A View of Lisa's World

I posted some pics...

not my photo a day update yet...maybe tomorrow. But I did post a sneak peek for a family I photographed last weekend. You can check them out here.

still here

still taking pics each day...just a little crazed this past week. Will be back to catch up on the daily Dec photos in the next couple of days!

7 years ago today

I received the greatest gift. I was going to use a photo of Todd for my photo-a-day today. After all Dec 6 has been a photo of him for all of these years now...but lets be honest, he is the star of plenty of photos. Plus I missed the blowing out the candle photo op. Moriah got a good shot, which I feel plenty good about stealing in the future, but I can't steal it for my photo a-day.

Which reminds me that I should post yesterday's photo...from our Holiday excursion to Gilroy Gardens. We had a chilly night full of holiday cheer and cute boys...a pretty great combination I'd say.

So anyway, back to today and that gift I got 7 years ago. Today I had a really fun photo shoot that required a drive down the coast. The sky was so beautiful that I just had to pull over and take some photos.  It looked like Heaven.

 

and since that is where my gift came from 7 years ago, I think it turns out to be the perfect photo for today.

Dec 4

So it is only day 4 and I'm already cheating a bit. I took this photo yesterday...but I'm still claiming it as today's shot...because I love it and because I didn't take a photo today. I think I get extra credit for posting it on the right day so I'm going with that. Besides....read the shirt.

In other news, I would like to wish my brother and Moriah a happy anniversary today. Sixteen years ago today I had bad poodle hair and a dress that would be forever remembered as "the blueberry" but it was worth totally worth it. I know that Geoff thought that he married his best friend that day...but he married mine.

December is here

Nice of me to show up huh?? Well I'm hoping to be around a bit more this month because it is photo-a-day time. I started in 2006 and continued in 2007. 2008 is a little sketchy because I blogged every day that year and can't seem to put my finger on an album or photos of the album with all of the pics in one place. I'm planning ahead this time so I'm hoping to be in better shape with the 2009 December photos.

So far December has been pretty eventful (all 3 days of it!)

Tuesday we had Todd's friend birthday party. Matt was still off of work so we celebrated a bit early. 8 kids, indoor basketball and dodgeball...cupcakes and juice and everyone was dang happy. Best of all I got a note from Todd that it was the best party ever.

 

Wednesday I went back to "work" in the real world actually outside of the home office for a few hours a week.It is going to be an adjustment but I think it is going to be a good change. After that it was the great 2 boy photoshoot extravaganza. It is pretty much always a rodeo and this year was not much of an exception. At least we didn't add Pearl and Fiona...I think that would have been a guarantee that my house ended up no longer standing.

 

And today was date day...first, Mom,  Moriah and I checked out the Filoli Estate holiday traditions. It was pretty cool. I of course loved the stuff set up in the kitchen...because look at these colors.

So there you go. I'm half way "caught up" and on the wagon for a fun December.

something different

I recently was chatting with Todd's Jiu Jitsu Instructor and we started talking about photography. We have some projects that we want to work on in the future, but meanwhile he asked me if I would take photos for the school and today was the day. I'm always nervous before a shoot, but I was a little extra nervous because this is something totally different than what I am used to doing. It worked out just fine and it  was actually totally fun.

I've got plenty of editing to do, but big shocker, I started with some of my favorites of Todd.

First the traditional shots of him with the lead instructor...

 

and then with the whole team of instructors...which is such an amazing group of people. He is so lucky to get to train with them.

 

Then they started to get creative...

 

and then they went a little crazy and they must have said something to offend Todd. I looked away for a minute and when I looked back he was adding the last of them to the pile...

and then he celebrated his victory...

There it goes again...

zoom...another week!!

This week I....

...went to school and learned tons of new signs....most of which will fly right back out of my head if I don't practice.

...had the carpets cleaned for the holidays

...chased Pearl around with a towel to dry off her dirty dog feet before she walked on said carpet.

...ran away from home with Moriah on Tuesday

...almost bought a pair of shoes I didn't really need but decided to be responsible and besides they were ruined for me by Moriah and Kelly anyway!

...bought a new TIVO so I could stop operating the one we had with a crab cracker...if Pearl eats this one she's a goner.

...delivered a giant pile of photos all over town...I felt like Santa

...went to see So You Think You Can Dance live and had a great time even if my ears may never recover from the screeching and I do mean screeching 14 year old girls sitting behind us.

...started my kid in Catechism which is a rather unexpected foray back to a world I thought we'd left behind...but I'm older and wiser now and able to separate tradition from politics

...picked up the non-perishable needs for Thanksgiving 

...let my child stay home from school even though his sniffles probably didn't warrant it because Daddy was off of work

For the rest of the day I have plans to...

...finish laundry

...go to a meeting that I am equal parts excited and terrified to go to

...finalize my Thanksgiving "to do" lists

...lounge on the couch with my two cute boys (and one furry cute girl) and watch some movies

...enjoy the rain.

At the beach...

Tonight was so beyond gorgeous that we had to give the great Christmas card photoshoot a first run. I think we got a few things that might work, but I'm not totally satisfied quite yet. The good news is that it isn't even Thanksgiving, so I'm feeling rather ahead of the game for even trying. Here are a couple that I love even though they won't be seeing the front of my cards this year.

 

I just think this image is so dreamy...Pearl had a ball running at the beach with Todd and something about their feet in midair, I can almost feel the smiles on both of their faces (yes Pearl does smile).

And speaking of faces, I did capture a face that pretty much sums up my boy at almost 7....too smart for his own good. I've got so many stories from the past few weeks, I really need to get back to writing them down. I guess I'll start with an example from today.

On the way to school Todd always runs ahead of me on the path. Today was no exception and I saw him stop a woman as she walked past him and chat with her for a minute. I recognized her as a mom from school but I couldn't figure out what Todd could be talking to her about, I wasn't that far behind him. He ran off ahead and when I caught up to her I asked her what it was he needed. She said that he stopped because he wanted to "have a talk with her" about her son. Apparently her son is a 4th grader and according to her "can be a bit of a bully". So Todd and this boy have had words in the past (news to me) and apparently Todd wanted to tell the woman that he hadn't seen her son around lately and was wondering why. She asked if Todd was having any other problems with him or anything and Todd expressed to her that he was just fine, just wanted to know if her kid was in trouble or anything since he hadn't seen him. It just cracked me up...not only is he not afraid of the 4th grade bully, but he isn't afraid of the 4th grade bully's mom either.

Confidence never has been something this boy of mine has had to work on...

Cornucopia...

I have volunteered to be the parent art teacher for Todd's class. Our school has an art program that consists of art kits that were purchased by our PTO funds and parents to bring the lessons into the classroom. It is sad that we don't have a more structured art program but it is still more than many schools, so we do our best and the kids love it. So I did our first project a month or so ago which was creating an african mask from one of the kits, but I decided to "go rogue" for the project this month.

I saw a facebook post from my friend Paula regarding a project she was going to do with kids in her area. So I emailed and picked her brain, and basically recreated her project here.

It was really fun and the kids really loved it. I wasn't quite sure how they would do, but they did an amazing job. I find it so interesting to watch them work, to see how some immediately throw the rules out the window and create with different colors and shapes and how others are so precise. They are all beautiful and "right" and just like in my scrapbooking classes I make sure that the kids know there is no "wrong answer" and no "messing up" just opportunities to be creative.

So the project, if anyone wants to make one, is a cornucopia art piece. First step is to color coffee filters. Believe me, I'll be bringing more coffee filter art into the classroom...talk about economical. The kids colored the filters with washable markers and then I sprinkled with salt and spritzed with water and we set them aside to dry.

I came back after lunch and we used the filters to collage a cornucopia. Super easy and cost about $2.00 which made it easy to bring along some new markers and glue sticks to leave with the classroom!

This is my example and since there are no such things as mistakes we won't notice that I forgot to color one of my filters orange so my pumpkin is yellow!! Todd told the class that it just wasn't ripe yet. Love that kid.

Delayed Weekend Reporting

Ok...so it is already Thursday and I never reported on the weekend festivities. We actually had a wonderful time on Saturday night. Moriah and I got all dolled up and spiffed up our husbands and off we went to the Starry Starry Night benefit for Alex's school. Once again I photographed the event for the school and once again I was totally nervous, but it worked out well enough. Events are tough...with the lights going up and down every minute and people milling all around. It totally gives me a new appreciation for wedding photogs.

I always find myself so emotional at this event. While many of the people there are donors and friends of board members, the mayor of San Jose and other dignitaries, there are also a lot of staff members there. I don't get to Alex's school often, and while many of them don't know me (other than when I mention I'm "teenty" and them I'm a rock star). I get so emotional because I can't really find enough words to thank the people at this school. They are amazing...every last one of them. The way that they love and respect the kids, and the way every last one of them scoffs when you thank them because they are so grateful to do what they do.

Maybe it is because they haven't been on the other side and watched people that shouldn't be teachers of any sort let alone "special needs" teachers treat  children like burdens and parents like idiots. I don't think that they can imagine it or the relief that a family feels when a child they love is not only safe, but cherished and thriving.

See? I'm getting emotional again. So I'll just link to the photos.