Don't take my Starbucks!

Today we stopped at Starbucks for a treat. We always get the Venti split into two talls (1 for the kids and one for David and I). Poor Sarah had a difficult time getting a turn since Calvin was holding that Starbucks cup for dear life.

Today

I'm looking forward to not having to make any big decisions, for our house rental situation to be finalized, for all the boxes to be packed, for all the details of our trip to be confirmed, etc, etc. I'm ready for things to slow down a bit. However I know that they won't really. In a lot of ways I'll just keep them going, that's just what I do.

Once we move, we will have to paint a few rooms before our stuff arrives, unpack, begin the whirlwind of visiting and catching up with everyone, go on little family vacation, etc. David will start his new job immediatly (meaning I will be doing most of the unpacking, etc alone), since harvest time starts shortly after we get back to BC it will also mean that he will be working longer hours. He also has a business trip to California, etc during this time. I know that people will help when they can, which is awesome. It will be great even to have people help with the kids at times so that I can work on getting things set up and unpacked.

I will also start the hunt for dressers for our kids and all the random pieces of furniture to complete our new place. Sarah will move into her new twin bed and Calvin will move into the toddler bed. I'm looking forward to setting up our place again and making it feel like our own, but also want it just to be finished at the same time. I know that there's no hurry when it comes to this sort of thing but I just like to get on everything asap and make it happen, it's just who I am. I know that it will be a very busy August/ September.

I'm so glad that we're moving at the beginning of August so there's time before baby and Christmas. The timing really does feel ideal in a lot of ways. I've already found a "local" professsional printer as well for my photo cards, so I feel happy about that. I've already registered for a kids swap meet in September and am in the process of registering for a bridal show as well. I am excited about establishing myself within the local baby/ wedding markets.

Yesterday I felt like I just needed to get out and have some me time. After all, I haven't had any since before David went away (besides naps, but you can't exactly go out). So I went to Chapters and Starbucks for a couple of hours in the morning. I just read and enjoyed a frap. It's amazing how a couple of hours of peace and quiet can make me feel like a "normal" person again. I so... needed that time. It made me think about how important it is to have that me time where we have zero responsibilities or things to get done. Once we move I woudl love to "install" a couple of hours into each week where I could do that sort of thing. It makes me a happier person, wide and mother, it's so worth it.

Anyways, that was a little longer than I thought it would be. The kids are both sleeping and the house is nice and quiet for the time being. Thank goodness for naps!

Her Manikin Friends

I was going through pics on my "purse camera" the other day and came across these taken in Old Navy. Sarah loves the Old Navy dog and the little girl. She often asks me to take a picture of her while we're out, this was one of those funny moments. The pics really aren't great, but they make me laugh. The other customers and staff sure had a good laugh as well. There's something funny about Sarah and Old Navy, since we've had lots of humorous moments in that store with her.

Family Time

On Fathers Day we did what we do most days, have family time. It was a beautiful day so we walked around the falls and then went to Brontos Play Land to entertain the kids for awhile.

This photo makes me laugh, Sarah's hands are huge.

David's Coming Home

Tonight is the night that David is coming home, yahoo!!! He's been gone for 13 days and I am so... ready for him to be back. I have missed him so much! He was supposed to arrive at about 10:30pm but there was a mechanical failure so he won't be landing until aprox 2:30 am in Toronto. The ironic thing is that it was actually my cousin Mark's mechanic team that was working on David's plane. Therefore you could say that it's his fault that David's coming home late. No worries, Mark, it happens.

I was going to stay up until he got home, but now that's just not going to happen. Oh well, I'm still super excited that David's coming home and will see him in the morning. I feel pretty bad for our friend that has to pick David up in the wee hours.

I think I managed fairly well while David was away, but I don't think I would be a very good single parent. I tried to take the kids out at least once a day, even if it was just to a park, the store or someone's house. I just can't handle being home all day (especially indoors) with the kids. Our kids also love outings and therefore behave much better if there's something going on and we're out. The day also goes much faster when we're out in the morning and the kids nap in the afternoons. Anyways, I'm so glad to not have to go it all alone anymore. Everything is just easier to handle with two parents rather than one.

The Big Loss and the Aftermath

Yep, it's a sad thing the Canucks losing the Stanley Cup and the riots that took place afterwards. It's interesting being on the eastern end of Canada and hearing comments made by people out here.

Firstly, according to David (who was there that night with our cousin Rob), a group of individuals acted out in violence, and then there were the idiot followers. The vast majority of people in no way participated, in fact they were trying to leave the area. David said that he saw a group of guys take masks, gas, etc out of their backpacks almost immediatly after the conclusion of the game. They had obviously planned the riot well ahead of time. By the things I've read on facebook and comments I've heard, people seem to make it sound like virtually all of downtown went crazy and started rioting after the game. Just not so. It's too bad that the rest of the country/ NA has been given this impression too.

Yesterday evening I took the kids to McDonalds for an ice-cream/ french fry treat for something to do and overheard the employees talking about the Vancouver riot. Essentially, they spoke of "Vancouver" just going crazy and rioting after the game. They were saying how it was "just hockey" and didn't understand how a city could go so nuts after losing a game. Another friend I talked to yesterday said the same sort of thing.

It's sad that a group of people can cause so much harm to a city physically as well as it's reputation. It's such a shame that people can see what this group of people did and say it was the "city" that rioted and not the group of people. It's been neat to read about all the people who have helped to clean up the city since the riot. I'm sure this number is much more than the number of people that were actually rioting that night.

Anyways, there's my thoughts on the matter. I'm done hearing about it all and reading about it. I haven't even wanted to go on facebook the last couple of days since it seems that every other post is about the riots, clean up, etc. Most of them are good posts, but enough is enough. Also, just too much repetition. Oh well, got to love social media sometimes.

Newborn Photography

Last week I had my 5th newborn session. With each session I've been amazed with how much I have learned and grown. I've had such a desire to learn how to use my camera better and really get a grasp on newborn photography specifically (I don't want to be a "Jack of all Trades"). I've been reading, practicing, posing and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. After each session, I review my pics at home and make note of one thing I did well and my two major flaws. Then I work on learning how to improve for my next session. Let me tell you, babies are not as easy to photograph as you may think. I'm happy to finally be in full manual mode and only use natural light, what a big learning curve for a non pro like me. I feel like it's all finally "clicked" (no pun intended).

It's kind of funny, since I only started taking newborn pics in order to get photos for my cards. However, I've come to really love it. I've decided that I'll continue with newborn photography as the opportunities allow. I have the baby connections anyways, and it always leads to birth announcement orders (or vice versa). I hate stock photos (and cards that end up looking similar to other sites), so it's really up to me to get the images. I've got an awesome group of wedding photographers that send me photos whenever I like, but the whole baby/ kids/ family is not so easy. There's really nothing worse than a website that has all the same pics in the cards or just really bad photos. Anyways, I thought I would post some pics from the last two sessions I did, just for something different. Hopefully you can see my growth. I have a long way to go, but feel really happy with the progress I've made so far. Celebrating milestones.

I love this little egg basket and so have the "clients." I'm posting this pic for my mom, since she thought I was crazy when I was trying to explain what I was doing with it. Lovin' Kijiji these days!

So there you have it, a couple precious little newborn girls. I still haven't photographed a newborn baby boy, hopefully soon! Spending time with all these babies such gets me excited for our own on the way!

Since we'll be living in the Lower Mainland again (yahoo!!!), I'm also thinking of doing some September mini family photo sessions/ Christmas card packages. Something like 30-40 minutes, aprox 15 high res edited images, and a digital Christmas card for aprox $50. It's a win win for everyone. Ideally, I would love to have three different days, and a different location for each. I'll have to put some feelers out there and see how much interest I would get from the Abby community. It would be fun! I feel like my mind is full of all kinds of ideas right now, watch out.

Intentional Play

I've always struggled a bit with how to really play with the kids when they're babies. Putting blocks in boxes, peek a boo, etc, it just isn't that exciting for me. I get bored and often wished I was doing something else (kind of sad but true). I feel like it's taken quite a while for Sarah to start playing more intentionally with her toys. She's never been one of those kids that will just play for ages with her little people, dolls or whatever.

I've noticed both of our kids change a lot in this way this the past month. Sarah loves to play shopping, house, dolls, duplo, etc and Calvin can play for good lengths of time building with his blocks. I'm loving this stage in regards to play! We build houses out of blocks and play with the duplo people. We play shopping with our cash register and grocery cart. We wrap the babies up in blankets and put them to bed. It's not that our kids didn't do any of these things before, however, they are now able to play for longer and with more imagination. I love being able to interact and play with them in this way. I loved playing with my siblings as a child, we could play for hours on the living room floor with just our blocks, lego, etc. Therefore it's so encouraging to see our kids starting to play with more purpose and imagination, about a year ago I wondered if this day would ever really come.

Sarah was having fun posing for the camera and eventually Calvin decided to come and join in. Here she's showing him how to smile for "cheese" (how she refers to pictures).

Sarah's Nursery School Graduation

This morning Sarah had her Nursery School graduation. The kids were so cute! They walked in to Pomp and Circumstance, sang the ABC song and Wheels on the Bus. They were then each introduced with a painting that they did and a little "about me" speech.

Sarah and her teacher Mrs. Reena

Sarah and her little buddies, Michael and Chase.

The New Winemaker!

We are so... thrilled to share that David is the new winemaker for Pacific Breeze Winery in NEW WESTMINSTER. That's right, we're moving back to the Lower Mainland!!! I am so... proud of David and so excited for our family. Who would have thought that we'd end up moving back to the Lower Mainland, not us, that's for sure. We are so thankful for God's continued goodness in our lives, what a journey we've been on.

Pacific Breeze is a small garage style winery, they are located in the Industrial area of New West (next to the Quay). They get their juice from several vineyards in the Okanagan and California. David will be in charge of all wine making operations at the winery.

It's a good thing we already booked the moving truck for July 30th since David's start date is August 1 or whenever we arrive in BC. We plan to drive, so we'll likely arrive on the 5th or so. Now we have the task of looking for a place to live in BC. We're hoping to rent a home in the Langley/ Surrey area, somewhere near the freeway if possible. We would love to build again, so we plan to just rent in the meantime. We're so excited for this next chapter in our lives!!!

Feel free to check out Pacific Breeze's website, www.pacificbreezewinery.com They were the InterVin Winery of the Year for 2010!

All is well

Just thought I would post that we're all alive and doing well over here. We actually had a fairly busy week with two dinners at friends homes, trips to the park, nursery school, trips to print cards, mail cards, etc. Everything is more difficult when I have to cart around both kids, thank goodness for the child backpack and stroller. I also had two newborn sessions this week (some pics on my FB page), therefore the kids got to have some special playtime with "grandma" Donna and at the Whyte family's house. So all is well. We're all missing David a ton, one week to go. Next week is pretty wide open, we just have Sarah's graduation. So I'm not sure what we'll be up to, however it seems that something always comes up.

David's been having a great time visiting family and friends. Sadly, games 2 and 3 have been pretty sad experiences for him and the Canucks. Tonight David is in Vancouver for the game, so I'm sure he's having an amazing time celebrating the overdue victory! Go Canucks!

Our new Soggy Doggy

Yesterday I took the kids to Walmart in the morning for something to do. Obviously I was desperate to get out of the house and there really aren't many options at 8:30 in the morning. The kids behaved amazingly well and so I was actually able to go some grocery shopping and browse pretty much all of the aisles with them. We found this "Soggy Doggy" sprinkler and thought it would be great for the hot weather we've been getting. Yesterday afternoon the kids had a great time playing with the "puppy" and the water.

Sarah's such a big fan of the "Soggy Doggy" that it's even had to sleep in her room with a blanket during her nap and night time.

We couldn't find any of Sarah's bathing suits or the top for this one. Oh well, she was happy.

Before the Big Loss

David's having a great time in BC catching up with family and friends. He sent me this pic last night as the game was about to begin. Too bad this wasn't taken after the game.

Day 1 Without David

Early this morning David left for BC for 12 days. The main purpose of the trip is to be a part of the Stanley Cup finals excitement, not to mention catch up with family and friends.

I'm happy to say that day 1 went really well. The sun was shining and the kids behaved reasonably well. However, I'm already noticing the lack of lovely adult conversation. David and I spend a lot of time together each day, therefore I'm sure this will be difficult to get used to while he is away. I know the time will pass, but I miss him already. I hope he has a wonderful time away! I must admit that I'm a wee bit jealous.

Let's go fly a Kite

The other day we went to Safari Niagara with Sarah's Nursery School for their year end trip. It was cool and super windy, therefore the highlight of the trip had to be kite flying. I'm amazed how into it both our kids are. Even Calvin loved holding the kite.

New Website Launched!!

For the past few months I've been working on and off on getting my website redesigned. Wow, what a process!! I am so thrilled that it's finally done. There may be the odd tweak yet, but overall it's good to go. Since over half of my orders are wedding related (and this is my main target market), I wanted to give it more of a "wedding" feel and do a better job of showcasing cards.

I have had a group of friends (in my target market) act as a little focus group throughout the process. I have been so thankful for their input and advice throughout the re branding. Yep, I'm a business plan, focused kind of person. I truly believe that we don't get better at something unless we ask the hard questions, take advice and move forward. If something isn't really working, redo it or change it and try again. Life is too short to take things personally. Since I'm only one person there's no way for me to see every little thing, so with lots of research and others input the new site has come to be. Feel free to check it out and browse around, www.dolcettodesigns.com. Can you believe that I'm already working on Christmas cards!?! With moving, summer fun, and baby, a plan is in place. Now if I could just get inspired to think Christmas.

I just have to figure out the best way to celebrate the launch. I've got lots of cards that I can give away as well as a brand new Canon 10 mega pixel camera. Hmm.....