Say "Cheese"...Please?...oh, just forget it.

I have been trying to get a good family photo for the longest time.

Something always keeps us from accomplishing this.

Often times we don't get a good picture because someone is doing this:

And often we don't get a good picture because my hair looks like this:

And of course...there was also an angry face that time. So needless to say, NOT a good family picture.

Last year we went to Myrtle Beach and I planned and organized and dreamt about the photos we would get of our family. I knew what we would wear. And I knew where we would stand on the beach. And I knew what time of day we would take the picture. One of the mistakes we made was to wait until the last night of our trip. We would have only one chance, one evening to get the photo.

Too bad Emily woke up from her nap in a vile mood. Too bad she had a temper tantrum on the way to the beach. Too bad the temper tantrum gave her red blotchy skin.

This is how I photograhed them:

And our family photo?

The one I dreamt. organized. obsessed about.....?

The one I wanted to send to Europe and western Canada - so that our relatives could see what we look like now.

It didn't happen.

Instead, this happened.

I guess there`s always next year, right?

Does everyone have such trouble getting a good family picture?

Christmas baking for some. Card making for me.

Do you know one thing that makes me happy?



This:





I absolutley LOVE making cards. And each year I look forward to designing and creating my Christmas cards. I usually start thinking about it in August. And by the end of November I usually have them all finished and ready to be mailed.

Many people do not give Christmas cards anymore but it is my gift to those people in my life that I love. I enjoy every moment of the creation of this little piece of art.

The ribbon. The crisp card stock. The color coordination. The way my card fits perfectly in my envelope - a size specifically purchased just for these Christmas cards.

I also love to handwrite the addresses on each of the envelopes - no labels and printers for this gal.

Did you know that I actually work for a company that makes handmade cards? Mostly wedding invitations; but it's because of this job that I now know how to pound out 60 cards (that's how many I usually send out at Christmas) in one or two evenings. When one is putting together 180 snowflake wedding invitations there is a special order to putting them together.

I wonder....how many of you will be sending out Christmas cards this year?

Generation Princess

Neither dolls nor barbies was my "thing" when I was a little girl. I remember playing G.I. Joe and pushing large trucks thru big piles dirt or whatever else my older brother would let me play with him. I don't remember watching princess movies or dressing up in gowns. Our dress up consisted of old curtains that my mom made into a bridal dress of some sort.

This is not the case with my three daughters. We have more dress up dresses and princess gowns in our costume trunk than I have dressy clothes in my own closet. Tim and I didn't intentionally introduce them to the world of Princess - it seems like they were born to love all things girly and pink and fairy-tale-ish.

It's been on more than one occasion where comments have been made to me about their so-called obsession with Princesses and for some reason I have always felt like maybe we were making a poor decision to allow them to watch the movies and play the dress up. Were we encouraging a dream of beautiful dresses, lives living in castles with a Prince Charming, voices that sing like angels, I think you get the picture.

Well, today I read a chapter from the book "Bringing up Girls" by Dr. James Dobson. I don't always agree with everything Dr. Dobson has to say, but I really like and agree with the things he had to say about the "princess world" (chapter 12).

Here are some of my favourites:
- being a princess honors girls and "girliness" and separates them from boys.
- girls want to be treated like they are something special and worthwhile.
- When a girl sees herself as a princess, she feels valued for who she is. She has the confidence to wait for Prince Charming and not settle for less.
-"they also promote femininity, kindness, courtesy, the work ethic, and service to others".
- traditional princess clothing encourages little girls to be children and is not blatantly sexualized.

So I'm going to continue to allow the Princess movies, and the early reader Ariel books, and the yellow frilly Belle gown, and the Cinderella glass slippers.

Saying all this though, my number one desire for my girls is that they would model themselves after the Proverbs 31 woman where I am reminded that "charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" (vs. 30).

My Bubbling Heart

I really like to sing. I like to sing in my car - really loud. I like singing in church. I really love to sing in a choir. I'm not microphone worthy - but I am a good solid member to have in a group of singers. I remember fondly my grade eight year. Our teacher, Mr. Van Meggelan, was a very accomplished pianist. There were 16 girls in my class (and only 2 boys). Most of the girls enjoyed singing so we managed to convince Mr. V to let us sing almost every day. The songs that were my favourites were the ones that I could sing harmonies with by reading the music. Since then I have always chosen to sing harmony with any music.



One of my favourite memories of high school was being part of the choir and attending MusicFest each spring. Over 600 high school students from other Christian high schools would practice for months on their own and then gather together for one day to rehearse for a mass choir concert in the evening. It was such a beautiful sound. I loved it!



So recently I bought Tim a ukelele for his birthday. If you know Tim, then you know that he has an amazing singing voice. One of my friends says that "if Tim was my husband I would make him only sing to me. No talking". But it's not often that I and my kids hear Tim sing at home. But now he has this new instrument - and he's singing all. of. the time. And ask me how happy that makes me? So happy.



And yesterday - you will never believe what he asked me. "Honey, can you sing with me while I play?" Now, I have never told anyone this but I think it's really romantic when a guy and a girl sing together; just the two of them. Not like when it's done in church. Because Tim has sang duets with lots of other girls and it was never a romantic thing. But if the guy and girl are a couple and singing together I think that is romantic. I have always secretly wished that Tim and I would sing together. So cheesy, right? But that's me: Cheesy. So he asks me to sing with him while we're sitting at the kitchen table. And he has no idea how much my heart is bubbling up inside and I'm trying not to smile too much. And you know what we're singing? Christmas songs, and some gospel songs, and some kid songs. Good times.

Will I?

I've been thinking about starting a blog for a very long time. I don't think that I have profound things to say or funny stories to tell...but I really enjoy reading other people's blogs...maybe someone will enjoy reading mine.



Through these blogs I have been inspired by a photographer in Indiana; laughed at stories written by a mom in Guelph; been taught by a teacher in Houston; been motivated by a mom-preneur in Toronto; and have been moved to tears reading about the journey of a family who adopted a child from Africa.

Will I teach you? make you laugh? motivate you? inspire you?

I hope so.

A Little Bit Everyday

BLOG UNDER CONSTRUCTION - but so excited to finally be doing this. Can't wait to actually get started.