Snapshots of My Life

Fall Favorites

2010-10-26T14:23:00.000-04:00

A few of favorites from Fall 2010.

6 Months...

2010-09-29T14:09:00.000-04:00

That is how long I've gone between blog posts. I truly suck. I don't really have any excuses. I just had nothing to blog about. And I have not been in the photo taking mood for some time now. I go through phases. Our summer was busy. And it doesn't look like our winter is going to be any quieter. The kids will be on the ice 5 days a week, leaving just two days with nothing planned after school. I hope I survive!

Here are a couple photos of my niece from the spring. I'll have to update more photos of my own children when I'm on my other computer. My laptop decided to die on me. I need a new one. Again.

You Capture: A Moment

2010-03-25T10:17:00.000-04:00

This week the them @ I Should Be Folding Laundry is A Moment.

This is a moment between brother and sister. I have no idea what was said or why Cameron is making the silly face. But I love this photo. It's just a sweet moment between my two kids.

Check out other participants over at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

I'm Ready!

2010-03-21T11:21:00.001-04:00

Ready for summer! Last week brought beautiful weather. But it is now gone. And I'm ready to skip spring and head right into summer. I'm tired of the overcast skies. The doom and gloom look outside. I want green grass and flowers blooming. I want open windows at night. Kids running in and out of the house. I want to spend days poolside at my inlaws while the kids wear themselves out swimming the day away. I want to go to Sauble Beach. Bring on summer!

You capture: Reaching

2010-03-20T21:31:00.000-04:00

I'm a couple days late. But I still wanted to participate in this week's challenge. The theme for this week over at I Should Be Folding Laundry is reaching.

Here the kids are "reaching" for the puck. ;) It's an older photo. I've been sick this last week and just haven't had it in me to get my camera out. Maybe one day I'll feel better. :)

Check out all the other people who tackled this theme this week! There are great ones.

You Capture: Quiet

2010-03-11T09:17:00.000-05:00

This week the theme over at I Should Be Folding Laundry is Quiet.

I don't know what quiet is!

But my sweet baby niece sure does. Sound asleep. :)

Check out more captures over at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

You Capture: Hopeful

2010-03-04T10:02:00.001-05:00

This week the You Capture theme over at I Should Be Folding Laundry is Hopeful. Of course, I waited until the last minute to do this challenge. I should rename my blog to The Life of Tucker.

Tucker is looking hopeful.

Hopeful for what you may ask??

His most favorite bacon treat, of course!!

Head over to visit Beth @ I Should Be Folding Laundry and check out the other participants in You Capture.

Happy Birthday Tucker!

2010-03-03T16:12:00.000-05:00

10 years ago today our Tuck was born. He is a grand old man. :)

You Capture: Shapes

2010-02-25T09:53:00.000-05:00

The theme for this week over at I Should Be Folding Laundry is shapes. Well, each and every day this week, I thought about snapping a few pictures of some shapes around the house. And each and every day this week, I did not. We've been battling a nasty virus in our house for the last week and a half. And to be quite honest, I just did not have the energy. So I will just consider this a bit of a rewind post. ;)

These are a few shots from a summer or two ago. Nothing is better than a boy and his dog. :) And bubbles just added to the fun!

Tucker loves to chase the bubbles whenever the kids pull them out. It's funny to me that he never gets discouraged when the bubbles disappear each and every time he "catches" them.

Go over and see check out the other You Capture's!!

You capture: Kisses

2010-02-17T23:22:00.001-05:00

This week over at I Should Be Folding Laundry, the theme for You Capture is Kisses. Our dog, Tucker, has a bit of OCD. He suffers from OLD (aka obsessive licking disorder) and it drives me batty. I'm not a fan of the slobber. But for this challenge, I told him to go give my daughter some kisses and he obliged. He's a good like that.

Again, I used some PS Actions. The two used today were from The Pioneer Woman. I like her actions. I especially like the start over action, makes it so much easier to, well, start over! The action in the first photo is Old West. It's my favorite one. And the second action is vintage. Another favorite. Both are tweaked to my liking.

For more captures, head over to visit Beth @ I Should Be Folding Laundry.

You Capture: Work

2010-02-11T10:09:00.001-05:00

This weeks theme is WORK. When I read the challenge theme last week, I was stumped. I've been a stay at home mom since my daughter was born, so more than 12 years. So really- my work is around our house, which can be kind of boring. But this week has been spent tending to sick children. For the last two days, my youngest was home sick. Today, my oldest is home. She just does not feel well, as evidence by the photos. LOL. She got dressed thinking she could try to go to school, but that didn't pan out. Apparently there are quite a few kids out at the kids school this week. Fun stuff!! So this week, my photos are of my work taking care of the sickies in the house.

I also used actions I hadn't used before and kind of like how they turned out.

Head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to see what others have posted for You Capture!

You Capture: Faces

2010-02-04T11:07:00.000-05:00

The theme for this weeks You Capture is faces. Well, I procrastinated and procrastinated and only Tuck was here this morning for this theme. And even he was not happy to be told to sit and stay. Also, I added an older picture from around Christmas time of my brother's little dog Lulu. :) Be sure to head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry and see the other participants in the challenge.

You Capture: Color

2010-01-28T08:56:00.005-05:00

The You Capture challenge this week was color. Color in January is almost unheard of in Ontario. It's so bleak and just plain old blah! So I ended up just snapping some quick shots of colorful things in our house. Of course, I was in a rush, so they aren't even interesting items. :)

My daughter's netbook case. Pink is a favorite color amongst the 12yr old set.

Red is our accent color in our living room. This little display item sits on our bookshelf. It's simple, yet appealing.

And that's it. That's all I've got this week. It's been one of those weeks at our house where it seems like there is so much to do and no time to do it.

Check out Beth at I Should Be Folding Laundry to see more You Capture participants.

You Capture: Love Around Your House

2010-01-21T09:17:00.008-05:00

This week's challenge for You Capture is Love Around Your House. Beth at I Should Be Folding Laundry asks "What you love, what fills you with joy..."

Obviously many things in my house bring me joy. On the top of that list is my family. But they are all gone at the moment. But I was able to find a couple other things that I love and make me happy.

This is Tucker, our beloved nearly 10year old Labrador Retriever. He is starting to show his age by sleeping the day away. He loves nothing more than to steal Brendan's leather gloves and chew them. Which makes Brendan very happy, as I'm sure you can imagine. He is amazing with our kids and always has been. The gray adds a bit of a distinguished look, don't you think?? Just look at those eyes! I think he was pleading with me to just leave him be so he could go sleep in the sun!

And these dishes. They make me happy, as silly as it sounds. I just love the colors. The lemongrass and cobalt on the bottom are my most favorite of the colors. I bought four place settings while on vacation this past summer. I'm hoping to build the collection each time I'm in the States. They are not sold here in Canada. Boo Hiss.

Check out the other participants in the You Capture photo challenge over at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

You Capture: Your Winter

2010-01-12T20:46:00.009-05:00

My winter is bitter cold at times. Like this weekend. So cold it makes the inside of your nose freeze as soon as you step outside. Unfortunately we do not have mountains of snow yet this winter. And under the snow we do have is ice. So even if it weren`t so bitter, fun sledding pictures are out due to poor snow conditions. ha! So I stayed indoors for my shots of my winter.

Boots are required for winters in Ontario. They keep my feet nice and toasty as I sit in the hockey arena watching Cameron play. (Vintage action used courtesy of The Pioneer Woman Actions.)

I was never a big tea drinker before I moved to Canada. But now, I enjoy a nice cup of tea on cold days. And yes that is a Cookie Monster mug. :) It`s one of my favorites!

And board games! My kids love board games and we break them out in the winter. Currently, Cameron and I are trying to take over the world together. Although, he does keep switching teams. Traitor. This game of Risk has been going on for two weeks now. One day, I will conquer the world!

Head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to check out what others are posting in the You Capture challenge this week!

You Capture: Year In Review

2010-01-07T20:05:00.005-05:00

You Capture is back for the New Year! This week's challenge is Year In Review- posting your favorite pictures of 09. Here are just a few of my favorite photos. As I looked through all my photos from 09, I was reminded that it was a good year. :)

Cameron being cheesey.

Kelsey looking older than she should. Why do kids have to grow up on us?

My sweet sweet baby niece, Brooke. Isn't she adorable?

This horse has a name, I just do not know it.

I love this shot of Abe from our trip to DC.

Kelsey pulling a face on the carousel in Central Park on our trip to NYC.

Cameron running along the rocks in Central Park in NYC.

Visit Beth at I Should Be Folding Laundry and see all the other participants in the You Capture challenge!

The Children

2009-12-28T13:39:00.002-05:00

For our family Christmas card, I snapped some photos of the kids hoping to get one that would work. I was able to get quite a few that I was happy with, but only used two on the cards.

This may be my favorite one of my kids together. I just snapped it in between, while we were thinking of another location to try out in our city. I can't remember what they were doing exactly, but they look like they are getting along and that is all that matters. :)

And I like this one just because. :)

Halloween

2009-11-01T21:21:00.002-05:00

The kids enjoyed their evening trick or treating. We had a throwback to the 80's and a little skeleton. Now we are busy trying to keep them from daily sugar highs.

You Capture: Autumn

2009-10-29T10:05:00.003-04:00

This is a tree lined street near my inlaws house. The trees drape over the street and it may be one of my favorite streets for the trees alone. In the fall, it's just lovely. Not all the trees have changed color yet, so I only got a small portion of what would normally be a beautiful time of year for this street.

Please check out Beth at I Should Be Folding Laundry and check out her latest You Capture Challenge!

Walking Stick

2009-09-25T16:04:00.002-04:00

The other week the kids called me outside because they had found a walking stick in the flowers out front. Apparently my poor city dwelling children claimed to never had seen one before. They are so deprived.

You Capture: Happiness

2009-09-24T11:06:00.003-04:00

Happiness is being an auntie for the first time. And what baby does not bring happiness to those around it?? This is my beautiful niece. She has brought much happiness to our family over the last 6 weeks. Of course, my own children bring me unlimited happiness on a daily basis, but they also hide when I bring out the camera. Do you think they are trying to tell me something??? ;)

Check out the other submissions to You Capture over at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

You Capture: Up Close

2009-09-17T21:12:00.003-04:00

This week's challange was Up Close.

Admittedly, I cheated. These were both taken during the summer months. On my camera are some up close pictures of a walking stick. I will check them out later, but since this is the first week of my semester at school- I've been spending all my spare time reading, reading and oh reading some more!

Be sure to check out all the other submissions over at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

Out on a Limb

2009-09-07T15:11:00.003-04:00

In the front yard of my inlaws grows a big beautiful maple tree. What kid can resist such a great climbing tree? Kelsey had a good time yesterday afternoon climbing as far as her barefeet and nerve would allow. ;)

Sugar and Spice

2009-09-03T09:35:00.002-04:00

In August our family grew by one. Not our immediate family- no babies in this house! But we welcomed our niece into the world. And she is the sweetest most cuddly little baby. The kids adore her. She is their first cousin on this side of the family. At just two weeks old, she is already a good sleeper for her parents. Hopefully for their sake, it continues. So we are all enjoying some baby time. :)

And another school year begins.

2009-09-02T19:53:00.004-04:00

While pregnant with my eldest, I was told over and over by people to enjoy my baby because it will go by quickly. It's so cliche, but it is so true. It does not seem possible that that baby is now in grade 7. That means in two short years, she'll be in high school. I can't even entertain that thought. And my little guy is now in grade 1, which means he is gone all day every day. It's not fair. They should not be allowed to grow this quickly.

But here they are on their first day. Ready to take on the world.

Old Photos

2009-08-21T22:42:00.003-04:00

My husband's OCD tendencies were in full swing the last few days. He organized all my photos on my laptop. Then backed them up. What a nice guy. I bet he feels better now.

In doing so, I was able to click on a date and viola there were the photos! Woot. So I was just looking back through some older photos of the kids.

Both of these photos really capture my kids personalities. Kelsey has always been our more serious child. She over analyzes everything. She is cautious by nature and getting her to step outside her comfort zone is always a great feat for us. To the outsider it would seem she is a quiet child- but that is not the case at all once she is comfortable around you. Some nights I wonder if her jaw hurts when she goes to bed because I swear she did not stop talking all day long! This photo is from December 2007.

And then there is Cameron. He doesn't have a shy bone in his body. He is all boy, and possibly a bit of a devil?? ;) He is trouble with a capital T at times. But he is a riot. And keeps us laughing constantly. Actually, both of the kids have wonderful senses of humor. He's a charmer. And is a mama's boy. And those eyes? They kill me! I mean how can you resist this face?? This photo is from January 2008.

Summer Time Fun

2009-08-06T20:07:00.002-04:00

My kids love summer for one reason and one reason only- they are fish and love to swim. If they could swim every single day, they would. They spend hours in the pool at their grandparents. This is Cameron's first summer knowing how to swim well enough to swim in the deep end without floaties. So he is pretty impressed with himself. And he will climb out just to run and jump back in 1000 times. Wears himself right out. Kelsey has been swimming for several years now and still loves the pool. Not sure if she is as impressed with the fact Cameron can now chase her into the deep end or not. Ha!

2009-07-29T16:30:00.005-04:00

Visiting Philadelphia enabled us to visit some other great cities. It really was a great central place to stay. We were only 2hrs from Washington DC.

We found the White House. :)

We looked out over the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial.

We said hello to Abe.
The view from the top of the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial. The Washington Monument.

Arlington National Cemetery.

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

The kids overlooking the fountains in the World War II Memorial.

Again at the World War II Memorial. Cameron was done with having his photo taken at this point. And he was hot. It was very humid in DC.

The kids at the base of the Washington Monument.

We had a great time seeing all the sights in DC. We ended up taking the subway from a station in Maryland down to DC. All was great, until we got to the station where we parked. We did not have any small bills on us, just $50 bills. Which is funny, because we never have money on us period. We are pretty exclusive debit card users. So to get out of the parking lot of the subway station, we needed to buy a $10 parking pass. $5 for the actual card, then $5 loaded onto it to get out. The parking pass machine only took $5, $10 or $20 bills. All our small dollar bills had been used to buy fare to get out of the damn subway. The ATM machine in the station did not work. The parking pass machine took credit cards, but you had to put in your zip code- well, we have postal codes in Canada, so that did not work. The lady working in the station was of no help. Finally, we hit up the cabbies lining up to drive people from the subway to where ever. Thankfully the 5th driver had enough small change to break a $50 for us and we were able to leave. But what a PITA! The subway was not very tourist friendly in that instance. But other than that little snafu, we had a great time and really enjoyed our day in DC.

Road Trip

2009-07-29T11:20:00.007-04:00

8 days.

2791 kms.

And countless memories.

Our road trip took us to Philadelphia to visit my wonderful friend, Beth and her husband Chris.

This was taken across the river in New Jersey aboard the Battleship New Jersey.

This is Elfreth's Alley. One of America's oldest residential streets.

And the kids favorite part of the week was Beth's horse, Buckshot.

Kelsey enjoyed walking around high atop Buckshot.

As did Cameron. But he also liked to make Buckshot trot around.

I have so many more photos. We also visited New York City and Washington DC while we were there. Like I said, countless memories. The kids had a fantastic time. They were so great. The 9+hr drive was nothing to them. They watched movies, played games, drew and just chatted away in the back. We played the license plate game and spotted 40 States, the District of Columbia and 4 Provinces. The kids really loved that game.

Now we're back home. Missing our friends. And back to work for some of us. And back to summer for the rest of us. Although the weather is not very summer like yet this year.

You Capture: 4th of July & Food

2009-07-09T18:20:00.009-04:00

Ok- So I'm stretching the theme here. We are in Canada, so we don't celebrate the 4th of July. We do have Canada Day, but ours was a small celebration and not very photo-worthy. So here are the food photos I took that week. ;) And I can finally join in the challenge again now that my laptop is back up and running! Woot!

These cupcakes were made in honor of one of my sister in laws. She is expecting a baby girl in August! WooHoo! My other sister in law made these for her baby shower.

Both of these photos are of our bbq chicken pizza. It is one of our most favorite summer dinners. So easy and so tasty! I can't remember why I snapped these shots, but now I'm glad I did. :)

Head on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry and check out all the other people posting in the challenge! You'll enjoy it. I promise.

MIA- boo hiss

2009-06-15T12:52:00.001-04:00

My laptop is on the outs. Well, technically, it is just the ac adapter that is on the outs. A replacement has been ordered and should be here sometime in the next two weeks or so. Until then, I have no where to put my photos. :( I don't want to put them on my husbands laptop, so I will have to wait it out. It's a bit of a downer.

You Capture- Colors

2009-05-13T20:47:00.007-04:00

Another week of You Capture from I Should Be Folding Laundry. This week's challenge was Colors. Since Spring is finally here in Canada I snapped a few, or 50, shots of my neighbors flowers. And of my own purple sandcherry. I love this little bush. I especially love it when it blooms in the spring! I wish it had flowers on it all summer long.

Be sure to go over to I Should Be Folding Laundry and visit the other participates in this challenge!!

You Capture- Expression

2009-05-07T19:48:00.003-04:00

I missed last week. I am channeling Milli Vinilli and will "blame it on the rain." This is part of the photo challenge You Capture from I Should Be Folding Laundry. Be sure to visit and check out all the other participates!

But I'm back this week with the many Expressions of Bailey the puggle. His bug eyes are very expressive. He makes me chuckle, even when he is acting like a crazy dog like he was yesterday while Cameron and I kept him company and used Lisa's washing machine. :)

Cows

2009-05-07T19:17:00.003-04:00

We live in a relatively biggish city. Or at least relatively biggish to me, since I come from a small town USA. My graduating class was just 100 kids, give or take a few. So city living has all been new to me. And I really enjoy it. I love our city. It's got a lot of small town charm, but with all the city conveniences.

So we live in a newer neighborhood within our city. And smack dab in the middle of all these new homes lives a small herd of cattle. It never fails to amuse me to see the cows strolling through their field. Unfortunately, I think the owners have sold the land to one of the land developers and their nice pasture will be turned into homes before we know it. :( I do hope to get down there and take better shots of the cows before they move onto greener pastures.

But for now- here's one I snapped last week just before a downpour.

You Capture- Letters

2009-04-23T12:57:00.006-04:00

I'm jumping in and joining a weekly challenge over at I Shou ld Be Folding Laundry!

This weeks theme is letters.

These are the magnetic letters that adorn our refrigerator.

This is a well loved toy of Tucker's.

And finally, the Atlas of the World book.

Be sure to stop by and check out all the other participants photos!

Three weeks

2009-04-20T21:19:00.003-04:00

For the last three weeks, Cameron has been sick in some way. It started with Fifth Disease. That was not so bad. But you also do not know what it is until the rash shows up. He then developed a secondary infection and ended up with pneumonia. Tomorrow is his recheck at the doctors! I hope it goes smoothly and he can go back to school. He misses his classmates. And recess.

Thankfully- Kelsey has been able to avoid all of it!

Also- I hate laundry.

Spring time

2009-04-18T16:57:00.005-04:00

It finally is feeling like spring. Yay!!

Unfortunately, I have not kept up with my own challenge of taking at least one picture a day. I suck. However, I'm going to start a new challenge that I think will be much easier to accomplish for myself. I will be following along on another website doing a weekly challenge. There will be themes, so I think it will be fun!!

Along with Spring came Easter! And everyone knows Easter eggs must be colored. The kids love dying eggs. Usually we do a dozen, so each kid gets 6. This year, we used some for our pancakes, so 8 it was! We used Wilton Color paste. I don't have regular old food coloring in the house for some reason. But it worked out really good! The colors were much more vibrant. We just started out with warm water to dissolve the paste and added a teaspoon or so of vinegar and viola!

She was not so sure of the red dots on the egg. Apparently the red dye did not dissolve completely. It made for an interesting look.

The finished product.

Cameron had fun! He also had a rash from fifth disease. Kid has had a rough couple of weeks! I used an action on this one. I love it. It reminds me of a photo from the 70's. Or at least photos I've seen of myself in the late 70's. ;)

The weather was beautiful the last two days. Cam helped me transplant my lilac tree. He is currently on the mend from pneumonia. He cannot do much physical activity, as it sends him into coughing fits. But he could help me dig with the garden spade! He only lasted about 10 minutes before he retreated into the house to play Wii.

This is my life

2009-03-06T19:38:00.003-05:00

There is a cartoon on the television. Yet there are no children around.

I'm working on an assignment for school, but am distracted at this point.

I dropped the ball

2009-02-22T21:01:00.001-05:00

I've still been taking photos, I just haven't been posting them here. I will hopefully catch up sometime this week. :)

My beautiful girl

2009-02-16T21:41:00.002-05:00

I was finally able to get a nice photo of Kelsey today. We spent the afternoon at her Nanny's house and they have wonderful natural light in their living room in the afternoon hours. I need a house with such great lighting!

It's hard to believe my little girl is already 11years old. Where does the time go?

14/365

2009-02-14T12:59:00.002-05:00

Cameron loves Star Wars. In fact, he's obsessed. He can and will relate anything and everything back to Star Wars. He got this helmet for Christmas. And the suit is his Halloween costume. He runs around like this every now and again. He reminds me of Dark Helmet from Spaceballs. I really love his imagination.

13/365

2009-02-13T22:40:00.002-05:00

I have to start thinking of better titles- the whole number thing makes it seem like the days are flying by.

And more of Tuck-

12/365

2009-02-12T21:19:00.003-05:00

The weather is not my friend. Another day of crappy weather.

I made mini cupcakes for the kids classroom parties tomorrow. I feel all Martha Stewarty, because I'm a not a baker.

So here they are.. Sprinkles and all.

11/365

2009-02-11T18:11:00.003-05:00

Today was a wash, literally. It did nothing but rain. It was really overcast and foggy. This is not a normal weather trend for February in Ontario. Not the greatest for taking photos. I had planned on getting out and taking some shots somewhere in my city. That will have to wait until the weather improves a bit.

This is today's shot.

10/365

2009-02-10T18:03:00.000-05:00

Our weather in Ontario has been less than stellar. It was very overcast, so I was not able to get any good shots of actual living breathing subjects. So I did some 'still' life instead. ;)

Here is my iPod. I heart my Nano.

And here is a creation by Cameron. He put this little chicken together last night while playing with his lego. He wants me send it into his Lego Club magazine.

9/365

2009-02-09T22:03:00.004-05:00

These are more of snapshots than anything. I ran out of daylight today. I was busy getting things back in order after being away all weekend and just ran out of time. So these were both just snapped quickly with the help of my speedlight.

8/365

2009-02-08T21:05:00.003-05:00

Bailey the dog. Isn't he cute?

7/365

2009-02-07T21:41:00.003-05:00

It was a beautiful day in Michigan today! Kelsey was the only one willing to be my model. Cameron was too busy stuffing his face with licorice. It was nice to actually be able to get some shots of Kelsey. I also played around with some different actions tonight and this was one of my favorites.

6/365

2009-02-06T21:48:00.003-05:00

Ok- This is a lame photo, but I was crunched for time. We are visiting my hometown this weekend and I was busy packing and getting things ready for our 4hour car trip. Plus, the poor fish needed their tank cleaned. SO, basically, I ran out of time and shot these literally on the way out the door. It's hanging off our front porch. :)

5/365

2009-02-06T21:40:00.002-05:00

I did actually take some photos yesterday, I just was not able to get them online last night. I had an assignment due in my course and was busy trying to get that in on time. So here is one from yesterday.

Kelsey had just gotten home from school and I snapped a few of her.

4/365

2009-02-04T15:36:00.003-05:00

More photos of Tucker- he's my best behaved subject. What you cannot see in this photo is the drool that this ball creates! He loves it. And I love that he cannot destroy it.

3/365

2009-02-03T11:02:00.003-05:00

Our old man, Tucker.

2/365

2009-02-02T23:06:00.004-05:00

Here are two quick ones from today. Cameron played in a booster seat box for about an hour this afternoon with his Clone Trooper blaster. :)

1/365

2009-02-01T21:40:00.003-05:00

Here I go again! Wish me luck. ;)

Since September our weekends have been taken over by Cameron's hockey. On Saturdays, he has an hour practice. On Sunday's, he has a game. Plus, he has Power Skating on Monday's for an hour. He loves Power Skating, which is just a program to improve skating skills. Seems like a lot for a 5year old, but he wanted to do the power skating with his best friend.

In the games, they are only playing half ice pond hockey at this point. In a few weeks, they will start playing full ice. I can only imagine how exhausted Cameron's little legs will be once that happens!

Here's Cameron in goal.

And here he is chasing down the puck. He's lucky number 13!!

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

2009-01-27T21:33:00.004-05:00

Ok. So it isn't a mountain. It's just a small sledding hill in one of our neighborhood parks. It is the perfect size for 5year old boys racing their GT Racers! Cameron broke in his new sled with his best bud, Adam. The only trouble these two encountered was walking back up the hill dragging their sleds. It tires little legs out quickly. But they managed to sled for almost 2 hours.

Dear poor neglected blog

2009-01-09T14:09:00.002-05:00

As usual, life has gotten in the way and I haven't been snapping as many photos as I had intended.

If I was organized (I am NOT!) I would have started over on January 1st. But I was not home on New Years day and I left my poor camera home on New Years Eve. Boo. Hiss.

So I'm going to start over. I'm going to go from Feb 1, 2009 to Feb 1, 2010. Let's see how long I can last this time! If I try enough, maybe I'll actually do it.

The Toothless wonder!

2008-11-05T17:45:00.001-05:00

Cameron came home from school with a loose tooth yesterday. By last night, it fell out! He took a handful of carrots upstairs and stood in front of the mirror and ate them until it fell out. Only downfall is that he swallowed it! :) But a quick note to the tooth fairy cleared up any issues she may have had with not finding a tooth under his pillow.

Here is a quick snapshot of the little boy wonder!

Our pumpkin

2008-10-29T20:03:00.000-04:00

This is just a snapshot taken with Kelsey's camera.

Cameron picked out the pattern for this jack-o-lantern. He's a Star Wars fan. :)

My Little Man.

2008-10-03T21:31:00.000-04:00

Cameron doesn't allow me to point my camera in his direction very often. But today, he was ok with it and this is the result....

Holy slacker batman!

2008-09-25T17:27:00.000-04:00

I really have slacked off lately. I need to get on top of things. Life has been busy. Kids are enjoying school. I'm enjoying the peace school brings. Life is much better with a routine. Although, ask me again at the end of the school year when I will be singing a different tune. My courses are in full swing. Hockey season is just getting underway. Baseball is just about over. Things are going good. :)

Mad? Or not?

2008-09-11T11:30:00.000-04:00

Even though she looks it, she isn't mad in this shot. Just being goofy. :)

It's hard to believe she will be 11 in a few short weeks. It's so cliche, but it goes by so very quickly. She's a good kid. :) And quite funny. And very sarcastic, she gets that from her dad.

A Day of Firsts

2008-09-01T21:52:00.000-04:00

Today was a beautiful summer day.

Today was also a day of many firsts for Cameron. All summer long we've been trying to get him comfortable in the water. My inlaws have an inground pool, so we spend a lot of time there in the summer. When we went to Great Wolf Lodge in July, he learned to deal with water in his face without too much fuss. But putting his face under water was a huge obstacle. All summer long we've encouraged him to go underwater. Every time- his answer has been "When I'm 16" or "When I'm 19" :) Well, today was the day!! He and Kelsey spent the weekend at their grandparents and basically swam all weekend long. Cameron took off his water wings and practiced swimming in the shallow end. He was very excited to share this with his dad and I when we got there to pick them up. But he went a step further after dinner- he started jumping off the side of the pool into the water. He kept doing it over and over and over again! He continued doing that in the shallow end for a good 30 minutes or so. Then, he got even more brave and started doing it in the deep end! He was so proud of himself. :) And as if that wasn't enough, he started swimming underwater without water wings. So many big steps for a little boy today.

Zoo

2008-08-28T21:25:00.000-04:00

We really enjoyed this little baby orangutan. He/She played for about 20 minutes when we first got to the exhibit.

At the Toronto Zoo they currently have a sting ray exhibit. You are able to touch the sting rays. It was really neat. They were very smooth, but a bit slimy. They also liked to splash the people lined up around their pool. Cameron wanted no part in touching the sting rays, but Kelsey was all over it!

Zebra!

2008-08-25T21:57:00.000-04:00

From the Toronto Zoo.

Now I'm tired. ;)

Kelsey

2008-08-15T22:11:00.000-04:00

As the softball season winds down this weekend, I thought I'd share a couple shots of Kelsey. I don't have many photos of her playing, she tends to get goofy when I get my camera out. ;)

And here's another shot of Bailey. I like this funky action!

More fun with actions

2008-08-11T20:22:00.001-04:00

Summer flowers

2008-08-11T13:46:00.000-04:00

I have been spending way too much time playing with different actions I've found online.

I really like how this one turned out. It's obviously all personal preference and I really like the sepias, but this isn't quite a sepia. Anyways, I like it. And when I like it, I post it.

My Like...

2008-08-10T22:11:00.001-04:00

I've been playing around with photoshop and really like this action!

A day at the park

2008-08-10T20:23:00.000-04:00

Kelsey mentioned to me the other day that there are more pictures of Cameron on here than her. This is because Kelsey doesn't love having her picture taken all the time. Cameron doesn't mind. So now I think she is going to be more willing to let me snap some shots of her. :)

Yesterday we spent the day at a local conservation area with the entire family for a Family Picnic. The weather was awful. It poured down rain. It thundered. There was lightning. But we had a great time anyway! Kelsey was wet and cold in this picture.

I have absolutely no idea why my son is making this face, but it makes me giggle.

Dog Days of Summer

2008-08-06T09:44:00.000-04:00

Bailey at 5months.

Isn't he cute?

Smile

2008-08-04T14:41:00.000-04:00

I love his smile.

This picture if much more vivid before I add it here. :( Obviously something is happening during the transferring process. I'll have to look into that.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeek

2008-08-01T22:37:00.001-04:00

I have a five page research paper due on Monday.

I have not even started it.

That is all.

Cam rides!

2008-08-01T18:46:00.000-04:00

Cameron has learned to ride a two wheeler without training wheels!

He's quite proud of himself. When I feel he can actually brake properly, I'll get some pictures of him free wheeling. He prefers to head on down to the school parking lot as opposed to the sidewalks. He did have an incident today with a dog, but all was A-OK.

My little boy is growing up. He learned to snap his fingers today, too. It's too much for this mama.

Mama Mia!

2008-07-30T14:35:00.000-04:00

I want to see that movie.

I just wanted to get that out there.

I will be updating soon. Life has been hectic.

Summer is in full swing. Children are at each others throats, I'm playing referee. Today, I made my son drop and give me 3 push ups- Hey he's 5! 20 seemed a bit much. He's full of piss and vinegar lately. And bruises and scraps and scratches! He's 100% boy. He enjoys annoying the hell out of his sister. And being the drama queen that she is, it all seems like the end of the world. She's busy hanging out with friends and talking on IM. When did IM become something 10 years do? And we are going to attempt to clean her dungeon, er I mean room. She wants to also rearrange it. Fun stuff this summer holiday!

Summer is flying by...

2008-07-20T23:18:00.000-04:00

We've been so busy since school has been out.

Kelsey got her braces on last week, so we've been dealing with that. She has had a lot of ice cream and mashed potatoes. She goes back in August to get them on her bottom teeth. Her orthodontist is nice and only does one set at a time. :)

Cameron is now into Indiana Jones. He is a constant blur of motion. He never sits still. He has been clumsy the last few days and has a few cuts and bruises to show for it.

The kids and I spent a few days at a cottage with friends of ours on Lake Huron. We all had a wonderful time! :) And were sad to come home. Cameron keeps asking when he gets to go back with his friend Adam.

I need to post some photos. But I'm being real lazy right now. Plus, I have an assignment due tomorrow and it isn't done yet. I will have to finish that in the morning. :)

Water lily

2008-07-04T12:25:00.000-04:00

This is by far my most favorite flower! This particular one is found in my inlaws backyard pond. The pond that will be disassembled and made into a pondless waterfall. :( Maybe I can bring it home and keep it in a pot. LOL.

Climbing Clematis

2008-06-28T16:35:00.001-04:00

I have tried growing a clematis once. The poor thing didn't survive. It never even bloomed. So I enjoy these in my neighbors flower bed. I like catching them just before they open completely. They look like little starbursts.

Sick Children

2008-06-27T13:14:00.000-04:00

Over a week ago, Cameron got sick with a miserable virus. It was just awful.

Yesterday, the last day of school, Kelsey came home with a temperature of 101.3F! Poor little thing. She's currently upstairs holed up in my bedroom watching tv and sipping ginger ale. Today is the first day of summer vacation. How sucky is that for her?

So hopefully Cameron will not catch it again. Oy.

Puppy Dog Eyes

2008-06-22T08:49:00.000-04:00

Bailey came for a visit last night while his parents were out for the night. He wore Tucker out. And I'm hoping he wore himself out. He is growing up and starting to mellow out. I'm sure there will be more photos of Bailey coming in July when we look after him for a week. :)

A little bird told me

2008-06-20T22:57:00.000-04:00

Two posts in one day, I am on a roll.

Tonight while putting the water on the lawn, I saw this little guy (or girl) sitting on the fence watching me. He stayed put while I talked to my mom on the phone. He sat patiently while I went back in to grab my camera. He didn't even flinch when I jumped and yelped when the sprinkler got me. He was very calm, cool and collected. Letting me snap away.

The shot below is just an out-take. I liked how I caught him blinking. I think he had had enough of me and my camera.

A throw back

2008-06-20T21:10:00.000-04:00

On our way to Michigan to visit my parents, we stopped on the side of the road so that I could shoot this cool tree in a farmer's field. This was taken back in December.

I've been insanely busy lately with the end of the school year fast approaching. The kids last day is next Thursday. Yay! Plus, we've had a lot of make up softball games for Kelsey, since it rained for the first several games of the season. Finally, we are back on a regular schedule with only one game during the week plus a practice. And poor Cameron is sick. The little man has been a real trooper, but he is just miserable.

Stanley- the snail

2008-06-12T17:31:00.000-04:00

While I was planting flowers in my front flower bed, Cameron discovered a snail. He named him Stanley- the snail. Cameron found Stanley to be quite interesting and watched him while I finished planting my flowers.

A boy and his dog.

2008-06-09T22:51:00.001-04:00

Cameron received this bubble sword as a birthday gift. Tonight, he took it out back to play with it and discovered Tucker loves bubbles. He really likes to eat bubbles. There isn't much in life that Tucker doesn't find edible.

The night he got the sword, it was windy so the bubbles were made just by holding the sword out. Tonight, he had to work a little harder for the bubbles.

He didn't seem to mind so much.

Tonights shots were just practicing with exposure. I tried using my meter. Not sure if I was successful or not. But we had fun. :)

And yes- he's 5! Oy.

My baby turned 5!

2008-06-08T16:35:00.001-04:00

Cameron- Star Wars obsessed and crazy about Lego. He is always quick to smile. Even quicker to bug his big sister. :)

I cannot believe my baby is FIVE!

Five years is a long time. And where has the time gone? Why does it go by so fast when you have children?

Pictures to come.....

Birds of a Feather-

2008-06-04T12:45:00.001-04:00

Each day when Cameron and I go to let Bailey out for his mid-afternoon pee break, we pass this little pond that has several geese inhabiting it. A heron also visits frequently. I'm thinking it is a blue heron, but I could very well be wrong. Today, we stopped to snap a couple shots. The little gosling's were swimming at the far end of the pond with their parents, so we didn't pay them any attention. Then slowly, they got closer.

And closer.

And then their mama glided into the shot and gave us the stink eye. At this point, the other goose with her came up on land and started hissing at us. Cameron took off like a bullet. I have never seen him run so fast. I would have gotten a photo of that, but I was bent over laughing at him. He thought for sure the goose was going to eat him.

And the heron, who the kids and I always refer to as Mr. Heron, from our Franklin days. Here he is with a couple friends- a duck and two seagulls.

The cheese stands alone.

May Flowers

2008-06-02T13:25:00.000-04:00

I realize that we are already into June. We've been super busy with birthdays, baseball and softball. But I did get some shots of my purple sand cherry while it was blooming in May.

T-Ball

2008-06-02T13:07:00.000-04:00

Every Saturday morning we can be found at one of the local baseball diamonds cheering on Cameron at his T-ball games. Cameron isn't sure if he likes it or not. At times, he's having a great time. Other times, not so much. His most favorite part is after it is all done and it is snack time! :)

Here are a few shots from his game two weeks ago-

His ready stance.

Keeping his eye on the ball.

Handling the grounder.

Making sure the ball is securely in his mitt.

Holding the ball above his head- which they have to do when they get the ball.

Throwing the ball home. Notice his exaggerated body motions. :) He's a bit of a character.

Life is busy!

2008-05-28T21:40:00.000-04:00

Life has been a little busy lately, which is the reason no new pictures have been added. I will definitely get to that tomorrow when Cameron is in school. With Brendan, Kelsey and Cameron all playing baseball/softball/T-ball, we only have two nights off a week. Plus, the end of May and beginning of June are busy for us without baseball. We have 4 birthdays to celebrate- Brendan, Lisa, Cameron!! and Denise all have birthdays within three weeks of each other. :) So anyway- photos coming soon!

Meet Bailey

2008-05-21T14:28:00.001-04:00

Bailey is a pug/beagle mix- also known to many as a Puggle. He does not belong to me. :) He belongs to my sister in law, Lisa, and her husband, Jeff. I let little Bailey out during the day to do his thing. He's a cute little monster.

He has these huge ears he needs to grow into. He was ignoring me and my camera. It was a windy here today, as you can tell by his flying ears! :)

Even more flower power!

2008-05-20T14:55:00.000-04:00

I really really like this flower. Again, I don't what type of tree- either apple blossom or crab apple. I'll figure it out one of these days. I'd love to have this tree in my backyard, but I don't think we'd enjoy the fruits they tend to drop. Although Tucker might like to have a treat every time he goes out back. Either way, it's a beautiful tree in the spring.

Flower Power

2008-05-19T08:40:00.000-04:00

Another long weekend has come and gone and the weather was horrible. Although, to be fair, each evening it cleared up and the sun was bright in the sky. Of course, it was always after 6pm and not enough time left to do anything constructive. So needless to say, nothing got done around here. We ended up heading the University of Guelph's Arboretum. It's a lovely place, but during the summer months, it is hard to enjoy due to all the mosquitoes. This time of year, it's really enjoyable.

I have no idea what kind of flower this is, but I really liked it. The arboretum always has a wonderful selection of flowers to photograph. I don't remember what section this was in, but it was near the Japanese garden.

I don't know if this is an apple blossom tree or a crap apple tree bloom. But when entering the University grounds the street is lined with these trees. It's really beautiful. I did attempt to capture it, but it didn't work out so well. I've been thinking about it today and think I have a couple ideas for how to get it just right. Hopefully I'll be able to attempt it later in the week. It's hard to find a time when the road isn't busy and there aren't people around to flub up the background.

Kids and flowers. Flowers and kids.

2008-05-15T14:19:00.000-04:00

This last week has flown by. It really got away from me- but here are some photos from earlier in the week. These flowers are in my neighbors flower garden. :)

And on Tuesday night while watching Brendan play baseball, the kids and I went over to the little playground. The kids had a good time on the slide.

Rain rain go away...

2008-05-07T21:33:00.000-04:00

Day 7 proved to be a bit more difficult when it came to taking some photographs. It was a rainy afternoon and I put it off too long. I was planning on going outside to shoot the periwinkle blooming in my front yard, but the rain ruined those plans. I'll have to do that another day. So, I was stuck inside and zoomed in my lense cap. :)

I also snapped a couple of Kelsey while she played Mario Kart Wii.

I also tried to get some of Cameron, but he was being grumpy. Ha!

Good dog.

2008-05-06T16:13:00.000-04:00

I have found that posting each picture daily helps keep me honest. :) So therefore, for now I will be posting each of my daily shots.

Day 6 brings us to Tucker. He sort of looks like he is smiling in this shot. He's our good boy. :)

Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice

2008-05-05T20:45:00.000-04:00

Day 5-

Play Ball!

2008-05-04T22:51:00.000-04:00

Days three and four of the challenge were centered around baseball.

Cameron had his first T-Ball practice/game of the season on Saturday. Cameron was really impressed with the bases. He kept telling the boys on his team that they were soft, like marshmallows. Last year, in Blast Ball, they only had one base- so having three out on the field was fun, I suppose.

Not to be outdone, Kelsey signed up for softball this year. She hasn't started practicing or playing games yet, that comes this week. All four of us headed down to the baseball diamond at the end of our street for some practice. Kelsey did really well for someone who has never played. She's got quite the arm for such a tiny little thing. :)

Finding Nemo

2008-05-02T15:13:00.000-04:00

When Kelsey was on March break one year, I took both kids to a local children's museum. I am thinking she was 6 and Cameron was 9months old. Or Kelsey was 7 and Cameron was just about to turn 2. Either way- they had fun. :) I am sure if I asked Kelsey, she could tell me exactly when it was. She is good like that. Need to know how old Grandma is? Ask Kelsey. Need to know how old Uncle Darryl will be in June? Ask Kelsey. She's got a great memory.

So, back to the museum. The kids had a good time. And of course, we just had to visit the gift shop before we could go home. Each child was given the ok to pick out one thing to buy. For the life of me, I cannot remember what Kelsey picked. I'm assuming it is a stuffed animal of some sort. The child is stuffed animal obsessed. Seriously. Cameron was going through a Finding Nemo phase. He loved that movie. And he loved fish. When we came across a little stuffed clown fish with big blue eyes, he had found his treasure from the museum. Now that I'm thinking back, he must have been closer to two, because he named his own fish. Of course, he in all his wisdom named his new little friend Nemo. He has slept with this fish every single night for the last 3+years. And almost every night without fail we have to search for Nemo so Cam will sleep peacefully. He has a little endearing habit of putting Nemo's eyes up to his mouth, because they are cool to touch. Nemo has gone with us camping and traveled to PEI and New Brunswick with us. He was almost lost when we were cottaging up north. But he's survived these last few years with only minor dents in his eyes from being tossed around by an active little boy.

Cameron has since outgrown his love of the movie Finding Nemo. As he gets ready to turn 5, he is obsessed with Star Wars. But he hasn't outgrown his need for his Nemo. And secretly, I'm hoping he doesn't for a long time. So here is to you, Nemo!

Get Ready! Get Set! GO!

2008-05-01T16:14:00.000-04:00

Well, today is May 1st. And so my challenge begins! Of course, I pick one of my busiest days to begin this challenge. I was away from home all day and forgot my camera on the kitchen table. I meant to bring it with me, figuring I could stop along the way and maybe get some nice shots. But you know what they say about the best laid plans.

My neighbors daffodils were in full bloom this afternoon when I got home. So before I had to go get Cameron from school, I snapped a few quick shots. It isn't the greatest picture, but it is what it is. :)

Looking at it again, it looks quite dark. It didn't look that dark on my computer earlier. Hmmmm.

The next few days call for rain, but I'm going to try to get some pictures taken inside at least. Cameron may be fed up with me by Saturday.

Mary had a little lamb

2008-04-29T21:13:00.000-04:00

I wasn't planning to post twice in one day, but I was just going through some photos I just got off my camera. We took the kids to a great conservation area near our home. Part of the park is a raptor rehabilitation centre. We love going and looking at the eagles, hawks and other birds of prey. They also have a big barn that is converted into a play centre for the kids. It's called Cameron's Barn, so Cam gets a big kick out of going in there and playing. They have a few farm animals- including baby lambs.

We took a short little hike on a trail that took us to a reservoir look out. Since it was a beautiful warm day, there were a lot of creatures out and about. We heard frogs calling crazily to each other. There were several logs occupied by turtles. One log had at least 20 turtles lined up on it. Unfortunately it was too far in the swamp and the view was obstructed by weeds, or else I would have attempted to get a shot. But I did get one of a single turtle sunbathing. If you look closely, you will see another turtles head in the water.

Green thumbs R' Us!

2008-04-29T20:51:00.000-04:00

We have decided to attempt to grow our own herbs this year. Jeff was kind enough to get us some trays of peat pellets and a wide variety of herbs. The kids and I tackled this project tonight before bed.

We added water to the trays to allow the peat to expand. Very simple. Even for us. :)

The size of the seeds became a frustration for the kids. Especially a little boy who had clammy hands!Viola- all planted and ready to cover.

I think the kids will enjoy seeing the progress our little herbs will make in the next few weeks. I just hope that some of them make it!