Our Family Video

Back in October my dear friend Shannon Stevenson did our family photos. We absolutely love them and have them massive in our home, not to mention that they grace the pages of our 2010 xmas card.

We also had the fabulous Geoff and Naomi from Weddings in Motion come and video the session. They created the most beautiful video of us and every time I watch it, it brings tears to my eyes.

Thank you Shannon, Geoff and Naomi for freezing that moment in time for us. It's something we will treasure. Forever.

Vancouver Family Video | The Kirby's from Weddings in Motion on Vimeo.

Like A Grade 6

My little brother Shakeel and his friends got together with their teacher to create this Parody on the "Like a G6" song. It's pretty awesome!!

Shakeel's the "lead rapper"! LOL

The Break is Over!

Well, I don't even know if I have any followers on this blog anymore and that's ok. I mainly post here so that I have a bit of a diary of our lives... later I will print it all out for our kids and hopefully they'll get a kick out of it when they're older.

So every time I swing past the blog, or somebody mentions it, I get a little feeling of guilt knowing that I've neglected it all summer. We've had some great times and I really want to document that!!

So my goal over the next few weeks is to go back and post our summer photos (geeze, do I even have them all uploaded to the computer???). There's awesome stuff.... like our trip to DisneyLand, tons of camping trips, Halloween and more. Ash has lost so many teeth, Ted is heading back to work, Jake has learned to skate and is now in HOCKEY!! and I just moved in to my very own photography studio.

I'm going to post date them all back to the appropriate dates just so that it's good for printing later, but it should all work nicely! ;)

So stay tuned...

Nikon Testing

That's right, as of late, I've had enough of Canon.. I want clarity and focusing and more focus points... all things I can get with a Nikon system.

So I headed over to photographer friend's of mine. She graciously allowed me to play with her D700 (which is the camera I'm thinking of getting) to see if maybe I was the one causing the poor clarity and bad focus or if it really was just the freaking camera!!!! (Side note: after doing multiple tests, canon has told me that it's me and not the camera).

Ok so 5 minutes outside of Erin's studio with Jake and I have now realized that I'm not crazy!! It isn't me!!! It IS the camera!!! WAHOOOOOOOO! Tomorrow I am heading to purchase a complete Nikon system cause how do you say no to this clarity and color:

First Camp Trip of the Season

..... and it rained and rained and rained. We headed down to Sandy Point for the weekend. We love going down there cause we just bring the trailer down and chill out on the ocean and Ted's brother's beach house. Usually the kids' cousins are down as well so they all play together (usually in the trailer) and we all just relax. LOVE IT!

On this particular weekend, we ALL spent the entire weekend in the trailer. And it rained and rained and rained. Weekends like these make me thankful that I'm not in some rayon tent sleeping on the ground and getting soaking wet. Have I mentioned how much I absolutely LOVE our trailer!?!?!

Blair and Kafaleen

Blair and his lovely girlfriend Kathleen are here from Winnipeg this week and I'm so glad they are... we miss them...SOOOOOO much. I've been trying to work out a plan to get them to move home, but nothing has come to mind yet. So if anyone has a good one, let me know! ;)

Anyways, my dad's house is COVERED... no, PLASTERED in photos of my kids. So he was mentioning that he really wanted a photo of my brother and Kafaleen (as Jake calls her). Well!! With such gorgeous weather... let's head out to the field!!!

Here's a couple shots! Love you guys!!








Oh.... sorry.... not that one.... THESE are the goodies! ;) (Click on them to get a bigger view)

Mother's Day Tea

Ok now THIS was one of the cutest things I've ever seen! Jake's preschool class through all the mommies a Mother's Day Tea. We walked in, they personally sat us all, and then each child proceeded to serve their mommies tea and brownies and ice cream. After we had a snack they took us around to all the little stations that were designed to "pamper" us.

Omg. It was sooooo cute! There was a massage station with various kinds of massage tools for them to use, a manicure table, a pedicure table and a hair table and a makeover table.

They also serenaded us with a lovely song... oh it was just the sweetest thing ever!!

Jake and I didn't make it to many tables but he did paint my finger nails and very aptly picked Canuck colors: green and blue! haha!!

My little Spiderman and my sweet kitty cat....

Off we went to Murrayville today to the Child Find event. We got the kiddos' pictures taken and fingerprints taken so that if, god forbid, anything happens to them, we are as prepared as we can possibly be.

There was also fun stuff for the kids to do... free hotdogs and juice, an animal guy, clowns, balloon animals and face painting! Check out what Ash and Jake got done:

Easter Time

I really do believe that Easter is my kids' favorite holiday... moreso than Christmas, moreso that Halloween.... they LOVE easter!!!! Maybe it's the overflowing baskets of chocolate? Well let's face it, that could steal anyone's heart! Well, mine at least!! ;)

They're starting to get good at hunting to, causing Ted and I to get more creative with our hiding places. And every single year, I go way overboard with the chocolate, and then we're drowning in it for weeks! (Never good for a girl who's in a constant weight battle!).

I just love where the kiddos are at right now... they're so much fun. Celebrating holidays and just doing simple things like going to the zoo are so new and fresh and exciting! Love it!!

Some Laughs for a Sunday afternoon!

Crazy Hair Day

Well, it was crazy hair day at school for the kids this week. When these special days pop up at school, I think they rank up there next to Christmas for Ted... oh, I mean Ash! ... she just gets SOOOOOOO excited! (And Ted's right in there too!!! LOL). She even dressed the part and put on the craziest outfit she could find!

Jake had fun too! He loved spraying his hair red (I think this is the closest he'll ever come Ann-Marie!! ;)

** Let me note that Ash's hair did not fall out and did in fact go back to her normal color after a couple washings. And it is back to it's normal texture too!! ;)

New Promo Video

This promotional video was made for me by Geoff and Naomi Heith, two incredibly talented artists that created Weddings in Motion! They are amazing:

Jillian Kirby | Baby from Weddings in Motion on Vimeo.

My New Favorite Image of My Babies.

Jake-isms

Today, Jake informed us that he and Daphne got married so now Shaggy and Scooby are moving in with us. When Ted asked Jake how we're going to buy all the food they eat, Jake said he'll give them everything he doesn't like. He's so giving. LOL

My Little Beauty

Check her out! Isn't she stunning?! LOVE that girl!

Took this shot in my front yard today while giving my aunt a quick lesson in photography. Man, trying to teach this stuff reminds me why I don't hold formal workshops!! I feel like video taping myself trying to teach my aunt so that I can send the video footage to all the photogs that email me asking me to do workshops... no one wants to pay to listen to me stumble over my words!!! LMAO!

Anniversary Flowers

Ted bought me flowers for our anniversary... my faves: Gerber Daisies. I wonder if he remembers that they were our wedding flowers!? LOL Anyways, he bought me red and white ones and put GO Canada GO on the card! ha!

I took a couple snaps of them and may put them up on my wall... kinda fun.

Ash's Anniversary Present to Us!

Ash drew this picture for us today for our anniversary. That's me and Ted on our wedding day five years ago! Come On! How cute is that?!?!?!?!? I love the bouquet and if you look close you can see the two black circles on me and Ted's outter hands... that's our rings! LOL

Thanks Ash! You're the sweetest little thing ever!

Us - Five Years

Well today is our five year anniversary... me and Ted that is! ;)
Honestly, it feels like forever. Five years doesn't seem right.

To be honest, anniversaries aren't big in this house. Up until the beginning of the week I really thought it was going to be a crapshoot if I remembered it at all... sometimes I remember, sometimes I don't.

We'll be spending the night eating sushi and watching our Womens Curlers go for Gold and our Mens Hockey play for a spot in the Gold Medal Game. That's so us. And I can't wait.

To my Teddy Bear:

If you were falling, then I would catch you.
You need a light, I'd find a match.

Cause I love the way you say good morning.
And you take me the way I am.

If you are chilly, here take my sweater.
Your head is aching, I'll make it better.

Cause I love the way you call me baby.
And you take me the way I am.

I'd buy rogaine, when you start losing all your hair.
Sew on patches to all your tears.

Cause I love you more than I could ever promise.
And you take me the way I am.

You take me the way I am.

-Ingrid Michaelsen



** Photos by Shannon Stevenson - new family pics coming in the spring! YEY!!!!!

Vancouver 2010

Wow, it's been a LONG time since I've posted here... and I was on such a roll too! Well, to be honest, it's been kind of a boring month or so. We've been sick for almost all of it and have really not done much. Poor kiddos have been bored stiff.

But it's basically been survival mode: school, work, meals, sleep. Repeat.

I think we're pulling out of it. Phew!

Anyways, as I'm sure many of you know, I HAVE OLYMPIC FEVER. HARD! I never thought I would and was even heard saying "You will not catch me anywhere NEAR Vancouver when the Olympics are here" or "This is going to be a gong show... does anyone really watch the Olympics anyways?!?"

Well I can tell you that ***I*** watch the Olympics... 24/7. I'm obsessed. Completely obsessed. CTV is on at least one tv in my house all day long. And if I'm not in front of a tv, I'm on twitter on my phone waiting for medal updates. Ha! :) I have no idea how this happened but somewhere in the last week and half, I have become the most patriotic person in Canada! lol

Anyways, I decided that I really wanted to take the kids downtown to witness this. I mean, it's a once in a lifetime thing... we will never see the Olympics in our city or province again. I went to Expo 86 when I was 6 and I still remember bits and pieces and can say I was there (I still have my passport! ;)

Off we went today... hoped on the Westcoast Express and we were there in record time... and walked right in to the CROWDS. WoW! I have honestly, never seen anything like this in my entire life! It was quite amazing. There wasn't much for the kids to do, but I'm glad they got to be part of it (and Ted and I will head down next week to do some adult stuff!!).


First... waiting at the train to go downtown!



The Olympic Cauldron!



The kids trying to get a glimpse through the fence.


A Canada Cookie!








The Latvia peeps... wish I had the guts to go up to them and ask for a picture! They looked so cool.


When we got to Robson there were a bunch of little shows... these guys were break dancers.


Batman was there!!! Ash was scared to death but Jake went right up to him and gave him a high five!


People from sweden... all sorts of people from tons of countries walking around singing their anthems and cheering for no reason! So fuN!



This polar bear was sooooo cool!



Oh! And if you didn't see it, I took some photos when the torch relay came through Aldergrove, but posted it here on my Lucy Lime Blog:

http://lucylimestudios.com/2010/02/vancouver-2010-olympic-torch-relay-aldergrove-bc/