Challenge: Silhouette {landscape|colour}

j

Challenge: self portrait {composition}

J

Challenge: something green {colour}

 

brr frosty mornings!!

 

J

Challenge: clouds {colour}

 

Today these looked fabulous as I ducked outside at the crack of dawn.. sun coming up shining on the jet streams.

 

just fun with the pinks and oranges against the blue!

 

J

ahh that time of year…

    The toy catalogue time of year! the boys claim them and then they are out the door with them to school! lol. they did let me take their pics this morning.

J

thinking about lots and lots of stuff

Before we get to the rainbows…
I realised today that I really don't share bits of me.  so rarely let out some of that wild insanity that is our life! Those that have met and chatted with me – my wonderful clients, my friends, my family I don't think would associate the word quiet with me. But I took a good long hard look at myself this week and realised I have been pulling the covers over my head and bunkering down and hoarding all the fun things that we (and I) do. Does this mean that we have wild and crazy days every day? nope just the opposite. But as a mum (and I am sure any mum and dad will tell you) ) that with children in the house there is certainly  not one single moment where there is not something happening. And if it is deadly silent (especially in day time hours) there are investigations to be done. – there is surely mischief being up to.

 

So all this thinking (and yes I cleaned up my house and did all the mundane chores like hanging out the washing (don’t you just love that job?) me too – not! :)  and had my mind galloping at a mile a minute with all these new ideas and things to do. I got to thinking grass roots. what is at the bottom of me, who am I and what do I love? where do I want to go, how can I achieve it, what sides of me do I feel like I am hoarding to myself.  And in the midst of all this thinking (and I did a bit of reading of a new mentoring guide that i have received last night) and it made me realise that I was scared of letting me out. I had started not being me, but striving to be someone that wasn't one particular person but all those pieces of people  and places that I though “should” be me. I also realised that the wants were obscuring my vision of the reality of what I have in my hands and in my life right now. I can want all I like but ultimately if I sit on my butt and do nothing I get nothing in return and I don’t see myself achieving my goals and dreams. I also don’t teach my boys to go for your dream and achieving whatever it is they want.

 

last week I bought this organiser I just couldn’t resist it. I wanted an iphone but not really an option since I am on an awesome plan and dont want to leave it. Anyhoo, I ducked into officeworks for a printer cartridge and had a quick squiz up and down the aisles (as I love to just wander) and this was red – oh so lusciously red. It contains the business organiser but I don't really want one for that purpose specifically. I like just being able to jot notes down will nilly and have lists all in one place!

Next step was that I have been sucked into Pinterest. It is this amazingly inspired/inspiring website that you are invited to for access (but you can join or ask to join so not an exclusive secret society or anything like that!) and honestly it sets my creative juices flowing both for my photography and baking and generally anything else that takes my fancy! Oh and can I say that facebook is the most fascinating and entertaining time suck there is around? seriously I spend too much time on there some days (no self discipline I know :P)

anyway I discovered a few tips on blogging and the craving for organisation and the need to have a direction was finally seeing some light. I honestly didn't know that I needed it – just knew I needed something. And they had some printables to download my girl thursday blogging article, and while I loved the titles and set out, their patterns and colours weren't really me. So I dragged out my favourite Shabby Princess scrapbooking kits and made my own. So now I have a to-do list, a plan of what I am going to write about rather than the random – this is more for my JLB blog but it wont hurt me here too! notes to jot thoughts down and things that we all do to keep those memories and a just write. I need to jot thoughts down otherwise they stew, And since it has been a while since I either blogged or journalled I have been stewing/mulling/obsessing – which for me is so not a good thing. I need thoughts out of my head, otherwise insanity ensues

 

and so I put it all together and now it looks purty ….

 

I at least now have an action plan and a direction I can take myself. Time will tell if I can do it or will do it. but I am trying to be accountable for me and my actions so I figure this is the time. and it starts now

 

So accountability.. I need it.

These are my current learning/journeying to-do’s

 

• Finish MLK Course  properly not the yes I got to the end to not have it all settled in my head kind of finish but the OMG there is light, there is camera there is action! I can do it!
• Share my journey
• Start the Fly mentoring by Angie Warren
• Share my journey
• Print my Joy of love book that I have only one story to go and I cannot find a pic anywhere for it so I might have to paint with words instead.
• share it in a slideshow
• Complete some self challenges and those from forums I visit. I need to do this for myself.
• blog at least once a week. I would like to do more but hey since my blogs are so neglected now once a week is a start.

 

 

phew ok that is enough soul searching and self whinging.

 

now for cheery stuff.

I made rainbows : and we ate them all up :)

 

Pancakes for breakfast…

and Tyler snowed his with sugar…

and then we made cookies (found them on pinterest  and followed it to good life eats blog – I modified the recipe to be gf by substituting the flours. all else was the same!

 

 

 

mm rainbows always make you smile!

 

Sunshine through the clouds…

 

I have finally been able to sit down and get ready to  blog some recent sessions today. We have had such a journey our family of late. We lost a family member in an exceptionally rapid illness and that had drawn my attention towards my children and husband for a time as well as being called away to Townsville for a couple of weeks. While it was a heart wrenching trip it was also a wonderful time to reconnect with family that we don't get to see very often and let our children play with their cousins – getting to know them a little bit more. I will admit that the 2 weeks of sunshine was difficult to leave coming home to our cold cold early winter! brr!

 

here are a few shots of out trip away reconnecting with one another after nearly a month apart. We were so pleased to be back together and a little bit of fun was in order for the 4 of us!

 

This was one of my boys absolutely favourite places to go. Totally free and it is this big water park on the Strand right on the beach. They could have spent hours and days there if we let them! The best thing was that the big bucket tipped over and totally flooded the area and like a tidal wave on their head!

 

There was of course beach play and sand castles built (see the stinger nets that surrounded the safe area – so glad they were there!)

And I love the look of palm trees at dusk. look on the ocean. love it.

 

And being the person (ahem photographer) I am I could not waste the opportunity to capture some portraits of my boys at the beach just having fun. I had a goal of not getting them wet.. but they are 4 and 6 do you think I succeeded……

 

of course not. But I love each and every image – they had so much fun and that to me is what it was all about. I captured my children as they are right now. they are funny and quirky and fast and silly and totally boys who love to get wet and dirty covered in sand (I swear we took home half the beach that night lol)

 

 

and we could not go away without a night out a good restaurant. desserts and prawns what can I say I was in heaven!

more later! ♥j

Saying goodbye

We have had such a journey over the last few weeks. From that awful day that we received the call to say that Darren’s Mum had been diagnosed with cancer. This was a journey that our family joined together to try and fight this awful thing. D went up to his mum when things turned worse – complicated by an unrelated illness that just made the fight a bit harder. Unfortunately the diagnosis came too late for treatment to be effective and we lost the battle. Today we had to say goodbye. It was one of the hardest days yet at the same time so heartening because throughout the service at the funeral home and the crematorium there was a feeling of joy there. My Brother – in –Law created a slideshow of Lyn’s life and as we sat and watched it listening to the joy and amazement in Tylers voice as he recognised the people in the photos that really celebrated who she was and how we all fitted into her life and family. the grief was there but also the joy of having known her and loved her. She will always be loved and missed.

we snapped a couple of family pics before the funeral

And I took some at the crematorium. As Lyn was in the RAAF the RSL was wonderful in having their padre conduct the services and her coffin was draped in the flag.

 

After all the services were completed we adjourned outside to release some balloons in Lyn’s favourite colours. The boys said later that we were sending Nanna the balloons so that she wouldn't be sick anymore up on her star and they will make her happy. 

bye Lyn, we love you.

 

♥j