hocus outta focus : the hocus focus blog

Somebody Pass The Twinkies, Please.

The day before Father's Day Chris came home with this.   

Really?  REALLY???  And don't even start with the, "but he's so cute" and the "he looks so sweet".  That's what he said.  But you must know that this dog is a complete pain in the butt.  He's torn through screens...three of them to be exact.  He's thrown up in the house...at least four times - the dummy likes to eat grass.  And he even ran off.  For three days. 

If the girls didn't love him so much I would have played the witchy woman card and sent that dog packing. 

It's not that I don't like dogs, it's just that right now I need a dog like I need to eat another freaking box of twinkies.  And now we need two dog houses.  One for Oz and one for Chris.  He's gonna owe me for this one.  BIG TIME!!!    

Beetle Juice! Beetle Juice! Beetle Juice!

Okay, they're not beetles, but it's just not the same when you say, "Cicada juice!  Cicada juice!  Cicada juice!"  I'm re-organizing hard drives and stumbled upon these shots from last fall that I never posted.

So, I'm deeply concentrated, channeling my inner National Geographic photographer when my prankster husband comes up beside me, tickles my arm and yells out, "There's one on you!  There's one on you!"  Wish someone had a camera on me at that moment.  That might have been a record high vertical jump.  I'm a total girl and I'm soooo not a bug person so I totally freaked.  You know, jumping around screaming, arms flailing about.  Not pretty.  At all!  Yeah, maybe I'm glad nobody had a camera on me afterall. 

The girls heard me screaming and wanted to know what we were looking at so Chris picked one up so The Lu could get a closer look.

When he put it back on the rope he found it on we realized his fingers had torn off the tips of the wings and we noticed some kind of fluid seeping out of the ends.  We touched it and it kinda felt like baby oil.  It was crazy.

I'd love to know more about it.  If only there were more hours in the day.  I'd do some googling, but instead I'll take the lazy route.  Blog about it and hope a reader knows or is incredibly bored and decides to google it for me.  *wink*wink*

Have a fantastic day!
H

Happy Father's Day!

When it comes to parenting I'm the disciplinarian and Chris is the fun one, which is probably why this quote struck such a chord with me. 

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard.  Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass."  "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply.  "We're raising boys."  -Harmon Killebrew

We're raising girls, but the same theory applies and I can always count on Chris to remind me of this.  He's such an incredible father. He's a provider and a protector.  He's a storyteller and a snuggler.  He's a hide-and-go seeker and a human jungle gym.  He's a boo-boo fixer and a buddy.  If you were to ask, I'm sure our girls would tell you he hung the moon.  Of course he did.  He's their daddy and he's their hero.

I'll probably never get over the amazement I have for the relationship between Chris and our daughters and these next two shots pretty much sum it up.   

They simply adore him.

I grew up without a dad, but I had an amazing grandpa (and a couple of awesome uncles) who stepped up and played that part - and then some.  Papa was always such an inspiration to me, and Chris actually reminds me a lot of him.  You know...the kind of man who will drop anything, anytime for his kids because nothing is more important to him.  I learned a lot about life from Papa and I know our girls will learn so much from Chris.

Whether you're a father or a father figure, you've got a very important job.  The most important one you'll ever have.    

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.  -Clarence Budington Kelland

Happy Father's Day!

Us

Oops!  I've facebooked this and I've flickr'd it, but I just realized I've never actually blogged it.  Being a photographer you'd think I would have oodles and oodles of family photos, right? 

WRONG. 

I'm always behind the camera and never in front of it, but my best friend is a photographer so you'd think we would just get together and shoot each other's familys, right? 

WRONG. 

Misty Bull and I have been friends for over five years and every year we say we're going to get together and shoot each other's families, but we never do.  We both get so busy shooting clients that we never make time for ourselves, but last fall we finally decided to practice what we preach.  I shot her and she shot me.  (Sounds painful, huh?)  Here is the result of Misty's hard work...and trust me when I say she WORKED to get this shot.  My clients are always worried about whether or not their kids will cooperate for photos.  Sometimes they do.  Sometimes they don't.  And mine are no different.  Misty worked her magic while my kids cooperated for a split second and then they just wanted to play with Richard and The Bull Boys because that's way more fun than being photographed. 

So, this is us.  The Morrows.  We're all punks.  But I finally have a family portrait to go in the empty frame that has hung in my living room for oh, I don't know....EIGHT MONTHS!  I found the frame at a vintage shop and instantly knew what would go in it.  It just took me a little while to fill it, but that frame now holds a gorgeous 24x36 canvas that I will forever be grateful to Misty for.  Not only because it's beautiful, but also because my mother-in-law has stopped harassing me about getting her a family photo that actually has Lucee in it.  ZOIKS!!! 

Now that I've got my family on canvas I think everyone should so we're running a canvas sale!  All fine art canvas prints will be 20% off from now until June 30.  This includes past sessions, too, so email me to have a past gallery re-activated. 

Happy Monday!
H

Five

Haven't you heard?  Five is the new four.

The Lu turned five this month and she's as spunky and quirky as ever.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LULA! 

Love,
Mom

Right When I Needed It

With Chris being a firefighter we spend a few holidays each year at his second home with our second family.  This Thanksgiving we had a wonderful dinner at the firestation and got to spend some time learning some very important lessons. 

Alex is one of the guys on the crew.  He is a self taught musician who sings, plays piano, guitar and drums.  BY EAR.  And he's GOOD - REALLY GOOD.  He speaks three or four languages (too many for me to keep up with) and he's just insanely intelligent.  After Thanksgiving dinner we spent some quality time with Alex during which he taught Rilee a very important, life changing lesson. 

Thanks, Alex. Thanks a lot.

Rilee didn't actually do this that night. In fact, she didn't even try it. We had no idea she even knew how. It came a few days later when we were playing a game of "I'LL MAKE A FUNNY FACE AND YOU TRY NOT TO LAUGH" (a favorite at the Morrow house). Chris and I pulled out the amateur funny faces, but not The Ruler - she was about to BRING IT!  And OMG, did we laugh!  We laughed so hard we cried.  And with all the chaos and the stress of the holiday rush it was just the laugh I needed and it came right when I needed it the most.  Kids have a way of putting it all into perspective for us, don't they?

Until next time,
H

If She Were President

Rilee came home from Grandma's tonight to find the television on in our bedroom and asked what I was watching. When I told her I had been watching the election coverage this was the conversation we had.

RILEE: Mom, guess what? I voted at school. I voted for John McCain. I wish I could live in the White House.

ME: Well if you do, can I sleep in The Lincoln Bedroom?

RILEE: Mom, you can sleep in my room. I'll decorate it with ponies. I'll be President Pony and you can sleep with me.

Three words, people. RILEE FOR PRESIDENT.

One Tiny Little Victory

We had a little spat today in The Morrow House. It was me against Roo. She desperately needed a nap, but wasn't about to take one. Round after round we battled.  Me entering the room, asking, then insisting and then finally demanding she keep quiet and lay still.

After three days of getting up ridiculously early for kindergarten the kid was exhausted. But she was refusing to sleep. God forbid she miss anything...like a cloud passing over the house or a blade of grass growing 1/10,000th of an inch during that two hour nap she should be taking.

I knew she was tired. She knew she was tired. But she was fighting it. HARD. And keeping The Lu awake.  This sweet little thing pulled out every bit of obnoxious she had in her arsenal and I had finally had it so I sent her to the bathroom alone to think about her behavior. After a few minutes I went in to check on her and found her like this.


I guess all that thinking leads to sleeping. I knew if she would just sit still for two seconds she'd be out. And just like the loser on Project Runway my baby girl was OUT.

I just prayed she wouldn't slide off the toilet while I was snapping pics, but I couldn't NOT document my little victory.

Ahhhhh, it doesn't take much to amuse me.  Now back to proofing like a maniac!

Happy Thursday!
H

Starting Early

The pyros in my family (aka Chris and the kids) just couldn't wait to get started. 

So, Happy 3rd of July everyone!  I hope you're all able to enjoy some time with friends and family this weekend. 

I also hope you'll take some time to remember those who are away from their families fighting to protect our freedom and independence as well as those who have given their lives in that fight.

GOD BLESS THE TROOPS!

Two of a Kind.

Simply put, they're two of a kind.  One in the same.  Peas in a pod.  There's no way around it.  She is him and he is her.  They both have a knack for making me laugh.  Even when I don't want to.  Must be why I love them so much.

Then she tries to be all serious on me. 

But how can I not laugh at a getup like this?  Only The Lu...

(TypePad is being weird...the horizontal shots look really pixelated.  Click on them to see them full size.)

And since I'm posting my peeps, here are a few more random snaps I got while playing with the new camera.  Guess what I got the same day my camera arrived?  A load of crap from my kids.  See photo below.  (Little turkey!)

I took this one a few days later with the 17-55mm 2.8 I rented (and fell in love with).  I love those water drops on her forehead!

And I think this was the 85mm 1.8, which I'm also loving!

Hope everyone had a terrific weekend!
H