DONT take my picture. Crap.

I thought I would try and get some cute Halloween pics of the kids today. I have said a million times, that Olivia does not like to have her pic taken, and I wasn't exaggerating. I actually stood there aiming the camera at her long enough that she peeked to see if I was still there. Caught her though, didn't I? lol. Brat.

Hayden is the easiest to photograph so far. He aint easy, don't get me wrong, but he cant run yet. You have just got to give him something to hang onto and voila, he will stay relatively still for a couple moments.

Svea is either in the mood for it and models, or gets out of there. Thing about her, is she moves like her dad....lightening speed.

The kids have been pooping lots lately. I don't mean quick little hard poops either. I mean like, 1/4 inch stink clay stuck to their bums so evenly and so thickly, that you cant see one tiny little iota of skin. It takes 400 wipes and a carpet full of shit (not to mention the entire child's outfit and your very compromised hands) to see skin. Hayden is very annoyed about this lately, he squirms and wiggles and grunts angrily the entire time you try to hold him. And until I had a boy, I had no idea how.....crevicey (for lack of a better word) balls actually are. I suppose until you have to wipe stink clay out of them, you would never notice. When Hayden was first born, I gingerly wiped at those areas, unsure of what amount of pressure was acceptable. I have since learned that apparently those things are far less sensitive than most men admit to, because I have flattened them like pancakes in attempt to clean them to an acceptable condition before re diapering and he has never said a word......

Learn new things every day huh?

Nice.

Please excuse me while I take a hot screaming shower

So Hayden learned how to pull up while I was away at the Brandon QH Show. Now that he can do this, he prefers to practice at any available time. Like...nap time...and night time..and day time...and bath time.

Today he chose to forgo nap time in favour of practicing his new trick. Eventually I gave up on the nap (as I was about to shower) and chose to take him with me in the shower. Above, is the view I had of my very naked son, crashing my shower time. Of course, by the time I climbed out and grabbed my trusty camera, his screaming had stopped. But I now get to enjoy my hot shower kind of cold, with a screaming angrily baby who wants to be held while I try to soap my privates. Its a real blast.

Just thought I would share.

But he sure is cute, isn't he?

hmph.

Thanksgiving Classic QH Show

I am completely and totally exhausted, but had a great weekend away. Jag has been better behaved, but he had excuses and held his own. We won a Hunter under Saddle class every day and for the most part, that's all we showed him in.

Mom and I had a great time minus diaper duty, though during some quiet moments you could almost feel us wishing we had the children there. They sure would have loved that pool. Next year maybe the girls can come. Its a concrete jungle, that show and it would be difficult with really young children, for sure.

I really just wanted to share the pics....but something seems to be holding me up here. If they don't arrive, stay tuned for next time.

I have stuff that needs to be picked up from the border and am hoping my mom will take pity on me and grab them for me, LOL. I left the kids birth certificates and health cards with their daddy while we were away..so its not an option for me.

Love you mommy :)

I dont think they really get any cuter than this

Speaking of a lack of glamour.....

So on Tuesday, I went with Ben to the bush to help him move some equipment from one camp to another. Occasionally, I figure its a good thing for me to get some sort of real concept of what his life is like in the bush. I decided it completely lacks in glamour and realized that when Ben comes home from the bush with his head spinning around on his shoulders like a top, that he has good reason.

It sucks. Its dirty, greasy, smelly and the guy lives in a tiny little trailer with a bed so short he has to dangle his legs off the side while he sleeps. The roads were so rough, I was afraid to pull the fuel trailer any faster than 20 km and was tempted to hit the four wheel drive button on more than one occasion. He has to do all his "business" in a plastic porta potty he hauls from camp to camp himself and often times, the other bush workers take it upon themselves to just use Ben's and pee all over the damn thing.

I watched him change a cylinder. After a fair amount of grunting and wrenching, he managed to get the job done. He is fast, and talented at his work. But even then, he had oil spraying on his face, down his arms and generally looked like he had rolled in it when it was all done. To think in the winter the poor guy has to do these very same things while freezing his hands on the cold metal and thick grease in the -30 temperatures so common for the area he works in.

Yuck.

So, as I report my findings of life in the bush, I find myself feeling thankful that my job requires changing shitty diapers in my warm large home with my big king size fluffy bed and my never ending supply of hot clean water. Oh, and with little to no chance of some dirty, nasty, stinky dude who hasn't showered or gone home in a month doing his business in my toilet.

My husband works hard at the most unglamourous job I think I have ever seen. Thanks hon. I will just stick to diaper duty. Go ahead and get that new Atco trailer your thinking of.....you deserve it.

Shit.

I changed 6 diapers before 10:30 am this morning. Three of them were brown. I had no idea having children would be so incredibly glamorous. The girls announce their poopy bottoms now. MOMMY CA CA MOMMY!!!!!!!!!! BUM!!. Usually, we have outgrown the infamous and super subtle butt sniff around here now. Svea has this issue with you really getting her umm...clean down there, and locks her knees together with so much force, you gotta use both hands to pry em apart and then you have no hands left to do the cleaning. Olivia tries to grab everything in the diaper, so you frantically get her as clean as you can as fast as you can while removing the offending diaper as fast as you can before she grabs it as a second choice. Hayden screams in indignation at being held on his back like a turtle and tries to flip off of it as fast as he can. Let him, and he will pee on the carpet. And if he does, I will kneel in it. Its Murphy's law. Plus, his crap is like warm smelly clay, you gotta use half the box of wipes in order to even have a chance to get it off. He now gets daily baths. He is a stinky, smelly, dirty, all boy kinda kid. Gosh, I love that about him, lol.

I am on a roll with this photography thing. Only, I have few pics to show for it. I have become so picky about what I am willing to photograph, its ridiculous. I need to resume to my happy snappy old ways to a certain extent so I can post and share some pics with you. I hate to use the flash, so if its needed, I just don't bother. Give me a few months and you will be sick to death of seeing pics posted daily.

Gotta run, its way past my bedtime and I have a dinner and shopping date with my dear friend Kelly tomorrow that I am already excited about! Can ya tell I don't get out much? LOL.

Sweet dreams

Kaija xx

If the world didnt have Gramma's

Seriously. If the world did not have Gramma's, it would be a much lesser place. Gramma's have patience, when Mommy's do not. Gramma's are always there, when mommies need them. And when grand babies need them too. And honestly, I think Gramma's have a sixth sense for when their own babies are desperately needing to be babies themselves again, and figuratively speaking of course, need to curl up into their mommies arms and cry about how the world is not always a perfect place to be in. I love my life, and my children, and my husband and my horses, but when all is not well, I know I can go to my babies Gramma and she will make me feel OK again.

Thanks mom :)

Sweet Saucy Svea

This child feels with her entire being.

Feels angry, feels mad, feels frustrated, feels sad.

She rages in tantrums that can rattle the calmest of souls.

She loves deeply and gently...Dotes on her baby brother even though she is only two.

Smiles sweetly and says "I love you mommy" perfectly clear amongst the other garble.

I believe she is wise beyond her years.

And I cant begin to tell you how much I love her.

(give me a break, one baby at a time)

Kaija's learning curve

So I do love to take photos, but being GOOD at taking them, well that's another thing entirely. In the last few days I have been reading about ISO, aperture, shutter speeds, white light balance...and frankly, I am a little overwhelmed. But I didn't buy a dSLR camera to use as a point and shoot model, so I am stubbornly insistent on learning to use the things manual options. I like the creative kinds of photography. The Sears shots just kind of bore me, actually. And to be honest, the last shots I got from Sears I could have done better on my point an shoot camera. Nothing like paying through the nose for some pimply teenager to stand behind a big expensive camera, get you in the viewfinder and press the button.

So forgive me while I swamp my blog with photos. Some good, some bad. Some a lot of both.

I am unwilling to use the auto function on my camera, so most of these photos are taken on either manual, or AV, which chooses the appropriate shutter speed for the aperature you choose.

You can tell me to shut up if you want to, but I wont listen anyways.

The girls have decided that they want no part of my learning. The big black thing I always have in my hands is an annoying intrusion on their play and Olivia mumbles things like "no..no no mumble mumble" while she turns away from me. Svea gets this sly little grin and takes off. Hayden thinks the lens is an intriguing object and therefore, will be the subject of many, many of my photos.

The pic of Olivia is way overexposed. I have no photoshop programs and am currently working on Ben to spend even more money on my newest expensive hobby. Mind you, even photoshop couldn't likely save that particular photo. And poor Svea, her face is one big shadow. Its a learning curve for me, but I think it was the high ISO I had set.

I love the boots. And they wont fit them for long. I spose next year will have to bring a couple of new pairs, wont it?

I don't like flowers..or plants..or trees, or any kinds of shrubbery, OK?!

Olivia HATES plants. I don't know why, she just doesn't like em. And if I can figure out how to wing a shot of her riding in the wagon strapped to the back of the quad while Ben drives through the trails at camp, I can show you her infamous "duck and cover" which will make you pee your pants. Its that hilarious. Trust me.

Yippy Kaiyiyay!

I am so very excited! Yesterday I got to order my new Canon EOS 40D. I was warned off the lenses that come with the packages, so I got the camera body and ordered a specific lens (50 mm f1.8) to use until I can afford my coveted 28-70mm f2.8. The Canon models of lenses get the great reviews, but there is a company (Sigma) that makes a copy of this lens for much cheaper. I will dream about this lens until I have it...but until then, the lens I did buy gets great reviews not only online, but from actual real people I have chatted with that love it.

I couldn't bring myself to purchase one of the oh so boring bags available here in Thunder Bay, so I found this bag (Tracy Joy) made SPECIFICALLY for mothers who tote around their little ones and their camera alike. This is actually a camera/diaper bag. The dividers are thick and padded so camera parts wont bump together, but it can also accommodate for some diapers, etc. Seriously? How cool is that. The one I ordered is similar to this one, only chocolate brown rather than black. And I included a picture of what the inside will look like too.

To make life even sweeter, I just got the LAST spot in a 20 hour college offered camera workshop specifically for DSLR cameras. I am currently enjoying a wonderful online course I am taking through Sheye Rosemeyer (Australia) and am hoping to double up on figuring out aperture, iso, shutter speeds and so on and so forth. I cant wait to get some real "bokeh" with my new toy, that is en route as we speak.

So today is a GREAT day and I cant wait for tomorrow :)