Challenge is Cool - Day 26 - Close Up

The fatmumslim/white peach photography 30 day photo challenge...

Day 26 - Close up

So - can anyone guess what these are?

They are art deco roses.  Pretty aren't they?

Check out tomorrow's photo to see what they belong to....

Any guesses?

Life is Cool: What do you during nap time?

I stumbled upon these beautiful images a while ago and they popped into my head the other day... Take a few minutes to enjoy this lovely YouTube clip, then continue reading on....

Did you enjoy that little multi-media interlude....?

Now back to me....


Nap time. That glorious time when the house is quite and I can finally do something for me. Aahhhhh.... Thankfully, Miss Z still naps when she is at home and Baby Cool can't help but fall asleep after lunch.... 


I sometimes check email, check in on Facebook, read blogs or write some blog posts. More often than not though, I am in my work out gear sweating it out on the Wii Fit... I love it. 

I also tackle things like this during nap time....

Kid's stuff all over the place...

Stuff left in the wrong places...

Overflowing baskets of 'important' paperwork...

A disastrously messy kitchen...

Shoes, shoes, shoes, left everywhere....

A bomb site of hair bands in the bathroom....

and then CRUMBS CRUMBS EVERYWHERE....*

I cannot imagine having the time, creativity or imagination to do what Adele Enerson does with baby Mila... But, it is lovely. I was amazed by how clean her carpets were! I was amazed by how Mila just sleeps on the floor.... It is very very sweet... 

I cannot help but to wonder how much therapy Mila is going to need when she is older though... ('I cannot sleep in a normal bed, I can only sleep on cream loop pile carpets, and I NEED to hold a felt carrot and wear a purple turban to fall asleep') But I am a bit cynical...

Adele Enerson writes a very lovely blog... 

You can take a peek here... 

CLICK

*I post these photos of my messy house for my friends who tease me, yes tease me, for having such a tidy house... One kindly friend insinuated that I should not write so many status updates on Facebook about how I SHOULD be cleaning the house. In reality, in March, I only mentioned cleaning 5 times. Yes, I went back and checked. That is the kind of person I am.

What things do you do during nap time?

Challenge is Cool - Day 25 - Something Pink

The fatmumslim/white peach photography 30 day challenge....

Day 25 - Something Pink

My Beautiful Miss A

Dear Miss A,


My oh my, you are amazing. Each and every day I cannot believe that you are one part me and one part your lovely daddy.  You are smart, funny, clever, beautiful, enthusiastic, cheeky, honest, caring, competitive, and so much more. It seems like just last week you came into my world squeaking and squarking and letting everyone know you were here.


I love the way you are so helpful and the way that when there is nothing for you to actually help with, you help by keeping me company. You are a joy to have around.


I love how inquisitive you are. You like to know stuff. Just yesterday, you showed an interest in the way that paint gets mixed at the hardware store - the paint mixing man asked if you wanted to go behind the counter and watch - you were so excited.


You do get yourself into your share of trouble though. One day I hope you learn not to finish other people's sentences, or butt into conversations, or try to explain the nature of the universe without listening to the ACTUAL facts.... It is your talking that gets you unstuck every single time. We hope that we can harness this for good and not evil. 


You don't normally wear pink. Your favourite colour is yellow. Which sums you up just right - sunny, warm and full of energy. I love that.


So, on a rare occasion that you were actually wearing pink - it was a great chance to snap a photo of that lovely gappy smile.


I love you my ever surprising little sunbeam....


Love,
Mummy

Challenge is Cool - Day 24 - Animal

The fatmumslim/white peach photography photo challenge....

Day 24 - Animal

An Orange Owl Crayon

I have won a giveaway! Yay for B!


I follow a fantastic blog called 'Be a Fun Mum'. Just recently, the lovely Kelly launched a whole new look. Gone was the classic black and white and in came white and fresh colours and great new stuff to learn.


'Be a Fun Mum' is about exactly what the title suggests - how to be a fun mum. Kelly gives tips on parenting, organisation, fun things to do with kids, recipes and lots lots more. I have to admit that I was very intimidated by this blog when I first stumbled upon it - I really don't think I am all that great at being a mum - so to see someone doing an inspirational job was a bit .... intimidating. 


I was determined that MY blog would be about everything BUT kids. However, over time I have come to realise that my life revolves around my three little cherubs. To add too many other things would take away from the role that I have in raising them and being in the glory of staying-home-mum-ness.


Anyway... back to Kelly... to help launch her new look - she had a giveaway to celebrate. I won two prizes: a Preschooler Personality Profile Kit and this cute owl crayon (with some other coloured friends too!)


Go check out her blog and leave a comment. She is truly lovely - you will be inspired!


Thanks Kelly! I sure love getting parcels!


What did you get in the mail today?


Oh - if you want to know where to get these owls from check out this link... Stockist details...

Mag Review: What is "Cool"? (Frankie)

An exceptionally good friend came to visit over Easter and left me a Frankie magazine to read. It had an article titled "What is 'Cool'?" She thought I needed to read it....


The article was written by 4 different people and their interpretation of what it means to be 'Cool'. It was a cool read....


'Cool' is just such a hard thing to pin down to typed text. So, I was happy to see that some pros also found it hard to define.


I really loved what Caro Cooper had to say about it....


She wrote:

COOL IS SUCH AN ABSTRACT NOUN, ASKING FOR A DEFINITION IS LIKE ASKING MARRY POPPINS TO EXPLAIN WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE SUPERCALAFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS.

Cooper breaks the facts about cool into 3 categories:

1. Cool is entirely undefinable - I have launched into a blog about finding out what cool is. I have been madly writing and stalling and writing and questioning this for around two years. I still don't have a clue what it means. But, it is a quest and I am stubborn, so maybe one day I will know what it means....
2. Cool is relative - I had a conversation with my mother-in-law who was a bit down that someone much younger than her had made adverse comments on the new shoes she had bought. Well, you know what? For a lady around the general age of 60, cool is not knee high boots, skin tight jeans and off the shoulder t-shirts. Cool is relative. It is age appropriate. It is circumstantial.
3. It's transient - what is cool today will not be cool tomorrow.

But there is hope, Cooper also wrote:

BUT EVEN IF YOU DON'T SLOT NICELY INTO ONE OF THOSE CATEGORIES (hippies, preppies, goths, surfers etc), OR THE MANY OTHERS THAT EXIST, MOST PEOPLE ARE STILL COOL TO SOMEONE. EVEN IF IT'S JUST THEIR MUM.

I really enjoyed flicking through Frankie. It is very cool, uses great paper and sources really groovy items of clothing and design from some far-flung places - including Etsy and Op-shops. I think it may be something that gets snaffled into my trolley from time to time... I think it is cool - whatever that means.

So, what do you think is 'Cool'?

Challenge is Cool - Day 23 - Sunflare

The fatmumslim/white peach photography 30 day photo challenge....

Day 23 - Sunflare

Is this a sunflare?

We went for a walk today. It was gorgeous. Mr Cool. Miss A. Miss Z. Baby Cool. What an amazing little swag of people to share the journey with.

The colours this afternoon were sublime. You know, the time of evening when the western sky is bright orange, fading to deep blue and then it fades to pink while the eastern horizon is growing darker by the second. Sigh - lovely.

We walked our favourite walk up to a great picnic spot and lookout on the very edge of the escarpment that our city clings to. I have walked the path up to the lookout hundreds of times. 


I grew up in the town I live in. For a time we lived on the Coast and for a time we lived in London. I have wrestled with living in a small city for a long time. But, you know what? Our city is gorgeous. Truly beautiful.


This afternoon as I looked up into the branches of trees that have stood firm while I have grown up, I was overcome by the possibilities that life holds. Some things never change and stand firm while the world spins beyond recognition around them.

So - enjoy the sunset with me...

Cool Blog - Salvation Jane

Okay - this is a blog emergency....  ANOTHER person out there has a blog that looks and 'sounds' just like I want MY blog to look and 'sound' like....

The last time it was Gwyneth - typical, with her lithe long legs, great hair and Glee appearances - does she then have to produce a blog better than mine? SO unfair....

But NOW, NOW - I found this one just now this very segment of time..... It is called 'Salvation Jane' - written by none other than the actor Jane Hall - she has come a long way from that show she did in the 80s/90s with John English and Rebecca Gibney.....

Jane blogs about interior design and trips to Paris and things. I usually don't follow a blog on the first visit - but, I had to follow this one. Jane writes well, has great taste and her blog's clean, stylish appearance was just too much - so I am follower #165.

Sigh - here is the link.... as I know you are all going to go over there and 'Follow her' and all that ......

Salvation Jane

So - what do you think of it? Is it as good as my blog? (Don't be too honest, I am a tad fragile about this...)