Gigi's Blog bio picture
  • Welcome to the Gigi Blog!

    Mother to six Little Women and Two Little Men. Married to a Happy Mortician. Caretaker to goats, chickens and many, MANY bunnies. Photographer. Homeschooler. Lover of Jesus, coffee & tea and all things pink & vintage.

Jack {Frost} …


“…Jack Frost took his paintbrush 
as he sailed across the sky 
so every morning as the sun comes up 
his artwork greets the eye  …

… so when you’re in bed sleeping 
and outside everything seems faint 
just remember at midnight 
Jack Frost begins to paint…”

 

Each winter morning, if I’m lucky, I wake up in our 123 year old home and I am greeted by the intricate and beautiful sketches of Jack Frost.

 

I. just. LOVE. it.

 

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… Happy Week of Christmas!!!

December 31, 2009 - 7:18 pm

Chelsey These are beautiful. I’m sorry I missed this post until now – winter is such a beautiful season in its own right. And LOVE that pink streak! 😉

December 22, 2009 - 5:27 pm

Debbie VanWyck Did you see the Northern Lights this morning…amazing.

December 21, 2009 - 5:14 pm

Grandma Gerr WOW!!!! Great Pics!!

December 21, 2009 - 12:15 am

Jennifer Beautiful!

Happy Birthday, Miss Vaida!

Happy 1st birthday, Vaida!

 

It’s hard to believe you are one already!  

 

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A little tea party with her best friend in honor of her birthday is a great way to celebrate …

 

 

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Welcome to the world of Wonderful One! xo

January 6, 2010 - 10:37 pm

Tanya Frew What a beautiful little girl! Love your tea set;)

December 22, 2009 - 12:01 am

Rose:) LUV LUV LUV the tea party pic….luvin’ her cute rolls! Just wanna squeeze her:) I miss that stage:(
Rolls Rule!

December 20, 2009 - 3:57 pm

Sara Cutest picture ever!!!

December 19, 2009 - 7:28 pm

Trudi I love them, the colours are extraordinary, can’t wait to see the rest!

December 19, 2009 - 4:03 pm

Sherri Smith I love how you captured her telling her best friend something very important! Very precious.

December 19, 2009 - 3:58 pm

Catherine Oh my, what *beautiful* chunks she has! I just love chunks on wee ones. Beautiful work, as always, Gillian!

Crying.

Oh dear Heavens above. Please let it stop!

There have been boatloads of tears shed in this household since Saturday this past weekend. One L has croup. One L has been fighting a cold and nose bleeds. One mom is just way past exhausted. And one puppy needs to stop barking everytime I get one of the whiney Ls to sleep!

Yes, folks. It’s been a rough past few days. The first days of fever, coughing and crying are not so bad – I can handle it. Lots of cuddles and lazy days together. But come the fifth day, I’m about ready to …. move. Seriously. Move out. Alone.

 

Not to mention the lack of sleep as none of them have been sleeping right. I really hoped Lyla was turning a corner today but now I’m not so sure … we’ll see what tomorrow brings …

 

Oh, Lord, grant me patience!

 

Needless to say, this is why I haven’t been posting too much.

In between Cryfest 2009 and Feverfest of the Century, we did have the chance to bake a few hundred gingerbread cookies. Well, as it turns out, they taste pretty awful – a bit like cardboard, actually. Not sure why. 

 

They were still fun to decorate though. The kids licked the icing off. Simple solution.

 

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A happier Lyla than right now.

 

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Well, at least Daisy likes the cookies. I know will be in her stocking this Christmas.

December 17, 2009 - 4:07 pm

Catherine I hope your L’s are feeling better soon. We have similar issues here, including late night trips to the ER for Wilson’s first asthma attack. Terrifying… The good news is that now everyone will be well for Christmas!

December 17, 2009 - 2:42 pm

Jenn Hope the L’s are on the mend.

December 17, 2009 - 11:41 am

Lori Awe, I feel the pain… but LOVE gingerbread!!! Sorry about the cardboard though! lol Hope everyone gets better soon!

December 16, 2009 - 10:22 pm

Carry Feel better soon!

Help Portrait {recap}

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment

before starting to improve the world. 

~Anne Frank

 

What can I say? I have been struggling with what to write about Help Portrait .. how to convey the feelings … how to thank you all for being SO AMAZING!

So, let me just dive in … 

 

WOW.

WOW. 

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me tell you – tears were shed when the family visited the studio for their portraits on Saturday – when the studio doors opened and in they walked, my friend  (who helped organized this) and I were able to show the mom all the gifts and goodies that were donated for her and her children … yes, tears were shed … what an amazing way to give back to someone who is needing a helping hand this Christmas …

 

THANK YOU a gazillionfiftymillion times over for those who helped out with Help Portrait this past Saturday – so many of you pulled together to make this day very, very special for one family here in Orangeville.
From Adele’s hair salon here in Orangeville to Parson’s Flowers to Groceries to Go … to all you wonderful women and men out there who donated presents, toys, food, stockings, homemade gifts, snowsuits, … wow, you have all made Christmas that much more MAGICAL for this one family.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for banding together to make Christmas merry. 

 

I won’t be showcasing the photos on the blog out of respect, but please know that the day was so magical, so wonderful and so exciting … it was awesome to help out, even in this small way. Together, you made a difference for this family this Christmas. 

 

Thank you. 

 

Please watch this video below. You will be touched.

December 16, 2009 - 9:48 am

Lori Wow, very touching. Nice work Gillian! Photos are our time stamps in life and are so very important. I love it!!

December 16, 2009 - 12:21 am

Jennifer Awesome Gillian! I’m glad your day went so well!

{Help}

Can you imagine not being able to afford to fill your children’s stockings this Christmas? Or afford a Christmas tree for your family? 

For such a joyous wonderful season for many, Christmas is also a very sad, lonely and depressing time for others.

Tears are falling down my cheeks right now as I read over the e-mails sent to me for Help Portrait. There are so many hurting people so local to us … so many going through very troubled times, hardships with their children and their health …  one story in particular really stood out to me (trust me, it was VERY hard to read through all the stories and just pick one family) and I cried tears of sadness when her information was given to me. Sometimes we get caught up in our own problems and trials and sufferings that we forget that we need to reach out and help others … 

In case you haven’t visited the blog this week, on December 12th, photographers around the world are uniting to offer their services to bless someone in a project called Help Portrait. Anyone that needs it. Labs are donating prints free of charge (Thank you, Francine! You are awesome!) and many others are pulling together to make this a special event. 

For obvious reasons, I’m not going to name the recipeint of the Help Portrait on the blog or share any information on their story … that’s personal … but if you are reading this blog post and you feel as if you have been blessed this year, I urge you to help this one family that has been chosen for Help Portrait. 
They will be visiting the studio this Saturday and I will work my hardest to capture some memories and magical moments for this mom.

You can bless this family by donating:

 

* toys for boys ages 4 and 7

*  a Christmas tree (you could purchase a gift certificate for a local tree farm)

*  a Wal Mart or Zellers gift card

* a turkey for Christmas

* winter coats

* stockings filled with treats for two little boys

* stocking for the mom filled with goodies like lip gloss, hand cream, etc. 

 

It’s been really encouraging to see people ban together in just two short days! Already a local salon has offered free haircuts for the children … other Orangeville residents have offered to watch my children while I shoot (THANK YOU!) … but there are still ways you can help …. think about it.

 

Let me know what you would like to do for this family and drop it off at the studio (12 York Street) by THIS Friday night. 

 

Together, we can offer this one family ….

 

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God bless you at you bless others!

December 13, 2009 - 10:32 am

Jody Richardson Hey Gillian -Not sure if I am too late to help this cause but I would love to donate a semi-makeover to Mom as well as Shampoo etc to give her a lift.Also if more gifts are needed my kids would love to buy some and drop them off.Facebook me and let me know if I can still do this.Thank you and God Bless.

December 11, 2009 - 11:10 am

Petra Lea Oh I have a lump in my throat as I read our post – what a selfless, wonderful thing you’re doing & I know tomorrow’s going to mean more than words can say for the family you help.
This is totally the Christmas spirit!

December 10, 2009 - 1:16 pm

Vanessa C Hi Gillian,
I’ve sent you an e-mail!! I also realized I spelled your name wrong. Sorry! 🙂

December 10, 2009 - 11:54 am

Mallory I’m going to be helping with this same cause here in Charlotte this weekend. I’m so excited about it, but at the same time nervous. I’m glad your doing it too!

December 9, 2009 - 8:13 pm

pammelah Gillian, Groceries to go has a service available where you can donate to them on behalf of someone else.. or buy gift certificates. so for instance you could either donate money and mom can chose her own groceries, or someone could order and pay for a turkey for her. the only thing is they would need an address.. pehaps project HELP could be the recepient and then pass things along.?