Liam's mickey mouse party was a success. The weather was sunny and hot which made for the perfect day. We had lots of friends and family over for a big bbq and cake. I had found this big mickey mouse balloon on ebay and had it filled. It was a huge hit!
A friend of mine made me a Mickey mouse cake, rather impressive!

I made some Mickey mouse cookies!


Some of the cousins!
Granny with the kids.

The Pinata



Liam favorite gift was his mickey mouse crocs he got from Nathan (the boy I babysit during the week) He won't take them off. He was outgrowing his old pair so I was thrilled with this gift.
Saturday night the cousins all had a big sleepover in the basement. They stayed up late watching Enchanted and crashed!
The next morning we had a crazy event. I left early to go for my 10 mile run, when I was almost home, i noticed a trampoline on the side of the street, missing several legs. I knew right away it was mine. Sure enough, ours was gone. I dragged Steve out of bed and we retrieved the trampoline, Steve even found the rest of the missing pieces in the park. Obviously some kids were trying to get it to the park but freaked out and dropped it. Thankgoodness it is all fine and back together again. I was not happy but now we can laugh about it.

We live in a great, quiet bay but often the quiet areas are the easier areas for kids to get into trouble. I was just beyond frustrated that some kids can be so stupid.

Monday was Liam's actual birthday. Hard to believe it has been 3 years! We celebrated his birthday with Mcdonalds happy meals, which is a real treat since it is rare for them to each get a happy meal. I also got Liam to stay still for a few minutes to take a few 3 year pictures.

Cassidy has her kindergarten practise day on friday. I can not believe this school year is almost done and Aidan will be in grade one next year. It is exciting yet scary since haveing two kids in private school will make quite a dent in the pocket book, but so worth it!

LIAM IS THREE!!!

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY LIAM!!!! We enjoyed a hot day on saturday, perfect for his Mickey Mouse party. I will be sure to share lots of pictures when I get a chance but right now I am off to bring Cassidy to school!

Finally. . ..

It is up!! Click here to visit my BRAND NEW site! I made this all myself (with a template) and didn't have to ask once for help! Still in the making and I have lots of pictures yet to plug into it, but you can still take a look.

Is it really May?

These past few weeks I sure have been wondering why we live in Manitoba. Especially since someone informed me that we are the coldest city in Canada. Is that true?? Our weather has been so unpredictable. For example, last weekend they were calling for +21, and what do we get?? +6 with snow!!!

I am glad to say that is done with and we enjoyed a beautiful weekend! Yes, it is rainy today but my poor grass so desperatly needs the rain so I know it is good. The long weekend looks amazing, so hopefully the forcast won't change too much.
The week for us has been VERY busy. Soccer started up, twice a week for 1 1/2hours. Defiantly a big commitment but Aidan loves it!



Tuesday I spent the afternoon photographing a Christian Business Trade Show at the Viscount Hotel. This was defiantly challenging, dealing with bad lighting and overall different subjects then what I am used to but overall it went very well. I was asked to present my own table at this show originally but I wasn't ready for all the preperation it would have taken but hope to take part as an exhibitor next year. This is just a sample of some of the stuff I did. I covered a panel discussion as well as the crowd and different exhibitors.
Wensday right after his soccer game we rushed to the Calvin Christian spring concert. Here is him and the class singing there songs. (sorry for the terrible picture, I was jammed in so I couldn't move to get a nicer shot)Thursday Cassidy had gymnastics and I was able to get a few shots. Parents are not allowed in to watch but they made an exception for one class.


Steve worked the entire weekend. That was a bummer since I never got a real 'day off' on mothers day.

I also had my first maternity shoot, here is a small taste. I am so happy with them all and will have lots of them on my website (once I finish it and get it going, http://www.erinkeownphotography.com/)

Today Aidan is having a Poem reading party at his classroom and famlies are invited. It is during Cassi's preschool time so Liam and I will go, I will be sure to bring the camera!

Long weekend is coming up! Steve is working, this is his last weekend he will be working for a long time. I have a few photoshoots, as long as the weather is nice and hopefully I can go look at purchaseing some flowers and hanging baskets. The following weekend is Liam's big Mickey Mouse party!

I forgot to share some great news in my last post. Last week I found out that a nursery school was moving into Calvin Christian. It isn't run by Calvin, they are just renting a space. I became very excited for the possibilities that all three kids would go to school in the same place in fall, which is also just down the street and quickly registered Liam before they filled up!

fun with blocks. . .

What a busy weekend and it is still not over. We were able to get a few things accomplished this weekend. We were expecting very warm temperatures but last minute the forcast changed on us. Kind of a bummer since we had a beautiful week. I am tired of the up and down temperatures and wish we could just stay the same.

Yesterday I convinced Steve to do a few things around the house. We have SO many things that need to be done and since everything is so expensive we haven't been able to do things as fast as we would like. Steve insalled a new vanity downstairs in the bathroom, finally!! So all you visitors, you will get to wash your hands in the guest bath rather then using hand sanitizer. This was a project we kind of weren't in a rush to do since it is our third bathroom but it is nice that it is done. This bathroom still has alot of work but it is now functional.

We also found a new light for our entrance. I have been watching for a while for one that matches our light in the dining room and we finally found one. I was so happy to see the ugly old brass light fixture go in the trash.

Last night Steve and I hired a babysitter and went to the Starfield concert with some friends. I am sure you all heard of the accident, or read it in my sister Jamie's post at there concert a week earlier. They shared quite a bit from there experience there and had a prayer time for the people who are hurting. They had a fantastic concert and I am glad I got to see them. The reason I say "I" and not "We" is that Steve had to leave halfway through because Liam started freaking out. He has been doing this lately and we didn't want our young babysitter to have to deal with that. At least I got to enjoy it.

Tomorow is Aidan's first soccer game. We all enjoyed soccer last year and it was good to get out with the entire family. The other kids enjoy the time as well. Last year we had a terrible experience and Aidan's soccer coach quite halfway through, just never showed up. It was dissapointing for the kids but thankgoodness for some willing parents who stood up and took charge. I am sure this year will be different.

Hot weather and Snow

What a crazy few weeks we have had. I am so excited to see May right around the corner. May is always a busy month, we celebrate two birthdays in our family (daddy and Liam) plus mothers day. Soccer also begins in May and Cassidy just started gymnastics.
Our weather here has been so crazy! Last week we hit HIGH temperatures, I got sunburt and even started a good sandle tan. We even got our first thunderstorm for the year! Then thursday we had some wild winter system come through that dumped snow, sleet, hail and rain. Not much snow, it is already all gone but it was still a little depressing.
It is now back to sunny times and today should be a beautiful day! Warm enough to break out my capris and sandles again.









Over the weekend I went to the church woman's retreat. It was the first year I have gone and I quite enjoyed myself. They go to camp Cederwood which is up in Lac du Bonnet(which is more like resort then a camp) and we have lots of sessions, food, cool crafts and just hanging out. I am still trying to catch up on my sleep and feel very 'hung over' from being sleep deprived. Steve held up the fort here all weekend and everyone was still in good spirits when I got home.
Cassidy started gymnastics two weeks ago. She loves it, I am rather impressed at all the stuff they are learning. They don't allow the parents in the class (easier for kids to focus if we are not there) so I have yet to get any pictures. Next week we are allowed to watch. Cassidy is enjoying it much more then ballet.
Aidan starts soccer right away and that is always a big time commitment for us but I look forward to it and he is very anxious to get started.
Not much else is new here. I have quite a few photo shoots set up for the next few weeks, plus tons of yard work so I am sure I will keep rather busy. All of these overgrown flower beds are overwhelming and I don't know what to keep and what to chuck. The kids are excited to plant some vegtables this year.

been a long time. . . .

I know it has been a very long time since I have posted. Mainly because blogger has been giving me problems and I don't feel like fighting with it. As well, I have been working on my other blog and have come to the conclusion that I need to create a good website for my photography, not this cheapo blog thing.
Life here is on fastfoward like usual. Not much free time here as we go from one place to another.
First of all I will give a little recap or our spring break. We didn't anywhere to far. The kids and I did some different things, museum, library etc... here they are with painted faces from the afternoon at the manitoba theater (they had an open house with activites for kids)

We then had Laura and the cousins Maddy, Olivia and Judah over for a sleepover. We enjoyed some play time at a park with them and for some reason my kids managed to get soaked and Laura's stayed dry
The end of the week we headed to some friends cottage and the kids had a blast. The temperatures were cold and it would have been nice to be warmer but we still enjoyed ourselves. I was happy to see lots of snow melted when we arrived home. I have to say I barely took any pictures when we were there, which is rather odd.


It was then back to real schedule. The kids were very ready to get back to school, and we were excited to see temperatures start to rise. Now the snow is gone and I am comfortable in sandles and capris. It is about time!

We have been spending every minute outside, I am a tad overwhelmed at the landscaping that needs to be done but terribly excited to start mowing grass!! We have lots of big plans for the yard and although I hated the layout, and the fact we aren't all fenced in, the bay is so quiet that I have no problem with the kids playing all over it.

It was VERY excited for the kids that after two long summers we were finally able to set our trampoline back up. They can not get enough of it.







That is about all that is new. The kids are still the same active self and I am so glad the weather is warm enough to send them outside. Liam's birthday is in a little over a month and I am starting to think about what we will do for him.
I am seeing more and more the changes with the kids before my eyes. Especially Cassidy. She spends hours in her room drawing, writing or doing her "homework" as she likes to say. She does very well with her words and letters and I can see what her strong point in school will be. She is working along Aidan with the Hooked on phonics and is doing excellent.
Cassidy is also growing like crazy. I can not keep clothes that fit her and unlike Liam (who is still wearing 18-24 months) she seems to need her drawers cleaned out constantly. I am defiantly going to have to shop for her for summer.
Liam on the other hand still fits all his 18 month summer clothes from last year.
Now my question for you blog readers, where do you find the time to blog anymore???