Hello boxing day!!!

While I go through the hundreds of Christmas photos and try to pick my very favorites to put up here... I decided to jump RIGHT to the boxing day fun we had today!

I have a whack of photos I absolutely love from Christmas. We had family visiting and it was just so much FUN. Just a couple to prove it.....

Wine. Need I say more?

awwwww... so few and far between are the pics of us!

3 generations of girls :)

But for now.... we'll stick with boxing day :)
It was absolutely gorgeous out today. The kind of day that doesn't just whisper in your year... one that SCREAMS "hello time for toboganning!" So off we went.

And it was perfect. Even Kade made quite a few runs down the hill before happily calling it quits.

With the promise of hot chocolate ;) (which shockingly she actually drank the whole cup. Random.)

What is this? A smile? From Kade? In the snow? So happy it was warm out for this. Or she would have been OUT OF THERE. lol.

bliss.... can it be made up?

The memories I want to keep. The look of concentration on my daughter's face as she tries to draw an octopus. The beautiful warm colors indoors on a cold winter's day.

The way she sticks out her bottom lip when she is working on something.

her pretty pink nails.

Spending time with grandma. Just hangin out and coloring.

How very proud she is to display her final image.

I want to remember every bit of these moments.

How hard he tries NOT to smile.

how much she dislikes snow. and cold. and may have been born in the wrong country? lol.

I want to remember how much he LOVES to be outside playing.

and that she actually stood still IN THE SNOW in her snow bunny outfit she put on and let me take a picture.

I want to remember how happy his smile makes me.

WHICH IS A HUGE PROBLEM..... because right now all I can remember is.........

how long I had to spend at the mall. With two kids. Running around, hiding, screaming and having to go pee at the most inopportune times. Holding on to 2 parkas, having mitts thrown at me, glasses left behind in stores we visited. Trying to pick out clothing while holding my purse, the parkas, the mitts and the glasses. While also holding a bag of returns I already needed to do!  Listening to them begging to leave, then finding stuff they wanted me to buy..... oh the joys that is last minute Christmas shopping!

Hope you are all ready for Christmas. And can enjoy some beautiful, fun and relaxing moments before Christmas. While I keep running around like a crazy person. Taking pictures in the hopes that the memories I want to keep just take over the memories of the CRAZY mom chasing her kids round the stores ;)

tidbits for the Christmas season

Christmas Break. Some parents dread it. Some parents fear it. And I embrace it. I love love having both my kids at home. They drive me crazy, they drive me nuts.... but I want them around ;)

Christmas Break means a few things.

1. It really is definitely time to mail presents for all our family spread from BC to Manitoba. As it is Christmas break already it means they will have to go Express. Which is the story of my life. AND considering some of our family lives in the boonies... I doubt express will even get it to them in time. Again... story of my life.

2. If it is time to mail the presents.... I guess I HAVE to get on buying them. I guess #2 needs to go in front of #1. However... it is the realization of #1 that forces me to act on #2.

3. If it is Christmas Break, and I have to buy presents and mail them... then it is time to get the teacher's present. Which means.... shopping with Rohan. Cue music please. DUM DUM DUM.......

4. I have to clean my house.

(ok #4 is always around. Christmas or not. Just wanted to portray a sense of urgency.)

So once I really truly realized Christmas was coming and I was totally unprepared (thank Wednesday), I started to prepare. And in 3 days I learned a few things....

-taking 2 3yr olds to the mall when one of them is Keagan is not a good way to accomplish things. But it makes for super cute lunch date at Starbucks and some most excellent entertainment.
-do not book haircuts directly after school. Something always happens to make you have to super rush. To be late.
-my sister is awesome. She took Kade a few times and I got more accomplished than I ever could have otherwise. (of course I already knew she's awesome ;) )
-the post office being open until 9pm rocks. And super sweet post ladies pretty much make a person's day. Because people like me need that. 2 days in a row ;)
-I'm not really down with baking at 9:30 at night. Especially when I am so tired all I can do is make rice krispie squares. That make us late for school the next day because Kade hides them behind the couch before we leave. That are not red and green squares like we wanted because Safeway only had plain (shame on you Safeway). That didn't get eaten at school anyways because someone had a way cooler mom than me and actually had red and green rice krispies!
-jammy day at school is pretty much the coolest day ever for a kid. BUT it requires buying said kid new jammies. And then you have to buy the other one a set too. Cause it is jammy day for both even if only one is in school! The stuff part though... could be left out. 5 min searching for puppy. To not find puppy, to find George then to realize at school George had been forgotten. Also attributed to us being so late to school we needed a late slip lol.
-I was totally right about taking Kade to the dr. she hasn't been in well over a year. But after about a week of complaining about her ears and not being able to hear well (which also means she was talking LOUD)I took her. No infection. Her ears are blocked with wax. So we are putting oil in them. After having to pin her against me and hold her head down just to check her ears the dr said I would need backup to pin her if they need to be flushed. We could barely hold her down to have him look in her ears - never mind flush them! Here's hoping the oil works!
-Tim Horton's donuts really do make everything better when you are 3 and had to go to the dr's.
-Superstore is my nemesis. But if you read my blog you already know that.
-you can get a lot of things done with kids. Even in winter. When dealing with parkas, mitts, scarves, hats, puddles, slippery ice, bathroom breaks, falls, and tantrums. But you are going to need wine, bandaids, advil, and you are going to be very.very.sore. And a touch grouchy.

There are a few other things I experienced that need to be shared.
I spent a couple hours in Ro's classroom. EVERYONE should do this. At least once. No really. You should do it. Because you will gain knowledge and appreciation for what teachers go through every single day.
We are extremely lucky. Rohan has an awesome teacher. He adores her and writes her about 20 letters a day. So many we have had to start putting them in boxes. My kids play pretend and Kade plays Mme Simmons ever day. It has been the best possible experience for his first year of school we could have asked for.
And I watched her in action. She is kind, patient, and a ton of fun. I can NOT imagine going through all she does in a day and still smiling, hugging her students good bye, and telling me she has the best job in the world when Jax went up and told her he loved her :)
I saw her open Ro's carefully picked out present. Ro is the kind of kid that gets just as excited (if not more) GIVING presents and WATCHING other people open theirs as he is getting them. I mean he's not some crazy kid that doesn't have a list a mile long or anything. But he absolutely loves picking things out for people, and watching them open presents. The sales lady was just loving helping him shop for the perfect jewelry. She thought he was so cute and kept saying how great it was that he loves his teacher. The next day he ran right into his class and gave her the present. It was a ring. It was perfect. And he was so excited to give it to her. It made his day she put it on right then ;)
So.... take some time to thank your kids teachers. They deal with SO MUCH. Every single day. The patience they need to have is UNTHINKABLE. And appreciate them. I see what kind of influence she has on Rohan and it is amazing. He loves to go to school. Loves to learn. And she makes that a great experience for him every day.

(excuse the photo - I also learned school light... kind of ruins pictures lol)

Even though I am running around every day. Trying to get everything done. Make everyone happy. Through all this I realized that I should be grateful to have all this running around to do. Because our family near and far is amazing. To have all these people in our lives that all bring so much joy and happiness to our lives is a wonderful thing. So the end result is worth all the work.

And then... there are these faces. Faces that are SO EXCITED for Christmas. Little people who are counting down the days. The ones who about burst picking out a Christmas tree. Who are planning on catching Santa. Little people who can melt your heart in a moment and who make Christmas perfect.

And. On a completely unrelated note but I have to share cause it is THAT cute. ro got a haircut. He has wanted a real mohawk forever. He has had the fauxhawk since he had hair - but the last time we tried the real one is flopped. His hair is curly so it kind of flops. BUT I gave in and let him try it again. We went for a wider strip this time and it looks so good!! He looks like a little toughie.... I just love it! (although I will miss all the curls!)

Hope you all are having fun preparing for Christmas!!! After all it is 'the most wonderful time of the year!!!!'

oh baby! | Calgary baby photographer

I had the pleasure of photographing this little girl when she was just a teeny tiny little squishy bundle. Her session is here . She was not sure about getting her photos done then... but finally gave in.

Today she was a little rockstar!! She was smiling and talking.... I can't believe how much she has grown already! She still has that super adorable smile though :)

Thanks so much for bringing her back! I am super excited that I will be getting to spend a few more sessions together! It is fun to see all these babies grow up :)

She had definitely had enough at the end of the session... hope she didn't cry all the way home!

Just love this family. So fun. And their little girl is so loved :)

LOVED the bucket! Talking and  smiling away.... such a cutie!

This coat was over the top cute!!!

the difference between being thirty something and being three

is what you can get away with eating.

This is where my daughter lives.

No really it's true. Ask anyone in our family. This kid is a machine. 2 breakfasts is normal. Followed by a snack. And then comes lunch. Maybe once, maybe twice. Then a snack. Or two. Or three. Because by this point, who's counting anyways? She helps herself to the fridge, to the pantry. Which is fine by me... I get tired of catering to this little diva. Then it's supper. Thankfully she is usually tired of eating by then ;) The upside? She really likes a lot of healthy food. So I am ok with it. And she is a perfectly normal size so I am not overly concerned. But it is absolutely amazing to see how much this kid can pack in. And I do mean pack in. She stuffs her face like she has not eaten in weeks. EVERY TIME.

But then she looks at me when she is sneaking things.... or trying to

Busted. Like a kid in a candy store. And you know what I feel? Jealousy. I am thirty something. The weight is getting harder to take off. I make an attempt.... then get discouraged.

This week I had the bright idea of doing the cabbage soup diet with my sister.

Here is my NUMBER ONE tip when it comes to this diet:

DO NOT ATTEMPT.

No really do not do it. Don't even read about it. Don't google it. Don't give it another thought after you read this post. Seriously. So gross it is disturbing. I will spare you the gory details, but I will just say by the third morning.... looking at the soup was enough to gag me. There was absolutely NO WAY I could swallow any today. I thought maybe I could get by eating the fruits and veggies and try again tomorrow. But I was oh so hungry. And I had things to do and places to be. So.... at lunch time I threw in the towel. BEST COFFEE EVER.

That was my first ever diet... and my last. If the soup would have been good it would have been great... but seriously, who likes cabbage ANYWAYS????? Seriously. still.shuddering. And while I was choking down some soup and starving myself I was preparing food for the never ending hungry monster. Drooling over the sandwiches. Wanting to steal her lunch.

My sister gave it up not long after me. Just for the record. She thought she could hold that over my head, but went through the same thing as me on her last bowl.

The upside? I started working out again. And now I know I have to get cracking. This weight isn't going to lose itself. In fact it just keeps multiplying. And I am sick of it.

I will need some encouragement.

And plan on living vicariously through my daughter. She does, after all, eat enough for two!