NUDIE FOOD

Day 271 / 365



Ok so forgive me but I couldn't resist putting this image up today.  I pulled this out of the garden and had a bit of a giggle to myself, when I showed it to Max he nearly wet himself with laughter....the boy does have a wicked sense of humour!!

HAIRSTYLES

Day 270 / 365

Miss A had her hair cut this week and our hairdresser tried out this style on her hair.  I like the simplicity of it but at the same time it is more stylish than the usual plait or ponytail.  Unfortunately by the time I got around to taking the photo it was also kind of messy.

SUMMER FRUITS

Day 269 / 365



Max loves watermelon and I'm thinking it will go pretty nicely in one of my  fruit smoothies too!

THE TREE

Day 268 / 365

"Live simply"

NEW GROWTH

Day 267 / 365



At this time of year we have a competition to see who can spot the first new leaves on our trees.  During the winter they lose all their leaves and as spring approaches new growth appears.  I noticed today as I was sitting outside this tree has several new leaves just starting to sprout........warmer weather is on its way!

SAND

Day 266 / 365



I finally got around to cleaning up the sandpit and the kids spent quite a while playing in it again.  Looking forward to the warmer weather when they can play outside a lot more.

FAIRY BREAD

Day 265 / 365



Miss A had some fairy bread at a party recently and now every lunch time when she is home she asks to have it for lunch.

GREEN

Day 264 / 365



I couldn't think of anything to photograph today so I asked the kids to pick a colour.  Miss A picked green so here is my green photo.

QUOTE

Day 263 / 365



Max got a hold of my quote frame last night and asked me if he could write something on it again.  This is what he wrote, a favourite quote of mine which I have up in the toilet.  Obviously he has memorised it to be able to write it without looking.

In case you can't read it..... "Don't you worry about the future he asked and she replied, all I have is this moment and anything else will cloud it's beauty."

EGGS

Day 262 / 365



Not overly inspiring......just eggs.

ROSTER

Day 261 / 365



I spent the morning with Miss A, helping out at her kindy.  It was lovely to see her interacting in the classroom with the teachers and classmates.  The kids were lovely and a lot of fun.  It brings back memories of teaching in childcare.

SOMEWHERE

Day 260 / 365

Somewhere there is a place that takes you back.  It resonates something inside of you and you feel at peace.  Somewhere where the flowers are almost beckoning to you where the warm sun filters through the trees and the sounds of birds fill the air.  Somewhere where your heart and soul feels at one with the world - at peace.  This is your place.

BLOSSOMS

Day 259 / 365

"Breathe in inspiration and trust yourself, the answer is YES YOU CAN!

6

Day 258 / 365

Scraping the barrel with inspiration today....oh well!

BOARDWALK

Day 257 / 365



Have been running low on inspiration the past few days so took a walk down to our local lake to get this shot.

THE CUTEST COUPLE

Day 256 / 365



I tried for a couple of days to get shots of these two birds but this was the best I could do.    These two birds hang around a carpark near the kids school and they always come out of the bushes and flit around the cars.  The are attracted to their reflections in the cars mirrors and windscreens and are generally quite friendly unless you have a camera in hand....then they are no-where to be seen!

OH HUMBLE BANANA

Day 255 / 365



It's been a while since we've bought bananas.  After some awful storms and flooding which wiped out our banana crops the price of bananas has been up around $15 per kilo for months.  Hence they have been off our shopping list for some time.  The price is finally starting to drop so I treated myself to a few this week.  Who would have ever thought bananas would be a luxury fruit!!

ALL BLACKS

Day 254 / 365



This little dude arrived in the mail last week.  It was a gift to the children from my mum and dad.  If you press his belly the haka plays.  We are rather a split family when it comes to rugby with both NZ and Australian supporters but I guess that just means we have twice as much chance of winning if we back both teams.

DRAGONFLY

Day 253 / 365



Moments like these have me wishing for a good macro lens....but for now this will have to do.  He stayed there barely long enough for me to get my shot and then he was gone.

DRESSING UP

Day 252 / 365



What do you do when mum won't let you go on the computer or watch t.v..........?  You drag out the dress ups and have a dressing up competition.  Luckily I was too close to get the bottom half of Max because you really wouldn't want to know what he was wearing.

CHIMNEY SWEEP

Day 251 / 365

Max's class were doing songs from Mary Poppins at assembly this week and he had to dress up as a chimney sweep.

STRAWBERRIES

Day 250 / 365

These strawberries are the most juciest, sweetest strawberries I have had in a long time.  I had to photograph them quickly before the kids devoured them all.

TEDDY BEARS

Day 249 / 365

"A teddy bear does not depend on mechanice to give him

the semblance of life

He is loved - and therefore he lives"

Pam Brown

This teddy bear is very well loved in our family, we have spent many meals with him at the table, taken him for rides in the car (and yes he wears a seatbelt), changed his nappy, fed him, talked to him, and taken him to the park.  He has a special place in our family, so much so that sometimes you think he actually does have a personality!!  And in moments of frustration don't ever call him just a stuffed toy with no feelings to these children he is very much real. 

SMILING EYES

Day 248 / 365

"She turned to me and whispered, don't you just love it

when you get so excited you forget to breathe?

and the thought of her smiling eyes still makes me laugh.

- storypeople

FOR ONE MOMENT

Day 247 / 365

"For one moment stand in silence, look at the plants and contemplate

how awesome life is"

L.O.V.E

Day 246 / 365



I found this idea of making a whiteboard out of a photo frame on Pinterest.  Instead of the original idea of using it to put weekly meals on I decided to use it for favourite quotes so that I could change them each week or so. The pink spotted paper isn't quite what I wanted but it was all I had available at the time.  Max decided he liked the idea and begged me to let him write a message on it instead.  This is what he wrote.

DRAMATIC B&W

Day 245 / 365

"No-one else will ever know the strength of my love for you.

After all you're the one who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside"

PAINTING WITH LIGHT

Day 244 / 365

I had a lot of fun with this one.  It's called painting with light.  Basically you use a torch light in a dark room with a very long exposure and 'paint' away.  I was in a small room with an 85mm lens so not a lot of room to play with, next time I'll use a wider lens and maybe write some words but it really was a fun experiement.  For those who want to try this at home you will need a tripod or something to sit the camera on, a dark room and a torch or light of some sort to paint with.  Set your camera to self timer and set the exposure for 10 seconds or so.  (You will need to manually focus on the area you are going to be standing)   Switch off your flash too.

If you do happen to give it a go make sure you show me the results.  I'd love to see what you get.

YOGA

Day 243 / 365



This is what they decided to do tonight - yoga!  Miss A has a little book of yoga for children which they like to try out now and again.

OVERCOMING HURDLES

Day 242 / 365



This is a significant image for us.  It depicts a hurdle which Max has overcome this year - school swimming!  2 years ago he did swimming with his school and lasted only a few days, it gave him so much stress we struggled to get him to even go to school.  Last year there was no way he was going to do swimming with his school so he stayed behind in another class which to him was the lesser of two evils!!  We got him some private lessons which helped his confidence in the water and gave him some necessary skills.  2 weeks ago we talked about trying the swimming lessons this year and he made a brave decision to give it a go so long as I was there to watch.  After two days he was moved to a higher level and two days after that was moved to a higher level again. Tomorrow is the last day and I am so proud of his efforts and accomplishments in conquering his fear.

EYEDROPPER PAINTING

Day 241 / 365



It's been a while since I did some artwork with Miss A so today we did some eyedropper dye painting.  Basically it's food colouring in water using an eyedropper to drop the paint onto a paper towel.  The paper towel absorbs the dye and makes colourful patterns.

FRESIAS

Day 240 / 365



Fresias are one of my absolute favourite spring flowers.  Not only are they pretty but their scent is gorgeous.  Every year I plant more of these bulbs in my garden so that when spring comes I have plenty to cut and put inside.