my house is a disaster

Today was a cleaning day (much needed) and I thought this was a fitting time to share this thought that I had written earlier in the week. It’s always hard having guests over at our place cause 99% of the time our house is a disaster. Hopefully this resonates with someone :)

life inbetween | photodump 08

Lots of inbetween moments this week :)

For Mothers Day my hubby and the kids treated me to a home made breakfast ft. crepes. This is a treat for me cause normally I only eat them once a year at Christmas time when my mom makes them. They were delicious! Afterward we went to the mall where he gave me five minutes in Indigo to choose as many books as I wanted and he’d buy and then we finished our trip out at the park.

The rest of the week was lots of little moments at the park - picking Dandelions, going for walks, playing in the sand.

I loved this afternoon out with the kids. We don’t normally get outside in the afternoon but we did a quick 20 minute walk to the field by our house and it was perfect. We collected rocks and flowers :)

This afternoon was a cleaning day so lots of time at home and lots of cute (and not so cute) moments.

Reflection photos have been a favourite of mine! Some inbetween moments caught in reflections.

20 Minutes Outside

We don’t usually head outside in the afternoon but I thought we’d give it a try. We were only out for 20 minutes before P got hungry and we headed back home but it was still a cute little outing.

Beautiful Messy Little Life

P finds four a.m a good time for conversations so I was very tired this afternoon. Day five of getting back to gratitude journaling so here’s a little excerpt from todays.

Tummy Time

Today’s gratitude ❤️ Everyday we do a little bit of tummy time and I love watching V’s little routine with P.

Mundane Moments

A little something I wanted to remember so I wrote about it.

This afternoon Victoria was going over to spend some time with her grandparents. We had a bit of a rough morning so I had completely forgotten all her nap stuff at home. After we went to the park I went to drop her off (Parker was in the car so it was a quick drop off). It was such a small moment, yet, it was something I want to remember.

Flower

A gratitude poem featuring little moments, our world and a child’s curiosity.

I wrote this after a morning at the park with my brother and dad. I loved the way Victoria would look at them. I have relatives that detest dandelions (I mean to most of society they are ‘weeds’) but to her and her little mind they are flowers and I love that.

Mothers Day

Thank you my love, my children for a perfect Mothers Day. I love you all so much! This is for you.

We had a wonderful Mothers Day. My husband made me crepes that I typically only get once a year. We visited a bookstore where he gave me 5 minutes to get whatever books I wanted and he would buy. We visited the park for a short bit and he made me a favourite meal - Prawn Alfredo with Rigatoni noodles. While he cleaned up dinner, Victoria and I went for a sunshine walk where she collected rocks and picked dandelions and to finish off the night I got some cuddles from Parker while I gave him his bedtime bottle. Everything was perfect :)

mothers day week | photodump 07

Started off the week with a hike at a local park we love visiting!

Made my mom a Mothers Day dinner! We made a classic recipe that we’ve been loving lately - Creamy Garlic Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Cabbage Salad.

Went on a solo date with my girl to one of our favourite parks :) The previous day was a rough day for all of us so it was nice taking some time the next day to have some one on one time.

Visited Tim Hortons on the way home for a treat! I’m thinking this sort of thing is going to be a new thing we do.

Parker’s solo date with me was a nice relaxing bath time while Victoria was at her grandparents but for obvious reasons there’s no photos.

Checked out a new trail and park with my dad and brother :)

Finished off the week with a lovely Mothers Day dinner at my parents house :)

Some moments in-between :)

'Motherhood' Limited Edition Session | Part 1

The Motherhood Limited Edition Sessions I do every Spring for Mothers Day is one of my favourites of the year. I started this series because moms are amazing and I want them to have a beautiful keepsake for years to come. This year I kept the Motherhood Sessions small and intimate only offering to the moms that I knew because I have a little baby at home who was only a few months old so I didn’t want to be away from him for a long time. L and her little boy was a friend of a friend who I was happy to include in the sessions. It was so great meeting her and her little boy and I am so happy with how her photos turned out! :)

Closer Look at 'Homes' | Part 1

I wanted to share some of my in-depth thoughts of some of the houses that are featured in my ‘Homes’ collection.

This was the house that started this collection. What drew me to it was the shutters on the window. They were unique. At first I was trying to only capture a single window with the shutter but I was on the other side of the street with the kids and couldn’t get closer. I was also using my Canon EF-M 15-45mm lens and couldn’t zoom in very much. So, I reframed my composition and took a wider shot with the road and the whole house. I ended up quite liking the photo with the different layers - the road, fence, and the trees in the back.

In this next one, there was one specific part of the house that I loved and that was the sun room that you can see off to the right of the house. I was too far away to see how they use this room but I like to imagine a room full of beautiful plants, a chair off to the corner where you can read a book. On the other side of this road is a lake so you’d also get a beautiful view of the lake. Again, I was on the other side of the road with the kids and couldn’t get closer/zoom in further with my camera so I reframed with a wide shot at a slight angle.

The last house that I want to talk about for ow is this one. What drew me to this was actually the juxtaposition of a small, cute little home against the modern looking apartments towering in the back. When I originally framed up this composition I was trying to just get the house straight on but as I kept walking with the kids to the park I noticed the opposition of the apartment buildings and just quite liked the shot.

Hope you enjoyed this closer look at what drew me originally to some of the houses featured in ‘Homes’ and what I was thinking compositionally. Stay tuned for Part 2!

Introducing 'Homes' | Collection of Homes that I Come Across That I Love

I’m introducing a new series to the website - Homes. Everywhere I go, whether it’s a walk or a drive I always look and admire peoples houses. So many different architecture types, styles, designs. So this new series is a collection of the different homes I see and love and future blog posts will contain more in-depth details about what I specifically drew me into the different homes.

You can find the collection so far over under the ‘Series’ tab or click here!

rail trail and very cold water...

We ventured out somewhere a little different this week. We took a walk along a different section of Okanagan’s Rail Trail and dipped our feet in the water (btw it’s still very cold).

I was trying to figure out how to best capture the view. It was so beautiful! The sun was shining and I love this side of Kelowna - the rolling green hills. It literally reminds me of a Studio Ghibli movie!

Fun fact! After she filled my shoes with sand she proceeded to take one and throw it in the water…

Details:

  • Camera: Canon M100

  • Lens: Canon EF-M 15-45mm

  • Lightroom: Edited using my ‘Golden Vibes’ Preset

coffee, park and lunch | photodump 06

A couple weeks ago we did a pretty big outing. We usually head out in the morning to just get outside but this was extra. We grabbed some coffee at Blenz, walked to the park, went to the stamp event at Kelowna Tourism, and then grabbed lunch at Kelly O Bryan’s. This was way more than what we usually do! I hadn’t posted these photos yet here so I thought I’d play around with some digital collaging to creatively display the photos.

a sea of yellow and a pop of red | photodump 05

We have come to this flower field a lot since the Arrowleaf started blooming here in the Okanagan. I love going for a walk through the trails, I love taking photos of V, I love watching her evolution of time here. Today I wanted to play around with contrasting colors. The field is full of green and yellow so I put V in a red dress and the whole trip brought me so much joy!

Details:

  • Camera: Canon M100

  • Lens: Canon EF-M 15-45mm

  • Lightroom: Used my ‘Golden Vibes’ Preset

what & why | episode one

The other day I was walking with Victoria and Parker to the park. We passed a girl that had a camera around her neck. Every now and then she would stop to take a photo. I noticed her meander through the park taking photos of things here and there. It made me wonder - what was she taking photos of and why (I was genuinely curious). I wished I had struck up a conversation with her. She made me think about my own photography and on that day I took two seemingly random photos that really stuck out to me.

The first was of these purple flowers and a cement brick. I took this photo because the little purple flowers (totally weeds) reminded me of the ones that grew at my grandparents place when they lived in West Kelowna.

The second was this home on the way to the park. I just liked it because of the shutters on the window. They were unique. At first I wanted a tight frame with just one of the windows but I was using my Canon M100 with the 15-45 lens and couldn’t get a tight enough zoom (we were on the other side of the street). So instead I went with a wide frame. I quite like the layers that I was able to capture - the paved road, the fence, the house and tree line.

I want this to be a new series that I work on, temporarily calling it What & Why. I hope you enjoyed the first instalment :)

Details:

  • Camera: Canon M100

  • Lens: Canon EF-M 15-45mm

  • Lightroom: Used my ‘Warm White Vibe’ Preset

if you don't like snakes look away | photodump 04

The other morning I took the kids out for a walk on Kelowna’s Rail Trail. We had stopped (so Victoria could fix her boot) and while we were standing I could hear this soft rustling beside me. When I looked over I didn’t see anything. It was confusing because I could still hear a soft rustling. I thought it was a small bird so I kept staring to see if I could spot it. I then realized…it was a nest of snakes…Thankfully they’re just little garden snakes so nothing worrisome. I picked Victoria up and pointed out the snakes. We kept walking a little bit before turning around and that was when I panicked. As we were walking back Victoria ran right towards the nest of snakes and all rationality, all calmness went out the door. I quickly picked her up and ran. In the commotion I must have dropped my phone but a kind gentlemen on a bike found me at the beginning of the Rail Trail and asked if I had dropped it (thank you a million to this rider - I honestly don’t know when I would have noticed it was gone.)

It was definitely a more eventful morning out with the kids.