photo-a-day | day ninety-three
Kate, Davo and the beautiful Isabelle came for a sleep-over today… and, as usual, when there is a baby around – Willow is not too far away!
photo-a-day | day ninety-two
Good Friday… and what better way to spend it than at the movies with friends… Alice in Wonderland in 3D… despite mixed reviews – we all loved it!!
front to rear – Inez, Charlotte, Willow, Xanthia, Zoe, Isabella, Darci and Jaimi.
photo-a-day | day eighty-nine
It's Willow again… this time with her eyes open and her thumb OUT of her mouth!…
photo-a-day | day eighty-seven
Willow is seven and a half years old now… and we are still working on getting that thumb out of her mouth!!
photo-a-day | day eighty-six
The Sydney Swans played their first game for season 2010 tonight… Jaimi likes to watch the games with her mascot 'Ciggy'… the look on her face should give you hint as to the result of the game :o(
photo-a-day | day eighty-two
Just my beautiful Xanthia tonight… I can always rely on her to turn on a smile for me.
here tis’… photo-a-day | day sixty-seven
Remember how I skipped this one because I couldn't edit the file on my poor old laptop? Well here it is… I hope it was worth waiting for!
This was the view from my room in Sydney… most of the time it just looked like a creepy, derelict old warehouse… but for just a little while, first thing in the morning, it looked magical…
photo-a-day | day eighty-one
Mmmmm…. cold Milo… is there anything better after a hard day at school?
photo-a-day | day eighty
My first full day home… and I hit the ground running! Darci, Xan and Willow's school had their fund-raising Carnival on today… Darci and Xan were singing in the choir; I had volunteered to man the 'Trash and Treasure' stall for a while; there were rides to go on, fairy floss to eat and concerts to watch… did I really complain about my quiet times in Sydney??
Here are Darci, Zoe and Xan on the 'Cyclone' with some friends…
l-r – Darci, Sherry, Zoe, Tysara, Xanthia and Nicki
Xan was keen to go back on again (and she did) but for Zoe and Darci – once was enough! Queasy tummy's all round – lol!
photo-a-day | day seventy-nine
I'm home… and it is a beautiful thing!… and just look what was waiting for me when I pulled up this evening…
… just how gorgeous are my girls? Oh how I have missed them!!
photo-a-day | day seventy-eight
Take a good look… this is the last time you will see my face for a very long time! I am over self-portraits and am happy to say that I will be home tomorrow and will have a plethora of OTHER things to photograph! I can't wait!
photo-a-day | day seventy-seven
Check it out!!… I am all packed up and ready, ready, ready to go home!! YAY!
photo-a-day | day seventy-six
Anyone sick of these self-portraits yet?… I know i am!
Today I am including a smiley shot… just to prove my point about the squinty eyes… see?… see what i mean?
As much as I have enjoyed this course I am doing in Sydney at the moment, I sure won't be sorry to see the back of this room! It is too quiet. Too empty. Too alone! Just two sleeps and I will be heading home for lots of cuddles! Yay!!
photo-a-day | day seventy-five
I finally had the opportunity (and the motivation) to lug my camera gear down to the beach today… well, to the rocks anyway (didn't want to get sand in my beautiful baby ie: the camera!)… I had the tripod and the remote control… but I also had some friends with me. I tried to take some photos of myself, but had the remote confiscated by Rachael… so, technically, this one was taken by her… but I'm claiming it for my photo-a-day anyway!
I captured a whole heap of fun shots of my friends also, so keep an eye out for those… they are well worth waiting for!!
photo-a-day | day seventy-four
Again no liquifying… and this time no skin smoothing either… but I covered it all by adding that kick-ass grain! lol!
photo-a-day | day seventy-three
This I am calling my 'self-portrait cop-out'… because technically it is a self-portrait… but I didn't actually have to show myself!
photo-a-day | day seventy-two
Another break from the self-portraits… for you and me!
Today, I thought I would share a snapshot of just where it is I am staying at the moment (and for just six more sleeps!! YAY!!)… it is the weekend, so the place is pretty deserted… just me and the gigantic cockroaches (geez they breed them big up here!!)… but don't worry… I am too busy screaming and running, to actually get a picture of one of those! Instead, I'll share a photo of the view outside my door (on the third floor)…
Creepy looking, isn't it… they could film a horror movie here!… maybe one about giant cockroaches? cue creepy music…
photo-a-day | day seventy-one
Another self-portrait… my most confronting to date… and once again I resisted the temptation to give it the 'magazine' treatment… but oh how I wanted to!!
Fun fact: in case you are wondering why I am not smiling in these photos – I have to confess… when I smile – my eyes disappear! Seriously. Squinted into oblivion!
photo-a-day | day seventy
A break from self-portraits today… to brag about the view from my office! The course I am currently doing in Sydney is being conducted in the down town CBD… and my desk faces out the window on the sixteenth floor… with a view like this, it's a wonder I'm getting any work done at all!!
photo-a-day | day sixty-nine
For yesterdays photo – my first self portrait – I resisted the, almost overwhelming, temptation to go to town with the photoshopping… like I said, self portraits can be quite confronting. Today, my resistance was much lower – so photoshop I did… and I like it!! It looks like me, 20 years ago… if only I could use the 'liquify' tool in real life! hehehe…
photo-a-day | day sixty-eight
Those observant young souls amongst you may have noticed that I skipped straight from day sixty-six to day sixty-eight… that is because the computer I am working on cannot read the RAW files that I took on day sixty-seven… never fear – the photo has been taken and i will add it here as soon as i return to my own trusty computer!
For now, you will just have to make do with day sixty-eight…
Being away from my family at the moment has meant that I have attempted some self-portraits… let me just share a little secret with you… self-portraits are HARD!! Not just in the setup, but in the composition, in the posing, in the triggering… and of course, in the stark reality of what you actually look like… it's HARD!
photo-a-day | day sixty-six
Ok… here I am to catch you all up on my photo-a-days… as promised – I have been taking them… and now is my opportunity to share them!
First, my trip to Sydney… what a disaster!!… well, not the whole trip… just the 16km of bumper to bumper traffic jam 10km north of Goulburn… it took me 2hours and 15 minutes to travel that 16km… TWO HOURS AND FIFTEEN MINUTES to travel SIXTEEN KILOMETRES!! The cause? An overturned truck full of UHT milk. This was the view from my car… forward and back (of course, I had plenty of time to take photos… I could have got out and walked faster!!)
m.i.a…
You may have noticed that I have missed the last couple of photo-a-days… NEVER FEAR – the photos ARE being taken… I am just away from home at the moment so editing and uploading is a bit tricky… I am in Sydney for a couple of weeks and will catch you all up as soon as I can!!
photo-a-day | day sixty-five
My new baby! Isn't he beautiful!!
The number plate has the letters XOU… Willow tell me this means 'Kiss, Hug, You'!… can't argue with that!!
photo-a-day | day sixty-four
School is out for the week… the girls had just arrived home off the bus… afternoon tea was underway while they watched 'Kung Fu Panda' which had just started on Austar.
They have all become so self-sufficient… I just sat there as they filed in… full of the days news… chatting, squealing, laughing… dropping bags and getting changed… making themselves a snack and settling in to watch the movie… I am so proud of the people they are becoming… and a little sad that they need me less and less every day.
photo-a-day | day sixty-three
How photogenic is my beautiful Zoe?… she is just stunning, right? There is no way I am biased on this one… I just make them gorgeous!
family fun and a disco…
Tonight Russ and I, along with Darci, Xanthia and Willow attended a Family Fun Night at the their school… the 'family fun' was followed by a disco for Xan and Willow with a 'fairy tale' theme… and a social for Darci with a 'horror' theme… fun, fun, fun!
photo-a-day | day sixty-one
We picked up Darci's new glasses today… how cool are they?!!
photo-a-day | day fifty-nine
We attended a Family Day, run free-of-charge, in our little community today… the kids had a ball! There were jumping castles, and a merry-go-round, and a sausage sizzle, and fairy floss, and snow cones, and, of course, the awesome face-painters…
photo-a-day | day fifty-eight
Jaimi… I love it when I can capture her natural smile like this!
photo-a-day | day fifty-seven
Darci and Zoe… off to the shops to buy snacks for the movies… they went to see 'Sherlock Holmes' and 'Dorian Gray' tonight…
photo-a-day | day fifty-six
I was told to bring my camera outside… and this is what I found!
But don't worry… it was almost 6 o'clock at night… and they had sunscreen on! lol!
photo-a-day | day fifty-five
Willow was supposed to be cleaning her room… but how could I be angry at a face like that?
photo-a-day | day fifty-three
It had to happen… and I guess I should be grateful that I made it to day fifty-three before it did… the anti-paparazzi-pose… talk to the hand!
photo-a-day | day fifty-one
GUY NIGHT!! It's GUY NIGHT… I bought tickets for this concert back in October last year… and have been counting down the day since!
I booked Russ and I into The Langham in Melbourne… just walking distance to The Arts Centre where Guy Sebastian was playing… we had an amazing weekend topped off by an AWESOME concert!
photo-a-day | day fifty
What can I say… she is gorgeous; she is adorable; she is cute and funny and cuddly… she is perfect.
photo-a-day | day forty-nine
This is one of Xanthia's favourite books… 'The Princess Handbook'… now, I won't say that Xan needs all the help she can get in this area… but, well, you know…
photo-a-day | day forty-eight
My eldest daughter, Jaimi… she is Autistic; she is Intellectually Disabled; and she has Hypothyroidism.
She is currently doing a modified, year 12 equivalent and turns 18 in a couple of months… today she won her First. Ever Ribbon!
FIRST place in the cross-pool run at her school Swimming Carnival! We are so proud!!… and so is she!
photo-a-day | day forty-seven
Clone. Replica. Copy. Twin. Double. Doppelganger. Facsimile. Duplicate.
She's mine.