These are a couple of shots from the second session I did with lovely friend 'A' and adorable baby 'C'. I think I am in love with these new ones! I'm really very impressed with the complete beauty of the babies my friends keep producing. Must be something in the Bangor water.
I do hope to be back later in the week with further simplify updates - still going well, feel free to pat me on the back in the comments! Hope you're having a good week:)
The getting up in the middle of the night, that is! I actually don't think I want to know. Maybe it's better to live in the hope that tonight will be the night. So Conor is back in his lets-just-check-that-someone-can-hear-me mode. This involves several trips down to his room to put his dummy in, wipe his nose and generaly provide the high calibre room service he's become accustomed to. Compounded by the incessant rain on the skylight in our bedroom the only course of action is to use earplugs! Tonight I intend using them from the outset. Too bad if anyone actually needs me - I am unavailable! How much simpler can I make it?!
On that topic, I think I'm going pretty well. I have simplified my school life to doing what I can in the time I have and generally delegating or ignoring all the stuff I haven't got time for. And I also find that it's fairly easy to simply not get sucked in to caring too much about all that other stuff. There are plenty of people who get paid way more than me who can do the worrying about that. Although, more than likely, they aren't worried at all. Therefore, why should I be? SIMPLIFY. It's a revelation!
I really enjoyed this post on Ali Edward's blog - it's a challenge to photograph your one little word in various places over the weekend. I pinched the magnetic letters out of Patrick's set and just placed them in a couple of relevant places. Places I'd like to simplify.
1. Scrapbooking. I've found it really hard for ages to make time to do pages. Too many things to organise. Photos to select and print. Papers to choose. Embellishments to place. This weekend I just found a layout I really liked in the latest Scrapbooks etc and went for it. This is definitely the way forward. I haven't scanned the actual layout yet - will post later.
2. The toys! This will involve careful planning of a storage system, working out all the bits we need, going to Ikea to spend a fortune on it all and then some fun self assembly! Perhaps not simple in its creation, but I know it will revolutionise our lives!
In other news, Conor is now officially a full fare paying passenger on any future flights we take after turning 2 on the 16th. I really can't believe it's been 2 years since he made his debut in the Boyd family life. Time certainly flies. We had family for birthday tea on Wednesday and a small, if rather chaotic party, on Friday. The party was really just to appease Patrick who kept asking if he was invited and if there would be party bags! Selfless to the end! Plus I know from my sister that eventually Conor will want photographic evidence that he was denied nothing that Patrick had, and so I thought I should just go with it!
I've been pretty good too with my photoaday challenge. It's interesting the shots you can find when you make it a habit to carry your camera with you all the time. We went for a walk a few days ago just before tea. Admittedly it took us an inordinate amount of time to walk a relatively short distance, but it was worth it for the photo opportunities. I'm uploading my daily photos to the flickr site, but my sister has revealed that unless you have a bt/yahoo email account you have to register. Time will tell whether my blog stalkers go to the bother of creating one, or whether in the end I shall also put them on an album here. I'm sticking with flickr for now just because I love the interactive badge at the side! One photo I thought was worth sharing, though, is this one.
It's hard to resist comedy shots when they're begging to be taken! Hope you have a good week:)
It would seem that I am a technology genius. Evidence to prove this is the flickr badge I just managed to upload to the sidebar where you can view my photo a day photos. I'm not super organised on this one yet, but aim to make it a simple and enjoyable experience over the weekend! You can view my photos by clicking on any of them which will take you to my flickr site. How very exciting! And on that note, it's another hot port and a nosey into a few other lives before bed:) Sleep well.
Well it seems to be going well so far. Although given that we're not yet a fortnight into the year I don't know how much pride I can attach to that! The main thing is that I survived a week back at school. As part of my simplify plan I am choosing not to rant and rave about that, but I will say that I am determined that 2008 will be the year that I get a business plan together to get me out of teaching. It really wasn't awful at all, but each day I am convinced that my days there are numbered and that there is something better waiting for me.
Today I got to photograph my friend A's tiny baby - only 4 days old! As I was driving to their house I was physically excited about the prospect, not just because she is my friend's baby, but because taking photographs feels like what I'm meant to do. I absolutely love everything about it, from the feel of the camera in my hands to the sound of the shutter as it captures the image, right through to the digital processing. Wouldn't it be great if you could feel that way about going to work all the time? I'm not so naive that I think each shoot would feel so amazing, but surely it is possible to love almost all of your job. I've decided I'm aiming for that anyway - it would make life a lot more fun and simpler by default! Success all round!
I think it would be rude of me to not post just one image from that shoot, so just to keep everyone happy, here it is.
As you may be aware, I am a huge fan of Ali Edwards (who wouldn't be?!) She is such an inspiring woman in so many aspects of life - creatively, as a mother, in caring for our world, in creating the kind of life she wants for her family. If you haven't checked out her blog you really should. I know that at least several of you reading this know exactly what I mean! Each year she challenges her readers to play along with the 'one little word' concept - choose a word you want to apply to various areas of your life and then set about working on it. Last year I chose the word enjoy, although moving house less than 2 months later pretty much scuppered a lot of my enjoyment! I know that for much of last year I spent far too much time worrying about silly things and wasting time over non-essentials that I really forgot to stop and enjoy my life. I even felt that way through Christmas - nursing sick boys, running around trying to get everything I thought we needed, worrying about how the house looked etc, and then before I knew it it was over. And I had forgotten to stop and enjoy a lot of it. So I've really thought hard about my word for this year. I want it to be something that could make a difference to me, to my family, to my outlook on life, and to my creative little self! So I unveil it now - my word for 2008 is .....
SIMPLIFY
This word reflects much of what I am trying to do. It is very much a part of my control freakish self - my love for order, routine, storage (IKEA anyone?) neatness and so on. Michael mocks me for much of this, but I think even he realises that my efforts to make our lives more organised and just a little simpler could have an impact on our family life. So, I shall begin. In small ways. Like not fighting with Conor when he wants to bring another huge truck downstairs to play with - it is SIMPLER to let him bring it and have him happy and then tidy it away later. Do you see what I did there? I made a simple choice! Well done me!! All too often, in my quest for tidiness, I will end up fighting with the boys over silly things that don't matter, so my first step is to stop that.
My next step is one you may be able to help me with. Or if not, do feel free to watch for updates and laugh heartily at/with me! I shall strive to make meal time simpler by making fewer than 3 separate meals. Sounds simple, but when your youngest eats almost nothing except bread products and grapes it can be a bit tougher. Yesterday I made one tea - pizza - and hoped for the best. Patrick loved it, I loved it and Conor ate nothing. He muttered something that vaguely resembled the phrase "Yuck, don't like it". Put me in mind of the Lou and Andy characters in Little Britain! So he went hungry. I would be very grateful for any tips any of you might have to help me along with this one! There are moments when I feel Dr Tanya Byron (she of Little Angels and House of Tiny Tearaways notoriety) is watching me from afar and telling hidden cameras exactly what I'm doing wrong! I have no doubt she could have him eating steak and baked potatoes by tomorrow night if I gave her the chance.
So those are just a few of the things I am going to be working on for now. I will try to post regularly with progress and other new notions I've had on the topic. I'm hoping to carve a bit of time to create something for my studio to keep me focused on my chosen word. I'd also love a bit of feedback from those of you that are reading this, be you regular commenters or lurkers. I know there are lurkers! I'd especially love to know if you have a 'one little word' and what you might do to apply it to your own life.
And with that I am off for a few last Roses before the serious cut down commences tomorrow! I hope you like the new banner - it only took the best part of two nights to get it working properly!
We've been watching a lot of Star Wars around here lately so it seemed appropriate to use the subtitle of Episode IV for this entry. 'A new hope for what?' you may ask. Oh, so many things! I think it may call for a list - start as you mean to go on, I say!
- a healthy and happy family. Too much in the way of illness in this house since Hallowe'en, so I shun the germs! They will not be welcome here!
- a less frantic daily life. Hey, if you set your goals too low you'll have them all achieved by the end of January!
- a storage system that will make all the toys that just arrived here seem almost invisible!
- children and a husband who appreciate said storage and use it appropriately and regularly!
- more regular blogging. Posting and reading. I do love my little windows into the lives of other people I know/admire/aspire to be like etc. And I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but I am going to try to blog a couple of times a week. Shocking, I know!
- a beautiful and complete photography website. It's actually first on my new year to-do list.
- more time to be creative. Not that I'm not creative with my photography, but I want to scrap more. Seriously more!
- an organised and functional studio for aforementioned creativity.
- greater muscle tone that I presently possess. Again, setting those goals high!!
- more laughter. Lots and lots of it all the time. Especially with my family. Must laugh more.
- a greater ablity to let go, go with the flow and generally relax a bit. My mum will probably die with laughter when she reads this bit, but I shall rise above that and not stress about what she is thinking! Going with the flow right there!
So that's probably plenty to be getting on with, I should think. I have lots of other personal goals and ambitions for the year, but I don't want to scream them to the world in case I don't achieve them or change my mind about them. And anyway, if you don't have a few secrets, well, life might be pretty boring!
As a finish to my new year post I am going to post just a couple of photos I've been meaning to/unable to post of late. No reason behind them except to prove that I was alive and well in December!
Taken in Eden Pottery, a local pottery where you can make your own bits and pieces. Had such a lovely start to December here with the girls. Also took Patrick to make presents for his teachers - the cutest thing ever! Will post from that later.
A rather rare shot of me! And the fabulous dish I made. One of 3 items from that trip!
The work in progress!
Very cute baby toes poking through the most beautiful crocheted blanket. And the owner of the toes...
And with that I wish you a very happy new year x
Just a few quick shots from a recent session with a friends baby girl. Absolutely love these shots through the cot:)
...didn't go to church because a) it was half an hour later because of Remembrance which meant Conor would have been grumpier than ever and I would never have got out of creche, and b) I would most likely have cried because of Remembrance.
...shouted at the boys more times than was necessary.
...enjoyed a lovely walk with some proper leaf kicking at Mountstewart with the boys.
...was a grumpy and humourless mum. Again.
...finally did 75% of the pile of marking that has been lying around since before half term.
...put a white wash on and have just left it in the machine all day. No plans to do anything else with it the rest of the night either!
...let the boys watch far too much tv. Again.
...felt like a single mum for much of the day, because Michael was kept on at work for 5 hours and was therefore not able to be at home with us.
...ordered £87 of free products from Virgin Vie as a result of my party last Thursday! Hurrah for me:)
...made a very small step towards a creative project (at last) by picking some paper and embellishments out for a mini book.
...heaved a sigh of relief when Conor went to bed!
...heaved a bigger sigh of relief when Patrick went to bed!
...heaved the biggest sigh of relief when Michael finally arrived home, rather weary and with a very swollen leg from some sort of bite he aquired at work yesterday!
...felt at the same time that I was achieving nothing and yet was multi-tasking galore.
...thought that even though I had taken not a single picture to go with them, these few words would be a pretty good reminder of what life is like for me right now. And that there may be a layout in here somewhere!
We had the best time over half term with our friends in Bury St Edmunds. We relaxed, drank wine (not too much!) chatted, took photos, laughed, went bowling and generally had a ton of fun. It truly is amazing that the internet has been the doorway to such a great friendship. Poor Patrick was pretty sick most of the time we were visiting, but not even that phased the Hafermann family. Even when Dean had to be lifted from his bed so that we could sleep in with Patrick. Thank you guys so much for a great time:)
However, I'm sure I won't be very popular with Mr Hafermann for posting some of these, but they are too funny not to share. These were taken during the couple of photo shoots I did with Annie and her family.
1. The kiddlers in their best Christmas outfits for a special holiday photo.
2. Mr Annie refusing to cooperate at all! He was worse than kids and animals together at times! The blur on these images is mainly down to my hysterics which rendered me unable to take a decent photo.
3. The hi-jacking of the photo shoot! The fact that I managed to get any further good shots after this incident is proof of my determination, skill and answer to prayer!
I'm sure I'll be in big trouble with Annie for this one so I shall leave it at that. With the exception of this shot of the trick or treating. The boys had such fun in their costumes, but I couldn't get enough of Conor and his little old man walk with hands in pockets. Definitley my favourite shot of the night:)
Ok, not really, just quite cute. Yesterday Nana gave the boys some money for sparklers, so nothing would do but we should have our own Hallowe'en party. Now I'm really not one to go for Hallowe'en in a big way, but you can't deny that the big multiples like Tesco, Woolworths and M&S have us stitched up. I actually found myself walking along the Hallowe'en aisle of Tesco last week in a bit of a daze, totally prepared to give in and buy ridiculous outfits for the boys along with any amount of tat I could find. Thankfully I snapped out of it before I caved. But I did go back on Thursday to buy a pumpkin for Patrick to carve as a treat for our last whole afternoon together before he goes to school til 2pm. And we had a blast carving it (admittedly with the pumpkin carving set complete with scoop and mini saw that I did get sucked into!). Patrick doesn't like scary pumpkins so he drew a very cute face on it and we carved it out.
And tonight, after getting sucked into the M&S party food, we had our own little party. Sadly just the 3 of us as Michael is working just for a change. But we had good fun nonetheless. I was very organised and had downloaded some colouring pages for the boys earlier. I've noticed recently that there are a lot of home schooling sites that have lots of cool stuff on them. Seriously, type in 'colouring in pages' and see what you get!
So we ate marshmallow ghosts, or sort of smushed them about our faces and then spat them out in Conor's case. Tried some witches fingers, aka, corn puffs in the same style as Cheesy Wotsits, but not up to Wotsit standards according to Patrick! And I had to agree. And we wolfed down some gummy sweets that I'm pretending were all natural and almost a substitute for fruit! Then we took some photos. Can you believe I've got them on here less than 2 hours after the fact? No, me neither! Check out our self-timer. We're pretty pleased with it, but it does kind of make me feel like a single parent. Just for a change!!
Check out Patrick with his £1 axe from Woolworths! The cape is totally last season, from Tesco.
Conor is LOVING the pumpkin! He tries so hard to say 'pumpkin', but is happy that his fabulous 'brr brr' (burny burn!) is completely applicable! Bless.
Mr Serious Colouring In! And are you getting that it was also a pyjama party - with matching dinosaur pyjamas? Thank you, Nanny!
Hope you have a good weekend, mostly undisturbed by fireworks:)
