branches of the tree. Always good intentions. I always got too busy to finish.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

MEINE ELTERN


My Parents left for a trip to Germany today. I went to hang out with them this mornig, and show my Dad how to use his camera. I expect to see some great pictures after a half hour lesson! They are going to visit relatives, and see much of the western side of the country, including where my Grandparents lived, further north, down into Switzerland. They will be staying just over the Rhine from France. They have looked forward to this for a while. I am sure they will have a great time.

Monday, September 10, 2007

$5000 SMILE


A trip to the orthodontist today revealed the expected bottom line. One of the joys of being self employed is paying large amounts of money towards health insurance. There have been times that we have had dental plans, but never one that paid anything towards braces. This is our third round of braces with two kids (Eli had two sets). Three more to go after this.... Maybe one of my kids has my teeth, I never had to have braces. Ironically, my parents had insurance that paid for it in full!

Thursday, September 6, 2007

FIRST THURSDAY

Drafting Room - Springhouse, PA

It was my turn to find a local place to hold our monthly get together. It was just my friend Greg and I this time. Stan had to go to back to school night. He missed out on a great place. I did a local search for "beer places", and came up with the place we have gone the past few times it was my turn, and this one(as well as a place called Crabby Larry's, which never looks open). There was an impossibly long beer list, and some very tasty meals. I had a shrimp and crab fettuccine, with a really tasty sauce. I sampled a number of creative beverages, including a "Dead Guy", and a "Dirty Ho". Ordering beer from a place like this reminds me of the first few years of shopping for photographic equipment. You can't just go into a professional photo store not knowing what you are talking about, unless you are prepared to be looked down upon. I have been made to feel completely without knowledge shopping for a camera or lens. It is like an exclusive club that you are not really accepted into until you have been looked down upon for years. I thankfully now can talk my way through any camera store, and sometimes know more than the salesperson. Ordering beer is a different story. Luckily Greg knows his beer like I know cameras, so I just say "I'll have what he's having".

PA LEADERSHIP CHARTER SCHOOL

For the Performing and Fine Arts
This is the school from which Eli will hopefully finish up High School. Today was his audition and orientation of sorts. To my great happiness, he seemed very excited and happy to be here, and seems to look forward to attending, and actually learning here. The past few years have been tough to say the least as far as school and Eli go. I feel like this is too good to be true. I kind of resigned to the fact that school was just going to be a constant source of strife no matter how it was done. This school is geared towards everything he is interested in, and possibly some new things he didn't even realize he was interested in. This would have been a dream for me when I was his age as well. I was so happy to be able to take weekend and summer art classes at a college in the city, but to have this kind of focus all the time is just so exciting. Keep your fingers crossed.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

DEPARTURE


Another Summer gone. My youngest is now in school all day. BLAH

Monday, September 3, 2007

Sunday, September 2, 2007

LET MY HAIR DOWN


I gave in and let Chaya and Eve "do" my hair. I usually decline the luxurious treatment due to the fact that they usually pull out more hair than I can afford to loose at any one point. I should have just handed them some scissors and let them go to town. I think a cut of some kind is in order...