From this adorable little leprechaun! Oh, so cute!!
I can hardly wait for these sessions! Little ones dressed in their Easter outfits and a few "Hop-Hops," as this precious little one pictured calls them makes for a super fun session. Delight!!!
This can't be real! Seriously, it cannot! My Rachel turns....I can't even say it....21 today! 21! The waterworks are starting as my mind is flooded with memories of the great anticipation of seeing her for the first time. It seems like I held in her my arms for the very first time just yesterday. That precious tiny, fresh-from-Heaven baby girl. Oh what joy floods my mind as I thank the Faithful One for all that He has done and continues to do on her behalf. She is beautiful inside and out and lives each day trying her best to glorify Him. We couldn't be more blessed to be her parents (and it goes without saying, but we feel the exact same way about our Hannah).
This year we celebrate her 21st birthday and her 5th anniversary since her surgery. We continue to marvel at all that He has done for our Rachel and we look forward with great joy to all of the incredible things He has in store for her precious life. God is so good!!!
Happy birthday, baby girl. We love you so very much!!!!
What an absolute joy to get to meet Kathleen and her mom this past weekend! Senior sessions are always unique and all about the wonderful senior I am blessed to photograph. Kathleen's session was no exception. I have never photographed an R2D2 skirt until this session. The force is strong in this one! Ha! (I couldn't resist). She will graduate in the top ten of her class at Midland High School. Top Ten! Wow! And her future is as bright as she is!
Such a beauty. I adore her mask and all of the greens and pinks. Come on Spring! We are so ready for you!!
1. The exclusive Easter Sessions were announced yesterday and we are nearly sold out! I have a few openings, but please don't wait!
2. Speaking of Easter, the bunnies may have just had baby bunnies on one of the coldest days of the year. OIY! We will see, but how fun to have baby bunnies at our Easter sessions.
3. 
Are you watching The Voice? We love that show!!! On our trip to New York, we found these chairs from the Voice and had to do our best interpretation. Love my man!
4. Did you watch the Oscars Sunday night? It's always fun to see the parade of dresses and jewelry. I watched it in my Wichita State sweatshirt....so glamorous!
5. Speaking of Wichita State! They are the ONLY undefeated college basketball team in the country. So cool! My dad is a WSU graduate!
6. I am ready for March Madness!!! I always have fun filling out a bracket and keeping up with the progress on my iphone. Growing up my initials were KU. I can remember thinking as a child that I simply had to go to KU because those were my initials and being from Kansas, that seemed the thing to do. Funny! KU is good, but WSU is doing much better this year. I may pick them to win it all! And who knows if our Baylor bears will even make the big show this year.
7. Remember my bout with pneumonia this fall? A few weeks ago, I had an instant 102 fever, cough, and I felt awful. I didn't think I would ever be as sick as I was this fall. Through many tears, I started the process of seeing doctors again trying to avoid pneumonia. Thankfully, the bronchitis didn't turn in to pneumonia! But, there were a few scares. God graciously walked with me through each one of those tests and they all turned out to be negative. Praise the Lord!
8. I felt better this weekend than I have in weeks!!! I tried not to overdo, but it felt so good to feel like myself again. I even had time to get my eyebrows tamed. And then I didn't feel so good after that. I'm kidding!
9. Did you see the movie Gravity? I watched it while my family was at the State Basketball tournament this weekend. Sandra Bullock did a fantastic job, I'm surprised she didn't win best actress. I have to admit, there were scenes in that movie that made me feel a bit claustrophobic. As a computer teacher, I loved the graphics!
10. My man is an incredible omelet maker. They are seriously delicious and always turn out so perfectly. Me? Not so much! I made myself an omelet Sunday morning while my family was still out of town. It started off okay....and then quickly turned to hash. Here is a very blurry iphone picture. It may have looked yucky, but it tasted pretty good!
Here it is! Today is the day to grab your spot for the limited Easter Sessions!!! Ready?? Set, go! The first 7 people to email me and pay their invoice (I'll email it to you right away) will have a spot. Yes, there will be a short waiting list, just in case.
Spring is just around the corner. This image gives me hope that Spring really is coming! Love this sweet image and those gorgeous eyes!
We are so excited about the upcoming 3 themed Mini Sessions in 3 months. All three sessions will be so fun and exclusive. There are only 7 spots for this first mini session. I posted this image on my business facebook page and within 20 minutes, several had guessed correctly! Yes, the 1st Mini Session (1st of 3 in 3 months) is an Easter themed session complete with a few very sweet Hop-hops (as Miss Paisyn would call them). So exciting!!!
Monday morning, the details and signups will be live. There are only 7 sessions and they will go very quickly! I will have a short waiting list, just in case.
I really am abundantly blessed with the most beautiful/handsome seniors to photograph! I love everything about photographing my senior clients. My favorite part? Seeing their eyes when I show them the back of my camera. Their eyes always light up and then they relax a bit. One senior girl told me that she didn't realize she looked like that. Gorgeous! And my second favorite part? Seeing their faces and the faces of their family and friends when they see their finished images for the very first time. Delight! Part of the VIP experience means that we take the time to bring out the best qualities in our seniors. Whether it is coordinating the perfect location to go with their outfits, helping put together outfits, gathering specific props for their unique sessions, and creating an experience they will hopefully treasure, I always strive to edit my images to help make them shine even more than they already do.
Here is an example from a recent session:
The straight out of the camera shot is beautiful. But if you look a little closer there are some dark circles, a few blemishes, and a little uneven skin tone (we all have that). Adding a few edits gives the WOW factor. Slight edits to make all of us look our best. We do this for all of our sessions. because that is how we would want to be treated too.
We have already begun booking Class of 2015 Senior Sessions. Because we offer unique, exclusive photo sessions, we have a set amount of sessions that we can offer each month. Summer and Fall sessions are already booking very quickly. Please, email us to reserve your VIP Session {kristi@kikiscornerphotography.com} We can hardly wait to meet you!
That title makes me giddy with excitement! We have never offered this before and I am sooooooooooo excited!!!! Three uniquely styled mini sessions in 3 months. These mini sessions will book very quickly, so please be watching for the big reveals and the signups. Each mini session will only have 7 sessions. Once the sessions are booked and paid for, they will be sold out with a small waiting list, just in case.
I'll give you a little clue for the first mini session very soon! Be watching the blog and our facebook page.
Senior Sessions are always so much fun. So much style, personality, and uniqueness. This session was no exception. I am excited to see the big plans God has for this senior.
Senior Season is in full swing! Dustin was a great way to kick off the busy Senior Season. Dustin is a Senior at Forsan High School, avid hunter, football player, and is very much looking forward to pursuing a Petroleum Engineer Degree at ASU. Enjoy your senior year, Dustin!
Seriously, this should be national news! I actually cleaned my oven. Yay!!! Honestly, I wouldn't have cleaned it but the putrid burnt smell every time we tried to cook or bake was starting to get to all of us. If my man can smell it, it is pretty bad! He can't smell anything compared to my "super" nose as he calls it. I have self cleaning ovens. I know, I'm spoiled. Actually, I would be totally spoiled if the oven makers of the world would get together and put a nice vanilla smell in the actual oven-self-cleaning mode. It may just be my ovens, but every time I turn on the self cleaning ovens, it stinks and we all have to leave the house or keep the windows open. It's bad! A Vanilla scent would be so nice. They just need to get with the Febreeze peeps and maybe even the people who make little pine trees for cars. Self Cleaning Oven Scents, I called it first!
Anyway, there was so much junk in the bottom of my oven from things that had bubbled over and the salt that I threw on top of it to cut the burning smell, that I thought might be too much for my self cleaning button and way too much for the Easy Off cleaner. So what is a girl to do?
I got on Facebook to avoid the whole oven issue. And guess what was waiting in the news feed? A guy that cleaned his oven the "easy" way. Yeah, right! I read some more and thought to myself that this couldn't be any worse than the smell that fumigated my beautiful home every time I tried to cook a meal....or warm up our take out pizza. Hello Martha? Not so much lately, these days.
The facebook link mentioned doing a little something and then leaving it overnight. Perfect!
Warning! UGLY oven pictured below. I can't believe I'm posting this for all of the world to see. Yes, this is my oven. I was serious about sprinkling salt on things that bubbled over.
To Clean your oven:
Preheat to 150 While the oven is heating, put on a pot of water to boil. Once the oven has reached 150 F, turn it off and pour 1 cup of ammonia into a heat safe bowl or baking dish and place it on the top rack of the oven. Place the pot of boiling water on the bottom rack, close the oven door, and leave them both in the oven overnight.
So far so good! No putrid smell and it was as easy as boiling a pot of water! I'm liking this!
In the morning, I opened the oven door removed both the bowl of ammonia and the pot of water. Don’t dispose of the ammonia; you’ll want to use it later. Add 1-2 teaspoons of liquid dish soap to the ammonia, along with a quart of warm water, and using a heavy-duty nylon scrubbing pad dipped in the ammonia mixture, begin to wipe away the softened grease and grime along the sides and bottom of the oven. It should be a fairly easy job at this point. Wear kitchen gloves. It didn't take longer than 10 minutes to do this step.
This is what my oven looked like after rinsing and scrubbing a bit:
Looking good but still needs a bit of work! I grabbed Easy Off Cleaner and did a little more work which yielded this:
Much, much better! I smile every time (the one time) I use my oven. The putrid burnt smell is gone. Hallelujah!!! And I feel a bit more like my inner Martha-self is smiling now too!
Hannah had fun making a new recipe for one of her guy friends that came to her rescue one day at school. He will tell you that it wasn't a big deal, but it meant a great deal to us. Even though she was at a Solo and Ensemble Competition (She is state bound for the 3rd year in a row), she sent me a text with ingredients that she needed to make these cookies. S'mores combined with chocolate chip cookies sounded amazing!
And they really were delicious!
We received the news today that our Hannah banana was honored to be chosen All District Honorable Mention! We are so proud of her and so thankful to the One who blessed her with the ability to play the game she adores.
Valentine's Day found our household filled to overflowing with love, as always, but also a breathing machine, heavy doses of antibiotics, and a romantic dinner at home.....I use the word romantic loosely. My sweetheart took really good care of me but I was terribly sick once again. I honestly thought after being so sick with pneumonia this fall that I wouldn't be that sick ever again. Sigh! I was wrong, and on Valentine's Day! My sweetheart loved his gift and I was thrilled. It was quite a step up from the usual card that I give him. I missed Rachel and Carly, the Corgi, but it was sweet to talk to my college valentines and I am counting the days until they are home for a visit.
Our youngest Valentine is taking a CNA course through our school and loving it. Part of what they get to do is help take care of some very sweet patients in a retirement home. Hannah was determined to spread the Love of the Lord with them and to make some special Valentine's Day gifts. I helped her find a template via Skip to My Lou and we printed the butterfly pattern and then she began carefully cutting out each one.
Please, excuse the quality of these pictures. I was doing a breathing treatment at the time and my Iphone was all that I had handy and didn't want to miss capturing the joy she had carefully putting together each Valentine.
I loved hearing her stories when she got home and seeing the joy in her eyes as she told them. A Valentine's Day to remember after all.
I love Valentine's Day. I know a lot of people think it is just a commercial-driven holiday, but ever since I was a little girl I have loved it! I remember beautiful red heart, paper doilies, glitter, Valentine "mail" boxes, flowers, chocolates (even the yucky pink filled ones), and a sense of joy and love in the air.I even remember dreaming about my life-long Valentine....and what a joy to say that he has been mine for nearly 24 years of marriage!
I always enjoy creating a fun set for a few mini sessions. I was thrilled to see these little Valentines come for a quick session. They are adorable!
and Carly had a little session too:
Our family loves to make Jalapeno Poppers! They are delicious but time consuming. It never fails, my eyes always start to burn and then I start coughing. But, they are well worth it! Yum!!!
I came across this recipe a few weeks ago. Jalapeno Popper dip without having to cut and de-seed jalapenos. Ole! The dip was out of this world. I usually like artichoke dip, but this exceeds even that. Here is the link to all of the deliciousness. And it's easy too....which makes this recipe muy beuno in my book!
http://americanfood.about.com/od/appetizersandsoups/r/Jalapeno_Dip.htm
1. Where did January go? Seriously, we are nearly halfway through February already. My head is spinning!
2. My baby is 17 years old. 17! Be still my heart!
3. I was just 17 yesterday....okay it feels that way. The person in the mirror would disagree though.
4. I am pretty excited about my Valentine gift to my sweetheart this year!!! He will be so excited. Normally we don't do big gifts for Valentine's Day (okay, I don't give big gifts) but this year is exciting!
5. I have officially exercised 5 days a week for the past month! I am on week 5 and I am so proud of myself. I haven't stuck to an exercise plan like this since I played 5A basketball and volleyball in high school....a long time ago!
6. 
This is our weather forecast! Cold with a chance of ice and sleet, but look at Sunday's forecast! Wow!
7. We are loving watching the Olympics from the comforts of our own home. Have you read the stories about athletes getting locked in their rooms, bathrooms, and elevators. Scary!
8. Speaking of Olympics, every time the announcer shouts go, or begin, I always hear, "A La Cuisine!" From Iron Chef. My family laughs because you may just hear me hollering it.
9. 
For the past 4 years, I have wanted our high school media students to participate in the annual Google Doodle Scholarship program. This year, I received an email asking if we would like to enter. YES!!!! All week long my media students are passionately searching for their answer to, "If I could invent one thing to make the world a better place...." It's a big deal to enter the contest, and quite another to win. The winning school will receive a $50,000 technology grant and the winning student receives a $30,000 college scholarship. Wow! I cannot wait to see their finished projects!
10. My dad's birthday was this past Thursday. I think it is pretty special that he and Hannah have birthdays so close. They are kindred spirits in so many ways!