Hanging Out Watching Football

Contax 645; Can't recall film; One Hour Photo Avenue, Los Angeles

George via Polaroid

Veronika

I didn't have much time with this precious girl, but I'm sure glad I got to hang with her and all of her stuffed friends!

Canon 1V & Contax 645; One Hour Photo Avenue

The Best Gift

Mamiya 7ii; Neopan 400 pushed to 1600; Fromex Marina Del Rey, CA; tripod setup f5.6 / 1/8 second

Still loving my Mamiya for the self-portraits.

Holiday Tears

This is what a 3-year-old boy looks like after you tell him for the fifth time he's got to stop eating all the candy intended for the gingerbread trains/house. Grinchy mom strikes again.

Taken this evening at the beginning of the decorating.

Polaroid 600SE; Fuji 3000B

Mmmmmmmm........hands

Contax 645, FujiPro 400h, One Hour Photo Ave, LA

Santa 2011

It wasn't difficult to convince the boys to go see Santa at The Grove this morning. We talked about who Santa Claus is what he does during our drive there. George practiced his "Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!" while James remained more subdued about it. When we arrived at Santa's workshop there was a short line but totally manageable for a mom of three. I just used the power I had at the time, such as threatening them that Santa might send one of his reindeers out to see what all the ruckus was about if they kept knocking over the poles that held up the velvet rope. Once greeted by one of the elves, James' first words to her after she said hello to him was "I want a marble game." From then on out that's about all he said to anybody who addressed him. "Hey, I want a marble game." "I want a marble game please." "But I want a marble game." Hopefully Santa heard loud and clear that James wants a marble game for Christmas.

Santa Claus at The Grove is a good-looking Santa. George was skeptical about sitting next to him at first, and I got slightly worried he might bail on the photo. But, I picked him up and sat him on the other side of James and he didn't protest much at all. Cash kept looking up at the lights, but hey, what can you expect from a 4-month old?
Here is last year's photo. It's fun to compare.

Santa looks exactly the same.

Keepin' It Real

Hmmmm.....I can't remember but James is either "gettin' a talking to" in these two photos or in need of some love. With all I've seen from him lately, most likely it's the former, but I like to think he voluntarily comes over in need of a little TLC every once in a while.

Contax 645; TriX 400; One Hour Photo Avenue, Los Angeles

Thankful

Below is just one of the reasons I am thankful this Thanksgiving. I adore my family, and, even though things can feel really hectic at times, I know I could not ask for a better life. 

I hope everyone out there had a wonderful and full day. I wish we could have been in Boston celebrating with my Mom, Dad, and sisters, but I'll have to work on that in the future. I'm sure Taryn rocked the kitchen and made an absolutely unforgettable meal. Love you guys!

Happy Thanksgiving to my Camaj family! I treasure you dearly and hope to see you out here in California soon!

God Bless.

Polaroid 600SE

So far, he's exceeded my cuteness expectation.

Canon 1V; TriX 400; One Hour Photo Avenue, Los Angeles

More From the Trampoline Later....

Contax 645; Portra 800; One Hour Photo Ave, Los Angeles

A Witch and A Mummy

Halloween 2011 was just as fun as last year in Michigan. We packed up the kids and went over to Chris & Tanya's house in Rochester, whose neighborhood is just about the most perfect Halloween set-up anywhere. Almost every house participates in some capacity (no dark houses here), and there are loads of children running around all over the place. The only difference from last time was that James was a total maniac as he ran from house to house on the heels of his cousin, Zeb. Seriously, he could not be stopped; after we left the house I barely saw him, except for his black cape.
For two months James told me he wanted to be a witch. At first I was skeptical, thinking he'd surely forget about it or change his mind. But no, he never wavered. There were times when I asked him if he wanted to be, say, Batman or an astronaut. He replied yes, he would like to be those things for Halloween as long as he was a Batman "witch" or an astronaut "witch". Yep, the witch was hear to stay. (And no, calling him a warlock meant nothing - he still wanted to be a witch). So, off I went trying to conjure up a semi-masculine boy witch, hat, broom, and all.
Now, when George decided he was going to follow suit and started requesting to be a witch, that's when I put my foot down and simply told him he was going to be a mummy. "Oh, a mummy. Ok, Mama, I'm a mummy". Goodness, I love him.
Before we left for the night at Nani's house:

The witch laugh:

James and George here with James' Halloween escort:

Later on at the Demetral's house:

My Peekaboo Halloween Baby with him Papa:

Boston 2011

During our trip to Boston, we spent one of our days walking around a random Christmas tree farm my sister found while on one of her bike rides through Boxford, MA. Because I don't get the chance to spend a lot of time with my family, it was important for me to try to get some photos of them/us together. The trees where truly beautiful and the clean air smell made my heart happy.  We parked and hung out around the entrance for a while where a few local dogs ran over to greet and bark at us. After that we walked down a short trail and just watched the kids run up a small hill. It was a simple trip but one that left its New England mark on me. Up first is my beautiful sister, Taryn:

I love her outfit for where we were at the time, a Christmas tree farm in Boxford, MA.

And even one of me at the end:

Contax 645; FujiPro 400h; One Hour Photo Avenue, Los Angeles