15 + Weeks

Happy Summer, everyone!

Maybe you haven't heard...

We've a bun in our oven.

More specifically, a navel orange at this stage.

And we are very excited to say the least.

Aaron wants a brother.

Ava, a sister...

though she's told me she'd accept another brother if absolutely necessary.

James, another hockey player.

Myself, not to want to eat everything in sight.

            --Seriously guys.

And sadly, no bumpin' pictures yet.

I'm much too busy loathing this delicate 'inbetween' stage.

'Is that a baby in your tummy or did you just eat an entire buffet?'

Not to worry.

I'm sure to get over myself any day now.

And quite honestly, I'm rather enjoying myself along with my darling husband who so sweetly reads me my weekly What to Expect When You're Expecting update.

{Gosh, I love him}

So, yes.

That's me in a nutshell so far this summer.

Knocked up & flip floppin :)

The Challenge.

Photos of my bestie-pal, Ramie & her cute li'l fam

My personal challenge: NO SHOOTING IN AUTO.

This was a tough one for me.

I've always relied on the trusty ol' Auto setting to get me through

as mentioned in previous posts.

But lately, I've been making like a padawan

and putting forth an honest effort to

study-up in Manual mode.

The ultimate goal,

to get to know my camera inside-and-out

and utilize it to its maximum potential.

So I figured, as Ramie is my friend--

Professionalism was Null and Void.

Her and her brood, patiently stuck with me

while I constantly fidgeted with dials & settings,
more-often-than-not sporting a look of pure bewilderment.

It was intensely sunny out,

which gave me mad grief

as shadows tended to be an issue.

....Wah.

So, I scavenged for shady areas

and managed as best I could

with the challenge at hand.



As dreadful as I like to make it sound,
(I've been known to have dramatic tendencies)
     ....it was actually loads of fun.



{Thank heaven for good-natured friends}

Of the nearly 500 photos I took--

some fantastical, and some not-so-fantastical...

The above would be the gems of the bunch!

                 Love, sweet love

Behind the scenes

Lovely rolling canola fields

I had the best time Monday evening sitting in on an engagement photo shoot for my sister, Kirsten, and her fiance, Scott.

Karey, the photographer and previous owner of ma'baby(Nikon D90),

thought it might be fun for me to tag along with my camera and grab a few shots of my own.

You know, get a little 'schooling' under my belt.

Which, indeed, is long overdue as I've been strictly shooting in 'Auto' the whole time due to my lack of know-how with ye' old 'Manual' setting.

{EMBARRASSING}

Karey

At the same time, arrangements were made to snag a couple pics of Karey as she's a glowing 35 weeks pregnant with her third child, and--

Get this...

Never had maternity shots taken of herself.

This to me is shocking because Karey is, in my opinion, one of the most talented, self-taught photographers I know, especially in the avenue of maternity and newborns.

She nails it every time.

But, you know what they say--

Always the photographer,

never the photographed.

--'k, I'm not even sure that's an actual saying...

In fact.  I'm certain it's not.

You know what I mean.

Always behind the camera and never in front of it.

Bride & Groom to-be


Between Kirsten, Karey and myself--

The golden hills were alive with the sound of
camera shutters forever snapping.

Ridiculously cute...

So, yeah...

These are the few gems I gathered from that particularly glorious sun-kissed evening.

Love.Sweet.Love.


Check out Karey Wood's Photography & Design blog, here!

Dippity Don't



{Yesterday at the spray park}

Have I ever told you about the time I accidentally

applied Dippity-Do hair gel to James' sunburn,

instead of Aloe Vera?

Think Steve Carrell in 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin',

whilst getting his chest waxed.

....Much like an 

'AAaaaGggh-- KELLY CLARKSON!'

                sorta situation.

Poor guy.

Yesterday, was another scorcher--

not unlike the previous incident.

Beautiful.

Sunny.

Not a cloud in the sky.

And likewise, we find ourselves in the same predicament--

James with a toasty, roast-y red backside.

It's a good thing for him I've learned

a thing or two from my previous misgivings.

Like how to read the label.

--Now, if only he'd learn to read the label 'sunscreen'?!

A perfectly rainy day.

It happened just last friday.

A beautifully dreary morning spent painting

ceramics at Crankpots with my darlings,

Aaron & Ava.

Followed by whoopie pies from Crave

and a quick bite of lunch with

Auntie Kirsten, my dear sister.

Another activity successfully performed and crossed off

the all-too-amazing

101 Bits of Summer Fun list.

Dear List,

Whatever would my summer do without you?

Project: Summer

One way to ensure total summer awesomeness.

This is without-a-doubt The.Best.List.Ever.

So happy to have found it over at The TomKat Studio.

This summer,

We Are Going To Destroy This List.

.... As in, the activities on it.

Like, totally going to conquer it.

                 ....most of it.

Look out List.

all clear.

ATTENTION: Plans for the Ark have been put on hold until further notice.

The big-bad gang of rain clouds that have been assaulting our poor town
all week long

{although leaving everything beautifully cleansed & green}

seems to have dispersed for the moment.

And just in time too.

'Cause today is the first day of summer.

Did you know: Wearing rubber boots makes you feel like a kid again.

Try it.

Have a sassy Summer Solstice :]

The Beach

Sunday Fun-Day at the beach.

Road Trip

It must have been last weekend or the weekend before, James' mom planted a dozen or so lilac trees and shrubs at the lake lot.  Well, they were in need of some watering this weekend while his mom was out of town so I gladly volunteered to make the trip while James and the kids hung out at home today.  I needed a trusty sidekick so I called on my niece, Cheyenne, to tag along with me.  Equipped with a variety of top-notch junk food (Joe Louis', screamers & Munchie Mix) we headed out onto the open road-- Just us girls!  The trip there went smoothly, the watering- even smoother, and before we knew it we were back on the road.  Because of construction we encountered on the way there I decided with James' help that I would take a different route home.  I appreciated the change of scenery as the usual drive to and from the lake was really starting to get old.  We made a pit-stop in Smoky Lake (love that little town!) to check out the giant pumpkins and stop in at one of the local greenhouses.  All was going well until we took an unexpected detour... or rather, some like to call it the 'scenic route'.  Basically, we got lost.  What should have been a one-and-a-half to two hour drive home, took more like 3 hours.  Don't ask me how, cuz I haven't a clue how it happened (must have missed my turn while busy belting out the lyrics to 'Kissed by a Rose'... try explaining that to your husband who is worried you may never find your way home).  Regardless, we found our way eventually! 

Summer Must-Haves

Two items we discovered this summer that we no longer could go another summer without: Roasted corn-on-the-cob and Arizona Green Tea Iced tea. Both are undeniably cheap (right up my alley!) and seasonably refreshing. Of course, we've always done our corn up the usual, boiled in a large pot, way. Well-- we really let our hair down this summer and decided to throw it on the grill (I know-- crazy, right?!). Love it! And, a hit among the whole family. Nothing tops it off better than a tall can of thirst-quenching iced tea. I finally got around to trying Arizona's tea and was surprised at how great it tasted (not overly sweet and a hint of green tea flavor) and more surprising, the price.
Well, that's it! Other than an over-sized pair of sunglasses and a comfy pair of flip-flops, those are my two recommended must-haves for the summer!!

We're Baaaaack!

Home sweet home- Just got home from our Kananaskis trip yesterday late afternoon! We had a great time, got to see family from far, far away (B.C., lol)... It was a great sense of accomplish-ment having the whole crew travel there, arrive safe and sound, and enjoy each others company. We've never gotten together like this before, so if it sounds strange to say it was an accomplishment-- really, a family of this size (22 of us in total) makes you wanna shout 'We did it!!', lol. Again, the kids had a great time. For the most part, we barely seen them all weekend as they were off frolicking in nature with their cousins. The only downside to speak of was the million-and-one outhouse trips we had to make with the kids (Okay, I say million, but I really mean, like, every half-hour 'I gotta pee!'). Highlights of the weekend: connecting with distant relatives, playing Phase 10 with my sis-in-laws, birthday celebration for James' mom, scenic trip into Kananaskis Village, and a good ol' fashioned camp-out in the Trapper's Tent with my fam!

I'm Prepared... Mostly.

Just finished the long weekend, and now, buckling down to get ready for this upcoming weekend's events-- Tipi Camping in Kananaskis! It's James' mom's 50th birthday this Saturday and all of us kids (4 sons, 3 wives, 12 grand kids) are making our way out to Kananaskis Country to celebrate it. It'll be the first time all of us will be venturing out on a camping trip together, so I'm convinced, there is some great fun to be had! James' brother Dave, his wife and their two kids are even traveling from Penticton to join us on this crazy expedition. This will be my fourth time camping at Sundance Lodges. I recommend it to everyone! Glorified camping at its finest!! My mom originally took us out there about 7 years ago and I'm so glad she did. It's a little piece of heaven right here in Alberta.

I'm about as prepared as I'll ever be. I started getting the dry goods and whatnot about 2 weeks ago-- actually purchased Rubbermaid storage tubs (**gives the appearance of professional campers**-- a look we're trying to go for. If you can't make it-- Fake it.); desperately trying to catch up on the laundry before Thursday... I tell ya, organization does not come easy for me-- but I think I may actually be succeeding!

The best part is, without having to plan some big, over-the-top vacation outside of the country... This four hour drive away from the city will be one of the best memories together as a family, all year.

*Photos are of last year's Kananaskis trip*

A Day at Pembina River

Okay, so it's been a while since posting anything new... Just goes to show how busy the summer can be.

Last week, while James was working I decided to take the kids out to Pembina River for the day where my Grandma and her husband were staying for the week. I've been out once before with the kids, about two years back. It's one of the more exciting places I've ventured to in Alberta and only about an hour and fourty five minutes away.

All day long people float from one end of the river to the bottom-- I can't wait for the kids to get a bit older so that we can be one of those care-free drifters! The kids had an absolute blast. First thing, we headed out to a rockier area of the river where the kids could wade in the water; throwing rocks without me having to worry about them being swept away with the current. The water is amazingly warm and the kids could have stayed there all day long if I'd let them.

After some lunch, we headed to the beach. Last time we were here, Aaron was not at all interested in floating on the blow-up mattresses and Ava was just a baby, but this time around-- I couldn't tear him away from it!! He sat on one end and Ava on the other! It's really nice that they're both getting older... They're really great companions to each other.

Crayfish Catching

Something I've never done before! We went out to St. Albert yesterday to see James' dad and hang out for the evening. After dinner, we took a long walk (good thing we happened to have our wagon in the truck!) to the creek to catch crayfish. It was too cool! In no time at all, we had a bucket of crayfish with little effort. 'Never seen anything like it! We also made a pit-stop for some kite flying and playground action.

So far, we've done a lot of really cool things as a family this summer-- Even the little jaunts have been memorable ones! The kids are really growing up fast! I'm trying my best to remember all these special moments with them, so I'm definitely liking this whole blog thing. The kids love when I read back the little stories I have written about our little ol' family and enjoy looking at pictures of themselves!