what I've been up to lately

baby Lorik, newborn session (more here)


Dave + Vicky + kids, family session (more here)


Pat + Isabel, maternity session (more here)


baby Juliette, newborn(ish) session (more here)


Mike + Marta, maternity session (more here)


baby Victor, newborn session (more here)


Pat + Élise + kids, maternity/family session (more here)


baby Marcus, newborn session (more here)


Martin + Valérie + kids, family session (not blogged yet)

So yeah, I've been busy!


This post links to these great parties.

the bigger picture

At some point today, amid all the OHMYGOSHWASTHATJUSTANEARTHQUAKE that was happening on Twitter AND INSIDE  MY HEAD, I happened to click on a link posted by Christine from Coffees and Commutes. It was to a new writing initiative called Bigger Picture Moments whose goal is to encourage everyone to take a step back and take in the life we're living. I thought, hey neat, then went back to reading all the #earthquake fun.

(And believe me for those who missed it, once the shock wore off -pun intended- people really brought on the funny. Who knew you could make so many jokes about an earthquake??)

(On a more somber note, how blessed are we that WE CAN ACTUALLY MAKE JOKES ABOUT AN EARTHQUAKE? Although an earthquake of 5.0 isn't normally catastrophic, in many, MANY areas of the world it would mean untold tragedy and suffering for thousands. We. Are. Blessed.)

The Bigger Picture Moments stuck with me though. Originally, I had no intention of participating. I already have too much already that hasn't been blogged, too many pictures not edited and uploaded, too many stories not shared. 

And then it hit me.

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in projects and ideas and everything that I want to do -and everything I have to do- that what I am doing loses its importance. And more importantly, what my kids are doing loses its importance. 

It passes me by.

While I'm editing pictures or doing laundry or refinishing furniture or organizing my bookshelves by colour, I could be playing with my boys. My precious boys. I find myself saying, "not right now" or "just let mummy finish this" or "give me a few more minutes" too often. Not always, but more often than I'd like.

I'm not saying that these other things aren't worthy pursuits. Be it cooking or cleaning or crafting or organizing or working from the home (which is what I consider my photography to be), it all has a place.  

I think it's a matter of priorities. And while my boys are undoubtedly my top priority in my heart, sometimes in the daily grind they get pushed aside. Not roughly or rudely or harshly, but they nonetheless find themselves wanting me and having to wait.

Sometimes this is a necessity. The reality is that I can't focus on my children a hundred percent of the time. I do have to cook. I do have to clean and organize. I need to have projects and creative outlets. I have paying clients and deadlines. I know that I can't simply drop everything for them whenever they want me to.

But when I am with them, I really want to be all there. 

I want to relish their childhoods. I want to savour these precious little people they are right now and the amazing little-bit-bigger people they are becoming every day. They are a blessing. They are each a little gift. A precious gift.

I don't want it all to pass me by while I'm standing over the stove, or bend over a pile of laundry, or sitting in front of the computer, or stuck behind my camera. I want my boys to know that they are my priority. Not just in word, but in deed. When they are grown and look back at their childhoods, I want the images they see to be of me reading to them, me sitting next to them playing Lego, me having lightsaber duels with them (and pretending to be knocked over by the Force, which gets old very quick for me, but they love), me baking with them and painting with them and jumping in puddles WITH THEM.

This is the big picture I hope they see.

WW: don't you wish I hadn't cut his hair?

This post links to these great parties.

Ugh, so much to blog about from the last few weeks.

But I'm going to be lazy and take the easy route and blog pictures I already have uploaded to Flickr. These are from yet another puddle jumping session with the boys. I already blogged the mosaic of Simon showing off his muscles, but here are the rest.

Another mosaic,

far right, second from the bottom is my favourite

And what's this?? A picture of Liam ACTUALLY SMILING?! (I won't tell you what I threatened him with to get this picture...)

But, like all good things, the fun had to come to an end. 

There were tears.

But it was nothing a few kisses and some encouragement to "show Nana your muscles" couldn't solve.

he keeps us on our toes

Not too long ago, I heard some small banging noises coming from the back of the house. I figured that Andrew must be playing in the boys room. Although he was likely wrecking his brothers' Lego creations, I wasn't overly concerned.

It's his room too, so he plays in there all the time.

But he's never done this...

This is how I found him.

Totally comfortable. Totally unfazed. Pleased as punch that he'd finally gotten ahold of Liam's money keeper thing. As fate would have it, I'd just finished downloading all the pictures from this weekend and my camera was in hand. Otherwise I'd have been totally torn between really wanting a picture of this moment and really NOT wanting my 18 month old to face plant off a six foot high shelf... There are definitely benefits to your right hand being a camera!

Looks like we now have yet another room that will require a closed door during waking hours. Our house is losing square footage by the day with this monkey.

like father, like son

Before I get to the meat of the matter, a few of the things that Liam shared that he has in common with Peter:

• we both like to burp without saying "excuse me"
• we both like getting our feet and back rubbed
• we both like cleaning our noses before bed
• we both like spaghetti and garlic bread
• we both like to take showers
• we both have blue eyes
• we both love mommy and like bringing her home special things

I love the first one.

And the last one.

Ah, seven year olds.

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

A letter to Peter, on this Father's Day, listing (some of) the ways that you bless us:

We are blessed by your incredibly strong work ethic and the way you provide for our family.
We are blessed by your fierce devotion and loyalty to our family.
We are blessed by the sacrifices you make.
We are blessed by the compromises you make.
We are blessed by the steps you take to become the best father and husband you can be.
We are blessed by the steps you take to always grow in your relationship with God.
We are blessed by the time you spend with us and the effort you put into making ordinary days fun (even if they involve more treats than mom would normally allow).
We are blessed by your supreme grilled-cheese-making skills and your mastery of egg-in-a-hole.
We are blessed to be your top priority.
We are blessed by your strength, protection and the unconditional love you show us daily.

On days like Father's Day, everywhere you look in the stores (every greeting card, every cake top, every over-priced coffee mug) and everything you read online (every Father's Day related blog post, Facebook update, or tweet) is claiming their father or their husband as "the World's BEST Dad". In a way, it seems kind of empty. Like something we say because we're supposed to.

What I do know is that you are the best, the #1, and the World's greatest dad for this family. For these boys. For Liam, Simon and Andrew. In as much as they were each a gift to us, you are a gift to them. Peter, I can't imagine how different this day would be had our lives taken a different path. The mere thought is pretty terrifying. You are a gift to our boys and you are a gift to me. And today we celebrate you.

* * * * * * * * * * *

A little slideshow of pictures from this last year... the least silly ones. I wonder that Liam can't make a nice face for the camera, but after looking back at a year of pictures of Peter, the reason is now clear. One last item that Liam and Peter have in common:

• can't seem to take a nice picture with making a face/sticking their tongues out/making a gun out of their fingers/adding jazz hands.

Like father, like son.

boy we were young!

Yesterday was Peter and my 10th wedding anniversary.

TEN. YEARS.

A full decade.

We've been married for a third of our lives.

AND DIDN'T WE LOOK YOUNG?!!

(Sorry for the poor quality pictures. They're pictures of pictures, actually. Picture that I clearly didn't 

even take the time to dust off before taking pictures of them. These aren't even my favourites. Those ones are in

 frames... somewhere. Framed pictures that -after living in our home for two years- we 

still haven't hung up. Or even taken out of the boxes they were packed in.)

The night before our anniversary, I was up late putting a coat of primer on a shelf and dresser (this dresser), and was still sound asleep when Peter slipped out of bed. When Andrew woke up, Peter quickly came and got him and took him out, giving me a few more blessed moments of sleep. Although breakfast in bed features prominently in all our special days, I was genuinely surprised when he and the boys came in with a tray loaded with food. 

Weeks ago, we had decided to celebrate our anniversary on Friday (today). So the tray loaded -with bacon and eggs and cheese, a bagel, yogurt, fresh berries, orange juice and green smoothie- and decorated with a cute little cactus (not sure if that is a euphemism for something in our marriage??), some of my favourite chocolate and some cards (two made by my favourite little hands and one carefully picked out by my favourite big hands) was an amazing surprise. Part of the surprise was that Peter had gone out an bought an actual breakfast tray! A really nice dark wood one! So we can quit using the slightly warped and dingy cookie sheet we've used up til now.

Then last night we had a special anniversary meal. My mom had offered to take us all out, but we decided against pouring over a menu and asking a million questions in an attempt to find food safe for Simon and Andrew, then waiting impatiently for the food to come while telling Liam not-to-drink-his-juice-so-fast and threatening bodily harm to Simon if-he-doesn't-sit-down-and-be-quiet and being thwarted in our vain attempts to keep Andrew occupied with a full suitcase of toys, then hardly tasting our food because we're so desperate to get out of there. Instead we opted to eat in the almost-peace and mostly-quiet of our own home, complete with an actual table cloth on the table (*gasp* you mean some of you do this every day??), drinks sipped from long-stem glasses (OJ with a little -little!- Sprite for the boys and some of our latest batch of wine for the adults), lots of yummy food and two kinds of dessert (but no one really liked the store bought gluten-free apple pie).

And then tonight, I'll be picking Peter up from work and we'll go... somewhere. It's a surprise! We don't do this kind of thing often ever, so I'm really excited. All I know is I'm supposed to dress up and bring a bottle of wine. Fun, right? Liam will be at an event at the church (chauffeured by friends), and the two littlest will be at home here with my mom. So that will leave Peter and I alone to enjoy each other's company, have a (hopefully) great night, and celebrate the fact that we've been married for ten years.

After all we've been through, it really is a miracle.

I was blessed to find a best friend thirteen years ago in high school. I was blessed to marry that same person three years later. In the last ten years, we've faced things that most couples never will. Of those who do, most don't come through it all still married. But I can very honestly say that I'd do it all again to end up where I am today -go through all the pain, all the struggles, all the grief, all the loss- to have the life I have today. I have a wonderful family, amazing kids who I adore, and a husband who works hard, is a great dad, and who loves me unconditionally. 

I can be stubborn and scatterbrained, unorganized and impetuous. I leave much to be desired as a housekeeper. I have a million and one half-finished projects on the go (and in the way). I'm constantly having to call him to ask where I put something that I now can't find. I force him to eat/drink/do things just "because they're good for you". I'm far, far from being a perfect wife.

And yet he loves me.

Happy Anniversary, Peter. 

I'm blessed to have you in my life. I'm lucky to be your wife. I'm excited to see where this next ten years will take us.

I love you.

(And because it sort of fits, I'm going to link this up to my favourite Flashback Friday parties over at Tia's and Alicia's.)

WW: strike a pose (alternate title: Madonna's got nothing on my three year old!)

This post links to these great parties.

Do you ever feel so impossibly behind in your blogging that you don't even know where or how to start?? I have so much that I want to post as a record of the time we spent with Peter's parents while they were here, Liam's birthday and my thoughts on having a seven year old (*EEEEEEK!!!*), the deck that Peter and his dad built, all the decorating ideas I have swirling around in my head, some of the recent photography sessions I've done, etc, etc, ETC... And I have this OCD, Type-A personality need to blog everything IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, but the sheer amount that I have to "get down on paper" makes me want to curl up and weep. 

I don't want blogging to be a chore -and it really isn't- I just need more hours in a day. (le sigh) So for now, I'll start with our trip to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum on a sunny morning a couple weeks ago.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Before leaving for the museum, Liam did a bit of school with Nana while killing some time before picking Peter up from his half day of work. He's already finished all his grade one readers and is breezing through his second grade books. 

(He's using a series of books by Pathway Publishers, an Old Order Amish publishing house located in Ontario. While the stories aren't filled with excitement and adventure, Liam really enjoys them and seems to be fully engaged when reading them. He laughs when reading about the young boys discovering a donkey for the first time or their attempts to harness a calf to a goat cart, or when the girls try to dress their kitten up as a doll only to have it run up a tree. The stories really reflect a simpler life. It's refreshing.)

We'd packed a picnic lunch, so were pleased to find some picnic tables set up under some trees near the entrance to the museum. There were some large tents set up with a couple dozen tables underneath (presumably for school groups), but we preferred the tables under the trees.

Because trees are more fun to climb than tent poles.

And tree branches can more easily be used as swords/lightsabers than tent poles.

(for more "Boys with Sticks" see here)

Once inside the museum, Liam and Simon went on a scavenger hunt, trying to match the pictures on the planes with the ones on a paper they'd gotten at the front desk. (What do you call those anyways? logos? insignias? icons? avatars? *ha* Tia, you should know. Or your hubby should.) After running laps of the entire museum looking for that one last plane, we finally gave up and asked one of the staff members. Turns out that particular plane had been moved, but the scavenger hunt never updated. The boys were rewarded with a Private Eye pin and tattoo.

My pictures from inside the museum will impress no one. That place is HARD to photograph! It's big and cavernous and kinda dark. There are no walls or ceiling to bounce light off of. So you get pictures that look like this,

This one (of my unwilling-to-have-his-picture-taken almost seven year old) gives you an idea of what the space is like. It's an old hanger of some sort. The museum collection contains more than 130 aircraft and other artifacts like engines, propellers, aviation instruments and equipment, and many little models of early aircraft.

The museum also houses some of the Canadian War Museum's collection of military aircraft from the First World War to the 1950's. My favourite was this big ole bomber with the guns in the back and in the belly (although the very thought of being that belly gunner guy makes me weepy). Wasn't there a movie that featured planes like this? Anyone?

Each plane has a small table with information about that particular model, in this case the Avro 683 Lancaster X.

Here are some of the models of the earliest flying machines. I love looking at each one and trying to figure out where the pilot actually sat.

Do you see the little chair in this one? Some housewife in the early 1900's was none too happy about missing a dining table chair!

If I could only find a big beautiful wooden propeller somewhere, I'd hang it on the wall in my living room. I love the one on this old biplane. 

The Aviation Museum is a great place for kids to run around. There is tons of empty space, lots of fun things to look at, and even a kids' play room full of different toy planes to play with.

And they have a few strollers for public use.

For those who forgot theirs.

*ahem*

The older two boys always look forward to trying one of three flight simulators... 

...with varying degrees of success.

After getting our fill of metal and engines and things with wings, we headed out to the van to make our way home. We were waylaid by a hill covered in dandelions all gone to seed.

Andrew was especially captivated by them.

If I'd gotten there a second earlier, the first picture in this series would've been of Andrew popping the entire head of a dandelion into his mouth. He was several feet away from me, holding the flower up to his face... and I could tell he was thinking about in... then he opened his mouth wide and popped it in. It reminded me of that scene in Bambi where Thumper is trying to convince Bambi to eat the clover flowers. Remember that one? 

I think fresh clover flowers would've tasted better than a mouth full of dry dandelion seeds!