Cereal....

Before I left town this week, Matt mentioned that we were going to be out of cereal (this has turned into a capital offense at our house--along with being out of cookies), so I crammed a run to the store in among fifty other things that day...I'll admit I was slightly annoyed because we can NEVER keep enough cereal in the house (along with cookies, which I despise--cereal and cookies). I've had to think about where my growing distaste for cereal stems from---it could be that when I've offered to make my hubby a four course breakfast...he'll sit there and say "nah...I'll just have cereal"....hmmm okay; OR the amount of milk that is WASTED in cereal bowls day after day across this country...wasting a "top grocery item" (one that forces you to go to the store) has always been a capital offense in my book and since cereal is the main culprit...it has taken a bad rap.

Anyway...back to my quick cereal store run...I decided to make a silent statement and just load up on cereal--we're talking the entire cart. I dropped the bags on the counter at home and headed out of town. Later that night, I get a phone call from Matt informing me that we have plenty of cereal since he (making his own silent statement) decided to do some cereal shopping of his own before he came home.

The sad thing....this will probably last about a week and a half....

Children in the Gun Cabinet!!

Okay so Matt, in junior high, must've been forced to build something (you know...to carry on the family woodworking tradition) so instead of building gorgeous bedroom furniture (4 poster beds, dressers etc...) like his older brothers....he builds a gun cabinet. Hmmm...luckily we avoided having to "house" until last year when his mom and dad showed up and said "surprise! here ya go!"...oh joy :) so...it was pushed into this corner of the house and has since become a play cupboard of sorts...all the kids come over and like to shut themselves in it and stash food and clothes and dolls etc...McLaren has especially taken a liking to it and gets rather upset if the doors are open...(is it wrong to want to duct tape them shut while they're in there? like on a scale of 1-10? how bad is that thought?)

Laina in "classic pose" and McLaren...praying

(mis-interpretation of laina's pose)

I was only asking if it was wrong for me to want them to stay in there because... when they "get out of the cabinet" and you turn your head for approximately 4 minutes and 32 seconds...THEN your daughter yells out "MOM! McLaren's on the table!!" this is what you find....

He is currently going through more outfits than his sister per day...that is an incredibly hard task to accomplish!

Splash!!!

I did it!! All by myself (okay okay and some really really helpful friends from my forum--thanks guys!)...anyway feel free to check out the new splash page at Holdsworth Photography! Sweet eh?
(P.S.- A "splash page" is the front page of a website....I have no idea why it's called that...maybe I should go google...)

Rockin' at the Mesa Arts Center (In-depth)

Every now and then its fun (and very FUNKY) to breakout and shoot a bit differently...and I'm so glad that R & H let me do their shoot here. "H" and I didn't get to chat...way too crazy for that, but CRAZY is what works for me and family shoots (or so it seems :) We had ages 5 months to 15 years old...I think she and her hubby live the definition of CRAZY! (But they handle it so well ;) I thought I'd give everyone a "run-down" on the makings of a family photo session so either fast forward and check out the images...or enlighten yourselves.

First...everyone shows up--late (at least they "think" they are late, but I usually schedule about 20-25 minutes "earlier" than necessary to allow for the pre-shoot getting ready and in the car craziness!...I didn't just give that away did I?)

No one is quite sure what to do or what to expect when we start...but no one has any problem standing there and making a ridiculous face...(or posing like a GQ model in the oldest's case--and in that case I say "hey...just make sure you look good and everyone else can fend for themselves!"

Then after shooting some individuals (I'll save those for mom and dad and girlfriends :) we're getting good and warm...and I start to get some interaction and the result is MY IDEA (remember that will not be the "typical" posed family picture) of the ULTIMATE family shot: (don't worry, I'll take one or two nice and posed for the grandma's out there...I am an understanding soul...I also have a grandma--just don't expect it to ever be blogged!)

Life...capturing it...

I have to get a foot shot in (didn't you know that EVERY wall needs a foot shot...don't ask why...it just does!) However, this was the first time that my foot shot was pretty funky! I'll admit...I've never shot feet in ages of 5mo to 15yrs (and then some :) its a bit tricky--I could've cropped to show just feet, but then I thought..."this is their life...big and small" (pretty deep eh?...don't worry it gets lighter at the end!) Then we factor in some wrestling...not the bloody kind though....just some head-lock kind...harmless...really...

And then, much to the kids relief, we tell them to get lost and go and have some real fun! Hey... remember the foot shot above? well...second in line is some man/wife interaction..."H's" shoes and dress were SCREAMING out to be shot this way and so to quiet the voices in my head...I gave them some encouragement...Now when the photographer says "trust me"...you just do it!

NOOOOO...not laughing...(even though I'm laughing right now...looking at them laughing :)

Because...after you've gotten all four of those kids (I don't have to list their ages again right?) to bed...and you barely crawl into your own...you can look up on your nightstand and see this KILLER image (that should be submitted to Maxim or GQ or used to sell some cologne or somethin!#$$%^) and think 'Man...what a woman' OR 'Man...look at those jeans!'...kidding!

Oh and "R&H"...you do have some killer images--I just love posting the "non-norm" and lucky for me I know you love it too! Thanks for letting me make a "tutorial" out of you! I can't wait to see you again this month.

Quick Getaway

My sister talked me into dropping everything and running (more like sprinting without looking back) down to Phoenix a few weeks ago. It was wonderful....so wonderful that I'm going to do it again in 2 weeks (I think I should develop a habit don't you?)

So we hit IKEA

(Tia obviously got the long gorgeous flowy hair in the family...

I got the long arms...'nuff said)
Chowed down at The White Chocolate Grill (corner of Mayo and Scottsdale road...another reason to develop a habit)
Ohh...and we met up with our friend Elizabeth
and her bag...that Tia wants...

and practiced freezing motion! (seriously...what is with the tongue thing?)

Valentines Re-visited

Okay...I've put enough space in between Valentine's week and this post....I had to find my breath again! So I started out the day, helping "host" the valentine's party in Indy's class. It would've been great...had I not brought the "Rascal". What on earth was I thinking?? I mean the fact that Indy loved having him sit on his lap (for the 5 seconds he would sit!) should NOT have been enough to sway me to bring him...I would get random comments from the kids, "ummm...your baby just threw his food on the floor" or "umm...your baby has his hands in the frosting!" Despite the baby Mac craziness, the kids had a great time. And Laina did a great job decorating her own queen of hearts crown...it was her mother who decided to stick it on her head when the glue was still wet...oh well...lots of shampoo! (and no...we didn't get a picture...the glue sent her into mild hysterics)

(T.. :)


And now on to the 2nd annual "Dinner Club V-day Dinner". Our lovely host was the famed chocolate strawberry dipper "Nic". I talked her into doing beef tenderloin...yes it was very rare (I had to post this image so that I can cement my inhertance from my "steak tartare eating father"). She had to sear it a little more before it was deemed edible :) but it still cut like buttah'. Ade provided the "bling" and the dessert :) Me? I showed up with lame asparagus...I know...so lame! Oh! and we did have spouses there too :)

Little Girls...in Pettis!

I've been dying to do a session with these pettiskirts (I've only been waiting 6 months for mine to arrive...lovely backorder!) So I lucked out and did a session where they had their very own pettis! And what on earth do you do when you have 3 gorgeous pettiskirts and 3 gorgeous little girls???? Hello! photoshoot!! The best thing about this one? They didn't even have to leave home! I'll say it again...just give me one room with light and the rest is history (in this case we had 2, but who's counting?) Also, I got a little carried away with the textures...but I couldn't stop myself!
NOTE: In case it wasn't obvious, sessions done during the months of January, February and March get quite a few more "images" posted for the sneek peek (it's just a little calmer around here during those times...)

(To all the mothers of 18month olds....all you need is one split second to capture them...of course they usually give you only HALF of that!)

(My camera was GLUED to these eyes!)

Perfectly....imperfect!