Christmas

I'll post some Christmas morning pictures later, but for now, look at my photography blog for some of our time with the other Falders!

sledding!

another plea

Here it goes again--that desperate plea where I ask my family/friends to help boost my fan base on Facebook. There's a reason for my madness. It's not about vanity. Please know that!

So it may have a little to do with a competitive spirit. Yeah, I just said that. Write this date down in history. I'll say it again-- I was being competitive!

Here's what you do:

Go to my facebook photography page. Under the profile picture it says, "suggest to friends." Click that and your friends will show up in a box. You can click the friends that you believe would enjoy getting updates from Traci Falder Photography.

I can always tell who has sent fans my way-- and who hasn't :)...ahem...

Thank you!

The goal: 700 by Christmas

beauty shop

Lydia's enjoying my straight hair. She can finally play beauty shop without her brush/curling iron/rollers getting stuck or lost in my curls.

I'm enjoying the head massage. I'm my mother's daugther.

Everything We Know about Exterior Illumination

My husband is a special guy.

We decided last week that we would adorn our home in outside Christmas lights. We've never done it before. Well, not really. Last year we got really adventurous and put three strands on our small bushes and dwarf pine tree. But this year we wanted to REALLY do it.

We've watched after Christmas sales the past few years to get a good deal on some outside lights. The outside light shelves were always empty, and therefore, we never got the lights. So we trudged into Lowes last Saturday with the intention of buying Christmas lights that would transform our home into a winter wonderland.

We chose large-bulbed white LED lights.

Clark Griswold spent last Sunday afternoon hanging the lights with our extension ladder in his hunting overalls in 10 degree weather. I even heard him quote, "Where are you going to put a tree that size, Grisworld?" Lydia and I hung out in the car so that I could see if he was falling to his death and could critique his light-hanging technique if needed.

At dusk, we eagerly awaited the big reveal.

anticipation. anticipation. anticipation. anticipation.

oh no.

let down.

They didn't look good. The white LED lights were actually blue, and the 150 feet of lights looked like it really should be lighting a small box in our front yard. Furthermore, the typical incandescent white lights on the Christmas tree inside our front window looked horrible against the outside lights.

Clark spent all week thinking about the lights (Let me rephrase for fear of exaggerating. After work this week, he OFTEN asked me, "What should we do about the lights?")

We discussed adding red lights. Yeah, that would do the trick; it just needed some color. No, we should add some multi-colored lights to our bushes. That would surely help.

There was only one real solution though. Clark was disgusted.

He had to take all the lights down and return them.

So that's how he spent his Saturday.

He took the lights down, went back to Lowes, bought new lights, and hung them in the rain.

My husband gets the Husband of the Day award.

It was worth it. They look so much better.

Stay tuned for more next year!

A Thanksgiving Christmas

reminder

Matilda Jane show TODAY. Contact me or Mel with your order.

www.matildajaneclothing.com
www.matildajaneblog.com

Thank you!!

matilda jane

Announcing...

Matilda Jane Fall and Holiday Virtual Trunk Show!

All orders will be received in time for Christmas! Put some of these beautiful and one of a kind clothes under your christmas tree OR pick up a giftcard for a friend or loved one!

Date to place your orders: This SUNDAY AND MONDAY: Noon-Nov 28th to 8pm Nov. 29th
(Sizes from 12mo-12 years and Ladies S, M, and L)
www.matildajaneclothing.com

There are several ways to place your order (you can't order these online).

1. You can call or email me with the items you want plus any payment information.
2. You can create your wishlist directly from www.matildajaneclothing.com and have that sent to my friend Mel at melodies@matildajaneclothing.com. Mel will then contact you directly for payment info.

Email me with questions.

there's a seven year old in the house!

Check out my photography blog for more of Jonah's seven year old pictures!

tonight's model

what a handsome dude...

ballerina girl

Props to Grammy for making her headband:) Yep, my mom's THAT good.

the week in review

Whoa. I wasn't planning on such a busy week. I decided at the last minute to attend a workshop led by one of my favorite photographers in Grand Rapids. It was a marvelous thing. I learned so much. I'm still trying to process it all.

I enjoy my business, but I also know that the schedule I'm keeping is not sustainable. I get overwhelmed sometimes when I think about the ages of my kids and know that I'm supposed to be a stay-at-home mom right now. I never wanted to work when they were this age, and I don't need to work-- so why am I??? I started something that I enjoyed and now I'm just trying to keep up! God's blessed this business in so many ways so now I have to figure out what to do with it!

Truth be told, I'd like to have a night off every once in a while. I'd like to just sit and read a book-- or call a friend-- or work on a house project-- or watch a movie without a laptop in front of my face.

Something has to change.

I set clear boundaries to my schedule this fall. I announced that I was booked a long time ago. Still, I get inquiries regularly and keep turning people away. Simple economics says that I need to increase my prices. It's a problem, I know, but I just feel like increasing my prices gives this impression that I'm money hungry. It's awkward for me. But why would I keep my pricing the same and stay busier that I want to be? And isn't making money the purpose of a business?

I received a lot of confidence through this workshop to take that next step. I don't intend to be a photographer that's a "good deal." I want to work less. I want to produce art. I want my clients to invest in my vision.

She covered so many other topics-- marketing, photoshop, creative development, etc. I was giddy.

Yes, things at TFP will be changing next year! Thanks, in advance, for your encouragement to do so!

Since the kids were on Fall Break, we stayed in Michigan for a bit and then headed to Columbus to celebrate my grandma's birthday. We got back just in time to put their costumes on!

Jonah told me about two months ago that he wanted to be the solar system for halloween. Wow.

It was a joint effort. Pop, Grammy, and I were all working on making this contraption work. He was so proud.


Lydia knew in August that she wanted to be a cowgirl. I was grateful that it was self-explanatory. Of course, she told me she wants to be a refrigerator next year :)

marathon!

it was a big weekend for us-- marathon, tae-kwan-do testing, a senior photo session, church... we're exhausted. and before i continue, let me apologize. my shift key is broken, and i don't want to take the time to shift with my left hand for the duration of this blog entry!

we had a great race weekend. the course was absolutely beautiful, and we had great cheerleaders! i find it somewhat humorous that the photographer blocked out mom and dad's faces!

i accomplished the two goals i stated on my previous post. i beat my honolulu time by 17 minutes and enjoyed myself completely!

here's a picture at mile 13:

and again at mile 17:

for the first 17 miles i felt great-- real great, actually-- and then i think i just had too much gatorade/power gels in my system. i just felt "ugh." it's definitely an unusual day when i tell carrie that i want her to stop talking and that my ipod music is annoying me!

i crossed the finish line eight minutes after my "ideal" goal, but i had a smile on my face! and two adorable kids holding my hands!


looking back, training is always my favorite part-- mike figured that carrie and i ran approximately 450 miles together, preparing for this race!

i'm looking forward to the next one-- the next half marathon, that is!

movin' up!

The boys tested for their new belts last night. Mike is officially an orange belt and Jonah now has his gold! It was a difficult road for Jonah-- and a stressful time for his parents :) We're breathing a sigh of relief right now...

Two More Days!

Okay, I'll admit it. I just want to eat whatever I want and still lose weight. Call me crazy. I'd rather train for a marathon than have any self discipline with food.

We run our marathon on Saturday. It's been a journey. I have these mixed feelings about whether I want it to end.

I think back to when the training began. The last time I ran a marathon was eight years ago. I didn't have children at the time, so this time I wondered how I could find time in my day to sustain the rigorous schedule.

But we found a solution-- o' dark thirty.





I train with a running partner. We're definitely "sole" mates (ha! I'm proud of that one :) I know we feed off each others' strengths, but she's also had to put up with me a lot during the last three months.

Like the time we were supposed to meet at 5:30 a.m., but my radio alarm's volume was too low. oops.
Or the time we were supposed to run twenty but i had to stop after four because I had no emotional energy left for my run. oops.
Or the time(s) she had to step in front of me to protect me from a dog.
Or the time(s) she had to listen to me complain about my blisters... or this pain in my side... or my right knee....

Typically the training is more "my thing." I don't think I've ever had a good race day. And that's okay. I'm staying positive for this one. I just have a few goals:
1. to beat my time from eight years ago
2. to enjoy the day!

My Ragamuffin

She helped me test my lighting for a recent senior session.

I thought this picture was too cute.

Turkey?

We were walking in the garage after playing outside tonight. Jonah looked up at the sky.

"That cloud looks like Turkey," he said.

"Turkey?" I replied. "I don't think it looks like a turkey."

"No Mom, it looks like the country of Turkey."

"Oh."

I walked inside and looked at a map.


Yep. He was right.

Jonah's Birthday

We celebrated Jonah's 7th birthday on Monday night with six of his friends. Friend parties make me nervous with Jonah since he never does well when we have visitors in our home-- so we decided to take the boys to a bounce place. We had a great time!

It's always hard to play the role of "mom" and "photographer." Here's what I was able to capture:


This picture makes me smile. I love the way Josiah and Jonah are hugging each other. I love how Thane is...dancing? I love how Hayden, Dawson, and Gabe are punching the camera. And I love that Lydia is right in the middle of it all!

Our Temporary Pets

We do a great job of raising caterpillars. We can be great pet owners for two weeks :)

We watched the transformation take place with three caterpillars this year-- Jake, Jonah Jr., and Lydia Jr.

I've never seen this happen before! Jonah said he just wanted to give him a kiss before he flew away forever.

just like mom

Tap and ballet shoes = check
Princess dance bag = check
Nora's leotard = check
New pink tights already ruined on the 20 minute car ride = check

She did well. She was quiet but focused and kept looking at me with her "I'm-so-excited-but-I'm-going-to-act-shy" look.

I think we may have a dancer.