A typical day with my kids.

Today, I decided to document my day with my kids. There is never a dull moment. I was lucky enough to have Jude bless me with a potty training fiasco which ended up all over the playroom, kitchen and in his shoes. Prompting an immediate bathtime. Do you know how I survive? Count the coffee related pictures. I think I got up to three today. Even though I want to pull my hair out most of the time, my kids are really good. They love each other, even though they fight. And they are sweet, even though Jude told me he didn't like me today. I'm grateful I am able to stay home with them and point my camera in their faces constantly. I love that I'll be able to look back on these days and have them documented. So yeah. This is my life.

Self Family : Homecoming

I first photographed the Self family before their first deployment and when they asked me to shoot their homecoming I felt honored. Although it was horrible timing for me to do so since my own husband has just left, I had to be there for it. The moment they were all reunited was such an emotional one, I nearly lost it. My camera glass started getting cloudy. Nothing is better than seeing a loving family finally come together again. It’s also a reminder of the struggles and ups and downs that military families go through daily.

The Boettcher's

I must say, I had a blast during this session. The Boettcher's are a bad ass husband and wife, who were not afraid to get dirty! We climbed into a random junkyard, into the woods and parked our cars in a ditch, all to get some amazing shots. One of my favorite sessions of all time, for sure! I think we really captured their love of video games, guns, tattoos and most importantly...each other. I think we got some steamy images (one in particular) ;)...I just love shooting couples! -Mandie A Cup of Tea Photography

Falon + Chris {Save the Date}

When Falon and Chris asked me to do their Save the Date pictures I immediately started brainstorming. Everything I came up with reflected romance. Super hot romance. Falon and Chris are getting married April 5, 2013. Chris is an Explosive Ordnance Technician in the Air Force and Falon is a waitress, both are from Florida but you wouldn't be able to tell in these rural shots! Best of luck to the both of you!

Fall is here!

Finally...OCTOBER first! Autumn is my absolute favorite season and it's finally starting to feel like it down here in the south. It's not even close to the New England fall that I grew up with but I'll take it! I went a little bit nuts today. The first of October is the moment I can finally get all my Halloween decorations out and browse costumes online for an hour without my hubby questioning my sanity. So today I lit all my apple candles and put on some Appleseed Cast and did a happy dance. A few days ago I got to do a session with the lovely George family and their absolutely stinkin' ADORABLE daughter Caroline. They are a fellow EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) family and Amy is a good friend of mine. The good thing about Caroline is that she is a fall baby, which means I got to purchase two pounds of apples for a prop (which I realized I forgot to take the stickers off after the fact). The good thing about purchasing two pounds of apples means once the shoot is over I get to use them for baking. After I helped the kids decorate pumpkins I made some delicious apple cinnamon bread and for dinner I took the pumpkin route and made pumpkin and ricotta stuffed shells with a cheesey sauce. It was delicious and I am totally ready for the season! But don't forget...Christmas is right around the corner too! Book a holiday session so you can have the cutest Christmas cards around! xoxo -Mandie

The {Self} Family.

Yesterday morning the Self Family; Brittany, Kyle, Christian and Caden, all got up bright and early to pose in the beautiful September sun for me! The two boys were a little bashful at first but by the end Caden would turn around and pose even when the camera wasn't on him! The Self's are a military family, with dad deploying very soon, so they wanted a nice session featuring their favorite color blue. We had so much fun and pretty much ruined all our shoes but it was totally worth it! This family is just too adorable for words! Copyright: A Cup of Tea Photography. Do not copy.

First post! How exciting!

A Cup of Tea has finally got a blog and I will hopefully be purchasing a domain name within the month! After a re-location down south things are finally starting to pick up again. I'm armed with a new camera, new inspiration and new opportunities! I'm currently booking Christmas sessions and Halloween sessions, along with regular family ones as well. In other news, Little Miss Lucy posed for me today, all decked out in her ballerina gear. What a sweetie she is! I'm one lucky momma!