some photo fun

could we have fit more into the past few months? yes. and no!

what a crazy busy fall. then we all caught the cold going around town. bonus. thankfully we are all pretty much healthy now. but it meant that two out of four of us needed antibiotics in the end.

Kristian missed an entire week of work. as the week went on and he was not getting any better i got more worried. partly due to not liking it when he is sick and feeling bad for him. partly due to my plans for the weekend. i planned to leave town with some girlfriends. i know how tough it is to be a parent and be sick at the same time. i didn't want to leave him home with the kids and be sick. thankfully he was feeling better by Friday and even better by Saturday. perhaps it was a blessing because they had a more restful weekend staying home. he was back to work on Monday and it is great to see him feeling more like himself.

here are some photos he took of me using his iPhone4. not bad considering it is taken by a phone!



a little grainy. but still impressive.

he took this of me when i was having trouble with my camera. it wouldn't focus. ugh! i was sweating!! then i realized that i had accidentally switched from 'auto' to 'manual'. amazing what a little switch can do.



a perfect afternoon for a camera.



i have an interesting stance with a camera up to my eyeball. same pose in many of these photos.



this was not taken by a phone. i just poked my lens out the car window and snapped as we sped along the curvy road. i got a few that were fun! this is why i love digital. i would be much less daring if i had to pay for the developing of the 'wonder what this will do?" photos.


i took one photo while i was away on my weekend. it was a ladies retreat with about 800 women. they did have a professional photographer as part of the event. i admit i was distracted at times when i was checking out her equipment and seeing if i could figure out what shots she was trying to get. funny! my photo was of a purse i was thinking of buying for Kiara...a cute little pink flowery thing. i had thought about messaging it home to see what she thought, then changed my mind and decided to surprise her instead. she LOVED it. when we were not shopping, we were being inspired.

the keynote speaker was Carol Kent. she is a professional speaker and also book author. her personal story was unique and incredible. it is hard for me to express in my own words her story. there just is no coles' notes version happening from me! but it did leave me with a stronger desire to enjoy each day with joy. more gratitude for the blessings in my life.


we woke up to a foggy morning. the kids are beyond excited that Halloween is around the corner. AWANA had 'crazy-hair-night' last night, so that helped with their excitement. Aidan's costume this year is a store bought version. i have a feeling that he may have a desire to be more creative next year. i do personally prefer the home-made costumes....but i lack the skill to create them well.





i just learned about this one last night. wow! talk about the cool kid.

more to celebrate

rough birthday week for this boy!

he missed most of the week of school. he did manage to pull himself together to be at school on the day of his birthday. (he missed celebrating his birthday at school due to being sick too.)



no cake. cupcakes seemed like the best option. this is better than what Kristian or Kiara had this year on their actual birthday suppers. the difference? we were at home on the day of their birthdays! well, that and their mother actually had some time to bake and frost a few cupcakes. very sad. now that they are both in school and active in other activities we are out of the house more often. now that they are less dependent, we have found that we've also added more to our schedules again. it might be a smart thing for me to pre-bake cupcakes next year. in August. then freeze them for the big night! must buy a new freezer with larger capacity.

there were some anxious days for the 6 year old to be...hoping and praying that he would be well enough for his birthday party with his buddies.



he still is not 100%. but much improved. it was very nice to see him smile, play and run with his friends. that is the Aidan we all know. complete with new glasses, bushy eyebrows and much larger nose.....

of course i took photos of the lego cake...and invites...and decorations....but i'll share those later this week.



here he is at his 4th birthday party. it still seems like yesterday. we did look at their baby books not long ago. i found i was very nostalgic this year on their birthdays. i think it is because they are actually growing up into little children. i truly cannot get away with calling them 'my babies' anymore.

even more shocking. i am in disbelief that i would have ever felt quite this way!!

despite the challenges this birthday gave us, i think we all pulled a nice party and memories together.


it does feel good to have the birthday behind us. but we still have this awful bug to kick out of our house.

in fact, Aidan had his last swimming class and he chose to stay home. a big deal, because he LOVES swimming.



these are its latest victims.

i left to go to the drug store and came back to a very quiet house. Aidan was awake and in his room building lego. these 2 were like this.

the lights were dim and the fireplace was on. they were quite warm and must have been there awhile.


well. if we can just make it through this week. being home-bound for most of last week was tough on me. being home-bound for another week may just do me in. i found i really missed the walks with my neighbours to and from school each day. even if i never left the house the rest of the day, it really perked me up. i also lost my voice for a few days. not seeing, talking or listening to another adult made it that much more difficult.

on the other hand...i was scheduled to work all day on Saturday. i really enjoy my job and look forward to going to work. i was very worried that i wouldn't have my voice in time! fortunately my prayers were answered and i nearly ran from the house that morning. must have been funny to see. it was a busy day at the store too. i definitely got to more than make up for my silent and lonely week!

pretty soon we will be starting some card crafting. the kids are making cards and art to raise money for the Stollery Children's Hospital again. we still have loads of cards and art leftover from last year. i plan to bring it to our sale and then make sure it gets donated to the hospital at the end.

well, must close off. lots more hope and prayers that my family get well very, very soon.

thankful

10 - 10 - 10

(10th month) October 10, 2010

we FINALLY celebrated Kristian's and Kiara's birthdays with the Olsen family. and since it is right around the corner, we also also included Aidan in the party.

we kind of had our own version of the Thanksgiving celebration at the same time. minus the traditional turkey. i will eat turkey. whether or not it was due to having a turkey farmer in the family...we had turkey at every family dinner for every major holiday. sometimes there was a baked ham too. mashed potatoes and gravy. stuffing...for the record, my Aunt Ruth was the best stuffing maker - if you like stuffing. baked yams.

i cooked a turkey with all the fixings once in my life. i was given a free turkey at Christmas as a bonus at a job. i invited friends to come and eat with my room-mate and i. we even had apple pie. and everything tasted great! ha!!

it has become a tradition for us to be as non-traditional in the food department at holidays, i think.

rack of lamb at Christmas.

one of my amazing neighbours gave me a recipe for steak with a Mustard-Cognac sauce that is dreamy. we decided to cook it up for Kristians' family and the birthday parties. it is a bit of a time consuming sauce to prepare, and it nearly drove them crazy with the smells....but it is so worth the trouble. good enough that we didn't hear one complaint about not eating turkey!


i also warned Kris' family that i was wanting family photos.



being the photographer and a part of the portrait is not easy. photoshop will have to help me! there will be some pixel head surgery happening. i'm not sure if it would have made a difference if i was not in the photo. in the above photo i asked for goofy faces. it is actually one of my favourites! definitely shows our true colours.....



what a surprise this one was. i LOVE the blur here.



some of the best photos came with just the grands. (grandparents and grandkids)




i love the light coming in behind them. they are good posers too.



4 of the 5 goofballs. what a crew these ones make!



here is our lovely sis-in-law holding the newest Olsen. has that boy grown!



and now we rest. Aidan just can't seem to shake the fall cold he found at school. last year he was sick and missed school on his birthday. i really hope and pray it will be different this year! after losing TWO days in one week for just me being sick in bed...i don't relish the thought of possibly catching something else.

just for you

Carol, i thought you and John would love to see these....

do they bring back plenty of happy memories?!












Pyramid Lake, Jasper




i just realized that every one of the photos i took has not one of my children in them. and there are more of Kristian and myself. i also realized that landscape photography is relatively simple...not to sound like i have a swollen head or anything...but you've seen how fast children move!


there were also signs of a wedding nearby: a group of women holding matching umbrellas blocking the road. a photographer poised, also in the middle of the road, with his lens pointing at them. (a very cool shot i immediately thought!) a fully packed little restaurant who could find no room for us. (had we been dressed for it, i think we may have considered crashing it!) it would have been a perfect day for a wedding.

another note, so that i don't forget. there was one man who was sitting by one of the benches, with his camera on a tripod. when we arrived on the island he was there. we were there for a long time, perhaps nearly an hour? when we left, he was in the same position. it was an excellent spot for a photo. i'm guessing he was going for a particular photo at a specific time? it made me wonder if i was that patient to get a single and specific photo.


if you are ever in Jasper....there are some very nice places to purchase framed photography. the most amazing ones i saw were hanging in a little cafe called Coco's. just an amateur with a really good eye and some talent for showing it off. i left with a happy tummy and inspired for some great and remote shots. now if i could only remember his name....

time away

lucky us!

we got away to Jasper for a night this weekend. without our children.



warm enough for no coats. needed sunglasses. coffee and brunch outside!

i took this one with my iPhone. not great quality. but it captured the moment.

and we did enjoy our time away. but still missed our kids.

although they did have quite a bit of fun. including a football game that took up most of Sunday for Aidan. good memories all around

catching up

i spent most of the week getting ready for Kiara's party. which turned out to be a success! i will have some time next week to share photos of her party day.

one of the activities was for some face painting. each of the girls was a unique fair princess. with 5 girls running around my house in party mayhem, i surprisingly found the painting to be very relaxing. who would have guessed!?! actually the mayhem was pretty tame. they were very quiet. there was another party the next day with 4 of the same girls attending....apparently they were much more lively.





since it was Friday, Aidan got to have his own artwork when he returned home after school.

for any parents out there thinking of face painting. just want to warn you that when GREEN face paint wears off, it looks like a faded yellow. similar to a bruise. yeah. don't paint any green hand prints on their faces. if you know what i mean!!