Day 182 - Feet

Today we had a typical Saturday - a morning filled with Swimming lessons and having fun around the house before spending some time with friends this afternoon. We took lots of photos today, But I just love the carefree feet in the air, I can remember the moment. The girls were sitting on their beds cuddling and being cute until they decided it would be fun to cuddle and pull the other one over. Then they were in hysterics - so cute to hear their little giggles together - while they were trying to get themselves back up before doing it all over again.

Definitely one of the cutest parts of the day.

Day 181 - Soft

Sue knitted me this beautiful scarf from Alpaca wool we bought at the Quilt and Craft fair last year. I haven't worn it until now because it is just so beautiful. It is as the day describes as soft and very warm. I just love it. I wonder if they'll be at the fair this year - I wonder if Sue will make me some more... I hope so!

Day 180 - On the shelf

It's Winter. I love to have a wide variety of warm drinks to keep me nice and warm. Tea and hot chocolate are my hot drinks of choice. Nerida and Andrew bought me the Lindsay and Edmunds Chocolate Stirrers - I have yet to try them, not because I don't want to, but because I don't want to have to share it with anyone!

To inject a little inspiration into my blog this month, I have decided to play along with the challenge presented on Fat Mum Slim's blog (www.fatmumslim.com.au) and for today the theme was Day 28 - On the Shelf

Day 179 - Beautiful Trees

Today was a day of industrial action for teachers in NSW - we were opposing a government initiative called Local Schools, Local Decisions. For more information about what the teachers are fighting for click www.nswtf.org.au.

After attending the stop work meeting, we went to the Australian War Memorial for lunch. While there I noticed some of the beautiful trees still had their Autumn coloured leaves on. They were such a beautiful collection of trees, I must remember to take the girls out to take some family snap shots here.

Day 178 - Where I shop

Anyone who knows me would know that I have a very big accessory collection - in particular wallets and handbags. Whenever I venture past Kate Hill I have to have a look inside, and often wander out with a new handbag or wallet. I haven't started using this wallet, it is brand new and quite beautiful. If you like handbags or wallets I do highly recommend Kate Hill.



To inject a little inspiration into my blog this month, I have decided to play along with the challenge presented on Fat Mum Slim's blog (www.fatmumslim.com.au) and for today the theme was Day 26- Where I Shop

Day 177 - Something Cute

All the girls have wanted to do this week was to have their finger and toe nails painted. When I came home from work today, Ava proudly showed me her beautiful pink fingernails. She is just too cute - she was so excited to show me as soon as I walked in the door.

To inject a little inspiration into my blog this month, I have decided to play along with the challenge presented on Fat Mum Slim's blog (www.fatmumslim.com.au) and for today the theme was Day 25- Something Cute

Day 176 - On My Mind

What's on my mind? Warmer weather, the beach, holidays... did I mention warmer weather?

To inject a little inspiration into my blog this month, I have decided to play along with the challenge presented on Fat Mum Slim's blog (www.fatmumslim.com.au) and for today the theme was Day 24- On My Mind

Day 175 - Faces

I was given a lesson from Olivia in how to draw a face.

Two eyes, a nose and a big smiley face. I just need to teach her to use a variety of colours - not so much green might be good.

Day 174 - Fun with Leila

Today we went for a play with Monique and Leila. The girls love going to visit, not only because they get to see and play with them both, but they get to read Leila's books. As soon as I tell them that is where we are going the first thing they say is 'I will go and get the books myself' of course honey you can.

Thank you Monique and Leila for a play date - it was lovely to spend time with you both today.

Day 173 - Where I slept

Today's topic for the Photo a Day was 'Where I Slept'. Well it certainly wasn't anywhere fancy, but I do love my bed. I prefer not to share it but sometimes, those extra bodies do add extra warmth. This is one of my favourite covers too - it is black and white with gorgeous flowers all over it.

To inject a little inspiration into my blog this month, I have decided to play along with the challenge presented on Fat Mum Slim's blog (www.fatmumslim.com.au) and for today the theme was Day 21- Where I slept

Day 172 - Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

Today's theme for the Photo a Day list was 'Favourite Photo Ever Taken' - well with an amazing amount of photos I have taken - in particular since the girls were born, how could I choose just 1 image. Each photograph recorded a moment in time that when viewed sparks an emotive memory. It has made me realise that I must really organise my photos into a workable order.

To inject a little inspiration into my blog this month, I have decided to play along with the challenge presented on Fat Mum Slim's blog (www.fatmumslim.com.au) and for today the theme was Day 20 - Favourite Photo Ever Taken

Day 171 - Model perfection

Belinda and I have been attempting to take some photos while we are at work. We are finding that by the time we get home from work the natural light isn't that good for photos. So today, we lined up Katie to model for us so that we could both shoot at the same time. Katie was the perfect model. I just love this photo and the colours the sun brings out in her hair.

Thank you Katie for giving us great material to work with.

Day 170 - I expect to see this look for a long time coming

While practising some manual camera settings on my camera tonight with Ava, I captured this beautiful look. I just love it - even though it is a complete look of disbelief and pleading all rolled into one and I expect that I will be seeing this face a lot. This beautiful image using the rule of thirds captures my Ava perfectly.

Day 169 - Practice

On a very chilly day, we took the girls out to the lake for a play. I thought this would be a great time to get some practice in with my manual settings. Here is just one of the photos I took today of Olivia. It is not often she happily smiles for the camera, but surprisingly even in the cold wind, she did.

Day 168 - Love My Camera!

Today Belinda and I went to a workshop on how to use your DSLR camera in manual mode. The workshop was given by Angie Baxter - who owns a photography business in Melbourne (click here and here for more information) She was simply a wealth of information.

On a freezing Canberra day, we headed down to Lanyon Homestead to take part in this workshop and leave the auto settings on our camera on the road behind us. We knew it was going to be a great day when we came across cows on the road - thankfully they moved with a little horn tooting. It was great to have such a hands on experience to get used to the camera and how it works.

Rubber Duckie here was our first subject of the day and he was a great model, didn't blink nor move. I look forward to manual shooting more often now I am a little more confident. I can't wait to get more practice.

Day 167 - Cubby house fun

Today we built a cubby house between chairs with a sheet to play in. It brought back lots of memories for me as we often had little cubby houses built with blankets and chairs to play in. The girls had a wonderful time playing together, singing and playing peek a boo. I just love the simple things that keep the girls entertained.

Day 166 - Time

Time during the school term seems to go really fast. Especially the time between when I get home and when my body is telling me that it is bedtime. I never really have enough time, holidays are not far away so hopefully i'll have more time on my hands then.

To inject a little inspiration into my blog this month, I have decided to play along with the challenge presented on Fat Mum Slim's blog (www.fatmumslim.com.au) and for today the theme was Day 14 - Time

Day 165 - Red Handed

Tonight we got out the paint pads for the girls to do a little bit of fun painting. They usually start by dipping their hand into the paint and creating their handprints - a simple activity but keeps them entertained for ages! Tonight I made them start with just their fingertips but as you can see I caught Ava red handed with her whole hand into the paint!

Day 164 - Cooper

Today I went over for a sneaky visit with Sarah and Cooper. I was lucky enough to drop by at feeding time and today he was having some pears and I was lucky enough to feed Cooper. He is just such an adorable baby boy, I can't believe how quick time has flown and he is having solids already!

Thanks Sarah and Cooper for letting me come visit and have a play.

Day 163 - Daisy the Cow

Daisy the cow was a bop along buddy birthday present from Monique, Russell and Leila. The girls had a wonderful time boping around the house with their very cool purple cows. Thanks for one awesome present!

Day 162 - Leila's Baptism

Today we celebrated Leila's Baptism. I was lucky enough to photograph some of the days proceedings. It was a beautiful day to get together with family and celebrate such a beautiful occasion. Leila looked absolutely beautiful in her gorgeous white gown and was certainly full of smiles throughout the day.

I took lots of photos today, but I just love the wet smiley face in this photo. Too cute!

Day 161 - A double

Tonight we celebrated a double 30th birthday or is that a 60th birthday. Jodi and Brett had a joint 30th birthday party and we were lucky enough to get to celebrate with them. It was a lovely night, obviously a little tiring for Brett who could hardly keep his eyes open for a photo!

Happy birthday Stubbs! Hope you both had a memorable evening... or unmemorable if it was a really good one!

Day 160 - A beautiful moment in an unlikely place

Today while waiting at the Doctor's Surgery, I captured what I think is a beautiful moment in time. The girls found pencils and a colouring book while we waited to see the specialist. They both chose a page and coloured in happily together. I just love the look of concentration on their faces and even more so I love the similarities in their faces - I always say that they look nothing alike, but as you can see from today's photo they are really quite alike.

Day 159 - Leaves are fun

Walking up the hill from daycare in the afternoons, we often stop to have a look at the leaves which have fallen from the trees, flowers that smell pretty, or to stop and say hello to Ruby who is the neighbour's dog.

Today we stopped for a little while to pick up and throw around the leaves, unfortunately the neighbour had swept up the leaves so there were not as many to throw around. I hope that we have warmer weather this weekend, because we haven't been as busy as our neighbours and have leaves all over our backyard.

Day 158 - Photo Proof!

Today we received the email with photographic proof that we purchased our beautiful lot of land at Googong. When one of the ladies asked Olivia if she knew what we had bought, her response was 'Dirt'. Funnily enough we hadn't even talked to the girls about what we were buying! It was a timely response on her behalf.

I can't wait to start building already.

Day 157 - Pyjama Day

Today was pyjama day at daycare today. The girls were very excited to head down the road in their brand new pyjamas from the Haddock family, dressing gown and slippers. It was even nicer to see them so happy and cuddly in the morning before school. Glad I got this picture when I did, it might not have happened after I picked them up!

Day 156 - A Warm Cup of Tea

One of the best thing on a freezing cold afternoon is to come home and enjoy a nice warm cup of tea. It is even nicer to share it with Olivia and Ava. We enjoyed our tea while watching Play School this afternoon. I can see this is going to become a regular tradition for us throughout Winter.

Day 155 - Bracelets - You Can Never Have Too Many

Today was a very casual day spent at home. The girls pottered around the house for a while. They both have a fascination with jewellery. Today they seemed to have all their bracelets on at once - if only their arms were long enough to fit them all comfortably. Nevertheless it made for a very colourful photo.

Day 154 - Happy Birthday Patrick

Today we had a very exciting day planned for many reasons. Firstly we got to help celebrate Patrick's 3rd birthday. It is amazing how quickly 3 years has passed. Soon they'll be starting school.

Following Patrick's birthday celebrations, we headed out to put a deposit on land out at Googong. We came home and celebrated with some baby chino's and I enjoyed some wine with dinner. I cannot wait to start planning our new home. Hopefully the time passes very quickly.

Day 153 - Friday Face Painting Fun

Today was Queanbeyan West Public School's Annual Fete. We decided to go up and have a look around. Of course while we were there, Ava got her face painted. When one of the girls asked her what she wanted she replied confidently 'a pink tiger.' So here is my pink tiger enjoying an afternoon at the fete.