Category Archives: P365

Project 365

SUPERBOWL? – FEBRUARY 1ST 2009

We were invited to a Superbowl party at our neighbour’s house. Kei went right when the game started but I had to wait for the kids to wake up from nap and made it there around half time. To be honest though, I don’t even know who was playing except that Thomas supported the yellow team (of course) and there was some exciting come-from-behind win. Instead I was able to catch up with friends and the kids had a chance to play (and make a huge mess) at someone else’s house.

This is really along the lines of how I used to spend Aussie Rules Grand Final day although, thanks to numerous reminders from my brother on Facebook, I am well aware of how that turned out last year.

BEETS, NOT BEATS – JANUARY 31ST 2009

>

No, he hasn’t been in a bar fight. This is what happens when we feed Samuel Beets (or Beetroot as they call them in Australia). They’re really not a baby-friendly food. The clean up is horrendous.

The upside? We can actually see where the food goes. With the amount this kid eats, it’s almost comforting to know it doesn’t all end up in his mouth.

TESTING – JANUARY 30TH 2009

I’m still practicing the manual mode on my camera and it’s very frustrating. There’s quite a learning curve and I haven’t yet experienced that click that people talk about when they just get it.

So this was one of a bunch of bad photos but for some reason it speaks to me. I like that Kei is the central point of the photo and I like the stairs in the foreground. The only thing I hate is the 6 or 7 photos I missed because I didn’t have the camera on the right settings. But I hear it’s all about practice…

SPRING IN THE AIR – JANUARY 29TH 2009

We’ve been experiencing just a teeny tiny little bit of Spring over the past couple of weeks and I am loving it. I don’t know what it is about a little bit of sunshine that makes me feel so invigorated. Almost like I want to spring clean the house – almost.

Speaking of weather, have to feel for my poor family back in Australia who are suffering through an incredibly hot summer. 10 days over 40 degrees (104F) and even a day of 45 (114F).

NEW LEAF – JANUARY 28TH 2009

Everyone is talking abut saving money right now and we are no different. Not that our situation has changed because of the economy, it’s the additional child and daycare costs that are killing us. Oh, and the little addition we did to our house.

One of my big efforts to save money? Borrowing library books instead of buying books. This is big for me. There’s something about library books that is a little gross. I think about all the people who’ve touched them and every now and then you find a crusty piece of leftover food between the pages. And then you get those books that smell for no reason. And don’t get me started on the downside of children’s books…

The other problem is that you have to wait for new releases. I think I was hold #118 on three copies at one stage. I suppose I will get that book around Christmas time. Or four hold books will come in at once and then I have to try and read them all in the three weeks I have them. And I can’t renew because 118 people still have holds on the same book.

Yes, there are many downsides, but I am making the effort to save $15 here and $25 there. I think my obsession with children’s book will continue though. They’re keepsakes.

And if worse comes to worse I’ll just have to start the Twilight series again.

SLIPPERS – JANUARY 27TH 2009

My mum bought these slippers for Thomas while we were in Australia. For a while they played second fiddle to the Faux Uggs that were a gift from my Aunt, but they have recently become the clear favourite. I think Thomas’ feet were getting hot in those Uggs and besides, now he’s not pretending to be Santa anymore so the footwear is not as important. Seriously – the clothing obsessions are a concern. I think his Wiggles singlet is close to disintegration.

PIRATES – JANUARY 25TH 2009

I’m not sure when Pirates became such an important part of our lives. This is the very favourite Christmas gift from Christmas 2008.

And now that Samuel is mobile, it doubles as a baby magnet.

MORE SNOW – JANUARY 24TH 2009

Another couple of inches of snow, but thankfully this time it only lasted a few hours before it melted. Now that’s the type of snow I can handle – enough to take some fun photos and not too much that it becomes an enormous pain.

Thomas guided us through the park with the help of his treasure map.

Kei was getting some things done around the house so I carried Samuel in the backpack. Check out those laugh lines. It’s a sign of deep wisdom, not mid thirties.

The backpack freed up my hands to take more photos – including this one of a teeny tiny bit of spring. It gives me hope that warm weather is on the way.

Of course this gets me right back where we started – winter.

And then I played around with reflections in water – something I was inspired to do after my photography class. Did you know that water reflections are two stops darker that the actual light source? No, me either. I have to refer to my notes to remember exactly what that means.

And this one’s my favourite.

RESPONSIBILITY – JANUARY 23RD 2009

We have started implementing the responsibility system with Thomas. At the end of each day we review the chart and Thomas gets a magnet for everything he has managed to do well that day like saying please and thank-you and putting his toys away. As you can see, we added a couple of extras that we deem important enough to track.

It seems to be working, at least for some things, although sadly we’re still working on the potty one. Sigh!

The Red Chair – January 22nd 2009

This funky red chair was once a prop for a big Nike event. I inherited from a friend/vendor who does a lot of work for the company. He had about 20 of these chairs in various colours (red, blue, grey) in his studio and offered me a couple. And who am I to say no to a couple of funky red chairs? They’re very cool and retro and now have a place in our study, although I may move at least one of them to our upstairs landing when we eventually move the paint supplies back to the basement. (Painting, sigh!)

I also though they would make a good photo prop but apparent wriggly 8 month olds aren’t very eager to just sit in a red chair while their photo is taken. Kei questioned my parenting choice when I sat him there and then tried to back up to take a photo. Fair enough too. Our hardwood floors are unforgiving.

Instead Thomas sat with Samuel and tried to hold him in position while I proceeded to take a number of blurry photos. This is the best of the bunch.