What’s better than a Mini Session on a glorious fall day?  A Double-Mini Session on a glorious fall day!

I absolutely love when the sunlight streams through the remaining leaves on the autumn trees–casting the warm golden tones that go hand in hand with apple cider, pumpkin pies, and evenings by the fireplace.  We were particularly blessed to have a warm sunny day when the Edwards and Ehrlich families braved the perils of I-495 to travel to me in Leesburg.

…such a beautiful day to spend in the company of friends!

What are your plans for holiday cards?  Do you have your photos yet?  I still have a few sessions available for 2011, please contact me to schedule your family’s holiday photoshoot.

What about cards?  You have until midnight (PST) tonight to take advantage of the holiday card sale going on now at Minted. Ask me how to use images from your photoshoot…OR…you can use images of your own!
Order now and add your images later!

My dear, old friend (old because we’ve known each other 16 years…not old, old) recently gave birth to her third little munchkin!  The adorable Mr. C was oh-so-sleepy when I first arrived, but boy-oh-boy does he love the sound of his older sister’s voice!

The itty-bitty-ness of newborns never ceases to amaze me!  I could sit and stare at those little fingers and toes for hours on end (and believe me, when my boys were newbies I did just that)!

How could you NOT spend your whole day staring at this face!

As much as I love photography, I also love cooking.  It brings my heart such joy to cook with my boys.  When children are involved in the process of preparing food they are far less likely to pick at and reject their food.  Cooking sessions provide excellent opportunities for my boys to practice taking turns.  And, the teacher in me loves that a little time spent in the kitchen can provide a variety of educational enrichment–Math! …all those measurements, reading …all those ingredients, following directions, the list goes on and on.

Oh yeah!  It’s also fun!  …and you never know when a spontaneous case of break dancing might occur!

So, for Valentine’s Day I wanted to make a special treat with my guys.  I recently came across a recipe for heart-shaped Red Velvet Whoopie Pies on Pinterest by Annie’s Eats.  I LOVE RED VELVET ANYTHING!  The problem is that we have eliminated red dye from Brad’s diet.  What to do?  What to do?  Once I get red velvet on the brain it doesn’t let go.  My solution: make red velvet to old fashioned, true southern way–with beet juice!  WHAT!?  Blecchhhh!  Does anyone really like beets?  They taste like dirt.  Double-Blecchhhh!  Why would anyone deliberately add a dirt-flavored ingredient to something as delectable as red velvet.  Well…because it’s RED!  I searched endlessly for advice on the proper method for adding beets to red velvet.  No luck.  Most recipes called for fresh beets, boiled, pureed, strained, and otherwise obliterated.  Seriously.  If you have the kind of child that needs red dye removed from their dye, you don’t have the time or energy to do all that AND bake the cake.  I decided to get a good ol’ can of beets in their own liquid.  Since my red velvet recipe called for 1 oz. of red dye I measured out 1 oz. of beet juice, plugged my nose, and added it to the batter.  Voila!  Red(ish) Velvet Cake.

While my Red Velvet Whoopie Pies are not nearly as vibrant as your traditional red velvet, I am incredibly happy with them!  They are delicious (you CAN NOT taste the beets at all) so my craving has been satisfied.  My boys had a blast helping to make them (and eat them).  And Brad gets to enjoy a red treat for once!  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Just a little sneak peek at a project I’m working on for Valentine’s Day. How much do I love this kid!? I was telling the boys today that when they are teenagers they won’t want me to hug and kiss them anymore.  They were both shocked that I would say such a thing and vehemently denied that would ever happen.  Brad then went on to say, “Mom, I’ll still give you hugs and kisses when I’m older because I’m going to be a KINDFUL teenager!”

Squish!  My heart just melted all over again!