Snow Day!

Yesterday was a winter wonderland around here. The flakes fell fast and furious and big and fluffy - just like being inside a snow globe. Then the sun came out from behind the clouds, just before it dipped behind the mountain.

We just had to head out for a family toboggan ride. We all bundled up, then Griffin and Holly piled onto the toboggan, and Jai pulled, while I followed with the camera as we did a big loop around the yard.

Look at this little cutie-pie:

Griffin held on nice and tight:

And off we went:

Past the raspberry bushes,

Around the forsythia,

Check out that sunset:

Once through the orchard,

Jai even took the camera, and snapped a shot with me in it (I think his Mom might have mentioned something about never seeing any photos with me in them - thanks Anita!) Here's another one:

And that was our adventure. This winter has been lovely so far - just picture perfect, and not so cold that you can't get out and enjoy it. There's something about the air in winter that is so refreshing - that crisp tang of snow that you just can't get any other way. I'm sure there will come a point where I will be so. done. with the cold and the ice and the snow, but it hasn't happened yet, thank goodness! Hope you're enjoying winter in your neck of the woods, wherever they may be.

A little Update, and some Pictures

Hello. Not too much is new around here these days. We had a quiet weekend after driving part of the way to Halifax, before turning around because of the snow. And now the snow is all gone and it's twelve degrees outside. What a crazy winter this has been so far - nobody's quite sure what to make of it. But we'll have a nice, long puddle walk today, so we're not complaining.

Jai's out on the Bookmobile for a long day today, which means he'll be getting home right before bedtime. Griffin is currently sitting on the couch, leafing through a book about garbage trucks, and Holly has fallen asleep curled up on my lap. When she wakes up I will strap her into the Baby Bjorn, and we'll head out to the post office, then over to the library. Then back home, where I will have to figure out something for dinner.

It is getting increasingly hard to find food that Griffin will happily sit down and eat. Some days he'll try things, and some days he won't. I'm hoping this is a phase. Peanut butter sandwiches can only go so far. Last night we got him to lick the ravioli. Today I got him to eat some corn because he wanted to feed the baby in his belly.

Yesterday morning he hopped out of bed, flopped onto Jai, and announced, "Daddy, I flopped into the morning!" And that is what being 2-1/2 is all about.

Here's some more pics, from recent events:

Another train cake:

Complete with candle that had to get lit (over and over again):

And fun with pizza, too:

A New Art Form is Born

Fun with cars! Dinky toys are definitely the favourites around here at the moment. There are other toys that get played with regularly, but not like his little cars and trucks. This kid has been all about trucks since he was big enough to identify them. As in, one of his first "real" words was "KKK", which he would say any time a truck went by.

I try not to worry about it too much. He does like to do other things - he's always happy to paint or draw or play with play dough - although he often manages to sneak trucks in there somehow, too.

Anyway, I have to say I was pleased to see this new form of play show up the other day - treating the cars as aesthetic objects. (Please excuse the dirty carpet!)

It does my little Art Major's heart proud to see him sorting out his cars by colour, and arranging them in different formations accordingly. He particularly likes to line them up along the edges of things. Cars as sculptural objects - why not? He may be on to something.

Here's he's point out the yellow mustard car (yellow mustang).

Pretty enough to frame, no?

Big Plans, I Say!

Hello again! I don't really have too much to report around here. We're in the middle of a Snow Bomb right now. It's very picturesque in a snow-blowing-sideways kind of way.

We've been inside all day, and Griffin is climbing the walls a little bit. We made chocolate chip cookies again this morning, so that was fun for a while, but I think we'll have to try and make it outside again tomorrow.

And me, when I get cooped up inside, I start to scheme. I make Grand Plans. Yup, I'm really good at planning for outlandish possibilities. That's how you know it's Winter around here.

Occasionally I get stuff done. You can head over to Lauren Kaye Photography if you want to see a wedding I did with Emma Rose over the summer. I thought I would choose some photos to do post-production on, and post them on the photography blog, as I go. I'm not sure that I'll be able to do too many wedding this summer, but I figure by August Holly will be able to handle a day without me. We'll see. I already miss doing them.

"Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities." ~Gloria Steinem

Wishing you a week of Big Plans and little accomplishments...

What we're up to Now

Hello! We've been busy little beavers around here. Griffin's new favourite word is "Now?" As in: Can we do this now? Not yet. Now? In a minute. Now? Soon, Griffin. Now? Mommy just needs to finish this other thing that we just started a minute ago. Now?

Some of our favourite activities:

Painting

Play-dough

Trucks (always and forever)

Sleeping (during the day)

Not Sleeping (during the night)

Baking

In the last two weeks we have made: Chocolate cake with cream cheese and toffee icing, Spice cake shaped like a train (see pic), sun-dried tomato muffins, chocolate chip cookies, and brownie mini loaves. Guess who ate most of it (hint: me.)

Next up: Pumpkin Chai Loaf, or Mediterranean Lentil Muffins. Hmmmmm...

A Few Moments...

Hello. I actually have a moment here when both kids are napping, and figured I better get on here while I can! It may be a short moment - Holly is already stirring.

Moment over.

And that's pretty much life these days! A lot of very short moments of peace, surrounded by total chaos. And me in the middle, trying to enjoy it all. We had a lovely Christmas with family and friends. Jai cooked an amazing feast. Griffin really enjoyed the whole thing this year, and can't stop talking about Santa Claus. Holly, of course, was too little, but I think she enjoyed having the extra people around, as did I.

New Year's was a quiet event this year, but that's kind of how I like it. It was wonderful to reflect back on all the things 2011 brought us. We filled it up as well as we could! Griffin, Mom, and I made it back to the West Coast for an all-too-brief visit. Jai and I made it all the way to Mexico, just the two of us. We finally got our raised beds put in, and grew tons of yummy food. We added to the natural playground. I bought myself a new camera and photographed nine weddings. We finished two more rooms in the house. We visited PEI with Jai's parents. And then, of course, we added Holly to our family.

For 2012, I hope to get outside more often and explore a little more of this province. I plan to get back to using cloth diapers. And I look forward to enjoying time with our ever-changing family, enjoying all the little moments that make up our days. I know it's often said that second children get photographed less, but I think for us, almost the opposite is true, because this time we know firsthand just how quickly babies grow. I say almost because, really, we are already pushing the limit of how many photos one family should reasonably take!

And, is it wrong how much I am enjoying dressing up Holly? Griffin likes it, too - most days he picks out one element, at least, of her outfit. We'll enjoy it while we can!

This is what he chose for her Christmas present this year: