Here we are, the best day of the year; the day when children young and old, near and far show their appreciation to the most important women in their lives; their Moms. For the 46 hours of labour, the sleepless nights, the boo boos kissed, the temper tantrums quelled, and the myriad tasks too numerous to mention that we accomplish on the other 364 days of the year; today we are recognized.
My day began at 6:15 with Gavin crawling into bed with us -I would have loved a bit of a sleep-in, but I shouldn't complain because I did get a very good quality snuggle. During my morning pee -I know, I know, too much information, but this is the reality of having a 5 year old (and I *know* you just snickered out loud when you read that)- he presented me with the above card. Inside as you can see, contained a specially designed envelope containing a number of rather festive strips of polka-dotted paper that he proceeded to throw up into the air & leave me to clean up off the bathroom floor.
The rest of the day was just as festive, with a lovely brunch prepared by my (scruffy) husband of asparagus frittata, the thickest most delicious bacon I've ever experienced, and a refreshing fruit salad of pineapples, grapes and marachino cherries (?!). Along with the good company of my In-Laws, we had a very memorable day.
Of course, tomorrow I will tackle the job of degreasing the cook top and surrounding area -can't think of that today though, I'm pretty sure it's illegal in this province to do housework on Mother's Day.
I'm posting an image before & after I played with it a little -I love to play. This, I call a "Softlight" effect; it works especially well with babies & Moms because it's extremely dreamy, feminine & flattering.
The "before" -already a lovely image, in my opinion:
The "after", converted to a brown-toned black & white, and softened with my Softlight effect. The real trick is maintaining the sharpness of the eyes and not softening the features too much.
Thank you to all who attended yesterday's Spring Mini-Shoot event! I've just started going through the images -there are lots; I'm a terrible overshooter, but I don't want to miss anything. Can't resist posting a few sneak peeks for you!
It seems that someone has inherited my sense of colour and pattern. So proud am I, being a creative person to see a tiny glimpse of myself in my offspring. He's also showing an aptitude for math and measuring -those he gets from his Dad.
Small things in our daily lives can hold such personal significance.
On that depressing note (see the title of my previous post to see just how bizarre this scenerio is), after having to dig out mittens and scarves from storage (where I thought they would remain for at least five or six months -silly me), and making the cold, wet trek to & from school; I needed a little cheer-me-up. We had a bit of a party here this weekend, and my Mother-in-Law brought some of her garden blooms, so I happened to have a selection of flowers here to play with. Hope they cheer you up a bit as well.
I don't know how the heck it happened; but one day, we were in winter coats, hats & scarves, the next, shorts & t-shirts. Does this area have no in-between?? I don't know how it happened, but it was certainly a welcome reprieve from the brutal winter we had. We're now digging, weeding and planting our garden. I've started seedlings in the house, already thinking I've gotten a late start on them.
We spent last Saturday at the Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival and actually sweltered in the sun -how bizarre. I don't know what the usual turn out is like, but they must've felt like they'd won the weather lottery because the place was jam packed. Now, doesn't this make you feel like summer??
Ah, another public service announcement; one I've been meaning to write for a while. We've all been there, needing to buy a last minute birthday present for a little cousin, a friend's little one; or lately, for me, a Kindergartener, who I know nothing more about other than their name and the fact that they like to play "Penguins" (??) with my Kindergartener at recess. It's *hard* choosing a toy for a tot, there's no denying it. Should you go for something you would have thought was "cool" at that age, risking driving the parents to insanity with the noise/mess? Something "educational", they may find less than interesting? Or, should you go for something your own child would like, risking the possibility of tantrum when they realize the item is actually *going home with* the person they picked it out for, and not themselves?
I know we've all been there; you think you've found the perfect thing, a toy they will play with for years to come, but please, please remember there is a reason that "Not Suitable for Children Under 3", or "Age 8+" warning is on the label, and it's not purely for safety's sake (don't let me minimize the importance of saftey here), it's also for their development. I've done it myself, I admit it. When Gavin was two, he was so into trains; Thomas & Friends to be exact. Well, I thought I'd bypass the expensive wooden track set and get him one he would likely use for more years. We bought him a GeoTrax set with the remote control trains; a great toy by any margin, I assure you. But... the tracks are simply too complicated for a 2 year old, especially if there is a bridge or any form of elevation of said tracks. I can't tell you how many times Gavin had complete and utter end-of-the-world meltdowns because the complicated track system we set up for him had come apart from being bumped or stepped on. By 3, he was great with it and it was a favourite toy for ages.
When buying for other children, please keep in mind not only their ages, but also their development. For example; roller blades are not a great toy for a 4 year old with under-developed gross motor skills; a complicated build-it set marketed to 8 & 10 year olds, is only going to frustrate a 5 year old, and that dollar store playset with the ga-zillion plastic pieces isn't going to last five minutes in the hands of a hyper 3 year.
On the plus side, (and we always need to find the plus side when people are well- meaning) when I'm able to sneak off a well meant, but age-inappropriate gift, my lucky future 8 year old will have plenty of new things to play with.
I've been meaning to post over the past couple of days, but we've been having such lovely weather, I've been out and about, and trying to clean up the front garden. We actually have a few crocus up, and daffodils on the way. I have a lavendar bush right outside my office window that I just can't wait to bloom -I've always wanted my own lavendar bush & this will be the first season I'll see it in bloom! The snow mountain is almost melted in the middle of the courtyard, and it makes me happy everytime I see the streams of water running from it into the sewers.
Anyways, a brand new category here at When Choo Choo Blogs..., Choo Choo Tells You How To. I'm going to try to post some useful tips on photography for the masses -really, with today's cameras & all their built in functions, there are no excuses for your snapshots not to look great. I came across this very funny, and surprisingly instructional video on how to look good in photographs. I agree on most of the points; although, a bit overdone in some cases, for comic effect, I'm sure (I particularly do not agree with the "neutral" sweater colour choice -blech!). It's really very well put together.
Two years ago, my son was given an opportunity not many toddlers are handed. He was offered a Huggies, Pull Ups commercial. Now, as far as toddler commercials go, this is like the golden apple, right? So, away we went to a lovely house in the Shaugnessy area of Vancouver and spent the day in the basement playing with the other 4 lucky toddlers, while they individually get plucked upstairs in 10 minute increments to film the many short scenes. Did you know that they usually film 3-5 babies or toddlers for each commercial, then decide which one to use during editing??? One of the producers gave me two stills (one above) from the filming; it's crazy to think that could have been all I may have come away with from the experience! By the end of the long day, they had it narrowed down to Gavin & one other little boy, and each were asked to go to a sound recording studio to do the voiceovers the next day. What pride I had in seeing my 3 year old sitting in a sound booth repeating complex lines, and singing that so famous jingle!
With a goodbye, a "good job", and a toddler arm full of reward stickers, we left the studio without knowing if Gavin would make the final cut. About 3 weeks later, I received a call from the childminder at my gym asking if that was really Gavin she just saw on TV. Well, that's how we found out he made it; no call from the agencies, just wait until the finished product aired. I had no idea the number of people that would recognize him and comment to him while over the next two years; he was quite the celeb in our neighbourhood -for about a week anyways.
The purpose of this post is to say that, the commercial has run it's course and will be pulled from air this month (much to the relief I'm sure of many, it sure got a lot of air time!). We did find a great agent in TO recently, and we still audition once in a while when a good role is up; but I have to face the reality that this may just be his claim to fame, his 15 minutes, and I'm okay with that; Gavin was a Huggies "Big Kid" after all. It was fun while it lasted, but as his Mama, I will miss the infamous eyebrow raise, and hearing his sweet little voice singing on TV. What Mama wouldn't?
I'm taking this opportunity to introduce my services to the Barrie area by offering this rare taste of my personal services at an exceptional package price of $45.
A Mini-Shoot is 10 minutes, devoted to capturing your child's personality.
This is a great way to share the experience of truly unique portraits of your children in a relaxed, fun atmosphere, while saving on a session fee!
For more information: http://www.choochoophotography.com/Mini_Shoots.htm
For more samples of my backdrop work: http://www.choochoophotography.com/Studio_Samples/
