She lost her tooth!

This little tooth came into Emma's life on the day she turned 4 months. And now 5 years, 11 months, and 7 days later it has fallen out!

Emma was so excited today when I picked her up from school. She couldn't wait to tell me about losing her first tooth. I guess it fell out during her second lunch period when she "wiggled it too hard!" She looks too cute without this little tooth but man, does this ever prove to me just how quickly she is growing up.

Finally an update!

Things have been crazy busy around here and as per usual the blog has been neglected. It was absolutely wonderful to enjoy the warm weather last weekend. The girls insisted that we have our supper outside. This was our first meal of many for 2009 on our patio. And what did we have? Pannekoeken! Yummy!



It also just happened that Gerben and I had the same idea on Friday. While at the grocery store I picked up a pot of beautiful yellow tulips and when he came home, he had a gorgeous bouquet of red gerbera's. My two favourite flowers and candy for my camera lens! he he he




The girls are funny right now. One minute they will be playing like angels laughing and giggling together and the next minute one of them is screaming, "Get out of my ROOM!!" On Monday morning they were skipping together on the way to school. Laughing and giggling the entire time. Ah, music to my ears! Why can't it always be like this?



Yesterday, I took Natalia for a haircut. She was finally agreeable so I definitely needed to get it done before she changed her mind. She is very attached to her hair and her ponytails. I love her hair this length. It's so much cuter and some much more in control.



And then there was today. Poor Emma got an unexpected day off school. I took her to school in the morning and as usual I waited with her until the bell rings and she goes in. When the bell rang she ran towards the area where the class lines up, which happens to be beside a huge wooden planter about 18 inches off the ground that houses some of the trees on the school yard. Well if the poor girl didn't trip. She went flying head first into the edge of the planter. She had a huge black mark about 2.5 inches long across her forehead and she scraped her knee. Now, I'm usually the "suck it up" parent, but this was different. It was horrible to watch. We took her into the school and got some ice on her head and decided to take her home. She was pretty shook up and I wasn't sure just how big this mark was going to get. It swelled up fast. Luckily, we got the swelling down quick and the dark purple changed to light purple and it looks pretty good now. But I am sure it will be a lovely colour tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm freaking out about her head and all she is worried about it an itty bitty cut on her knee.

I took a few photos but these were late in the afternoon and the purple is really light. I am sure it will look worse tomorrow.

I'm only posting one of them here and I am doing it in both black and white and colour. I just can't decide which I like better but I do know that I love the photo.

1 more photo for tonight

So I managed to get 2 photos of Natalia edited tonight. So you get a bonus post.

Here's the second photo.

It's all about the bikes in our house!

All the girls want to do is be outside and ride their bikes. I really don't blame them, the weather has been pretty good but windy. Natalia is loving almost every minute of her time spent on her bike. She is pretty good at falling off it though. She seems to do that at least once a day. Emma is trying desperately to learn to ride without the training wheels. It's not going so well, but she is determined to not have the training wheels put back on. She cannot stand it when she wants to do something but can't. I think it's because he mind has very few limitations. She figures things out so easily and is way beyond her years. The problem is that biking is a physical thing and in that aspect she is still only a 5 year old. I have no doubt that she will get it and soon but unfortunately, she is finding it frustrating at the moment.



And her is my little "McDougall" on the bike. Always sticking her tongue out. I love it!




And last, but not least, another studio shot. I picked up this adorable dress and hat for Natalia at Zehrs today. I could resist and I knew it would be perfect for this background. I absolutely love the background colour but boy it's tricky to work with. It causes skin tones to look blue/grey and that is a bit tricky to fix.

Ok, so yesterday and today

Once again, I am playing catch up! Seeing as Gerben is in the basement right now, kindly installing the new outlets and cover for my studio, I thought it best that I didn't go to bed on him!

Of course yesterday was Easter and in our house that means the Easter Bunny comes. Emma was beyond excited. She has been bouncing off the walls with excitement for days now.

This is the loot that the Bunny left on our coffee table for the girls.



Natalia was the lucky recipient of a new bike and Emma got a Wii game. Normally the Bunny isn't so generous but seeing as Natalia has long outgrown her trike, the Bunny decided to use Easter as the excuse to get her a new one. She was beyond excited. Emma, on the other hand, is crazy about the High School Musical movies so it was an obvious win for her when she received with Wii game.

It was such a beautiful day, and Natalia was just itching to get outside and play with her new bike, so we decided to take the kids to the school so they could get some bike time.




Emma has taken notice that the other kids her age are beginning to have the training wheels taken off their bike and so she insisted that Daddy do the same for her. We warned her that it wasn't going to be as easy as she thinks to ride without them but she insisted.





Honestly, she never did figure out how to ride without the training wheels and she was very annoyed with herself. I feel bad for her but her stubborn nature is holding strong and she is determined to figure this out. I have no doubt she will. She thinks the only reason she couldn't do it yesterday was because she had to pee!! He he he! If only it was that easy!

Today was another day off school for Emma. We had a good day. Kelly came over with Jillian so the kids got a chance to play. They seemed to have a great time as they usually do. I am loving that Natalia is napping most afternoons again. It gives me that extra little break in the afternoon and takes away some of the crankies.

Tonight I was so lucky again. Both girls were agreeable to having their photos taken and here are some of the results.







Oh and in case you are wondering, the girls choose the poses they wanted to do. That was they only way they would agree to this! But I must say, I do love them!

Just one quick photo

I actually took a few hundred photos today but computer is giving me grief. So, I am just going to post this one.

The floor is now finished in my new studio so I have all my goodies set up and ready to play. Unfortunetly, there still is a ton to do but atleast I can play for now. This is one of my first photos.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVA!!!

First off, I have to wish my beautiful Niece, Ava, a very Happy 3rd Birthday! I am so sorry that we didn't make it to your party. Please forgive us! (more on that later)

Ok, as per usual these days, I am playing catch up with my photos.

I think Wednesday was the last day that I posted so here we go. First up is Thursday.

Gerben, the girls and I went to Toronto on Thursday evening to go to a great photography supply store. On the way home the clouds were so cool as they floated past the full (or almost full) moon. I was dying to try and get some photos but, I must say, they SUCK! It totally doesn't give the site justice. Here is my feeble attempt.




I am still trying to get used to my new camera, and I must say that I have noticed one thing that I completely miss about my D80 that I don't have for the D300 and that is the little tiny wireless pocket remote. It makes shots like this so easy because I don't have to worry about timers or shaking the tripod on these longer exposures.

Friday was a holiday for all. So while Gerben worked away at laying the floor in the basement the girls and I decorated Easter eggs. I think it took them about 5 minutes to decorate 18 eggs! Sheesh, all the excitement surrounding decorating the eggs and it was done in 5 minutes. It hardly seems worth it but they loved it, so I guess it was worth it.







Today was Ava's 3rd birthday and also her birthday party. Natalia and I were planning to go, while Gerben and Emma stayed home so that Emma could attend a friends party. All was going well this morning. I had Natalia all dressed up in her adorable little party dress. Her hair was done up in the cutest little pigtails and she was beyond excited. All she talked about was going to Ava's house for the birthday party. She has been complaining on and off about a sore tummy lately but I hadn't really thought much of it. My friend Kelly's kids have both been sick with a stomach bug lately and I thought maybe Natalia was getting it but she seemed fine this morning. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Natalia and I started on our way to Arthur and just about 15 minutes from home she said to me, "My tummy hurts!" Next thing I knew she puked. A LOT! All through her car seat. All over herself, her pretty party dress and into every buckle on her seat. She was so upset. I felt horrible. I told her we had to go home and that we wouldn't be able to go to Ava's party because she was sick. Well, I'm telling you, she cried and cried. She was more upset about missing the party than getting sick.

Luckily, it seems to be that this was a one time thing. She only threw up the once and then after getting cleaned up and having a brief rest on the couch she was back to her old self. Poor little kid! I feel so bad that she had to miss the party but I did promise her that we would go and see Ava very soon, so that she could give Ava her present. That seemed to make her feel better.

So, my photo of the day, is my little sickie on the couch right after munching on a jam beschuit (a dry dutch bread) because she was starving after throwing up her breakfast and this stuff is pretty gentle on the tummy.

I love the UPS guy!

Ok, so I don't really love the UPS guy but I do love that he dropped off my studio lighting today. The floor in the studio is still not laid and we all know that when some knew toys shows up at your door, you just have to play.

Needless to say, I tore apart my dining room and quickly set up a bee with reflector and the shoot-thru umbrella (the softbox was just too big for my dining room) and then bribed the kids with chocolate so that they would let me fire off a few shots of them. The kids were actually good sports about it, although, not all that patient seeing as I am still learning.

These are the best 3 shots that I did get. Nothing spectacular but decent for 5 minutes of work.





Not bad for a first try. I can't wait to see what magic I can produce with a little practise and a lot more space. Oh and more than 2 minutes of editing per photo. This was a rush job all around.

At last! An Update...

So besides being completely busy working on my new studio, my stupid keyboard has also been tempermental but, alas, I am here to post my photos.

Starting with Friday, really nothing too exciting going on besides the work on my new photo studio. Needless to say, my photo is pretty boring as well.

Here is my hubby laying the first layer of the subfloor.



On Saturday, we needed to go to the airport and pick up Frans from Holland. We decided to stop at a photography store seeing as we were in Toronto anyway. I really wanted to buy my studio lighting locally but man it is so much more expensive here. I wasn't willing to pay double the price, so we went with good old Alienbee in the states instead. All my lights and goodies should arrive tomorrow. I'm just disappointed that my studio won't be ready. But, I'm sure that won't stop me from playing.

Here is a few photos that I took in the airport. I was hoping to get a pic of the girls walking the wrong way on the moving sidewalks but they are in the other terminal. I was so disappointed. It is, by far, their favourite thing to do at the airport.





Sunday was the very first day, since starting project 365, that I missed a day. We were just so tired with painting and laying the floor that I forgot about my photo. In all honesty, it would only have been of an empty half finished studio anyway. Oh well, it was bound to happen. Now it's on to Monday.

What the heck is going on with this weather? It's awful! We went from beautiful sunny warm weather, to a friggin' snow storm! Geez, I thought we were done with winter. I KNOW I am.




And now, I am finally up to date because here is today's photo.



My photographer friend, Rachelle, invited me over to play with her alienbees today. It was so much fun and very informative. I feel like the second I get my bees (tomorrow) I will be able to whip them out of the box and get it set up and ready to go in no time. I am sooo excited! Rachelle has 2 beautiful little girls, Megan and Erin, so it was like a playdate for the mommies and the kids. The above photo was the only one I got of Natalia. She is a little munchkin and hates when I take her photo but she did let Rachelle get a few cute ones. You can see them here. Thanks Rachelle! You are more than welcome to come and visit me and the girls anytime.

Sorry Everyone, I'm having keyboard troubles

No post tonight (again) Hopefully tomorrow. I am using my tablet to write this and its a big pain. Studio work is going well. I will post tons of photos tomorrow.

Wednesday and Thursday

Well, Wednesday was another busy day. They all seem to be that way lately. I had another photography lesson with Trina. It was good but no where near as good as last time. This time all we did was talk and learn more about design and what elements make a good design. Of course, I am a hyper critical person and feel as though beauty is in the eye of the beholder. She told me she wants me to be open and say what I honestly think. Anyone who knows me, knows that I can be the most outspoken and blunt person going. So to give me freedom to be honest is a scary situation at times. There were times, while looking at photographs, that Trina was overjoyed and totally taken with a photo and I was kinda going, "Huh? I don't get it!" She would try desperately to explain why it was a great shot but in all honesty I still didn't see it. What I did learn, is that I am too critical of my own work and too quick to delete. My assignment for this week, is to bring in some photos that I am contemplating deleting or would have deleted to see what we can learn from them. That is going to be tough. Who wants to show off their "garbage?"

Next time I go, it's all about shooting. We will be working on histograms and other goodies like that. I can't wait, it should be a great one.

Seeing as I didn't get to go out shooting with Trina, I did stop at Churchill park on the way home and captured these beauties. As you will see, I am still totally in LOVE with sun flare shots.





Today was fantastic! The weather was amazing. We spent most of the day enjoying this beautiful weather and I managed to capture these photos.





Just for kicks, I also have to share this photo of Emma. I can tell already that when gravity kicks in for her, the results may be scary! he he he



This photo absolutely cracks me up but I am sure she will kill me if she sees it on here!