J Cooper Photography

I promised to stop back in and share a few more images of these ADORABLE girls.  I’ve said it before….but it is worth repeating.  I have a serious weakness for sisters.  I have two of my own and they are my best friends.  Growing up in a family of three girls I could totally relate to the special bond that these girls will have someday.  I can just picture them heading off to college together, falling in love, standing up for each other in their weddings, having babies together, and growing old taking care of each other.  What a HUGE blessing these parents have.

Meet the oldest.  She likes thick chapter books (”they’re much more interesting”) and can write her name in cursive.

Here’s “Miss Middle”.  Does she have the best “little smile” or what?  That’s a hard one for a kindergartener but she has it down!  She likes to write and draw and can illustrate a book full of rainbows, clouds, and pretty people like the best of them!

And you’ve already been introduced to the baby of the family…but she deserves a bit more attention.  I first met Miss A when she was just a baby…and she stole my heart.  She is fiery, silly, and SO full of life.  She has a smile to share with the world (something we could all learn from) and she’s eager to share it!

Near the end of the session I sneaked in this image of the big sisters.  When I came home to proof I just about fell out of my chair laughing…I SO LOVE THIS IMAGE.  Check out that expression!

Thank you S girls for a fun afternoon.  Thank you for reminding me about the simple joys of sisterhood and the power of a friendly smile.  Can’t wait to see you again!

1. I thought I better hop to it and get this post written as it is actually dangerously close to Thursday.

2.  I never thought I would be so excited to see a new washing machine!  Ours was broken for 11 days and things were getting a bit desperate.  We tried to have it fixed, waited for new parts from Whirlpool, scheduled another maintenance visit, and were finally told it was “toast”.  I’ve never seen so much laundry in my life!

3.  A little conversation with A late last week:

A:  “Mom…you are like the 2nd best Mommy in the whole wide world!”

Me:  “Really?  2nd best, huh?”

A:  “Well yeah.  HELLO…what about Mary?  Mom…she raised the Son of God!”

Me:  “2nd best it is then.”

4.  Are your little girls as infatuated with these little Japanese erasers as mine?  It all started when I brought home a couple as a little treat one day.  I thought they made cute play food for their American Girl dolls.  Now they are completely obsessed.  I have seen them at Hobby Lobby but they were $1 a piece.  Then yesterday Jules and I found them in these cute little four packs at Michaels in the DOLLAR BIN!  Score!  I am now fully stocked for all future bribery (and yes I bribe).

5.  J had her end of the year preschool concert last night.  Oh my…not much cuter than those little wild kids all trying to sing “The Wheels on the Bus” in Spanish   That happens to be little man’s favorite tune right now too so he was just thrilled (and a bit disturbed by the language switcheroo).  The stained glass windows directly behind the children made for such an angelic scene.  However, it wrecked havoc on my photos.  I was secretly patting myself on the back for my sly position nestled among the pre-K crowd on the floor…aimed and ready to perfectly document every adorable move my daughter made.  And then I was stuck there…but we’ll just call it a lovely sun flare and move on won’t we?

6.  At the concert my little Casanova was trying to get this cutie’s number.

She contemplated giving out her 411.  And finally gave in.

Although she wondered later if that might have been a mistake and tried to to rescind her earlier statement.  We’ll see how the relationship goes.

7.  The Brainiac had her first official school project this week.  She researched hummingbirds, wrote a report, and had to chose how to present the information.  I COMPLETELY HEART this picture.  Isn’t it the epitimy of “crooked 1st grade smiles in front of first school project”.  Her poster was so cute…and I love how she catagorized everything…especially the “cool stuff” category

8.   OK…those of you with kiddos with tubes help a  Mom out.  Sam has had 3 ear infections in the past 6 weeks.  Wasn’t this the ENTIRE REASON we put in the tubes?  I’m getting desperate!

9.  If you live in Kansas City would you consider coming to the HUGE BOUTIQUE GARAGE SALE that starts tomorrow?  Please come and buy the mounds of clothing (I am selling 3t, 4T, 5T) that I will have!  I CAN NOT bring it back into my house!

14530 Grant Lane Overland Park, KS 66221

The sale starts TOMORROW NIGHT (Thursday) at 6:00 pm!

10.  Happy Tuesday…or Wednesday…or Thursday…whatever day it is when you read this!

Photographing your neighbors can be tricky business.  Sometimes a little element of surprise can go a long way during a session.  And when you drive your neighbors to school every day…your jokes can get pretty old really quick!  So it was lucky for me that these two munchkins still gave me adorably cute smiles even though I am old stuff.  They hopped out of the car and started posing for me like professional models…made my job super easy!

Meet the resident Princess.  You might remember her from THIS SESSION we did just of her last year.  Oh, has she grown up!  It’s funny how I can see her nearly every day and not realize it until I flash her huge on my computer screen.  She’s sassy and spunky and more than just a wee bit ornery…which makes her near perfect in my book (all girls should be a little ornery don’t you think?)

And the resident Prince…or maybe Star Wars Jedi or T-Rex-something-or-other.  Photographing 1st grade boys is also a bit of a tricky business.  Cause if you haven’t noticed…they aren’t always that super fond of the ‘ol camera.  You wouldn’t know it with this one though.  Look at that cheeky smile…LOVE IT!

And a little sibling love…

See you guys at our swing set at 4:00 tomorrow.  Be there or be square!

This little gal’s name is sacred in the Cooper house.  My girls absolutely ADORE (more like worship) her.  And rightly so.  She is beautiful both inside and out and her mommy is one of my most favorite people!   Miss A is on the cusp of those crazy tween years and her mom wanted to document her little-girl/big-girl look before she teeters too far on the fence towards “all grown up”.   We decided to try to re-create THIS PHOTO SESSION that I did with my own little one and then turned into THIS STORYBOARD for her bedroom.  So we hopped on down to one of my favorite spots and caught some beautiful light!  We cut it short when I came 2 inches from stepping on a gigantic snake…but I’m pretty sure we got more than enough images to fill her bedroom walls!

I showed them this image in camera as soon as I took it!  I NEVER do that…too risky…but she was so stinkin’ adorable (and her mommy is such a good friend) that I went ahead and gave them the sneak peak anyways

And OH the LIGHT!!!!  This was moments before the snake mishap.  Kind of makes me shudder   I wanted to get a different angle and stepped into the brush just to my right…good thing I was looking as I put my foot down!  I love the softness of this image…just like a memory.

More pretty light   At this point I could barely get Miss A to stand in the grass…I tried so hard not to spook her about the giant snake…but I think I jumped about 20 feet in the air!

Then the girls met up with the guys at our house for some barbeque.  We ate, watched 3 or 4 shows that the kids decided to put on for us…and talked into the night.  But before the rest of the festivities we snapped a few more images in our backyard.  I had forgotten HOW GREEN fresh new grass looks!  I didn’t touch up the color on these next images at all…reminds me to thank our lawn company

Miss A…I can’t wait to watch you grow into a beautiful young lady.  You are well on your way, sweet friend.

My friend Erin over at THE VINTAGE PEARL is hosting a little TAKE A BOW giveaway today!  Stop by the shop and tell her your favorite item…you just might win a freebie!

1.  It doesn’t feel like Tuesday because I didn’t have my “mommy date” day with Ms. Middle today.  Little lover boy is SICK, SICK (again) with another ear infection (why was it again that we got tubes??)  He was so congested this morning he was throwing up.  That was a lovely thing to wake up to!  Hopefully the ear drops will do the trick so we don’t have to do oral antibiotics again.  Poor little dude.  When I came home from running A to soccer tonight my hubby handed me the little guy and said, “he is draining from every hole in his body”.  Wow. Lovely , eh?

2.  I so adore the blooming trees…and yet I hate them too.  Allergies, anyone?

3.  Yesterday I decided to re-do my mantel.  I am a mantel idiot.  I swear.  I used to think I was really good at decorating.  That was when I had a teeny tiny little 50s rancher and every vintage item I brought home from the thrift store looked adorable propped up on the mantel.  Now we have a big white monstrosity with a raised hearth and glowing white woodwork.  And everything I stick up there looks ridiculous.  My mom will attest to my ineptness at mantel decorating.  When we bought this house I was obsessed with putting tall glass canisters on the mantel.  I arranged the cannisters and brought them in the car to close on the house.  I just couldn’t WAIT to get them through the front door and onto my glorious new fireplace.

I’m no home stagger but this is what I came up with yesterday:

4.  Half way through redecorating my mantel I decided I needed to re-paint my living room (never mind that my fireplace is in my FAMILY room on the other side of the house).  I am suffering from severe spring ADHD.  There has always been one lone red wall in our living room.  I have always hated it.  So yesterday I finally decided to just do away with it.  And now it is gone.  Which makes me quite happy (in a superficial, non-lasting, house -loving kind of way).  Unfortunately, that simple mantel re-hab led to this disaster:

5.  Gonna keep going on this decorating theme.  I’ve had this crazy patchwork chair for about 7 years. {It is ALWAYS filled with a reader or movie watcher…it’s the favorite seat in the house}.

It came with a couch as part of a clearance set.  I was never really that fond of the chair.  At first I thought it was just plain ugly…but then it grew on me.  So it has always been a part of our family room or living room.  And I am SO tired of it.  I’m contemplating just going to Walmart and buying a bolt of burlapy khaki cotton duck (or something like that) and making a slip cover for it.  Except that I despise making slip covers.  Does anyone know a good source for a cute neutral French country slipcovered chair?  Or a sweet little old lady who loves to sew slip covers??

6.   I’ve made a decision about the baby’s quilt and I’m having something similar to THIS made.  Pretty fab huh??  The good news is that I can keep my denim rocker chair and denim crib skirt.  I’ve got the crib, dresser, and bookshelf ready to go.  I’d love to do something fun with vintage cars without going TOO FAR down the theme road.  {HA HA…get it…”theme road”…just caught that…pardon the pun!!  Any good ideas?

6.  Please try the sweet potato chips by Food Should Taste Good.  Heaven, I tell ya.

7.  A friend of mine just accepted her referral of the SWEETEST baby boy.  I am just rejoicing with her and drinking up her story.  Cause it’s gonna be our turn SOON!!!

8.  Is it wrong that my 5 year old is upstairs sleeping {one more night} with the donkey pinata we bought for her preschool Mexican fiesta before the other kids smash it to pieces tomorrow?  That’s normal behavior, right?

9.  Where do you shop for YOU?  I need suggestions.  And don’t tell me J. Crew cuz it ain’t in the budget

10.  Our heat pump has been out for over a month (which means no air conditioning and emergency heat only), some of our siding blew off while we were out of town, our sprinkler system isn’t working properly, and this weekend my washing machine broke.  So much for maintenance free living, huh?  Funny that the vinyl siding, new appliances, and fancy in ground sprinklers had my hubby salivating when we bought this house…yep…I’m still longing for my old fixer upper!  At least then I can expect everything to break and just run with it

How did my BABY girl get old enough to attend Kindergarten Round-up?

She only obliged me with ONE snapshot…meanwhile rolling her eyes in exasperation as the other mommies and kids walked by (in my defense I did warn her that I was going to take pictures of the event).  She woke up saying, “I’m FINALLY a BIG GIRL…I’m going to Kindergarten!!”  But when the moment came at the edge of the classroom…she panicked.  She looked inside the room, her eyes darted back to me, and she said under her breath, ” I AM NOT going in there by myself!”  A couple of tears insued.  But the bubbly Kindergarten teachers whisked her away to the magical land of numbers and name writing and by the time I came to pick her up she was grinning from ear to ear.

My little Jules,

I will miss you like crazy EVERY morning next fall.  The car will feel empty when you climb out right behind the big girls and head in for your day of learning.  I pray that your teacher realizes how lucky she is to get to spend the day with you.  You are a special little {big} girl with a huge personality!  I hope Kindergarten is ready for you!!
Love,

Mommy

This wasn’t my first opportunity to photograph these gorgeous kiddos…they never fail to bring overwhelming adorableness with them (I know that’s not a word but what else do you call kids this cute?)

There are three of them…each one cuter than the next…and of course they are always DECKED out as Mom is the Kansas City Matilda Jane trunk keeper   She is solely responsible for my depleted bank account and clothing obsession.  Yep.  I’m blaming it all on her.  Cause this is MY blog and all and I can do that

OK…back to the main event:  Meet #1

Meet #2

Meet #3

1+2+3=more cuteness than I can handle

I could chase these fun kiddos around the park all day…such fun, BIG personalities!  Thanks B family…can’t wait to see you again!!!  Next time we need to bring Scout…he’s been secretly begging for me to do his portraits!!

I’ve buried myself in editing this week.  After sorting through 1100 images and endless hours editing, I’m happy to announce that all of the mini session galleries have been posted!  So now it’s time to share a few fun sneak peaks (all be it after the fact!) here on the blog.

First up…two of my favorite munchkins.  So Miss S and I go WAY back.  She was actually in one of my very first Kindermusik classes when I used to teach a few years ago!  She was just a toddler at the time…now she has grown into a gorgeous young school gal and has an adorable little brother to boot!

Could they be any cuter together??

Miss S has grown so much over the past few years…she is just so beautiful and I know her Mom and Dad think she has just hung the moon   She has turned into such a little lady and is the perfect “mini mommy” these days!

And what about this little guy?  The last time I got to photograph him he was toddling around and now he is running full steam ahead…all boy…but SO SWEET!

We’d get him all set up on a chair or bench and ready for the next shot when he would jump down and run towards me.  As soon as he reached me…he patted me on the back, leaned over in my ear, and said, “I dove you doo”  OH MY…he has STOLEN my heart.  He must have told me “I love you too” 100 times in one afternoon (he got TWO lollipops for that!) and I am smitten

So thankful for this special family!  Thank you for sharing your afternoon with me and trusting me with your precious family memories!

to look at this cutie and NOT smile ear to ear

OK…back to proofing.  I seriously love my job