Swimming with five............

This morning we drove into town (roads were in really good shape despite all that snow!!) and we went to Millennium Place for a few hours...we went swimming and this time we ALL went......it was actually the first time I have taken all five swimmingt by myself...we normally put Sam in the babysitting service...................but it was ok.....he LOVED it of course and as you can see by the above pics, he was tired after all that splashing around in the water.....

After an hour or so I took Abigail and Sam out and we went in the indoor playground...Susie stayed in the pool with her brothers for a bit longer...then they joined us in the playground for a while before we headed out of MP.

After MP we went to the mall and got some lunch, then did a bit of shopping in Safeway and then went to the library......................and then it started to snow so we finished off at the library and headed home......

Amber has her vaccinations tonight and Rosie has to go and have her stitches out...so a trek to the vets is in order.................the roads were clear but VERY slushy coming home because it got up to 4c today.......I used a LOT of washer fluid on my car windows on the way home................I am sure the roads will freeze badly tonight :( thats not good but I did see a lot of gritters/ sanders out today....so hopefully it won't be too bad.....

I have a bit of a headache but tylenol seems to be helping thankfully....

Pop!!!!! goes the top..................

One of my favourite things to do is pop open the top of a new jar of coffee and smell the scent as it is set free :) Everyone here knows that so now Lloyd and Chris or whoever will track me down and bring me the jar to open :)

This afternoon when we got home Chris made some coffee and he brought me the new jar to open :)

Oink!!!

Charlie having her daily apple yesterday.......

doesn't she look happy? She is such a sweetie pie!!

My little Prince...............

Sam being pulled around on a blanket by Abigail...he sat there like a little Prince being pulled around by a servant :)

drifting against the window........

This is the snow that had blown against my bedroom window this morning :) its so pretty...you can see all the layers :)

Craft time............

Here are the girls enjoying the foam......and the paint :)

And yes Chris, at 13, wanted to puff up his own shapes too :)

If you click on the picture of Abigail to make it bigger, you will see that there is probably more paint on her and her clothes than on the paper ;)

foam craft fun.............

My friend Samantha introduced me to this fab new craft supply...it comes in a thin sheet like cardboard...you can cut it into shapes or use a die-cutting machine to stamp out shapes into it......

Then you put the shapes into water and they puff up into sponges for sponge painting...........

Kids LOVE wtaching them puff up...even Christopher got in on the action and puffed some up!

Its less than $2 for a big sheet and you can get plenty of shapes from one sheet......and the place we get ours from also has all the die cutting shapes to use for free :)

Very cool!

lunch time.............and breakfast foods...

Or breakfast time as I just ahd some toast...and a mint thin lol......so lets call it brunch and be done with it ;)

Talking of breakfast foods...yesterday I tried one of the new breakfast sandwiches from Tim Hortons.....I had the sausage and egg with NO cheese (you Canadians are so weird with your 'cheese on everything' thang you have going!!!) anyway for those in foreign parts (lol) this new sandwich is like a Macdonalds breakfast thingy.......but its like a scone (they call it a biscuit here) with egg and sausage inside.........

it was WONDERFUL!!! omg it tastes like it is sooooooo BAD for you......but it tasts so good...the scone kind of melts in your mouth - the herby sausage just mingles with the egg and scone and it was just sinful!!!! :)

I want MORE!!!!!! :)

Such a healthy start to the day :)

The sun is out and everything is beautiful outside.......I must take pictures!!

Lloyd hasn't heard about his blackberry :( his leg is still hurting too :(

I phoned my Mum for a chat.....she still hasn't booked her tickets to come over next summer.

I phoned Pella and they are coming out to give us a quote for our windows......we want them all replaced but we also want a bay window put into the side wall in the dining room (which will one day be part of our family room) it will have a window seat and over look the sledding hill and down to the pond and front woods..........

We are having the huge ugly windows at the front of the house replaced..hopefully by two smaller windows for each ugly big window....and we are having a window put into the bathroom.........

We love the Pella windows. We are having the double hung windows....with the small square panes.........the windows that are on the house now are really ugly windows...why on earth did they put them in??????

I feel like I have accomplished a fair bit today.................I also decluttered my bedroom and cleaned out the messy closets............

I got the nicest email today...from a client (and blog reader!) - it meant so much to me.......well you know who you are I am sure.....and your Email just made me so happy - thank you for taking the time to write that!!

I have a mountain of laundry to face .............I have been procrastinating over it.....

Abigail has Sam sat on a blanket and is pulling him around the house on it - he loves it! He is cuddling Maurice (Abigails teddy bear) and looks like a little Prince being pulled around by his servant!!

The children did quite a bit of 'work' this morning.....I was having one of those days when I had the need for them to do book work! So they did math and LA in their workbooks at the table......I am a failure as an unschooler today :) but my needs were met and now we can relax for the week ;) They don't seem damaged long term by my forcing schoolwork on them today so I think we will be ok ;)

Tuesday...feels like Monday!

Blah!! Its weird...with the three day weekend it means today feels like Monday! And I'm not in the mood for a Monday! Monday means chores and laundry and getting the house back to normal after the weekend. I wish Lloyd was home.

It snowed a LOT yesterday....I think this is the most snow we have had this early since we arrived in Canada...it is -9c outside but the windchill is -22c.

All highways in the area have poor conditions and they are recommending you only drive if you have to......so we are staying home.....

I was supposed to take Chris to work and then go to meet someone from LP at her house...and then on to the homeschool group...........but I have cancelled all............

Lloyd fell on the icy road this morning on Jasper Ave downtown.......he slipped hurt his leg...he's ok I think but when he got to his office he noticed his blackberry holder was empty...he had dropped his blackberry! When he went back to look for it he couldn't find it.........

So if anyone finds a blackberry on Jasper Ave then you know who it belongs to!

Chris is miserable this morning....so I sent him for a shower to wake himself up. Too many late nights over the weekend.

Its 9am.....I need to go get dressed and get the kids sorted for the day...

Have a great day everyone.

Work stuff.............

This weekends shoots went really well......great pictures of great looking families :) and the children were so easy to photograph.......one little boy got fed up with posing (he was 2!) and went off to play but I got some great candid shots of him playing which worked out really well.

I was feeling really down about my photography business last week.....stupidly I took to heart some comments from someone I photographed who had extremely low self esteem and probably wouldn't have been happy whoever took her picture! I took the comments personally when really it was her issue and nothing to do with my work.......unfortunately there is nothing I can do...what can I do...show the world her pictures...the good pictures I gave her an dlet everyone see how good they are???? NO I can't do that can I? So there is nothing I can do to tell the world I disagree with her...don't they say the customer is always right? Or you have to let them think they are right at least.......

Anyway I was feeling so ill last week and that was all I needed......I was actually dreading the photo sessions this weekend...but they went so great....really nice families and happy smiley children who were a pleasure to work with.......

Tonight I am ordering my new props...my backdrops and also an egg and nest (to sit toddler in or lay babies in) for Easter pictures....and a flexi glass mirror which can be used as a pond or pool for some lovely fairy pictures that capture the childs reflection in the 'water'............

I am ordering a black velvet backdrop too for maternity pictures......the black backdrop absorbs the light and looks great in black and white pictures!!!

Now I am finally feeling well I can get working on the website....

I got some great reviews on LP today........and a few inquiries and bookings because of them :)

When I edit pictures now I can see so many improvements since my early work...in just a few weeks I have learnt so much and improved...no where near where I want to be but with the props etc to help I can get there I know it....I am upgrading my studio lighting when I get back from holiday......and my flooring is being changed thankfully........

Lots to do, lots to do......................

The Lake House.............

What a wonderful movie :) We watched it last night...we had heard a lot of reviews (good and bad) about the movie so weren't sure if it would be good or not...but we loved it.......I think DH is heading out to buy it this week as he says he wants to wtach it again very soon :) It was a lovely movie :) Very heartwarming and romantic and yes I cried :)

The colour of the maple leaves inside the house in Fall was stunning!

Keanu Reeves in that movie isn't bad either ;)

Oh and I now want to read Jane Austens 'Persuasion'....it must be the only novel of hers that I have not read!

I am so glad Lloyd loves the movies I love :)

The long and winding road................

This is our road in the snow :) Not sure the picture does it justice but it's beautiful.....

Life in a snow globe....................

A few of the pictures I took this afternoon on our walk....................

Old gateway.....

Before we went out on the atv's, we went for a walk in the snow with my camera to get some frosty pictures...the hoar froat had hung around all day making the trees look stunning! I couldn't have my camera out for long though because it was snowing too hard.....

Out for a snowy ride....

Lloyd and I took the quad bikes out for a while this afternoon...we created a new trail through another wood as well.....it was so much fun skidding about and trying to make it up the hills....Lloyds atv is a 4x4 but mine isn't but it coped great in the snow...it is snowing heavily out and when we were coming in we noticed our tracks had already been covered!!! It is supposed to snow all evening as well...possiblly all night too......very pretty out there and its so nice being on the quads while its snowing :)