Better lighting

After a lengthy holiday break, my husband told me he figured out the problem to my image sharpness. Lighting.  I needed better lighting.  Yes, I knew that.  However, when you are working with kids indoors at an aperture of 1.8 to try and capture as much light from the iridescent bulbs in your lamps, what can you expect?  I know, I know.  I could shoot pictures outdoors.  That's all fine and dandy except that it has been consistently below zero for the past several weeks.  Gotta love the frigid midwest,

Taking matters into his own hands, my husband ordered me some studio lighting with colored umbrellas, a giant softbox with different backgrounds, as well as a bundle of reflectors and a flash diffusor.  Yes, I have turned our spare room into a makeshift mini studio.  And my lovely children have been my guinea pigs, posing for me as much as they can tolerate.  They say practicing on stationary objects is best, but I figure if I want to get into family portraiture, I'm probably going to be chasing moving targets.  

Thank you to my husband for the amazing new lighting!