I took this today while Ezra’s class was eating lunch. It has been awhile since I have been able to capture this boy without the crazy faces. Don’t worry, I have plenty of those to go along with this one. It’ll make a great series for a wall in our new place.
When I see this image I think “How could I ever get angry with this beautiful boy?” Ha! Only when he won’t stop whining, which is his favorite form of communication these days. Ugh. I get so frustrated with this one. It makes me wonder if our personalities are too similar. I find myself going back and forth with him like I’m 6. Then I’ve gotta snap out of it, or Zach comes in to break it up. Oh my. But when I see this image I can’t imagine ever getting mad.

How did it happen that my little squishy baby girl is now 10?! She has grown into such a beautiful, unique young woman. I only hope that each day she will be lifted by those around her and have the the courage to be her kind, loving self. I have high hopes that she will find her niche in our new neighborhood, ward and school.

Um, not me apparently. Here’s an image from today’s shoot. Cool, modern home off 6th Street in Denver.

Meat slicer, anyone?

Oh happy day! My new camera has arrived!! This is the perfect time of year to photograph with all the beautiful blossoms. Our tree doesn’t always blossom, this is only the 2nd time in 5 years. All those late frosts in Denver kill the blossoms. This year, though, all the flowers are singing!

I’m loving my new piece. It’s got this amazingly huge preview screen on the back that I’m starting to fall for. I’ll keep playing with it, but I hear the range is a lot wider than my moldy old D200. It’ll be nice to have a bit more details in highlights and shadows.

When a new baby arrives it is always a special time. But when a baby comes home after being in the NICU for awhile, it is so much sweeter when they come home, safe and sound. This little girl spent some time in that place and is now home and able to cuddle with her family. When held by her momma she would just gaze up at her, as if she couldn’t get enough of looking at mom. So sweet!

Welcome home little one! We are so happy to have you with your family!!

Lots more really great shots from this little girl and her siblings!

I still have a few b-day shots that never made it on here and lots more from Australia too. Oh my!!

So here’s another look at Ezra’s birthday. Enjoy!

When the kids arrived we had them removed their shoes, and socks (too slippery) and get to work catching flies. Mr. Miyagi style. I held the lantern with “flies” dangling around it on a sword while the kids each took a turn with the chopsticks. It’s too bad they don’t know who Mr. Miyagi is. Oh well.

Ez and I love macaroons… not too many kids like those. We found one in the bathroom trash. Hahaha! It was so bad they had to sneak it into the trash! I love these pretzel/rolo/pecan things. It’s nice I can make them with gluten free pretzels. The kids liked the ones without the nuts best… more for me!!

The cupcakes were made with gluten free cake mix along with gluten free brownies as the scarf/headband.

Ok, there’s still more. I am very slow these days. We’ll see when I can get back to this ol’ blog!

Ok, so I’m totally insane. Yes, I know… you already knew that. Just in case you are an unbeliever, I have lots of proof. First, I threw a huge birthday party for Ezra the Little Ninja. He loves that video game and wanted a ninja themed party for his 6th. So I did just about everything… thanks Pinterest for all the great ideas… we have a love-hate relationship, Pinterest and I. Zach came home from a week long business trip and asked what idea I didn’t use. Ha!! Here’s one image, showing the house. I’ll have to post the other shots once I get my head on straight… get over the crazy.

The next crazy thing I got caught up in is Valentines Day cards. Well, I am always drawn to a few things when it comes to cards:
cool design
paper
anything 3 dimensional
That’s why I had to do this:

Again, found on Pinterest… I think. It’s all a blur.
enjoy!

The week leading up to Christmas was pretty great. I made gluten free gingerbread so the kids could make houses and invite their friends to come make some too. Thursday, when all the house making was planned, there was a huge snowstorm (white Christmas!!) so the party was pushed back to Friday… and not as many kids could come. Zach couldn’t let the pieces go to waste, so there is a huge house sitting on our table waiting to be decorated with the candy we keep pilfering from the bowl. Will it ever happen? Who knows. The gingerbread is pretty tasty, but is much better with the frosting. I’m hoping, for my sake, that the candy and frosting make it on to the house.
The kid sized houses:

Ezra’s

and India’s.

While trying to photograph these, I discovered my main camera body is not working. The shutter fires (maybe) and the mirror flips up (I can hear that), but there is no detail in the file created. Probably the shutter isn’t firing or there’s something terribly wrong with the sensor. These are taken with my back-up body. Man, I sure hope this is a quick and easy fix.

Anyway, this year’s favorite gifts are pictured below. Mostly the home made ones. I’m a little biased towards them.

Zed kept asking for Zombie Underwear… whatever that is. So the older kids and I made some for him. Freezer paper fabric painting sure does come in handy. He wears these over his diapers for now, since he still refuses to sit on the toilet. Why or why is he so difficult?

Harry Potter has also been popular in our house this year. Zed kept asking for a black HP wand, since the one we have is light brown and not HP. So he got his wand and a pair of glasses that hopefully won’t break as easily as the more “real” ones. He had no idea how cool a hat and scarf could be until his Grandma made and sent them to him. He is a true Hogwarts student now… or USC fan.

While living in Australia for a month and watching a large amount of tv, mostly Ben 10, Ezra grew quite fond of the show. So India and I worked on this Omnitrix for him. I saw a few online that boasted holograms and moving parts. All things buit to break and disappoint. So I thought we should make one and make it simple. So that’s what we did. If this thing breaks, I can fix it.

India loves legos, so that was her favorite gift this year. Ezra and I had planned to make her a friendship bracelet kit, but she received a pretty cool clipboard from her teacher at church (with a skier on it). Instead we just got her floss and scissors. Kind of a cop-out, but all these home made gifts were being made at the last minute.

The last photo is of the kids opening their gifts from Aunt Teri. While in Australia we visited the Chinese Garden where the kids dressed up in traditional Chinese clothes. They loved it. So Avatar, especially with the staff. Since then they’ve asked for Chinese dress-ups. While looking online for something to purchase Teri called to ask what she could get the kids. I told her what I was working on and she offered to make them for me! So cool!! The kids love them and have been wearing them around the house. All except for Zed. He must be convinced that his is a cool color. What 2 year old is picky about clothes?? Mine! Maybe I’ll get all of them to wear them and take a photo. Also, maybe I’ll put up one of the shots from the Chinese Garden that inspired all this.

It’s the end of the year and I’m rummaging through all my images. I found this one tuck away in the March file and I think it’s pretty special.
This time of year, this year especially, we’ve been feeling homesick. Oh, probably not homesick. Just missing family. Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a full house on Christmas? In my mind at least, having lots of family in my house seems pretty dreamy. Now I’m actually thinking about that and I don’t know where everyone would sleep. See, they just need to live nearby. You hear that?? You all need to LIVE NEARBY!

What can I even say about such a sweet little thing?

After taking the ferry to Manly Beach, we walked from there to Shelly Beach. I guess that was where, if we didn’t have 3 kids in tow, we could have hiked a nice trail through some of Sydney’s urban bush. As it was, the half mile was enough for our children. Here are some pics from that day:

The coolest thing we saw (in my opinion) was this ocean side pool. I guess these are made so people can swim laps without fear of sharks. I don’t know, that’s just a guess. I loved the colors and only wish there wasn’t any wind… and that I had a wider lens (curse you 50mm!).

This is Shelly Beach which had many… you guessed it… shells. Not anything too exotic, just a lot of tiny muscle shells. Muscles cover all the rocks throughout the harbor.

So while in Australia Zach’s brother, Noah, came for a visit. He stayed with us our second week in Sydney. To his surprise, I was still going to sleep around 7:30pm. He thought I was crazy, but it took me about a week and a half to become accustomed to the time zone. While in Oz, we traveled on the famous Manly Ferry. It took us from Circular Quay (pronounced “key”) to the harbor side of Manly Beach. While changing from ferry to ferry at Circular Quay we saw some Aborigines dancing and playing a didgeridoo.

Then Noah decided to get in on the action. He began to dance too.

He tried to get the crowed into it (see Ezra there?), but they all thought he was a crazy American…

Ok, so November is upon us. “Can’t escape November.”- The Office

I have been asked by the few folks I have photographed this season what I do for Christmas card orders. Well, typically I am told which images a client would like for the card and I create something unique.

I’ve been doing a bit of research and I saw a “newspaper” used for a family newsletter. I found a site with a list of the best newspaper design and got inspired to create this:

I’d like to see what could be done for a folded cards’ interior pages (this example is for a 5×7 flat card). What do you think? Are there any designs out there you would like to see offered by Stacie Smith Photography?

Below is what I have uploaded to the card ordering section of all photo galleries to help you choose your favorite card design. You may also have me design something completely custom. Just choose your images and card size and I’ll run with it, showing you proofs each step of the way.

The kids had some great ideas of what they wanted to be for Halloween. India wanted to be a cyborg dragon, Ezra a mummy and Zed Spiderman, then a ghost, then a zombie… and Zach swears that he has never seen me without face makeup on any Halloween (oh, except last year). Ha!

We had a great night terrorizing the neighborhood as politely as we could and only got yelled at once. Some guy who insisted that when anyone’s porch light is off that means “Do not disturb”. Too bad his interior lights were on and he was sitting in the front room, where we could see him. His costume of a grumpy neighbor was a hit. We all felt he kept in character the entire time he yelled at us.

Otherwise it was a banner year, with lots of kids (more than 5) coming to the door. I gave out skin stickers (aka tattoos) skull bracelets, witch fingers, and mustache glasses which were a big hit with Ezra. He loves that there are some left over for him to play with.

Update: I can only claim responsibility for Medusa’s braids. Her mom came up with the rest!

Taken this morning. I had to dress up for “read aloud” day. It is so worth it to see the kids’ reactions. Ha!

Now I’m wondering if I can get through the day without taking it off. The lashes are off… maybe I can get a free burrito bowl at Chipoltle.

The kids’ costume photos to come later.

and they all fit in our new minivan. I guess it’s good for something.

More to share another day. I am currently swimming in Halloween crazy. See you all again soon… unless I’m eaten by a baby zombie.

These two, I am happy to say, will be married in June. Mr. C was India’s teacher for two years so she is excited for me to photograph their wedding. I don’t photograph weddings often enough and I miss feeling the love each couple shares with everyone on their day. Thanks so much for entrusting me with your special day. I think Erin will make a beautiful bride and Mike will be all smiles.

Our arrival in Australia was filled with trying to stay awake until night fall. Once off the plane, we followed the polite Asian guy holding the “Smith” sign. I’ve always wanted to arrive in an airport with a driver there to greet me. We loaded the car then set off in this huge Mercedes Benz van, which would never be seen in the US, driving on the opposite side of the road. We saw glimpses of the city, but we were mostly driving under it through a series of tunnels. Once at the apartment (which would be our September home) we unpacked a bit, checked out the view and balconies then ate lunch of sorts (oatmeal from the thermos anyone?), dressed for church and headed out the door.

The view from the balcony, what we saw most days in the apartment if in the dining room, otherwise we saw the apartment building next to us.

We could see the Sydney skyline if we leaned over the balcony.

The view from inside the apartment.

On our walk to church we were a bit unfamiliar with which way to look while crossing the streets and it was steep, down hill then up! We passed a playground with an impossibly long slide down one of the hills and of course the kids had to go down it once with the promise of returning. I never did get a photo of that slide. Sorry.

We made it to church and enjoyed listening to talks in English! How nice. Although I must say I didn’t pay too close attention, since I hadn’t really slept in the last 24 hours. Ugh. We did meet a guy who had lived many places in the United States and even once lived in Fulerton, CA in the mid ’90′s. When I mentioned I was there often in ’93/’94 he said “Oh for the music scene?” I was shocked. I didn’t expect to find someone familiar with my High School haunts in Sydney, Australia. He knew about No Doubt and Sublime and was curious to know the other bands I liked back then. Off the top, and in my zombie state, I couldn’t think of any other bands. We ended up having a lovely dinner (later in our stay) at their house where I rattled off a few other names, if only for the novelty of hearing a few no-name band names. Suburban Rhythm, One Eye Open, Wash, Supernova. Supernova is actually still around and were on one of the first Yo Gabba Gabba shows, which was created and produced by a couple guys from The Aquabats, another band (Mormon even) from Utah and Cali which were popular at that time.

That first week we spent getting familiar with our surroundings. We returned to the park with the long slide that first day (which was boring for India), then set off on the bus to Balmoral Beach (“The bus stop is on the right side of the street.” “Uh, ok, I think I know which side that is.” Turned out he meant the correct side of the street. Ugh). There is a photograph right where we would sit at Balmoral Beach at this blog page, scroll down to the Balmoral Beach heading. There was a little bridge to an “island” where there are remnants of the old shark net. We learned later that we liked to be on the side of the island which had no shark net. It was amazing, people swimming the length of the beach (even without the net), back and forth, in wetsuits, swim caps and goggles (the water was freezing). Every day we would go, we saw the same man smoke his cigarette, change into his budgie smugglers (slang for Speedo), then swim a length of the beach. Swimming really is the national sport. I have never seen anyone swim like this in California. Maybe it’s because I avoided the beaches in the harbors and bays. Who knows? Sorry again, no photos at the beach we visited the most. We’ll just have to return some day.

One of those days in that first week we took the train to Circular Quay (pronounced Circular key) to see the Opera House up close. I also wanted to walk through the Botanic Gardens. To accomplish this I told Ezra he could look for snails. Well, once he started looking I got nervous about his getting bitten by some strange spider. The day was gray and a bit cold and Ezra was in a state, luckily Zed was asleep. We started to search for some lunch. We were right downtown, which looked like a tropical Boston, with signs of old building along with several modern skyscrapers. The tropical was seen in the foliage, palm trees and ferns in the parks through the city. We found a modern food court at the bottom of a skyscraper with several places to choose from. Japanese chicken teriyaki for India and a meat pie for Ez, you know, cuz it’s what Harry Potter eats. That was the day we decided to see what wheat would do to him. Three days later we found out. Screaming gas pains that came and went for about 2.5 days. Needless to say, he had wheat for those three days only.

Circular Quay with the Harbor Bridge and a Manley Ferry coming to dock behind the kids. Zed zonked out soon after this. If you look right of the Ferry you’ll see Luna Park, an amusement park on the harbor.

Opera House. That’s as close as we got, that day. This photo is a terrible mix of two images. Don’t judge me.

Royal Botanic Garden. Ezra was done soon after this.

To be continued….

This one’s destined for the yearbook. Good choice M.

This shot I think is my favorite from the day. This is so her and she’s wearing her fave, everyday jacket. So glad she brought that along.

A preview from yesterday’s shoot:

I’ve had some time to look through and process a few of my favorites from Saturday’s shoot.  They are all so great, it was hard to choose just a few.

We had fun today.  More to come!

The first thing India said when she entered her rehearsal was “This dress is from France.”  This was said to her teacher, who is male.  I thought “Why is she telling him that?  She tells everyone everything!”  But once we were sitting for the performance and her teacher announced that each of the 4 or 5 classes learned songs written by French composers, I understood why she shared that information.  This dress was purchased online after seeing this exact dress on Design Mom… with her daughter wearing her hair in a similar fashion too.  It was just too cute, and too inexpensive, to pass up.  Who knew it would be so appropriate for India’s cello concert.

Then there was pizza.  We had a great time and enjoyed the performance very much.

These were taken while we waited for India’s cello performance.  The boys were dressed nicely and the sky was threatening rain.  What better time to photograph?  You do know when a storm comes it brings along with it some of the most beautiful clouds.  I always love the contrast between a dark, stormy sky and the warm sunlight near the horizon that often filters through.  We get that sort of beautiful light often in Denver.  I didn’t take advantage of the stormy sky this day, but the light was perfectly soft and bright, making the boys faces open and bright.