De Jong's Furniture Retirement Sale

My dad and his brothers are retiring. My grandfather started the business when they came to Canada from Holland when my dad & his twin brother were 3 years old. The store has been a big part of my life and the lives of all of my family members, so it's a pretty huge event for us all.

I was in town for the start of an early opening to their retirement sale where I got a chance to take a few photos. Here are just a few of them:



This was taken the day before the sale:


People waiting in line for the doors to open:


There's still equipment in the back room from when they used to build their own furniture:


A shot of my uncle in the office, as I'll remember him there. (I worked at the store when I was younger- so many memories in this photo!)

First People!

The first time I felt inclined to snap a picture of my daughter's artwork on her 'magna doodle' was two weeks ago when she drew a pretty good "happy" face. She's been drawing happy faces for a long time, but this one struck me as an especially well constructed one ;)



Then a few days ago, she presented me with a drawing that floored me. I was convinced that Ken must have taught her to draw people sometime when I wasn't around. He later confirmed that he had not.

So, I'm pretty proud of my little 3-year-old for figuring out how to draw people without help! They even have hair & "shoes"!

Girly Shoes

Yesterday I dressed Katrina in a little outfit (this usually only happens when I put her in a little dress for church on Sundays- I prefer to dress her in a snuggly sleeper most of the time). I felt that this was the perfect opportunity to squeeze her little baby feet into some little baby sneakers.

The shoes lasted long enough for some pictures & then she kicked them off & I put them on the stairs to be taken up to her room later. A little later I noticed Talia's shoes nearby & thought, huh, how cute, all three of us have pink & white shoes... photo op!



Apparently I'm on a pink kick (oh, that's punny) lately- with the shoes & the laundry, but that's the reality of the life of a mom of girls.

...who am I kidding? I'm wearing bright pink pajama bottoms right now and that has nothing to do with being a mom ;)

Here's one of the photos from her cute little outfit (I know a certain aunt who wouldn't let me get away with just posting the photo of the shoes ;)

The Pink Load

In my home there are white loads, there are dark loads, and there are pink loads.
Are there others out there like me?



I have two daughters and while I have nothing against dressing a little girl in anything other than pink, my babies' closets have been graced with an overwhelming majority of pink clothes and blankets from showers and baby gifts.

...and let's face it, a baby girl in pink is helpful when it comes to meeting people who don't know you have a girl- sometimes people can use all the help they can get in determining whether to refer to your child as 'he' or 'she'.

Now that I've got a new (female) baby in the house again, the pink load has made its comeback. I decided to document it since there will come a day that I will miss it.

These are the days to treasure- I sure love my sweet, pink, little girls :)

Baby Katrina

Some of you who know me or who follow my blog know that I was taking a break from sessions because I was pregnant. Well, Katrina is now 3 months old, & I thought it was about time I post a few photos of her! I'm sure there will be more to come :)



Katrina
January 1st, 2009
4 Weeks Old



In Daddy's hands:


Her finger in my ring, & thumb in Ken's.
I like this because one day she can compare the size of her finger/thumb to the rings & see how much smaller her little fingers were :)

Draw Winners!

I had my daughter, Talia, do the draw for a free session. I told her what it was for & she wanted to keep drawing names "for the people". So, in the spirit of Talia's generosity, I decided to give away 2 free sessions. :)

Congratulations, Heidi & Melanie! You've each won a free session!

Thanks to everyone who voted on the Favourite Photos Contest, and to everyone who commented and entered the draw. Keep checking the new blog for updates as we get into the nicer weather, & you never know when I might host another contest, so stay tuned!

Contest Winner

Congratulations Jacquie & Ryan! You've won the Favourite Photos Contest!

This is the first contest I've run and I'm really happy with the participation that we got! There were 394 votes (next time I run a contest like this, we'll see if we can pass 400).

Jacquie & Ryan's photo received 38% of the vote, to win the contest and the 11x14 print of a photo from their wedding.

There was a part 2 to the contest as well. So, if you left a comment on the blog requesting to be entered in the draw for a free session with me, check back later this week to find out if you won!