Monday, July 30, 2012

Pain

I'm going to share some thoughts on pain. Not the usual light-hearted Elasticpantcity material but since I know so many people who face both physical and emotional challenges, I thought I'd bring some words of comfort derived from my own personal experience of pain.


"Nothing begins, and nothing ends,
That is not paid with moan;
For we are born in other's pain,
And perish in our own."
-- James Kenneth Stephen

That is a really depressing thought if I were to believe that life on earth is all there is. Instead I have an eternal hope that does not perish or fade (that's what Amazing Grace is all about), even while my body does. For most of my life I have suffered with chronic acute pain. I had my first migraine when I was nine and they have plagued me through out my life. My migraines are brought on by stress, certain food, pain (ironically), and hormone shifts. Chronic pain becomes a state of being that you adapt to in order to survive. It's not always possible to find a dark room, a bed, and peace and quiet in order to recover quickly. Especially not with two rambunctious boys. God has given me the grace to survive day-to-day life, even when in severe pain. Currently I am also facing the chronic acute pain of gall bladder attacks and at times it is very debilitating. Pain may shadow me through out the course of my life but thank goodness for amazing grace and the hope of heaven.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

We had my sister Lizzy take some family shots of us on holiday because A. We haven't had a family photo since Levi was 7 months old and B. We're in one of the most scenic and breathtaking places on the planet! 

It was hard to choose only a few photos to show you, but the rest have to be saved for grandma and grandpa!







Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Be Brave

Click image to view again.

I was not a brave person and particularly a fraidy cat when it came to activities at risk of causing physical harm. And then I had babies. The natural way. 

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Fleeting Persona

The city girl is a fleeting persona as I breathe in the fresh air of this wide open space and my body adjusts to days spent navigating the great outdoors. My sister's are kindred spirits in their love of nature, photography, and dress-up. They're miles ahead of me in their photography skills so like an avid pupil I followed them out on a photo shoot, hoping to pick up tips. In one evening I discovered how to capture the world aglow with the setting sun. My sister's have such vivid imaginations and will even hop into the ocean for each other in order to set up a good shot (Now that's sisterly love!).





*All photos of me by Lizzy

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Adventurer

Oh baby, let's be adventurers! We are living it up at the cabin, spending our days lounging outdoors, swimming in the ocean and climbing big rocks. Watching Levi's courage as he tries new things is my great joy. I love watching this little man grow up!







Thursday, July 12, 2012

Spiders or Spit?


My mind is running away with the long days of summer and my ability to focus on a single thought is difficult. Thus you get a long list of random Michelle Musings with little or no connection to each other.

1. Quintessential summer outfit. Check. 
2. Three days until vacation. We're heading to a cabin up the coast for two weeks. I am so tired. No longer sleep deprived tired, but completely and utterly fatigued. I could say more but instead I'll leave you to imagine lead feet. 
3. I have OCD. For as long as I can recollect when I fill a glass up with water, I always fill it half way and then dump it two times before letting the water reach the top. What do I think is at the bottom? Spiders or spit?
4. Sometimes my kids drive me ape shit (Do you notice a little bit of poetry going on?). I love 'em but it's the grace of God that sustains me. 
5. I've written that I don't usually post the labels I'm wearing because it's all thrifted. However, this top and hat are brand spanking new from Joe Fresh. The shorts are my polka dot DIY and the sandals are vintage Alberto Fermani's that I bought for a steal ($8). 

That's all I've got.

P.S. After a few hours reflection I realized the "ape shit" statement was bothering me. It was honest based on my frustration in the moment so there it remains, but let it be known I love my kids more than my own life. 

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Crying

Next week we leave for vacation so I went out and picked up some holiday essentials (Well, maybe not the shoes...). A very lovely and generous person watched my little nuggets while I went shopping with gift money. I needed the breather. Jethro's been up in Levi's business and poor Levi tries to defend his territory (or food). This results in Jethro getting shoved over, and then everyone is crying. Crying. Crying


I know my babies will grow up fast and so I try to cherish every moment. Occasionally screaming into a pillow is a great release for the more trying times. 

Jet's coming up to one year. The eyes. He melts my heart

And I thought I'd add a shot of my niece Sofia, because she's adorable and has amazing ringlets and she's the feistiest chick around. 

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Polka Dot

Marc by Marc Jacobs Resort 2012 collection was sprinkled with polka dots and inspired me to create a DIY polka dot print of my own. All I needed was a pair of cut-offs, white fabric paint, a paint brush and a circle template. 



I

Voila! I'm looking forward to taking these for a spin!

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Indoor Day

It appears that my day-to-day activities with my children are ubiquitous with design elements at Paris Couture this week. I suspect the brilliant couture design teams are made up of people who loved arts and crafts as kids. 







All couture photos via Style.com

Monday, July 2, 2012

O Canada, O Vancouver

Happy Birthday Canada!
We had a little cupcake party with our neighbours in honour of our country's 145th birthday. Levi is still grasping the concept of country and was certain a person name Canada was coming over for a celebration. 
These cupcakes were my first foray into vegan baking. They were yummy! The cupcake recipe is from here and the icing recipe from here.  

It was such a beautiful night that after our party ended at 6:30 (My how things have changed!), I headed down to the beach to practice photography. We have had several days of rain and suddenly the air is full of the fragrant aroma of plants in full bloom. The walk down to the water was glorious, and it was a pleasure to inhale the sweet scents. There's one little park that I always stop at to take in a view of the water and mountains. It's hard to capture the beauty and peacefulness of this special place, but I've pondered a lot of life's deep questions here, surrounded by creation and my Creator. 

My goal for this little photo expedition was to try to take photos facing towards the sun, with out the images being totally over exposed. By the way, there's a reason why we're taught as children not to look directly into the sunlight. By the end, my eyes we're aching but I had some lovely shots.




Just a reminder that Elasticpantcity is going through a redesign and will be at this blogspot address until the domain is transferred. If you have any friends who think they've lost me, let them know : )