Nest

There are many reasons that I love spending days with my kids, but pretty close to number one on the list would be the chance of being submersed in their imagination all day. I am pretty sure I could live smack dab in the middle of the trendiest art center of New York and still not even come close to knowing imagination like the inventive mind of my 3 year old. Now, there are times I raise an eyebrow and hope she's not going to be the kid in class that eats paste, but mostly I just bask in her ability to live with an untainted view.



Which leads me to the photographs...lately Lucy has been playing "nest". I think its inspired by the robin's nest we spotted in our front yard. All the pillows and blankets have been systematically disappearing from every room in the house as daily she constructs elaborate circular nests in order to play some version of mamma bird. On this day, she decided that Knox was to be the daddy bird and she would handle the nest building since "he's too little and doesn't know". He seemed to completely understand her madness and never once got upset as the circle of found objects began to build around him! I haven't yet submitted photos to the Whitney Museum of Art yearly competition, but give her time...that brain is bound to take her somewhere amazing.

My little chick-a-dees (as Ms Hickman would say...)

Here is the nest drawn out in case their genius surpasses your own :-).

You know you are a parent when...

its 7:30pm on a holiday evening and you are in your jammies blissfully thanking the good lord for the sound of sleeping children! Dan and I are sitting enjoying much overdo computer time with our dueling laptops and drinking chardonay and eating microwaved smores. If there is a better way to spend time, I, sir, do not know what it is. The previous week passed before I could even take a full breath...lets recap....

Hadley Simpson daughter of Elizabeth and Brian...A cutie with the roundest legs I have ever seen! It was great to photograph the daughter of someone you knew going up-its a neat feeling, like a sneak peek into the cycle of life. Dropping in to see Hadley as well was Liz and my little canoli, Sofia. I keep begging them to move locally, but so far no luck! Sofi is such a doll. She is pretending the pearls in the photo are her purse and she's waving bye bye. Its really hard to believe its been over a year since she was born!

Nothing like a last minute photo shoot to round out your week! I had been bugging Sam and Sarah Beth's parents to let me photograph them and finally it paid off! I haven't edited these yet, but am excited to share some of the "hot off the press" images!

I think now I will catch up on Tivo'd episodes of the Office, microwave another smore, and kick my feet up! Ain't life grand? Happy Memorial Day!

Cheese!

Please! And make mine a double! Giving Knox a bowl of cottage cheese was like handing crack over to a incarcerated drug addict. Meal time is never boring at our house.

In other news...I photographed the super hip Gore Kids on Friday...photographing 3 kids with my 2 in tow was interesting, but doubled as an entertaining playdate! These are a surprise for Father's Day, so if you know Chad, mums the word!

The Steeplechase..chasing away the stress!

Our 2nd trip to the Nashville Iroquois Steeplechase was this past Saturday. This is typically NOT my type of event. Its a bit reminiscent of the frat parties I did my best to avoid throughout college, but since you get to wear a hat....well it just makes it better! Dan and I thoroughly enjoyed our time with friends. We had a full day of people watching and relaxing with Sangria and Mojitos and Friskies.

You might be thinking..Now, how could one with two children allow herself such indulgences? Why? Because of LAST weekend. Great Day of Service 2008. I am chair of an amazing project called NO PLACE LIKE HOME that essentially takes the apartment or house of a single mom and transforms it, Extreme Makeover style, into a warmer, more livable organized space. This year's one day transformation was the culmination of about 8 weeks of work on mine and my co-chair, Tiffany's, part. To see the results, visit my website:

http://www.mammagoosephotography.ifp3.com/

Click on Gallery and select No Place Like Home 2008. I think you will agree that a day of laziness was well earned!

Mother's Day followed and was a lovely production by husband and kiddies. Overall, if I couldn't have made the weekend any better! Hope everyone else had a good one as well!

Madeline

Sunday was a BEAUTIFUL day and I was fortunate enough to have scheduled a shoot. The temperature was just great, the company even better, so we ended up spending at least 2 hours playing and talking and taking pictures. This job is most rewarding when it doesn't feel like a job at all. I almost felt like I should have been paying them! Madeline and her new baby brother, Hudson, had fun with Lucy and Knox, too. Madeline is a knock out of a little girl and will no doubt give her mom and dad plenty to worry about when she is a teenager....