forty plus three

Jane: Her belly swollen with the baby she waits so patiently for, second time round she approaches birth with a different and more grounded perspective

My darling girlfriend Jane has the most determination of any of my friends by a mile. After the birth of her first born ended in intervention and ultimately the operating room, this time she is having a home birth. The birthing pool, midwife and doula all on standby, waiting for her call. Armed with the power of knowledge, affirmations written on post-it notes fill her windows in order to pull her through the times of self doubt. I know she can do it.

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Grace: Nuturing our little veggie patch - all this rain has lead to an explosion of growth

Tom: He has been hanging out for a day on the water, today he landed his first Kingfish for the season - high fives all round and lots of screaming from our boat!

Camping fell through this week, no thanks to the weather man who got it all wrong. However we did manage to get amongst nature, spending the entire day out on the water. We went to our secret spot, anchored the boat and had our morning tea underneath two wedge tail eagles soaring high into the air, floating on the up-drafts and hovering over the ocean. 

Playing along with the beautiful Jodi.

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Tom:  Doing what boys do best - climbing up trees in their good clothes, when we go location scouting together.. note to self: put him in play clothes next time we go exploring

Gracie:  A little obsessed with those "flower thingy's you make to go on my head".. laying on the grass at the farm with Missy, whose little tummy is brimming with kittens.

Black and white. Ive said it before and I will say it again... I just love them. No colours to distract you, just the contrast of a monochromatic scene. The simplicity of it is beautiful.

After 7 weeks of pure mayhem, if the weather holds out this weekend we are packing a minimal amount of belongings and heading into the bush, all they way up the river. We have our tents and other camping essentials, but I am really looking forward to escaping with just the four of us. I think I am more excited than the kids.

Following Jodi with a portrait a week x

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Tom: On the banks of the river our town is built around, my little explorer wanders

Grace: Amongst the pink oleander - this portrait I think I will print, her young innocence captured forever

This week its the nature portrait series, with Tom amongst the golden yellow river reeds and Grace nestled into the green foliage of the oleander. We were careful not to touch it too much; for as beautiful as it is, it is just as poisonous. 

This week has been a blur once more, with the end of school term nearing, assignments due and deadlines to meet. I am in the thick of wedding photography, a backlog of editing is waiting for me. Looking forward to the pending holidays, where a trip to South-West Rocks is being planned.

Playing along with the ever beautiful Jodi.

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Tom: He celebrated his 7th birthday this week. 
Grace: Our snowball tree was cut back a little harsh last year, however it blossomed with a vengeance this spring

Tom didn't want a birthday party this year. He had one when he turned 6, but found it overwhelming with 10 mates all competing for his attention. I made a batch of cupcakes and took them to school where we sang happy birthday to the boy with the freckles and scraggly hair. I think I may have embarrassed him.. only just.

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Grace: Reading her letter I wrote a week or so ago. 

Tom: Post swim, waiting out the front for Ian to come home.

This week the girls had the flu and the boys dodged a bullet. It was the first time Ian had ever slept on the lounge in our whole relationship, and it wasn't even because we had a fight! He simply wanted to stay away from the 'germ-den'. Grace and I stayed in our pyjamas all day watching movies from my teen years.. it was all sorts of awesome (and a whole lot of tissues!).

Linking in with the ever beautiful Jodi

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Grace: This time last year we planted them. Now they have blooms the size of her head!
Tom: Shampoo in the eyes always sucks.

This past month we have been so busy. Painting the house, job and uni applications, last school term for the year and birthday parties galore. I've let all the little things slip, including blogging, editing and housework (what a shame). The time is going too quick, all I need is another 3 hours in each day and I would be good. The key thing I need to focus on is organisation, then I think the rest will follow.

Until then, as the bumper sticker on the car in front of me today said.. 'get in, hold on, sit tight and shut-up!'.