Happy Holidays from KPO Photo!
As I write this it is snowing outside! A perfect start to the holiday break! I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you who chose KPO Photo this year. Your stories are absolutely amazing and I am so honored to be a part of your lives.
I also want to say thank you to Sarah Van Heusen, Scott Ramsey, Leslie Barbour, Sophia Harcourt and Dan Glasgow who brought their incredible skills to your stories in 2009.
We will be closed from the 18th until the New Year. I will start 2010 with a bang with a New Year’s Day wedding! During the break I will be checking email periodically but plan on spending a lot of down time with family and friends. I hope you all can do the same! Again thanks so very much for all of your support. Happy Holidays!!!
Warm Wishes,
Kristin Prelipp Oguntoyinbo
Halloween is in the Air
This was a really busy week as I had the KPO Fall Special, Halloween activites, time doing mom stuff and our last wedding of the year out at Fearrington. Here is a little run down of some of the highlights.
My good friend, Nice Polido just opened a new business in downtown Carrboro called Carrboro Raw. They make healthy drinks, made on demand with high quality ingredients. It is located directly across from Weaver Street Market, just behind Spotted Dog.
Then, I just had to show this, I think, priceless interaction between a couple of two-year-olds. On the left is Hana, who came here for the fall special. On the right is Leo, my youngest. They are beyond cute.
I think for most parents, Halloween is not just one day. It begins well before with discussions of what kind of costume each child wants to wear.
Amira, after several years as a princess, decided to be a witch. So did her cousin, Vivian, with whom she spent Halloween.
Roman, who is forever making complicated plans for pirate ships, trains and treehouses he wants to make, decided that he must construct a robot costume. He had a vision and the whole family worked together to turn a box into his dream.
Finally, Leo, wanted to be a bat. This was his costume last year, when, ironically, he did not want to wear it. So much has changed in a year as now he can explain everything to me.
Finally the kids new school, Grady A. Brown, hosts a Halloween parade every year. The kindergarteners and all the teachers, who were absolutely dressed to the nines, parade around the bus lot to the loud roar of cheers from the rest of the school. The outstretched arms you see on the right belong to Amira as she shouts to her little bro.
Out and about in the Hill
I am loving this fall weather! Last week I had a bunch of fun events. I was out at night four nights in a row which is a really different schedule for me.
The first night I had dinner at Panzanella with the Sato Family- Jeannine, Mas and Hana. The occasion- Mas had a showing of some of his pieces at Wootini in Carr Mill Mall, which is about a block from my office. We have the table and chair set from his company at my house and we love it! It has been the site of many art projects and tea parties for the kids. Click HERE to see the Inai Inai Ba site.
On Thursday night Julie Jennings hosted the 10 year anniversary of book club. Anyone who has been in the club at any point in the past decade were welcome. It was great to see the ladies from my era and also meet the current members. The whole night had a Swedish theme as they had just read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Great to see you all!
Then on the third evening I attended Cocktails for Cancer. This is an annual fundraising event to increase awareness among the public at large about female cancers. This year’s event was held at The Franklin Hotel in Chapel Hill, NC on Friday the 16th of October.
Some of the items for the silent auction, including a KPO Photo Family Story.
Leah Forbes Waldrop, founder and chairperson of Cocktails for Cancer and her mom. KPO Photo photographed Leah and Justin’s wedding a few years ago. They are wonderful folks.
Net proceeds from the 2009 Cocktails for Cancer fundraiser will be donated to the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Paola Gehrig spoke on their behalf. She was my own doctor back in 2005 when I was pregnant with my second child. I was very grateful for her competent, personal care during that scary time.
Eric Montross did an incredible job as the MC for the live auction. He said we are all touched at one point in our lives by women’s cancers. His own mom was diagnosed with cancer in May of this year and is doing well.
A ball signed by the entire Carolina Basketball team.
Don’t drop it, man!
Tyler Hansbrough’s signed jersey!
The board of director’s of this great event from left to right are Leah Forbes Waldrop, Mollie Lutwick, Kristen Kinney and Courtney Scott Fox.
Finally, on Saturday evening I had dinner with my best ladies in honor of Katie’s birthday. We love you, Katie! Thanks, Anna for hosting and thanks Prity for accompanying me for three of my four nights.
The First KPO Photo Email Newsletter!
I am soooooo excited to announce that we will be sending out a quarterly newsletter. I took this opportunity to go through the files from the last ten years and came up with a huge email list. It is going to be so fun to reconnect with past clients! To see the newsletter, click HERE.
To sign up for future newsletters, go HERE.
1st Day of School 2009
Summer is officially over. I am sad and glad. We had a great summer with good work, fun trips and lots of time with family and friends. But it will be nice for the kids to be back around friends and to settle into a routine. We are making a big switch this year, from Waldorf school to Grady Brown Elementary. This morning was a BIG first for us. We got up at 6 and were walking up to the corner at 6:50 to catch the big, yellow school bus that would take Amira to her first day of 3rd grade. This is such a rite of passage for her!
Amira and I went on a mother/ daughter shopping trip at the beginning of August in Manhattan. Her godparents live up there so it was a double treat. This was one of her outfits. I can’t get over her with that huge backpack. I think she is going to have homework now, too!
We got to watch the sun rise. It actually wasn’t so bad getting up that early.
I can tell Amira is getting older as she was mortified that I photographed her getting on the bus. She will just have to get used to it as I cannot give up the urge to record stuff like this!
A Greene Weekend
I photographed the wonderful wedding of Martha Rundles and Steven Palmer at Duke Chapel on Saturday night. On Sunday I spent a quiet family day and, in the evening had a cookout with old friends whom I had not seen in a long time. So, overall it was a wonderful weekend!
I named this post a Greene weekend because a good friend from UNC-Chapel Hill named Nate Greene came into town. He lives in L.A. but visits his dad, Herman Greene, every so often here in Chapel Hill. He was kind enough to ask us all over for a BBQ at their home in woodsy Orange County so we could meet his fiance, Abby Templeton.
Their land had a creek running through the backyard that fed into a pond. There were ducks wandering around which delighted the kids. It is so great to get to know your college friend’s families. It seems like just yesterday we were all hanging out. Hard to believe we are all grown up and busy taking care of the next generation. Congratulations to Abby and Nate! Ya’ll are a real good match.
I just noticed this lily in the backyard of my house. I did not plant it and have never seen it bloom in the 8 years I have lived here, so it is a real mystery flower.
Leo decided that the dollhouse furniture needed sprucing up. He worked on this for a whole hour, just peacefully painting by himself. At 2.5 he has really made the transition from baby to toddler. Holy cow!
Backdrop paper never goes to waste! Amira and Roman have taken on the task of drawing a maritime landscape. Seems like I am surrounded by pirate ships these days.
Kika is molting! This happens twice a year. Luckily she likes to be brushed. I think all the fallen hair keeps the deer away.
Some of the old school crew and our offspring.
Maddox Wagner, Leo and Roman filled these trucks with hickory nuts over and over. At first they were calling them, “Tokens.”
Sandy Greene had an incredible garden. She had tomatoes, fig trees, basil, and a ton more, all surrounded by a tall deer fence. Here we are checking it out with Ben and Anna Granger.
Roman and Maddox giving us a concert.
Persimmon Hill in Pittsboro
This Mother’s Day weekend our family got together to honor and celebrate the mom’s in all of our lives. Happy Mother’s Day everyone! Here is a card my kids gave me. Thank You! I love it!
On Saturday I stopped by my sister’s house before our gathering to document a couple of big milestones. First, my six-year-old precocious and lovely niece, Olivia, lost her two front teeth. Secondly, the peonies are blooming which, in my mind, is synonymous with the birth of Olivia. I also wanted to record their country garden and house in the woods. My sister has lovingly cared for this garden for 7 or 8 years now and it is lush and gorgeous. Their house is on the market so our days of enjoying its beauty are numbered. If anyone wants a great house, search for 120 Persimmon Hill in Pittsboro. It is truly a gem.
Below is a recap of the peonies throughout the years. From left to right: Olivia at one-week-old; Amira at three-years-old; my own wonderful mom carrying Olivia at her second birthday and you can see my sister (Olivia’s mom) and the Slovenian flag in the background; and finally, Olivia at three years old in her princess stage. Has that stage really ended?
The last photo is not of the spring but later on in the summer when the poppies are in bloom. Kel, I hope the next person who buys your house has a green thumb like you!
Snow Day!!!
Oh, how I love a snow day! Especially on a Monday. Because we live in the gloriously warm climate of North Carolina, snow is a big deal. All the normal routines of life cease- no school, no work, just time to play. Growing up in Green Bay, Wisconsin snow was a daily reality from November to April. But in the sunny south, this is how we spent a rare, March snow day.
My dog, Kika always accompanies us on our outdoor adventures. But she is kept in the yard by an electric fence. The little creek in this photo is where the has to stop. She is complaining.
Our makeshift bridge could not take the strain of three kids. This situation ended up with Leo sitting in the creek. After this we headed in for early lunch and nap for the little guy.
Back inside to warm up and rest, Roman is captain of his very own pirate ship while our old cat, Eve, keeps an eye on everything.
We headed back out for one last romp in the snow. Leo just could not get enough of eating it, even to the point at which he was shivering cold. He tired of grabbing it with his bare hands so I put gloves on him and then just made a pile for him to eat from.
Our neighbor, Cole and his mom, Lisa, invited us over to use their sleds. Cole quickly showed my kids how to make huge snowballs with which they could pelt their unsuspecting mothers.
Even though Lisa was fighting the nasty cold that has been going around, she mustered up the strength to push Amira and Roman down the hill. Thank you, Lisa!
A Rainy Day
To me, these are the best moments of life– everyday, extraordinary life. This is a story of a morning last September when we awoke to heavy rain from Tropical Storm Hannah. I am happy to live in a rural area of Chapel Hill, one which we know virtually every car that comes down the street and I count all of my neighbors as friends. Below is a mini-story of boys being boys. Click on the photo to play the show.