Getting the Wiggles Out

We sure do love the play gym. I tell you it is a sanity saver during a Canadian winter. As I wrote on the layout below, Julie was pretty amazed/impressed with herself. She spent an entire hour running from one thing to another, hmmm, a good workout for Mommy too! It is so interesting to me to look back at pics from your kids at different stages. I've been going to this play gym off and on since Jack was Julie's age. I remember spotting Jack, then Eric and now Julie on all the climbing equipment. And now Jack is jumping off things taller than himself. It is a reminder to me that time is precious -your kids don't stay little forever, so enjoy it. (A smidge of the pot calling the kettle black on my part -on this particular morning I nearly killed one of the kids due to his apparent total loss of hearing -really how often do you need to ask someone to get dressed?) That is definitely one of my goals for 2011 -to enjoy life, everyday life: the good, the bad, the ugly and the downright pokey. It is so hard amidst the day to day grind to just go with the flow.

I am thinking about joining an Ali Edwards online scrapbooking class for the year called, One Little Word. Basically you pick a word and it kind of becomes your mantra for the year. Something you focus on every day. I've been mulling this over for a couple of weeks and today my word came to me "abundant". I love these quotes by Joseph B. Wirthlin, "The abundant life isn’t something we arrive at. Rather, it is a magnificent journey that began long, long ages ago and will never, never end." "Brothers and sisters, the abundant life does not come to us packaged and ready-made. It’s not something we can order and expect to find delivered with the afternoon mail. It does not come without hardship or sorrow." "The abundant life is within our reach if only we will drink deeply of living water, fill our hearts with love, and create of our lives a masterpiece." (Ensign, April 2006). So here's to 2011, and living a joyful, abundant life!

Christmas

We had a really great Christmas in Calgary with Darrel's family. The kids loved all the attention from Nan, Grandpa Dan, cousin Aidan, Auntie Lara and Uncle Dean. The food was good, the company was great and we had a lot of fun. The only thing that could have made it better was to have the Galeys and the Morrisons there too. But we came up with an idea/plan -next year we're all going to join the Morrisons in NZ for Christmas -right?! *wink wink nudge nudge* It would be strange, but I for one am willing to try Christmas in the summer and opening presents outside on the lawn. A girl can dream right?

Anne and Eric -poor little man was feeling a bit off.

But here he's perked up quite nicely!

Aren't they cute!

Looking pretty stylish in the Christmas cracker crowns.

Jack in about 8 years. Every time we visit I see the future.

Yummy food.

Good after dinner conversation.

Dean's Mom Ethel joined us for Christmas Eve dinner.

The "new mask" -beware the clown!

My happy little crew. Love these guys.

Sunny Days Will Be Here Again

I've been trying to master the art of capturing a sunburst -and I did manage to photograph one this fall while scoping out a location for client photos. You have to set your aperture really small, this was shot at f22. As I learn more about photography I am totally enjoying the moments when something clicks -when I try something and it doesn't work and but then I know what to do to make it right. That is a super cool feeling.

Photography Client Products

I have not been terribly good at getting product shots of things I've done for clients. I usually remember after I've handed it over to them, but this time I remembered! This storyboard for the {D} family is actually quite large, 30x30 inches, photograph mounted on styrene and then coated with a brush laminate to protect it. I really love how it turned out, totally want something similar of my family. I also adore how Mom let her kids pick their favourite photo of themselves and then she and her husband chose one that they liked. They also bought a large colour canvas of the entire family that is just to die for. I will have to drop in one day and photograph it in situ!

For the Birds

I was cleaning up from lunch and watching this flock of birds in the backyard. They were swooping from the tall evergreens down to the Mountain Ash and furiously eating the berries. I had just thought to myself the other day that the tree looked so beautiful and cheery with so many red berries on it...I couldn't remember it having that many berries on it in previous winters. Isn't there some sort of Farmer's Almanac wisdom about the amount of berries on a tree and how long and cold a winter it will be. (Please say it ain't so!) But as I saw these birds I wondered if that was why I don't remember that many berries on the tree, I was remembering the tree after a mass foraging event like this. There must of been hundreds of birds, all flying as one group in formation, diving down on the tree, eating like mad and the alighting again to the loftier evergreens. It was an amazing sight, so I had to run outside and take some pictures. Made me think that despite my dislike of the cold there are some beautiful things about winter. (click on the pics to see the larger view)

Stylin'

Nan got Julie these boots and boy are they a hit! If Julie happens to see them she grabs them, scoots over to us and demands that we put them on her. (It's quite funny, she has this grunt / growl that basically means, "Hey, I want you to do THIS" and usually hands us something or points to what she wants. Shortly after these photos I took the boots off for bed and she was devastated I tell you.
They are pretty awesome boots, thanks Nan!

Family Fun

One night last week I was trying to practice with my lights a little bit, but nobody was cooperating with being my models...with the result being a grouchy Mom and mad kids! So Dad jumped in and made it more fun, and we all had fun together. It ended up more being us all playing than me really practicing -so you will see where I don't have the backdrop fully in the shot etc. But we were just goofing off and having a good time, it felt good! I particularly love the picture of Eric leaning back and taking Darrel's photo. he loves walking around with that camera and often tells one of us to say cheese!

Sometimes Dads just know the perfect thing to make a kid laugh. Thanks honey!

Go Big Or Go Home

 Last Tuesday the kids and I made sugar cookies. Armed with our Pillsbury cookie dough (I admit to being super lazy and just bought the dough) and enough sprinkles to decorate dozens of cookies we got busy. As always with my Jack sprinkles were liberally spread on any cookie he decorated. I smile to myself when I see him do something like this, because his "go big or go home" shows up in so many things he does. Colouring every inch of a picture -going over the lines to make sure none is missed, adding more glitter glue than can dry in one week, and topping a cookie so that it has more sprinkles than actual cookie. Love it. Apparently the brown chocolate sprinkles are branches, and the green sugar crystals are the leaves -pretty good thinking I'd say!

Julie seemed to enjoy her first foray into cookie decorating/licking/eating.

And Eric wasn't far behind Jack in his decorating enthusiasm.

Lots of fun was had by all, we picked up some more cookie dough on Saturday when we grocery shopped so we could do it again this week.

Displaced

We, (well Darrel), ripped out the bathroom last weekend. So, for the next little while smaller people need to get clean in different ways. After seeing Julie having her bath in the sink Eric decided he wanted one too instead of a shower in our ensuite. The sink upgrade comes in handy again!

Halloween

Here's a couple quick shots of my men heading out trick or treating. Jack got lots of compliments on his robot costume. Easiest costume I've ever made, hands down. The metal stuff is from Home Hardware, insulating thermal stuff, and then dryer vent tubing. Throw on some reflective tape, voila! Eric insisted on being the spider again, even though the costume was two sizes too small. Isn't it funny how kids go for the familiar sometimes, despite the availability of other things. Karly gave us a dragon costume that Luke had outgrown and neither of my boys would where it (despite much begging). They wore it around home, but when it came down to actually going trick or treating they both ended up being something they have been before.

Despite Halloween being my least favourite holiday ever, (yes really, I hate it), I somehow ended up rostering preschool, kindergarten and attending a church trunk or treat in the week leading up to the great day. Yay me! And not wanting to be lame Mom I wore the sombrero from Darrel's costume last year. The things we do for our children.

 

The weather has been fabulous here lately, I'm pretty fine with it being 5C in November. It can stay like this all month as far as I'm concerned.

In other news, we probably are not going to BC for Christmas, booo whooo! But as Julie has reached that awesome stage where being in a car seat for more than 20 minutes is painful for her and anyone around her, it may be a good thing that we aren't making a 10 hour trek to see the fam. But I'm still kinda bummed about it.

I'm reading an awesome book right now, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Non-fiction, very interesting and while in many ways it is a science book it's totally approachable. I would definitely recommend it.

Darrel is going up to Grande Prairie for work this week and will be away on our anniversary, 8 years on Tuesday. Yay us! We are counting our trip to Halifax as our anniversary present (pretty sweet, I want to go on a trip for every anniversary now!) so it will be a low key day. I sure am glad I'm married to Darrel. He is pretty awesome, and the great thing about 8 years is that we are starting to figure out how to work really well together, and ignore the things we can't change. hahaha! Seriously though, we are pretty good for eachother and I know I can count on him. I look at our kids and think, wow, I wouldn't have a Jack or an Eric or a Julie if we weren't married. 

Well, that's what's up in our household, love to all of you out there!

Kirsten