Happy Valentine's Day to all those parents, carers and guardians out there. I'll be your Valentine!

If you are not expecting romance on Valentine's Day, then perhaps you will accept my gesture of platonic love to sustain you.  Not all our bundles of joy can communicate just how important you are them, so, I am to tell you on their behalf. You May also be tried and not at all interested in celebrating and leaving your comfort zone dressed in fancy shoes that aren't Ugg boots or it's a day that makes you feel more alone than ever. I got you, I even come bearing gifts of flowers and specially designed heart-shaped candy with messages of love that you might not hear very often from those around  you and just might make a difference. 

I am spending tonight sending out my love from the sofa.

Happy Valentine's Day 

xoxo

Is it really February already?

I decided to give myself a well deserved time out over the silly season, and when I finally came up for air and opened up my Christmas post that has been sitting in my draft box since the 25th of December, it was February. Oh well, and to fully embrace my only New Years resolution about not  being so hard on myself all I can say is Que Sera, Sera

Deciding what to do with this last Christmas was an easy choice for my family. As an Australian my Christmas’s where usually spent enduring blistering heat eating cold seafood, and a lot of drinking, usually while listing to Christmas albums with songs that taunted us with what Christmas experience should be. There were never any sleigh bells ringing and there were definitely never any chestnuts roasting on an open fire Songs like Let It Snow, Baby Its Cold Outside, but none the less it didn’t feel like Christmas without those songs like Let It Snow and Baby Its Cold Outside playing in the background while we sweat over our Christmas feast. These Australians were determined to experience a white Christmas and with that in mind, we packed our bags filled with presents and thermals and headed to Quebec City for Christmas.

Waking up this morning was magical, there was a thick layer of snow covering our windows this morning as I looked out into the courtyard of the hotel in the heart of the old city. Something about the snow makes everything seem quiet. It was honestly the coldest I think I have ever been in my life and the wind-chill brought a tear to my eye, not only because your eye water in the cold weather but also because after 100m in -35 temperatures I realised that there was such a thing as being too cold, and no matter how much I wanted to explore this glorious city I had had enough and wanted to go back inside. But I persevered as wandering around the old town of Quebec City is a magical experience, I felt as if I had been transported to one of the many beautiful villages scattered throughout the Loire Valley in France.  

I must admit that I never really thought about going away at Christmas time before, but, I don’t know why I didn't do it sooner. We don’t have any family in Toronto, so there weren’t any social commitments so it was either celebrate Christmas buy ourselves in our condo in Toronto or go away. Although yes being on a holiday or planning one can be stressful especially if you are like me and feel responsible for everyone's enjoyment of the day. This was great, no grocery shopping, no cooking, no trying to find things at the last minute dash to the Eaton Centre. All I had to do was make some reservations for our holiday feasting, pack my bags and relax.

The only stressful part of our trip was a very willful three-year old that has fully embraced the word NO and refused to comply basic with air travel safety rules, like wearing a seatbelt and not screaming.  Yes, I felt many uneasy eyes on me I don’t blame these people as I am sure that I was once one of them. I guess know it was my turn.

Oh Canada, you are so cold.  When I arrived last year I was warned that the Toronto winter had been pretty mild as far as Canadian winters go. And although as far as winter is concerned I haven’t really experienced the “true cold” yet, I can see why Canada the is known as The Great White North. 

When I look out the living room of my condo onto the blanket of white covering the Harbour Front, through the sea of glowing twinkle lights I can see everyone braving the cold and enjoying the ice skating with natural grace like they were born to skate. Lately, I have been besieged with invitations to go ice skating, but alas for me I was graced with two left feet. 

In fact, the very same two left feet that caused me to trip and fall in a pothole on the sidewalk in Montreal last year. Only after three days of pain and a giant elbow, I thought that I should get a doctor, who informed me that I had fractured my elbow and dislocated my arm. Which as a result has made me a little gun shy when it comes to walking on a slippery hard surface balancing my entire body weight over two sharp blades less than 1 cm in diameter. But, I think that its pretty reasonable as most of my experience with Ice is in melted form as Australia has more water then it has ice.

So I’m not sure that the ice and me will be a good fit, but I am determined to get my skates on this season. I would love my little guy to have fun on the ice but unless I can stand on my own skate without falling how can I how can I teach him. Luckily, Daddy was more than happy to oblige.  After 35 minutes on the ice and only covering about 15 meters, we finished our afternoon on the ice and like magic Elliot was able to stand up only with the promise of a hot chocolate. 

As both a mum and a photographer I think that Halloween would have to be my favorite time of year, the costumes, the excitement of the children, it is almost too cute to handle. Capturing the adorable cuteness of these children in their Halloween costumes was one of the best experiences  I had working as a photographer all year. I can't believe that it has been a month since the fun crazy times of Halloween. This was my second North American Halloween, a tradition, that I hope stays with my family wherever in the world we might find ourselves in the future. Getting my little guy ready absolutely loved getting ready my little guy for Halloween this year, planing his outfit, practicing what to say, watching him parade around the neighborhood in his outfits with all of his friends.  I know that next year (as he gets older) I will have very little say about what he chooses to wear on the day so I made sure that this year I got my way.

We don't have forests like North America, Australia has rain forests, beaches, deserts and the bush, so therefore we don't have the same animals.  No chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons, bears, moose, wolves, coyotes, skunks or any of other creatures featured in most animated afternoon children's television programming can be found in the Land Down Under unless you head to a zoo.  So with that in mind, it was decided that he would have two Halloween creature costumes, a hedgehog, and a skunk. 

Growing up in Australia Halloween wasn't a huge celebration, although it was acknowledged but unless your neighborhood was full of parents creating the magic behind the scenes the celebration was usually centered around school activities.  However was lucky enough to have a lovely Canadian lady living on the same street with her young family, and her enthusiasm for the Halloween tradition spread through all the houses in our street.  Being here in Canada during the festive October months has been wonderful. It seems like everyone is willing to dress up and embrace the tradition. If only you could do it everyday.

My parents arrived in Canada on Thanksgiving Day, and it seemed as if all of the celebrations during the month of October centered around the humble pumpkin. They are everywhere, tiny little ornamental gourds in amazing shapes and sizes, in pies, in most baked goods, in lattes, in tins, out the front of every grocery and convenience store, outside peoples houses and even a lot of front stoops, both real and fake. So much so that we were awestruck when we came across endless pumpkin patches while driving through Prince Edward County on our way to Bloomfield.  Aside from the agricultural show every year I had never seen so many pumpkins of that size, all grown for the purpose of carving the famous Jaco Lanton. This iconic Halloween tradition of the carved pumpkin faces has made it to Australia, our pumpkins are slightly different is carved but never on the scale of these massive orange bulbs. It was magical to see a pumpkin patch on such a large scale

Anybody who knows me well knows I am not a fan of the glorious pumpkin. Many hours were spent by my family not allowing me to leave the table and no dessert would be served until I had eaten the small amount of pumpkin on my plate. It was always a standoff and I was always the winner, not a fan of dessert. Although I have been known to eat an odd pumpkin scone, because sometimes pastries have their own rules, and I did indulge and enjoy the North American classic Pumpkin Pie.