nancy - 32/365 - Orlando, Florida

May 22

Dude is cutting FIVE teeth right now. FIVE. Three just popped through and two are about to arrive. This will make his total tooth count EIGHT. Yes, he's only 6 months old.

Guess we'll be serving him steak for his first birthday.

Yikes!

Nancy - 31/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

May 21

Today was the last day of preschool for this year. It seems like just yesterday that I dropped him off for the first day. I was very pregnant and full of emotions. He seemed like such a baby then and now he's such a big boy. This year has brought so much change for him and he's embraced it. What an awesome kid!

To celebrate the last day of school, Daddy came home early and we went out for pizza!

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Amy - 33/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Mmmmmmm ... Tonight, I enjoyed a yummy steak and veggie dinner with my "Australian sister", Kristy. She was cracking up during most of the pictures with kids trying to get in the background! Thankfully, I was able to get one of just her and the lovely dinner we had. We are like family to each other and usually have a meal together once a week or so. There will be a lot of steaks and orange juice in our future (such a shame - LOL), since she is trying to get her iron levels up - good thing I love steak!!!

FRIENDS WEEK :) I thought I'd give myself some focus for the week and decided to dedicate this week to my friends! I will have to get creative when it comes to posting pictures of my American friends, since they are supposed to be taken on the day of each entry.

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!

Amy - 25/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

It's the birthday girl :) Today is Leila's 2nd Birthday and she had a great day! The morning started out with eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast and a big feast for dinner with our friends. It was weird, because I barely took any of the pictures from today ... which is great ... so there are actually a lot of ones with me in them as she opens presents, blows out the candles, etc.

Here are two that I took and love what they represent about her at this age:

- Not sitting in the chair correctly, since she got herself in it and probably sat in all the other spots before this

- Food all over her face and cramming her mouth while holding the spork, but not using it

- Licking the ice cream to test it out

- That crazy messy hair, since she won't keep any hair clips or rubber bands in

Nancy - 25/365 - Cleveland, Ohio

May 14

Day 8 of Vacation

Crazy thunderstorm overnight. Tons of wind, rain and lightening. It appears that I am the only one it woke up.

• BEAUTIFUL weather. If Ohio could always guarantee this weather I'd visit much more often :).
• Pedicure with Aunt Nanny this morning. So nice to catch up with her.
• Lunch outside on the deck.
• Owen took a 1 1/2 hour nap. WOW!
• Total and complete chaos for about an hour as we packed up.
• Drove to Cleveland. John slept. Owen fussed. No surprise there.
• Rehearsal at Fenn Tower. Can't believe they'll be married tomorrow!
• Tasty rehearsal dinner at Dunham Tavern Museum. The children had a blast running around the beautiful grounds. It was nice to catch up with family. Friends and family shared special stories of Doug and Davelene. Such a nice evening.

Nancy - 24/365 - Kent, Ohio

May 13

Day 7 of vacation

• Owen has discovered avocado. CAN'T. GET. ENOUGH. more more more.
• We baked and baked and baked and baked for the cookie bar. Lemon squares, mexican brownies and alfajores. YUMMY!
• More gardening. The yard looks fabulous.
• I took a long walk. Alone. It was such a nice break.
• The weather warmed up and we opened all the windows and doors. It was delightful.
• The boys were fitted for their tuxes.
• Picked up Jana at the airport!
• Tasty dinner with the family, Jana and Melanie (lovely neighbor).

What a great trip this has been.

Amy - 24/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Games are a big hit in our house ... for all ages :) Even when something might be above or below our children's age, they usually play together and have a blast (for the first five minutes and then it's a free-for-all)! Today, I went to "the shops" for Leila's birthday present and picked up Scramble for all the kids. It was a hoot watching them figure it out!

I included three pictures today:

1) Five seconds left on the timer and the anticipation is thick

2) Right after it popped - I love Logan's face (he was a little scared of it) and Lynsie's, too!

3) A close-up of Leila trying to figure out a piece - she tried really hard and enjoyed herself.

Amy - 23/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Here the kids are doing a science experiment (camera obscura) that they learned watching a VHS tape of "Beakman's World" that Daddy bought years before we had kids. Chad reminded me the other day how long ago he bought the tape in hopes that his kids would love it as much as him. Of course, they do!!! They show it to all of their friends and want to recreate every experiment on the show :)

Here is the DVD version of it at Amazon - The Coning family highly recommends it!

Nancy - 23/365 - Cleveland, Ohio

Mom H & Owen

May 12

Vacation Day 6

• Weather is still crappy. 50ish degrees, but no rain.
• Scouted locations for wedding photos in Cleveland. Found some fabulous places on CSU campus and the West Side. So. Very. Excited.
• Owen tagged along for the ride and was a total trooper.
• Visited Mom H's office to show off the perfect grandchild.
• Tasty vegetarian lunch at Tommy's on Coventry.
• Shopping at Nordstroms. Purchased new Camper shoes. !!!!
• Shopping at Trader Joes. Why can't we get one of these in Orlando?
• Read a few chapters in front of a roaring fire tonight.
• Finally downloaded photos from our trip.

So enjoying this time away.

A few more favorites from today:

Amy - 22/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Chad received his iPad in the mail yesterday (thank you, Mom) and finally found a moment to play with it today. I'm trying really hard to not want one ;)~ Here is a comic book that he downloaded, it zooms in like the iPhone and shows each scene individually on the screen, too. It is so cool and the screen size is amazing.

Nancy - 22/365 - Kent, Ohio

May 11

Day 5 of vacation

Very, very, very ugly weather. Rainy and in the 40's. So not the springtime weather we'd hoped (and packed) for.

Hung out with the fam.

Completed some wedding preparations.

Spent a lovely few hours with my hubby in Hudson. Lunch and a little shopping in my favorite stores including The Learned Owl bookstore. I so love independent booksellers. Bought two books and made note of a few books I want to read:









Ordered Jeff's birthday gift.

Watched an impromptu concert of jeff and doug on the horns (decorative) and John on the piano. It was, in a word, hilarious.

Enjoyed a fabulous dinner and conversation with Doug, Davelene, Mom, Dad and Jeff. So looking forward to their big day and grateful for times like this.


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Amy - 21/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

I've barely been on the computer the past few days and have spent most of today cleaning. We have a rental home inspection tomorrow and they always stress me out! My hands hurt from my effort; however, it always feels good to see everything spick 'n span (even if it only lasts for hours with three kids)!!!

Now it's time for a little reading and then bed...


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Nancy - 21/365 - Kent, Ohio

May 10

Day 4 of vacation

Slept in. Again. (though Owen was up 3 times overnight).

Finished my book. Woohoo!

Owen took a 1 hour nap this morning!! Other two naps were over 30 minutes - a trend?

Weather was GORGEOUS.

Accidentally let the cat out. Oops. After many hours he came in. For food. Not like he needs it.

Hiked 3 miles. John hiked some of it. Owen napped in the ergo. Good prep for Aspen.

Worked in the yard.

Ate an amazing dinner made by my hubby!

D & D fly in shortly. Can't. Wait. For. Their. Wedding.

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Nancy - 20/365 - Pennsylvania Pike

May 9

Day 3 of vacation ~ also Mother's Day

Slept in til 9:00!

Tasty brunch of French toast and fruit salad with Grandma Hanniford, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Neal, Aunt Nanny, Bizzy and my sweet boys.

Drove 6 hours to Kent, Ohio. Only two stops. Owen continued to prove how much he hates the car seat. John was a model rider and was treated to his first Happy Meal. Jeff and I chatted and dreamed.

Encountered ridiculously cold weather for May. Hard to believe that just last week we were in 90+ weather at home.

Arrived at my in-laws with two happy boys. Unpacked, bathed and put the boys down.

Delicious dinner with great wine and greater company.

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Amy - 20/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

This is posted out of order (posted on 12 May and backdated for flow), but I didn't want to miss the day, even though I was away from my computer...

Here is Lynsie completing her homework on Monday (shocker, since it's not due until Friday) about months and seasons of the year. I was aiming to get a picture of her grip and handwriting, when I realized how weird it was to help her with the worksheet ... all the months are opposite to the USA!!! So, "Winter" is June, July, August, etc. We had a little talk about funny it is for me to see this, since America is opposite. I love opening her eyes to the differences and educating her.

Amy - 19/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

This is a picture of the new candle and hurricane from my family for Mother's Day. It is so beautiful and I thought it would make a great picture for today to represent the light that our three children bring into my life ... so much more than this flame, my life would be dark without them.

Amy - 18/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

This picture is (a censored version of) what you get when the boys are alone with the camera! Logan had a boo boo and needed a band aid, so Chad took him inside to get one. When I came in the house with the girls, he laughed and said, "Check out your camera! I had to get a picture of it..." Of course, there are about twenty in the series and a few of them are straight forward middle finger action! BOYS!!!!

Amy - 17/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

It was a busy day Friday (that's why I'm finally posting on Sunday night) with a birthday lunch for a friend and then the afternoon up at school for Mother's Day Tea. There will rarely be pics of me on here, so I thought that would share one from lunch today taken by Simon. Here I am with Sam, Kristy, Annette, Brooke (BD girl), Sarah (Host) right before we splurged on yummy cakes :)

At school, both Lynsie and Logan's class hosted a Mother's Day Afternoon Tea for us. There were handcrafted presents, singing, eating, drinking, and socializing. Tons of fun! One of the moms from Lynsie's class took our picture and I snapped a self-portrait with Logan :)
Leila was with me during all of this and was miserable to share the attention - LOL! She is coming down with a cold and wanted to be carried all afternoon. Hopefully, she will feel better soon!