today was jack's last day of preschool and i can't decide if i'm relieved or sad.  relieved because i no longer have to write tuition checks or drive to school twice each day and sad because it seems to have gone so much faster than my time with kate.  how is it possible that i don't have preschool kids any more?  i remember very distinctly the first day jack went to preschool as a 2-year-old back in september 2004.  he was in the 2's class and kate was in the 3's class.  i went to a nearby coffee shop with my laptop for an hour or so and jeff's cousin, jordie, IM'd me asking how it felt to have both kids out of the house.  i remember the giddiness of having a few hours to myself to do whatever i wanted.  all those long nights and napless days were behind me and i felt like a new chapter in my life was starting.

and now?  now i still stop when i see a young mom in the mall pushing a newborn in a stroller and dragging a 2-year-old behind her.  sometimes i forget that isn't me anymore; i haven't used a stroller in a couple of years and can't remember the last time i had to pack a diaper bag or a 'just in case' bag when i went out for more than 45 minutes with the kids. i don't wish for those days back (dear god in heaven, no) but it still takes me by surprise sometimes when i realize i'm not a young mom any more.  that in a few months i will have two elementary school children.  that the years are going faster and faster and before i know it i will be blogging about having any empty nest.

how did i get here?

jack, back in october 2006 just after starting preschool:




jack last month at a tball game:

i'm in the process of editing one of the sessions  i had this weekend and when i came across this one, i actually laughed out loud.  it's so simple and yet so perfectly this little girl (who happens to be my niece).  i'm going to have it printed up on a canvas to hang in my studio:

if you've followed my blog for any length of time then you'll probably recognize this family.  jenn, jason, owen and hudson are a family i started photographing back when owen was about one-and-a-half. this was my 5th time doing a session with them (you can see their last session from last may here) and it's always one of my favorite sessions because a) they are ridiculously good looking and b) because jenn is a graphic designer, she has an innate sense of fashion and they always have the perfect outfits.  if i could afford it, i'd hire jenn to be my wardrobe consultant for clients.  she has a flair and an eye for color and pattern that most people don't have (me included).

we had originally planned on heading out to sandy point state park but quickly realized it was memorial day weekend and traffic headed out towards the bay bridge would be absolutely insane.  we settled, instead, for downtown ellicott city and spent an hour and a half - in crazy heat - checking out the alleys around main street:

  

i had a session with some good friends this weekend and doing that is always a double-edged sword: i always feel more comfortable with a family i know but i also feel more pressure than i usually do to do a great job.

despite the overcast skies and the impending threat of rain, we had a great time.  brian was sick but did his best to rally even though i kept making fun of him for being sick (one of the benefits of being friends with your client:  you can totally flip them shit without worrying about offending them).

so my favorite thing about the session was that robin brought a superhero shirt for everyone.  brian is really into comic books (which is just one of the many things he and my husband have bonded over) and their girls like them, too.  i love, love, love this photo not because it's technically perfect but because it's so *them*.  i always recommend that my clients wear clothes that fit their personality and robin took it to an entirely new (awesome) level.  love this:

i met up with brittany and jackie and their *adorable* son, jonas, at the lake this weekend.  i'm never sure what to expect with kids in the 2-3 year old age group; some of them are really shy around strangers and cling to their parents and lots (most) of them have no interest in playing with me and just want to run around.  jonas was terrific - he played and ran around but he also humored me and let me take some photos of him. 

he loved the bubble machine jackie and brittany brought with them and i thought the session might be over then and there but he rallied and we spent some more time walking around the lake and snapping photos.

how cute is this family?

first, a joke:

why does snoop dog always carry an umbrella?

fo' drizzle.

get it?  fo' DRIZZLE! 

i totally cracked up when jamie told me this during our session.  i was trying to get her to laugh so i told her my favorite knock knock joke (the one about the impatient cow.  heard it?).  she said she had a good one and then she asked me IF I KNEW WHO SNOOP DOG WAS.  i had to stop and ask her just how old she thought i was.  of COURSE i've heard of snoop dog.  jeez.

our session was a lot of fun - jamie and her mom (poor mom - she carried a backpack and a portable art easel all over the gardens) were so sweet and easy.  they even brought *me* a bottle of water since it was so warm.  jamie made my job easy - she was a total natural when it came to posing.  she'd just sit down and automatically move into position without even thinking about it.  i've rarely had a client so natural in front of the camera.

we ended up at brookside gardens since jamie is an artist and loves to paint flowers.  i've been to the gardens with my kids before but i'd never thought of doing a session there.  it was a gorgeous day and the perfect setting to capture some shots of jamie doing her thing.

a sneak peek for jamie and patricia: 

i was 6 years old in 1979 and had been playing soccer for a year. i'd already tried ballet (the teacher, who was a good friend of my mother, told her as politely as he could that 'kristin might be better off doing sports').  so i tried tball and eventually hit on soccer.  i played in a recreational league all the way until high school where i played on the varsity team for 4 years.  soccer was my sport.  i was small but aggressive and good.

i always assumed one of my children would play but kate has gravitated towards more girly pursuits like ballet and horseback riding and jack is all about tball these days. 

thankfully, a lot of kate's friends have started playing soccer and she asked to play this season.  today was the first practice/scrimmage (they practice the first hour and scrimmage against each other the last half hour) and i was surprised to find my eyes welling up as i watched my daughter - the smallest one on the field - run into girls a head or two taller than she and try to take the ball away from them.  it was like watching myself at age 6 and i understand much better why, when my dad talks about watching me play soccer as a kid, his voice softens and his own eyes get a little misty.