lesson {re}learned

i thought i had blogged about it before but i checked. i haven't.
so we took family pictures for our christmas card back in october.
for the most part, they were a massive fail.
i mean, in the end i did put together a decent christmas card {reveal to come soon!} but i did have to use multiple pictures due to...well...this:

or this:

or this:

and get a look at this fantastic shot:

i believe this picture really does say a thousand words. this one's going down in the family yearbook for sure.

the aftermath/bribing with the promise of lollipops if we got smiles:

oh family pictures. the lesson {re}learned? lower your expectations.

jude's face says what mine wanted to at the end of this photo sesh.

Jude's laid-back birthday party

I decided to keep things low-key and relaxed for Jude's birthday party. seeing as we'd be in someone else's house, I wouldn't have any of "my" things and not really a large place to host our families, I decided it would be better to just chill at the beach.
and so a week ago we did.

and it was awesome. and relaxing. and a lot of fun. and exactly the way birthday parties should be.
don't get me wrong, I've done the themed birthday party and there's a part of me that enjoys all the details and planning but this was definitely not the time to do one of those parties.
it was a time to celebrate Jude, enjoy some good food and hang out with family.
so we set up a table, some blankets, camping chairs in the shade near the beach and tied some balloons to a huge tree.
then we did cake and ice cream as soon as everyone arrived so that it wouldn't all melt before we had a chance to enjoy it.

Jude loved singing and blowing out his candles and he insisted that he was in fact, not two, but three and a HALF.
funny kid.

my awesome photographer sister took a bunch of pictures of the day since I left my camera back at the house (which really wasn't that far, but it was nice to not worry about getting "the" shot and just enjoying the moment).

my favourite shot of the day. 

Noah and I had prayed ahead of time that it would be a nice day (as it was forecasted to be thunder showers and feels like 41 degrees!) and it was an amazingly perfect day.
later in the day I said to Noah:
Remember when we prayed and asked God for a nice day for Jude's birthday?
Noah: Yeah.
Do you think God answered our prayer?
Noah: I think SO!

it was a lovely, laid-back birthday party for a two year old and I wouldn't change a thing.

photo shoot

oh heat wave. you are hot. and wavey.

anyway, so apparently we picked the hottest day for a photo shoot. outside. with the humidity it was 46 degrees celcius (117 degrees farenheit!). 

yikes.

oh. and i forgot jude's shorts at home. and all my bribery snacks. 

sigh.

but we still went out (jude in pajama shorts) and braved the weather.

dang.

it was hot.

and my sister did such a great job - especially with two moderately grumpy kids and all of us being generally hot and sweaty.

we will likely try again before jude's birthday party, but for now, enjoy this little beauty:

"blue steel" (too bad jude didn't participate - he's got a killer blue steel look)
(also, i really want this to be the picture for our prayer card. but it probably won't be. because while my jawline looks incredible, there are far cuter ones of the kids and jamie.)

get on your boots

tomorrow my sister (the lovely and talented photographer that she is) will be doing a family photo shoot for us before we move.

thanks to Pinterest (oh Pinterest, you are full of lovely ideas and a very good time waster.) i found some inspiration for some poses, props and outfits. 

love the apples and the red barn background.

ties! love.

oh this looks like such a fun family. 

the setting + their outfits = awesome.

so this morning i took the boys to Good Will to see if i could find any treasures.

it took some searching and if you've got young kids {ahem...boys} you'll know what it looks like to "search" in a store {basically it looks like racing up and down the aisles as fast as possible while at the same time keeping your eagle eyes on the lookout while also sweet talking your kids into behaving and engaging with them to see what they can find - my boys liked the hats and the little animal nicknacks.}.

in the end, i think i did come out with some great finds.

i got 2 dress shirts - one for each of the boys; we'll roll up the sleeves for a beachy look - both from old navy as well as a pair of gorgeous brown ankle boots for me (for $9!).

i know. ankle boots aren't really summery but i honestly could not resist. i've got some plans for these babies and our photo shoot tomorrow.

now to prepare my kids. you can dress 'em up, but you can't make 'em smile. 

but we can definitely be flexible and have fun. 

so hopefully we get the fun and the smiles. 

here's hoping!

lovely day

oh i had such a lovely day visiting in guelph today.

seeing friends, chatting, enjoying some high tea at the boathouse with wonderful women {who generously gifted me with the most gorgeous camera bag you've ever seen - it's purple. me = in love.}, spending dinner and quality time with dear friends.

it was a lovely day.

i caught this shot of jude in my lap {holding a pencil?} and noah across from me {holding some wooden toy} and our feet. 

we are who we are in this messy, crazy, wonderful, amazing world we live in.

i'm glad i get to "do life" with these fantastic people.

this winter is...

wishing you were outside playing with your brother in the snow

the wall of cheer making me smile every time i walk past it

wrapping presents all in red

welcoming keven home with a huge party; everyone crammed into my parents' living room to watch a slideshow of his tour in afghanistan

baking, baking, baking!

Click!

November isn't always the most pleasant of months.

November 2010 has been downright delightful.

I am so thankful for sun and warmth, for friends and friends for my kids and being outside.

On Friday, the boys and I went for a walk with my friend Chantel {who becomes more and more dear to me the more we hang out which is making me more and more sad to be leaving next year} and her two girls and the little boy she looks after. Her daughter, Hannah, was born 2 days after Noah and they are seriously two peas in a pod.

{I remembered to bring my camera on our walk.}

Click!

The start of our walk. It was so cool to walk down this made-for-a-movie path lined with tall, old trees.

Click!

Hannah & Noah have a blast telling us "red light" and "green light". A friend told me she thought it looked like they were singing "Stop in the name of love.". Maybe they were....

Click!

Click!

A snack break in the sun.

Click!

The Airplane Ride

On Saturday we went to Festival Italiano! with the boys (in the hopes of delicious pasta and Italian delicacies) and while I personally was a bit disappointed with the lack of Italian "stuff" it was still fun to walk around and see the fair.

Noah has recently shown interest in going on rides and while at first he just wanted to look at the planes, he decided he'd like to go on it after watching for awhile. The cost was $2 and Jamie and I each had ONE loonie so we bought the tickets and then I went in with Noah to get him settled.

He picked the red one.

The ride started. {I was just hoping he wouldn't flip out.}

{His first real ride.}

{By. Himself.}

gulp

Despite his barely-there smile I knew he was LOVING it.

And if I hadn't picked up on it then, I did when he threw a FULL ON TANTRUM when the ride stopped and Jamie went to get him.

He did NOT want to get off that red airplane.

Jamie and I talked later and decided that the next time he does a ride, we will be forewarning him that the ride WILL end. And he WILL have to get off.

In hindsight it was a good thing that all we had was TWO dollars as if he had had more, we may have caved to the tantrum and let him ride again.

But nope.

And then we went home.

The End.

{And I didn't get any Italian delicacies unless fries and a Smirnoff count.}

{They don't, just in case you were wondering.}

You Capture: Vehicles

Think Time...reviewed

Remember this?

Well, I've been moving forward on the creative front.

I've cooked with bulgar wheat, quinoa (the organic kind and the red kind - who knew?), and zucchini (I know. But I never really cooked with zucchini before.). And I absolutely LOVE quinoa. Too bad Noah and Jude don't. But hey...more for me, right?

I've also picked up my camera a lot more lately - and not just to take pictures of my boys (although the majority of my pictures are of my boys). And I'm going to try out this whole You Capture thing (click on the button on the side bar for more info). I think it'll give me some motivation and inspiration to work at being a better photographer.

I've also been running! I'm now on week 4 of a 10 week training program to run 10k. Some days I complete my goals, other days, not so much. But it's a WHOLE lot more than I was doing 2 months ago!

I'd still like to start sewing and become more confident in that aspect, but there's plenty of time for that.

It's good to get that think time, but it's even better to see what comes out of it.

weekend

We went to a cottage last weekend with my parents and sister.

It was really nice.

You really can't go wrong with cottage living. We ate piles of food. We talked and laughed. We played games and watched old tv shows.

The view was beautiful and my sister and I even went for a long run along the dirt roads.

Then we jumped into the (really cold) lake to cool off.

I finished reading this book (I really enjoyed it) and started reading this one.

I had an amazing nap and a small sleep in.

Noah was obsessed with the boathouse and loved exploring.

He even got to hold his first sparkler.

The weather was decent; not really hot and sunny, but we did have some sunny patches and the rain was an excuse to build a fire in the wood-burning stove and eat yummy soup.

It was a perfect weekend and if I could, I'd spend every weekend at a cottage.

You Capture: Fun

rain.

When I wear my rain boots I feel invincible.

Or at least impervious to all the creepy crawlies and bird poop (& sometimes cat or rabbit poop) that often hide in our grass.

A glorious rainstorm hit us mid-afternoon and toward the end of it, I threw on my boots and tromped around outside to take some pictures.

It was wonderful.

When I'm holding my camera and my sole purpose is to capture some great shots, all of a sudden the world looks different. I see beauty in everything. Even the creepy crawlies (though most were hiding because of the rain).

I love post-rainstorm pictures. Rain drops glisten like nature's treasure. Tiny little gems perch on every leaf, petal and branch.

It's

so

beautiful.

Sad story

So I think I might cry.

I think the robin has abandoned her nest (aka The Nest) and subsequently her eggs.

I haven't seen her in the last couple days.

Usually she'd fly in and out of The Nest as we would come and go from our front door.

Perhaps there was too much activity. Too many peering eyes and clicking cameras.

If I scared you away Mrs. Robin...I'm so sorry.

Please come back...

The Nest

I am totally obsessed with the robin nest that is so perfectly situated in the empty planter that is attached to the wall right outside our door.

I noticed the makings of a nest starting to form a day or so ago and then all of a sudden - a nest! And then...2 beautiful, blue robin eggs. They are everything you'd imagine them to be. A gorgeous colour of blue. (Hence the colour Robins Egg Blue.) Perfect and smooth.

And then - 3 beautiful eggs!
(And a couple scares where I got home late at night and upon entering the door, the robin flew out of the nest - not at me, but just to get away. Scared the buhjeezies out of me.)

Anyway so Jamie tells me there are 2 robins in there right now. I want to go check. In fact, I want to install a 24 hour birdie cam to watch them. Is that weird? I don't really care. I'm so intrigued! And I can't wait for those eggs to hatch!

I've already taken a bajillion pictures of the eggs, perhaps I'll get a picture of the babies when they're hatched. I just hope I don't get dive bombed by any angry Mama Birdies.

You can count on more pictures and updates on the nest. Perhaps I should capitalize it. The Nest.

Enjoy these pictures of The Nest.

*in this one you can see just how small The Nest is to be tucked away in such a small planter. So tiny. So perfect. I just want to nom on it.