I hate the cold. I dislike wearing heavy coats. Hats and gloves annoy me to death. I dream of living in a warm place all year round. But my kids have been dying for some snowfall ever since winter arrived. Today they got their wish. Of course its the Mid-Atlantic and our version of a snow event is a few hours of the heavy wet fluffy stuff followed by a few hours of freezing rain which coats the snow in a nice hard crust.

As well as all plant life.

But a little ice doesn’t stop my girls from having some fun in the snow. At the crack of dawn they were out on the porch inspecting and drawing.

Observing the rain falling and using our slippers to make shapes.

I had to force them inside to eat breakfast and suit up.

Then they were off.

Oh and since this is Maryland and our snowfall is so unpredictable, I decided to stop buying them snow gear – it was always such a waste of money. (hence this one in her tennis shoes)


And this one was wearing rain boots. Yup. I am an awesome mom.

Then we attempted some snow angels, but we wound up just sliding on top of the ice and giggling.

Then back to the porch for some mini-snow man making.

And the little one thought it would be funny to try a snowball fight – her sister wasn’t amused.


Cold fingers keep working on mini-man.

But she got stuck trying to figure out what to use for the eyes.

So she gave up and went inside for some hot chocolate and warmth. Here’s mini-no-face.

And now, if that didn’t make you cold enough, head over to Phillip Island, Australia’s Cara Richardson of Rocals Rascals. And please come see us at The Bloom Forum.

We had a little one on one time while the brother and sister were out for the evening so I thought she would enjoy a little ‘stage’ time (she calls the studio her stage). She dressed up and posed herself after leafing through her old scrapbooks to re-create some old poses. This child is such a character.

Lighting for a little mood to go with her attitude.

Next up is Phillip Island, Australia’s Cara Richardson of Rocals Rascals. And please come see us at The Bloom Forum.

Onto week 2 of 2012′s 52 week project. This week is a dreaded one – the self-portrait. No matter how hard I try I can never think up new and creative ways to shoot myself. So this week I had a little play time of my own in the new studio. But I wanted to play with the natural light that filters into my new basement window. I think its still too dark and not as useful as my studio lights but I managed to grab one I can tolerate.

So without further ado – here I am. (at the end of a work day with messy curls, don’t judge ).

Now go click over to Phillip Island, Australia’s Cara Richardson of Rocals Rascals to see her self-portrait this week. And to challenge you even further, come see us at The Bloom Forum.

Its been many many many months since we packed up our house and placed the unnecessary goods in our storage unit.  My studio set up fell into that category.  This past week I got my first chance to crack out those boxes and do a little set up.  Of course my girls also were interested in unpacking after they found their stash of props, petti-skirts and dress up.  So we had a little impromptu photo session.

I realized two things during this evening.

1.  I am really rusty with studio work and I can’t wait to keep practicing.

2. My girls really grew up leaps and bounds in the last 18 months that my studio was sitting dormant. 

Happy New Year and welcome to 2012!

This year brings quite a lot of new changes. First off, this marks the end of my 2011 52 week project with my Bloom Forum Group. I had such a wonderful experience being a part of this group of unbelievably talented women and I enjoyed each week getting to see their posts and photos. We have grown and learned so much through the year by being a part of this circle.

So that brings us to the second new change for 2012, some of us have decided to continue onto 2012 with a new 52 week circle and new themes for this upcoming year – hence the reason for the dual title. I will truly miss those who have decided to move onto other great projects but I look forward to welcoming some new gals to our circle. I can’t wait to see what they have for us each week.

2011 will always be remembered as the year in which we built a new house. Building a new house certainty has its ups and downs – like the tons and tons of rain that kept us from keeping any resemblance of a schedule. So this week, we got something New – Snow. And of course I ran outside onto my new covered porch (which I LOVE) to shoot the fluffy stuff coming from the sky, which only lasted about an hour. My kind of snow.

And finally, something new that has been in the works for many months, a new branding! If you haven’t noticed I am debuting this week with my newly designed logo and my awesome new blog design. If you are in the market for a new site, you must go check out Breeze from Trust the Air. She does wonderful work!

I want to wish everyone a wonderful New Year and here’s to an awesome new 52 week project for 2012.

Now up next is the wonderfully talented Phillip Island, Australia’s Cara Richardson of Rocals Rascals. I can’t wait to see what New Year photos she has to share with us on the first day of the year.

Its week 50 and this year is coming to a close. Its been a wonderful year with my Bloom Forum 52 week group and I am so looking forward to continuing with a new 52 week project for 2012.

Today is the 5th night of Hanukkah as well as Christmas Eve. Our tradition is to spend this day/evening with my husband family and have a huge seafood bash, which I am still so very stuffed from. But first I goofed off with some Menorah Bokeh.

At ‘Gran’s’ house this one was acting super duper silly.

And since this Saturday was a football day, two fans got to watch their favorite teams win one and loose one. (I will leave you all to figure out which fan was sad today….i.e. me!)

Then a little girl who doesn’t fall for the photographer’s child tricks anymore: “I don’t remember what color your eyes are, can I take a picture so I can see?” “Mooooooom! They are brown!”

Then each night we take turns lighting the candles and that person gets to open her/his present first. Tonight it was this girls turn to light while we said the blessing (and stayed really close to her while she was playing with fire ).

I wish everyone a wonderful holiday filled with your family, good food and tons of good cheer for the new year.

Now click over to the super talented to Long Boat Key, FL Stacey Seigel Photography to see what tradition photos she has to share for us.

This has been a crazy busy week with all of the Hanukkah prep-work around our house so this weeks post is brought you by ‘crappy-cell-phone-pics”.

Do you ever just walk into a pet store and wander around aimlessly and take in all the beauty.

And look at all of the cute faces.

And the talk to the feathered friends.

And see a huge turtle and wonder who buys very large turtles?

Oh and did I mention cute faces?

No, you don’t wander around pet stores just for the fun? Nah, me neither.

Now for more Animal shots head to Long Boat Key, FL Stacey Seigel Photography. And please visit us The Bloom Forum.

I turn my back to the wind
To catch my breath
Before I start off again
Driven on without a moment to spend
To pass an evening
With a drink and a friend

I let my skin get too thin
I’d like to pause
No matter what I pretend
Like some pilgrim who learns to transcend
Learns to live as if each step was the end.

Time stand still
I’m not looking back
But I want to look around me now
See more of the people
And the places that surround me now.

Freeze this moment
A little bit longer
Make each sensation
A little bit stronger
Experience slips away.

I turn my face to the sun
Close my eyes
Let my defenses down
All those wounds
That I can’t get unwound.

I let my past go too fast
No time to pause
If I could slow it all down
Like some captain
Whose ship runs aground
I can wait until the tide
Comes around.

Make each impression
A little bit stronger
Freeze this motion
A little bit longer
The innocence slips away.

Summer’s going fast
Nights growing colder
Children growing up
Old friends growing older
Experience slips away.
-Rush

Ans now click over to Long Boat Key, FL Stacey Seigel Photography to see her Time post. And please visit us The Bloom Forum. You won’t be sorry you did!

I took this week’s theme as an opportunity to try something I have been wanting to do for a long time – and I this week I am posting a huge share.

I popped the camera back to jpg, switched over to monochrome, grabbed my long zoom and shot anything that looked interesting. These are straight from my camera (except for a re-size so they wouldn’t be so big).

A lonely room with boxes yet to be unpacked

Tying to get my composition right in camera

And trying to make sure my lines were straight

Winter trees look very cool in BW

And contrasty clouds

And tons of neat textures

And ordinary objects

A lonely hawk sitting just outside the window

And of course more sunflare

And finally a montage of more SOOC nothingness in monochrome

Up next is Long Boat Key, FL Stacey Seigel Photography. Lets see what ‘As Is’ shots she has for us, I am sure they are amazing. And please visit us The Bloom Forum. You won’t be sorry you did!

This year we have so much to be thankful for.

A beautiful new house (which looks especially nice on film), three awesome healthy children and the wonderful support from our families..

However, we were so excited and happy to be in our new house by Thanksgiving so we could host dinner that I completely forgot to take any pictures of our wonderful day cooking because we were having so much fun test driving the new kitchen.

So I leave you with some munched on pie:

And three very silly (and full) turkeys:

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

Now, trot over to Long Boat, FL Stacey Siegal Photography to see more thanksgiving fun. And please visit us The Bloom Forum. You won’t be sorry you did!