Great kids' photos by Veridamo Photography

If you subscribe to my enewsletter, you'll know that I recently got family photos taken by Veridamo Photography's talented Tanya. I participated in their Kids of Vancouver project, where for a $100 ($25 for every additional child) donation to a local food bank, you get a professional photo session and your child's photo in the Kids of Vancouver coffee-table book. Here's a link to the article that I wrote, if you're interested. To find out more about Kids of Vancouver, click here.

And here are some of the photos that Tanya took. I love them. They capture my children's spirit perfectly. Thank you, Veridamo Photography!

Cover Contest winners revealed!

We are proud to officially announce the winners of urbanbaby & toddler magazine's 2010 Cover Contest. Congratulations to Isabelle and Tristan, who received the most online votes for their photos (see their pics below).




















We received 75,000 votes in total over a period of just three weeks -- thanks to everyone who voted! You'll see Isabelle on the cover of urbanbaby & toddler magazine's Winter 2010 issue and Tristan on the cover of the Spring 2011 issue.

Whole Foods makes Celebration of Light easier for families

The always-dazzling fireworks display that is the Celebration of Light kicks off in Vancouver this Wednesday, July 21 at English Bay. Are you thinking of taking the kids but worried about waiting in the crowds and finding nearby parking?

Whole Foods just announced two fireworks specials that will make your family trek to the spectacle, easier.

The fireworks picnic menu, for $9 per person, makes waiting among the thousands of spectators more bearable. With fresh salads and kid-friendly entrees like spinach orzo pasta and crunchy baked chicken, sparkling beverages, and sweet desserts, this meal-to-go promises to be delicious and convenient. All meals are prepared to order and packaged in a Green Mission shopping bag for easy transport.

Whole Foods Market on Robson is also offering a safe and easy place to park during the festivities. Located a short walk from English Bay, you can park for charity at 6:30 pm on each of the four nights of the Celebration of Lights: July 21, 24, 28 and 31. And the $20 parking fee goes straight to local charity!

Great ideas, Whole Foods!

The Celebration of Light details:
Dates: July 21 (USA), July 24 (Spain), July 28 (Mexico), July 31 (China)
Location: English Bay, Vancouver
Start time: 10 pm, rain or shine
Best viewing points: English Bay, Kitsilano, Vanier Park, Jericho Beach

A handmade baby quilt for my nephew

For my sister's baby shower, we decided to make quilt-making the central activity. It's always more fun and less awkward to have an activity theme for a shower, especially when you're bringing together groups of people who don't know each other.

Not having any experience with quilting, we chose to hire The Cloth Shop in Vancouver to come to the shower and give all the guests a quick tutorial on how to make a quilt square.

Here's the result of our fabulous quilt-making session. Do you love it? I do!













And it was all pretty easy. We chose the coordinating fabrics ahead of time, The Cloth Shop cut the squares and brought templates and the necessary materials. All we had to do was decide what we wanted to blanket-stitch onto our squares. Then The Cloth Shop stitched all the squares into a quilt for us. Thanks, The Cloth Shop!

Call for baby models!

I just received this call for little models:

Jane Photo is seeking one newborn, either gender, between 3-10 days of age, for a beach shoot. Please contact the studio (604-435-9581) for details. Also need girl models between 4-10 years of age for various shoots in fields/heritage areas. Ethnicities particularly welcomed. Session fee is waived, and one 8x10" is offered as thanks.

Another child's birthday done!

This weekend has been crazy. We had a laser tag birthday party for my son Benjamin (who turned 8) and his friends on Saturday at Planet Lazer. Lots of fun, but we definitely needed two adults on deck to ensure all the kids were okay. They have a great package that includes ice cream cake, two pieces of Pizza Hut pizza and a drink per kid, and a party space. All you have to do is show up!

Then on Sunday, we did the family birthday party, which was decidedly more low-key. But not without its stresses--namely, my annual birthday cake decorating challenge. I asked Benjamin what he wanted for his cake, and he announced, "A Death Star cake." Have you ever seen one of these? A Death Star is a creation of Star Wars, and its shape is spherical-ish with an indentation on the upper hemisphere. I wracked my brain for weeks trying to figure out how to produce this on my own and sadly, couldn't come up with a way to do it easily without it looking horrible.

I opted to reproduce the more forgiving chaotic scene where Anakin and Obi-Wan duel to the near-finish in the lava fields. A little orange and chocolate icing, some crumbled up chocolate wafers, and two store-bought figurines did the job. Here it is!