Amy - 58/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

My poor, sad, hurt boy :( He is often the victim of little Leila's attacks! Today, he was hiding from me under a blanket in the living room and she knew he was there. Soooooo, she ran over, jumped on the pile, and bit down hard on the first thing she found - his nose! OUCH!!! Thankfully, the teeth marks disappeared pretty quickly; however, the Rudolph nose remained behind. To distract him, I asked if I could take a picture to show Daddy later and it worked. By the last picture he was calm and almost forgot the pain!!!

Amy - 57/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Memories....

Ahhhhhh! The erg and I go waaaaaaay back (right, Nancy?!?)! Today, before BodyStep class, I decided to complete a 2,000 meter row workout. Lately, I've been lacking in cardio, since I've been focusing on BodyPump, so I was really surprised that I had my best time at this gym and I was able to rock some good power tens!!!

Amy - 56/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Today, I went out into our backyard to sneak (LOL) a picture of my neighbor's trees. My goal was to capture what I feel is common of plants during WINTER in Perth, Western Australia:

- Though the tree has changed colors, not all the leaves are falling off or giving in.

- The tree doesn't look dormant and is actually really healthy from all the rain.

- There are new buds on the tree ... already!

- The lush green tropical tree in the background reminds me that this is a beach area.

Amy - 55/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

I must confess, I am happy that today is (almost) over! Logan was not feeling well today and ran a low-grade fever: he barely ate, drank a little, and stayed in this location for most of the day :( Leila was miserable, too, with a cross between teething and her allergies. She coughed most of the day and cried on & off all afternoon/evening... Some days, bed time cannot come soon enough, the silence and time without my two-year-old appendage is priceless.

Amy - 54/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

For some reason, I was inspired to declutter the "art area" (for lack of a better term) today, while the kids colored. We have two baskets filled with school and home art projects. I feel that it is impossible to keep and/or scrapbook them all, so we have a deal: I take a picture of it and then we recycle it. Someday, when I catch up with my scrapbooking projects, I will print the pictures and put them in their school books. In the mean time, it helps to keep the growing mess under control! I posted a few of the pictures I took on Facebook in my "Fun Artwork by My Talented Kids!" folder :)

Considering this area was an embarrassment a few hours ago, I am happy with my progress for the day:

I even considering posting less pics of Leila's birthday, because it looked so bad!

Amy - 53/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

The boys bonded today: Chad, Logan, & the temperamental, overheated Jeep :) Several of Chad's work friends met up for a day of four wheeling. Logan was very excited to go and had a great time with his Daddy! The Jeep survived, but I foresee some improvements in it's future, so it can reach it's fullest potential.

nancy - 52/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

June 11

For years we've tried to grow basil in the summer. By mid-June it always becomes apparent that the basil is dying. We thought the problem was the heat. Surprise, surprise we tried again this year because we're stubborn. By late last week it appeared that we epically FAILED.

Then I had an idea. Why don't we change our approach. Every year we put the basil in a pot and stick it on the patio where it may, or may not, get watered on a consistent basis. And it's subject to the sun's punishing rays all day long. My brilliant idea was to stick the pot under the tree where'd it have a break from the midday sun and water from the sprinkler system.

Guess what?

In one week we have pretty, pretty dark green basil.

AMAZING.

All I did was change our approach and just look at the outcome. Perhaps I need to apply this to other elements of my life.

Amy - 52/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

I rarely shop and today took the "day off" to hit the shops with Kristy. It was a great time and she helped me load up on Australian souvenirs for the trip home next month. To be honest, I really felt that I didn't want to mess with bringing stuff over; however, the giver in me won out :) I spent so much, the guy gave me this giant shopping bag for free - LOL!!! I don't want to spoil the surprise of all the goodies, so this is just sneak peek...

nancy - 51/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

June 10

With 29 days to go until vacation, it seemed time to begin the countdown. I thought a countdown chain was in order so I asked Jana to work on one with John this morning. I came back from the shop and was blown away with the amazingness of this project. The chain included questions, pictures of things we'll see on vacation, and little thoughts about our trip. As usual, Jana outdid herself. So very excited to see this chain get shorter and shorter.

In other news, look what I found on my camera courtesy of Jana.

nancy - 50/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

june 9

today I'm grateful...

that the car started slowly enough that I knew I had an almost dead battery

that Bob could replace my battery AND my oil in a mere 45 minutes

that I randomly had two jars of owen's food in my bag since it was lunchtime

that there was a slight breeze making the walk from Bob's to lunch bearable

that our playdate was just delayed and not cancelled

that the boys so thoroughly enjoyed playing in the cold water

that Jeff went to get Pei Wei for dinner and picked up a book at the library for me

so, so thankful.

YUMMY:

Amy - 51/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Today, I had a decision to make: gym for me or gym for the kids. Guess it's obvious which option won?!? We met up with some of Logan's Kindy friends at Jungle Gym for the their Open Gym time. The kids had a blast and I had a blast watching (and photographing) them ;)~ We'll definitely go again!

nancy - 49/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

June 8

It was one of those days where you feel woefully behind on everything. You cross one thing off the list and add ten. Tonight I'm attempting to pay bills for the month, balance the checkbook and file. Keeping it real here on Robin Road.

Amy - 50/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

In my opinion, one area of weakness that my photography has is my lack of attention to lighting. When I upload my pics to the computer, I am usually disappointed. Sooooooooo, today I practiced using natural light (at suggested angles from one of the pointer books I'm reading) with my willing model and first baby! She is so helpful and loves posing for me! Even when I was done, she kept offering to do more ... gotta love that girl :)

Amy - 49/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Kids of all ages in our house are addicted to the educational games on the CoolMath4Kids website. Last night, Lynsie had a huge meltdown, because she couldn't figure out the Bloxorz Stage 7 puzzle. I tried to calm her and stop her, "I'm an idiot!" self-hate by discussing how the puzzles are supposed to get harder with each level. "If they were easy, you wouldn't be exercising your brain muscles and helping them grow stronger ... which makes you become smarter!" She didn't buy it and the meltdown continued for awhile :(

Above: Lynsie and her best friend, Wil, after school - trying to complete the stage, again!

Say it with me: "What's gonna work?" "TEAMWORK!"

PHOTO DATE: Tuesday, June 8, 2010

ALL CAUGHT UP ... for now ;)~ xox

Amy - 48/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

STRESS! STRESS! STRESS! The trip home to America has to be more fun and relaxing than the planning process, right?!? It seems like it would be easy to figure all this out, but it is NOT! Our family lives in nine different states ... seriously! Though, you would think that we would not be expected to visit everyone, we still need to visit the four states of each parent: IL, KS, OH, TX Oh, how must sweeter and simpler would life be if these states were closer? HEAPS ;)~

The "To Do" list just keeps growing!

+ Rental Car Reservations: ORD to IAH, CMH, MCO, ORD (?)

+ Accommodations: Galveston Beach House, Houston Hotel (Chad), Ohio, Orlando (all timeshare?)

+ Airline tickets: IAH to CMH, CMH to MCO, MCO to HOU (Chad), MCO to IAH (Amy + kids)

+ Timeshare exchange: ORLANDO! We deserve a real vacation out of this trip!

+ Buy sporting tickets: Browns & Ohio State (Chad), Cubs (Amy)

+ Work with Chad's sister to find a babysitter for Browns game

+ Not to mention trying to manage and fit in all the "dates" we'll have to catch-up with people

PHOTO DATE: Monday, June 7, 2010

nancy - 48/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

June 7

Proofing more wedding photos today. I love this part of a shoot, even though it's the most tedious.

Thoughts I've had repeatedly while proofing these photos:

• What beautiful people
• What a beautiful day
• Wow! I nailed this shot
• Thank God Jana came with me
• Isn't Davelene beautiful?
• Gee, Doug looks alot like Jeff
• I'm so glad D&D agreed to pull over and photograph in front of this apparently abandoned building
• Why didn't I hire someone decent to photograph my wedding? I wonder what the photos would've looked like.
• I love people who are so totally in love
• Wow, I took alot of photos. So did Jana.
• I'm so glad that Davelene is family now. How'd we get so lucky?

Amy - 47/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

This weekend, I was lucky enough to see two movies on the big screen - woo hoo!!!

Iron Man 2 - Saturday "Date Night" with Chad, even though he was still not feeling well, he "sucked it up" and treated me to dinner with a movie :)

Sex in the City 2 - Sunday night a friend from our company that I was communicating with via Facebook (about how we both want to see it) called to meet up ... so great!

YES! If you notice the tickets prices ... they are very expensive in Australia.

PHOTO DATE: Sunday, June 6, 2010

nancy - 47/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

June 6

We call him toothie.

Eight teeth in all. Four on top. Four on the bottom.

I love to see them all, especially when he squawks and squeals. When he wants to make any big noise, he gets real serious. Then he cracks a slight smile. Slowly the face crinkles up, the eyes close and SQUAWK!

Nancy - 46/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

June 5

Checking on him before I head to bed. My firstborn no longer smells like a baby, but a full fledged boy. Even after his tubby. A sprinkle of dirt, a cup of sweat, a dash of soap and dollop of sunscreen. I'm trying to memorize the smell.

nancy - 45/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

June 4

His latest Highlights Magazine just arrived in the mail. In a matter of days we've read it at least 25 times. He enjoys thumbing through it alone. This is a new thing for him. I imagine he's reciting the stories in his head as he looks at each page (by now he knows them by heart I'm sure). So sweet my red headed boy.

Amy - 46/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Hello :) My name's Leila and I'm teething my two-year molars. Guess what?!? Teething hurts, so I've had my hands and fingers crammed in my mouth all weekend long ... ouch!

PHOTO DATE: Saturday, June 5, 2010

Amy - 45/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Mmmmmm.... my lunch from today that I photographed to track my WW points when I got home.

Chad came home yesterday (Th) with the Man Flu, so Leila and I stayed clear of the house by shopping the day away :) So, I was lucky enough to see more friends over an impromptu lunch today. We meet Kristy, Olwen, & Sue at Miss Maid's, shopped 'til we dropped (or cried because nap time was love overdue), and treated ourselves to ice cream for the (messy) drive home!

PHOTOS DATE: Friday, June 4, 2010

nancy - 44/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

June 3

Ni Hao, he says.

Wo ai ni Mama.

Jana is teaching him chinese and he's enjoying speaking it.

Ni Hao my sweet boy. Wo ai ni VERY MUCH.

nancy - 43/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

June 2

Hard to believe he's sitting on his own. No more pillow, though I put them down just in case because the floor isn't so forgiving. I find myself excited for this stage of play and sad that the baby is growing up.

nancy - 42/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

June 1.

Moments like this are why we wanted to have two children. I was running around trying to get the house ready for the cleaners, fold and put away laundry, prepare for the first day of swim lessons, fix breakfast and amuse both kids. Knowing how busy I was, John grabbed a few books and climbed on the bed with Owen and his toys. They just laughed and giggled in their own little language for much of the morning. John "read" the book to Owen and "made" us all smoothies. The yellow canister was the blender, the red cubes were strawberries, the blue cubes were blueberries, the green cubes were yogurt, and a few shakes of the bumblebee for honey. Just put the red top on the canister, shake and serve. Yummy!

Awesome.

Amy - 44/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Thank goodness the red wagon was strong enough to handle this load, because I barely was!!! After the half mile, uphill walk home ... I was exhausted and sweating (in the winter)! All the giggles I heard walking home is one of the best parts of parenting :) I love it!!!

Oh! I am thankful for my iPhone, too, so I could capture this spontaneous threesome overload on the way home!

PHOTO DATE: Thursday, June 3, 2010

Amy - 43/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Today was another "Mommy & Logan" day and we had a great time together! We went to the park and he willing (for the most part) participated as my "model" during the playtime, so I could practice taking pictures outside and using the sun to my benefit (plus, I played around a bit with perspective). All of this just adds to my preparation for a friend's wedding that I am photographing in October. It's in the afternoon and outside, so I anticipate that the sun and shadows could be either my worse enemies or best friends!!!

PHOTOS DATE: Wednesday, June 2, 2010

LOCATION: Piney Lakes Reserve

nancy - 41/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

May 31

It is HOT. Hot, hot, hot, HOT. And humid.

The tomatoes agree.

While they are still prolific it is now too hot for them to set any more fruits. Decline has begun.

We have been perplexed as to why we have huge sunflowers and no blooms. We discovered this weekend that squirrels are eating them. grrrrrrr...........

Amy - 42/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Today was a beautiful, sunny first day of winter day in Perth! Perfect for meeting up with friends at Hillarys Boat Harbour for lunch and chit chat. I had a chance to catch-up with Kelle before she left with the girls for Ohio and Robin before she moves to Houston.

Sometimes it's difficult, as an expatriate, to make new friends (shocking for me, since I am soooo not shy)! I find that many Australians are hesitant to let me into their circle or get to close to me, knowing that we will only be here for 3-4 years. And this location is unique from a company standpoint, since we all live in many different suburbs and not on a compound, like so many other oil locations. However, I have built some amazing friendships with the other wives in our company and know I am building friendships that will last for years. It is inevitable we will soon be separated with new assignments, but I have faith and hope that our paths will cross again soon.

PHOTO DATE: Tuesday, June 1, 2010

LOCATION: Hillarys Boat Harbour

Amy - 41/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

Ahoy, mates!!! I'm about to play catch-up with a week's worth of photographs...

Alas, Lynsie's pink camera has been found! She has a little Samsung point and click camera from Christmas two years ago that was buried in a pile of kids' school art projects :) I always crack up when I download her pictures off the camera ... she takes a wide variety of pictures, ranging from odd to amazing. Above she is posing for me to take a few pictures of her, to have addition to all of the self-portraits (yes, she is in a laundry basket "ship")!!!

Here's my favorite self-portrait she took:

We talk a lot of what love is and means in our house. She looks so serious here and I wonder what she is thinking about?!? One of the biggest and most important lessons that we stress is to love yourself :)

PHOTO DATE: Monday, May 31, 2010

nancy - 40/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

note the river running down the street

May 30

The summer rains have begun, a few weeks early, messing with our swimming and playdate plans on a regular basis. While we are a bit bummed the humidity arrived so early, the yard is quite happy.

nancy - 39/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

photo by the amazing Andrea!

May 29

Wednesday afternoon she sent a text. The babysitter was booked and reservations for 4 were made. After contacting no less than 10 potential babysitters, we begged my Mom to come to town and babysit so we could go out with our friends.

So worth it. The meal, conversation and company was fabulous. We need to do it again soon.

xoxoxo

nancy - 38/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

May 28

One of the biggest surprises about life with children is the inordinate amount of time I spend in the kitchen, cooking and washing dishes. Sometimes it drives me crazy because I really like a clean, organized kitchen. Other times I remind myself how blessed I am to be standing in this sweet little kitchen, cooking my children meals, and peering out the window at our little neighborhood.

Nancy - 37/365 - Orlando, Florida USA

May 27

6 month appointment today, a few weeks late.

"He's a big & healthy boy!" the doctor said. This is no shock to me and my tired arms. "Boy he sure does have alot of energy." tell me about it.

Notes about this month:

• 17 lbs 10 ounces
• off the charts on height and weight
• 7 teeth (almost 8)
• sits on his own, though he's still a bit wobbly
• doesn't yet have a command of consonant sounds, but can squeal like a pterodactyl. often sounds like a wild animal.
• scared of madeline.
• wakes up, on average, two times per night. me? I'm OVER. IT.
• adores his brother and thinks he's hilarious. the feeling is mutual.
• has recently become picky about eating. seems to be a little too early for this, in my opinion. will eat almost anything if i combine it with sweet potatoes.

I can't believe that 6, almost 7 months, have passed.

Amy - 40/365 - Perth, WA, AUS

This is what a typical moment at our dining table looks like! One of my goals during this photo challenge is to document the little details of life and I laughed when I looked at the table on a walk pass. It's covered with Chad's work stuff that has been pushed out of the way for Lynsie's craft project (which looks much tidier now than it did an hour ago before bed) ... too funny :) Thankfully, I just framed the picture right, so you cannot see the laundry basket at the opposite end left by me. There are some times when I beyond frustrated with the mess of life and other times it makes me smile. Good thing, tonight, I can go to sleep with a smile on my face, knowing I have a lot of picking up/cleaning to do on Monday!

Have a great week!!!