Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Lost....
If you're wondering where I am...or why I haven't posted...please see last post...I'm LOST in a world of books...I think I may have read 10-12 novels in the last two weeks...ok so I am starting to see that maybe I need to work on...balance? ...so...um...here is my effort!
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Rainman????
My husband has a nickname for me...it's 'Rainman'...not Raingirl or Rainchic but Rainman...basically he thinks I'm a freak of nature...simply because I read...FAST! (in my head anyway).
Since I've been married I've found that I don't read alot of novels and if I do they are usually ones that I have read before...like works from Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, C.S Lewis or L.M.Montgomery. I found once I had kids I read books that I would learn something new from...I love learning something new... it was also because I know what I'm like when I read a novel...I have to keep reading...I need to know what happens...it's a yearning that's so strong that it takes me into the wee hours of the morning till I gain the satisfaction that comes from knowing the way it ends. Having to get up to children and feed them in the morning - basically getting up before 11am after a night like this doesn't necessarily produce the best in my 'mothering capabilities'. So I stopped reading new novels and stuck to the ones that I had read before and already knew the ending...it was safer that way.
And of course the staying up to the wee hours of the morning to read is FREAKISH behaviour for my husband...
1. He doesn't understand how I can read a whole 630 ish page novel in a 1 day...and
2. He doesn't understand how and why I just HAVE to know how it ends...like NOW!
So in the interest of helping him to understand his 'freak of a wife' I asked him how annoyed he would be if every 10 minutes or so into a movie he paused it and then went and did something else and left it for a few days/week before he actually got to watch the end of the movie...and IF he did would he enjoy it as much as sitting right through it??? Needless to say he got my point... (I still wouldn't mind trying it out on him sometime I think it would be quite entertaining to watch him wandering around aimlessly, looking lost and unable to cope as I do when I have to put my book down...)
So earlier this year I was feeling like I wanted some 'light' reading...something that I wouldn't necessarily have to read with the pressure of focusing and learning about what I was reading...something else...and I ventured to think to myself... Can I handle it??? Will I be ill-tempered at the kids the following day because I stayed up late reading? Will I still be able to cope putting dinner on the table, getting homework done and putting the kids to bed??? It was a big decision...It had literally been years since I had allowed myself the freedom...so I tried a short novel by Janet Evanovich. I enjoyed it. I stayed up late. I was extra mindful of being patient with the kids the following day...and I was genuinely surprised at myself that I was coping with the 'short-term' effects of reading a novel late into the night!
Now there was a series that I had been wanting to read...since the first book was released...I had had HEAPS friends in the States tell me I needed to read it...one of the girls I served my mission with knows the author...I kept putting it off...thinking I don't know if I can cope with reading an actual 'series'...the effects on our 'normal' family life will be MUCH MUCH worse than just a novel!
My friend that visited about a month ago from the States sparked the desire to read that particular series again... So I caved...and decided I'd read the first and I would pace myself over the rest of the series...I could do it...really I could...
I think I have officially crossed the line...I have become a TWILIGHTER!!!....
Since I've been married I've found that I don't read alot of novels and if I do they are usually ones that I have read before...like works from Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, C.S Lewis or L.M.Montgomery. I found once I had kids I read books that I would learn something new from...I love learning something new... it was also because I know what I'm like when I read a novel...I have to keep reading...I need to know what happens...it's a yearning that's so strong that it takes me into the wee hours of the morning till I gain the satisfaction that comes from knowing the way it ends. Having to get up to children and feed them in the morning - basically getting up before 11am after a night like this doesn't necessarily produce the best in my 'mothering capabilities'. So I stopped reading new novels and stuck to the ones that I had read before and already knew the ending...it was safer that way.
And of course the staying up to the wee hours of the morning to read is FREAKISH behaviour for my husband...
1. He doesn't understand how I can read a whole 630 ish page novel in a 1 day...and
2. He doesn't understand how and why I just HAVE to know how it ends...like NOW!
So in the interest of helping him to understand his 'freak of a wife' I asked him how annoyed he would be if every 10 minutes or so into a movie he paused it and then went and did something else and left it for a few days/week before he actually got to watch the end of the movie...and IF he did would he enjoy it as much as sitting right through it??? Needless to say he got my point... (I still wouldn't mind trying it out on him sometime I think it would be quite entertaining to watch him wandering around aimlessly, looking lost and unable to cope as I do when I have to put my book down...)
So earlier this year I was feeling like I wanted some 'light' reading...something that I wouldn't necessarily have to read with the pressure of focusing and learning about what I was reading...something else...and I ventured to think to myself... Can I handle it??? Will I be ill-tempered at the kids the following day because I stayed up late reading? Will I still be able to cope putting dinner on the table, getting homework done and putting the kids to bed??? It was a big decision...It had literally been years since I had allowed myself the freedom...so I tried a short novel by Janet Evanovich. I enjoyed it. I stayed up late. I was extra mindful of being patient with the kids the following day...and I was genuinely surprised at myself that I was coping with the 'short-term' effects of reading a novel late into the night!
Now there was a series that I had been wanting to read...since the first book was released...I had had HEAPS friends in the States tell me I needed to read it...one of the girls I served my mission with knows the author...I kept putting it off...thinking I don't know if I can cope with reading an actual 'series'...the effects on our 'normal' family life will be MUCH MUCH worse than just a novel!
My friend that visited about a month ago from the States sparked the desire to read that particular series again... So I caved...and decided I'd read the first and I would pace myself over the rest of the series...I could do it...really I could...
I think I have officially crossed the line...I have become a TWILIGHTER!!!....
I had finished this one by Saturday night...
So much for the self-control!!!!
I'm happy to report that I just read 3 novels in the course of the weekend - that's 3 LATE nights and I was still able to get dinner on the table, housework done, play outside with the kids...AND finish and thorougly enjoy my series!
The funniest part of this was that my husband was getting slightly confused because one minute he thought it looked like I was at the end of my novel and the next minute I was only at the beginning - I guess he was trying to judge when he'd have his wife back - I left him in the dark until I was getting toward the end of the last one and then told him that this was the 3rd one...he promptly decided to remind me that I was a FREAK. I didn't mind in the slightest!
But he was also somewhat curious about the book since he has tried to get me to sit down and watch 'scary' movies so that I'll cling to him for dear life...I HATE scary movies or horror movies...so for me to be reading a VAMPIRE novel quite intrigued him...I think 'TWILIGHT' the movie will be officially the first maybe 'scary' movie that I will see with him...but since I know the ending it might not have quite the same effect as he is hoping!
The saddest part about all of this is that I'm wishing I had not caved in quite so soon...because now I have to wait till August 2nd before the final book BREAKING DAWN is released!!! The agony is acute!
AAAANNNNDDDD I have to wait till December the 12th before the movies TWILIGHT is released...!!!!
Can I live through that kind of torture???
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
Hiding...
In case you're having a hard time imagining what it's like to find a grown man hiding...(see last post)
Monday, 12 May 2008
7 Years...
___
It's was actually 7 years yesterday...but I was busy yesterday with it being our Wedding Anniversary AND Mother's Day...yeah...I know I didn't think that one out too well...:) - (by the way it's extremely hard writing on your left hand when you're left-handed...)
___
___
...He worked all weekend....
...gasp..
___
OH PLEASE!!!
___
Really we have the whole of ..oh.. I don't know ETERNITYtogether - and even with working he still managed breakfast in bed and a 3 course dinner for Mother's Day...so he still did a pretty decent job of it!
___
And as for the Wedding Anniversary...we can just celebrate that one ALL week!...Now I realise that many of you don't know the MAN and even those that do, have the general impression that he is quiet and reserved (and yes he is)...and I totally make up for this because I'm so loud and obnoxious...but he also has a cheeky and mischevious side (which I might add has ALWAYS been there) and over the last 7 yrs this has started to become more obvious and my loud obnoxious ways are slowly being tamed...we're good for each other that way...
He's my favourite husband EVER!
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He gets lots of these...but you don't really need to know that.
___
So for any of you out there that have believed all these years that the MAN is quiet & reserved...let me give you an idea into what he's really like at home:
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It's called CHILDREN!
___
They tend to show off the worst and the best of us...and sometimes you're just not sure which it is...for eg take Primary Presentations of any kind at church...Jake's first Primary Presentation he had one line to say...oh and did he SAY it!!! In fact he yelled it into the microphone giving all the elderly in the congregation near heartattacks...while the adults mainly tried to compose themselves and the children cracked up laughing...(My dad, Mike and I?? we hid down the back cracking up laughing too...it was kinda funny you know). Or running around the hall with his elastic tye around his HEAD instead of his neck, shirt off, claiming he is a 'stripping warrior' (his favourite book).
He's my favourite son.
___
And then there is Layne our almost 4yr old - yesterday during the Mother's Day song presentation...not particularly happy about being made to stand up and sing some lame old song...hung over the edge of the pulpit area looking bored out of her brains for the most part and then decided to grace us with a 'spiced' up version of the song by playing the drums on the pulpit area in front of her, while staring out at the congregation DARING anyone to try to make her stop!
She's my favourite daughter.
___
___
The children tend to HIDE when they are fully aware they have done something wrong and they hear me coming and know they will be found out at any minute...the MAN has also been known to hide with them! - (you try remaining serious with absolutely no hint of a smile passing your lips when you have a grown man hiding with two children claiming he is innocent!)
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Or try remaining serious when the MAN does something like this to his daughter while she's sleeping, even though you have already bathed her!
They're all my favourites!
My heart...
J. got this at his Mother's Day stall at school on Friday...he was so excited. He couldn't stop telling all the other parents that he got a heart for mum. :)
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Memory Lane...
We took the kids apple picking on the weekend...
I love orchards...I used to live on one....
It's times like this that remind me of growing up...I lived with my Grandparents until I was 10 yrs old....in an old weatherbooard house with a huge verandah...with an apple orchard out the back and my cousins living up the back in another house. I have only a few memories at that house as we moved into town about the time I started school.
I remember not having a TV...in fact we didn't have one until I was 10 - and even then it was a tiny black & white one...
Lesson Learnt - If you don't have an apple orchard as a backyard...then get a TV...
I remember telling my sister, Alison, that the electric fence wasn't on and it was ok for her to pat the cow...and then peeing my pants laughing when she got an electric shock...to this day I still feel that temptation when I'm at my dad's place with my own kids...but I restrain myself...or have so far...
Lesson learnt - Simple - don't listen to a word I say!
I remember always thinking that my sister Alison had a cow lick in her fringe because our cow a licked her in that exact spot...hmm...
Lesson Learnt - don't let a cow lick you...you're hair will never be the same again.
I remember thinking that I caught the chicken pox from my older sister, Ember because I touched her 'contaminated' pencil case
Lesson Learnt - Don't touch your sister's stuff or you'll get germs!
I remember while my sisters and I had the chicken pox my Grandma bathing us and towel drying us on the open verandah and my sisters and I standing there NAKED as one of my older male cousins walked by and waved to us...OH THE SHAME!!! I remember feeling embarrassed - not sure if I showed it...but the feeling was ACUTE!...mind you I must have only been about 4 (as I hadn't started school yet)...which in itself is strange to me since my almost 4 yr old girl has NO SHAME in running around naked!
Lesson learnt - just don't stand on the verandah naked, the ending is never good...I don't care how old you are!
I also remember watching my two cousins chopping wood, wearing thongs (aka: flip flops for all you americans/canadians) and one of them chopping the other one's big toe off...yeah...nice memory -thanks for that Steve & Craig! I just stood by watching as I think my sister Ember washed the bloody thong...I don't really remember being that distraught...just thinking...I wonder if he will be able to wear thongs again??...
Lesson learnt -don't chop wood wearing thongs...not that I chop wood anymore...I live in the city...but if I had to...I still couldn't do it without thinking about Craig's toe...or was it Steve's toe???
And lets not forget my cousin Ashley talking me into going for a walk down to the river (without permission I might add...because why would you ask when you know they'll say NO right?)...We took the shortcut...meaning straight down..rock faces and trees (NOT merrily walking down the nicely grated road - because that would be just too logical now wouldn't it)...in the middle of summer...when all the lovely venomous red belly black snakes are out and about...and of course coming across one...we didn't really see it until we were quite close and by that time it was already in striking position...it went for my cousin and he made a dive for it...right down and over the rock face - me....I just stood there watching the snake slither off into the bush all the while thinking that Ashley was surely, seriously hurt on the rocks below...but Ashley was a man...at the ripe old age of 7 or whatever he was... He soon climbed back up the rock face...(because I certainly wasn't coming to get him...I was standing in that exact spot...I wasn't moving...I was going to pretend to be a tree because somehow that would fix everything!)
After he finished describing to me what happened - at the time I thought he must have thought I was like his blind cousin or something, but now, with the wisdom of age, I know it's just something a man feels a need to do even if you were RIGHT THERE! - he then, in all his wisdom, told me we should probably head back to the house for dinner....but deep down inside I knew he was SCARED OUT OF HIS PANTS!!!
Lesson learnt -Don't let Ashley talk you into anything!
I love orchards...I used to live on one....
It's times like this that remind me of growing up...I lived with my Grandparents until I was 10 yrs old....in an old weatherbooard house with a huge verandah...with an apple orchard out the back and my cousins living up the back in another house. I have only a few memories at that house as we moved into town about the time I started school.
I remember not having a TV...in fact we didn't have one until I was 10 - and even then it was a tiny black & white one...
Lesson Learnt - If you don't have an apple orchard as a backyard...then get a TV...
I remember telling my sister, Alison, that the electric fence wasn't on and it was ok for her to pat the cow...and then peeing my pants laughing when she got an electric shock...to this day I still feel that temptation when I'm at my dad's place with my own kids...but I restrain myself...or have so far...
Lesson learnt - Simple - don't listen to a word I say!
I remember always thinking that my sister Alison had a cow lick in her fringe because our cow a licked her in that exact spot...hmm...
Lesson Learnt - don't let a cow lick you...you're hair will never be the same again.
I remember thinking that I caught the chicken pox from my older sister, Ember because I touched her 'contaminated' pencil case
Lesson Learnt - Don't touch your sister's stuff or you'll get germs!
I remember while my sisters and I had the chicken pox my Grandma bathing us and towel drying us on the open verandah and my sisters and I standing there NAKED as one of my older male cousins walked by and waved to us...OH THE SHAME!!! I remember feeling embarrassed - not sure if I showed it...but the feeling was ACUTE!...mind you I must have only been about 4 (as I hadn't started school yet)...which in itself is strange to me since my almost 4 yr old girl has NO SHAME in running around naked!
Lesson learnt - just don't stand on the verandah naked, the ending is never good...I don't care how old you are!
I also remember watching my two cousins chopping wood, wearing thongs (aka: flip flops for all you americans/canadians) and one of them chopping the other one's big toe off...yeah...nice memory -thanks for that Steve & Craig! I just stood by watching as I think my sister Ember washed the bloody thong...I don't really remember being that distraught...just thinking...I wonder if he will be able to wear thongs again??...
Lesson learnt -don't chop wood wearing thongs...not that I chop wood anymore...I live in the city...but if I had to...I still couldn't do it without thinking about Craig's toe...or was it Steve's toe???
And lets not forget my cousin Ashley talking me into going for a walk down to the river (without permission I might add...because why would you ask when you know they'll say NO right?)...We took the shortcut...meaning straight down..rock faces and trees (NOT merrily walking down the nicely grated road - because that would be just too logical now wouldn't it)...in the middle of summer...when all the lovely venomous red belly black snakes are out and about...and of course coming across one...we didn't really see it until we were quite close and by that time it was already in striking position...it went for my cousin and he made a dive for it...right down and over the rock face - me....I just stood there watching the snake slither off into the bush all the while thinking that Ashley was surely, seriously hurt on the rocks below...but Ashley was a man...at the ripe old age of 7 or whatever he was... He soon climbed back up the rock face...(because I certainly wasn't coming to get him...I was standing in that exact spot...I wasn't moving...I was going to pretend to be a tree because somehow that would fix everything!)
After he finished describing to me what happened - at the time I thought he must have thought I was like his blind cousin or something, but now, with the wisdom of age, I know it's just something a man feels a need to do even if you were RIGHT THERE! - he then, in all his wisdom, told me we should probably head back to the house for dinner....but deep down inside I knew he was SCARED OUT OF HIS PANTS!!!
Lesson learnt -Don't let Ashley talk you into anything!
Love them...
These two are just so just so cheeky...and so much fun, I love it...
f2.0, 1/750, ISO 400, 50mm lens
f5.6, 1/80, ISO 400, 18-55mm
It's helps with this one to have a relatively fast shutter speed available on your camera...seriously...she never stops moving!
Monday, 28 April 2008
I'm thinking it's all in the genes...
I'd like to say that it's just my kids...
But that would be a lie now wouldn't it?...
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
A little peek...
Let me give you a little peek into what it's like in our house when friends come to stay with us...we often have friends and family come and stay with us...like at least once a month...and we love it...we often get comments like: 'Didn't you just have people staying with you?'...or...'Do you ever get tired of having people stay so often?'...The answer is always...NO!...I mean, really, how could anyone tire of having someone else for the kids to climb & jump all over? :)
Let me introduce you to our guests:
This is Jeanney & Matt...
Jeanney & I were mission companions in Idaho (yes I did serve my mission for the LDS church on Temple Square in Salt Lake but I was sent to Idaho Pocatello Mission for 3mths as part of that). Jeanney was known in our mission as the 'Deer Slayer' simply because she...well...she ran into a deer...and nearly wrote the car off...so I was known as 'the Deer Slayer's companion'... anyway she loved being companions with an Australian soooo much that she decided to up and MARRY one...which suits me just fine...because that means she visits downunder every couple of years and I get to see her much more often than any of my other comps.
So Jeanney got to know my kids this visit...she left her two daughters with her mother-in-law in Brisbane for a few days...she was missing her kids...so I let mine climb all over her...just so she didn't miss her own too much...you know because I ALWAYS think of others feelings before my own....ALWAYS!
Jeanney even gave her some flying lessons...
My son, being the clown of the family and having the unique ability to make things that are NOT funny, FUNNY, decided this would be his new trick...
and then he thought better of it and decided to use them in a more appropriate manner...
...and he still found it funny...
...well I must say Matt...the snotty tissue was definitely worth it...
Let me introduce you to our guests:
This is Jeanney & Matt...
Jeanney & I were mission companions in Idaho (yes I did serve my mission for the LDS church on Temple Square in Salt Lake but I was sent to Idaho Pocatello Mission for 3mths as part of that). Jeanney was known in our mission as the 'Deer Slayer' simply because she...well...she ran into a deer...and nearly wrote the car off...so I was known as 'the Deer Slayer's companion'... anyway she loved being companions with an Australian soooo much that she decided to up and MARRY one...which suits me just fine...because that means she visits downunder every couple of years and I get to see her much more often than any of my other comps.
So Jeanney got to know my kids this visit...she left her two daughters with her mother-in-law in Brisbane for a few days...she was missing her kids...so I let mine climb all over her...just so she didn't miss her own too much...you know because I ALWAYS think of others feelings before my own....ALWAYS!
Jeanney even gave her some flying lessons...
My son, being the clown of the family and having the unique ability to make things that are NOT funny, FUNNY, decided this would be his new trick...
and then he thought better of it and decided to use them in a more appropriate manner...
...and he still found it funny...
What??? MY GUESTS throwing snotty tissues at me??? what did I ever do to deserve that????
...well I must say Matt...the snotty tissue was definitely worth it...
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Been Busy...
We've had people staying with us the last fortnight...so I've been busy enjoying the company, catching up and taking advantage of having my friends visit...and by that I mean...new subjects to photograph! 
So last week my friend from QLD stayed and I caught her boys in action...doing only what boys can do!...
We had fun with Aleigha, her daughter...my camera ADORED her!
My kids get soooo excited when people come to visit...they especially love sleep overs - they tell me where everyone can sleep and who is sleeping in their room etc...sometimes their 'carefully' planned sleeping arrangements aren't always the best plan for actually SLEEPING!!!...so there are often some minor adjustments to their sleeping arrangements!
If it's not one child...it's the other...
Another black eye...and a bit of blood...
this is the damage a Nintendo Wii controller can do when her brother is totally engrossed in his game and she steps just a little too close!
this is the damage a Nintendo Wii controller can do when her brother is totally engrossed in his game and she steps just a little too close!
Tuesday, 8 April 2008
Just because...
...that's what my little girl says at the end of most of her sentences...because....it is or because...that's why...I love it, it makes me laugh...and that has absolutely nothing to do with these photos...which are of my friends little girl...
50mm f1.8, f/1.8, 1/8000, 400iso
I'm just blogging...not because I really have anything to say but because we're getting our ducted air/con in today and I'm hiding out in the study with gyprock falling down ontop of me...so I thought I'd post a few photo's...I have been taking alot for friends lately...(I like to say 'friends'...my husband likes to call them 'clients' because he's a professional you know and I'm just a housewife and all...we like it that way)...
50mm f1.8, f/1.8, 1/6000, 250iso
50mm f1.8, f/1.8, 1/1250, 250iso
50mm f1.8, f/1.8, 1/8000, 400iso
I'm just blogging...not because I really have anything to say but because we're getting our ducted air/con in today and I'm hiding out in the study with gyprock falling down ontop of me...so I thought I'd post a few photo's...I have been taking alot for friends lately...(I like to say 'friends'...my husband likes to call them 'clients' because he's a professional you know and I'm just a housewife and all...we like it that way)...
50mm f1.8, f/1.8, 1/6000, 250iso
50mm f1.8, f/1.8, 1/1250, 250iso
Thursday, 27 March 2008
She loves...
to paint!!!....
50mm, f5.6, 1/30, ISO 500 .............................................. 50mm, f5.6, 1/30, ISO 500
in fact she loves to do anything that mummy is doing...as long as she can do it all by HERSELF!
.......................................... 50 mm, f5.6, 1/30, ISO 500,
...which is a slight problem if I'm using my sewing machine!
...which is a slight problem if I'm using my sewing machine!
Harmony Day...at Easter time...
Has anybody heard of Harmony day??? Well I hadn't until this year...apparently the 21st March is Harmony day and the colour is orange...harmony day is supposed to be about friendship and forgiveness...which I thought was really great for the kids especially with Easter being earlier than usual this year...since the 21st of March was Good Friday this year J's school celebrated Easter and Harmony Day on Thursday before school let out. As part of this celebration they had to work in teams and complete a project..the teams consisted of all ages/grades at the school and then the teams had to get up and present them in assembly and talk about the friendships they made and what inspired them to do the project they completed...it was a great start to easter...although I admit...I was a little swamped with the fact that we had New Beginnings night for YW's on Thursday and I was still trying to complete everything for that the night before when I realised I hadn't made J's hat for the parade yet!! ...so we combined a bit of easter and a bit of harmony day and made orange chicken hat!
f1.8, 1/2000, ISO 320, 50mm ............................................... f5.6, 1/13, ISO320, 50mm
He was soooooooo excited!
f5.6, 1/60, ISO 320, 50-200mm
...and yes just in case you're wondering...they ARE false eyelashes...the funniest part....with me being completely swamped with things to do I asked my brother-in-law, G. to go and buy them for me...AND HE DID!!!
(thanks Glenda!)
f1.8, 1/2000, ISO 320, 50mm ............................................... f5.6, 1/13, ISO320, 50mm
He was soooooooo excited!
f5.6, 1/60, ISO 320, 50-200mm
...and yes just in case you're wondering...they ARE false eyelashes...the funniest part....with me being completely swamped with things to do I asked my brother-in-law, G. to go and buy them for me...AND HE DID!!!
(thanks Glenda!)
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