woodland picnic for glitter guide

It's been a while since I have posted, I promised myself I would post more often but life gets busy and my blog ideas pile up.  So here I am posting about a fun shoot I did three months ago - last August - for Glitter Guide.  A sweet woodland picnic...inspired by my love for all things Selina Lake. 

I thought it would be fun to head into the woods, just a few minutes from our home and set up a picnic using vintage finds, beautiful flowers and delicious food.  Cioffi's Meat Market & Deli supplied the charcuterie platter (it was amazing), Vancouver Pie Hole made the mini cherry pies (tiny & delicious), the flowers were from the Flower Factory (perfect as always) & that incredible cake was made by Coco Cake Land !

The kids were so excited to be in the forest (really just a wooded area near a busy park)...it felt magical, especially when we set up a hammock!  Beckett is playing Dave's childhood guitar.

We had a lot of sweet touches like the deer (I have a bit of a collection happening) from Heather Ross & the "Be Happy" banner was custom by Confetti & Sparkle (now hanging in Zoë's room).  I'm in love with the chair from The Cross - it's perfect - the pillows, birds, dishes and gold forks were also from The Cross.  My good friend Nikki Renshaw brought a carload of treasures...like the baskets, vintage throws, books...her eye is incredible. 

This tiffin carrier is so good.  We filled it with berries, wouldn't it be fun to pack a lunch in? It's from The New Domestic.

It really was a lovely day...if only this was reality!  Ha!  Quite a lot of fun to put together...all made possible with help from my friends...Nikki, Linnea, Emily Jo & Olivia.  Kyrani Kanavaros photographed the entire afternoon....I could post a lot more photos!!

I'm a big fan of vintage wooden crates, we have them all over the house filled with toys - they are prefect for Beckett's HotWheels collection!  These ones are from Stepback. 

It's hard to believe we did this three months ago, feels like yesterday.  The great thing about picnics is they aren't just for summer...you could easily do this in fall...I better hurry before the rain really starts here in Vancouver!

I have decided that I need a hammock in my life...this one is from Target. The pillow is The Cross and the bedding (sigh) is St. Geneve and very dreamy.

Happy trails.  xx

zoë's 5th birthday party

While I'm on a roll of birthday party postings...here's Zoë's 5th birthday party - we went with a Fairy theme. The school year had just started and as much as Zoë wanted to invite everyone, I talked her into a small gathering at home.  I realize that hosting birthday parties at home is coming to an end...I really don't want it to - I love having them at home.

Auntie Denise made the cake...a masterpiece in all it's purple/lavender ombre glory. The cupcakes were from Sweet Bake Shop and the cookies were once again from Whisk. I bought the marshmallows at Butter Baked Goods, Denise made the squares and my mom made the tea sandwiches. It was a rainy day & surprisingly dark outside for late September. All of the photos are by Kyrani Kanavaros.

It was a great day and fun to look back on these photos. I'm already planning this year's birthday parties, just tossing the ideas around in my head...hoping I can squeeze in one more year at home! xx

poppy's 3rd birthday party

Aloha - it's about time I got around to posting Poppy's 3rd birthday party, it was only eight months ago! I'm not sure where the time goes but it sure goes fast. As you can probably gather from the above photos, we went with a Hawaiian theme - the party was in August so we felt pretty confident that we would have sunshine! As always, my good friend Denise made the cake - this time she did fondant (which non of the kids liked)...Denise always backs it up with cupcakes, so we were covered. My husband carved the watermelon (love it) and the cookies are from Whisk...the hula girls are too cute!

This was probably the easiest party to plan, it's colourful and fun. The food was pretty simple, we ordered sushi, prepared chicken skewers the night before and sprinkled the table with lots of sweet treats. All of the decorations, including the balloons are from The Party Bazaar. All of the Hawaiian birthday photos are by Joy Chen.

For Poppy's first birthday we invited the babies we knew that were born in her first year...we took a photo and have taken the same photo each year. They're getting tough to wrangle!

This is Poppy's first birthday....

Poppy's second birthday...

And Poppy's third birthday...

We had a great time, looking at these photos now reminds me how special the day was and how excited Poppy was to be turning three. They also make me long for summer again! Aloha.

bye bye 2013

What a year. These past couple of years I seem to feel a little blue on New Year's Eve, it's a new feeling for me. I think it's because of my traumatic start to 2012, I was so sure 2012 was going to be a great year & three days into it I nearly died. 2013 was a great year, I'm healthy, my sweet family is healthy and our home is filled with love. I realize there are challenges ahead in 2014...my father-in-law is not well and we are desperate to spend as much time together as a family. I have high hopes for the new year but deep inside I feel the fragility that is possible.

Here are some photos from the past year...it really was a good one...I sure do love my babes.

beckett's 6th birthday party

This post is incredibly late....Beckett's party was in August, it's now December - time sure flies. Our boy loves HotWheels, so the theme this year was easy. It was a beautiful, sunny day & we shared it with friends and family. I loved that some of Beckett's friends from school were able to make it.

The photo in the middle is Beckett & his best friend Finn. Seriously, how cute is that? Finn is in the other grade one class at school, the boys find each other at lunch & they love spending time together. Finn also happens to have Down syndrome. My heart is full when I think of the boys going through their school years together.

My sweet friend Denise made the cake (again), she really is the queen of cakes. Sonia at Sugary Sweet Things made the cookies. We set up two major HotWheels tracks in the backyard & the kids raced cars all afternoon.

It really was a great day. Beckett had the best time, he loves a party & party he did. Our kids like to blow out candles, over and over and over again. So we light the cake, sing and relight it. Then we light a cupcake, sing and relight it. It's quite the process & there is pure happiness with every candle that gets blown out.

The only chance we have of getting a family shot is during the cake...we have til the end of Happy Birthday to sneak in a five-shot. There are lots of hugs, many kisses and too many smiles to count. It was nice to do this post five months after the party....such a great reminder of a fantastic day. xx

zoë is five

Zoë Frances Noriko Genn is five today. I remember the day she came into the world so well. Born at 8:55am, ZoZo (as we like to call her) was 8 pounds, 1 ounce and 21 inches long. Dave & I were so excited to have a baby girl join our family. It was an emotional day for a number of reasons, I was grateful to also have my best friend Saleema in the delivery room. There were tears of joy & a sigh of relief - she was healthy.

Beckett was very intrigued...I love this photo of Beckett inspecting his little sister. I knew in this moment that the relationship between Beckett & Zoë would be intense and important. My biggest fear when Beckett was born was that he would be alone once Dave & I were gone...he needed a team and I was going to build him one.  Zoë was the first person on his team, Poppy would follow two years later. Our boy has his little sisters to love him and he loves them back with pure joy.

Zoë was an easy baby, she ate and slept like a dream. She always looked at people with her brows scrunched up, as if she was trying to figure out who they really were. Dave always joked that he hoped Zoë looked like me but acted like him. Personality-wise, she is my clone. It's unbelievable, she opens her mouth to talk and my words and attitude come out. I'm secretly overjoyed.

Beckett & Zoë are 13 months apart in age, ZoZo quickly caught up to Beckett - she walked before he did, she talked before he did. Zoë doesn't know that Beckett has Down syndrome, it hasn't come up yet.  We'll talk about it one day, maybe soon - maybe later. I love how Zoë sees Beckett just as he is - perfect.

It was difficult to choose just a few photos of Zoë...These are some of my favourites. As you can see the girl has a sense of humour, a zest for life and the ability to create an atmosphere of love and happiness wherever she may be.

Everyday is a new adventure with all three of our children, the experiences are unique as they are each so different. This morning at 6am,  Zoë climbed into our bed...I whispered Happy Birthday (she giggled with excitement) and I asked her if she felt different.  She replied "Yes, I do". "How do you feel different?"...."I feel five".

Happy Birthday my love. Thank you for filling my heart.  

beckett is six

On this day six years ago at 8:21am I became a mother for the first time. It was the most glorious moment of my life, followed by some dark, scary days. Thankfully the fear was short lived and we have had six beautiful years filled with love and pure joy. Beckett is six today. I can't believe how fast it has gone, I'm desperate to hold onto each day and savour every second. These are the best days of my life and it's because of my children. Here's each year of sweet Beckett's life so far...

This is Beckett minutes after he was born, 6 pounds 14 ounces and 19 inches long. It's also the moment I fell hopelessly in love and my life changed forever. This photo means so much to me, there's more here than I can ever explain.

photo by KA Davidson

Beckett is seven weeks old in this photo, his first photo shoot.  We were getting settled at this point, we knew Beckett had Down syndrome and had been to numerous doctors appointments. Our boy was healthy and happy. Dave and I were in love with this boy and so was everyone who met him.

photo by KA Davidson

This is Beckett at 1 year old, getting cuter and sweeter by the second. I could get lost looking into those big brown eyes.

photo by KA Davidson

Beckett is two years old in this photo, he had just started to walk and we were thrilled.  As you can tell from this photo, he liked to laugh a lot - and he still does. His laugh is one of my favourite sounds.

photo by KA Davidson

I love this photo. This is Beckett at three years old, playing the drum set Dave bought him when he was born. We had the drums in the back yard, which he was pretty happy about.

photo by KA Davidson

Oh those eyes, how I love them. Beckett is four years old here. A beautiful boy and a great big brother to Zoë and Poppy.

photo by Kyrani Kanavaros

At five years old Beckett loved trains and dinosaurs, not much has changed in that department - but we can now add Hot Wheels to the list! This would be the year Beckett entered Kindergarten, a big step. He loved his first year at school and even lost his two bottom teeth, his new chompers are still growing in.

photo by Kyrani Kanavaros

And this is what six looks like. I still can't believe it, our boy is six. We had a birthday party for Beckett last Saturday, the theme was Hot Wheels (of course) and we had a great time. I'll post more pictures of the party soon. I love that some of Beckett's friends from school came to the party, he was so happy to see them. This boy has grown a lot in the last year. We started an intense food therapy last November and now Beckett is eating the same foods as his sisters. He has his favourites, he loves peanut butter, cucumbers and cherries! Beckett is continuing with his reading and speech therapy sessions and improving each month. It's been a big year of growth. It has also been a year of love. This boy has brought us more happiness than we could have ever imagined.

photo by Kyrani Kanavaros

Happy Birthday Beckett. We love you. xx