Nancy - 30/365 - Orlando, Florida

May 20

Ugh.

I know I should write the required 25 words about this day/photo but I can't think because this weather is way. too. hot.

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Amy - 32/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

There have been several times over the last few days (well, honestly, seven plus years) when I've thought, "Parenting is hard!" However, a little break away on a Saturday night and a peek into their bedrooms upon return reminds me that they will not be this young for long. Aaaaawwwww ... the beautiful silence of sleep :)

Since Leila sleeps without light, she missed out on a picture tonight! I keep trying to convince the other two to turn their nightlights off before bed, but they think they "need" them and freak out if they wake up to it dark. Hopefully, I can phase them out soon, so they can have complete darkness for a fully recuperative sleep each night!!!

Amy - 31/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

The city of Perth, Western Australia from Mount Henry Bridge.

At first, when we moved here, it was weird living so close to the city and even being able to see it from our master bedroom. Considering, in all the major city areas that I've lived in during my life, it's not common (or affordably safe) to live within this proximity! I love this view from the bridge and feel like it's an old friend after walking this route day-after-day for a year when I was in the main part of my weight loss journey. In February 2008, when we first arrived in Perth, the rental home market was really limited (at the time our home was the only one available that met our criteria), so I feel very happy that we ended up with a home in this location.

On a good day, you can see dolphins swimming in the river pictured as you pass over the bridge ... it's truly amazing!

nancy - 29/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

May 19

John and his best bud at school finally had a post-school playdate. They were both so excited. It was such a sweet afternoon full of discussions about cars, comparison of cars, contemplation about who drives certain cars, driving of cars...you get the picture.

Nancy - 28/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

May 18

It was bound to happen.

An entire day passed and I didn't take a single picture. The perfectionist in me isn't very happy about this, but it was bound to happen.

After a bumpy flight full of screaming kids (not mine!) we arrived home to an empty refrigerator, a needy cat, a stack of mail, a beautiful backyard, and blooming zinnias. The sunflowers are also about to bud and we have about 20 green tomatoes. Looking forward to the flowers of summer.

Nancy - 27/365 - Kent, Ohio

May 16

Day 10 of vacation

• We awoke to another beautiful day, though were VERY tired.
• Lovely brunch at Mom & Dad's to celebrate Doug & Davelene.
• Wished my hubby a Happy 36th Birthday!
• Spent alot of time on the deck soaking up the sun.
• Owen napped TWO HOURS STRAIGHT.
• The gardeners of Westview & Diagonal Rd finished filling their beautiful community garden. Quite an impressive strip of land.
• Took a windows down, sunroof open drive through the country with my hubby to return the tuxes.
• Visited the chickens down the street. In the words of John, "those chickens are beautiful, mama."
• Wonderful dinner and conversation with the family.
• Packed and packed and packed and packed.
• Played a few rounds of bananagrams until way too late at night.

What a lovely vacation we have had.

A few more shots:

The beautiful chickens:

The infamous community garden:

Amy - 30/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

There have been many days in the challenge already that I have lacked any creativity or desire to take a decent photograph. This thought scares me a bit, since I wonder I will be doing a couple of months from now...

How silly is it to admit that tonight, while watching American Idol, I was crying during the contestant home visits! The show is one of my guilty pleasures and makes me feel more connected to something happening in America.

A "present" left in our bed from Logan. He loves building race tracks and other cool tracks to shoot things off the bed. When he's not doing that, he's tunneling under the blankets and hiding. It's so funny to watch him play there while I put away laundry or get ready for the day - I love my boy!

Nancy - 26/365 - Cleveland, Ohio

May 15

Oh Happy Day!!!

today two beautiful people

were married

and couldn't be happier

what a beautiful, beautiful day. full of love. full of family. full of friends. i was honored to photograph the day and am thrilled for them both.

welcome to the family davelene! xoxoxo

Amy - 29/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

It takes a lot of patience, but I love cooking with the kids. Logan insisted on helping me peel the carrots and has an interesting backhanded technique that I had to get a picture of ;)~ Can you see the bit of carrot in flight by his arm?!? I was happy to catch that! He was very proud of his improvements with each carrot, since he figured out how to turn the carrot around to do the other half. Needless to say, it was a big mess to clean-up, but totally worth it!

Amy - 28/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

One of my photography friends here lent me her old 50mm 1:1.8D lense to try out, knowing that I am interested in getting some new lenses for my collection. I've been so busy that I haven't taken a few moments to play around with it, so yesterday I took a few pictures of my Mother's Day flowers before they wilted. It took me a bit to get into the groove, but I really liked it and loved the results. I must admit that I rarely take my camera off of the Auto setting, since it does such a great job for me and I'm usually at a loss with manual settings. Using this lenses forced me to play around and use different settings, I am still not comfortable, but trying.

Amy - 27/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

This year, I've made a point of spending special alone time with Logan before he is in school five days a week. It has been great for us and I think he is really thriving from the attention. We don't feel the stereo-typical "Middle Child Syndrome" will apply to him, since he is the only boy in the middle of two girls and has a lot of attention given to him because of that; however, he sometimes gets lost in the shuffle and trumped by his overbearing sisters (LOL)!

Today, I wanted to do something different and extra fun for him! So, we drove to the train station and took the train south for morning tea. He loved every part of it (especially when he got a new Lego Ben 10 toy) and has been begging to do it, again, already! Other things that we've done are making a display to hang artwork from, watercolor painting, & go to the movie theater. Plus, lots of extra cuddles :) I have a lot of other plans lined-up for the next few weeks.....

Amy - 26/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Today, I took no pictures :( I felt miserable and rested (as much as possible with three kids) most of the day. On Saturday, I wasn't feeling well, either, but couldn't let it stop me for Leila's birthday .... so, today was veg-out and try to get better day. Here is a picture that I took one year ago today. It's amazing to see how much our baby has changed!