Merry Christmas!

The "Crazy and Little Clan"want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. 

Merry Christmas Eve

The girls finally got their time in front of the lights but now I've taken so many like this they are just kind of dull.  LOL.  Merry Christmas Eve everyone!  I hope you all wake up to stockings full of good things.  :)

Coulee Was There

And in case you thought maybe Coulee stayed home, she was there on our walk the other day too, but she was just her usual self. Boots.  No Boots.  It doesn't matter to her!

Off With Her Boots!

These were all taken in about a 5 minute period right after we took off her boots.  She put all her suppressed energy into those first minutes of "freedom".  I tried to narrow it down more but she was so happy, there were too many that I liked.  Sorry!

Booties

Lacey says having to wear booties makes her sad.  She either looks super serious or downright upset.  The only time she would run would be to catch up or if one of us ran.  She basically spends the whole walk trying not to move.

My next post will be pictures from when we took her front boots off.  She pretty much exploded with happiness.  :)

Camera Hangover

Well it probably isn't so much a camera hangover as an editing hangover.  It tends to happen after events.  I foolishly thought this past weekend's event wouldn't be as bad (in terms of a hangover) but it took me 6 days to feel the urge to pick up the camera again.  Part of that was lack of time, but mainly it was just not feeling like it.

But the event was worth  the hangover.  The pictures turned out great, we amazingly stayed on schedule and everyone seems happy.  We raised around $450 for the rescue and I'm pleased with that.  From conception to end (getting products out), it took 6 days - which is the way I like things.  Short and sweet.

You can see some of the pictures on the Paws on the Run Facebook page.  They aren't in an album which makes referring back a bit of a pain but I can't seem to figure out how to create an album after the fact.  Or at least I don't have the patience to figure it out at the moment. :) Most of the recent photos are from the event so you won't have too much scrolling to do if you want to go see them.

Yesterday we went out to our favourite walking place.  I have a client session there today and I wanted to make sure things were still nice out there.  I'm glad I went.  There isn't much beach left!  Most of it is covered by hard, wind blown snow but we enjoyed the patch of sand we managed to find.

Coulee only got a few throws of the Frisbee but we both made the most of them.

If she could dial back her enthusiasm a little bit, she might be able to handle a few more tosses but she is an all or nothing kind of girl.

It was the first time this year I was under-dressed for the weather. It was only supposed to be -1 C but it was sooo windy and sooo cold.  My fingers were freezing and even my thighs were numb despite the lined, windproof pants I was wearing. I'll definitely be dressing a little warmer for today's session!

Spicing Things Up

What better way of spicing things up than stepping out of the box?  Friday I had the stupid brilliant idea of hosting some Christmas themed mini sessions to raise money for the Windy City Canine Rescue.  I emailed Lorelei to see what she thought and she jumped on board.  So much for the voice of reason!

So Saturday morning I got up early and put together a little flyer advertising the mini sessions that were going to be scheduled the next day and sent it off to all our clients.  I wanted to send it early so that there would be enough time to fill the 8-12 spots. It was so last minute I thought there was no way we would get more than 8 people able and willing to come. In an hour (by 8 a.m. on a Saturday!) the 12 spots were full and I still had more emails coming in.  So we opened it up for a little longer and then a little longer again.  In two hours we had 25 slots full and by the end of the day we had another 12 people on the waiting list.  Wow.  First off, what the heck is everyone doing up so early on a Saturday?  Secondly - who knew so many people wanted Christmas photos of their pet?

But as the emails kept pouring in, I started to panic.  Can we do this?  Is it going to be chaos?  By the time Marlin got out of bed, we were already full booked up and I knew we needed his help manning the door.  So before he even had his first coffee I was begging for his help.  Being the sweet guy that he is, he agreed.  Phew.  Lorelei is also bringing reinforcements. So now I just need to worry about posing the dogs - something I don't really like to do - mainly because they never sit still.

Jo came over late yesterday afternoon to help us figure out what the heck we were doing.  First of all, stringing Christmas lights for the background is more of an art form than you'd think.  I started off with a couple multicoloured strand.  The blue didn't show at all and the white lights were orange and overpowering.  It looked more like a Halloween themed background.

Thankfully I'd also brought along our strings of outdoor lights that are only red.  MUCH better.  Then Jo got the boys to pose.  Wow.  They were perfect.  Never even put a toe out of line - even while wearing the elf hat.  I have a feeling today won't go quite a smoothly. :)

And Tate.  Wow Tate.  He just had the best expressions the whole time. Love his pics.

I didn't take any pictures of the set up (I'll try and remember today) but basically the dogs are standing in an open doorway (facing out) and the overhead lights are off in the building behind them.  I've then strung the lights on the fence halfway across the room... Maybe 20 feet away from the door.

Who knew pictures taken at the daycare could be so pretty!

Lorelei has a white background and is set up inside the building with lights and such.  You can see her sneak peaks of the boys (and 1 of Lacey!) on her facebook page.  It's going to be wild and fun and scary and crazy all at once.  Wish us luck!