Day 30 - black hair, OY.

Day 30 - black hair, OY., originally uploaded by sassyanna.

today I went to the hairdresser. Brown is what I asked for. Black is what I got. Ken said it looked....well....nice. He thinks. Gonna take alot of getting used to.

Day 29 - Black and White

Day 29 - Black and White, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

Today is the last day of school, and I hope that we have many more days like these over the summer - just relaxing and hanging out as a family. Too bad that I had to wear boots to school today to pick up the kids. It is still raining here, feels like early spring!

Day 28 - Flowers

Day 28 - Flowers, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

an extreme close up for this one, almost done the challenge!

Day 27 - from a distance

Day 27 - from a distance, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

Every year we go to Parksville on Vancouver Island. The kids love it there, and the best times are on the beach when the water is way out, and there are all kinds of interesting things left behind. Shells, jellyfish, crabs...so much to discover.

Day 26 - close up

Day 26 - close up, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

This is Renee's headband, and it is also her favourite colour. She insisted that I take a photo because the sun is shining today and her hair "sparkles". Too cute.

Day 25 - Pink

Day 25 - Pink, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

There is no shortage of pink in this house, and yet I found this one a hard one. Not too much motivation right now to pull out the camera, but I did think this wrapping paper was cute, and what do you know...pink!

Day 24 - animal

Day 24 - animal, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

so I must admit, today's capture is one from the archives. My silly camera conked out, and the couple of shots I managed to get won't convert to jpeg files for some reason. I got a great shot of Bentley today too. Oh well. Just for the record, the Bernese in this photo is not ours, but they are pretty much my favourite breed. Bentley and his friend had a great time together when they met.

Day 23 - Sunflare...

Day 22 - Sunflare..., originally uploaded by sassyanna.

I don't think we have really had a spring here, and now that it is officially summer, it would be nice to put my rain boots away for a few months and bring out the flip-flops. Today was especially wet and cold, except at about 2pm when the sun peeked out for a bit. Thank goodness it did, I don't know how I would have got today's shot otherwise!

Day 22 - Hands

trying to get in the car..., originally uploaded by sassyanna.

Ahhh....they try to escape, but in this case it was futile. The car was locked. It is like those pedestrian "walk" buttons though, you keep pressing and pressing hoping it changes the light. They keep pulling and pulling on the handles hoping the door will unlock.

Day 21 - faceless self portrait.

Day 21 - faceless self portrait., originally uploaded by sassyanna.

Tonight I was whipping up a semi stir fry - prawns and string beans with a peanut satay sauce. Simply divine. Too bad I didn't make enough....

Day 20 - Bokeh

Day 20 - Bokeh, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

This was a tough one. When I think of Bokeh, I think of lots of little lights - none of which were to be found today. I was out in the garden and had a great day overall though. Even found a small bird's nest with eggs in one of our hanging baskets. That will be another post for another day!

Day 19 - Something Orange

Father's day here consisted of just me and Renee.  The boys were at their grandparents, and Ken was in Hong Kong paddling.  We had a great day, except for the fact it was raining.  We needed to get the dog out for a walk, and decided to go to the local waterpark.  It was working, which is quite ironic as it was cold and raining.  There were lots of bright colours though, and I just hope that the kids get a chance to run around in it when it is hot!

Day 18 - Your shoes

Day 18 - Your shoes, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

These are my favourite shoes. And newly cleaned because my daughter hasn't quite mastered the whole "vomiting in the toilet" thing yet. She missed, and hit my chucks. The other feet in the photo belong to our five month old puppy Bentley. He hasn't quite grown into his paws yet.

Day 17 - technology

Day 17 - technology, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

This is Ethan playing his DS. I really struggled with him getting one, and in the end, I told him if he wanted one he had to pay for it himself. So he saved for the better part of two years, and he did it. He doesn't play it that often (thank you swim club!), but he does enjoy some tech time now and then.

Day 16 - long exposure

Day 16 - long exposure, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

What I would have loved to do for this one is go to a bridge, at night and do tail lights and headlights of cars. Alas, it wasn't to be. So the kids were my subject tonight. Kinda fun!

Day 15 - Silhouette

Day 15 - Silhouette, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

Ok, I cheated a bit on this one....Stanley cup finals are on (Go Canucks Go!). This shot was taken on Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island. My kids had the BEST time. This freaked me out to watch, but the boys were amazing.

Day 14 - Eyes

Day 14 - Eyes, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

So no camera time today, until the kids were all in bed. Last week I cleaned out the art cupboard so I knew we had lots of spare "eyes" on hand. Even found the coloured felts too. This is about the full extent of my artistic ability. I think my kids could do better!

Day 13 - Yourself with 13 things

Day 13 - Yourself with 13 things, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

mmmmm.....banana bread. Here I am (late at night I might add) making a special treat for my kids. My aunt thought I was crazy breaking out the camera to capture this, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to keep up with the photo challenge.

Day 11 - Sunset

Day 11 - Sunset, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

I suspected that today's photo challenge would be a heck of a challenge. Right now I have a cloudy day to contend with, and a sick child (who thinks my shoes are the perfect place to vomit). So here you do - a beautiful sunset on Bowen Island, taken awhile ago (translation - not today!).

Day 11 - something blue - my flight suit!

Day 11 - something blue - my flight suit!, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

mom and I went to the flyzone today (www.flyzone.ca). It was my mom's birthday present from my dad, and I was a somewhat reluctant participant. It was fun though, and it gives you the feeling of what it would be like skydiving, except that it is alot less freaky.

day ten - childhood memory

day ten - childhood memory, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

This will be my daughter's childhood memory for sure - every time we pass a swing set, she HAS to go on. She would swing all day if I let her. The only thing stopping us is how tired I get giving her under-ducks. This little girl has got to learn to pump her legs!

Day 9 - something you love

Day 8 - something you love, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

I LOVE the relationship that my daughter (on the right) has with her cousin. I hope it lasts a lifetime, and it will be even more special as Renee's cousin is like the sister she isn't going to have.

30 day photo challenge - Day 8 - a BAD habit

30 day photo challenge - Day 8 - a BAD habit, originally uploaded by sassyanna.

I knew a bad habit would relate to chocolate somehow, but man these girl guide cookies are like crack to me. I just can't stop eating them. I have the box buried in the deep freeze so it is quite a challenge to get to them. It was far too much effort to put these ones back though, so I just had to eat them. I just hope the rest of the box stays intact.

Day 7 - Fruit!

Well it has been a week and I am still with the 30 day photo challenge.  Today's item du jour was fruit.  I suppose I could have used yesterday's photo, but the whole point of this challenge is to pull out the camera and use it daily.  So I figured I'd do a before and after of a mango salsa that I LOVE.  This recipe was given to me by my sister-in-law when I practically beat it out of her after the first time I tasted it (she gave it willingly of course, but I hounded her to death because I wanted it right there and then). 

It is oh so easy, and oh so tasty!  This is what you need (and you can alter it to taste - I used orange peppers in this one, but red looks SO much better).

• Three mangos
• One red pepper
• 1/2 red onion

(chop all these up and put them in a bowl)

• Juice from a lime (or two)
• Cilantro (as much or as little as you want)
• Hot sauce (again, as much or as little as you want)
• Salt and pepper to taste.

This is a great summertime treat, and good for you too.....off to eat a bowl (or three).

Day Six - From a low angle

Wow!  SUN in these parts.  What a treat.  Strawberries (well, all two of them) are loving it.  This year a put a couple of plants in a hanging basket, so I took the photo looking up from the bottom of the basket.  Not too sure how long that red, almost ripe strawberry will last though.  I think that I am entitled to the first one, no?

Day Five - from a high angle.

Ok, so this isn't very high (3 stacked patio chairs high to be exact), but it will do in a pinch!  Bentley now weighs twice as much as Renee, and is just about as tall when he is sitting.  Oh, have I not mentioned Bentley before?  That is the reason the blog was neglected for a couple of months.  More on him later....

Day 4 - GREEN

Day four of the photo challenge over at White Peach photography, and for those who are wild with anticipation of what is to come, the list is here. 

So today has been a busy one, Ethan's birthday, family gathering and Canucks game.  We managed to squeeze dinner in after the first period and dessert after the second period.  I quickly took this shot while I was getting dinner ready.  We are all watching the third period hoping for a Canucks victory...

Day 3 - Clouds

Well, day 3 of the photo challenge just about did me in.  Just posting under the wire.  It has been a hectic day, and middle child threw a monkey wrench in the works by getting sick.  You'd think they sit around feeling perfectly fine until the most jam packed stressful day arrived and BAM sickness hits.  Thankfully he is doing better tonight.

The cloud challenge is a no brainer if you live in BC.  The nice thing about today is that there was some sunshine (!!!!!), so it at least provided a contrast to the white fluffy things.  I thought taking a photo in a puddle would give an interesting twist.  So here you go - day three DONE.

Day Two - What I wore today...

Only onto the second day of this challenge, and I must admit, the first two days haven't been my idea of a whole lotta fun because I had to be a part of the two photos.  Mind you, if I just thought outside of the box once in awhile I am sure I would have figured out how to do the shots without actually being in them.  June is a crazy busy month at our place, so it has been more of the "going through the motions" rather than thinking of new and fantastic ways to do things.

So day two of the 30 day photo challenge over at White Peach Photography has us taking photos of what we wore today.  Well, today on the Wet Coast it is raining, so much so in fact that I had to pull out the rain boots.  How depressing.  No photos of that thank you very much.  So I took a shot of my workout gear (on me just before I left for spin class at 5:30 am).  I love my lululemon top, and the shorts were a find (on sale - yea!!!). 

Ironically tomorrow's shot is of clouds, and according to the forecast, there aren't supposed to be any in these parts.  I'll really have to do some thinking then!

30 Day Photo Challenge - Day One

When I get the chance, I love to read photography blogs.  There are some amazingly talented folks out there, and I love looking at new ways to capture the everyday things in life.  I have been a bit lazy with taking photos in the past couple of months.  I think it is due in part because I don't really lug around my DSLR as much as I used to, especially now that I have my Canon G11.  It doesn't get the creativity going like the DSLR does (at least it doesn't for me). 

Last week, I won a Nikon D3100.  I must admit, it has given me the "kick" I have needed to get out there and take some photos.   The downside is that my lenses (which are OLD) only work on a manual setting, but at least I can use them.  This new camera is quite different than my Nikon D100, it has alot more bells and whistles.

I came across a challenge on one of the blogs I read.  White Peach Photography is doing photo challenge for the month of June where you have to post a photo every day, each day a different theme.  Today is Day One, and today's theme is "self portrait".  ICK.  There is a reason why I am BEHIND a camera, I just don't like being in front of one.  At any rate, here is today, done and dusted.  Tomorrow's should be interesting...