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"A portrait of my children, once a week every week in 2013"


A perfect morning spent at our favourite riverside location while the winter sun was shining and its warmth enticed us outdoors.  I look forward to many more days like this with my girls as the days become hotter...

Sophie:  She carted bucket after bucket of water to the pool she was creating on the sand. I whipped off her leggings when they became wet... not long after, she was saturated from head to toe... but grinning from ear to ear.

Grace: Watching her grow has been tugging at my heart strings lately... as the months edge closer and closer towards the end of the year, I've felt sad thinking about her starting full time school in only six months time.

Joining in with Jodi

Wee little Alma snoozing on the couch was my favourite shot from the week just gone...

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"A portrait of my children, once a week every week in 2013"


Grace:  I was trying to capture her giggling with her little sister in an attempt to portray her joyful, playful side.  Instead, this simple shot of the 'every day Grace' was the one that stood out for me this week.

Sophie: At a cousin's first birthday party today... I had to have eyes in the back of my head, guarding her from sneakily stealing treats from the food table.  Here she is, mouth filled with Burger Rings, having a ball on the play equipment.

Joining in with Jodi

Bo helping her mama with a renovation project and Evita walking along the beach were among my favourite photos last week.

Embracing Winter Reflection

During the past few wintery months, the pace of my days has slowed down a lot as I've followed the lead of this season and embraced simple days filled with pottering around the house, enjoying the comfort of heaters and ugg boots and allowing myself time for quiet reflection.  With not long left of August though, I feel the need to take things one step further in order to welcome in spring with a more energetic and motivated frame of mind...

On Monday night, as I lay awake in bed ill with a virus, I did as I always do when I get sick... fall in a heap and think about how I'm not as 'on top of things' as I'd like to be, not as healthy as I'd like to be and not getting as much achieved in each day as I'd like.  Strangely enough, only days before, I'd been reading an article about using times of sickness in a positive way to listen to our bodies and our inner wisdom which is exactly what I did...

For the next few weeks, I'll continue writing but my posting may be a bit less frequent as I focus on a few things I feel I need to sort out and tick off my to-do list as we come to the close of winter.  Removing the pressure from myself to blog as often as usual will free up time for me to complete a few projects in the coming weeks and implement a few small changes to our daily rhythm... and then hopefully, just as spring is approaching, I'll be feeling as though I'm refreshed, energetic and all set for the new season...

There are only a handful of our bright pink camellia blooms above left on our bush now -

things are looking very green but rather bare in our garden at this point in winter...

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"A portrait of my children, once a week every week in 2013"


Grace: I see so much of myself in this photo of her.  An over-thinker and sensitive soul, she shares many of my personality traits.  In this shot, with soft curls bouncing on her shoulders, she looks a lot like me too.

Joining in with Jodi

Home Office Makeover Progress

Gus and Lula print  |  Gypsya Kantha quilt |  Vintage enamel cup from Babyshka's Attic |  kikki-K vision board

Over the past few weeks, when I haven't been busy with my little ones, running errands or 'keeping house', my focus has been on our home office/guest bedroom makeover.  What was once one of my least favourite rooms is slowly becoming one I'm really happy with and one where I am content to spend more time.  Since the beginning of the year, our old 'doctor's-waiting-room-style-furniture' has been sold, fresh new white pieces have been purchased and lots of organizing and sorting has been carried out... and finally, I am up to the fun part of decorating.  

The two things holding me back now are lack of time for shopping and my inability to find what I'm after, hence many of Sophie's nap time slots have been used for online browsing.  For once though, there's no procrastinating or deliberating happening on my part and I have a definite vision for this decorating project.  In the spare bedroom half of the room, I would love a white and blue doona cover, similar to the fabric you can see in the photograph on my sponge recipe post or alternatively something like the kantha quilt above.  

On the home office side of the room, I have a literal blank canvas with my vision board waiting to be pinned with snapshots and inspiration and all things lovely.  Paul has been complaining about it still being bare (despite four weeks having passed since he put it up for me)... and so this week, I've been trawling through old photos searching for favourites and pulling together a collection of quotes and words of wisdom to display.  

Hopefully soon I'll have some 'after' photos to share... in the meantime, I'd love to know which quote you find most inspiring...