Yesterday you turned five-years-old. Five. A whole hand! It seems impossible to me, but I guess that’s always what it will feel like. You’re my youngest, my baby, and no matter how big you get, I always seem surprised that you’re not a snuggling little nugget wrapped up in my arms. I pick you up to carry you to bed, and your legs hang down to my knees. The other day you solved a math problem. You can write your own name. You’re growing up.
You’re a curious little bugger, and it’s difficult to ensure some of my favorite childhood magic lives on for you. You question everything, whereas your sister would believe pretty much anything I told her at this age. We’re getting close to Christmas, and you seem unsure about pretty much everything. “How does Santa get down the chimney?” “Why is he watching me all the time?” “Does he watch me in the bath?” “That’s not the real Santa, he doesn’t have glasses!”
A few weeks ago we bought the new, illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone at the bookstore, and you begged me to begin reading it to you. I was worried you were way to young to understand the complexities of Harry Potter, but we began reading anyway. Night after night you’d snuggle up next to me while I read aloud the adventures of Harry, Ron, Hermione. You laughed when Harry stuck his wand up a troll’s nose and squealed when Lord Voldemort revealed himself. But you don’t blindly believe. We had to instill a rule that you could only ask questions if you raised your hand, because it was taking us an hour to get through a chapter with your constant interruptions. You looked like Hermione herself, waving your arm in the air, waiting for me to call on you so you could question “How does an invisible cloak make you invisible?”
You’re loud and feisty and smart and creative. You got a drum set for your birthday, and once a day you tell me you’re headed down for your drum lesson. Within minutes I hear the banging and clashing of your music. I feel like your brain is probably constantly on “drum set mode.” You live loud and hard and with so much energy.
But you are also my snuggle bug, and I’m sure that has a lot to do with you being my baby. When I asked what you wanted to do for your birthday, snuggling was at the top of your list. You love to bury yourself in my arms, my hair, my face, and I won’t lie, it’s pretty awesome. This is a weird mom thing, Tater, but there is just something incredible about breathing in the smell of your kid’s hair. I know as you get older, the smell won’t be so good, but for now, I still find myself snuggling up to you and breathing deep, just trying to take you all in. As if that is possible. There is way too much of you to take in all at once.
Thanks for another fun year, my sweet boy. This year you’ll start Kindergarten and the next phase of your life will begin. Yesterday you said to me, “I’m five, I can go to Lucy’s school now!” And when I assured you it would come, but not quite yet, you were extremely disappointed. You’re in a hurry to grow up, to be one of the big kids, to lead….and watching you is one of the greatest pleasures of my life. Thanks for being my pumpkin nose, Tate. I love you.
Love,
Mama
http://www.crazybananas.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IMG_1041-0.jpg22493000Meganhttp://www.crazybananas.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Crazy_Banans_Logo_WebsiteBanner.pngMegan2015-12-21 15:02:402015-12-21 15:05:14Five Years Old
A few years ago, our family gave in to the holiday hype and shortly afterward a new friend started visiting our house…our very own Elf on a Shelf! Now, I know people have very strong feelings about the Elf on a Shelf thing, but I will admit, I enjoy the whole idea. Part of the fun of the holidays for me is getting to create magic for my kids, and Elf on a Shelf is another way I do that. And it doesn’t hurt that once the Elf arrives (or in our case, two elves) my kids’ behavior straightens up a bit! Added bonus? My hard-to-wake-up kid springs out of bed each morning instead of fighting me or her alarm clock because she wants to find the elves! Our school mornings in December are the easiest we have all year!
The only problem I have with the Elf on a Shelf tradition is when I lack inspiration…I’ve put the elves in every conceivable pose (okay, maybe I just move them from the couch to the bookshelf to the kitchen counter), and I just don’t have the time or energy to come up with uber creative elf scenarios. That’s where Fete Box comes in!
Kansas City-based Fete Box is re-imagining the way you plan parties! They take the hassle out of planning by shipping perfectly styled, Pinterest-worthy parties straight to your door. From custom party boxes, to kits that help simplify the holidays – they’ve got something for every occasion! This holiday Fete Box is bringing you Elf Made Easy, a kit full of inspired actions and ideas. Gone are the days of scrambling to figure out what clever things the Elf will do tomorrow. Elf Made Easy makes life as a parent easier by sending you everything you need to move your Elf on a Shelf for each day of the month!
Now, if you’re like me and you’ve used up all of your ideas in the first week of December, I’ve got a surprise for you! Fete Box is giving away a 10-Day Elf Made Easy Fete Box to one lucky Crazy Bananas reader! This amazing kit will make your last weeks of Elf mania stress free and fun!
There are several ways to enter:
– Leave a comment on this post below with one of your favorite holiday traditions
– Follow Crazy Bananas on Facebook, and like the post that is pinned at top of the page all about this giveaway
– Follow Crazy Bananas on Instagram (at @crazy_bananas) and like the photo of the Elf Made Easy Giveaway image
– For additional entries (and to up your odds of winning) leave additional comments on either the Facebook or Instagram posts tagging a friend who might be interested in entering as well. You can tag as many people as you want, but they must be in separate comments so we can track the entries.
This contest will be closed on Saturday, December 12th at 5 p.m. CST, so get those entries in! The winner will be announced on Sunday, December 13th!
Good luck, and happy elfing!
(Fete Box is providing the gift for this giveaway, but all the thoughts and opinions above are my own.)
http://www.crazybananas.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2015-12-10_0001.jpg643800Meganhttp://www.crazybananas.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Crazy_Banans_Logo_WebsiteBanner.pngMegan2015-12-10 12:56:532015-12-10 13:40:53Holiday Giveaway : Fete Box's Elf Made Easy
I am so excited to be able to share this super fun session with you guys! Normally I try to only write one photo post per week, to keep this blog a mix of photography and personal stuff. The blog itself has been around longer than my photography business (I started blogging on Crazy Bananas in 2004!), so I have a good mix of readers and I don’t want to only post photo sessions, but I’m making a little exception with this one. My good friend Lindsey has always been one of my biggest and most vocal supporters, and I’m so grateful she’s chosen me to take her photos the last few years. Linds and I were college roommates, and I think it’s pretty freaking amazing to see how far we’ve come! I mean, who would’ve known the girls who covered their bunk beds in *NSYNC posters would someday be successful, productive members of society? Well, probably no one, but look at us now! Grown ups!
Lindsey and her husband Brad are the most awesome people, and they braved a chilly fall morning in Kansas City to get some images taken at the beautiful Kauffman Center. Can we please talk about Lindsey’s boots? Because, seriously? Amazing. Brad was looking pretty dapper as well, and I loved capturing them as they ran around the Kauffman with their two puppies.
As for these pups…they are two little things with BIG personalities. Larry, the Boston Terrier, sported a handsome bow tie collar, while Hazel, a long-haired Chihuahua, is as delicate and feisty as you’d imagine. They are quite a pair, and every year I have a blast photographing them!
The Heinz’s are HUGE Kansas City Royals fans, so at the end of our session we snapped some quick images of them in their Royals gear, just in case the Royals went on to win the World Series….which they did! I was super excited because Lindsey also asked me to create a unique holiday card for them, which included a fun Royals touch on the back. On the front, we also included a little nod to the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality earlier this year. Lindsey is a lawyer and a huge proponent of marriage equality, so the ruling meant a lot to her and she wanted a symbol of it to be incorporated in to her card. I think it turned out beautiful!
Nothing like opening your mailbox and seeing your work being shared! I love getting cards with images I’ve taken for clients this time of year, and it’s even better when I get to design them as well. That makes a very happy holiday!
http://www.crazybananas.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2015-12-08_0001.jpg534800Meganhttp://www.crazybananas.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Crazy_Banans_Logo_WebsiteBanner.pngMegan2015-12-08 14:47:182015-12-08 14:47:18Heinz Family : Kansas City Photographer
Five Years Old
/0 Comments/in Tate /by MeganDear Tate,
Yesterday you turned five-years-old. Five. A whole hand! It seems impossible to me, but I guess that’s always what it will feel like. You’re my youngest, my baby, and no matter how big you get, I always seem surprised that you’re not a snuggling little nugget wrapped up in my arms. I pick you up to carry you to bed, and your legs hang down to my knees. The other day you solved a math problem. You can write your own name. You’re growing up.
You’re a curious little bugger, and it’s difficult to ensure some of my favorite childhood magic lives on for you. You question everything, whereas your sister would believe pretty much anything I told her at this age. We’re getting close to Christmas, and you seem unsure about pretty much everything. “How does Santa get down the chimney?” “Why is he watching me all the time?” “Does he watch me in the bath?” “That’s not the real Santa, he doesn’t have glasses!”
A few weeks ago we bought the new, illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone at the bookstore, and you begged me to begin reading it to you. I was worried you were way to young to understand the complexities of Harry Potter, but we began reading anyway. Night after night you’d snuggle up next to me while I read aloud the adventures of Harry, Ron, Hermione. You laughed when Harry stuck his wand up a troll’s nose and squealed when Lord Voldemort revealed himself. But you don’t blindly believe. We had to instill a rule that you could only ask questions if you raised your hand, because it was taking us an hour to get through a chapter with your constant interruptions. You looked like Hermione herself, waving your arm in the air, waiting for me to call on you so you could question “How does an invisible cloak make you invisible?”
You’re loud and feisty and smart and creative. You got a drum set for your birthday, and once a day you tell me you’re headed down for your drum lesson. Within minutes I hear the banging and clashing of your music. I feel like your brain is probably constantly on “drum set mode.” You live loud and hard and with so much energy.
But you are also my snuggle bug, and I’m sure that has a lot to do with you being my baby. When I asked what you wanted to do for your birthday, snuggling was at the top of your list. You love to bury yourself in my arms, my hair, my face, and I won’t lie, it’s pretty awesome. This is a weird mom thing, Tater, but there is just something incredible about breathing in the smell of your kid’s hair. I know as you get older, the smell won’t be so good, but for now, I still find myself snuggling up to you and breathing deep, just trying to take you all in. As if that is possible. There is way too much of you to take in all at once.
Thanks for another fun year, my sweet boy. This year you’ll start Kindergarten and the next phase of your life will begin. Yesterday you said to me, “I’m five, I can go to Lucy’s school now!” And when I assured you it would come, but not quite yet, you were extremely disappointed. You’re in a hurry to grow up, to be one of the big kids, to lead….and watching you is one of the greatest pleasures of my life. Thanks for being my pumpkin nose, Tate. I love you.
Love,
Mama
Holiday Giveaway : Fete Box’s Elf Made Easy
/0 Comments/in Gimme, Kansas City /by MeganA few years ago, our family gave in to the holiday hype and shortly afterward a new friend started visiting our house…our very own Elf on a Shelf! Now, I know people have very strong feelings about the Elf on a Shelf thing, but I will admit, I enjoy the whole idea. Part of the fun of the holidays for me is getting to create magic for my kids, and Elf on a Shelf is another way I do that. And it doesn’t hurt that once the Elf arrives (or in our case, two elves) my kids’ behavior straightens up a bit! Added bonus? My hard-to-wake-up kid springs out of bed each morning instead of fighting me or her alarm clock because she wants to find the elves! Our school mornings in December are the easiest we have all year!
The only problem I have with the Elf on a Shelf tradition is when I lack inspiration…I’ve put the elves in every conceivable pose (okay, maybe I just move them from the couch to the bookshelf to the kitchen counter), and I just don’t have the time or energy to come up with uber creative elf scenarios. That’s where Fete Box comes in!
Kansas City-based Fete Box is re-imagining the way you plan parties! They take the hassle out of planning by shipping perfectly styled, Pinterest-worthy parties straight to your door. From custom party boxes, to kits that help simplify the holidays – they’ve got something for every occasion! This holiday Fete Box is bringing you Elf Made Easy, a kit full of inspired actions and ideas. Gone are the days of scrambling to figure out what clever things the Elf will do tomorrow. Elf Made Easy makes life as a parent easier by sending you everything you need to move your Elf on a Shelf for each day of the month!
Now, if you’re like me and you’ve used up all of your ideas in the first week of December, I’ve got a surprise for you! Fete Box is giving away a 10-Day Elf Made Easy Fete Box to one lucky Crazy Bananas reader! This amazing kit will make your last weeks of Elf mania stress free and fun!
There are several ways to enter:
This contest will be closed on Saturday, December 12th at 5 p.m. CST, so get those entries in! The winner will be announced on Sunday, December 13th!
Good luck, and happy elfing!
(Fete Box is providing the gift for this giveaway, but all the thoughts and opinions above are my own.)
Heinz Family : Kansas City Photographer
/2 Comments/in Crazybananas Photography /by MeganI am so excited to be able to share this super fun session with you guys! Normally I try to only write one photo post per week, to keep this blog a mix of photography and personal stuff. The blog itself has been around longer than my photography business (I started blogging on Crazy Bananas in 2004!), so I have a good mix of readers and I don’t want to only post photo sessions, but I’m making a little exception with this one. My good friend Lindsey has always been one of my biggest and most vocal supporters, and I’m so grateful she’s chosen me to take her photos the last few years. Linds and I were college roommates, and I think it’s pretty freaking amazing to see how far we’ve come! I mean, who would’ve known the girls who covered their bunk beds in *NSYNC posters would someday be successful, productive members of society? Well, probably no one, but look at us now! Grown ups!
Lindsey and her husband Brad are the most awesome people, and they braved a chilly fall morning in Kansas City to get some images taken at the beautiful Kauffman Center. Can we please talk about Lindsey’s boots? Because, seriously? Amazing. Brad was looking pretty dapper as well, and I loved capturing them as they ran around the Kauffman with their two puppies.
As for these pups…they are two little things with BIG personalities. Larry, the Boston Terrier, sported a handsome bow tie collar, while Hazel, a long-haired Chihuahua, is as delicate and feisty as you’d imagine. They are quite a pair, and every year I have a blast photographing them!
The Heinz’s are HUGE Kansas City Royals fans, so at the end of our session we snapped some quick images of them in their Royals gear, just in case the Royals went on to win the World Series….which they did! I was super excited because Lindsey also asked me to create a unique holiday card for them, which included a fun Royals touch on the back. On the front, we also included a little nod to the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality earlier this year. Lindsey is a lawyer and a huge proponent of marriage equality, so the ruling meant a lot to her and she wanted a symbol of it to be incorporated in to her card. I think it turned out beautiful!
Nothing like opening your mailbox and seeing your work being shared! I love getting cards with images I’ve taken for clients this time of year, and it’s even better when I get to design them as well. That makes a very happy holiday!