JSB

The first Friday evening of May is always our school Junior-Senior Banquet. And since this year I have a Junior, we had banquet preparations to make! A friend that is a boy asked her and we shopped for dresses, jewelry, shoes, and all those other things one needs to wear a beautiful formal dress! We really had so much fun! Well, I did. I hope Sarah did, too!

We asked a friend’s sister to do Sarah’s hair and it turned out so beautiful!

My girl was the Belle of the Ball, pun intended. (Though the “belle” part is what makes me laugh, since more often than not, the newspaper prints her name as ‘Sarah Bell’ in XC & track articles and stats.)

A true runner, we had to be ready early for pre-pictures on our own. On the track. Wearing spikes.

Then it was off to the pictures with the group she & her friend went to the banquet with.

This is the picture of that moment when you’re trying to pin a corsage on your date and you have no idea what you’re doing, so your mom steps in and does it for you.

I knew the group of kids that I was photographing consisted of mainly introverts. Which means that they are more difficult to photograph. I know that sounds judgmental, but it’s actually true. Extroverts naturally have fun with the photographer, thereby the photographer gets more natural smiles. Introverts feel awkward and, well, more awkward, when they are having their picture taken. Knowing this, I grabbed some fun props to try to encourage the kids to loosen up a little – and I was pretty pleased with the results!

My friend who is a professional cake-pop maker had some extra pops and advertised on Facebook. I decided to order up a batch as a treat for the kids and to get some more smiles. My friend went above and beyond and made beautiful silver & gold glittery cake pops!

 

So a few days before JSB, Sarah says, “Oh, Mom! By the way, Hunter has some sort of nice car we are going to go to JSB in. Like a Porsche or something?”

Um. Yes. That’s a nice car. A convertible Porsche. I was 39 before I rode in a convertible, and then it wasn’t even a Porsche. I’m just saying.

I love this picture – totally my favorite! They held up the chalkboards all straight and I said, “Tilt the signs a little” and all the girls tilted them the exact same way at the exact same angle. Then laughter ensued and I got this shot. So fun.

Then all the kids and parents go to school for a punch bowl reception and more pictures with all their other friends that they didn’t take pictures with earlier.

Then the kids were off to Bellewood Acres for dinner, entertainment, and a dance. Sarah had a great evening as Belle of the Ball.