My Creatively Random Life

We had some family pictures taken as a present to my mom a few weeks ago and I just got them back yesterday.  Ace is starting to go through that I don't want to go do anything stage so he refused to smile but I think they still turned out sort of all right. One of these days I am going to figure out how to rotate pictures on the blog, then we will really be working out well. And here is the first one of the whole family, where at least he attempted to smile.  Ugh! Preteens! There are some more great shots that I am looking forward to having of me and the kids and one of me and my mom and my sister that is fantastic.  This really sets the tone for the year though, I want to have more pictures of my kids with my parents and even with us so that one day when they are sitting down with their kids they can share the memories. Whether those memories are formal pictures like these or silly selfies taken on a cell phone. Do you make sure to be in the picture...

It's a little grainy but this is me in my Belle cosplay on Halloween of 2015.  I love this costume, I can't wait to wear it again come Toronto ComiCon.

Another one of the little one when she was a bitty little thing.  I can't believe how fast she is growing.

With Cat's birthday coming up in a few weeks I thought I would throw up a few post to celebrate how much she has grown.  What a cutie eh?

Last month I started another photo a day challenge as a way to work on my photography skills which as you know leave more than a little to be desired. It was going okay until I dropped my phone and broke the camera. *face palm* But we are back in business for now with a loaner phone that makes me feel like a total moron while my camera gets fixed. Day One: Ladybug we found chilling on the sidewalk while out for a walk. Day Two: Morning skies on the way to work. Day Three: The creek on one of my training runs. Day Four: Spider Girl is so sparkly today. Day Five: Someone's lawn decoration on the way home from High Park. Day Six: Birthday present from my sister. Day Seven: Hail at the bus stop. Day Eight: Coolest postcards ever. Day Nine: Bringing a little superhero to my work clothes. Day Ten: Cat lost a tooth. I am being a little more flexible with myself this time, if I miss a day it's not the end of the ...

I have been lucky enough to participate in some really awesome swaps through the  International Geek Girl Pen Pals Club  but so far this has been one of my favourites.  The premise was you got a partner and you exchanged a small gift to unwrap for each of the 31 days of December.  Like an Advent calender. I'm not sure which was more fun, picking out small gifts to send to my partner or receiving mine in the mail.   Gifts from my partner On December 1 I unwrapped candy: On December 2 I unwrapped origami cranes: On December 3 I unwrapped a London magnet: On December 4 I unwrapped a lollipop:  On December 5 I unwrapped a sheet of super sweet stickers: On December 6 I unwrapped an adorable little notebook: On December 7 I unwrapped tea straws: On December 8 I unwrapped a Christmas paper chain craft: On December 9 I unwrapped this neat pen: On December 10 I unwrapped love hearts which ar...

The day we brought her home, what a sweet little angel she was.

With all the trouble they have caused me lately it's good to look back and remember when they were sweet and talked back a lot less.

It's grainy and hard to see but here is the first ever picture taken of me, wasn't I adorable?  Tee hee! Going through the old photo albums that my mom had was a great way to find pictures and topics for future blog posts.  There were some wonderful how could my parents let me out in public dressed like that moments in there too. It really inspires me to get going through the cache of digital photos I have and make some albums for the kids to go through when they are older.

Cat's costume from two years ago, can you guess what she is supposed to be?

This picture is from last year's  Hammer Town Comic Con  which is now called Hamilton Comic Con. It was a fantastic time being their first year running the convention and this was one of my favourite pictures of the day.

Flipping through my pictures today I came across this cute picture of Mike and I from towards the beginning of our relationship that Ace took. Such a lovely memory of a fall outing. 

Little Miss Diva has been extra demanding this week so I had a lot of fun looking back to pictures of a time before she was as up in your face.  It reminds me of how fast time goes by and that no matter how frustrating she is being I need to take a deep breath and snuggle her close because she will be all grown up before I know it.   I wish I could reach back in time and squish those little toddler cheeks.

When I was going through my pictures I came across this picture of Cat and Ace from the summer of 2011. I just thought it was the best picture, they look so adorable.  And clean, it's not often they look clean.  It must have been taken at the start of the day.

Last year we went on a awesome walking tour of the battle ground of The War of 1812 with Richard of Muddy York Walking Tours .  It was a great experience and the kids had a blast. This is my favorite picture from that day, happy family.

When I look at Cat now I have trouble remembering when she was this small, it just won't connect in my mind with where she is now.  She's just growing up way too fast. This picture is from the Santa Claus parade a few years ago.

Since I have spent what feels like every waking minute this week at my office I thought I would post an old picture of Cat visiting Mommy at work.  Tiny and cute she was.  

One of the things I often notice when I go through my collection of pictures is that I don't have a lot of pictures of myself.  It's not an ingrained habit for me to remember to force my friends to take pictures when we are together or my family either but it is very important.   A part of the reason why I started to do the Throwback Thursday posts was to remind myself of that so that I take more pictures with the people I love.  Even if the moment isn't picture perfect, because one day it will be.   Today's picture is one of me and one of my closest friends from my cousins birthday party a couple years ago.  We don't get as much time to hang out as we used to because of how our lives have changed but we try.   Do you remember to take pictures when you can? 

This is Ace's last Thursday away, Sunday night he comes home, thank goodness.  I love knowing that he is having fun and enjoying all these life enriching experiences but I miss him terribly.  Plus it's time to start getting ready to go back to school and I want to squeeze as much into the last few days of summer vacation with them as I can. Today's picture is a fun summer one from Canada's Wonderland, I have a ton of those in my collection, we seem to live there in the summer.

Week two of Ace being away is under our belt and we are surviving.  In some ways having only one kid is so much easier but in a lot of ways Ace makes things easier on both Cat and I because he helps so much. Cat's bored while Mom's making dinner?  No problem, he can read with her or show her something neat in his new National Geographic.  Without crutch I have to come up with ways to entertain her while I cook, so she has been having cooking lessons, we have had some seriously over spiced fish but other than that it is going well. Today's picture of Ace is from when he first got his glasses, what an adorable little monkey he was then.