halloween

so... those who know me, know i am not a fan. must bring me back to the time i was a clown in a parade in La Ronge Saskatchewan. i got all dressed up. i looked awesome. i cried. people laughed at me. they were looking at me and laughing. i am not sure i ever got over it, i was the exact age my kids are now.  i have no interest in dressing up. at all. but as an adult i love a few things about halloween. 

i love the excitement in my kids faces as they prepare to dress up. i loved the build up to today. i loved carving pumpkins with them. i loved a few weeks back going to the field to pick them with our family and cousins. i loved sticking our hands in the pumpkins and feeling the slime on our hands and cleaning the seeds. i loved leaving the door to the oven open as we roasted them today so that we didn't forget about them in the oven. i loved telling the kids how many times prior to today that i had left them in the oven roasting and forgot about them and burned them.... SO bad the smoke detector had gone off. i loved that today, i heard the seeds roasting. they were dancing on the pan. making popping sounds and actually moving. i had never noticed that before. i was present in the kitchen. i loved that!

i loved that today our pumpkin seeds turned out the best they had ever tasted.

i loved that today my kids were not scared to go trick-or-treating, that they remembered the neighbourhood houses that had scarey things that scared them in years past. and i loved that today they went to bed and i ate my old favorite treats. don't worry, they won't notice. they have a HUGE stash. they are 7 years old now and they can carry a lot of treats in their pillowcases. 

now as i sit here typing this, i know how sick my mom and dad must have been, when i was sleeping in my bed on halloween night when i was 7.

i had a great night with my kids. i love them, so much, and it is not because they brought me chocolate.

xoxo

the sheep next to the orchard

the session was over, the sweet family had left. the rain had started and i happily put my camera away in its broken down red leather bag, zipped it up and threw it on the seat beside me. i was ready to go pick my kids up from their favorite aunt's house. they were baking halloween cookies while i was at my photo session. i was excited to see their creations. 

i started the car and i kept looking at the sheep who came to the fence line when i was putting stuff in the car. it's not like me to break from a decision. a normal thought would be, wow those sheep are so awesome, i should take some photos. then i would think, put it in the memory bank, i will come back another time. things to do, always something to do...

but then i thought, no. its now, the sheep are here now. they look amazing and friendly and they want to greet me at the fence. i am so glad i stopped. it was hard for me to leave. they were just so darn cute. one of them wanted to be my best friend. i just had no idea they were so social. the one guy actually tried to get out many times to come with me when i finally got in the car. so here are a few photos of my new friends. i have to go visit them again soon. they are good listeners, they liked my story.

and my children. they had an amazing time making cookies, while i was busy. i just have to include a photo of their creations. i am told they had no adult help in the formation of the fingers. just the measuring.

and the scary fingers that tasted so good, i had to hide them so tim and i didn't eat them all on the kids!

 

i can't believe this is the third year

for her christmas portraits. i love this time of year. i love meeting up with this amazing young lady. she is one of my favorites! we managed to avoid the rain today too, it started just as we were leaving the orchard. we shot at the lovely Sea Cider Farmhouse and Ciderhouse on the Saanich Peninsula. if you haven't tried their amazing cider, you should!

here are a few quick glimpses into our morning. i seriously would love to harvest just a tiny bit of this girls spirit. she makes me smile just thinking of her.

vs warm autumn sun

sorry for the skating photos. i have no idea what came over me, posting winter, cold and rain stuff. i am back to sunshine and colour. today was brilliant. a wonderful day to enjoy my children and the park and the swings and cupcakes and tea and life.

a nice winter day

a day spent lounging, making double mocha's, orange yogourt pancakes, extra long hot showers, all while watching the rain fall. POUR might be a better word. then the decision to go skating. i wasn't thinking that it was the best idea, adding a cold sport to a cold day, but it turned out to be a good one. the kids had fun skating fast on the ice, and sliding on bellies. the day ended brilliantly! with an amazing golden sunset. the leaves glistening in the sun. it truly was spectacular.