Just one from a recent Mini-Session raindate - mmmm, lips & lashes -luscious, no?
So sorry for my poor, neglected blog; busy, busy with a lot of changes in my life, both personal & professional. Happy to report my business will be expanding! More info on that in the near future. Also happy to report that I'll be moving to a new home with a designated natural light studio -- or "un-studio" as I've been referring to it!! Again, more on that in the near future.... for now, enjoy those lips & lashes.
I have to apologize to anyone who has used my "Contact Me" form on my website to try to contact me over the past 3 weeks or so. My inquiries have been unusually slow for this time of year, and I figured out my contact messages have been lost in cyberspace! I have my website host & designers on the problem as I type.
If you've tried to contact me recently and received no response; I'm truly sorry! Please contact me by email, and I promise to get back to each & every one of you! choochoo@choochoophotography.com
Fries under the Bridge -get it? Fries shot under the Bluewater Bridge?? If you're from Sarnia, or anywhere around there, you will know exactly what I mean. There is nothing -and I mean nothing, like the local fresh cut fries, liberally sprayed (yes, sprayed -it's a Sarnia thing) with vinegar, a generous sprinkle of salt, and gobs of ketchup to fill in the holes. Yummm!
I recently took my son for his first visit to my hometown of Sarnia, aptly named "Bluewater Land" because of it's amazingly clear azure blue water of the St. Clair river. We drove around to my favourite places and I showed him the houses I grew up in, and the schools I used to attend. I also had to prove just how far of a walk to & from school I had -yes, uphill both ways in the dead of winter. ; )
We spent a lovely afternoon at Canatara Beach Park, it's still pretty cold, but we had a good swim anyways.
There are always a great variety of interesting rocks and shells to sift through. This, I could spend hours doing.
I couldn't wait to take Gav to the Animal Farm; I have many memories of feeding the animals, & being chased by geese. It did not disappoint, except that we're not allowed to feed the animals any longer. We spent a good amount of time listening to and laughing at the sound of the goats bleating to one another. They were certainly vocal that night!
A lot has changed in Sarnia since I lived there; most for the good -the waterfronts and parks are amazingly well kept. I can't get over the big box developments in the north end, but I guess that's the fate of most towns & cities nowadays. The downtown, and waterfronts still retain their charm however. Looking forward to the next visit --next time I get to have a Puffio from Ciccios!
How *not* to pick up a cat:
1) wrap arms around cat's belly
2) yank upwards
3) repeat step 2
4) repeat step 2 a few more times, laughing so hard you can no longer hold on to said cat
5) follow cat as she loses patience and tries to walk away (notice paw braced against the couch?
I must add a disclaimer not to try this with just *any* cat; Sam is an unusually tolerant and patient little thing. Btw, he never was successful in picking her up.
This Saturday, March 28th between 8:30-9:30pm, show the Earth you are committed to saving energy by switching off your lights, TV, radios, and computers.
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.
Gavin has recently taken an interest in the culinary arts; more specifically, he's decided to take on the persona of a "helpful boy" (in his efforts to avoid time-outs, but we don't want to ruin the moment here). Wanting to help with the dinner preparation, but only having cutting work needing to be done, it was my husband's brilliant idea to let him cut the ends off the beans with his scissors. Now, this may not be something you want your 5 year old to do, but Gavin has always been extremely adept with his scissors, so the chore was placed before him. And, in case you were wondering; facial expressions *do* help immensly with the task of cutting with scissors.
He made it about two thirds of the way through two nights' worth of beans (I always cook with leftovers in mind -but that's another post in itself), with slightly more beans in the pot than the compost bowl. His diligence and efforts did not go unappreciated; let me tell you, any little bit of help can make such a difference to me. I laid on the positive reinforcement just as I like my icing on a cake; sweet, buttery & *thick*!
