Now is Now

One afternoon this week the sun was shining beautifully when I got home from work, so I grabbed the camera and headed out into the yard to take a few photos.

I love autumn, always have....

The colors on this particular afternoon were breathtaking....

Nature has a way of showing off in autumn...

Over the next few days it rained and the wind blew almost all of the leaves off the trees; I am so glad I went outside and took some pictures when I had the chance.

Now is Now.

In the Garden

• My Gerber Daisy - I have one every year, it is a tradition
• New succulents to replace the ones that did not survive the winter
• The hole the bunnies use to get under the deck; at least they are considerate enough to leave the plant in peace
• My gnome, standing guard
• Dill for summer salads
• Delicate purple blooms

This afternoon I took a little walk through my garden. The sun was peeking in and out from behind the clouds as I wandered, snapping pictures and noticing the plants waking up to spring. I love my garden, it is my peaceful place... 

A Spring Walk

On Saturday afternoon we headed out for a family walk. The weather was absolutely gorgeous; it was the weather we have all been waiting for and I think it is safe to say that spring has arrived, at long last.

There is a nature park not far from our house and we have gone there many times over the years to walk with the girls, even pushing them in the stroller back in the early days. I quite like that a place like this exists so close to our home. A natural playground was recently been added to the park and the girls had so much fun climbing and jumping in the glorious sunshine.

After we convinced the girls to leave the playground we stared walking, even venturing off the main path and following the unmarked footpaths through the woods. We heard the frogs croaking, watched the birds, saw snakes slithering around under a log and through the long grass, counted turtles sunning themselves on a fallen tree at the pond, felt the sun's heat in the meadow and the cool air under the tall trees...

It was so wonderful to be outside, savoring this gift of a day...

Autumn Love

Autumn always has been and forever will be my favorite season: the brilliant colors, the crisp air, pumpkins, squash, watching the leaves swirl around in the wind, making soup, wearing flannel pajamas, lighting candles, celebrating our wedding anniversary, listening to the leaves crunch underfoot as I walk about town....

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables.

The Picture that Stole My Heart

My daughter started grade one this year.  It has been a bit of an adjustment for her.  Being away from home every day, all day, is just not something she is accustomed to.  For the first few days she looked so sad while standing in line waiting to go into the school.  She was not crying but I could see in her face how unsure she was.

One day last week I asked her if she felt better once she got into her classroom and started her day.

To this she relied, "Oh yes Mommy, I was fine.  And when I felt a little sad and missed you during the day, I just went and looked at my picture."

"What picture?" I asked, having no idea to what she was referring.

"I'll show you, Mom" she said and then went into her backpack and pulled out this photo.

After some questioning, I got the story of the picture out of her.  The picture had been in her craft bin at home and she had, on her own accord, put it in her backpack when school started so that she could look at it when she was at school and feeling a little sad and lonely.  Looking at this picture of her Mommy and Daddy made her feel safe and okay.

My heart was in my throat as she told me this.  I was amazed that she had such an understanding of her own emotions and what would comfort her, that she had taken this picture and put it in her backpack so that it would be nearby when she needed it.

I was so proud of her.  And happy to know that we had indeed created such a feeling of safety and love for her within our family.

And I was touched that she understood the value of photographs and that they can and do provide comfort.

It was one of my proudest moments as a mother and my heart was stolen just a little bit more by this amazing little girl of mine.

Organizing and Loving our Photographs

This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of my girls, and I am so happy that I found it.

I have spent the better part of the last two weeks organizing our digital photos.

Prior to me taking on this project we simply uploaded our photos and stored them in folders labelled with the upload date.  Because we have 3 cameras, this led to pictures from the same event ending up in different folders depending on when we cleared off the different cameras.  It probably goes without saying that this made it incredibly difficult to find all the pictures from one specific event, or a specific photo that I was looking for.

Now things are so much better!

I organized all the photos by year, month and then event.  So, for example, photos from our trip to Ottawa in November of 2009 are organized by: Year: 2009; Month: 11-November; Event: Ottawa.

This new system is working fantastically for us.

While this was undoubtedly a huge project (much more so than I had originally anticipated), it was so incredibly worth it.

And I learned and was reminded of a few things along the way:

1. I LOVE photographs.  Of course I knew this, but as I sat at my computer for hours sorting, labelling, and organizing our photos I was transfixed.  The memories, the changes in my girls from when they were babies to now, the smiles and laughs, unforgettable past events....seeing these pictures reaffirmed for me how much I love photographs and how incredibly precious they are. 
2. We take an incredible number of photographs.  And we have taken the majority of these since our girls were born (not such a big surprise!).  Before the girls there were vacation photos, and the odd random shot of everyday stuff, but after the birth of our girls, our photo-taking exploded exponentially.  It is fantastic!  I am so happy that this is the case and that our girls will be able to look back and see their pasts in these photographs.  
3. Organizing our digital photos in a way that makes sense for our family was essential.  This has made looking back and finding specific photos much easier; which after all is the point - to have our photos accessible and easy to share.  In working through this project I have found treasured photos that I want to put in frames and display around the house, pictures that I need to print and send to grandparents...and now I know where they all are and sharing them will be much simpler.    

And speaking of finding treasured pictures that are too adorable and need to be shared, here are a few of my favorites:

This is my oldest daughter, Bridget when she was just shy of one year old - so hilarious!

And this is my youngest daughter, Claire, enjoying her cake at her first birthday party.

Aren't these girls the cutest? 

How do you organize your digital photographs?