FREE LENS!!?? OH MY!!

Hey you guys! Ok, I just had to blog this because it's a super super chance to get your hands on a free.. yep... FREE lens!!! Hop on over to mcpactions.com and find out how YOU can enter! I'm all over this one gang! Good luck to you photog fanatics!


Oh.. and um... I will be posting some pix very soon. Summertime fun has kept me pretty busy with family functions etc. but I will get on track asap!!!

Hugs and kisses!
J

Adventures in.....

Puppy-sitting!
Meet Oscar. This little package of energy is just TOO much cuteness for one to take! Just a little over 11 weeks old now, Oscar melted our hearts in a matter of seconds! The kids had a blast running around with him. By the end of the day, everyone was exhausted.
It was a good time had by all..... minus the chewed hole in my screen door. But hey! I learned how to change out a screen all by myself! I'm quite proud of my new skill. Thank you Stacie for showing me how to do that! You rock girl!!! ;O)
We miss Oscar, but are happy to be good friends with his owners. A play-date is only a phone call away!
xoxox

Wonder pup!

Who says dogs don't smile?

They also make little girls smile too!

A big red couch......

.... and a beautiful family!
Well, this family and I have shot together for over a year now. From their youngest son's 1 year shoot, to Stacie's maternity pix with her 4th child, to the birth of their beautiful daughter, her newborn pictures, 3 month shoot and 6th month shoot (coming soon to the blog as well) to this adorable family shoot! I must say that Stacie and Gabe have such an amazing family. They seriously glow with love for one another. Their sons are always polite and charming, and their new daughter.... sweet as a can be! I just love hanging out with this family. Not only are they fun to photograph, they are also becoming good friends of mine.

Thanks for continually trusting my work you guys!
xo

This one absolutely cracks me up! Makes me laugh each time I look at it!

Hammin' it up....

In April, I had the wonderful experience of hanging out with Jeremy and Shannon. These two were SO fun to photograph. Shannon has the most free spirited attitude and an infectious laugh to go with it! She was so laid back and mellow throughout the day. Jeremy... Jeremy is such a gentleman. The way he looks at his wife.... wow. You can certainly see the sparks fly and chemicals react! They are SO cute together.
Shannon and Jeremy... Happy 6th Anniversary. I wish you a lifetime full of happiness and wonderful memories.
Thanks for letting me capture you being.... YOU!

Meeting Jo

Oh-my-GOSH! It has been crazy busy around the Krzyzek household lately. My apologies for not keeping my blog updated. It was not intentional.

Whew! Now that my head is above water, I'm going to take a little time to catch up on some of my most recent shoots.

Meet Jo...

This little cutie pie turned "1" in March. *(yes.. I know, I said MARCH! how sad is it that I'm that behind huh?) Anyway. This big brown eyed handsome boy and his family were soooo much fun to spend the day with.
Thank you Amanda, KC, and Jo!

Fast asleep after a big day.....

It was no joke......

THIS.... is NO WAY to start off your day!!! Not to mention, it was April Fools day. Certainly no laughing matter. How could I forget such a thing? How could I forget to replenish my stash of coffee with the numerous trips out the day prior???

(warning: disturbing image below)

This truly messes with my happiness.......

It's early, kids aren't dressed, nor are they yet fully awake. I certainly am not pulled together for an early run to the store.... so what's a girl to do? I sit down in front of my computer and express my utter disgust to anyone who will listen, on Facebook. Before I know it, I have a very kind and sympathetic audience chiming in commenting on how they feel my pain and suffering..... so much so that within about 45 minutes from my first post, the most AMAZING thing happened.
I hear my door bell ring! I stumble to my front door and open the door.... I've been Ding Dong Ditched!!!! But there... sitting in all it's glory, glowing radiant beams of sunshine is......
THIS!!!!

I squealed out the most kid like giggle EVER! My daughter baffled by such behavior over a bag of "smelly dirt" as she calls it. Nothing could bring me down now.... nothing. Sporting my very fancy pajamas, messy hair, and bare feet, I step out onto my porch to embrace the little bundle of joy that had been left for me in my desperate hour(s) of need.

Aaaaaah!
The aroma! The sounds of my coffee machine hard at work making me my "morning essence". I swear to you... I heard angels singing!!! Angels I tell ya!!!!

Oooooooooooooooooooh Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Complete and total HAPPINESS!!!!

Feeling life enter into my bloodstream!
"Today is going to be a great day afterall! For me AND my children!!!", I exclaimed aloud!
The beast within had been tamed.

Thank you SO much to my fantastic neighbor and friends C & J!!!! O M G!!! You have completely made my entire week. I got the biggest kick out of your ever so kind gesture!!
Thanks for the JOLT! You guys ROCK!!!!!
Man... I love my neighborhood!!
(I {heart} facebook too! who knew that it could bring such happiness right to my doorstep!!?? Maybe I will leave a message that I'm out of CASH and WINE too! See what happens then! LOL)

XOXOXOXOX

Perspective

"so go ahead. fall down. the world looks different from the ground."
Oprah Winfrey

Under the weather....

There should be "caution" tape around the parameter of our home. Everyone here has been so sick. It first started with my husband and I. 24 hours (or so) of the stomach flu. Vomiting, body aches so bad it felt like poison surging through our veins. Good times. Then it was Sophia's turn to be sick. She got lucky and did NOT get the stomach flu, but instead a lovely cough and very painful ear infection. She healed SUPER fast though and was back to her cantankerous self. She's my tough one. She hasn't the time to be ill. Too many things to do!

Bringing up the rear of all of the sickness is our little guy Lukas. It's always sad when any of your kids are sick, but when your baby is sick, it is even more heartbreaking. The fact that they cannot tell you EXACTLY how they feel or where it hurts is the part that makes me the most sad. Lukas' symptoms just came on so rapidly. BOOM! In the wee hours of the night, the screams came from his room. "ears not working! owie" and "ears broken... fix it mommy!" Fever, chills, earache, cough, congestion. BLAH! A trip to the doc the next a.m, and sho-nuff... a big fat ear infection and fluid on the eardrum. No doubt Lukas was miserable. It's funny though, Lukas still remains SO sweet even while sick. Giving him his doses of his medicine wasn't the easiest task, but he still tried his hardest to use his manners. "no thank you mommy. that med-cin taste yucky. you have it." or "uuuum. no that's ok mommy. i take a nap."
He cracks me up. Such a sweetheart and gentleman under even the worst condition.

Well, we are nearing the tail end of the "ick" that has taken over our home. Time to air it out and sanitize EVERYTHING. Looking forward to getting back into the groove!

I leave you with a picture of my little man while he was not feeling so well. It's a rather special picture to me because this image is the last time he actually needed/used his pacifier!!! With his cold and cough, he learned to adjust to not using it. Ahhh! I'm glad he has kicked that habit, but it's still a little sad to see he's not such a "baby" anymore.

xoxox

Monday Monday......

Aaaaah Monday. Nothing like staring down the beginning of a new week! Fresh clean slate to try again or try something new. Either way here's to Monday!

P.M.

I need to do this more often. I need to capture the little sequences that happen throughout our daily life. Just... STUFF. I love the moments spent just listening to what's going on around me. Really absorbing it and taking it all in. Oh sure, I love to photograph my kids to do something cute or unique, but.... I always come back to my true nature of capturing life just as it is. Nothing staged... nothing forced....nothing fancy. I always say it, but these little moments are the ones you will treasure forever.

we brush
(i love how much toothpaste ends up outside of her mouth and on her face! LOL)

nite nite
xoxoxo

A.M

There's something so very sweet about the gradual awakening of my children in the morning. The sleepy eyes, the slow shuffle from their beds to the kitchen, to the table/highchair. The yawns, stretches, and soft gentle voices requesting a bowl of cereal and Little Eiensteins.
These precious moments.... forever remain wrapped around my heart.

monkey see, monkey do

It's been really fun (and sometimes quite interesting) to watch how younger siblings pick up on what older siblings do. Lately, Lukas has wanted to mimic EVERYTHING big sis does. Lukas has become Sophia's shadow. He echos her when she speaks and follows her wherever she goes. It's quite comical really..... even though Sophia doesn't always think so.
Anyway.. here's just a couple pix of the monkies.
;o)
(not only did Lukas want to pose EXACTLY like Sophia, he even had to have chewing gum, juuuust like Sophia.)

Just CLICK!

I cherish moments like these. It's SO easy to capture my children and their father doing those day to day memorable things. It's truly what being a photographer is all about for me. I wish there was a way to magically have a camera around automatically taking pix of those special moments of ME with my kids. How cool would that be!? Now... that being said... I realize that was what my "52 week project" was supposed to be all about. Capturing as many moments I could each week and blogging them. That was a VERY hard project for me. If any of you even followed my posts on that project, you're aware of the fact that I failed miserably after about 6 or 7 weeks in!!! OOOh how sad is that???? It was not for lack of trying, but more so the fact that my kids started to resent me when I came around with my camera. LOL Getting pix of just them alone or them together... or with their dad is easy. But me WITH the kids? Ooh man. There were many tears shed, both myself and my kids. I am still making MANY attempts to continue this project, but not so much on a "deadline" basis. I'm sure I have SEVERAL pix that I just haven't gotten around to editing yet that could've been used for my project... but... once you fall behind on such a project, it's incredibly hard to get caught up. Not impossible however. As many of you know, I'm good friends with Amy Schuff and although she too fell behind at one point with her project (um, she has 3 kids all under the age of 6! I don't think I could even start such a project under those circumstances! lol ) she has managed to pull through and keep plugging away at her Project 52! Good for you girl. I admire and envy you for your determination and success! What a wonderful book you will end up with!!!

Well, all of that talk about my so called failure at my project 52, I don't know that it's a total flop. Afterall, it has made me incredibly aware of the importance of being IN your photographs. Taking pix with your kids, spouse, loved ones. Although I don't know if I could catch up on my project at this point.... I don't know that there is ever a "deadline" for making memories. You document as much as you can..... always.... and forever.....and for goodness sake, DON'T DO WHAT I DID.... worry about each image being "perfect". The moment you capture is pure excellence all on it's own. So please just get in front of that camera!

Maybe one day I will be able to start AND finish a project like this... but for now... I will just take each day and each memory as it comes my way, and continue to just CLICK!

Have a great weekend everyone!

a touch of color still remains...

Amazed to find any fresh leaves still left outside today.. but there they were. Nearly the last to fall from the tree. Hints of Spring are in the air. Even though we are in such desperate need of rain, I couldn't help but to admire the defiance of these leaves.

TGIF

Ok, technically it's now Saturday early early early a.m... but.. I just wanted to say that I hope you all enjoy your weekend! I know I have been a bad blogger lately. I've just been doing a little self searching. It's all "good" searching. It has kept me mighty busy! Just finding new ways to create... new ideas....new things to explore for the New Year!! I'm looking forward to change. Fresh new start! I feel so inspired!!!!

Anyway. Get out there and do something memorable and fun this weekend!
oxox