Foto Friday: Our Year in Photos

Month 3 Week 5: Free Week.

For the fifth week of each month we'll mix it up and shoot anything about your child in a new way.

To know more about this project you can read my first post here.

Some of my favorite photographs from my own childhood involve my cousins. I think because some of those memories are so strong in my mind. Back stories that my parents weren't a part of. Like the time I got in trouble for punching my cousin in the face at my Grandma Stasiuk's house. But I punched him cause he hit me with pillow and it caught on my earring and ripped out the earring. (How can you tell I had lots of brothers if my response to getting hurt was to sucker punch one to the person who did it :) )

And looking back I just had so much fun with my cousins. And the ones that lived far away were like an special treat. You were always left wanting more when they left. Well thinking of that and with my SIL down from Edmonton for a little visit, I took these pictures yesterday night.

They are silly and not the ones I wanted, where the kids looked at me, with Alden actually blocking the sun so I could backlight them properly, and them sitting still so the tricycle in the background wouldn't be seen and nice smiles.

But really THIS is our kids together. They laugh and goof around. Matthew is always petting Eli's head, all of them talking baby talk to Oliver, Lucy relishing and hating (at the same time) being the only girl in the group, lots of telling them to not talk so loud, shipping them outside, playing the wii, building lego, Alden laughing at Matthew's theatrics, Jacob correcting us when we call him handsome ("I'm a BOY!"), Tyler explaining things and Eli getting scared for being chased and then asking the boys to chase him again and again.

It's loud and crazy and totally what childhood memories are made of.




You can see all my other entries for this project here

Go check out Brooke's over here!

Please tell me if you have a link somewhere for playing along and I'll add the links.

Listography: List 63

list 63: things I’d like to do everyday

I read the wrong prompt last week (whoops) and so this is actually last week's list. And my friend Heather made a list that really sums up a day I'd like so mine is close to hers!

1. get 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep in my own bed

2. spend some time creating something - in the craft room or in the kitchen or gardening

3. read a book in quiet, totally uninterrupted

4. have a shower and do my scripture study & morning prayers before the kids are up

5. sleep in, take a nap or go to bed early (or all three hahahaha)

6. go for a walk

7. spend intentional quality time with each of my kids and my husband

8. get outside

9. stay on top of all the cleaning

10. go to bed without feeling guilty about something

11. have my hair and make-up done and be dressed in stylish clothes

10 on Tuesday

1. I want to totally revamp my photo blog & this blog. I know what I want but don't know how to do it.... Wonder if I could get someone to switch services with me?

2. One of my favorite shots for my recent assignment from my photo class. I was supposed to try light that I don't normally shoot in. Lucy and me in the bathroom with a lamp and a towel wrapped around it.


3. I feel like spring is finally here.... what do you think??

4. Seems quiet in blog land.

5. I have three coats. Two have broken zippers and the other lost all but two buttons and has a huge huge hole in the pocket that makes me lose my keys. I think it's time to buy a coat.

6. Sometimes I think I can fit into some of my old pants and then at the end of the day I take them off and I realize my stomach has been hurting all day from wearing pants that don't fit.

7. I just got an ipod. Talk about behind the times. :) And I got it with my airmiles so it was free. (even though Reg says that's not free cause I used my airmiles but I call it free.)

8. Found this list of books to read to your kids or have them read before they are 10. I've been thinking about books for Alden (and Lucy) that are not kid picture books but chapter books. Looks like lots of classics.

9. Another shot to end on from my class of Lucy wearing a sweet vintage hat I found at a swap meet.


10. I've decided it would be neat to plan a swap meet. Rent the ice arena in town, get vendors, have a little booth with treats to sell aka "concession". Cool vintagey things and antiques. Like this one of my dreams to attend but a small version in Southern Alberta. But it'd almost need to be a fundraiser for something? And really it'd just be nicer if someone ELSE planned one and I got to go. But that seems unlikely.

In the Kitchen: Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

A recipe I have had FOREVER. A classic cookie.


2/3 cup margarine, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
170 g dried cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Beat margarine and sugar together in medium bowl until fluffy and light.
Add eggs and mix well.
Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Add margarine mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in cranberries and chocolate chips.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 9 minutes or until golden brown.

*don't over cook these as that will make them hard!*

Spiritual Sundays

From here

Foto Friday: Our Year in Photos

Month 3 Week 4: Favorite Character or Movie.

For the fourth week of each month we'll focus on details.

To know more about this project you can read my first post here.

Well this week I had a lot of fun taking my pictures :) Lucy could never decide her favorite character or movie. She just kept saying but I love this book and this book and this book. So I never did take one of her but Eli and Alden both decided.

First up Eli. And this is his response. :) Totally Inspired by my friend Caryle who did Superman pictures with her adorable son Jeran.



We had some fun taking these this week :)

And Alden. Alden LOVES Mario. Love love love loves him and his silly games. This is totally inspired by one I found online.
I had wanted to do the whole family wearing a mustache.... but Eli would NOT wear it and Oliver was crying sooo no family Mario picture but here are the four that actually play the game :)



My favorite part of this picture??? Regan's face! And man, how a paper mustache makes my nose look big. Good thing I can NOT grow a real one. (whoops left out that not at first :) )


You can see all my other entries for this project here

Go check out Brooke's over here!

Please tell me if you have a link somewhere for playing along and I'll add the links.

Listography: List 64

List 64: Quotes I love.

I have LOTS of quotes i love. Some posters I've made of some favorites: (you could download any of the ones I've made - they are 8x10 pictures.)

Some others not on posters:
"Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world" - Julie B Beck

“Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others...By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.” President Gordon B. Hinckley


"I'm not ashamed to say that... I want to be good. And I've found in my life that it has been critically important to establish this intention between me and the Lord so that i knew that HE knew which way I committed my agency. I went before him and said: "I'm not neutral, and you can do with me what you want. If you need my vote, it's there. I don't care what you do with me, and you don't have to take anything from me because I give it to you - everything i own, all that I am.." and that makes the difference." - Boyd K Packer

And some posters I've found elsewhere on the net with quotes I LOVE:

oh man I could keep going.... but I'll stop here! :)

Drumheller

My brother and SIL invited us to go for a looong drive Saturday to the dinosaur museum. We wavered... it's a long drive from here. But I think it's good to try to do fun things like this with our kids. And friends going too? Great!
The kids surprised us with how good they travelled. And confirmed it for us - on the summer we'l drive down to Utah for a vacation!




Then we checked out reptile world and it was gross, cool and really really stinky.




Then we went and checked out the HUGE T-Rex you can climb up. (Totally a ripoff but the kids loved it!)


Then we all went out to Boston Pizza - the waitress earned her tips that night! And a crazy snow storm blew in while we drove home.

It was a great day!

10 on Tuesday

1. On Saturday we drove to Drumheller with three other families. It was fun and gross (the reptile place). And a long drive. I'll post a whack of pictures from our adventures on Wednesday. Here's twp for now. Yep that's a big snake around our necks. And Roman and Finn standing/ sitting next to some huge turtles.


2. Can't believe it snowed again.

3. Guess who FINALLY got new boots??


4. Love this shot I caught of Regan and Eli playing train one morning in the kitchen. Regan was shooting it on his iPhone too.


5. Speaking of his iphone he had to get a new one since Alden dropped his last one and the WSD couldn't be fixed.

6. We had a lot of kids over this past week and Eli loved it every time.All these boys were over to play for a while and they convinced me they needed to watch one tv show so I let them and then they came upstairs and told me they wanted to play with that thing with colors - and I could NOT figure out what they were talking about.... so they took me downstairs and pointed to the Twister box. They had seen commercial and wanted to play it. They played with it for like 40 minutes!


7. Loved this shot I caught of Eli sitting on the kitchen stools.


8. Playing doctor with dad before church Sunday morning.


9. I am tired.

10. I love this man for putting up with me trying my photo class assignments when I need someone to be in a picture (especially when I KNOW he doesn't like pictures!)

Oliver at 6 months

Can you believe it? This little man is 6 months old already!!!


In the first week by Devyn at DB Images


And then a week or so later by Kinsey at Kinsey Holt Photography


At six months Oliver:

• is sleeping mostly on a schedule, goes to bed around 730-8pm sleeps until 5 am, feeds and goes back to sleep until 730 or 8am, awake until 10am sleeps until 1130am, sleepy around 1pm again and sleeps until 3ish (if we are home which often it seems we aren't, awake until 6 where he has a cat nap and then bed again

• is the happiest baby! Smiling all the time and loves attention from anyone anytime
• puts up with constant affection from Eli quite well
• rolls all over the place
• sleeps on his tummy
• loves his soother
• slobbers A LOT

• has tried rice cereal, barley cereal, prunes, parsnips, applesauce, strawberries, bananas, water
• likes parsnips the most and really could do without any of the rest
• makes a real mess when he eats
• is VERY grabby

• loves to make "b" sounds and talk
• blows out his diapers a fair bit still
• wears 6-9 month clothes

• loves his jolly jumper a LOT
• loves to stand and will even move his feet like walking sometimes
• still spits up a bit

• is such a calm relaxed baby
• thinks his siblings are hilarious
• is quite snuggly
(Eli took this one)

• likes being rocked to sleep
• loves to play with my hair
• really brings so much love and happiness into our home. He is ajoy to have around!