It's been a whirlwind...

...of client sessions, designer shoots, fall/winter festivities, dance recitals, school activities, and the craziness that goes along with being a mom and running my own business.  I've missed you though...missed blogging, missed sharing, missed this little bit of time  I get to focus and reflect.  So this post is one of many to come and is a client session share of a beautiful family I photographed over a month ago.  I know, I'm embarrassingly behind on sharing my sessions.  Don't give up on me....I'm working hard to get things done and dedicate time to sharing here :)

This family was insanely fun to work with!  They were so photogenic and up for anything!  Denisse is such a beautiful person and I'm so lucky she's a friend of mine.  And her girls are gorgeous!  Take a peek :)

{Halloween Night 2010}

I can't believe it's already November!!  I'm not ready for Halloween to be over.  I struggled getting the Halloween bins out of the garage and filling them with all of our spooky, fun decorations.  The house felt clean though, I must admit.  Something about de-cobwebbing, dusting and putting away skeletons & grave stones, will make a house feel a little fresher ;o)  So Halloween night was great.  We were so happy to have Grandma & Grandpa join us {for the 2nd year in a row and we loved that they got all dressed up this year too!}  We wanted to start traditions here since we're all relatively new to the neighborhood.  So Jeff and I brought out the chiminea, roasting sticks, marshmallows,  camping chairs, and drinks and invited neighbors over throughout the evening to hang out and enjoy this fun celebration.  Next year maybe we'll incorporate a pot-luck dinner, just wish Halloween landed on a Saturday night!  Anyway, we had a great time.  The kids were very content...they had taken 100+ glow sticks and made a track in the street with them.  Then the scooters came out...hours of entertainment :) They didn't want the night to end.   Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!  Thanks for stopping by :)

Note:  The picture above was taken before school on Friday.  Brielle was in the Storybook Parade with her matching 'Ten Little Ladybugs' book and Tyler was showing sports spirit by dressing up for the Sports Assembly they had that day.  He also had a publishing party in class while Brielle had fun Fall centers full of activities of the season.  I loved being at school all day with both of them.   Moments I'll always cherish :)

{just playing with the light above...we were waiting for the rest of the trick or treaters to get back and enjoyed each others company - while roasting marshmallows of course.}

{Monster Mash Birthday Party for my boy who's turning 8}

My first born baby boy is growing up.  He's turning 8...yes, really!!  I remember the first day I held him and now I'm celebrating his 8th birthday, Halloween style.  His birthday is in early November but he's always wanted to have a Halloween costume birthday party.  So this was the year... We managed to get things together despite being sick and being gone second shooting a wedding a day the day prior.  I woke up early, the sun was shining and I began making the cupcakes, cleaning, adding more decorations, preparing games, wrapping the prizes, and getting the kids ready for the party that they were beyond excited about.  I was thankful to have some parent volunteers help me out at the party. {thanks Shellie & Matt} :)  Tyler had some school friends and neighborhood friends over and once the festivities began we were busy, busy, busy.  We started with crafts and began the games {freeze dance, mummy wrap & a pinata}.  The big hit....'Freeze Dance'!  The kids wanted to play again and again, so we did.  I have to say, the kids were really good at this game - Jeff was the music man and made sure to only play Halloween songs but included the 'StarWars Cantina' (same tune as Barry Manilow's Copacabana) - one of Tyler's favorite songs.  Ty had a blast with his friends and wants to do it again this weekend.  Um, we've had to break it to him that he's going to have to wait till next year to have another one.  :)

{Little beauty & my fun Goodwill find}

I donate to goodwill at least once a month and not long ago my kids asked why we never go inside. I explained that I'm donating and they have this handy-dandy drop-off drive through so we didn't need to go inside. This was followed of course by...'let's park and go inside, can we mommy?' So we did. But I warned, 'we aren't here to buy, just to look'. They gave me forced sad faces but said okay. And to my surprise in the very back of the store was this lonely little chair. The kids saw my face light up when I saw it, the hopped in it and squealed, 'Can we buy? It's so soft'. I didn't need much more of a push than that but it squashed my 'consistence' effort deviating from the planned 'we're not here to buy'. Sigh... I couldn't resist. It was $20 bucks so I took it - I mean bought it.Anyway, I finally decided to use it during a session (it's been stored in my garage).  I met this little beauty at some nearby groves and she was such an amazing subject.  Happy, up for anything and excited for clothing changes!  We had so much fun- we shot until we there was no more light.  Here's a peak at our session!

{a Summer weekend in Autumn}

Sounds strange hu?  It kind of is :)  Being in Arizona, Autumn doesn't start when much of the country does (sad to say).  We've had unseasonably hot weather that has  finally changed this week.  Knowing that the change was coming we took advantage and had a 'day of summer' playing in the pool and laying in the sun. The kids, being fish, were begging from the moment we woke up to go swimming.  I was a little under the weather so I watered plants by the pool and sprayed the kids and daddy with the hose making them each do a dance.  It was fun.  I had fun.  I think they had fun LOL.  The dog ran around the pool and played in the wet bushes making himself very comfortable when he was ready for a nap.

Last night the rain clouds moved in, and the sound of raindrops began to pour down.  Today I nearly thought the flood waters from the down pour were going to take my car away.  It was crazy.  The news was warning valley residents of tornadoes & floods.  Amazing how quickly the weather can change around here.  Last week we were in the 100's and this week we're in the 70's and 80's.  I'm loving this change!  The kids begged for hot cocoa and marshmallows after school - I was easily convinced :)

Here's some pictures I snapped when the kids were laying on the grass waiting for their sunscreen to soak in.  They're so goofy, I wonder where they get that from?

{Ohhhh…this has spurred a desire…} Arizona Commercial Photographer

A desire to travel.  I've always wanted to see Ireland's 40 shades of green and Scotland's rolling rocks and grassy countryside.  Many of my family members have been, but I'm looking forward to the day I can go rather than hearing & reading about it.  I want to go to photograph the landscape, the people, the lifestyle.  Sigh...someday I will go there.  But this outfit that I photographed made this desire resurface.  Majd, the designer and talent behind, Janum, sent me this adorable tartan outfit!   It's made so well, and I was impressed with the detail.  And the peasant top - it's wrinkle FREE.  I want like 10 of them in different colors and patterns.  It's made of a soft, material and goes with everything.   Also she's designed this cute little girls costume for Halloween {Rapunzel}!!   Brielle got a kick out of wearing the costume and being Rapunzel for a while during our shoot.  Her smile was huge and she giggled a lot. :)

{Heat Index = **120 degrees** for this beautiful family's photos}

But the heat and humidity didn't stop this family from looking amazing.  Grandma was in town and leaving the next day, so we braved the hot weather and I must say - it's the fastest session I've ever done with 2 locations.  You can't even tell this family was dying in the heat- they did awesome.  I on the other hand learned what sweatbands for your forehead and wrists were invented.  I need a good pair and I'm not ashamed to where them (behind the camera) if it will help from sweat dripping off my brow  LOL.  But seriously, I might consider getting a pair ;-) Here's a little peak at our session!

Note:  My calendar is filling up for fall.  If you haven't booked and wanted to you may want to do it soon before all spots are gone.  All of September is booked,  there's one date left in October, and a few dates in November is still available.  Go to the 'contact' page on my website to inquire about a session availabilities.

{Kara May Photography Newsletter!}

I've starting putting together a newsletter for my studio {business}!  I'm so excited to be able to share the latest promotions, events, new products, and other 'happenings' with you right to your e-mail inbox.  That's right, easy peazy!  This will be an 'every other' month Newsletter for now.  To subscribe click here.

{Designer Spotlight: Eliza Kate}

You know how much I love Eliza Kate.  Here's part of her Spring line!  Isn't it darling?! She always amazes me with her cute and fun designs and her stuff is so comfortable (that's coming from a 4 year old - really).  Brielle wanted to sleep in the outfit shown at the bottom of this post since she already had it on, I carefully convinced her that PJ's would be best for sleeping lol.   Of course Brielle had to wear her boots - she loves those boots.  I'm trying to find some cute strapy sandals that she'll like and gravitate toward.  ;-)  But whatever makes her happy during a shoot lol.

So I'm getting ready to leave to go out of town for 2 weeks.  One week to WPPI in Vegas {woo hoo!} and then I return home for 2 days and head off to Puerto Vallarta Mexico with my family and my parents for a week.  So I'm trying to get a crazy amount of things done.  I have more Designer Spotlights in the queue waiting to be posted so I'll be getting to those in between my trips hopefully.  Then bookings are beginning for Spring are getting busy - and I am adding some fun new products as well.  Yay!!   Thanks for stopping by!

{Faith Works 4 U: Retro/Vintage Designer Spotlight}

Wanna know why I love this designer so much?  She's got the perfect combination of Retro-Vintage mixed with today in each dress she makes.   I love her style and can't say enough about it!   Check out her amazing work at FaithWorks4U .  I'm especially in love with her 1960's line...I drool every time I visit her site.  Amazing talent I tell ya.

On a side note: Happy Valentine's Day!!  The last two photos were added in honor of the fun holiday!  I made over 100 of these tasty lil treats for Tyler and Brielle's classmates and neighborhood friends. :) Their school parties brought me back to when I was young.  Such fun times.