Mousie Me

This is the last photo for the January photo a day challenge. Me again. Here’s the girl and I as we headed out to Disney’s Magic Kingdom. I should have posted it last night but it had been a LONG day. LOL

A couple quick tips for anyone going to magic kingdom: avoid Stitch’s Great Escape. It’s a terrible “ride”. And if you feel you must do it, sit in the back row. Ten minutes of smoke blown directly into your face is more than anyone should be strapped in and forced to endure. It’s a special kind of torture. Tip two: bring tissue. Seriously. I cried through the first half of the fireworks show. LMAO

Breaking the Silence is Fast Approaching

Though our sky was dark and dreary for much of the day today, my heart was happy as I look forward.  We are coming into crunch time for planning this years Breaking the Silence conference.  This conference is something that is very near and dear to my heart and I am so blessed to be on the board.  And while our key theme this year is a sporting one (focusing on issues in the locker room and beyond) it will deal with the same truths we all care so much about, bullying and living as our authentic selves.  I’m looking forward to another highly successful conference this March.

The website still contains information from 2012, but it should be updated shortly with information on our keynote and registration for 2013:  http://www.usask.ca/education/breaking-the-silence/

Things are looking up! The view from my front walk.

And join me tomorrow as we take a look at my “daily routine” in another exciting photo a day challenge post:

Chihuahua Puppies Make Me Smile!

The challenge for today was to capture something that “makes you smile”, that was another easy one.    My babies!  And being how I vowed to take this challenge through the lens of my iPhone this capture made me laugh repeatedly as I attempted to capture The Avengers sitting still long enough to be something other than a blur.

Clearly unsuccessful – but cute none the less.  LOL  That’s Rogers on the far left, and as the biggest “goer” in the group I knew I didn’t have a chance of getting him without blur.  Next to him with his tongue out and ears back, licking his own nose is Tony.  In the back, wondering what the heck my husband is doing, is Bruce.  And up at the front, looking like he’s only got one front leg (gotta love the blur) is Thor.

Well that’s a LITTLE better…  and shockingly Rogers is actually standing still – that’s him on the far right self stacking so nicely.  On the far left (on the floor, unimpressed with all the attention the puppies are getting that obviously should be being lavished on him) is our old man, and the puppies Daddy, Sweets.  Tony is blurred next to him behind Thor, who is looking oh so darling sitting on that orange pillow.  And last but not least, between Thor and Rogers, is little baby Bruce.

Yep.  Puppies NEVER fail to make me smile.

Hmmm…  what’s tomorrows challenge?

…oooo.  “Favourite”.  I may have to think on that one.  LOL

A hat and scarf kinda day.

I’m exhausted.  My sister in law, Tabatha, and my niece Eliana and nephew Leandro just left.  I got the girl ready for bed, and Damon is in there reading to her.  Normally I’m in there too, but this is a book he picked out and is reading to her – and I don’t want to interfere.  While it’s not the first time he’s read to her (he had to take over when my TMJ got so bad that it forced me to stop reading out loud) but this is the first book he picked out and bought for her, so it’s kinda special. 

Yesterday’s challenge photo was “letterbox”, which I’m assuming is the same as a “mailbox”.    So here’s ours.  It’s dirty, dusty, and dinged up…  but it’s cute and charming just like the rest of our new house.  And hey!  It even had some mail in it when I snapped this picture:

Today’s challenge was to photograph something I wore.  Well…  I didn’t have to give this one much thought.  With my hair badly needing to be washed (it’s super flat and greasy right now, just ask my SiL – whom I’m sure was amazed I’d be seen with it like this) I threw my hat on before heading outside earlier today.  I really love my hat.  And with the weather unseasonably warm for January (try -10 or -15 when it’s usually -30 or -40) I haven’t been having to wear a super heavy scarf.  So I threw on the one my sister Riki and her girlfriend Kate bought me for Christmas, it’s right up my alley and I just love it.  Here they are:

Just found your way here and have no idea why I’m sharing pictures of such unusual items?  Check out the January challenge list below:

January Photo Challenge

Okay, so this thing was floating around for January 2012…  but lets face it, many of us didn’t see it until the second, or third, or fourth, or maybe you were even more out of touch with the memes of the day and didn’t see it until a week or two into January last year or heck!  Maybe you didn’t even see it at all.  LOL  The point (and yes, I do have one) is that by the time you’d seen it, the thing had already started and, well… who wants to jump in late.  So when fellow MomWriter friend of mine posted it on her FB wall today, a bunch of us figured “what the hell”, and have decided to do it this year.

 

So, here’s to Gina Cook-Maggard, Kimber Bush Schmahl, Sharon Wren, Jessica Ferguson Pearce (yes, I’m holding you to it too), Pam Kock, and anyone else who wants to join us this January.  I’ll be taking crappy iPhone photos – because while I’m a photographer, totally corny, crappy, iAnything can be super fun.

And because I’m all about honesty, here I am.  Badly in need of a shower, greasy hair, and make-up done by my five year old – and totally rocking the look I might add.  LMFAO  That’s right, chin out, totally bad in all the right ways.  LOL

Wow, you can really see my freckles in that dog awful fluorescent light.  LMAO  Oh well.  Blotchy or not, I’m still awesome. 

 

And then me, looking slightly cuter, less “center stage”.  LOL Figured I’d snap a shot with a sketch app I’ve got on my phone.  I downloaded the update today so figured I’d check out the changes.    I like this new feature where it uses the actual colours from the photo.  Usually it’s all rainbow or all one colour, so that’s a nice upgrade.

 

Now, you’ve seen mine, let’s see yours! 

The Avengers – Two Weeks Old

They were two weeks old yesterday, but I took their pictures for their two week update today.  It’s just the way things worked out.  And I’ll admit, I got a little carried away.  They are just SOOO adorable.  And they are getting cuter by the minute.  Less like little guinea pigs, more like puppies…    It’s so nice seeing them grow and change, they are doing so in leaps and bounds.  And while yes, they are just camera phone pictures, they’re better than my very first digital camera could take WAY back when. 

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Snuggling with Captain America

It was a rather long night last night, and today was just as long.  Lots of work, both personal and business related.  So I hope you’ll forgive me tonight if I’m not up to writing much.  Instead, enjoy a cute snapshot of the girl and Rogers that I took yesterday with my phone:

Two of my precious babies, being precious together.

MLP FiM LIVE in Saskatoon

This was such an overwhelming experience in so many ways.  If you have a loved one who’s all about Friendship is Magic you have got to find a way to get to one of these live performances.  Lily-Ann was so gleefully happy it was just awesome.  And seeing her that ecstatic filled me with a ridiculously alarming amount of joy.  LOL  Like, almost tearfully so.

Gasping with excitement upon seeing her hero, Rainbow Dash, emerge from the crowd to approach the stage.

You can hear Lily-Ann calling to Rainbow Dash, and then encouraging her:

Scroll down to the comments to see the video that is supposed to be here.  WordPress is messing up in a major way lately when it comes to embedding youtube clips.  The second clip below is working fine, but this one is just coming up as a duplicate of the second.  So I’ll paste it into a comment instead.  Sorry about the headache.

Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Apple Jack – the three ponies who came to Saskatoon for the Prairie leg of the live tour.

Only three of the “mane six” made it out to Saskatoon for the shows, but it was still super cool.  Okay, I’ll admit, it would have been at least 20% cooler if Pinkie Pie had been here too – after all, it was a little weird having the other ponies do her songs (and changing lyrics from “Pinkie” to “filly”).  But we were still super stoked when they did the girl’s and my very favourite song from season one.    And yes, if you watch the video, that voice you hear singing along through most of it is the girl.  We know all the words. 

All in all?  An amazing, unforgettable experience.  So worth the hour of sitting on the hard mall floor prior to it starting to ensure we were right at the front.  My body was crying, but so was my heart – and my heart was much much louder.

We snuck up to the stage after everyone left for a quick photo-op.
BEST PHOTO EVER!!!

Finding Princess Primrose

These days it’s pretty rare for us to find a G1 My Little Pony during one of our thrift store trips.  G3s have become a dime a dozen, and most thrift stores will have at least three or four of them.  But a G1?  The original MLP toys from the 80s, when I was a kid?  We just don’t come across them like we used to.  Which makes today’s find at least 20% cooler. 

We were out hunting down some dress pants for the Daddy, so I figured I’d check the toy section while he was trying things on.  There, staring at me through a plastic bag, with $1.99 written on it, was Princess Primrose.

Princess Primrose is hardly a rare find.  She’s probably the most common of all the Princess Ponies…  but she’s also the one my daughter has always liked the most.  I have her in my collection, and Lily-Ann has always admired her.

Her hair is cut, and her tinsel is a little frizzy…  but otherwise?  She’s in pretty good shape for her age.  She’s got a little symbol wear, but that’s to be expected.  She still has her blush, and only one of her eyes has even the slightest rub.  Her haircut is rather unfortunate, but the girl doesn’t love her any less because of it.

When we picked Kid-kid up from my parents (we moved her usual Friday night sleepover to Thursday this week to help make sure she’s well rested for the wedding we’re attending tomorrow) I told her we had a surprise for her in the car.  She couldn’t have been more excited ripping into that little plastic bag.  She just thrilled to find Princess Primrose and gushed over her as if I’d found some rare, invaluable, gem.  And perhaps that’s exactly what I found.

Lily-Ann, right after getting Princess Primrose out of the baggie.

Kid-kid is Five!

Well, it happened.  The girl turned five…  and a lovely time was had by all.  LOL  Seriously.  It was. 

Yesterday was her fifth birthday, and it was spent sewing, crafting, shopping, and visiting.  Getting ready for her party (which was today) and just enjoying being five.  She woke up, threw the blankets off, looked at her legs and exclaimed that they were super long!  After all, she grew!  She is five now, ya know. 

Today was just as nice…  okay, well… ALMOST just as nice.  It was a little busy and exhausting for me (I’m not actually over the ear infection yet, so it was a bit of a struggle, but I don’t think too many people noticed).  She had a great time at her party, playing with Parker and some of her cousins and extended family.  And I think everyone who came (including her great grandparents) had a really nice time too.

I’d love to be sharing some pictures from the last two days, but I’m still not well enough to be working through any of my photography edits.  However…  I do have one little iPhone capture and a video (both from yesterday).  Enjoy!  It’s off to bed for me, we’re going to be extras in a zombie movie tomorrow. 

Snow White and Mingo… catching a few Z’s at The Bay after our annual trip to Build-a-Bear to get Mingo a birthday outfit.

At some point I’ll start remembering to hold my phone the OTHER way when I take video.  Oooops.