Senior Session: Miss Anna

I met this darling senior's mama at her Phx Public Market shop, Redemption Market.

We started chatting, talked about adoption, and soon after she invited me to capture her daughter Anna's senior photos. This young lady was a delight to work with, an aspiring fashion designer - 

I could see her one day working with her mom's incredible company. 

Check out this sweet teen and then head on over to her mom's fair trade boutique's site, linked above!

Tot Art: A Collaborative Conversation

Two fun moments happened in Tot Art yesterday.

1. We talked about our upcoming Gallery Show at the Gilbert Historical Museum, I am SO excited.

We also talked about how we were going to frame our collaborative piece. I don't know which I'm more excited about, actually. AND, we looked at our finished piece of recycled paper from last week (remember that project? To my joy, it worked!) Ok, so I really just shoved three things into one very fun bullet point, but whatevs.

2. Little Abear had his FIRST presentation!! Both him and his daddy went on a 14 day worm hunting experiment using the scientific method, and he's supposed to present the findings and semi-conclusions to his grandpa tomorrow, so he practiced on the kids, so sweet. I am overwhelmed with how much he's learning!

Ok, enough gushing... for now ;)

Tot Art: Valentine's Party & Paper Making Class

We learned about one of the legends of St. Valentine, and then talked about how Valentine's are on... 

paper! What would it be like without paper? We had a fun little discussion on what life would be like without it.

So what to do next? Work on making some of our own, of course ;)

Now, we just wait for a little sunshine and hopefully next week we will have a communally crafted piece of paper!

A Best Friend Valentine's Shoot, Take 5

How I love capturing these sweet little 5 year olds...

Watching their little personalities and interests blossom has been such a joy!

This weekend was full of celebration with loved ones, what a special time to remember to take some extra time out of the busyness of life to celebrate my sweethearts!

Hope you all enjoyed the special day with your sweetheart ♥

Our Adoption Journey: Part Two

Credit and many thanks to our good friend Ben of Brake Free Films for working so hard on this!

Our Adoption From India - Part 2: Ella from Brake Free Films on Vimeo.

Books About: George Washington

So many things to celebrate these days! Valentine's Sunday, President's Day, a Leap Year -

but for now we'll just focus on one ;)

Mr. Abear picked us up some books from our local library about Mr. Washington himself (and his wife, too!), they look like cute reads for the littles (and us grown-ups as well ;)

Our little borrowed collection consists of:

George Washington's Birthday - A Mostly True Tale 

written by 

Margaret McNamara and illustrated by Barry Blitt

The Escape of Oney Judge - Martha Washinton's Slave Finds Freedom

Written and Illustrated by 

Emily Arnold McCully

Dear Mr. Washington

Written by 

Lynn Cullen and pictures by Nancy Carpenter

What are you doing to celebrate this President's Day? Happy Reading!

Baby Benjamin

Sweet little boy, for whom his parents can say -

"I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

-1 Samuel 1:27

Tot Art: Letters and Books

Time to update some Tot Art posts - I've missed a couple of weeks!

Two weeks ago we looked at The Book of Kells, and crafted our own illuminated letters. Each child filled in the first letter of their name with pictures that started with the same letter - I love how they each have such a distinct and creative personality.

Last week, we looked at the idea of using existing items to create something new and special - in our case it was altered books. Each child received an animal book (thanks Chick-Fil-A kids meal!) and creatively changed it. For the Hummingbird book, flowers were drawn around the bird. For the Koala book, more leafy greens were put in. And for the Sea Lion book, cuts and edits were made. I think this project was one of my favorite this year! What art have you and your little ones made lately? Comments welcome!