american beauty

i can't even tell you - this girl is amazing.  totes gorge (for those of you who are unfamiliar with abbrevs, that's "totally gorgeous").

i don't know how she does it, but in approximately 2.2 seconds she's able to go from "i'm super hot"...

...to "i'm the cutest person on the planet".

you inspire me.  your positivity, willingness to learn and ability to see good in people...you're wise beyond your years, honey.  maybe i can be a little more like you when i grow up.

we spent the afternoon under the overpass and anticipating that we might be intruding on someone's winter home, brought some fresh chocolate chip cookies along to share.  we were sad not to encounter anyone, but pleased to see that abbotsford seems to be doing its job in taking care of those with no homes in these cold months.  thank you to places like the food bank and cyrus centre - please continue to support these services with your time and money.  they can't do it without us!

random.

i recently realized that amidst the hub bub of christmas and the busy-ness of business, i've hardly taken any pictures of my kids in the past few months.  none worth sharing at least.  we also live in a dark basement and with the wet and cold weather we've had lately, my poor littles' skin hasn't seen the light of day.  so as soon as the rain let up for a few hours, i got my older two outside and actually remembered to bring my camera.

we all know how important toddler style is on the playground.  thankfully, my daughter loves her "fancy star shoes" as much as i do.  and since she will only sit still for about 10.2 seconds, the half ponytail would just have to do today.

traffic can get a little hairy at the park during rush hour.

i love that my kids haven't figured out that they still look cute when they make funny faces to get me to stop taking pictures.

and this one gently reminds me that i'm a bad mother.  notice the red cheeks.  in my haste to get out the door, i kind of didn't realize that it was freezing cold outside and the kids were not dressed properly.  don't worry...we hurried home to cups of hot cocoa and the sniffles were gone by the next day.

i'm thankful to mi esposo for my children's amazingly long eye lashes.  why is it always the boys that get them?  tell me why?! 

this was his "i just got caught heading towards the national geographics with my fake plastic doctor scissors" look

the only way i could get a real smile out of her on camera was to squeeze her head between my knees.  unfortunately, it didn't last and turned into this.  still cute, though.  still cute.

for those of you who know me, you know i'm a word maven.  so naturally, my only prerequisite for marrying/naming children was that our names could be scrabbled.  and they can, just in case you were wondering.

in print.

i love my clients.  not only are many of them great friends, they're super creative and fun to work with!  such can be said about this lovely couple.  they will be my first wedding of the year in march and i just got my official invitation!

it's hard to see here, but bonner had carved their initials into the tree in the foreground.  and if that's not romantic enough, open it up and...

...they're staring lovingly into each other's eyes.  love you two and am super super pumped for your day. praying for NO RAIN!!

a little evening rant

ok.  so i'm not super into bandwagons.  and i'm not super into soapboxes either.  what i am super into is people.  and when people are being hurt or treated unjustly, it kind of ticks me off.  to put it lightly.

every year, the lovely people at the international labor rights forum publish a "sweatshop hall of shame".  it basically highlights some of the major companies who either directly or indirectly violate labor rights, whether it's in their own organization or in their suppliers'.

and we're not talking about not providing ergonomically correct chairs.  we're talking about people dying because of unsafe work environments.  we're talking about people being beaten or harassed for trying to start a union.  we're talking about children as young as 7 years old being forced to quit school and work in cotton fields or as cocoa harvesters.

after taking a gander at this year's list, i'm not overly surprised by some (ahem, walmart) and am seriously discouraged by others (ikea - hits me where it hurts).  by posting this list, i'm just giving you the chance to make informed choices.  it's easy to be ignorant (believe me, i know) but now that you know, you have the incredible opportunity to be an agent of change.

i'm not going to tell you what to do.  but i'd love it if you would check out the list (and their whole website for that matter) and pause to think about whether there are adjustments, big or small, that you can make in your own purchasing to try and ensure that you're not supporting the people who are taking advantage of those who can't (or haven't been allowed to) speak up for themselves.

and just so you know i will be the first one to admit that i have, on a regular basis, shopped at places I KNEW had poor business practices when it came to labor rights just because i wanted a deal.  but here's my commitment: i will buy used/secondhand/handmade as much as possible.  i will try to buy local, for both produce and other goods.  i will do my best to have an understanding of where the store bought products are actually coming from.  i will not shop at walmart (i actually try and throw out the flyer right away so i'm not even tempted to look).

here's a little token "pick me up" so you don't leave this post feeling depressed.  this is cliff, josiah and our housemate brittani posing with the handsome snowman they made on jojo's first official snow day!  he actually loves school, so he was pretty bummed to stay home, but we had fun anyway.

stay tuned for more pictures from my sweet little fuji instax camera - it's coming out in full force in my engagement and wedding sessions this year.  which are booking up fast, by the way, so be sure to give me a shout soon if you're tying the knot this summer!

new chair

guess whose mama felt so bad after reading this blog post  that she bought her daughter a brand new office chair?!?

merry christmas to me.

i know.  i'm a dork.  this is what friday nights at home will do to a girl...

here's an old photobooth picture of my little man that will hopefully redeem this entire post:

...or not.  thank you mac for creating a way that i can so thoroughly embarrass myself.  happy friday!

honorary

so, i got peed on again.  i'm going to swallow my pride and take it as a compliment...like he really wants me to be an honorary part of the family or something so he was just marking his territory.  i think i'm going to start bringing a change of clothes with me to shoots, though, because he peed so strategically that it sure looked like i had wet myself.  thanks buddy.  it's a good thing you're cute.

and tiny!  2 weeks old and not even 7 pounds yet.  can you say "peanut"? 

and no shoot would be complete without some pictures of the big sister...she's also cute, but not quite as tiny.  or quite as human.  though i'm pretty sure if you asked her, she's insist she was.  human, that is.

congratulations, you guys!

a new year

to ring in 2011 (that feels so weird to write!), i figured i would unveil my personal favorite family picture from our cross-canada/u.s. adventure.  i just love children.  we're sitting in front of freaking NIAGARA FALLS...one of the natural wonders of the world/top honeymoon destination/something most people don't get to see in their lifetime...and my kids are chasing pigeons.  and whining.  and playing with the stroller buckles.  and refusing, no outright rebelling against even looking at the water.

and so, we embrace our fate.  and while cliff and i have our little romantic moment under the double rainbow, our children can do whatever they please...including playing dead.  because we are at niagara falls, for goodness sake.

happy new year, everybody.