• personal,  school

    hakka reads @ school

    Because Timmy was sick the other week, he missed ‘daddy’s night’ at his school. So to make it up, Grandpa Ken (aka Hakka) came to school and read a story to his class. The kids really loved him and the teachers were cracking up the whole time he was reading. I don’t think his Law School students probably find him quite as funny though- I’m not sure if it’s because of the material or the delivery.

    And it wouldn’t be a date with Timmy without some legos.

  • bsquared business,  personal,  school,  travel

    10 for Tuesday

    *disclaimer: none of the pictures in this post (other than the first one) have anything to do with the subject matter. I just liked them and they are new so they are in the post today.

    1. Having a bit of a mommy crisis. The boys are really wanting to hang out with their friends on their own, but I’m not a big fan of that at this time. By hanging out on their own I mean heading up to the pizza place or walking around town with them with no destination in mind. Apparently quite a few of their friends are doing this as of late.  Uh….no. Absolutely nothing good can come of that in my opinion. They are TEN! Not to mention the fact that they are TEN. Are you getting that they are ten? I have no problem dropping them at the pizza place or movie, or another actual destination when I know some kind of parental supervision will be on hand. Not hovering, just on hand. I mean, do I really think that at ten they have the capacity to get themselves out of a possible sticky or dangerous situation all on their own? No. Especially not with a bunch of other 10 year olds they would be hanging out with making the same possible bad decisions. And I’m not saying any of the kids that are hanging out in town are bad kids. I just don’t think they are ready.  And if they are ‘hanging out’ and walking aimlessly around town at TEN, what the hell will they be doing at 13? Where do they go from here?? So true what they say, the bigger the kid, the bigger the problem. Ugh, being the mom is hard! And with middle school starting in September, I know it’s only going to get harder.

    2. Looks like the bsquared calendar is getting pretty booked up thru the end of July. If you are thinking about booking a shoot for the summer, you may want to do that soon. Here’s a link to the current calendar which is constantly updated: http://www.bsquaredphotography.net/?page_id=6157  I may end up having a number of times available on 5/23, so if you are interested in that date, just shoot me an email and I’ll let you know if it becomes available.

    (working on a little sunflare)

    3. The bsquared calendar for Sept-December will be available at the end of May or early June. I’ll put up an announcement here on the blog, on Facebook (on both my personal page and on the bsquared page) and will send out an email if you’ve contacted me about setting up a fall shoot.

    4. I’m leaving in a week and a day with the whole family to Jamaica (the island, mon. Not Queens.) to shoot a fabulous destination wedding. Just going for the weekend but it should be an awesome, awesome time! Can’t wait to take THOSE pictures and or course, tons of the boys on the beach too! Of course I am not at all looking forward to the flying part of the trip but I got my new Xanax prescription and I’m good to go. Ok, maybe not good, but hopefully not as bad as usual.

    5. I am about 7 shoots behind in editing, which after the weekend with 6 shoots and 1,731 pictures taken is really not so bad. But you know I’d rather be caught up!! If you are waiting for your shoot to be posted, I promise it’s coming soon. Working as hard as I can. Oh, and that doesn’t include the 8 orders I have on my dining room table I still have to pack and get out to clients. Those are coming too!

    6.  Had Timmy’s CPSE meeting last week which went really well and I’m so happy to say that he is ‘graduating’ from PT and OT at the end of this school year in June! After spending 4 years (between him and the big boys) in that waiting room, I couldn’t be happier to be done. He’ll definitely need some OT help once Kindergarten starts but I’m pretty confident that the school will give him the extra help he needs with writing and grip. The OT in the building is really nice and seems like she is really on top of her game and already knows Timmy and what he needs. Omg, kindergarten! Really?? I still cannot/refuse to believe it.

    7. On the Kindle front- recently finished The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Eh. Could’ve totally done without that one- it’s like the same book as the last one, just with a different setting. (The DaVinci Code I really liked). Took me forever to read it cause I just wasn’t invested in the story. Now onto Horns by Joe Hill (who is Stephen King’s son and an excellent writer) and I am loving it. One of those can’tputitdownandcan’twaittoseewhathappensbutdon’twantittoend books. His other book, Heart Shaped Box, was great too. Definitely recommend both. Still have about 12 books in the Kindle on the ‘to read’ list not to mention all the ones out recently I still want to buy and read. You know, in my free time.

    8. Been doing Pilates twice a week over at ABSession in town(this will be my 3rd week) and I’m really really enjoying it. Been doing personal training with Karen (who is kicking my ass. In the best way possible.) and I really like it although it’s safe to say that I am miserably out of shape and completely spastic. But that’s okay cause I know that will change. Eventually. Well, maybe not the spastic part so much….

    9. Did a shoot this past weekend for one of those “we should have been friends already” people. Jen was awesome, as were her three gorgeous girls and is a great bsquared PR agent –before she’s even seen her pictures!!! She is also a very talented makeup artist and I am hoping to introduce her to some of my upcoming brides or anyone who is looking for fantastic makeup for a shoot with me, or just an event. If you are in need of a fantastic makeup artist, email me and I’ll hook you up with Jen! She’s going to do my makeup for my own shoot (which I hope to do in September- have lots of ideas on that one) and I can’t wait!

    10. Ok, so I’m finishing up writing this post at 2:28am. Why? Because I fell asleep in the black hole that is Timmy’s bed from 9pm-11:30pm and now I’m wiiiiiiide awake. Stupid, comfy, warm and cuddly black hole. I can’t escape your clutches.

    11. (I know, it’s supposed to be 10- so sue me. It’s my blog. I’ll do what I want. Mleh.) If you head over to the bsquared photography Facebook page (link to your left) and “like” it (now you don’t become a fan anymore, now you just like it. Semantics but whatever.) two things are going on:

    – If I get to 500 people who ‘like’ my page, I’ll be doing another bsquared photography gift card giveaway. I think I’m over 452 now so we’re close. Tell your friends to ‘like’ it too and we’ll get there soon!

    -I have a new topic up on the discussion board (to find that, just go to the bsquared facebook page and look at the top of the page where you will find a discussions tab. Click on that and you’ll be there) about offering a new product to bsquared clients- an accordian mini book. I’m looking for some opinions to see if there is any interest in these as add ons to your bsquared shoot ($50 for a set of 3 books). If you leave a comment on the discussion board mini books topic, you could get a set for 1/2 off. Can’t wait to hear what you think, so leave me a comment today.

    Hope everyone has a great Tuesday. Go take some pictures!

  • occassions & parties,  school

    the rvc education foundation gala

    I was thrilled to be asked to photograph this very special event again this year! It’s always a fun night filled with lots of familiar, friendly faces, along with great entertainment, and special honorees.

    This year’s theme was “Celebrate Broadway” with some very talented singers/actors from both the Middle and High schools performing scenes from their shows (Annie and Carousel respectively).

    There were also honors given out to some very special members of the community. The Honorable Frank Yanelli was the gala honoree and a real pillar of the community.

    The recipients of the Ruth Fins Memorial Award Karen Bauer and Gene Kaplan are both important and amazing teachers in the Music Department. In fact, Mrs. Bauer was my chorus teacher back in my days in South Side!! So glad to see that she is still there, working with the students who love her.

    There were SO many great images from the evening, it was so difficult to decide what to post. If you’d like to see all of the photos from the evening, please visit the online album HERE. And look out for some of the pictures in The Herald as well as I’m told they will be making an appearance in an upcoming issue.

  • personal,  school

    happy eastover!

    Since we sorta celebrate both Easter and Passover here you get a little of both in the holiday name.

    We dyed eggs.

    We ate Matzah and tunafish sandwiches while watching The Ten Commandments on TV. (this is a real tradition here)

    We had a seder. (These are pictures from Timmy’s seder at his school. We had a very, very VERY abridged seder here last night too with Grandma’s delicious brisket but after 4 shoots yesterday, I was too lazy to take any pictures. We only ask the questions we like, and always talk about the plagues. That’s about the extent of it, besides the eating. I usually make a seder plate but I never have all the stuff you need to complete it. I end up printing pictures of the stuff off of the internet and slapping those on the plate. Again, laziness got the best of that too this year. Sorry, Suzanne.)

    And the Easter bunny dropped by sometime late last night with the biggest freakin chocolate easter bunnies. Ever. (Timmy’s just in the picture for scale).

    We’re headed over to our country club for Easter dinner later. Can’t wait to see the boys dressed up in their easter best! Pictures on that later.

    Happy Eastover, everyone!

  • personal,  school

    waving goodbye (not yet really)

    On the same day I took the star pictures up at the boys school for the yearbook cover and back (you know, the day I played spidey and had to climb up a ladder and out a second story window onto the roof), I did the ‘wave goodbye’ shots as well. Since I don’t have approval from all the other parents, I’m only posting Jack & Patrick’s pictures.

    web116

    And for those of you commenting that there are so many more pictures of Timmy than of the boys, before you think I’m playing favorites just remember that J & P have had 5 and a half  additional years of pictures than Timmy and they are really wanting nothing to do with pictures anymore. I’m trying but they are fighting me at every chance they get. Hopefully I’ll get some good ones at Disney when they’re not looking and distracted.