It’s been a dang fine month. And I’m sort of wishing this project was called 25 on 25 or something, cuz I have lots of images I want to share. But I will try to limit it to 11-ish. If you don’t know what this 11 on 11 project is, you can read about it right here.

Let’s get this party started. If you saw last month’s post, then you know my daughter turned 10. I had fun with her pictures for that. She celebrated her birthday with her friends at a gymnastics place. She had a blast. And because I didn’t want any leftover cake, those kids got the BIGGEST pieces of cake ever. LOL. I don’t think any of them even finished their plate.

We went for a hike. It was a really pretty day.

My daughter was having a grand ol’ time.

My son… well, he was sighing heavily because I made him stand there for 2 seconds. Poor child of a photographer.

The planets aligned this year because all of my siblings’ kids had the same Spring Break. This hasn’t happened in three years.

It.  Was.  Awesome.

I love my family.

Of course, we had to go to Target. And in a rare moment, the dude WANTED me to take his picture. Shocking.  Seriously.

We went to Japantown in San Francisco. I am in love with this wall.

And for a very strange reason, my daughter’s head grew very very big. Her usually normal sized hat now looked incredibly small. Weird.

My niece is actually a panda with duck lips.

And my nephew is uber cool.

My niece is seriously just the cutest little girl. I adore her little underbite and her voice and her giggle. She’s fantastic.

This is my  youngest nephew. He’s in love with my kids, especially my daughter. He is energetic and adorable. I swear, my siblings make really cute kids.

Um, 11 is not enough pictures when my entire family was here. Don’t count. I can’t stop.

My dad has a photography gallery going on right now. He’s an incredibly talented photographer.

My mom continues to fight hard. She starts “maintenance chemo” this week. Hoping those brain tumors get the message and just stay the heck away. I love the relationship my daughter and mom have. It makes me melt. That one on the left was a simultaneous blink from the two biggest blinkers in my family. I love it. I love them.

OK. Let’s pretend that I have now shared 10 images. I will now share my 11th image!  A self portrait of sorts. A family self portrait at that!

The story that goes along with this picture is a doozy. If I ever see you in person, you should ask me about it. Let’s just say it’s a miracle that this picture happened with relatively everyone smiling. Most of the spouses couldn’t make it since they have non-school jobs and don’t get a Spring Break. My sister in law was respresentin’ the in-laws. She’s aces.

And one last one of my parents and their four children. The one in the striped shirt is their favorite. Obviously.

I had to do some serious culling to get that down to 11, or um, close to 11. Next up is the insanely talented Sallykate Photography. She’s such an amazing photographer, and I am honored to be part of this blog circle with her. Go check her out. She just got a fisheye lens, I’m just gonna take a guess that MAYBE she’s showing some of that stuff off over there.

Bye now!

…

I am SO excited to share a new project I will be doing this year with some insanely talented photographers!  I am humbled to be a part of this group and KNOW you are going to LOVE LOVE LOVE all the images shared by these ridiculously talented photographers!

You may have heard of the project 10 on 10, where photographers share 10 images they took that month and share it on the 10th of the month. Well, in honor of Spinal Tap, we’re doing 11 on 11. If you don’t know what my Spinal Tap reference is, here’s a clip:

So, yes, indeed. These will go to 11! I will be sharing 11 images I’ve taken of my family and will share them on the 11th!  The catch is, that 11th picture needs to be something different. For me, that something different will (hopefully) be a self portrait of me with my kids. I am so seldomly in front of the camera, and so desperately want pictures of me with my kids, so this project is my little push to make sure that I not only document my kids’ lives, but also include me in some of those pictures!

Let’s get started!

My freakishly tall daughter had the honor of placing the star on the San Francisco Union Square Christmas Tree this year. We’re so proud. Hehe.

My son graduated to yellow belt in karate. He already has a black belt in Cute.

My beautiful mom celebrated another year on this earth, for which I am incredibly grateful. Also pictured here is my amazing dad who lended his lungs when my mom couldn’t get those candles out. For those who don’t know, my mom has been battling brain cancer for almost 3 years now. Good thoughts and prayers are always welcome. It’s been tough.

The dude got a Flashrider 360 for Christmas and clearly owns the neighborhood now.

We went up to Reno to ski and play in the snow.  She allowed me pretty much this one picture in the parking lot before running off but dang, how I love it.

Taking a break from sledding to eat some snow. He may have eaten his weight in snow that day.

We stayed at the Circus Circus in Reno. I woke up to see my little guy sitting on the heater, peering out the window at the newly fallen snow.

Up the escalator to go to Circus Circus’s Midway of Fun.

She bought some light up glasses with her winnings.  It took her a gajillion minutes to decide on what to get and then she wore them for about a minute before she was done.

A shot of my daughter’s eyelashes while she was doing some artwork at the table. Love finding quiet moments like this.

And now for the 11th picture!  This was shot by me, using a tripod, one light set up, and my remote.  My remote has a 2 second delay, so once I fired it, I had two seconds to hide it and get ready for a shot!  LOL!  We had SO much fun!  I couldn’t decide how to present it, so I went a little crazy.

I will have to do a separate blog post to share all the fun pictures I got!  I rarely use studio lights and hope to try to use them more this coming year. I’m so glad I am challenging myself with this monthly self portrait. I hope I can keep the creativity going for 12 months!

(Hey! I DID do a separate blog post of our striped pajama insanity! You can check it out right here!)

If you like what you see, you can always FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK.

Next up is the incredibly talented Australian photographer, Leah Robinson of Leah Robinson Photography. I absolutely adore her work and know you will too!  Go have a look!…

Once there was a girl

who had a new pink hat.

She loved her pink hat.  It matched her pink sunglasses….

It even matched her pink hair.

She was a girl that could be sassy, serene, silly.

Sometimes, when she was thinking, she would hold her hands just like this.

She was contemplative.  Sometimes quiet.

Sometimes… not.

But one thing was for sure.  She took her mommy’s breath away.

Again and again.

And again….

Her mommy looked into her daughter’s big brown eyes, and with just the briefest glimpse, everything was right with the world.

Everything.

Sometimes, when her mommy looked at her, she saw a little girl.

But with just the slightest shift in perspective, she would realize that her little girl was growing up…

…into someone amazingly beautiful…

…with a depth behind her eyes that always took her mommy’s breath away.

And while her mommy loved watching her daughter grow into such an amazing big girl…

…she still was a little sad.

When the girl with the pink hat realized that her mommy was sad, she felt sad too.

“What’s the matter, Mommy?” she asked, peering earnestly  into her mommy’s eyes.

“”Oh, sweetie,” said the mommy forlornly, “will you still love me when you’re older?”

The girl looked directly into her mommy’s soul.

And started to giggle….

And then really started to laugh laugh laugh!

“You’re so silly!  Of course I’ll always love you, Mommy!” she said sweetly, hugging herself.  “Always and forever.”

“Do you promise?” the mommy asked.

“Yes, Mommy.  I do.”

And the mommy and the girl with the pink hat lived happily ever after.

This age is a perfect age for a session for your growing child!  They are learning to express themselves as they begin to emerge into the person they are becoming.  If it’s not obvious, I love photographing this age and would love to help you freeze your child at the age they are right now.

And in case you don’t know what this Life Stories thing is about, I’m participating in a blog circle with other amazing photographers from around the globe.  Every month, we share images about our own family.  It’s a chance to be sure we’re taking the time to capture our own moments.  I am honored to be part of this amazing group and am happy to send you on over to Taryn Lisa Photography’s blog!  Read her story and then follow her link to another photographer.  Follow the links all the way around, and you’ll end up right back here.  It’s a big ol’ picture fest!

You can follow me on FACEBOOK.…