It's not a costume!!!!

Robyn is doing well!!! I'll start off by telling you all this is her sister Brandy and Robyn asked me to do this. Her last words before hanging up, "Don't scare me." I'm a smart a** and no where near as sweet and reserved as Robyn. I tell it like it is...So a little on Robyn: She's home and recovering. Her surgery seems to have went well at just over two hours. Our Dad drove her home so I hope she was stitched extra tight.

For those who don't know of our father, he is a wonderful man who would give you the shirt off his back. It would be stained, smell of cigarettes and probably have a crazy saying on it, but if asked for, it would be yours. He also goes by Cashmere even though his name is nowhere close to that suave. Visual yet? So Robyn is hopped up on muscle relaxers and pain killers and gets a ride home with Cashmere. He cuts some people off, hits every bump in the road and makes some jerky stops and starts, but she is home! Sadly for me, she is not wearing a halo. I was thinking it would be awesome to crack jokes about. I asked her earlier this week what she thought she would get. (Like we were kids again, guessing our Christmas morning surprises) She said she hoped she would at least get a hard plastic neck brace. Interested, I asked why and she said"When ever I see people with the soft smushy one's, I wonder if they are just faking."

Robyn, I know you don't have too much time on your hands (I have seem her laundry room) but you answered that so fast, I know you had been thinking about that for some time. Disturbing

So...... It's not a costume, she isn't faking. Her throat was really just cut open, all it's inside goodies were moved to the side and her bones were morphed with the help of a few metal pieces into the bionic women. It's just a boring old smushy neck brace. Blahhhhh.

So heal quickly my wonderful, beautiful, multi talented sister. I am so proud of you and I want to be just like you when I grow up. (minus the surgeries, barking dogs, killer bird, laundry, and skin conditions) Never mind, I'm fine being me just looking up to you.

The really crazy adventures of Levi McCoy!

I could make a daily blog out of the adventures of Levi McCoy, that's how much trouble he gets into on a daily basis. I'm. Not. Kidding. Let me give you a run down of just SOME of the last weeks mischief. I'm going to use bullets so be prepared:

* Carried Peytons YooHoo box through the house and upstairs so that it now looks like someone had a raging case of the runs in my upper foyer carpet. Nice. (I was at the bus stop)
* Took the roll of foil off the counter (that I borrowed from the neighbor) while I was in the potty. He shredded it in the upper foyer.
* Chewed up a wooden ghost magnet that Miss P patiently painted
* Stolen numerous shoes from under our desk and deposits them outside.
* He and his accomplice Macy got out of the gate and were sprayed by some animal's ANAL glands and came home smelling like a waste water treatment plant.
* While we were out of the room, he opened Cole's LARGE fountain soda in a styrofoam cup and drank the entire thing.
* Drank Peytons milk out of the cup when I was at the busstop this morning.
* Also while at the bus stop took the big kids box of frosted mini wheats and ate them all and shredded the box in THE UPPER FOYER. (seeing a pattern here, friends)
* Walked across my coffee table and the back of the sofa (I think he might think he's a chihuahua or a cat)
* Learned to open the patio door and let himself in.

I know this is the tip of the iceberg. I've probably tried to shut out some of the other things he's done.
He's like a 2 year old little boy who had a 7 Eleven big GULP of mountain dew.

Thank God he's cute!

AND FOR MY VERY PATIENT WHIMAGES CLIENTS. ALL SNEAK PEEKS WILL BE SENT BY WEDNESDAY. I PROMISE!

Wyatt needs your help!

Meet Mr. Wyatt and his Vet mommy Jacqui. Wyatt donates his blood to save other dogs in need. Did you know there are 13 different blood types in dogs and they are NOT breed specific, for an example a Great Dane may be the same type as your Chihuahua! Remember my friend Tina's boxer Blu? His litter had parvo and was dying. Without a blood transfusion from a wonderful dog like Wyatt, it's doubtful they would have made it.

Dr. Jacqui is a very veterinarian, often taking her own time and money to help rescue doggies in need. She even recently spent her days off transporting a dog for www.boxerrescue.com. It's one of the two puppies with the broken legs.

Well anyway, Wyatt was chosen by Milkbone as one of the 100 finalists for there nations SPOKESDOG contest but Wyatt needs your vote to win. This would be a perfect fit for Wyatt and Jacqui because they could spread the word about canine blood donation and RESCUE. OHHHHH I forgot to tell you, Mr. Wyatt is a rescue pup too! See how special he is? Please vote for him. It just takes a moment to register and then you can vote everyday! Here's the link http://milkbone.icmodus.com/?id=8002

Let's think about this....

I know most things happen for a reason. Me asking for the test and postponing the surgery was such a GOOD thing, even though yesterday I had a hard time dealing with it.

The good thing for YOU is that if you were hoping for a Whimages shoot but just couldn't fit it in, now you have one more week! AWESOME for you and it will keep me busy and not thinking about the surgery! LOL So call me if you want quickly scheduled shoot between now and next Wednesday.

Since I had to go back to Towson again today to have my NEW surgical evaluation, I figured some retail therapy would be just about as good as physical therapy...and probably much better for my MENTAL health! I only stayed in the mall about an hour because I'm certainly not feeling totally up to par but it was FUN! AND I got several Christmas presents out of the way! PLUS there are definately some bargains to be had! I got Peyton the cutest green spectator ballet flats at Gap kids for 13.00. I also got Callie and Cole a couple goodies but since she's lurking over my shoulder reading this I'm keeping tight lipped! HA!

More brown eyed cuties! AND I am not having surgery on Thursday :-(

I've known Ashley (the momma) for several years now and her natural beauty just glows from within. I swear too, she's one of the funniest people I know beside my sister. This girl is always laughing and it's just contagious...you can totally see why she has Micheal smitten!

I don't normally say the kids names here and I won't today but these little girls are so CUTE and all have names that would be a scrapbookers nightmare! Let's just say they all have lot's of vowels.

WARNING WARNING WARNING TOO MUCH INFORMATION AHEAD!!!
Okay, enough about them, here's some about me! (LOL, I used to love that commercial where the guy would be talking about himself on a date and then say, "okay, enough about me. What do YOU think about me?" It was decided late this afternoon that my surgery on Thur. would be cancelled. :-( I'm having lumbar issues again and I had an MRI on that last night. After looking at them it was decided that they need more images. But most importantly, I apparently have a UTI. Now let me tell
you something about about this. This UTI has the type of bacteria that would have attacked my bones if I had the surgery. Appently having bacteria laden bones is a BAD BAD thing. LIKE REALLY BAD! I don't think I've EVER had a UTI before, EVER. WEIRD The funny thing is, I REQUESTED the test on my urine because I felt it had an odd odor for a couple months and I was urinating more frequently, however I thought maybe it was just one of the meds. Because we KNOW I'M ON SO MANY MEDS! (although my sister says I'm so much funnier on the medication so there IS a plus) GIRLS...ALWAYS go with your heart! I have to admit I'm really disappointed about. VERY disappointed because I just want to get rid of my neck pain. I want to feel normal (if I am ever really normal). BUT the surgery will take place and hopefully next week. GO ME!

Make a wish little man!

You may recognize BatMan here from my http://www.whimages.com/ site. He's been my little model for several years! I started watching him a couple days a week when he was like 3 months old. Now he's turning 4! Jeeez time flies! He's just the cutest thing and always has been such a little LOVEBUG! Over the years we've become great friend with his parents Curt and Tina. Tina and I are unorganized ditzy brained (although she's not nearly as ditzy as I am...more on that in a minute) friends who can shop an antique store till it's bare in a few moments flat!

I had to throw in this photo of Peyton on the steps. She was decked out in all of Matilda Jane glory (http://www.matildajaneclothing.com/) and looked cute as a button with her little riding boots. But then she put her old Old Navy hoodie on over her head as we were waiting to leave. She totally looked like a little Polish peasant girl!

About my total ditziness. I've told you before I have WAAAAAY more
than my share of blonde moments even though I'm not blonde. (except for the highlights my wonderful sister puts in). So we were sitting by the bonfire last night at Hayden's party and remember I am on some pretty strong pain meds and a strong muscle relaxer AND I did have a glass of Pinot
Grigio...okay so we were sitting around the bonfire discussing dog quarantines in certain countries and someone said that in France the quarantine is 90 days. AND I exclaimed, "WELL, IN ENGLAND IT'S 3 MONTHS!" ...I'm never living this down.

Brown-eyed beauties!

I'm in love with this photo of Miss H walking in the sunlight, she looks like a little sun-goddess! It was one of those really NiCE warm fall days but we also tossed on the kids winter hats and scarves for that "BRRRrrr it's cold out here look", that's so great for Christmas cards! LOL! Mr. D had eyes like deep pools of dove chocolate...he was so handsome!

A week from tomorrow is operation Robyn the bionic woman. Can you FEEEL my excitement people? It's gonna be a blast, I'm sure!

OHHH and there are some specials going on for the holidays with my canvas company and they are FABULOUS! Let me know if you are interested!

Beautiful Brandy!

I did loads of shoots this weekend and EVERY single one was special in it's own way. That's what I love...I NEVER know how a session is going to go...from the spontaneous hand holding of little sisters walking away to the pouty lips of a chunky toddler. I LOVE the nuances of light at the different times of day, capturing glimpses of who your kids REALLY are, who your family REALLY is. One of the VERY special sessions that I love is shooting a beloved member of someones family who happens to walk on 4 feet. As you know, I have a special place in my heart for souls of the furry kind.

Brandy is one of those special furbabies. You can see the love between Brandy and her Mom. She was such a pretty girl and so patient with me and my tiny blocks of cheese! She is a brown and white dalmation with GORGEOUS dark chocolate spots sprinkled on her milky coat. I just loved her!

Super Sunday!

FIRST and foremost...I'm almost done with post-processing the September shoots. Thanks for your patience everyone!

This weekend was crazy busy for both Matt and I. I had shoots on Saturday and all day Sunday. FUN shoots with GREAT family and 3 out of 5 were repeat clients! I LOVE that. I LOVE them...I have the best subjects! More blog posts to come on those families!

Matt worked with Curt in the backyard on Saturday,drove 3 hours to Solomans Island to play drums till 2 in the a.m. drove 3 hours back and then slept a bit and worked in the yard all day again on the Pergola! I can't wait for it to be done...it's gonna be purty!

Ohhhh, look at this fat bumble get the last of the years pollen. He was at the house I was shooting at this weekedn being a busy bee! At one point, I got too close and he raised one little leg at me as if to say, "Back off woman!"

Me and my MIDGEES!

It's the BEST time of the year everyone!

IT'S VANILLA MIDGEE TIME AT TARGET!!!!!

Callie totally MADE my month when she came home today after going to Target with a friend and surprised me with this DELIGHTFUL and DELICIOUS and so DELECTABLY GOOOOOD for you bag of vanilla midgees. MY ABSOLUTE favorite. Followed very slightly behind by the large fresh RED SWEDISH FISH and my ever-popular LEMON-HEADS! YUMMY! Are you seeing a chewy theme here people? If you want to be my friend, by me a bag of any of those and a chilled bottle of Reisling and we are BFF's!

Okay...lots of shoots to catch up on now that I have this sugar rush flowing!

The Golden Girls!

I loved this group of kids! These blonde beauties were so EASY and fun to shoot! Great clothes, great hair, lovely eyes and a great fun and spirited attitude. I love this job!

Mr. S and Ms. B

These two gorgeous kids are the cousins of the little golden girls above. MAN this entire family must have the BEST genes! This brother/sister duo were just as polite and well mannered as the blondies! I swear I could have shot these 4 all day.

FUN, fun fun session! Again these were shot at my new favorite location that I'm basically shooting all of October in. Since I'm squeezing them in like sardines I can't really have travel time but this site ROCKS it!

WHEWWWWW!

Busy lady here! I've been working my buns off (now if that REALLY happened, I'd be tickled to death because I have plenty of bun to work off but that's another blog post)post processing and shooting. So if you are WAITING past shoots...it's happening, I promise. Here are some cuties from the past couple days...I have more but I keep forgetting to ask permission to post!

These little girls (the farm like pics) are so LUCKY to grow up in this kind of environment. Wonderful loving parents that were fun and cool and grandparents on a real farm
across the street! I could have shot there all day! Lots of cool spots to shoot...an awesome barn (make this pic of sweet Ms. A big by clicking on it and you can see the light from the barn door and me in her eyes...I LOVE when that happens) cool chipped paint doors, and fences, a LOVELY pond, I could go on and on and you know I do by my notoriously long run on sentences.
These little dudes are just the BEST! REALLY. I've known them since they were little and their momma and dad are a couple of the best friends we have.

ALTHOUGH, their Mom called me last night to tell me she hates me because I got her involved in the Twilight series of books. If you haven't started them, you may want to consider not even glancing at them. Unless, your laundry is completely caught up, you have frozen casseroles in the freezer and maybe a maid, I would suggest NOT purchasing them. Truly, don't even give them a second glance unless you have nothing better to do then twiddle your thumbs and get pedicures and stuff because they will SUCK you in with some weird power. It's
sorta scary the power they hold over your life. I'M NOT KIDDING.

Boxer Bash '08

Donation Jars

Saturday, my friend Tina and I hosted our first annual "boxer bash" charity event to benefit www.boxerrescue.com . Everyone had a blast in Tina's awesome backyard. The kids swam like fish in the heated pool, the parents enjoyed a bit of beer and wine, and we all warmed up by the fire as the sun set.

We gave away awesome goodie doggie bags just like the one below.

Just kidding! Blu decided the October air was a bit chilly so he curled up in someones bag and took a LONG nap! How cute is he?!

We've already got big plans for next years bash, our minds are churning with creative charity juices all for a GREAT cause!