Tag Archives: photography

essence of now: spring mania

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In the last week, we have had phenomenal spring weather.  The sun has been shining and the warm temperatures have brought the flip flops, tank tops and shorts out from our closets.

It has been absolute Heaven for our little family.

With the coming of warmer temperatures comes more time spent outdoors.  How have we spent our warm, sun-filled days?

Let me show you!

We have spent a lot of time at our local park where the girls enjoy playing on three different playgrounds.

Of which, Little B’s favourite is the monkey rings.

And the monkey bars.

And let’s not forget hanging.  We love to just hang around.  We even hang off of furniture and railing when we’re at home. Yes, I live with monkeys!


We have also been enjoying the flowers all over our neighbourhood. Have you stopped to smell a flower lately?

Last but not least, my teen and her friends ( and me, of course) enjoyed a trip to Starbucks for their Happy Hour special. Half price Frappuccinos.  How can we resist?

While Summer is my most favourite time of year,  I am loving Spring and all the wonderful bonuses it has brought us so far.

Essence of Now

beach love

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Our family never tires of going to the beach. So whether it’s summer or winter, we visit our local beach as much as we can.

We love the beach because …

1. The girls love bringing their pail and shovels and digging up some fun while the tide is out and we’re able to walk along the sand.

2. I love the beach for it’s beautiful photo taking opportunities.

3. I love all the little shops and restaurants along the water that serve up really good food. My favourite is the fish and chips we get from a little place called Moby Dicks and the hot wings we treat ourselves to from another place called Wings.

4. I love the memories we make at the beach.

Lucky for me, the girls are always willing to pose for pictures.  This photo was taken underneath a dock and comes with an inside story.  We had a little run in with dog poop which, without us knowing, ended up on the back side of Little B’s jacket and on the sleeve on my new down coat.  Needless to say, our little beach trip was cut short because of the poop but we managed to get in enough beach fun to hold us over until the next time.

The girls and I are hoping that the next time we partake in a beach afternoon, we can do so without warm coats and hats. In our corner of the world, the ground hog didn’t see his shadow when he emerged from his home.  So if folk prediction is accurate, Spring will arrive early this year.

Folk prediction or superstition – I’m going with it.

Spring can come tomorrow.
I won’t mind at all.

ballet shoes, bums and spooks

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Another week has passed and what have we been up to?

We’re still walking to school. The weather has been fabulous. Sunny and warm almost every day. Little B loves pulling along her backpack on wheels!

We finally found Little H ballet shoes in her size. She loves them so much she’s been wearing them around the house on a daily basis.

Little H (on the right with the cute little blond ponytail) continues to love her ballet class.  I love staying to watch her through the audience window. When she’s not sitting, she’s constantly on her toes!

The girls love to take pics of themselves on the iPad and distort their body parts. Check out Little H’s J-Lo bootie. Pretty funky eh?

Here’s Little B with NO bootie.  Looks like she has spaghetti legs instead!

As for me? I’ve been busy playing around with the Halloween features on PicMonkey.

Do I look scary?

Essence of Now

fishing therapy

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When I need a break or a distraction from the busy schedule I call life, I go shopping. Nothing like a little retail therapy!

When husband needs a break, he goes fishing. Fishing. He says I’ll never understand because I’m not a guy.

Honestly, if he catches a fish, cleans it himself and makes me dinner with it, I’m good.

Bring on the fish therapy, I say!

Something my husband would say ….

If people concentrated on the really important things in life,
there would be a shortage of fishing poles.

~ Doug Larson ~

holding on to you

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I love that you are nothing alike.
It’s enchanting just how different you are.

From the colour of your hair and eyes
to your favourite foods and more, you each have your way.

I watch you when you sleep and my heart fills with love.
I watch you when you play together and my heart emanates pride.

You’re growing up so fast and there’s nothing I can do.
I love the growing independence but one day I’ll miss being needed.

Every day you show me something new. Determination, creativity, intelligence, humour, kindness, love, empathy, cooperation, compassion and even stubbornness.

I glow with pride with everything you do, say, feel and hope for.
I must have done something extrodinary to deserve being your mother.

I thank GOD every day for choosing me to be your mother.
I thank GOD every day for choosing the both of you to be sisters.

I know you will grow up and do great things one day.
I know you will make me proud.

I hope you will always keep your mama close to your heart.
That’s where I always keep you.

four, funny and fantastic

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“From a little girl so very small, how and when did you get so tall?” ~ Karen Mortensen

Just yesterday, my baby girl turned 4 years old. Four years ago, I gave birth to a baby that looked so different than my other two. When Little H was born, she was absolutely bald and had the whitest skin imaginable. Coming from an olive skinned and dark haired person like myself, I almost wondered if she was really mine.  She looks absolutely nothing like her mama!

The last four years of our lives have been filled with nothing but the most treasured of memories and adventures thanks to the infamous Little H.  She is the little girl who adds spice to our family and brings smiles to all who meet her. Everyone is always in awe of her beautiful, curly, blonde hair.

Today, we celebrate her birthday with family and shower her with gifts and love and affection.

My baby girl is growing up fast and as much as I love how independent she is becoming, a part of me longs to keep her my little baby forever.

I share with you a recent photo of Little H. It is one of my favourites of her at this age.  Little H’s sisters have written some special words for her in honour of her special day.

Little B

I love her because …

she has a birthday in the summer.

she’s my baby sister.

she’s crazy.

she always licks me instead of kissing me good night.

 

Teen B

I love her because …

She gives the best hugs.

She says the funniest things.

She is the cutest thing.

The way she pronounces certain words cracks me up.

 

Mommy

I love her because …

she shares kisses and cuddles with me.

she loves to skip and hop all over the place.

everything excites her.

she’s adorable.


Happy 4th birthday Little H!

We love you!

family photos

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Over the weekend, we took a small road trip from our little home in White Rock to West Vancouver for a family photo shoot with Silvia from Silvia Photography.

Having won 2nd place in Silvia’s photo contest in the month of May, Little B was especially thrilled to claim her prize. Although we have yet to see the final results of our photo session, Silvia did send us a quick peek of a few of her favourite photos.

I’m going to share only one of them with you today.

In order from left to right, we have Teen B, Little B and Little H.  The three sisters who never cease to pull at my heart strings and test my patience on a daily basis.

I am super excited to see the rest of the photos and wait patiently for the opportunity to view them.

To celebrate this beautiful photo of my girls, I thought I would write about them … again.
Surprise, surprise!

Although all three girls came out of the same mother,  I can’t stress enough how very different they are from one another. I love how they each have very distinct and unique personalities.

Daughter #1

Teen B is artsy. She always has been. As a child, she loved being centre of attention. Dancing, singing and performing were right up her alley since she was four years old.  As a teen, her need to be in the spotlight has toned down a bit ( gotta maintain the coolness factor now) but as a dancer she’s shines when she is on stage and I love to watch her body move to the music. I shed tears every single time I see her perform. When she’s not dancing, Teen B loves to read and will devour a new book and complete it in a day or two. This, she gets from me and I’m so glad that I’ve passed on my love for books and reading to her. It’s every mom/teacher’s dream!

Daughter #2

Little B is a rule follower. She likes to think things through before jumping right in.  At school, she is the best behaved student imaginable. A teacher’s dream. At home, she lets loose and really let’s us have it with her rambunctious behavior.   Always asking questions and always curious about life, Little B is very verbal and fact savvy. She loves to write and draw. Always with pencil and paper (or her Magna Doodle) in hand, she is forever creating illustrations or writing us cute stories in complete sentences with the correct punctuation. Little B couldn’t care less about her clothes or fashion or staying clean. She will wear whatever you put on her and loves to get down right and dirty playing outside with her sister or friends.

Daughter #3

Little H travels everywhere as if she’s trying to keep up with the speed of light. She tries to keep up with the big kids but doesn’t realize that physically she’s not there yet. As a result, we deal with a lot of injuries … like the time we had to rush her to the hospital when she tripped, bashed her chin against the stairs and bit through her lower lip. I thought I was going to die that day.  On the flip side, Little H likes to be clean. She has to have a napkin at all meals and insists on wiping her mouth after each bite.  She’s very fashion savvy in that she loves to shop and always wants to lay out her clothes for the following day every night before bed. Little H loves to cuddle, listen to Little B read her books, draw, cut, paste, colour and sing. Oh can Little H sing!

Each of my girls add spice to our little family.
Hubby and I are forever entertained with their spunk and cute little antics.

They also drive us crazy.
What kids don’t?

instagram happy + a birthday party

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I think I’m the only person on the planet that does not own an Iphone. Story of my life though. I’m always technologically behind the times.

My teenager and husband both have Ipod Touches and use them only where wireless is available.

Last Christmas, hubby broke down and bought me an Ipad because I had been begging for one for ages.

It was either an Iphone or an Ipad and he chose the Ipad because it didn’t entail any monthly payments for 3 years.  Cellular phone packages in Canada suck the big one for those of you Americans reading.

Anyhoo, while everyone in the real world is living their life capturing Instagram moments and updating their Facebook statuses via their Iphones, I resort to using a real camera or,  when at home, taking Instagram photos using my Ipad.  Yay, for me! (Can you sense my enthusiasm?)

Let it be said that it’s so not the same. Whoa-ez-me!

Rather than wallowing, I decided to use my Ipad when at home as much as I can to take pictures of my girls and I throughout the day.  Instagram is so much fun but can be so addicting.  I don’t know of a mommy blogger that isn’t posting their Instagram photos on Facebook, Twitter or on their blog.

Last night, I had my Ipad handy as my teenage daughter celebrated her 14th birthday with girlfriends.  Regardless of the fact they probably thought I was whacko, I took pics of them throughout the evening. I heard a few sighs and an “oh mom” every now and then from my daughter but I just ignored them.  Moms take pictures all the time. Who cares if it’s with an Ipad?

And as I took them, I tweeted them to my friends. I uploaded them to my blog page on Facebook and then shared them with family on my FB profile page.

It was so much fun.

Here are the pics for your viewing pleasure …


My daughter (left) and her two girlfriends at the start of the birthday party.


The junk-food they ate minus the pizza.


They made and baked the cake entirely by themselves including the icing of it.  Can you say “team work” ?


Each friend added their initials to their own corner of the cake.


Singing happy birthday to the birthday girl!  I can’t believe how grown up she is. Sniff, sniff.


The famous Charlie’s Angels pose.   Teen B couldn’t have chosen a better group of friends to call her besties.

And that’s how I spent my Saturday night.  Hanging out with teenage girls. Eating my fair share of chips, cheese-e’s, pizza and consuming enough Root-Beer to add a few pounds to my butt.  It’s all in the name of fun! Why not enjoy it while we can, right?

Thanks Instagram.
Thanks hubby for the Ipad.
Thanks teenage daughter for being such a good kid.

One day, I’ll say thank you to my Iphone because, eventually, you better believe I’m going to get one.

bocafrau