MOPS Santa House

I'm part of a mothers group called MOPS which stands for Mother's of Preschoolers. It's an International group that has thousands of charter groups all over the world. I've been blessed to serve on the leadership team for the past 5 yrs now. Every year we run into the obstacle of fundraising... we have a host church that pays for our childcare (which is a huge blessing!) but we need money outside of the dues to pay for any leadership training and scholarships. MOPS saying is "No mom left behind", which means that we reach out to all mothers, regardless of background etc... we also don't want the dues to be a reason a mom doesn't attend so the scholarships are there for that. Check out MOPS website at http://www.mops.org/
Any hoo, one of our new leaders, Niki, had an awesome idea to host a Santa's workshop (so to speak)... where kids could come and sit on Santa's lap, tell him what they want and get a picture taken with him (this was my job) and then go on to make a couple crafts and enjoy cookies and cocoa. It was an awesome weekend! We did fairly well with the fundraising part with very little advertising but even more importantly we spread the word about MOPS to many moms within our community. Also, being the photographer, I was there to watch each and every child light up when they saw Santa! What a blessing it was!!
Also, I need to mention that Niki hosted this event at her beautiful Victorian house, built in 1900-something, that she and her husband are restoring to it's natural beauty. I just have to let it out... I'm JEALOUS! Ok I feel better now... so on to the photos...

 I LOVE this one... I didn't realize it at the time but Santa's eyes are closed... a beautiful moment!

This little boys mom asked Santa if he'd be willing to take this picture... of course he was more than willing to participate too!!!

This one was made to look "old" for a reason... I had a rough time with my flash... it ate up the batteries like crazy... I had to keep re-shooting cause they were WAY too dark... this one I liked though and thought maybe I could salvage it in someway... I think it's not bad for a photo that was un-usable!

This little girl and her baby sister were way to precious! She cut out pictures of the things she wanted and glued them into a card for Santa... I love how all 3 of them are looking at the pictures!

I saw Niki kissing Santa Claus... which by-the-way "Santa" was Niki's husband... he was an awesome Santa!!! 

Of course I had to throw in my kids too... this is our oldest... Daina

Our 2nd... Ryley

and our 4th... Rigan. Just like many other babies... he cried!

 #3 would not go near Santa... in fact he tried to coax him over with a candy cane but wouldn't get close enough to take it from him!

There's always room on Santa's lap...  

 

This one was a miss-fire... I pressed the button too fast... and this is what I got! I love it... for next years "workshop" we're using this one to advertise... saying "Santa wants YOU!"

And this was just a few of us MOPS leaders who helped during the event.

We have dreams of this fundraiser becoming a HUGE event within our community for many, many years to come! Thanks to Niki and Santa (Vince) without them, their house, and their dedication to serving the Lord through MOPS this event wouldn't have been possible!

Triplet boys and one cute little girl!

I haven't blogged any photos in over a month but that doesn't mean I haven't been taking pictures... in fact it means quite the opposite. I've been super busy... in 1 week I had 3 family sessions and a HUGE fundraiser for our MOPS group that I'm part of. I'll post a few of those pictures soon.
This was the 1st session that began a very busy week for me! I photographed this family a couple years ago when their daughter was just a baby and the boys were 2 yrs old. Brianna is a friend of mine and so I was delighted to have been asked again to take their family photos. She left me and the kids at the park to take pictures while she picked up her husband at work... this worked out pretty well, except that they all ran in 4 directions so most of the shots were individuals.

One...



Two...

Three boys...

and a cute little girl!

This one was a "happy accident"... angles were hard because the sun was pretty low... I like it because of the balls of light that formed on the lens from the sun.

Peek-a-boo!

He thought blowing on his arm was pretty funny!

Getting them all to look in the same direction is no easy task!

I really like this one... mom and dad still have a happy face even in the chaos! 

Briannna, thank-you for once again choosing me to take your family pictures.



The P Family... Again

My dear friend Emily asked me to take her familes pictures... AGAIN... I love that she continues to ask me to take her pictures... I'm truly flattered!!! It was quite a feat to organize a date that worked for EVERYONE in her family (Her and her 3 sisters and their parents) and me.

Emily's mom and dad...

One of her sisters... they just got engaged!

Another sister and her boyfriend...

And finally her 3rd sister...

An extra one just cause I thought it was sweet... Auntie and Niece... this one wasn't posed, they were hugging and I said "look over here".

Thanks again Emily for honoring me with the opportunity to capture a few special moments for you!