simple things

this week i did my first wine tour with friends in niagara on the lake.

it was lovely.

the first photo gives you a hint of which winery we toured...

linking up here today:

two rabbits and a goat: design project

the other day i mentioned that i have an idea for christmas

that you can be a part of it.

i'm sure you would like a christmas card to send to family and friends this year, 

and i would like to buy some rabbits and goats from the 

mcc 'christmas giving' campaign.

two rabbits for a palestinian family cost $25.

one goat for a family in kenya costs $35.

photos are from the mcc website

"Rabbits, goats, poultry and fish can change a family’s life.  From Asia to Africa and the Middle East, animal projects help families earn money and put more food on the table. In Gaza City, Palestine,  Noor Al-Abid and her family are raising and selling rabbits. Noor’s family started with four females and one male rabbit. Just a year later, the family has 25 rabbits. Rabbits are especially valued for protein, and income from selling the animals helps families buy vegetables, bread and oil for cooking and heating." (MCC giving catalogue)

so, here's the deal.

i would love to design a photo christmas card for you for $30.

$10 from each design will go towards helping families in need.

if i get more than 6 orders (which would cover the rabbits and goats),

i would love to donate that towards a children's club 

for HIV-positive children in uganda ($60).

some custom designs from last year:

if you're interested in this,

leave a comment or send me an email 

and i can fill you in on the details.

if you know others who might appreciate a design 

and being involved in this project,

please share this with them!

giveaway winner

i'm really excited about this giveaway.
big thanks to everyone who joined in...

i would love to do a design for each of you who entered.  

but i guess that would take the fun out of winning, right?!

so the winner of the 'something to smile about...' design giveaway is

{SARAH}

can't wait to get going on a christmas design for you of your family.

thanks so much for entering and please send me your photos!

if you're wondering how the winner was chosen:
i listed all those who entered, 
and entered the number into this website 
which gave me a random number for the winner!

~

here is the design i did for my family christmas card last year:

have you thought about what you're going to do this year?

well i have an idea...

and i'll share it with you all later this week.  

see you then!

hot taco rice

before i get to my first recipe post ever,

i want to remind you of the design giveaway i'm doing.

please check it out here.

anyone can enter - you just have to join and leave a comment!

it closes tomorrow at midnight!

this is a favourite recipe around here and with guests.

it came from my sister who discovered it in a church recipe book.

i just had a look and couldn't find my copy of it, 

so here's my adapted version:

hot taco rice:

1lb ground meat (beef, turkey, or chicken...)

1 chopped onion

1 cup of tomato sauce

1/2 cup of salsa (or so)

1 bouillon cube

1 can of beans (no salt added)

1 can of corn

toppings:

chopped peppers

grated cheese

green onion

olives

lettuce

sour cream

tortilla chips

(whatever else you would put on tacos)

serve on:

(brown) rice

in a skillet or large frying pan, brown the meat with onion and drain the fat.  

add all the other ingredients to meat, 

heat to boil and then simmer on low for 20 minutes.

prepare your rice and toppings

serve in a bowl with rice, then meat mixture and allow guests to top as they like.  

no need for a fork, as you can use the chips to scoop!  

delicious.

for the those i've given this recipe to:

can you comment if i missed anything?

thanks!

linking up with the simple things today

favourite things friday

great to see you back for another week of favourite things.

here are a few of my discoveries!

• ben and jerry's if i had a million flavours ice cream - wow!  possibly my new favourite.  was just enjoying some for dessert.  i had to cut myself off so there would be some more left for another day...  
• dance through the decades in style

• more fall craft ideas 

and i just want to share one more thing:

i love the school my girls go to.

"JFC is the place to be!"

today i got to watch emery and her classdo a skit in an assembly.

the theme of these assemblies is PRIDE.

today's was introducing 'P' which is for 'participating

in making the school a better place'.

great message.

then another class got up to lead the school song,

which was written by one of the teachers.

it was to the tune of jackson 5's 'ABC' song and it was fantastic.

the words were so positive and encouraging 

and it was amazing to see all (okay, most of) the teachers 

and students singing along with enthusiasm.

you know i shed a tear...

enjoy your weekend and i hope to see you soon!

brotherly love...

have you heard of the dear photograph website?

definitely worth checking out.
this is another take on the idea!

if you know the O brothers, you know they love each other like crazy.

crazy enough, to make one brother's wish
of recreating an old photo come true...

how i ended up as the photographer?

i was crazy enough to marry one of them!

(i know this made you smile)

family of three

i spent a morning at waterloo park 

with such a lovely family:

tasha, mark and logan.

tasha and mark are calm and kind,

and they love their little boy like crazy.

(it's so clear in these photos)

logan is a shy little guy who stole my heart!

i almost fell over laughing when i heard his 

surprisingly loud choo-choo sounds!

and he even blew me a kiss when we were saying goodbye.

 

though the weather was a little cold and dreary,

it was a bright and cheerful morning for me because i got to  

spend it with such a beautiful family...  

sunsets and giveaway

so, i don't usually edit my photos too much, but today i did 

and the result is kind of fun!

perfect photo for my two girls:

emery loves pink, 

and selah loves purple!

(might have to print this for their room)

this one was taken the following night at southampton beach.  

amazing!

now, onto other news...

i have been blogging for one year now.

woot, woot!

some of you have been joining me since the beginning,

some have just started checking in recently.

i want to thank you all for taking the time to stop by.

your clicks and comments are so greatly appreciated!

blogging has been such a joyful journey for me.

sharing my photos and reflecting on life as the days go by,

it's good for my soul!

so in honour of my first year,

i thought it might be fun to have a lil giveaway!

i wanted to come up with something that could work for any reader 

from ontario to australia...

so here it is:

{one custom photo card design}

i think this is perfect with christmas right around the corner...

but it could also be a birthday photo or birth announcement design.

to see a few of my designs click here, here and here.

to enter

• please join this site with gfc (google friend connect on the right) or follow my page on facebook (and if you already do follow then you're good to)
• leave a comment below telling me what kind of design you are hoping for.

one winner will be chosen randomly next monday,

so that leaves lots of time to spread the word.

if you share this giveaway with friends via facebook or twitter (etc),
you can have one more entry
(leave a second comment to tell me how you shared it)

i hope you'll join the fun!

can't wait to design something special 

for the winner!!

if you win:

 you send me a few photo options to work with 

and i'll send you a custom design in jpeg format 

that you can have printed wherever you like.

if you don't win, but you're interested in a custom design
you can contact me for my prices.

happy blog birthday to me!
see you back here next monday
with something to smile about!

linking up here today:


the creative exchange

favourite things friday

i feel the need to share some favourite things from today, today.

i had a breakfast date with jude.

we visited the girls preschool teacher bearing gifts of art and cupcakes.

had a date with my girls at swiss chalet.

my dessert is waiting for me in the fridge (pumpkin cheesecake!).

i sold an old lens on kijiji today and i'm 100 bucks closer to a new lens,

and get this, the person i sold it to has the lens i want 

and might sell it to me!!

pretty cool.

twas a jolly good day.

and here's two more favourite things for you:

• a photo that i like from the pumpkin farm

• a link to a halloween decor idea (i'm not all about decorating for halloween, but my girls are... so i may give this a try)

must confess two things now:

poor barley (the dog) didn't get a walk today,

and i devoured the cheesecake 

in the time it took me to upload the photo above.

yum...

do you have some of your own favourite things (or confessions) to share?

have a great weekend.

apple picking

we went to smith's farm on the weekend.

the weather was beautiful and the apples, delicious!

we picked royal gala apples,

what's your favourite kind?

 then we had some fun in the play area...

this weekend is not looking as pleasant as last in terms of weather, 

but we're looking forward to some family time with the O cousins!

linking up at:

this or that

and

hands

check out this great site for photography:

i heart faces

the photo challenge for this week is hands.

this is kinsley.

to see more photos from this shoot, 

click here

it's amazing how comforting hands can be...

how can you use your hands to help or comfort someone this week?

this photo was entered into the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com

the beach (in october)

we spent an hour or so at the beach yesterday.

yes, it's october and people were swimming,

and yes, we're in ontario...

it was amazing!

 jude and i were able to head back to the beach after dinner for the sunset...