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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Life with a girl…

Posted in Life with Gabe & Claire, Personal 3 comments

Jeremy and I always thought we would have a house full of boys. Afterall, he’s 1 of 4 boys, I have 2 brothers, and there were 6 nephews born before Claire came to be. So, the thought of going to ballet was far from our imagination. However, I must say…it has been quite the treat. Claire started ballet at the Ballerinas Academy of Dance last fall with her little BFF, Jordan. They have loved every minute of it. And, I must say…the moms are enjoying it as well. They are so cute and doing such a wonderful job. Below are some photos I took during one of their classes last fall.

Then, came their first recital. I’m not going to lie…I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal-until we got there that night. There were between 200-300 people in the audience (!!!!). The moms were thinking…yeah, they’re not going to do it. But, sure enough they did. They enjoyed it so much that they wanted to go back out and do it again.

They did a little tap dance to ‘California Girls’…Beach Boys style.

Had to share one from Instagram.

Jordan’s grandma made the girls little bouquets for a job well done. They were so proud of their accomplishment.

Proud of our baby girl…

Posted in Life with Gabe & Claire, Personal

3 comments

Vangie Lindner - so cuteMarch 6, 2012 – 10:17 pm

Jan Adams - Thank you for sharing such cute pictures. I took tap, ballet and jazz for many years and love to see the little ones learning. It is a great workout too. I miss it, but I am now doing Zumba which I love too. LOL!

Claire is adorable Mel & Jeremy.March 6, 2012 – 9:23 pm

holly mcmullen - the picture with her holding the rubber ducky brought back a ton of memories…my first tap dance i held a rubber duckie and the three of us danced to “rubber ducky you’re the one, you make bathtime lots of fun…” my mom embellished our yellow bathrobes with sequins wow! flashback for sure!!

thanks for sharing!!!March 6, 2012 – 8:03 pm

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

A Valentine Giveaway!!

Posted in Contests, Photo Tips, Things worth getting 10 comments

And, the winner is… JONEE!!! Congratulations!!! Jeremy drew the name this time around (thanks dear!). Jonee…Be sure to send me an email with your mailing address and I will get this book to you right away. Enjoy this fantastic book by Me Ra Koh! You are going to love it!

Thanks to all of you who participated!! I look forward to doing more giveaways in the near future. In the meantime, feel free to send me an email in regards to topics you would like to learn more about when it comes to documenting your every day with your family.

More to come soon…

First of all, Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you! It was a special treat to have a thin layer of snow to enjoy this morning. I’m not going to lie, I do wish it would stick around for a bit longer than a day.

Well, I’ve been wanting to do this giveaway for some time now and thought today would be the perfect time. The book you see above is written by Me Ra Koh. She was one of the first photographers I discovered way back when and I loved reading about her love for photography and life. She put a book together to guide parents in how to document their growing family. I realize that this is geared towards new parents, however, she gives incredible tips on how to use your camera, how to use lighting to your advantage and so much more. I know this book would be perfect for anyone who avoids their camera manual, yet wants to learn how to use their camera better. You know who you are…

So, with that being said, I’m going to give a copy to one of you. This is what you will need to do:

1. I want you to leave a comment on this post telling me why you’d love to have this book. It can be as simple as saying, “I want to document the every day moments with my family better.”

2. You can leave another comment on this post by clicking ‘like’ on our photography facebook page: Carpenter Photo & Design. If you already like our page, go to number 3.

3. You can leave more comments by encouraging your facebook friends to like our page as well. For every friend you’ve sent to like our page, you get to leave another comment on this post, as well, telling me you sent someone to our page. Of course, this giveaway applies to them, too.

All of that to say, the more comments you have on this post the more chances you have to win. So, leave a comment, like our page, tell your friends to do the same, leave another comment, etc. I will randomly choose a name from the comments to be the winner. You have until Saturday, Feb 18 to do this! I will announce the winner this coming Monday! Start commenting, sharing and liking!

Oh, and just so you know…the ‘like’ button you see below (lower left) will share this post on your facebook wall. I don’t know who likes this post…I can only see who likes our facebook page. You must first leave a comment below to be entered into the drawing. If you would like to have the opportunity to leave extra comments, you have to actually go to our photography facebook page and click ‘like’ in order to leave an additional comment on this post. Sorry to make this confusing! Let me know if I’ve lost ya.

Looking forward to sharing this with one of you!

Posted in Contests, Photo Tips, Things worth getting

10 comments

Kristen McCarrick - I would love to increase my knowledge of photography so that I can document all the little things in our lives.February 18, 2012 – 3:50 pm

Sarah W. - Since the birth of my second child (whom I LOVE dearly), I’ve lost the time to even think about trying to learn more! It would be so nice to be able to get back to doing something I enjoy so much.February 16, 2012 – 4:28 pm

Jennifer H. - Well lets see…I bought my new camera on Christmas Eve, opened the box, assembled and starting taking photos as the wrapping paper starting to fly. Don’t know that I’ve ever used the manual…which isn’t to my advantage. Thankful I had someone who recommended a great camera that is easy to use (Mel:)). So…this book would be fabulous! Great idea, friend.February 16, 2012 – 1:32 pm

Shelly - Looks like a great book! Always look for stuff like this to inspire me!February 16, 2012 – 9:31 am

Cindy - Love to Learn!February 15, 2012 – 2:16 pm

Julie Carpenter - I want to learn more about my camera and how to use it to its fullest abilities.February 15, 2012 – 7:53 am

Jessica Durkovich - I love taking photos of my precious babes and would love to learn to take better shots! February 14, 2012 – 2:20 pm

Jonee Sutton - Love my babies, love great photos as art and always love to keep learning!February 14, 2012 – 1:18 pm

Betsy King - I love to keep learning!February 14, 2012 – 1:03 pm

Jennifer W - This book would be such a great asset to me since I never read the manual. So pick me! Pick Me February 14, 2012 – 12:02 pm

Monday, January 23, 2012

Snow 2012

Posted in Life with Gabe & Claire 2 comments

Glad we played in the snow when we did! We went from temps in the high 20′s/low 30′s yesterday morning to temps in the 50′s with a thunderstorm last night. Gotta love our state…surprises around every corner.

Posted in Life with Gabe & Claire

2 comments

Shelly - Love these! I wish the snow would have stuck around too!January 24, 2012 – 1:19 pm

Vangie Lindner - glad you were able to get in a brief fun time. . sure not much to play in this year. . .at least here.January 24, 2012 – 8:22 am

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Reminiscing as Claire turns 4…

Posted in Life with Gabe & Claire, Personal 2 comments

It’s so hard for me to fathom the idea of Claire turning 4. I know that the passing days are inevitable, however, milestones tend to make it more real. I started going through photos of the kids yesterday and my heart was full of so much joy and love. I try to do this around their birthdays and am soon swallowed up by the memories of their years. I thought I would share some photos of Claire and I look forward to doing the same with Gabe later this year when he turns 8 (!!!).

For starters, just a day old here…

This photo was taken in the hospital and she loved to lay like this. It was then that I understood my discomfort while she was in the womb.

Her big brother fell in love immediately. His first words were, “Is this my little sister?” Instant tears from this momma…

Just a week old…

Valentine’s Day 2008

Spring 2008

I have loved seeing their little friendship develop since day one.

Fall 2008: I made the left photo into a gallery wrap a few years ago. Still one of my favorite photos…

Claire has been busy since she could start moving. The photo below was Christmas 2008. She was walking by 10.5 months. Another favorite photo of our two little loves.

Having a blast at the age of 1!

Loved the photos captured that summer evening in 2009.

She is full of expression.

If you’ve been following this blog for a while then some of these are familiar. However, I couldn’t help but share some of them again. So many of these truly depict who are little baby is…

She loves adventure and animals…especially puppies, kittens and horses.

She’s girly in every way.

She’s as happy as can be…

She is ornery…especially with her big brother.

She loves to paint her nails and strawberries are definitely at the top of her list.

She lost her first tooth when jumping into the pool the summer she was 3.

And, here we come to the present day with vivid memories of Disney World, the state fair and Christmas 2011.

These next photos were taken just a day before she turned 4.

She’s our beautiful, baby girl and we have been so blessed to have her in our lives. I realize that time is only going to go faster…and, not slow down. However, I hope these memories will continue to grow in my heart and mind as the years continue to pass us by. I know we all take pictures, but I encourage you to go through them every now and then…whether it be around birthdays or at the beginning of a new year. It brings the memories to life and is a great reminder how blessed we all truly are. Happy birthday, sweet girl.

Posted in Life with Gabe & Claire, Personal

2 comments

bronwyn - Amazing shots…amazing loveJanuary 9, 2012 – 3:07 am

holly mcmullen - do you have an agent yet? she should be in commercials/ads etc.
what a beauty!!! and, you know that i love her sweet voice January 8, 2012 – 6:38 pm

Friday, December 30, 2011

Our December

Posted in Life with Gabe & Claire, Personal No comments

It’s hard to believe that 2011 is almost over. I will say it was one of the busiest years I can remember….probably the busiest year of my life. I started out with my trip to South Africa followed with a trip to the state of Washington followed with a wedding in Wisconsin followed with a wedding in Florida followed with our family vacation to Disney World followed with a wedding in California followed with a wedding in Chicago plus a few trips to Ohio…and those were only our out of state destinations. Phew! It’s been an amazing year, but I’m ready for a fresh new start. How about you?

Well, since this blog has not received much attention lately (due to my schedule), I thought I would share my instagram photos from the month of December. The month flew by with lots of memories in the books. I hope this finds your year winding down with lots of memories to cherish. I’m looking forward to sharing more in the coming weeks…including a few give-aways. So, stay tuned for more to come. Many blessings!