Piano Elf

An elf appeared at our piano today and graced us with music.

This elf looked vaguely familiar to our daughter, 

who usually sports a more toque-ish style!

The girls

Our little gaggle of girls enjoying Maui back in December

frozen

northern lake,

my daughter and our dog

5 kms of trail and a pair of skiis

splendid!

happy mother's day

From our home to yours!

Hope you had a great day,

So glad we could spend time with you in April!

Love from out west!

picture play

I was bored! Well, not really!

More like in denial.

About 30 inches to the left of my elbow,

I have a mound of paperwork that needs attention.

Really! Who ever wants to do that? Why does it pile up so quick?

So, instead of doing what I should.

I did what felt better!

I played in Photoshop Elements for a little while.

I really have no idea what I am doing there. But it was fun.

Here is a picture of two people I love.

My oldest brother and my mom.

It was taken in this summer on holidays.

So much fun!

a sunday hike

Even though it was cloudy the day was so beautiful that we needed to get out and away from home. At first the girls resisted but once they were on the trail, a magical thing happened and their attitudes were transformed. They were laughing, running and chasing our dog. Good things happen outdoors!

Our snow free days really could be numbered. We have gotten snow before Halloween. So there really was no time like the present to venture outdoors.

A stop for some pictures

Play hide and seek And a rest at the top to enjoy the view!

summer wedding

This summer on our travels we went to my nephew's wedding. Our girls were over the moon excited about it. What little girl isn't? I think they talked about it all summer. Yes, shoes and dresses make little girls hearts sing...it is sweet, but kind of crazy too!

Anyways, I have been very slow to load up any pictures. Life kind of takes over! Usually I am a SOOC (straight-out-of camera) kind of girl. I have photoshop elements but haven't done much with it. It really feels like a hard program to learn. Like giving birth and raising children, my version didn't come with an owner's manual. And I ask, "Just what are all those buttons in there for anyway?"

But not wanting to be put off forever, I thought I would try to do some fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants editting.

Here is the original:

And here is the editted version. I did something that blurred the background and then changed the picture to black & white. Not out of this world or anything...but I tried. I don't really get the "layers" in PE. Anyone understand that?P.S. If you happen to be blessed enough to be related to me or one of the people in these photos feel free to save them or print them for your own use.

Random vacation shots

We have been busy on our holidays and mostly away from the computer
Doing things like Rainbow Stage and their production of "Beauty and the Beast"
Was absolutely fantastic!

Look at that ceiling! Isn't that amazing?

As we wait for the show, "Little Miss Antipication"

Some summer BBQ's, family time and outdoors

Time at the museum of man and nature

Huddling around fires both inside

and out!

And then some more family time!
And for today that's all because we are off and trying to plan the next outing!

arriving soon

My niece is coming in only 19 days! Last year I took her and these sneakers all over the place on little adventures and I am looking forward to more!

~~~~~

Also I have a little aside. Tonight I realized that when I make supper I need to clean the kitchen up first! Is that wierd? Does anyone else find it hard to cook in a messy kitchen?

belated wishes

My mom just receieved her rather late Mother's Day gift!

I have been working on it for awhile and it took me a little longer than intended to finish it off and get it out the door.

I used the pattern Simple Yet Effective Shawl from Cosmicpluto knits.

Instead of knitting it in the Noro Kureyon sock yarn, I used the Noro Silk Garden sock yarn. I really liked the feel and colour of the yarn. The pattern calls for one ball of Kureyon but I used two balls of the silk garden. The shawl turned out great, was a little smaller than I would have liked but will still be very useful in warding off the chills when needed.

Hope you enjoy it Mom! I love you!

dinner dilema

oh! so painful
i simply couldn't motivate myself to make supper
i wanted to be saved
rotten ronnie's or 1-800-THE-PIZZA sounded really good
so i asked big cheese what he wanted for supper
as he hemmed and hawed
papaya came up with a suggestion
and boo-boo offered her help
she was pretty serious too
she got an apron on, pulled up her chair
and asked "what can i do?"
well....we started making supper, at first i was still pretty cranky
but then we worked together, got it made and enjoyed the time
she was very proud of her efforts, amazing what a 4-year-old can do
as we sat down to a homemade three course dinner
i was truly thankful for the hands that helped to prepare the meal
and that it wasn't take-out

they're here

so oma and opa are here

all snuggled up tight in bed

opa is already well into slumber

or maybe i should say lumber, as he is seems to be sawing

the girls are so excited

papaya lost her other front tooth

the big cheese has been teaching her the song

"all i want for christmas is my two front teeth"

the tooth fairy missed picking up papaya's tooth though

AH?!! can you believe that?

we couldn't! what is the world coming to?

will tell you how it played out....tomorrow