family Archives

I received product in exchange for this review. The thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

There’s a new photographer in Rogers, Minnesota, and let me tell you, you need to book your session with her, like…yesterday.

Andrea Olson, wife and mother of two, isn’t your typical “I have a good camera so I’m going to be a photographer” entrepreneur. She comes with experience and an artist’s eye for design. Starting out as a wedding photographer with a large professional company, Olson starting taking risks in her photography and eventually was asked to be lead on a wedding shoot. Olson shared with me how she felt having that first job,

I took a leap of faith because for so long people would tell me to get into the wedding business, that people would hire me! I was scared, scared that I would do something wrong, or something bad would happen to my camera. That is a day you can’t get back, everything was so permanent. No retakes. The idea of that was [frightening]. I took the job with the confidence that they would teach me, and never leave me alone until I felt confident. Well after my first wedding I thought to myself, Silly girl, YOU got this!! I continued to shoot weddings and finally made it to a lead shooting position.

While she’s trained to do wedding photography she says that kids and families are a favorite for her and she thinks of those sessions as a hobby, she’s actually been shooting children and families for years as a hobby. That’s the kind of person you want to capture your family: the person who genuinely enjoys it. Why? Because when we had our session with Olson the kids were anything but excited for taking family photos.

The Boy, my oldest, wanted to play with a friend who was not invited to our session. Pippy, my oldest girl, was just excited that her big brother was home from school so she couldn’t wait to get back to playing. And Missy, the littlest, is really into that stranger danger phase most 18-month-olds go through so she was anything but happy to have her picture taken by some stranger. I was ready to give up. Ready to throw in the towel and just call it a day. That’s where Olson shines: She’s able to give direction to all of us, putting us parents at ease and works so well getting the kids to relax and have fun. Most importantly, she’s creative enough and pays attention to detail in such a way that she’s able to go with the flow to capture awesome images. She quickly figured out that while Missy wouldn’t have anything to do with her, she’d willing show off her new walking skills by walking to her daddy. The Boy was interested in a kid-sized wheelbarrow prop so in between shots Olson promised that the older two could play with it; they just needed to listen to her and smile.

Here are a few of my favorite images.

I love all of the photos she sent to me! I feel like waving my hands enthusiastically yelling, “PRINT ALL THE PHOTOS!!!!!!” As you can see her style is very candid with some posed shots because let’s be honest, we do want some family pictures after all. When I asked her what her process was when preparing for a shoot she responded,

When a client asks me to capture their memories of their family, I find out what ages of the family members, talk to them about what kind of feeling they are looking to get from the shoot and possibly what their favorite backdrops are. I plan a location, select some props if any and head for the shoot. I do have a lot of poses in my head that I shuffle through but you really have to get a feel for the dynamics of the family. Are the kids young? Do they follow direction well? For the most part you just have to go with the flow at that point. I think the best pics are taken in people’s natural element. They laugh more, interact more, and genuinely have more fun. With that many more great moments are captured and people don’t just endure an hour of saying “CHEESE.”

And the name, LOULOU Photography? Well, there’s a story behind that,

I started thinking about my life and the people who have helped shape me into the person I am. My mom is amazing, she means the world to me, but also there was my grandmother…. my second mom. She helped raise me and had a huge impact on who I am today. She was a women full of strength and admiration. She had 6 children, 5 boys and 1 girl (being my mom). I think it takes a superwoman to have successfully raised all those boys as well as one independent woman! I spent every week with her up until the day she passed (which was far too soon, she was only 72). I called her just about every week. I won’t go into details of my life but just know that she is a huge part of who I am today. Her name is Mary Lou Hawkinson. We called her Grandma LOU LOU.

Andrea Olson and family of LOULOU Photography — The Olson family. Photo courtesy of Jen Kimlinger Photography.

Need family photos? Upcoming wedding or special life event that needs to be captured? I can’t recommend a better photographer than LOULOU Photography. She located in Rogers, MN, but is willing to travel.

Connect with LOULOU Photography on her business page LOULOU Photography and by email – [email protected]

Bert A.

As the creator of the lifestyle blog and book, Me Before Mom, Bert supports millennial moms facing the challenges and changes of motherhood. Me Before Mom is an online community that offers support through real life stories, encouraging advice, and answers to questions about how a woman maintains herself during this self-sacrificial time of parenthood. Stories from Bert Anderson have helped women across the globe through the Huffington Post, Today’s Parent, and on the Harry show. Whether weathering the first year of motherhood or walking through the later stages of motherhood, Bert has helped many continue to find herself while still in the throes of motherhood. Purchase your copy of Me Before Mom: Putting Your Oxygen Mask on First today!

Every Sunday we have a little family tradition. It’s one that started for my husband and his family when he was a child and perhaps you remember it too. Remember, The Magical World of Disney? Yeah, it aired on Sunday nights. My husband remembers it fondly and as a result he’s started the tradition with our own family. He remembers it being a consolation for having to go back to school on Monday morning which he always dreaded. So we gather together, choose a movie, eat popcorn and have smoothies. The kids look forward to it, I look forward to it (no meal planning needed on Sunday night!) and we’re all together in one place. My hope is that as the kids age they will still look forward to our Sunday night tradition; that it’ll be that one thing that we all come together and do as their schedules become more demanding.

How do you start your own Sunday Movie Night tradition? Well, first off, you need to choose a movie. We subscribe to Netflix and as a result we have access to hundreds of movies and TV shows that we stream through our Blu-Ray player. It’s probably because both my husband and I remember The Magical World of Disney so fondly that we are more drawn to the Disney movies that are currently available on Netflix.

Disney Movies now streaming on Netflix

(Okay these are barely scraping the library that Netflix has. To view more you can subscribe to Netflix or use your current subscription.)

Now, like I said, there are hundreds of movies from Disney and other production studios streaming on Netflix. You’re pretty much guaranteed to never run out of movie selections for your Sunday Movie Night.

After your movie’s been decided on the next thing you must do is make dinner. You know what that means? Popcorn! Most nights we go simple, butter and salt. Sometimes, yes sometimes, we get a little crazy! Here are some toppings you could do for your Popcorn Dinner:

Cinnamon Sugar (this is my son’s absolute favorite)
Dry Italian Dressing Mix (if you want a little zest)
Dry Ranch Dressing Mix
Lemon Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes
Cayenne Pepper
Drizzle melted chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, etc.

For most of these you don’t need to melt butter and pour over the popcorn. If you pour the Dry Ranch Dressing Mix over the popcorn when it’s nice and warm the mix will adhere to the popcorn.

There’s also different ways to pop your popcorn. My favorite way is to use our Whirley Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper. I like to use coconut oil when I make popcorn this way because it adds a sweet flavor to the popcorn that’s enhanced with sea salt. My husband likes using our Presto PowerPop Microwave Multi-Popper. It’s makes a pretty mean batch of popcorn with less work! This is definitely our preferred method because it’s nice and simple.

That’s our fun Sunday tradition. Is there anything that your family does to encourage time together? Tell me what you do? Have a great idea for a popcorn topping? I definitely want to know; we have a lot of Sundays left in our lifetime. Happy viewing!