And so it begins...

We are all still a bit hung over from our summer of fun but there is no time to recuperate as we started another year at BIS today.  This is our 3rd first day at the city campus here in Munich and our final.  I know we are all a bit melancholy about that but it didn't stop everyone from being super excited this morning to get back to our friends and our routines.  And with the girls at school all day, perhaps I can now get started on the bazillion blog posts about our summer travels.

But first - the obligatory first-day picture...

And Questionnaire:

Name: MadHatter

Age: 10 years, 7 months, 10 days

Grade: 5th
Teacher: Mr. Thompson

Future Profession: President, engineer (structural), Olympic runner, policeman, firefighter, farmer

Favorite Hue: Pink

Book I like to Read: Flash comic books

My Favorite Lunch: Mortadella with spread sandwich

My Favorite part of my First Day: Meeting a new girl in class that speaks Spanish

The biggest surprise of my First Day: No surprises.  It is all as expected!

Name: Stinkerbell

Age: 9 years, 1 month, 24 days

Grade: 4th
Teacher: Ms. Sarah Croucher

Future Profession: Up in the air!

Favorite Hue: Purple and Blue

Book I like to Read: Graphic novels (Smile.  The Babysitters Club)

My Favorite Lunch: Chicken nuggets (always!)

My Favorite part of my First Day: Seeing my friends again

The biggest surprise of my First Day: Ms. Croucher is super funny!

A L.O.L. Party

Stinkerbell is turning 9 at the end of the month.  We celebrated a few weeks early because the flurry of activity at the end of the school year, combined with all of the summer birthday kids throwing their parties, added to the fact that many of her friends will be moving/going home the day after her birthday makes it almost impossible to throw a party any closer to the actual day.

This year she decided on an L.O.L themed party.  The surprise dolls are all the rage in her school right now.  The theme was the easy part; the what and where was a bit harder.  After booking her first choice not once, not twice, but three times and having them cancel it on me each time we crossed it off of our list (forever).  So, her second choice it was - a private painting party.  Where we would paint a canvas with, what else, an L.O.L doll.  And then we would decorate our own cupcakes with sprinkles and diamonds and colored sugars.

Saturday was the big day and with 8 of her friends (and sister) Stinkerbell painted, decorated and certainly L.O.L'ed.  What a fun way to spend the afternoon and celebrate the one that always makes us Laugh Out Loud!  Happy (early) Birthday Stinkerbell!

The Portraits

The formal Communion portraits.

 I feel like I should explain.

I wanted to make sure to capture Stinkerbell for this momentous occasion but I also knew that the day of the ceremony would be too rushed so I asked the church if we could get in to do them (and those of a friend) beforehand.  I would work around any schedule they imposed but I was informed that the church was closed except just before services or for rehearsals and there was no way to get in. Rehearsal it was!

As quickly as we could after they finished their run through, we changed the girls, smoothed their hair and I started snapping.  With 3 girls to get photographs of and very little time before the church would be locked again, it was a whirlwind.  In the end, I was just hoping that we would have something to show for it after all of the fuss because I was definitely working outside of my comfort zone.  And working very quickly against a setting sun at that.  I didn't need to worry though as all three girls nailed it.  The only thing I struggled with was getting Stinkerbell to give me her real smile instead of the canned one she somehow thinks I want but we are working on that.

As for the poses, I can only take credit for some of them.  I would put her in a location and snap the one I wanted and then let her at it.  And the poses this girl came up with slay me (she likes the dramatic)...Can you tell which ones I made her do and which she chose herself?  In the end, some of my favorite shots of the day came from her spontaneous seriousness...Sometimes the (almost) 9-year-old knows best.

{The only one with the blue sky.  That is because editing it back in is time-consuming so I just didn't do it for them all.  Maybe I will at a later date. Maybe}