Cute Kiddos

We went to feed the ducks yesterday after the doing the groceries - always a good bribe! I didn't get any photos of feeding the ducks (kids very close to pond edge makes mummy very on edge also!) but got some afterward of my mad two running up and down the grassy slope.

Cassidy chose that point to wet her pants :-) and I had no spares on me, so I stripped her in preperation for going back to the car. She took off on me, bare backside on display for all the lovely people walking their dogs along the boardwalk! Such a charmer, my daughter.

The Best Songs

I had just hopped out of the shower this morning when I heard the strains of the theme song to "Max and Milly" in the background. I peeked around the corner, and there were my three tinkling away on the piano having a lovely time. The were so gorgeous sitting there...until there was a scuffle about seating arrangements that is. I have to photograph the peaceful moments around here, cause they just don't last very long :-) :-)

It's really scary to think that this is my first scrapbooking page in about 2 months! I haven't stopped taking photos along the way, so this is a bad sign! I reckon I need two solid days in front of photoshop to catch up. As I've always said, you have to scrap them as soon as you take them otherwise you lose inspiration for the shots and the feeling that goes with them. How am I sure of this? Because I only took these shots this morning and voila...a finished page in under an hour!

Hard Day at the Beach

I was cleaning out all my photo files that I haven't sorted and found this one - taken by Steve - when we camped at Marcoola. I was really lazy that weekend and didn't take any photos but Steve got this one at the beach one morning. Cassidy had been up early that day, and a couple of hours at the beach was just all too much. She spread out her towel on a boogie board (she's not all the fond of sand, so one can't be too careful!) and went straight to sleep just like that. Steve had to carry her back to the campsite laid out like this and people kept asking her if she was alright! She's just so cute sometimes :-) :-)

Cassidy's a Big Girl!

Steve and I had three nights away last weekend at Mt Tambourine - which was lovely - then we got to come home to the wonderful suprise that Cassidy had started doing wees on the toilet for Nanna! (Wouldn't do it for Mummy after she begged, pleaded and bargained, but did it for Nanna no worries :-) ) Since the breakthrough, she hasn't looked back and has been going so well...I've even been taking her out in undies with success! Miss Tamara is very proud of her at Kindy and Cassidy's been coming home with handfuls of stamps from her efforts. It's so strange looking into the bathroom and seeing my baby up there like a big girl...Mummy and Daddy are very proud of you sweetheart xx

Remembering Ava

Ava's funeral will be at 10am on Saturday. They will be releasing pink balloons after the service. Please think of and pray for Ava's family on Saturday for God's peace, comfort and healing in a time unimaginable to all of us.

Woody Point Park

I took the kids down to Woody Point Park for a play on Wednesday afternoon. We haven't been there before and I really just drove the peninsula until we found a different park...we're in a bit of a park slump! This one didn't have heaps of stuff, but it did have this great flying fox that was nice and low for the kids. I sat on it with Cassidy on my lap....an interesting sight I can tell you :-). Then we went and got some fish and chips (Steve is away on a work trip this week) which we ate on the beach with about 20 million seagulls....it was lovely.

The Little Things

I was cleaning up this morning...the daily ritual...and when I went into Isaac's room, he had collected every car, truck and plane he owns and lined them up, nose to tail, on the floor. It stretched from almost to his door to the back of his bed. I asked him what was with all the cars, and he said the traffic was a bit heavy this morning (my common phrase when he ask's me why we're going slow in the car).

I was about to clean them up when I realised that Ava's mum will never again get to trip over her toys, wash her dirty clothes or clean up the makeup she got into in the bathroom. I stood in Isaac's room and cried when I thought of how the jobs I complain about every day are something I'd never really want to be without.

Sometimes I have questioned why I take so many photos of the kids. But not anymore. In fact, I'm going to try to take more...and more of the everyday things like cars lined up on the floor. Because real photography is not just "nice" pictures of kids smiling...it's one of the only ways we have to remember our lives as they are right now.

Please say a prayer for Ava's family today - the funeral has been set for Saturday.

Shoot for the Moon

Needing something to cheer me up so I scrapped this shot of Isaac I took today at my grandparents. He's looking so grown up and so much like his dad. He really need his hair cut, but I love that rough and messy little boy look he gets when it's a bit long :-)

A little girl called Ava

You might have heard on the news recently.....a little girl at the Gold Coast got herself locked in the back of a car, had to be ressucitated and went into ICU. They kept her in a coma hoping for healing and things were looking positive.

You may also have heard on the news last night that the little girl passed away yesterday.

Her name was Ava, she was three years old. Her mum, Sheye, and I are apart of a photography forum together, with a heap of other photgrapher-mums all over the world. We have all become great friends through our photography and it is a real support network for all types of things, not just photography. Sheye and her husband, Clayton, have three other young children. Their parents live next door and the kids run constantly between both houses. Ava wanted to get something out of the car in the backyard to give to her grandfather and got herself locked in...she couldn't get out the back because of the childlocks and didn't know to try the front doors. Sheye missed her 30 minutes later because she usually wouldn't stay over at her grandparents for that long. Her grandparents naturally assumed she was with Sheye, and vice versa.

Such a horrible, terrible accident that could have happened to any of us. A beautiful, healthy little girl gone...just like that. Everyone on the forum is now trying to raise awareness of hot cars....you don't have to leave a child in a car at the shops for it to happen. Please leave all cars out in the heat locked at all times and hopefully no-one else will have to live the nightmare that for this beautiful young family has become a reality.

Please pray for healing for the sort of pain we can't even begin to imagine.

The photography of Ava is by her mum, Sheye and the banner was created by a good friend of Sheye's and another forum member, Carrie.

Heidi & Kate

Found this one also...Heidi's brother took it while I was doing a shoot for them up the coast a while ago. Aren't we just beautiful :-) :-) :-)

We love our Daddy

Found this one while cleaning out my photo drive...I didn't notice it when I posted our pics from our holiday at Caloundra. I love this one....daddy is just the best you know.

Another Hot Day

After another very hot day in Brisbane, I picked up the kids from kindy and we went over to Nana and Pa's for a swim. I had bought a big drinks tub from Target on clearance that I thought might look groovy in some of my shoots, so I got Cassidy (who was at first less than willing) to test it out. She got into it in the end...here's a few cute ones.

Holiday at Caloundra

We just got back yesterday from a week at King's Beach. We had a great time, the kids especially as we went to the beach every day, usually twice a day! We shared our time between Bullcok and Kings as Bullcock is a bit calmer for the kids to swim without getting bowled over by waves. We had a great unit right on Kings beach...the walk accross the road and you're on the sand type of thing. It was great for Steve and I to be away from our office too...we spent every night watching movies or hanging with our friends Rod and Jen who were also up the coast. I didn't get as many photos as I would have liked, as I'm just too nervous to take my 5D onto the beach very much....kids, sand, water and a expensive camera...need I say more?! I've decided I need to invest in a "happy snap" digital so I can catch some more on the beach action next time!

Stacks on Mummy

I have to change the name of the blog briefly to "Photography by Steve" as he was not too shabby getting these couple of shots....but I'm the photoshop master who makes them look groovy :-)

Kids Galore!

one of my favourites I think...

Chey looks much too grown up here for my liking!

All the grandkids

All the girls...and there were lots!

This one was just for a bit of fun..I thought it looked a bit "Alice in Wonderland"!

I did a shoot today for some lovely friends of ours, Fiona and her daughter Cheyenne and their family...it was the first time all six grandkids were together because one family lives overseas. So...it was a challenge, but we had fun! This is just a quick sample as I only had a minute to look through...hopefully it will tide everyone over if they have a sneak peek as I won't get to their edit for a little while as we're going on holidays..woohoo!

New InHouse Logo

For those of you that haven't heard me whingeing lately about coming up with a new logo for the studio...aren't you lucky!! But I am trying to come up with a new concept as I soon hope to start working on a new and trendy website (can't wait to get rid of my old and dodgy one!) Obviously the key thing is a new logo, and my goal was to have something funky and more focusing on the kids/ families area which is what I'd really like to attract. So...I came up with this door idea a while ago, and after some researching on the net I think I've come up with a basic concept that I like....sort of hand-drawn, cartoony, whatever you call it.....anyway, please let me know what ya reckon!

Mummy's practice session!

Today I convinced the kids to some up into our bedroom to do a bit of low-lighting shoot practice! This shot was taken very bravely because I was trying to use my external flash...not usually a succesful venture for me. But this was one of the shots that turned out quite well with partly natural light from the window and the flash bounced of the opposite wall for some fill light on the dark side. Some groovy photoshop colour tweaking and there you have it :-)

Christmas 2006

Hope everyone had a great Christmas...we had a lovely, relaxing day.

The See-Sawing continues...

Isaac and Cassidy got a see-saw from Grandad for Christmas. I was a bit hesitant to how the kids would go with it, but there have been no serious spills so far (empahsis on the "so far"!) They manage it pretty well, Isaac has got the idea of how to hold it steady for Cassidy so she can get on...he does relish the control of it a bit..ie his legs are longer than Cassidy's so he can start and stop the thing at his leisure!! We are still waiting for him to figure out that it could have catapulting possibilities :-) :-)

Rain!

It rained today! It is very sad that rain has become such a talk of the town lately...rain is an event around here. It actually rained on and off for a couple of days about a week ago, and, including what we got today, it would have to be a record for the past four to six months! This photographer is dying for some green grass to photograph people on....you just can't turn brown green very successfully in photoshop :-) Needless to say, Isaac wanted to go straight out there with an umbrella and had a great time... it was beautiful to watch my kids play in the rain...what a novelty!

Day in the Garden

We have just spent a couple of days working in the yard, catching up on all the boring things like mowing and hedge trimming (we have a lot of hedges!!) Here's just a few more of the kids hanging out at home...

Friends

Isaac and Cassidy, like most siblings I expect, flip very quickly between being friends and foes. Someone must have put something in the water though, because for the past week or so they have been getting along great for the majority of the time. Steve and I had a good giggle this morning though when we heard Cassidy cry whilst we were still lying in bed, so we called them both into the bedroom. When Steve asked Isaac what had happened, Isaac said "We had an altercation"!! We can thank Nanna for the extended vocabulary with that one...it's one of her common sayings when the kids fight!