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Preschool class of 2009 that is! Just a quick share from my world tonight then I’m going to head back in to spend time with my babies err, children. >>sigh<<
Yes, I guess it’s official, I no longer have babies. I’m good with that though, I have no doubt this next chapter of our lives will be even more exciting than the last! Look at these two…you’d never know that they bicker at each other from dusk ’til dawn. 
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I’m heading up to Tallahassee to celebrate my little sister graduating from Florida State University with her Bachelors Degree in Nursing. {Woohoo Michelle you so totally ROCK sis!} Yea, we’re all a little excited. Michelle plans to remain at Florida State while she works to receive her Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree. I, on the other hand will be back in the office bright and early on Monday May 4th.
Speaking of May, Mother’s Day will be here before you know it! If you haven’t already taken advantage of our Limited Edition Mother and Child Sessions you’ll want to give me a call right away next week. We’re nearing end of this promotion and will only be scheduling two more mother and child sessions for this special offer.
Happy Sunday! We had such a fabulous time during the Festival of Lights celebration in downtown Fort Myers last night. The photo series above was taken while we waited (sometimes not so) patiently for the parade to start. It seems my daughter has entered a ‘Take my picture Mommy!” phase which, after 3 years of bribing and whining, is totally ok with me. Heck, even her silly cheeseball faces are welcomed and encouraged!
The 5K runners were seriously impressive. I was crouched down near the finish line watching the runners round their final corner, I admire their stamina, I don’t think I could do it!
Runner 261, you look entirely too happy to have just ran 4+K, I’m thinking maybe that smile is because you see the finish line over my head. *giggle* Lookin’ good ladies and gentlemen, congratulations to all! Don’t worry, somehow I managed to avoid getting run over.
Little Livie spent much of her time stuck to Papa like glue. Everyone who knows me, knows that I’m an emotional person, I think you almost have to be to do what I do. But seeing my Daddy hold my baby girl always makes me mushy.
After some exploration of the local crafts being sold and displayed it was (in the words of my 8 yr old) FINALLY time for the parade to start. It really wasn’t that long but at 8 years old 20 minutes seems like a lifetime!
The police motorcycle stunts were amazing! You could feel the wind from the bikes brush against you as they criss crossed and made their way down the street. Great show guys! I wish I had more photos of your stunts but you were just too fast to focus on in the dark! I did however catch this dare devil coasting down the street. You sir, seriously impressed my youngest boy – shame on you! That child does not need any encouragement! *giggle*I added a little vintage touch to the image, it looks like something right out of an old newspaper.
Being the impatient mother that I am, I finally got tired of sitting there waiting to see my own son come marching down the street so I did what any other mother would do. I tracked him down and embarassed him by taking his picture in front of all of his friends. *giggle* I know, I’m evil aren’t I? Even though this is his 5th year in band, this was his first time joining in with the marching band and he looked so handsome, so ya see, I just had to! Totally justified if I do say so myself.
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One final note for my photographer friends, the 5D Mark II totally rocked my world last night! All the parade images were captured long after sunset using just my trusty 5D markII, my 50mm 1.4, and the available street lighting. For referance, the image of my son in uniform was shot at 1/125@f2.8 ISO 6400 with just one street light behind me to illuminate his face a bit. Rock on Canon, you know I love you!!
Yes, I admit it, I left work early on Friday. I had a very important appointment with one extra special little lady. I had promised Miss Olivia (my daughter) a trip to Build A Bear to make her very own bear after she reached certain milestones in preschool and with the steadfast determination that runs so strongly in my family she reminded me every.single.day last week that she had met her goals and Friday would be Build A Bear day. I admit, it’s partly my fault since I’ve kind of built the whole Build a Bear thing up in our house. It’s not something she’s ever done before and she knows that her big brother Nick was only allowed to go one time so it seems like a pretty big deal to them and therefore makes great leverage. Great, now I’ve admitted to leaving work early on Friday and to bribing my children, terrible of me I know! But with how many Mommy readers I have I’m sure you understand, heck you’ve probably been there yourself a time or two…
I have absoltely no regrets. To see the smile on her face and how she lit up while she brought ‘Alexa the ballerina bear’ to life was absolutely worth it! To say she was a little bit awe struck would be an understatement.
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After we finished dressing Alexa and preparing her birth certificate we had a wonderful gourmet meal of strawberry smoothies and french fries, I think it was the best Friday afternoon I’ve had in a LONG time. 
Happy New Year to you all!! First I’d like to say thank you to all the wonderful clients who welcomed me into their lives to document their love and memories this past year. I’m looking forward to seeing you all very soon and hopefully meeting even more wonderful families in 2009!
With the holiday rush behind us now I, like many of my colleges, use the time between Christmas and New Years to play ‘catch up’ with my family and friends. You would think with all of the work I do on the beach it would be the last place I’d want to visit during my down time….not so at all! In fact, quite the opposite. The work I do on the beach serves as a regular reminder of how lucky I am to live in beautiful Southwest Florida with it’s white sandy beaches and beautiful blue skies.
Warm sunshine on my face, sand between my toes and the sound of my children laughing and playing together. Can you think of a better way to bring in the new year? I won’t be sharing ‘professional portraits’ with you today…today the photographer hat is off and there is only Terrilyn, mother of three, sharing some snapshots of her children playing at the beach. My resolution for 2009, to take a time each day to count my blessings. As I look toward the future I am reminded of a quote by Forest E. Witcaft:
“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove…but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.”
♥
{ The Giggler }
{ The Collector }
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{ His Treasure…a live Sea Sponge }
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{ The Enforcer }
*giggle* … that shot right there about sums up my life and ya know what, I love it! I wish you all a joyful present, a well remembered past, and a blessed new year.
xoxo – Terrilyn
Be it leaning precariously over a 2nd story balcony, running full speed bare foot through the Gulf of Mexico, balancing atop a barstool to get just the right angle for that newborn shot or provoking small children to ‘go ahead and try to splash me’ while holding $3k worth of equipment in my hands. I have to admit that I’ve been known to do some otherwise crazy stuff trying to capture that perfect moment with my camera. It really is a wonder I haven’t landed myself in the ER a time or two. Just recently I was so intently focused on capturing the giggles of an adorable baby girl I didn’t realize I was backing myself right into a little 2′ wall which I subsequently ended up falling backward right over the top of landing squarely on my behind. But hey, it did make her laugh so I guess it was worth it. 
So when I stumbled upon this link today it made me feel pretty good to know that I’m not the only photographer to behave this way. In fact from the looks of things I’m starting to think that my random acts of insanity are really quite sane after all. If you’re in need of a good chuckle, or just like to see grown people in very precarious situations, have a peek at this collection of Photographs of Photographers from 35millimeter.
Oh and if anyone knows where I can get one of these little do-hickies feel free to send me an email. *giggle* I’m kidding!! (Sorta!)
Ok, this was seriously fun. A photographer friend of mine, Sherri Winstead, shared her family after ‘elfing’ them on her blog. I thought it was so adorable I just had to do one for us.
Go on, you know you wanna Elf Yourself too!
