Bean & Boo

WAHOOOOOOOO!

2010-04-13T17:49:00.001-07:00

Need I say more?

2010-04-12T18:08:00.000-07:00

Ali's new pride and joy. The bike didn't come with a basket, but she said we had to buy one so that Fry would have somewhere to sit.

Where did my baby go?

Jeff and his beloved Barbie kite.

Rainbow

2010-04-12T18:06:00.000-07:00

Wings of Paradise Butterfly Conservatory

2010-04-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

This little guy was beautiful. The picture didn't quite capture the colours but he was jet black and neon green. Very cool!

Eva was only about four months old the last time we went to Wings of Paradise. This time she absolutely loved it. She especially enjoyed chasing after the little birds that were hoping around on the ground.

Outside for a quick picnic lunch.

A Blue Morpho butterfly, Ali's favorite. Or as she calls it a 'Blue Marco'.

This made Ali's day.

Egg Hunting

2010-04-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

Today we went to an Easter Egg hunt at Embro Pond.

Good Friday

2010-04-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic Good Friday.

Where's the baby?

Taking a little rest before lunch

Not Sure How Legal This Is ...

2010-04-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

Baby-wearing while driving?

New MJ

2010-03-20T18:15:00.001-07:00

I admit it. These pictures are from the other day, but I think they're too cute not to share.

Bad Mummy

2010-03-17T19:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, Eva has the occasional lollipop. They're organic and made from all natural ingredients, but it's still no excuse.

Little Princess Squinkalicious

2010-03-16T18:13:00.001-07:00

Bellybutton!

Pseudo Picnic

2010-03-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

Ali has been asking to have a picnic for ages. The ground is still too wet to eat on the ground, but I got so sick of her constant whining that we decided to just do a fake picnic. Basically, Jeff picked up a pizza on his way home for lunch and we ate at the picnic table that's just around the corner from our house. A pathetic excuse for a picnic, but it's enough to keep Ali quiet for a while.

Working up an appetite with a little pre-lunch hopscotch.

Escorting the lunch to our table.

Oh, How I Love My Bumbo!

2010-03-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

It's funny. She *hated* this chair as an infant, but now that she doesn't need it she loves it.

Disclaimer: I realise that the focus is way out in these pictures and that the lighting/shadows are awful, but I like them anyway :p

"Sugary Cookies" Part 2

2010-03-11T19:14:00.001-08:00

Finis.

"Sugary Cookies!" Part One

2010-03-10T16:03:00.001-08:00

Springtime Fun

2010-03-09T08:03:00.001-08:00

What a beautiful day! I know I'm fooling myself, believing that spring is here. I know that it's more than likely that next week we'll be under mounds of snow again. But for now I'm loving this weather! If nothing else it's a sign of beautiful things to come.

Fun with bubbles.

Then a bike ride.

Our Saturday Mornings

2010-03-06T17:55:00.000-08:00

Eva loves taking Ali to dance class. We usually sit in the hall and wait for the 45 minutes. Eva sits on the floor in front the door, watching through the part of the window that isn't covered by blinds. And quite often she tries to get into the room so she can join in!

Crazy Hair Day

2010-03-05T11:18:00.001-08:00

Today was crazy hair day at Ali's preschool. I was trying to think of what to do, and Ali came up with the idea to put all her clippies in her hair. We didn't do all of them, but we got a good mix in there.

Flower Power

2010-03-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

I made Eva a new hat a few days ago and ever since then Ali has been asking for one. So I bought a new pattern off Etsy and made her this. She's very happy with it.

SUN!!!!

2010-03-03T20:39:00.001-08:00

Finally some spring weather! We decided to make the most of it and play outside for a few minutes.

On a side note, today was Eva's first day at preschool. Jeff and I dropped her off together and as soon as we walked into her room she made a beeline for a big Little Tikes firetruck. She climbed right in and made herself at home. She cried for maybe 15 seconds when Jeff and I left, but other than that she had a wonderful day.
When I arrived to pick her up, the toddlers were just walking from the gym back to their classroom. Eva was with them, and all of a sudden she looked so grown up to me. It was like she wasn't a baby anymore, she was one of the kids.

Love

2010-03-01T18:36:00.001-08:00

This afternoon Ali and Eva were trying on some of their new summer clothes. I was taking a few pictures of Ali's new stuff, when over toddled Eva and gave her sister a big hug. It was adorable! I'm so glad I already had my camera in my hand.

Skater Girl

2010-02-28T18:09:00.001-08:00

Ali has been asking to go ice skating ever since watching A Charlie Brown Christmas in December. We finally got out and bought her some skates. She was very excited. I just love how she's trying on big black hockey skates while wearing a tutu. That's just so Ali!

Meet Jack

2010-02-27T19:04:00.001-08:00

I Never Dust

2010-02-26T17:40:00.000-08:00

As you can plainly see in this picture. Oops.

Nice Hat, Baby

2010-02-25T19:07:00.000-08:00

Spinning Like A Top

2010-02-24T16:58:00.000-08:00

Playing with shutter speed.

Off To Swim Class

2010-02-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

The Cow Says Moo

2010-02-22T20:26:00.000-08:00

It's A Hard Life

2010-02-21T17:50:00.001-08:00

Especially when your hat is on backwards. I wanted to snap a quick picture, but she was engrossed in an episode of Wibbly Pig. This is the pained expression she game me.

Colour Wonder

2010-02-20T16:19:00.001-08:00

Never Too Sick

2010-02-19T16:45:00.001-08:00

... to colour ...

... or play dress up :)

The Reason ...

2010-02-18T20:01:00.000-08:00

... my parents come to visit us, is so that they spend their evenings with Jeff, off in the kitchen playing this game. Every single time. I play occasionally but I get bored with winning all the time.

Tickles For Papa

2010-02-17T18:15:00.000-08:00

My parents live three hours drive away and we don't get to see them as often as we would like. So you can imagine Ali's excitement this afternoon when I called her to look out the kitchen window to see Nana and Pap getting out of their van. Within minutes of their arrival, Ali had Papa on the ground giving him lots of tickles.

Swim Bag

2010-02-16T17:59:00.001-08:00

Nothing exciting to post today. Eva isn't feeling very well, so I copped out and just took a quick snap of Ali's new swim bag that arrived in the mail today. Fantastic timing, considering that it's the day for swim class!

Gotta' love Charlie & Lola!

Family Day

2010-02-15T12:20:00.001-08:00

True Love

2010-02-14T18:38:00.001-08:00

Bathtime

2010-02-13T17:59:00.000-08:00

Tonight was Eva's first ever bubble bath. I thought she would love it, but she screamed as soon as we put her in the water. It didn't even occur to me that the bubbles might feel and look a little scary and strange to someone who's never experienced them before. It took a little while, but she soon warmed up to them.

Pink Milk

2010-02-12T20:27:00.000-08:00

This Girl

2010-02-11T18:45:00.000-08:00

I love this girl. She has so much spark and intensity.

Maddie's First Chicken McNugget

2010-02-11T18:37:00.000-08:00

We were very honoured to be present on such an important occasion.

It made her happy.

RAW

2010-02-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

My first picture taken and edited in RAW. It felt (and looks) a little clumsy since I didn't really know what I was doing, but I'm looking forward to learning!

My Poor Baby

2010-02-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

Eva's first fat lip :(

This is where she's eating the frozen peas we put in a bag to stop the swelling. She didn't want the bag anywhere near her face, but she thought the peas looked yummy.

Swim Class

2010-02-09T18:44:00.001-08:00

And after a quick edit, courtesy of my friend Erica:

I soooooo need to learn how to do that!

Bedtime Panic

2010-02-08T19:07:00.000-08:00

It's All Downhill From Here

2010-02-07T18:06:00.001-08:00

Get it???

*ahem*

Sorry.

Ali loves her new snow "gobbles". Man, it makes me giggle every time she says that!

Chef Ali

2010-02-05T10:27:00.001-08:00

Once Upon A Teacup

2010-02-04T18:46:00.000-08:00

And just 'cuz I love y'all ...

My Charming Daughter

2010-02-03T12:34:00.001-08:00

Copy Cat

2010-02-02T18:24:00.000-08:00

I was reading some tutorials online this afternoon, and playing with my camera when I looked up and saw this ...

I also revisited the focus issue from yesterday and this time tried some of your tips (focused on her eyes and upped my SS), and the focus in the pictures was a lot more consistent this time around.

No, you're not seeing double. We have two floppy bunnies, and Eva is hugging both in that picture. We have had so many near disasters with Fry getting dropped and misplaced, that when we saw Eva was starting to favour FB we rushed out bought an extra, just in case.

On a totally unrelated note, I registered Ali for Kindergarten today. She got to meet her principal. She was a little shy at first, but then he gave her a book and that won her over instantly. The whole experience was a little bit of an anticlimax for her because she thought she would be staying at school. She got a little bit upset when I said it was time to leave.

Still Learning!

2010-02-01T14:41:00.000-08:00

This girl is the cheeriest waker-upper I have ever known. She certainly doesn't get that from me. These pictures were taken seconds after I woke her.
I'm naffed off about the first two though. Somehow I managed to catch the focus on her hands and the crib rail rather than her face. And of course those are the two best. The third one is in focus but not nearly as cute. So, photog-friends, what did I do wrong? I did play with the focal point thingies after the first few pics, but even after doing that there were a few that turned out the same way. Any tips?

Sunday Afternoon Fun

2010-01-31T13:09:00.000-08:00

Of course, little sister needs in on the action too.

Diva

2010-01-31T13:08:00.001-08:00

It's not my official picture of the day as Jeff actually took it. But I just had to share.

Ali's Spa Day

2010-01-30T17:53:00.001-08:00

Rehearsal Time

2010-01-29T18:15:00.000-08:00

The awesome children's Pastors at our church are working with some of the kids to put on a musical this Easter. I just love how seriously Ali is taking it. Today when we played the CD of the music, Ali grabbed her folder and set herself up with the script resting on a chair in front of her. She sat there for the duration of the CD singing with all the songs.

I love to hear her sing. She's so precious, and she puts her whole heart into it.

My Budding Architects

2010-01-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

Eva got these Haba blocks for Christmas and I just love them. The girls and I were playing with them this afternoon, creating buildings, towers and "homes". So fun and funky!

What Shall I Create?

2010-01-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

I'm still working on familiarizing myself with aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Trying to find the balance between the three to get the style of picture I want at an exposure that is neither too dark or bright. It's a little bit tricky at times. And I've met a few obstacles. This afternoon I was trying to take a picture of Ali doing a craft. She was sitting at our kitchen table in front of a big bay window. I just couldn't for the life of me figure out how to take the picture so that she could be seen, without over exposing the background. I experimented with different angles and even tried adjusting my flash power and then using a little fill flash, but it still blew out my background. Any of my experienced shutterbug friends have any tips for me?

And I'm adding this picture because a) there have been a lot of Eva pictures lately, b) I want to show off Ali's new Catimini tank, and c) I think it's cute.

Funky Chicken

2010-01-26T17:14:00.001-08:00

Ali and I had some fun with Playdoh this afternoon. For the first time ever I relaxed a little and let her mix the colours (yeah, I'm a little anal about that - silly, I know).

I just had to add this picture because as soon as we had finished making him Ali looked at me and said "That is one funky chicken, Mummy."

P.s. I updated my post for the 24th.

Future Rock Star

2010-01-25T17:41:00.000-08:00

She's busy watching Tinkerbell.

Computer should be back up and running tomorrow - I had to steal Jeff's to do this.

And She's Off!

2010-01-24T19:32:00.000-08:00

My baby is now a walker! And it only took her 13.5 months.

Sleepy Girl

2010-01-23T18:51:00.000-08:00

This was the first picture taken with my new 50mm lens.

Taking The Leap

2010-01-22T17:42:00.000-08:00

Today I took my first pictures using the Manual setting on my camera. And it's only taken me 1.5 years. They're not the greatest, but to be honest, I was just happy that I finally took the plunge. And maybe realised that it's not quite as daunting a task as I once thought.

So in honour of this auspicious occasion, you are treated to three pictures today.

Meet The Guys

2010-01-22T06:23:00.001-08:00

Known collectively as The Guys, or individually as Fry (the lion) and Floppy Bunny (the ... well, it doesn't take a genius, does it).

Can I Help You?

2010-01-20T18:37:00.000-08:00

I really need to get organized and take some pictures earlier in the day. It's usually a case of grabbing the camera just before the girls go to bed. And the lighting in our house is super sucky. I hereby resolve to do better tomorrow.

Baby at Work

2010-01-19T16:48:00.000-08:00

I think she is in the middle of a very tense game of Minesweeper.

Fairy Wishes

2010-01-18T14:59:00.000-08:00