fun times

We've been all around calgary, seeing the sights.
showing our friends, Kelly and Rob, all the things we love about Alberta.
and having them meet some of the people we love too.
it has been so fun.

of course we had a little photo shoot before they left
here is one of my favorites...



you can see more family photo shoot pictures here here.


We saw a lot of Emma and Kelly back out in Nova Scotia.
Alden and Emma spent a lot of time together.
And the minute they were together it was like they hadn't been apart.
Same for me and Kelly.


Lucy was a big fan of baby Morgan.
The beginning of the week she kept calling her Baby Jack.
She did finally learn her name.
And man, did she love to hold Morgan and say "hi baby."




Thursday we went to the Telus Science Center and Creative Kids Museum.

All of the kids loved it. And so did the adults.



Emma was in her element with the big stage and the air guitar center.




Our original plan was to go to Calway Park on Saturday but the weather was NOT cooperating. So instead we went to Drumheller.

It was good times. A little longer of a drive than we had expected... but still fun.

During the museum, we walked up to a three older ladies standing looking at a display. Alden leans in really close and says really loudly "well that is very interesting."





While we went down south, Grandma and Grandpa Steed were kind enough to let us all stay at their house. The kids loved it. And Grandma had lots of fun with the kids, as usual.



While down south we took Kelly and Rob and kids to Waterton.
Kelly had never seen real mountains.
And Alberta has the best, so we had to take them there.
It was a good trip. Not the best weather.

Threw rocks in the river. And the lake.



Flew Alden's Pterodactylus kite we got in Drumheller.



Enjoyed the scenery.



Saw LOTS of animals.
1. deer with two baby fawns
2. a fox
3. a badger
4. buffalo
5. mountain sheep
6. gophers (Kelly had never seen them before and really liked them)
7. squirrels
8. a mom bear with two cubs



Enjoyed Cameron Lake (one of our favorite spots) by throwing in sticks and going on the dock.




Wonderful Aunt Lil and Uncle Murray let us (on short notice) bring out everyone and ride the horses. That made Emma's trip.
Alden got to drive the tractor. Which made his trip.
And the surprise was Lucy who LOVED the horse.
I guess she's got a little of me in her.
(I used to have my own horse when I was a younger. I wanted to be a barrel racer.)
She cried when we took her off the horse.



It was so good to have Kelly and Rob visit us.
I SO wish we still lived close to each other.
Love love love them.
But since we aren't moving back to Nova Scotia and they aren't moving to Alberta, looks like we'll just have to make a habit of visitng each other as much as possible.

hi

so I am back. :) online that is.
we got a fancy new computer. love it.
really enjoying it A LOT.
Just got it today.

Besides not having the internet or checking my email,
i've been doing photo shoots (you can see them here)

hanging out out side (except for those insanly rainy days)

been scrapbooking....






hanging out with friends, and going to the zoo.

Tomorrow my good friend Kelly is coming all the way from Nova Scotia for a week.
Fun Times!!!

computer isssues

computer issues.
so our computer no longer accesses in internet.
we have to get a new one.
so as soon as we get one, i'll be back up and posting. :)

a little tu tu

i was getting ready for another photo shoot a couple days ago.....
and getting out my props.
I don't have too many.
But I do have this one.

Thanks to my talented sister in law Erin.

Well my little helper found it.



And INSISTED that she had to wear it around.
Along with her winter boots.
The house.
In the car.
Walking outside.
Nice hot day.
Clothes + jacket + winter boots + tutu.

She even got a few compliments from passing people. :)

I wonder who's fashion sense she got?

NO way.

Lucy's new thing to say is "no way."

Mom:"hey Lucy, dad is home, why don't you go give him a hug?"
Lucy: "No way"

Mom: "Lucy are you finished eating dinner?"
Lucy: "No way"

Mom: "Lucy, let's put your shoes on"
Lucy: "No way"

Lucy:" Movie, Movie, Dora"
Mom:" Lucy do you want to watch a movie?"
Lucy: "No way"

Lately

I feel like I have been so busy lately!

Had two photo shoots last friday.
A new baby girl in the morning


and then a grad photo shoot in the afternoon.


Last saturday i met up with some of my Scraptivity friends for a little get together.
Alden had so much fun.
And so did I.
In the evening Regan and I went on to Spiderman 3.

Sunday was busy with church stuff.
Monday we cleaned the house.
Deep cleaned. LOVE that.

Then Tuesday I went up to Edmonton to see my brand new Nephew and his mommy, sister in law Lindsay& dad Derik. (Along with Grandma, Sister in law's Brooke and Susie and bro-in-law Brett.)
Got to take some pictures and have fun.



Also went out to dinner with some GOOD friends I haven't seen a quite a while.
Some old roommates.
And man was that the best!!!! Oh I miss Rosalind and Dyane!
Then Wednesday night I went out for treats with some more Scraptivity friends.
And that was great too.

Caught this photo of Alden completely in the tv zone while I was taking baby photos. It cracks me up.
This is totally why he is not allowed to watch very much tv!
the tv zone.


Drove home Thursday, after stopping to see another friend in Edmonton, Maria, who had a baby girl around the same time as my SIL. They lived out in Nova Scotia when we did. Alden LOVES Fraser and Jane and talks about them constantly, so it was good to have a visit for all of us!

Friday we spent at home.
At least besides having dinner at a friend's house.

And then today, My mom and I went to a quilt show.
A big one. WE did LOTS of walking!
It was fun. And tiring.
No pictures uploaded yet, but man ws there some amazing handiwork there.

I have to do all my sunday prep tonight, mop the floor, work on my June Scraptivity kit, and get some more photos edited.

Wow.
I feel tired rethinking about my past week.
:)
Lots of fun.

Thomas the Train

THought I would share some more Thomas photos for the grandma's.
Heaven for Alden.

7 lovely things

Well the coolest things have been happening lately.
One of which is that my favorite Scrapbooker/Collage Artist EVER tagged me.
Rebecca Sower.
And even came to my blog.(Which now makes me all nervous that I should have extra good things to say. ;) )
Anyway, she said "I'd love to hear 7 reasons why your life is lovely right now."
So.
7 reasons.

1. Last Saturday we got to make a dream come true for Alden. We took him to ride on Thomas the train. And the first time he saw the smoke in the sky from Thomas coming around the bend. And then Thomas appearing. Seriously thought he was going to pass out from excitement. I will remember that for a long long time. And so will He.


2. I have been getting more and more photo shoots. My portfolio is building. And that makes me happy. I LOVE taking people's pictures. This lady, Julie, had her baby and I am taking her newborn's photos tomorrow. AND doing a fun group of grad shots for some teenages. I have some REALLY fun ideas. Hope they are up for anything.


3. Spring is here. Birds singing. Kids playing in the sandbox. Going on walks. Weiner roasts. Everything is coming alive. And i love it.

4.Regan and I are going on a trip in July. I'm not a trip person. I've never been on one really. But we are going to LA. Just us two. That is a first. And I am completely and utterly excited for it.

5.Fruit is in season. YIPEE. We eat a LOT of it around here. My kids eat a lot. Desserts with fruit. Fresh fruit. Freezer jam. Love fruit.

6. Regan. He makes my life lovely. Very lovely. I am so happily married. And so lucky. I am grateful every day for him. How hard he works for us. Medical school is a hard thing. He is so smart. I'm just so lucky.

7. My little Lucy is just SO fun lately. I LOVE the 18 month old stage. She talks SO MUCH. She laughs at everything (i am so funny to her!)She sleeps good. She is starting to play with things. She sits for stories. She says love you mommy to me. And kisses and hugs us. She makes life so lovely. I am especially loving this stage we are in right now.


Thanks for the challenge Rebecca!
Great way to look at my life.

I did a little garden work today.
Planted some flowers to spruce up the yard.



And I had a little helper.

No.
It wasn't this one.
He has busy having fun playing.



It was this one.




She is quite the helper.
If I planted something, she would help me by pulling it back up.
I mean it wasn't in that good of a spot.
I guess.

And if I made a pile of dirt, she would taste it.
You know just to see if the plants would be happy in it.
She'd start crying, since in fact, dirt does taste bad
So I would stop planting and wash out her mouth with the cold hose.

So she'd put a new pile of dirt in her mouth.
It might taste better the second time.



Or the third.
But in fact.
It doesn't.
It's still dirt.




Just so you know,if you are thinking maybe I'll do some yard work while the kids play around me with all their fun toys - it'll be a great way to accomplish things and send time together outside. Enjoying nature.

It doesn't quite work out that way.
But we had some fun anyway.

Alden's GREAT day

This past week we made a little trek across town to see Uncle Sean at his firestation.
We had to drop off something so we made it a little family trip.
Our friday night party.

And when we got there Sean was out in the ambulance on a call.
But the firefighters were there.
I told them who we were looking for and they asked if we wanted to look at the fire trucks. I think they could see Alden looking longingly at the trucks.

So a nice young firefighter gave us a tour.
And seeing as he knew that Alden was Sean's nephew and that he loooves that Uncle Sean is a paramedic in an ambulance, this nice firefighter took the opportunity to sway Alden to how cool firefighters are.

They have this competition thing.
Between firefighters and paramedics/EMTs.

And little Alden reeped the benefits of it.

As soon as Uncle Sean pulled up in the ambulance he saw this.


Alden got to try on the whole firefighter outfit.
(And he looks uncomfortable because he is. That hat is HEAVY.)

So then Uncle Sean had to show Alden how really the cool thing is the ambulance.
So he let him try on his bullet proof jack and hat (also REALLY heavy)


And then he took him in the back and even hooked him up to the EKG machine.
Which was cool. Even dad enjoyed that.




This was a good day for Alden.
He loved it.


As for the rest of us, I've been taking photos of more soon to be mommies.
And spending time outdoors enjoying that spring is FINALLY here.


Looking to book some more photo shoots for the summer too.
I have a few more lined up.
That is coolio.

This girl...

Lucy Ann at 18 months - almost 19 months....
• loves her older brother Alden and says his name constantly all day long & follows him around
• has recently discovered Dora thanks to Grandma Davis - she pulls out the one Dora DVD we have and asks to "watch Dora"
• eats HUGE amounts of food especially eggs in all forms and fresh fruit
• has to feed herself everything = a lot of mess
• has to right on my lap while I am doing everything, and I mean everything
• goes to bed around 7:30 and sleeps til about 8:30 or 9
• has an afternoon nap for 1- 1.5 hours
• has recently discovered playing in the sandbox, (she doesn't eat THAT much sand)
• wants to play with whatever Alden is
• picks out books for me to read to her in piles
• says pretty much everything (and is constantly talking)
• can throw one serious temper tantrum
• HAS to say Amen three times after every prayer (including the ones in church)
• says "heeeeewwwwwwwwwooooooooo" with a drawl
• loves to play with her little people house
• says "cheese" as soon as I pull out the camera
• loves her bathtime and will ask for it at any hour of the day
• carries around her "puppy" and her "bunny"
• loves to stand on her head
• likes to run around chasing Alden
• HATES having her teeth brushed and screams the whole time
• only wants me to put her to bed (which gets tiring sometimes)
• likes to put her own diaper in the garbage & gets quite upset if you don't let her
• loves books about babies
• is finally getting some molars (oh joy)
• has the cutest laugh EVER - seriously the cutest
• loves to give Regan and I raspberries on our bellies and backs
• still loves peek-a-boo
• starting paying a little attention to tv but not for too long
• greats me in the morning with "hi mom" "up?"
• still loves to snuggle a lot and suck her thumb
• loves to talk on the phone to anyone and everyone especially grandma
• but always says "love you dadda" no matter who is on the phone
• asks for diaper changes and lays on the floor with her legs up
• does not want to be carried she just wants to walk on her own
• is such a happy girl and such a joy in our home


And on another note.
I was working on pictures and found this one.
I like that you can see the love in it.

deep stuff

The past week my Uncle passed away. Suddenly too.
He had a heart attack.

Uncle Glen and I weren't that close.
But it is family. And death is death.
And It is always sad.

I was asked to play the organ at the funeral - which was stressful since I am not an organ player. And I was supposed to play Amazing Grace while my cousin Lori sang.
It went okay. But it was stressful for me.

Right after we all left the church, I went over and hugged my cousin Leah.
Uncle Glen's daughter.
That is when I cried.

I remember.
I remember all too well that saddness of sudden unexpected loss.
I don't think you can really understand and really feel it, unless you have lost someone you loved suddenly.
Holding her as she cried, as we cried, I remembered.

Leah drove out to be with my family when Kelly died.
She was there. Right there.
Showing love and helping. And just being there.
No one can say anything to take away the saddness from death.
I believe very strongly in life after death. I know that Kelly is somewhere else.

But it's not about that. Even though they go somewhere where they are happy.
It's about them not being here. That loss for everyone left behind.
Life will not be the same.

Yes, we will see our loved ones again.
But death is still sad for the loss.
And nothing anyone says takes away that loss.
I'm sorry.
They are in a good place.
That is nice. And good to hear.
But you are still going to be sad.

And Leah, she was right there for us.
And so when I was holding her as she cried, I felt sad for her.
Not just because she suddenly lost her dad.
But also because she now knew.
She understood in a way she couldn't before.
That deep sadness of loss.

That is why I drove in a van for 6 hours one way, with just my kids.

It changes you.
Losing someone you love.
I think God planned it that way.
And it had better change us too.
It makes me grateful every day for my family.
For each day I have with loved ones.
Which is why I am so glad to be home.

Bob the builder

Tonight while I was making supper.

alden: "mom, how do you spell Bob, as in Bob the Builder?"
mom: "B-O-B."
alden: "but what comes first?"
mom: "B - then O then B."
alden:" mom, how old is Bob?"
mom: "i don't know - how old do you think he is?"
alden "the same age as my dad - 9"

:)

There used to be a time when Bob the Builder was a big deal around our house.
Before the Thomas phase.
When our lovely neighbor Kathleen gave us lots of Bob movies and toys.
Well Bob is back.
But with Lucy.
She walks around with our Bob books.
Saying "Bob"
"It's Bob."
And if Alden trys to look at the Bob books... LOOK OUT.
Serious fit from Lucy.
And since Bob is always talked about by Lucy, Alden is giving him a little more attention lately too.
Wasn't expecting a Bob phase with a little girl.
But here we are. :)

Alden recently....

1. decided that he needs to hold the remote while he is watching tv. He has never really cared before.... but the past few days, the manly urge has come out in him. :)


2. colored his toes (and a lot of his feet) with blue sharpie last sunday morning while Regan and I were getting ready for church. After I caught him and told him that wasn't the best decision... he said it's okay, just wipe it off. When I explained that it doesn't just "wipe off" he said, "it's okay mom, i can just wear socks ALL DAY long."

3. got his first bike. And man is he excited. Got his helmet. Just need some bolts to hook on the training wheels and he will be motoring along.

ideas

i love it when you get an idea in your head and it turns out.
like this photo.
i saw it in my head and it worked out.
and that makes me happy.

Photo Talk: photos and more photos

i've been up to my eyeballs in photo editing.
And that is cooooool. :)
Lots of new ones on my photo blog.
Photography Blog
check em out.
Another one still to post and a new shoot tomorrow.
coolio.


AND i've started a blog with some friends and sister in laws - where we all exchange recipes. We were going to email them each week - but this way if I lose it - it's still here. And you can search with it too. all in all - good idea by Regan to make it into a blog. Everyday Meals

AND Alden started swimming lessons today. And he loved it. Seriously excited about getting him involved in things. Letting him experience things and interact with other kiddos. So good for him. And so good for me.

AND seriously Sanjia is STILL on american idol. I think he is awful.
Send him home already people!

Peace out.

1. Last week I was down South at my inlaws for a week. It was lots of fun times. Got to hang out with my sister in laws Lindsay and Susie and momma Steed. We had fun. And our kids really enjoyed each other.

2. I also visted my mom one day and got to see almost all my sister in laws on my side too. Got some cute photos of cute little Jacob. My youngest brother Justin's youngest baby boy. Is he not just a doll!! Look at those eyes. Beeeeeeauitful.






3. And little Lucy got her first little pig tales. Seriously how cute is THAT! She can't have real piggies yet.... but this is definately a START!




4. It is April 1st. Even though it doesn't look a BIT like it outside. (Stinking snow) So the new kit is out at Scraptivity. Here are two of my pages. I had lots of fun with this kit. Not my usual paper I would buy. But I enjoyed it. Had some fun with photoshop too - so that always makes things funner!



5. We are headed back down south for the weekend so Regan can do shadowing with his dad in the ER in Raymond. And so we can have easter with the family.

6. If you get a chance to read the Calgary Herald today, read the great letter from Regan to the editor about religion and education. GREAT job by Regan.

7. Last week while I was down south I got to have lunch and a little play date with the fabulous Rebecca Cooper. Seriously cute. Of course talented. And really really nice. (She has a book coming out- which is COOL.)

So long for now. :)