My Great Uncle Dick....

I started with Uncle Dick, not because he is the oldest or because he is the last of the boys left, but because he told me the best stories about the school house & the teacher. This story is kinda gross, but this is how he got the teacher to release the kids early. Since it is a cold building, the teacher would have a wood stove going to keep the kids a bit warmer. On the days he didn't want to be there, he would pee, yes pee on the wood stove, the stench of it was unbearable & the teacher would send them all home. This happened quite a few times & I am sure all the boys knew the trick. I should ask him if she ever caught these naughty boys & what kind of trouble they would be in.

Here was our first bad news when looking over the church... some of the main supports have rotted... in fact they would crumble into your hand when you touched them. This was a man that has lived in our town forever & understands how to fix problems in old buildings. 1 problem now solve. Yeah!!!

National Charity Model Search info......

As you may know, I recently participated in the first National Charity Model Search. The contest's goal was to discover America's cutest kid and to raise money for charity.

It was a huge success, 2,000 model's images were submitted to the contest, and most importantly, the competition raised $164,775 for the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS) foundation.

The competition was so much fun. We were thrilled to enter our community's cutest kids into the contest. The feedback from clients has been overwhelmingly positive. People were enthusiastic about my philanthropic efforts to partner with NILMDTS. So many folks have experienced the loss of a child or know someone who has. Raising money for NILMDTS was an effort everyone supported.

The 50 finalists have been selected. Photography and modeling industry experts will select the grand prize winner, which will be announced on May 1st. The finalist gallery is available for viewing - www.sandypucvotes.com

This has been such a positive experience that we plan on participating in the National Charity Model Search next year. I hope that just as many of you step up to partner with me in this fun endeavor, and that we raise even more money for NILMDTS in 2010.

My Last Easter Session....

for the season. Miss Bunny went home & we miss her already. These kids are all adorable & we had fun trying a few different things with them. The twins are so funny that every time I placed one of them, the other had to do the same thing. "Cuties" to say the least!!! Their mom is beautiful, so I even took a few of her. Thanks for coming!! I need to shout a big "Thank You" to my daughter for being my bunny wrangler for so many of these sessions!!! "Sorry for the bunny scratches you got" :(

I felt like trying a little interior decorating with the siblings close-ups from last week. These are not printing & hanging anywhere, it is just a mock up to show my clients how cozy your house can look with your children taking center stage in your home. They are displayed in 4 square Gallery Wraps. Galley Wraps come in 8,10,14,16,20 & 30" squares all come in a 1 1/2" think wrap, but you can get the larger sizes in a 2 1/2" wrap. If you want it for a bathroom the smaller ones would look great & if they were hanging over a couch or in your foyer 16 or 20" would look amazing.

Our Project & why we love it so...

I thought it might be fun to post some of our progress with the studio & a little background about this building each week.

The five people standing in the doorway you wonder...

well they are my Great Aunts & Uncles that actually went to school in this building. The Boniface's had 12 children, 5 are in this picture (Rhoda, Dick, Lil, Mary & Helen), 1 doesn't live in the area (Barbara) & if I am correct 5 have died, most of old age (Ted, Tom, Bob, Ruth & John), my Grandfather included :( (whom we all miss daily) & 1 at birth. (I am sure I will be corrected by one of the family historians, but that is the way I heard it) The guy in the back, he is my grandfather's twin brother but they didn't look alike in my opinion. Yes, this building was a church, est. 1859, Pleasant Valley Methodist Church,for some time, with a one room school house which is across the street & still standing today, but when they had too many children to fit there (especially if 1 family could have 11 children in school at one time), they moved into the church where they are standing. My Aunt Rhoda & Uncle Dick have told me the funniest stories of the things they did during their school days, & they crack me up. Stay tuned for some of those stories in future blogs. They all walked to school everyday. It is a little over a mile from their farm & of course I know that even when it snowed, they walked to school. They might have told me it was uphill both ways, but since I live on that road, it was mostly downhill on their way to school & uphill the whole way back. I also know they were poor, so they walked barefoot, unless they were lucky enough to find some old shoes that fit. Since we have been working in the church, we realized that without insulation, they most have froze their butts off during the winter in there trying to learn. Even with a wood stove going, I could see my breath standing only 4 ft away from it. My Aunt Rhoda thinks that is why they are so hearty & have all lived so long. From what we can tell, sometime in the 50's the school was closed & all the children were sent to Pine Bush Cental School District in Pine Bush, NY which my father & his 5 sisters & brothers went too - 1st-12th grade, my mother arrived there when she was in 8th grade & by the time I went there it was our middle school 6th-9th Grade. Now my daughter goes there 6th - 8th & my youngest will be attending in 2 years. Wow, it seems like we love the area. If you came across a normal holiday event you would run & hide rather then trying to learn all of our names.

The pictures I included were from the fall. That is what it looked like when we started. A mess, to say the least! It was converted into a summer home in the 70's(which we found on newspapers stuffed into the walls making a bedroom, bathroom & kitchen that we ripped out). The couple vacationing there eventually moved into a different house down the street, probably because they would freeze their butts off on cold nights in that place too. They are still alive, so maybe hanging out there will give us longevity too. Stay tuned for close-up photos of each person in that photo & stories about what they did to get out of school early...

2010 Seniors...

I am looking for a few 11th graders from different schools to help me with a marketing idea I have. If you like to have your picture taken & want to make some extra CASH... please call me ASAP. If you have a freind that might be perfect for this, have them check out my site at www.wsbinportraits.com.

Voting for the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep "National Model Search" ...

has ended & one of my little models made it to the finals!!! I am thrilled that so many people voted & donated their money to a great cause, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!! Little Miss "K" came to take Easter pictures & since she was so good for me, I had to try my new Angels Among Us Series. The picture we chose was her with wings & a halo. I have taken pictures of her since she was 18 months, she is growing up so fast. She has become one of my "Top Models", Miss "K" did everything I asked her to do & even made me a picture while mom was filling out the model release forms. What a sweetheart! In looking back, I even picked her as "Best Dressed" during the "Santa Sundays". HeeHee, she didn't like Santa very much, but was too cute in her hat & dress that day.

You can see all the finalists here http://www.sandypucvotes.com/pickpic/gallery/thumbnails.php?gallery_id=53 Now the judges are going to have a really hard time picking "America's Cutest Kid" since there are so many cuties in the finals. I can't wait to find out how much was raised during the model search, I will keep you all posted. Here is our winner one more time...