January Snippets

I have no idea what happened to January. I can hardly believe the holidays are nearing the end. Just one more morning of wearing jarmies until lunchtime, of cooking pancakes for breakfast, of drinking coffee and flicking through magazines, of moving through the day at our own pace without any pressure to do this or be there.

When I scrolled through my phone pics I did not see any evidence of tired and cranky children that stay up too late. I could not find any record of refusal to do cf treatments, nagging for time on the ipad or squabbling over the tv channels.  There was no proof of the 'hair incident' and the tears that followed. I did see a whole lot of happy though.

A whole lot of happy!

I saw beautiful blooms despite the 40+ days.
I saw the most magnificent rainbow. It was a full arch and filled the sky. So big, I could only photograph a snippet. I even woke the boy up to come outside and see it! I was reminded of a day out with my big girl, just the two of us. I saw our very first homegrown strawberry. The little love devoured it with such joy. It wasn't anything to write home about but she grew it with love and it tasted better for it. I saw a visit from one of my dearest friends. I saw fresh farm eggs, the very best kind. Feathers n all..straight from the chicken's bum! I saw a beautiful sunset and a fun night with favourite friends. I saw a little boy and his newfound love for chapter books. I saw baby cuddles and boardgames, outings to the park, the museum and the library. Homemade playdough and sewing. There was a lot of swimming and eating of ice blocks too.

Yes, a whole lot of happy!

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 Penny for your thoughts Ollie boy!

 Such a sunny girl. 

We all had a happy night playing and swimming and having pizza for dinner with favourite friends.

Busy stitching a felt cupcake; a birthday gift for her little sister. 

She's a kind, thoughtful soul this one. She challenges me daily yet fills my heart with love and pride.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

The 52 Project

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 I could have chosen 1001 photos of my littlest love this week.

She is darling at the moment and loves the camera too.

My boy playing on the ipad. There was time to look up and smile though. 

I am particularly happy with this shot because my inside, low light shots are usually awful. 

This might be my best one yet.
 

  

My big girl not sparkling at the moment. A sure sign she is getting sick.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013"

The 52 Project

A splash of colour

This piece belonged to my Nonna and for as long as I can remember it was in the shed with nuts and bolts. My Dad off loaded it to me ages ago and I decided to give it a lick of paint the other day. As you can see it is without a top and I am hoping you crafty peeps can offer up some suggestions. Does it need a top? Just a piece of wood. Could I turn it into a pincushion top? I would love your thoughts.

Five go off in a caravan

Toward the end of last year we went on a little caravan adventure around sunny QLD. We spent almost 7 weeks away from home and mostly headed wherever the road lead us. We didn't have much of a plan and we just enjoyed the break from routine and being a bit carefree. We crammed a lot into our 7 weeks and I thought I'd share a few snaps as well as the cushion I made last week as a little reminder of our time away.

Camel Ride, Lighthouse Beach, Port Macquarie
Seaworld, the touch pool
The Maheno, Fraser Island
Seaworld, dolphin encounter, Ollie-second from right, Bella, standing. That cheeky dolphin kept splashing water on her glasses.
Fraser Island
Movie World, Gold Coast, watching the street parade
Australia Zoo, Beerwah
The Great Barrier Reef
And another
Feeding wild dolphins in Tin Can Bay-possibly my favourite thing!
Strawberry picking near Maroochydore
Strangler Fig, Fraser Island

Good Morning 1770, taken inside the caravan
Townsville

Finally, the cushion!!!

My beautiful friend gifted me this wonderful book, another little reminder of our trip.

Boo says she 'bags' reading it first but I'm thinking after that I might  upcycle it to a picture frame or fill it with our holiday snaps. Should I? Could you? I don't think I can. I want to though.

The Mr Making

Ages ago, I salvaged a plank of wood from the scrapheap at the inlaws place. It's nice and shabby, a pretty mint green colour. Perfect for one of the many projects pinned to my Make board on Pinterest.
After much nagging, the Mr finally got to work. He carefully followed my instructions to drill and countersink each screw-someone has to be the foreman-and presented me with this masterpiece.

I especially love the tiny glass knob.
I'm so happy with it! Just a bit more nagging to get it up on the wall now ;)

Pop over here for more reclaimed coat racks!
Have you (or your other half) made anything from Pinterest lately?

* If your feeling a bit dejavuish it's because I posted this a couple of days ago and it miraculously disappeared so I'm just reposting it. Does that kind of thing ever happen on your blog?

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 An unusually serious face for the boy as he waits for his turn on the flying fox.

Fun in the pool = big smiles.

 Rolling playdough, wearing ladybug nighty and week old braids.

 "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013.
 The 52 Project.

Friends

We've had our very dear to us friends staying. Yvette and I first met when our babies were tiny. Our girls are tight and I love that they just pick up exactly where they left off despite not seeing other for months.
Same for the mamas.

The girls cooked tacos for dinner.
We had a few 40+ days so a lot of time was spent in the pool and quite a few ice blocks were consumed. There was op shopping, movie watching, eating, drinking, chatting. Hair was braided. Blythe dolls were dressed and I made a skirt. For me! Thank you Yvette for teaching how to read a pattern!
During their visit we spent a morning at my favourite cafe, Ajanta.
There are so many lovely details at Ajanta. Every visit is a joy.

 So what to do with all the pics I snap at Ajanta...more here.
I printed a few out and had a play with some paper scraps to make a few cards. It will be great to have some emergency cards on hand because usually I am throwing something together as I need it. Good to use up some paper scraps too. I'm a terrible hoader.

 Thank you Yvette for being you. Thank you for helping me to make a new skirt and for taking these treasured photos of my big girl and me.

Untitled

Lots of good stuff happening right now...it's hard to know where to start so I just will.

Last week, I attended The Nursery workshop, taught by the talented Tim Coulson. Despite reading my manual over and over, my dslr and I have never been good friends. My photography has always been a bit hit and miss. I have dabbled here and there but my disappointment and frustration usually lead me to turning the dial back to auto.

After a wonderful day soaking in as much of Tim's knowledge and enthusiam for photography as I could, I am finally feeling like the pieces of the puzzle are fitting together.

Tim is not only a talented photographer but he has a real gift for teaching and connecting with others. Listening to Tim speak so passionately about people and life and capturing the everyday joy was truly inspiring. The idea of spending my time taking better photographs instead of editing them is spot on, I think!

If you ever have the opportunity to attend The Nursery, I promise you'll be glad you did!

So then...a few snaps from the day, the beginning of my photographic journey if you like.
Still a bit hit and miss but no sign of auto ;)

Thank you so much Tim for sharing your passion.
Special thanks to our models, the beautiful and patient Kesh and little Roo.

It was also lovely to meet the other workshop participants.
What a lovely bunch of people to learn with!

After a bit of thought I have decided to have a go at The 52 Project, hosted by the lovely Che and Fidel blog. The perfect opportunity to hone my photography skills and capture my little loves as they grow and change this year.

 "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

1/52 My gang...swimming, playing and enjoying a zooper dooper on a 43 degree day.