This weekend was grand…  So many little common, everyday memories to try and keep in my heart forever.

♥  baking with the all three girls while looking fabulous in anthropologie aprons (yes, even my 2 yr old had on an anthro apron!).

♥  visiting with my dad, who is currently fighting stage 4 cancer, and watching his eyes light up and a smile flash across his lips as my two year old lovingly calls him PeeWee.

♥  watching my 3 girls play barbies, pet shops, and ice-skating-dance-show together without any arguing.

♥  dining at IHOP with my family only to realize afterwards that we could have made the same meal at home for about $27.68 cheaper… and then laughing and making jokes about it with my husband for the remainder of the night.

♥  making a connection with a fabulous children’s clothing designer and the excitement that followed an accepted proposal to do business together.

♥  having my ten year old ask beg to spend the night on my bedroom floor and then follow me around for the entire night as I did random chores… just making conversation.

♥  cuddling with before mentioned ten year old in the morning, after she somehow made it to my bed in the middle of the night.

♥  going on a mini photo shoot with my husband Chris so he could shoot my photos for a little project I’m working on.  Then, loosing my handcrafted prop which you see in the photo at the top of this page.  Which of course was followed by driving around town looking for the handcrafted prop which apparently blew out of the car at some point….  finally, finding it and then freezing my patootie off as I tried to look cool in my pictures.  Only, I probably just looked like a nut wearing inappropriate warm weather clothing on a insanely cold day.

♥  happy that Chris happened to snap up these two back-to-back photos to help me remember:

xox, reata

I had no idea I lived in the Artic Circle.  This morning, as I stumbled out of bed grabbing my plush, warm robe with my eyes still half shut, I had no idea that serious arctic temperatures were upon my house.  I made way to the door to let Toto, our little dog, out to potty… and as soon as I opened the door I got smacked in the face by a 25 degree wind.  Talk about a wake up call!  What’s more is that with the windchill factor it felt like 12.  Yes, TWELVE!!  That doesn’t happen all that often in my little corner of the world…   Actually, come to think of it, this entire winter season seems like it’s been very atypical, being one of the most consistantly cold winters we’ve seen in a while.  Typically, our winters comprise of a string of short lived cold fronts… but the cold weather this winter has been unchanging with only a few warm days here and there.  And, to top it off, the weather actually yeilded a day of snow at the beginning of December.  Now, I don’t know if it will snow today, but I do know that it was cold enough to freeze the standing water on my driveway this morning (Aw man!   I missed my chance to go driveway iceskating!).  Tonight it’s supposed to be in the teens…  pretty awesome, if you ask me!  

So.  Houston and surrounding areas:  Be sure to drink some hot cocoa, make some s’mores, and put those heaters on high tonight!  

And because no post is complete without a photo… Here are a couple of my two youngest and a friend of ours from the beginning of December when it snowed.

A3 being frightened of the curiously cold white flakes falling from the sky:

xox, reata

Wow!  I can’t believe that 2009 is over and 2010 is here!  The entire year slipped by so quickly and my internal calendar is still reading um….   September-ish.  It’s been an incredible year for me personally and also in my business.  A special heartfelt THANK YOU goes out to ALL the wonderful clients that passed in front of my camera this year.  Thank you so much for letting me slip into your family, mingle, and take some photos!!  It was surely a fun filled time and I won’t forget a single one of you!  And, I hope that I’ll be hearing from you all again in 2010!  I love it when I get to work with the same family over and over again…. see how their family has changed, grown -up, and yet somehow remained the same.  Completely incredible.

Now, I know some of you have been wondering where the heck I’ve been…  I’ve been a slacker these past two weeks, right?  Wrong!  I’ve been a wife, mother, daughter, friend, and, quite frankly, anything other than a professional photographer.  I spent a complete two weeks hanging day-in and day-out with my husband (who was also on break from work), my three lovely girls, our dog Toto, and all the Grandmas, Pee-Wees, Pops, Mimis, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins one can have!  It’s been a blast needless to say… But sadly, the fun break is over and it’s time to get back to work!  I am SO looking forward to what 2010 has in store!  And, I am so excited to get back behind my camera and really put on my thinking cap to come up with some cool new session ideas!  

Bring it, 2010.

Hold up a minute though.  Before I bid 2009 a sweet farewell, I must fulfill a promise I made to my 5 year old, A2.  Binky must. get. more. internet. coverage.  Sorry Binky.  I meant to post updates on your every move this holiday season… But, life was just a wee bit too entertaining and the family gatherings were aplenty.  So, sue me!?!

Here you can see Binky freezin his patootie off in the fridge while pulling a prank on the little ones…

And, here you see him the next day trying to warm back up after nearly suffering from freezer burn.

And then, we skip ahead a bit and you see him here waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve… Luckily enough, he reported that all three of my girls should be on the NICE list.

By the way, the carrots on the plate were for the reindeer… Not Santa.  Our house doesn’t buy into the whole “Santa needs to go on a diet” thing.

And, just for fun… Here is our tree looking rather sparkly.

And my favorite new ornaments from 2009…  

The girls made these at A2′s Christmas themed birthday party!

Oh and this look sums it all up for me…  Total surprise and excitement!

And, this fluffy hair and sleepy look are perfection.  Love it.

And, something tells me that Santa would have brought this little beauty anything her heart desires this year.  Seriously.  Baby Dolls.  Diamonds.  Ferraris.  A vacation home in Greece.  Anything.

But, she was happy just walking down the stairs with all her stuffed animal buddies in tow and recieve a new, modest form of transportation…

There you have it, folks…  My Christmas in nutshell.

I told my husband the other day that I think this was our BEST Christmas EVER!  Really.  Everything was perfect.  What a sensational way to close out a fabulous year!

Here’s to the start of a wonderful 2010!

xox, reata

This is Binky.  He’s our family Elf on a Shelf.  Despite what you’re most likely thinking, no… he’s not a trapeze artist, even though he’s always had an urge to run away from Santa’s workshop and join the circus.  Nope, he’s just one of the many elves who report to Santa’s ear the behaviors of many a child from all over the world.  This little guy (and I do mean little) was assigned to my family.  He came to live with us last year.  He arrived by mail on the day we moved into our new house, complete with a letter from Santa and everything.  My kids love that Binky is here to spy on them and bring a little Christmas magic into their lives!  They were beside themselves with excitement when Binky popped back into their lives a couple of weeks ago for Christmas ’09!

Yesterday Binky surprised us all when we found him dangling from the fan… I guess he was trying to get a good look at the kids that day.  Who knows?  Wonder where he’ll end up next… Hmmm!  Only time will tell!

These past few months feel like one never ending children’s birthday party where I’ve been playing pin-the-tail on the donkey and someone has blindfolded me, spun me around several times, and yelled GO!  I’ve been so busy with all the holiday sessions, destination sessions,  holiday orders + cards, 2 of my kids birthday parties, Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping…  the list goes on and on.  But, although it’s been a whirlwind of a fall season, I’ve somehow managed to keep my sanity and enjoy myself!  

Life is grand.  Here are some random photos from my life I haven’t had time to share with you, until now.

I took this over the Thanksgiving holiday of my three girls…  Check out the wide range of emotions A2 displays in only about TWO mintues time!  What a hoot!

The photo I used for A2′s holiday themed birthday party invite…

An impromtu photo shoot while the girls were scouting locations with me one afternoon…

And, I also have to mention that this afternoon I had an AWESOME engagement session with two totally sweet and obviously in love people…  Here is a completely random sneak from their session!  I can NOT wait to post more from it tomorrow when I’m not so dead tired!  I’ve been thumbing through their images tonight trying to pick out my faves and I can tell it’s going to be hard to narrow it down for their real sneak…  :)  

My gorgeous sister-in-law gave birth to my beautiful neice today!!

Congrats to M + A on an adorable baby girl…  I can’t wait to come up and see you guys this weekend!  (New little Baby K must really want to meet me.  Really.  She has perfect timing… You see, she and her family live right outside of Dallas and I am coming to Dallas THIS Friday for Destination: Dallas Sessions!!  Little Baby K… Don’t worry!  I’m coming to see you soon!!  Until then, Aunt Reata loves you!!!)

By the way, I must say that although Destination: Dallas session spots are all filled up…  Destination: AUSTIN Sessions are NOT.  If you have been thinking about signing up for a session in Austin, let me know ASAP!  I only 1 spot left and hope that you can be the one to fill it!  (For the full details concerning the super delicious sale prices I’m offering you folks in the Austin area, email me at reata@sugarshotsphotographysite.com!)

I just can’t help myself…. I’ve fallen in love with my newly purchased treasures!

The richness of their color….  the textures…. the worn edges of the binding…  and the incredible scent of their pages.  

I am over the moon with these little guys!!

I am so happy and proud to add them to my library and to use them as the decor in my home…  they range in age from 1923 to 1976 and each one has their own unique story.  And most of them have their original owners names scribed into the front page – complete with address and all!  

The one in the middle up there, entitled American History for Colleges, was actually my husband’s grandmas!  Obviously, I didn’t just purchase that one…  That one was given to my husband a little over a year ago but I decided to include it in this picture because it’s one of my favorites because of the significance and meaning to my husband.  You see, my husband teaches History… And this was his grandma’s college history book.  It has HER handwritten notes and schedule all over the place on it’s pages.  It’s quite a special little book.  And besides being special, it just looks cool.

I adore the fascinating colors on Ginny Gordon and the Missing Heirloom….  Looks so pretty.  Now I just need to read it!  I’m sure it’s awesome…  It just oozes awesomeness.

Anyhow, this was pretty much a random, pointless post…  But, I enjoyed it nevertheless! 

From my family to your’s…  We hope you had a fun (and safe!) Halloween!

A3 = Raggedy Anne

A2 = Daphne from Scooby Doo

A3 = Surfer Girl

Enjoy the weather today…. It’s super gorgeous!  xox, reata

Confession:  I’ve got a bad habit.  By nature, I am a perpetual night owl… defying my body’s natural sleep needs and burning the mid-night oil till all hours of the night without the aid of coffee.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever change, but I sure would like to!  Every now and then, when I actually get a normal amount of rest, I feel so amazing!  My brain becomes 10x sharper and I feel so energized that I could clean and play all day long and not have a single complaint.

Typically after the kids are sound asleep, if I’m not working on my business then I’m cleaning the house or trying to snag a few minutes in front of the TV with my husband.  However, lately, I’ve been spending my nights chit-chatting with my hubbie as I work away on my computer…  It’s been a busy world over here at Sugar Shots – And although, I love it (like seriously, looooove it!), this workload keeps giving me even more excuses to stay plugged into photoshop editing away until my eyeballs start feeling like they are gonna fall out.  I think this bad habit of mine (ours) is just that – a bad habit.  It can be broken…  just like any old habit can be.  But, I think one of the reasons it’s been so easy for me to stick with my bad habit is because my sweet, little husband stays up with me while I work so we can “hang out”….  He lays on the floor with the laptop and we jam out to tunes while I work.  Sounds like good quality time together, huh?!  Yeah right!  But, hey, at least he’s in there with me!

Anyhow, tonight, I’m going to put a stop to my long run of late nighters… I’m going to tell my husband my ever famous line: Tonight we are going to sleep early!!  No late night editing, internet surfing, or youtube video jamming….  No Toddlers and Tiaras.  No King of the Crown.  And absolutely no Slim In 6 or PX90 workout infomercials!!  Let’s just talk, snuggle and fall into a deep, restful slumber!

We’ll see what happens…. I’m pretty sure tonight is the night that habits will be broken!!  Yay!

And, because I don’t want to leave this post bare…  Here are some more of my faves from this senior session. 

And, one of the last (and best!) shots of the evening:

xox, reata

Absolutely wonderful.  Yes, it might have rained on and off today, which made my hair droop, hang, and resemble a limp, wet rat…  But, as a whole this day was one of the best!  

For starters, after days of worrying about the Halloween Mini Sessions being rained out, we ended up having beautiful, cool, overcast weather (no mosquitos!)….  Good weather aside, I got to hang out with some of THE cutest dressed kids ever!  The little ones did so well and had so much fun… I can’t wait to begin my processing on their images!  Too cute!  

Then, as I cruised down the highway on my way home with my windows down and my music turned way up, I decided to check my email (NO, I wasn’t driving while checking email… I was at a long stop light at a train crossing!   Don’t worry – I am not one of ‘those’ drivers).  Anyhow, I received one of the sweetest emails ever from Jen Culotta about her session yesterday.  I hope she doesn’t mind, but I really would love to share a bit of it…. Her email makes me feel soooo happy inside!

My daughter last night said, "Mom, that was our best photo shoot we have ever had."  and I said, "Yes!  It was great... Why do you think it was
the best ever?"  And she said, "Because the lady was so nice and fun."

Isn’t that just so great?!  I love it!  If nothing else, I want to forever be known as the nice and fun lady.  For real…  call me that from now on.  It really made my day to have Jen share that bit of info with me… Thanks Jen!  :)

Lastly on my list of why this was such a great day:   After the rain decided to stop drizzling I headed out with my oldest and youngest daughter to do a session for my youngest…. She’s turning two in about two weeks.  We had so much fun and I got so many great images… Something that doesn’t happen too often around my house.  For some reason, I rarely take them out for a full out session…  Go figure?!

Here’s to a great day!

I’ll leave you with an image of me having my great day:  Me, A1, and A3

xox, The Nice and Fun Lady