Your Life As Art Photography by Pam
Artist & Intuitive | Pamela Zmija
The kids tell us all the time they want to live here forever… I don’t know if I should have been so agreeable when I said of course mommy and daddy do too… I better be careful, I could see them reminding me many years from now how I said they could live here forever lol.
It’s amazing that we have lived here almost a year, exactly a month away actually from the 1 year mark. With each passing day we become more comfortable and adjusted to living here. The little things that is, like how we have things laid out or organized, where we keep this or that and yes even a biggie like planning our future garage addition. Simple things like where furniture works best, transforming our closet at the garage entry into an open storage space with hooks and a shoe shelf for ease, hey I won’t pretend that I’m going to open the closet door each and every day multiple times, nope. Or even doing dishes, or what side of the sink we pile dirty dishes before they are loaded in the dishwasher. Perhaps it helped because last weekend we had our first summer backyard campfire. It is like coming full circle from moving in at the beginning of Summer and… well who wants to really get into unpacking and organizing. Over the winter we have taken the time and now the day to day is so much more, simple, laid back and everything that we thought fit into place before, needed a slight adjustment to be tucked right in. of course I still have more organizing to do, but the planning has been worked out in my mind lol, its now sorting through these spaces to completely be settled… that would be cool. Until then I’m quite happy neing where we are, settled, happy and loving every moment!
It’s the little things like enjoying chatting with the kids in the morning while I get their breakfast ready or while they are eating and I’m making the boys lunch. Or sitting at the computer going through photos with the kids and them telling me how much they love looking through. Not having to worry about always trying to impress them with flashy things or elaborate trips, they like things simple, I love simple days and times with them! 
I love these little moments. For all the stress that came with becoming a mom and then having two Littles close in age all while dealing with major health issues, it’s been all worth it! SO very much worth it!
These kids make me smile so much!
Yeah everyday isn’t all rainbows and unicorns but it’s pretty fricken awesome! The boy was stoked to have daddy pick him up after school… It was hubby’s last day of school so they were both actually excited to have some time just for the boys. The miss and I were going through the photos I took of them and their new summer look and she asked to see videos when they were babies, and pictures when I was a baby. Part of me wishes I could save every moment, words and looks they have as they are so precious, but clearly not realistic. Just tonight was full of family memories spending time outside together.
Seeing their new summer looks… Just reminded us how fast they are growing up and had us reminiscing over things they said (today) or what “the boys” and “girls” did together 😉
The other evening while sitting outside with the kids by their playset (see previous pic) I beard this faint jingle, a jingle that will always be remembered of our dog Elwood, for days after he had passed I heard this jingle, always of 2 tags on his collar. When hubby, my dad and brother built the playset shortly after Elwood got a new collar, this is where his old one stayed. Even when we moved hubby made sure that when it was built the collar got put back on, we still had Elwood at this time.
Sitting there the other evening hearing this jingle brought me back so many memories and also reminded me that he is still always with us and watching over. The kids still talk of him and mention they miss him but that he’s up in heaven watching us.
While out there with the kids and Beck I had to take a moment to capture this piece of him. That will still always be a piece of us! Even if he was only here with us at this home for two days.
RIP Elwood… ❤
A few days ago I posted about a decision hubby and I had to make about our kids, something that very much would be life changing for them, but would also make things easier for our family.
We have made the decision to change schools.
Since moving to our new home we knew there would be an issue with school boundaries, we really like lil man’s current school, his teacher and the other staff have been awesome with helping him adjust.
However with daycare changing and the lil miss starting school this fall we began looking at this as an opportunity to make the change and also in doing so make it easier on us as well with them going to and from on the bus.
Thankfully they know some of the kids going there. We are going to take them for at least one tour to see the school and I’ve been asking around whose kids go there – to help them familiarize with some kids there.
It was a very tough decision for me, very. Which is why I said go with your gut especially when it comes to a decision about your kids. Ironically our new neighbour’s is lil man’s current teacher, who I would have loved The miss to have simple because she was great with him and he was so excited to show lil miss the class.
Alas changes are upon us, I’d like to think of it as an adventure for the kids… How much fun they will have! Of course I worry about them not wanting to get on the bus, it’s a big change, I was shy as a child, reserved and they can be like that with change as well.
So if anyone out there who has seen my post on FB about where the kids will be going, and would like to get the kids for a playmate over the summer drop me a line! I know it’s the right decision – long term, but initially it has this mama nervous for my kids. I have promised the kids they will keep in touch with their current friends with playmates and sports.
One of the great things, but will be an adjustment for us all, is daycare is coming to an end… Another change for them. The daycare has been excellent. I finally got around to reading the article in the Biz Bull about the daycare, we completely agree and are so glad we chose their facility for our children’s pre-school education 🙂
Thankfully we are now settled in our home and our kids love it here! When lil man started JK we were in the midst of selling our house, that affects kids way more than we would have ever expected. So knowing we are settled and the kids love our new home (and have told us they want to live here forever!). This all helps reassure me that we’ve made the right decision for them! 🙂
I can’t believe in 3 months our weekly girl, our baby begins school! Wow!
The kids started soccer last week.
Our boy is playing with the “big boys” this summer. Its going to be a learning curve for him but we know he is up to the challenge. His personality is showing much more, he is very much like both his dad & mom reserved, yet when he feels comfortable he goes for it and is very determined.
The miss was SO excited she scored… she actually did a complete 180 from last year – she was the one pushing the boys around to get the ball and score on the net! Yes this girl is reserved for perhaps a couple minutes and then has the determination of both her parents.
As a parent I love watching our children grow and seeing little pieces of each of us coming out in them, as well as seeing the similar personality traits that hubby and I do have as well.
Sunday. A day of rest. A day to be spent with your loved ones.
I typically do spend a longer amount of time in bed in the morning, it is awesome that the kids now sleep “in” but its still nice to relax in bed after waking up, not necessarily sleeping but resting. Listening to the kids watching their cartoons with the dog while taking short breaks into the kitchen to have cereal or a peanut butter sandwich to hold them over until daddy makes Sunday breakfast. Enjoying the outside, grocery shopping as a family, odd jobs around home, early bath’s for the kids so we can all laze into the evening, and most Sundays, like tonight, the kids falling asleep on the couch! When hubby is on call its the perfect end and beginning to a new week!
Sundays are now my favourite day, less likely hubby will have calls and we are all home together, even if we don’t do much… as Mady says “we do it as a family” 🙂 Our kids are big on doing things with family!
Its hard to believe that we have lived here for almost a year! We are just a month away.
Yesterday after hubby was done work, we spent the evening as a family enjoying the back yard, the kids were playing, then fighting, then playing lol, we enjoyed a few drinks, a great bbq supper of steak, sausage and salmon (I love going into Ernie’s especially when we all want to have different things for supper!). Then had a camp fire and finished off the evening with a movie. Awesome time together! Enjoying and capturing memories! I love spending time with our family and photography for me is very relaxing, it is a way to express myself and appreciate the art. Bonus for me that my favourite subjects to photograph is my family… in various forms 🙂
Our word for June for our Camera Club is “Depth of Field” . Anyone who knows me and knows photography, knows I shoot wide open a lot of the time I am shooting. Yesterday I used my macro lens for the flowers I shot and for the photos of the kids I used my 50L f1.2 lens at 1.2 – fabulous! Check out the bokeh in the photos with the kids… LOVE!
I started working on our camera club manual today, I am SO excited! We have had a lot of awesome people join us this year as well as our much appreciated members who have joined in the past two years – cannot believe that it was 2 years ago when Lori and I, after much discussion, had our first meeting!
At our last meeting there was much discussion about how far photography has come, it has come a very LONG way! Just in the time since I bought my first DLSR to now… 5 years (I was lucky I bought my Canon Rebel XTi package when I did as the following month with a 10mth old we found out I was 1 mth pregnant!). Digital photography has changed SO much. In this time I have had 4 DSLR’s. I still have 3 of them. I remember when I bought my Rebel and telling my husband, “this is all I will EVER need” … he gets a kick out of reminding me of this 😉 .
Technology has changed rapidly in the past few years, the camera equipment can do SO much, the availability to very good quality equipment is coming down making it much more affordable for anyone to now be able to enjoy a DSLR. Photography is slowly taking away from “specialty industry/trade” and is much more DIY – for those who want it to be of course.
A member mentioned how in the film days, you would take hundred’s, if not thousands of photos and not even know if any were good until you got them… being a photographer myself I can honestly tell you hearing him say that and during our discussion between members, I have a new appreciation of how digital photography has changed the industry. Now with the digital SLR we can immediately SEE what we shot, we can immediately download the images and edit them – as much as we want to edit them or remove things/people from shots.
We, as photographers who use the DSLR truly are lucky – however with the introduction of the DSLR, the photography industry will never be the same again. I know myself, the push for me to purchase my first camera was so that I could take somethign I was passionate about, Photography, and be able to take “good” photos of my family all the time, including our family photos.
I personally have gained some awesome clients over the past years and have been lucky to have them be repeat clients. However, something that this member said the other night truly did solidify my decision I made months ago not to “push” growth of my photography business. Quite honestly, its nothing negative about the fact that DSLR’s are so much more affordable for families to capture more photos – especially for those moms or dads who do have a passion for photography – I was there!
Which brings me back to the camera club. Even though I am not pushing myself to grow a photography business I LOVE interacting with all the various photography enthusiasts in our town. Many of them do shoot on the side, the same as me and what is even more awesome is everyone is encouraging of each other! 🙂
I am very excited to be working on this manual for the camera club. I am very excited for the way I have been pushing myself to take more day to day photos of my own family. I am very excited for the client sessions I do have for this year!
I am so very humble and blessed that I have my own nature backdrop in our very own backyard to capture my children, the wildlife, weather, trees, birds, nature.
A true photographer’s dream!
We have had our share of nature since moving to this house! Hard to believe we are coming up on 1 year being here – yes time flies when you are having fun!!! The miss and I found this lil guy yesterday!
What better way to put a smile on my face than 1 – spending time with my family and 2 – photography. Life happens. There will be many bumps and holes in the road, but one thing I will always remind myself is to be true to not only myself but also my family and friends. I am completely baffled by how some people live their life day in, day out. Always thinking they are owed or so hard done by, yet do not want to put any effort into working for any of their hopes and dreams. Or living a complete lie, not only themselves but telling of others as well, never owning up to their own mistakes.
I am human, I would never admit I am perfect. I can also admit when I am wrong.
I can only control how I live my life and how my husband and I raise our children, to be honest, hard working people full of love for others. The right others of course, but respect for everyone.
Life will never be perfect, everyone will continue to have their own view on how things should or ought to be or their own story as to why their life is so much harder than everyone elses.
There comes a time in life that regardless of who these people are, ties will be cut, but at least I can stand tall knowing that I was the bigger person and regardless of the lies they tell, one day they will regret their choices, they will regret the lies they’ve told and the people they’ve pushed away. Karma is a very powerful thing.
Off to enjoy the rest of this gorgeous day with my beautiful babes and hubby 🙂
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