Performance in the Park

We finally made it out to a Performance in the Park. What a great idea!! Douglas Park was packed with families all hanging out and listening to music.
I remember hearing about the weekly summer events way back in June, but as my husband plays Ultimate on a Thursday night, we hadn't had the chance to attend until his season was over.
I believe we still have one week left before the series end. We shall be back next week although I think I will pack some snacks as the children were ravenous. Perhaps it was the lovely nighttime air, but there is only so much pizza that a little one should eat. It would have been great if the 'concession' sold veggies hotdogs as well, but overall they did have a good selection of easy dinnerables.
We rode our bikes to the park, wet our toes in the wading pool, listened to some tunes, ate some dinner and then played in the park. What more could we want from a summer night out with the fam.

Max entertained the crowd.

I love it when my kids feel brave enough to go up front and dance. It is something I was to terrified to participate in as a child. It appears their dad was too as he didn't vollunteer to sing, 'we are girls, not ladies' or something like that. These dad did a fine job though:

The sky was so lovely with the streaks of clouds that night.

I am not sure where my eldest daughter gets her performing abilities from, but she is always on. Growing up as a rather shy child I am reliving my childhood vicariously through her. I can see what it is like being an extrovert. So far she has little fear of being the centre of attention. I am very proud of her confidence. I will do what I can to ensure she maintains it.

The child finally collapses in fatigue. The singing adventure is over. Now it is time to recoup our energy at the park. Yipee!

Young lady on her way to stardom.

The children thought that I had set up the studio for them. They paraded on my backdrop while we waited for our lovely guest to appear. They enjoy having their picture taken more often than not now and my oldest stages the scenes.

It was interesting chatting with Corina. She is working on Smallville right now. My MIL was key hair on that show for 7 years and she was so wiped out by the end of her stint. Corina has fresh young eyes and can handle the insane hours. Good luck to her and her career.

I have been given the all clear.

Now, I may have gone a little overboard, but if I could I would post all the birthday party photos. Two parents responded to my request to put a few pics up so here are a few. The above photo is most certainly my favourite.

The above picture so reminds me of my childhood. It is odd actually. I wonder if I had a dress similar to this.

The birthday girl!!

Beautiful baby girl

I met Emily when she was three days old. What a lovely chance to see her again. She is such a little giggler and so strong. Anytime we would put her on her back she would simply roll back over and wait for us to entertain her.

I told her mom that I thought she would be crawling soon. She loves spending time on her belly.

Fantastic Birthday Ideas

We were at a birthday party this weekend, hosted by the amazing Mandy Hodge of 'the Barefoot Nutritionista' and as soon as we arrived the kids were given their goodie bags. Mandy had made simple faerie wings and skirts out of beautiful sari material. The boys had little capes in the same material. She stated that why wait until the end of the party to give out the goodie bags? Let the kids play with them and then take them home. The park was filled with beautiful running children and the colours streaming off of them. You can imagine how much fun I had with my camera. ( I am waiting to see if any parents let me post photos...come back and check it out again in a few days.)

The wings were looped around their wrists, like most waldorf wings, which allows kids of all sizes to have their wings fluttering without worrying about wire frames knocking things over.

I was also pleased to see Dana Miller there, of Its Party Time, painting faces. She does such an amazing job. (http://www.itspartytimebc.com/ to contact her).

Mandy is an amazing mom and such a wealth of health and nutritional information. She is always posting very healthy meal ideas and organic options for children and pre/post natal moms. Check her out at: http://barefootnutritionista.com/ or fan her at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Burnaby-BC/The-Barefoot-Nutritionista/69714219170

Happy Birthday Sweet Earth!!

Wow, the adventure is one year in and we are going strong!   One of the best features of this last year has been meeting so many new and amazing people.  I am not the most outgoing person so the greatest challenge for me has been to put myself out there.  

The next greatest challenge was taking an artistic outlet and adding a business edge to it which requires a careful balance between keeping the dream going and not letting all the administrative duties simply suck the life out of it.

So, in celebration of this amazing event I am offering a full regular session which usually runs at $300.00 for only $200.00 for the next month.  In this special you will receive a one on one consultation at your abode, a two hour session, an album of approx. 20 images and a cd of all images.  This is a great deal....in my humble opinion.

woohoo!!

Deer Lake Park and the girls.

I have been working a lot of crazy hours lately and to be honest I have been cranky mom the last few days. After dealing with a bit of business in the morning we headed out to Deer Lake to have a look around. Now, this wasn't completely a work-free day as I needed to check out Century Gardens for a wedding I have coming up, but we still hung out together for hours and I completely surrended myself to them in the playground. A day like today is actually good for all of us as all our needs are met.

Again, I have stated before that it is hard to find the balance when trying to start up a successful business and stay well-connected to my kids, and also to remain sane. When I read about moms working from home I cannot imagine how they do it. I find it difficult and rarely get any work done. To find time for the kids, the husband, the home, the business leaves me exhausted and then when do I sit and relax myself.

I am feeling a bit guilty lately as I know school is approaching and eldest child will be in full days. I will have nap times again to do things. I am wondering if I can ship the littlest one of to some kind of care for a few hours a week. I want to treasure the moments that I have with the kids, not try to strategically figure out how to get a bit of work done. I know soon enough they won't want to hang with their mom or they will be so busy with their friends and their own lives. I do not want to regret this time. Where is my fairy godmother to grant me more time and still spend the time I need with my family and earn an income.

I finally put a few rolls of film in this morning to get developed and picked up some more. Daughter is totally getting the film versus digital aspect to this camera. She understands so much more than I thought. I can't wait to see her photos. I want her to see them too. She is quite good at framing. I try not to teach her too much about technique and lighting as she is still so young and I don't want to annoy her. I have a tendency to do that anytime I try to instruct her.

It was a great day of discovery and exploration.

I spent my latter childhood near Deer Lake so it was kind of cool to put my feet back in the water. I remember when you could still swim in it...that was a very long time ago. We decided we must come back and rent boats and tootle around.

It amazes me how the urge to climb overpowers my kids. Not too long ago my oldest was so hesitant to try anything risky, yet after a year of gym and a stick swing in our backyard she has such powerful little arms and the drive to conquer any climbing structure.

Baba is trying to keep up with the big sis.

I tried to get them to smile for the perfect picture, but they are monkeys. I guess this is them in their more natural state.

sweet earth is coming up on the big 1.

I am coming up on my company's first anniversary. This past year has been the greatest learning curve of my life, after my entryhood into motherhood of course. This summer has been a bit overwhelming but amazing at the same time. I have had so many wonderful photographic experiences. I am excited for the fall and my plans for the wedding fair.

I am a little tired tonight, but I have a lot of photos from my latest recent wedding to post. I will have them up in the next few days.

I will have a special posted in the next week in celebration of my first anniversary. The actual day is the 15th. I am very excited to be celebrating this special date!! woohoo!!

Little Monkeys together again

This past weekend we of course had our big talent night party, but the festivities were not limited to only one night. We had 3 out of town families staying at our humble abode. Now, I live in a little old house that thankfully has a large backyard. In total we were a home of 15 people. My husband and I slept outside in our tent which I think was the coolest place to sleep.

Because our dear friends are out of town it always amazes me how our children simply jump back in where they last left off. When children are little their familial memories are not that strong, or are they? These two monkeys have not seen each other for a month and rarely see each other more than a handful of times a year, yet despite their young age they have a very strong and intense friendship. They completely engage one another in play and have done so since before they could walk. I love that they have one another while their older siblings develop their own relationships. Perhaps being younger children they understand companionship more.

I can't wait to see how their friendship develops over the years. I do not have childhood friends that I see anymore. My oldest friend is from highschool. Perhaps the distance is what helps. We are completely in each other's spaces for days when we visit one another. We make up for the time in between visits.

Talent Night in My Backyard.

I am very grateful for the people I have around me.

This past weekend we celebrated the 2nd Annual Triple Birthday Extravaganza. This event is started last year as two friends and I all have birthdays 3 days in a row. The event is a talent show in my backyard. Again I was completely blown away by the creativity and boldness of everyone who participated....and let me just say that to come to the party you had to perform.
I am not a performer and no one who attended was, although you wouldn't guess it from the acts. The calibre of all the acts was phenomenal.
This is a family event and I love that my kids get to see me be really silly and perform themselves if they wish. This year we had just over a dozen kids and most of them were up on stage with the rest of us. The number of acts this year took us into the darkness. It is handy being a photographer as I had my studio lights up as darkness arrived and so we even had spotlights on our stage.( the stage being beneath my clotheslines with sheets and lights)
I have a grand vision that in a few years that we rent a cabin or a camp for the weekend and descend to celebrate birthdays, friendship and our amazing extended family and entertain one another by bringing out our inner divas.

It means a great deal that my family and my friends can gather together and celebrate life. We all put ourselves out there and trusted that we would be cheered for and laughed with. Last year I sang and I only sing for my girls at bedtime. It is something I was always curious about and know I have done it. I am not sure a song will be in my future again, but you never know. This year I pulled out an old skit from summer camp to wrap up the night and I joined in the laughter of the crowd.

Our gracious MC and future stand up comedian.

A face from the Family Circus Performers.

hooray for ABBA!!

My child playing the Ukelele and accompanying her singing Nanan.

She was allowed to stay up late until the stars came out. My child is a born performer, I believe, and I hope that events such as these fuel that amazing imagination that bubbles away inside her lovely head.