Friday, April 25, 2008

Family Treasures




This is my Uncle Gene...a nicer, kinder man you will never meet. He celebrated his 81st birthday last weekend and we had a big family celebration out at his son's ranch. I call it the compound...many acres and several houses on the property for the various family members. It was a great day and so relaxing! I could move out to the ranch right now! My uncle is married to my mom's twin sister and he's always been one of my favorite relatives...he has a gentle sense of humor and he and my dad used to give each other little ribbings when we all got together. I'm so glad I was there and able to get this image of my uncle...we also did a "real" session for their family...all the sons, wives, grandkids etc.

On a sadder note, my cousin on the other side today said my aunt had had some debilitating strokes and the outlook wasn't good. This is the aunt that I definitely got my wicked sense of humor (and housekeeping skills) from! And my uncle by marriage on that side is also not doing well. He's another one of the great "gentle giants." I was blessed with a great family and now that I am in my 50's its sad to start to lose our elder members. Not trying to drag this post down, but I lost my dad in 1995 and I so regret that I wasn't doing photography then because we have so few pictures of my dad. It's very important to take their pictures now, while you still have them in your lives. I got a great image of my mom (77) walking hand in hand with Gigi (17 months) at the picnic...its truly priceless especially since we almost lost my mom last year. Gigi will always have that picture to remember her great grandmother by and how much she was loved by her. Images of our family are simple treasures, something to cherish forever.

So, if you have any prayers to spare, my aunt and uncle and their families would appreciate them.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Short and Sweet Session {Southlake Childrens Photographers}


Sometimes you just need to capture in pictures a special milestone like losing that first tooth, a birthday or a new haircut. That's where the Short and Sweet Photography Session comes in.

It's just $75 and you get a 25 minute session and 10-15 images in an online gallery. But here's what makes it even "sweeter"...if you book and have a session now through May 15th, you will also get 20% off my normal portrait prices! Sweet!

Check my website (The Boutique gallery) for more detailed info as shown in image above and call to schedule your Short and Sweet photo session today!

New - Mommy Cards!


Have you heard of Mommy Cards yet? They are the newest (and handiest) thing to hit a playground near you!

So what are they? Well they are the modern mom’s “business” card. Mom's these days not only have to keep up their social calendars, but their kids have them too! Today's Mom is constantly organizing play dates, parties etc, and need a quick and easy way to pass on their information. So when you're standing in a parking lot trying to arrange a play date with a new friend, it is much more convenient (and fun!) to pull out a Mommy Card than to dig around for a pen and paper. These are also great for leaving information when your child is at an outing that you are not, in case they need to reach you. They are business card size and easily fit into your wallet.

Mommy Cards can be ordered from your session (or a past session). Love 'em! Here is just a quick sample to give you an idea...the design possibilities are endless.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Shabby Birth Announcements - New!





Love, love, love these new birth announcements! I purchased the templates from an awesome designer and am so happy to be able to start offering these. The first collection I will post is for boys...but the cool things about these is that the elements in the design (background paper/colors/fonts etc) can be changed up so you are not locked in to the design as shown...but honestly, they are so adorable they are ready to go as is!

I will post the girl collection shortly but for now, enjoy these. If you'd like more information on them simply email me (cjzee@sbcglobal.net) and I can give you the 411!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Boys and Girls and Puppies

beautiful childrens photography in Southlake Texas




You know I love it when I get to do photo sessions where they also include the pets! One of these images is a "where are they now" shot. This boy and his dog were photographed in January and their image won 1st place in the photo contest (a previous blog entry below). Look how that little puppy has grown! She's an adorable Cairn terrier named Dixie and is a cutiepie. "P" who's her owner, has grown so much too, lost his first tooth and got $5! That tooth fairy pays way better than when I was his age.
His sister, also "P", has the most gorgeous curly hair and the tinted/sepia image her, one of my favorites from the session. Mom kindly brought her beautiful bench out to the yard and we put it to good use with this beautiful petti image.

Okay, now the other kids and dog are cousins to the first brother/sister. They just got a new puppy named Marley who's 12 weeks old and adorable! She posed quite prettily for me and was very patient...but when she was done, she was done and off that bench in a flash! Her owner "D" has just lost his two front teeth and mom wanted to make sure we captured that important milestone in his life....he's such a sweet little guy and very well mannered...mom and dad should be very proud of him! His little sister "P" modelled this hat for me before running off to go play with her cousins and the dogs. She also has gorgeous curly hair and she's the little girl that's on my blog header (I told mom I get a ton of compliments on that shot, its one of my absolute favorites ever!).

Monday, April 14, 2008

Johnny Depp comes to Oshkosh and goes back in time!

My brother emailed me a link to his hometown, Oshkosh WI, where they are filming Johnny Depp's new movie Public Enemy. They hired extras from the local people and Johnny Depp (hubba hubba!) is renting a house somewhere in town. My brother is quite talented in set building as he has been an artist his whole life and does video work for his company along with the sales portion. He sent me this link...I would have loved to have seen them transform 2008 Oshkosh back to the 1930's. I so would work in set design if I was in Hollywood....love it!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Mother Nature...If Momma aint happy, nobody's happy!

Well, I'm back after losing power for almost 2 days. Shades of 2004 when we were one of the neighborhoods that lost power for 5 days! Not fun! My freezer and frig are nice and empty right now so off to the store I go today. I almost cried when I had to throw out an UNOPENED box of chocolate ice cream...that's just not right...sigh.

Oh well, at least my computer didn't get fried. We had a huge bolt of lightening hit and it sounded like it was right in the back yard. Hope all is well with everyone and hope we are done with this weather!

Since we didn't know when the power would be back on, and Friday was so stinking beautiful outside, we decided to grab Gigi and head to the zoo. She had had a stomach bug a few days before so decided to cling to Grandma and not walk and was quite happy to be pushed around the zoo. Pops and I are feeling it today...this is why God doesn't let old people have kids...love to have them for visits and then we need to recoup a lot afterwards! The Fort Worth Zoo is one of the best ever! I've been to the San Diego zoo and while its great, I think FW's is just as good. We hadn't been in about 12 years (practically lived there when my son was growing up!). I couldn't believe all the changes they've made. They have a new Penguin exhibit coming that looks like its going to be really cool...think it where the old aquarium was located. Gigi's favorite animal was the elephant and she would raise her arm up and make an elephant sound...too cute! And I bought a bag of popcorn to munch on while we were there, gave her a few pieces to see how they sat on her stomach and she loved the popcorn and kept saying "more" and making the sign language sign for more when she did it! I think her daycare taught her that...how smart is she? She's point out the animals to us and say "dog!"...they were all dogs to her or maybe dog is just the same as "animal."

Okay, Grandma brag time over...I have to say I made a big sacrifice for the zoo yesterday. I decided to leave the camera at home and "be in the moment" instead of trying to "capture the moment"...its so important to do that but when I saw all the mom's and dad's with their cameras out there it was hard! I think we just need to buy a zoo membership so we can go back a lot throughout the year! See I don't even have one picture to post with this blog....

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Can You Hear Me Now?


My husband used to work for Verizon so of course when I saw this little guy strike this pose, that's what went through my mind. I thought it was too funny...the toddlers just love the cell phones! We got some "real" shots, this was a cute grab, not trying to be serious here at all. I had a busy weekend...5 little boys from all the different sessions. Boys are just too cute! This little one had to have a "hold" break every now and then (that's when he needed Mommy to come give him a quick hug and would ask for it by putting his arms out and saying "hold").

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Such sparkly eyes!


Meet Z Man! He's 4.5 and has the most sparkly eyes....they just photograph like a dream! I can't decide if his eyes are green or brown or a combo...but beautiful! He started off a tad shy but quickly warmed up to the session. It helped that the location was fun and they even had a race exhibit set up with stuff for the kids to do. That was a nice thing to be rewarded by at the end! Mom and Dad come in 5 hours away for their photo session - wow, that's a nice compliment! Ok, it helped just a little that they came in to see Thomas the Train and stay at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine...I have to go check that place out, sounds like a blast!

Yummilicious Brothers


Meet the "K" Brothers! I asked Mom how she managed to space them out so perfectly...5.5, 3.5 and 1.5! They were so cute, and the little one I have my eyes on for my grandbaby's first boyfriend....maybe give it 10 years! They were really an easygoing bunch, the baby was active as all toddlers are...his oldest brother was such a big help with him, he really looked out for his little brother (though I think he wore him out...toddlers are busy!). "R", the middle brother was just a little charmer, cute, cute smiles and he's such a happy guy! I love this shot, can't remember what they were looking at but it really had their attention!