13/52

Once again, it's Monday and so time for a few examples of the portraits I took this past week.  Trying to take shots from different angles, and trying to capture some more variety with what the kids do day to day.  It would be so easy to do an entire series on the different places Ry plays his Nintendo DS, and perhaps I should given it seems to be such a big part of his life these days, but somehow that's not what I want to remember from these days:-)  Reminds me again of how much power is given to the one recording the days.......and gives me something to think about as I pick up my camera each day.

For this second set, Kea is holding up the very first jar of maple syrup, which Jamie boiled down this weekend.  So very exciting.  We all enjoyed a delicious taste on Sun morning, then drove to Kingston for a visit with Jamie's great uncle and gifted it to him:-)

And Jamie recently put the rings in our hallway so he could start doing more chin-ups and pull-ups and stretching.  Of course, it's hard for him to get onto them as they've been taken over by the kids!  Tiegan practices her gymnastics, and Ry swings as high as he can:-)

And finally, I LOVE this last photo, only because it's a classic expression on Ry's face when he is pissed off/angry at us.  I'm trying to capture moments that are less than the typically happy ones, but also being respectful of the strength of their feelings.  Often a tricky balance, especially when they really just need a big hug from mom:-)

Another trip to the Museum of Nature.......

I walked Kea to the bus this morning, and it was -20 with the wind chill.  On March 26th.  Brrrrrrrr.  Jamie got up at 4 am this morning as he had to catch a flight to Halifax for work.  He drove all the way out there, only to discover that the flight had been cancelled due to the CRAZY winter storm expected to hit the east coast today.  I've heard predictions of 30 cm of snow and crazy winds.  This is the CRAZIEST spring I've ever experienced, and I'm trying really hard to just roll with it.  But I'm getting mighty sick of feeling cold at this point, and am so very ready to be preparing our soil and feeling warm sun on my face!!!!!!!

For now, I'm going to snuggle with my hot cup of tea, escape into a silly Meg Cabot audio book and make some more beef stew and lentil soup and pumpkin muffins!  And share a few photos from our recent visit to the Museum of Nature (one of our favourites) this past weekend.  Kea had a dance workshop, so we found ourselves downtown for a couple of hours and decided to spend them here.  (I realized that I used my i-phone to take most of the photos, I really need to stop doing that as although it's fast and easy, the quality usually sucks for anything beyond seeing it on my phone!!!!)

They've taken down the huge blue whale that usually hangs here, and replaced it with a jellyfish in anticipation of a new exhibit coming - can't wait for it to come!

LOVE all the details in this old building, so very ornate.......

We spent a couple of minutes in this flower arranging exhibit.  Not really the most popular with the kid portion of the family:-)  Though some of the arrangements were pretty cool, and now I have some ideas of what to do with the antlers we've been collecting.....

This one below was Tiegan's favourite.  Simple elegance:-)

I asked Tiegan where she wanted her daily photo, and she told me she wanted to take it with this crazy huge blob of a frog.  Funny nut!

And Ry chose with this large frog skeleton - he's fascinated by this!!!

This is another portrait of Ry, though it's a bit hard to see (infrared - you can see his massive brain :-) in his head on the left, with his arms being held over his head.  This kind of reminds me of sharing ultrasounds of the kids, where you have to point out what everyone's seeing!)

And on one floor they have all these cool x-rays of fish, which I find endlessly fascinating - they just look so neat:-)

The kids were feeling a little bit less than fascinated by them:-)

Museum buddies - I think by this point, they were both done, done, done.  Life sure is rough, being dragged around one of the most fascinating museums full of amazing facts and stimulating exhibits.   My poor kids sure do suffer.......

Spring on the Property!

Just a wee look into what spring has been looking like here on the property!!!!  We've had a few warm afternoons full of sunshine and renewed energy, but mostly we've had super cold (ie freeze the tips of your hair and eyelashes when you go out for a walk cold) temperatures and regular dumps of snow.  I'm feeling kind of done with winter, I have to say, and oh-so-ready to start boiling down some sap for maple syrup.  Come on spring, I know you're out there somewhere!!!!!

Can you see the two deer in this last picture?  They were right outside our bedroom window, and just sat there slowly getting covered with snow.  Silly deer.  I guess what else are you going to do when you're stuck outside on a day like this?!!!!

12/52

Another week of portraits of the kids - it's fun to pick up my camera each day and try to capture a moment in the kids' days.  As I look back at the photos I've taken over the past few months, I realize that this project is so much more about capturing moments and memories that I want to remember - the day to day, the funny looks that epitomize each child for me, the silly moments and the dull moments.  I haven't focused so much on the quality of the photo, but more on the spur of the moment.  One day I'd like to focus on improving the technical side of portrait photography, but for now I'm so happy to be capturing the day-to-day moments.  So many memories captured already, I can't wait to see where this year takes us :-)

Kea walking to the bus, under the full moon - but so much more light than even a month ago!!!!  So exciting to see increased daylight:-)

Tiegan's reading is improving so much these days, I'm really impressed.  It's still a challenge to her, but she has come SO FAR since this time last year!!!!!!

Bath time.  This kid does not like to get into the bath.  He resists so much, and often will go weeks without one (we try to slip in a trip or two to the swimming pool in between, just to get him clean!) but once I get him in he'll happily play for a good 45 minutes.  Funny nut:-)

Kea got a new top this week, and finds it's PERFECT for dancing down our long hallway.

Tiegan, duster extra-ordinaire.  

Ryland's bed hair - and a very typical expression on his face:-)

11/52

Another week of portraits, and as usual I have more than one for each child from my week of portraits. 

Kea's been fighting a cold this week, so she's spent a lot of time cuddled up in bed with her books - 

Tiegan loves to sit at the computer, typing out song lyrics and working on a story.  *I* love the way the light streams through the bamboo blinds as we get closer to spring:-)

And I LOVE all the freckles coming out on Ry's face these days - here he is very intense building a new lego kit from his birthday party:-)

Kea is SOOOOOOOOOOOO helpful - often Jamie's unable to join us when we go skiing, and Kea immediately steps up into his role, helping me load the skis up and making sure we have extra toques, gloves, scarves, etc - a true blessing in our busy busy lives!

A glimpse at Tiegan during an every day routine:-)

And then Ry, watching The Hobbit with his dad....

and since I find it so much more fun to watch Ry watch an intense movie, here's a few shots of Ry watching a fight scene.  It was evening, so the light is low and the photos blurred, but they give you a sense of a few minutes of time!!!!!!!

Babysitting gig -

A friend of ours needed some childcare one day during spring break, so we happily packed up and met them at the Museum of Nature for a fun afternoon with the most adorable toddler ever (and his big sisters too!!!  Though you'll see who stole the show through my photos!)  Tiegan was at a play date, so Kea and Ry took turns completely doting on and catering to little Elan!

First stop was the frog exhibit - very fascinating.  Check out how big this tadpole is! - 

Of course, even though there was such neat wildlife around, Elan was drawn again and again to all the buttons and computer exhibits:-)

Half way through our visit, the older kids had the opportunity to check out an owl pellet.....and Elan was accommodating enough to fall asleep in the sling during this time slot:-)

There were so many cool bones in each of the pellets!  And once Elan woke up again, we were in the bird section and he was so excited to walk around and discover so many huge birds - 

And, of course, play in the bird rescue play area.....

A happy way to spend an afternoon - hope we get a gig like this again soon:-)