[digiscrap: Shoutouts]

It was a late night, a few nights ago, and I ventured on to Simply Yin's blog. She's a mastermind "template designer" for digiscrapping ... and her and I have had a few lovely conversations about digiscrap, kids and God.  Anyway - while I was scrolling down her posts, I saw that she had done another shoutout for me on her site ... hmmm ... maybe that's where all my hits are coming from *grin*??  You can check it out here.

AND I've been digiscrapping up a storm ... well, more like a hurricane.  Or typhoon.  A lot of pages being done - feeling good about it ... I desperately want to get these 2009 pics off of my computer and get on to 2010 ... I can do it, I can do it, do it do it ... Yup - I can do it, as long as Yin keeps designing templates *laughing*!!  And if our kids keep going to bed before 8pm ... and hour a night is all I need. 

Here are a few recent pages, I'll post more later.  Click the image to enlarge.

Have a great one!

[redhandedphotography: Katia's Six Month Pics]

PHEWF!  We're back from a really wonderful few days away ... My hubby and I headed to Calgary to visit some dear friends of ours.  Dear friends.  Wow.  I sound like I'm eighty.

ANYway - we brought Katia with us, and she was as good as gold.  We shopped, went out for a fantabulous Italian dinner, I helped lead worship at our friend's church ... and we laughed so much, that I didn't feel guilty about ignoring my sit-ups routine.  Ha!   Who am I kidding??  I don't HAVE a sit-ups routine *grin*!!

There's much to post about - but first, before I left I tried to catch up on Katia's monthly portraits.  So - here are a couple from the shoot ... and click here to head to by photography blog for more pics.

Have a great one!!

[katia: Month Five]

Five months?  REALLY?

Well.  I guess it has been.  Let's see - she's sleeping really well, chewing on her hand (teething?), pulling herself up when I hold her hands, cooing, laughing ... they may sound lame to you, but I assure you I am loving each and every moment!

Her blue eyes are starting to change.  Both of our boys had blue eyes - and now one has brown, the other hazel.  So - we'll see what happens with Taya.

I have savoured each moment with Katia.  I think that with her being our third, it gave me a reality check of how quickly each stage goes.  With our first born, I thought I'd never sleep again.  And I didn't realize that each stage really was only a matter of a few short weeks (like smiling, then laughing, pulling up, sitting ...).

If we had a fourth, I'd be REALLY relaxed (ha! and insanely busy!) ... and NO.  There will not be a fourth.  We're done.   Lord willing *wink*.

To see more pics, please visit my redhanded photography blog here.

Have a good one!

[redhandedphotography: New Portrait Pics]

New blogpost on my photography blog at  http://www.redhandedphotography.blogspot.com/ .  Just in case you're interested? ...

I have so much going on - busy, wonderfully busy - with connecting with many different friends these past few weekends, photography shoots, hockey practices, piano recitals, the "kindergartens leading chapel" this morning at school,  and to top it off - my hubby, Katia and I are heading to Calgary on Thursday to hang with more wonderful friends.  The kiddies are enjoying having so many things planned to do (kids are like that, aren't they?) including a couple of nights with their grandparents (um - they're a little TOO excited about that.  Their grandparents spoil them!!)  ... and then tonight, I'm off with my hubby to hang downtown and enjoy some of the energy of the Winter Olympics ... can't wait!!

So, whether your schedule is beautifully calm and "stay-at-home-and-watch-24" kind of day, or full of adventure and busy-ness, I hope that all is well with you ... have a good one!

*HI NZ FAMILY!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!*

[talk: The Olympic Torch]

Wow.  Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 is here???  Crazy!!

The Olympic Torch came through our neck of the woods - and my hubby and I had a fantastic "family" day to celebrate.

The torch was going right by my hubby's office, so the kids and I met him there early and off to lunch we went ... nothing like ice cream at DQ to start off this special day!!

Then, we headed to the road where all sorts of wonderful Canadians were gathering ... it was such a great sense of community, such a sense of pride.

The kids were SO into it ...

and I had the opportunity to hold the torch myself!!  I was GIDDY!!

Then the flame came by ... the crowds were cheering, we were all so excited ...

It was such a fantastic, fantastic day!

Bring on the Olympics!!  We're so ready for this once-in-a-lifetime-in-our-city-event!

[biggest loser: 'Fessing Up]

Oh.  Is it Monday?  (no ... this is actually being written on Sunday night, like most of my posts are *GRIN*).

Ok.  Let's pretend it's Monday and start again.

Oh.  Monday?  Already?

And you wonder why I haven't had a Biggest Loser post?  Well ... it's time to face the music.  Time for some radical honesty.  Time for me to start being accountable again.

I was doing so well - and then Sun Peaks happened.  We went away for a few days, and our menu plan consisted of easy-to-pack food (pasta, lasagne etc ...).  We played games late into the evening - with the munchies always within an arms reach.  We didn't pack a stroller - didn't have the room in the van - so getting outside for exercise wasn't happening as much as it should've.

Ok - but that was WEEKS ago.  But what happened was I got off track and now I'm ready to get back on.

I'm not weighing myself today (which is really tomorrow for me right now ... ).  I'm going to cut myself some slack - BUT I do know that I've gained 2lbs (you do the math ...) and I'm HOPING to start next Monday at where I left off before the New Year.

That's the plan.

But in all of this, I've learned that I'm SUCH an emotional eater.  When my hubby was away - I was lonely in the evenings, and I ate.  When I was upset, I ate.  When I was struggling with the imbalance of hormones that most new moms feel, I ate. 

It stops now.  My goal for this week is to drink more water, have no white carbs after 2pm (so, whole grains for supper), and no "treats".  I also will be committing to ride the bike 20min every day.

Are any of you still doing your own version of the Biggest Loser?  Am I alone with the little break that I had *grin*?  How are you doing with it?  Any tips?   Any venting?  Venting feels good *grin* ...

[make: CARS Racing Track Cake]

You'd THINK that Josiah would be keen to have something different for his birthday party.  You know - maybe a pirates theme, or Mickey Mouse, or Little Einsteins.  Something other than Cars??  It's always Cars ... his playtime, his room, his birthdays ... ah well.  I guess it's his thing *grin*.

The only cakes I've made have had a "Cars" theme - aside from the ghastly bowling cake I attempted for Tias this past year. Tias was the first one to fancy the little red racing car named Lightning McQueen -  ... and yet, here I found myself doing it again.  Siah wanted a "fast-race-track-cars-Piston-cup-cake".  Oh dear.

I had no clue where to start, so I baked 2 nine inch rounds with chocolate cake as my first step.  Then I stared at them on and off for about 3 hours as they cooled.  I was lost as to what to do next.  So - I trimmed them both a little, so they fit together.  Then, with the cut wedges, I created the "stands" ... I trimmed them too.  Hmmm.  What next, what next ...

Then, I got out the kinked-up string licorice I had bought and started doing the "outline" of what I wanted.  I knew I wanted a race track - so I put that in.  And then I figured I'd do a "3" - since it was his third birthday.  Then I outlined the stands.

I thought that I'd make the center part "grass", so I used green sprinkles.  Then, I used fine, black sugar to spread as the ashphalt.  I used a small spoon to smooth it out right to the edges. 

I used larger confetti candy to imitate the "cars crowd" in the stands.  At first, I had thought that I might put them in individually, but that was too painfully slow for me.  I ended up just spooning them on, and pushing them into place. 

I hummed and hawed about the colour of the "3", and opted to use the colourful confetti candy to fill it in.  Then I had to break out the tweezers to pick up the teensy weensy candies that landed in the wrong spots. 

I used the small Cars characters to decorate, along with a "trophy" candle, three striped candles (for the finish line), and a couple of checkered flags.

It really didn't take long - the hardest part was deciding what to do.

I was really happy with how it turned out.  And more importantly, so did Josiah.

Have a good one!

[katia: Baby Dedication]

Every home has something that they look forward to - and for our little family, we look forward to the day our child is dedicated at our church.

This is a time where we have our church family stand with us in our desire to raise our child to know the love of Christ and serve Him alone.  It is not a baptism, but a prayer - and a time where the importance of family love and support is most apparent.

Little Katia Rose was dedicated at our church this past Sunday morning.  Our little family stood together as our Pastor prayed blessing and protection over her. 

After the service, my parents held a little luncheon for our immediate family members at their house.   Our cousin and her daughter from New Zealand were here on vacation, and as a gift of love to us, they offered their talents of design and culinary expertise *grin*!

 

It was a lovely afternoon, with the boys playing with their cousins and the adults laughing and sharing stories.  Family is a beautiful thing - and such a gift.  It is a blessing to have my in-laws and parents be so close, and to have my NZ family be welcomed as if they lived next door.  My heart is full of thanks to be surrounded by such wonderful people, whose same blood runs in my own veins.

 

And at the heart of this, was Katia.  How amazing that this little one pulls our family even closer together, provides us with another common bond and makes all of our souls smile.

 

 

 

It truly was a lovely day.