park life

we've had some lovely sunny days this winter, especially in the recent school holidays. my friend Julie is a photographer and we spent a morning at the park with a bunch of mums and kids. We just love how she records our lives.

Have a look at more of her work at http://www.juliewillisphotography.com.au/, you can follow her blog here too. If you're lucky enough to be a local to the Gold Coast, you can visit her at her photographic studio at Bridezillas Bazaar, 44a Wharf Street, Tweed Heads. She can organise your event totally with floristry, hire, invitations, chair covers, all with invidually designed personal details just for you. Love your work Jules!

when bears come to visit

rufus is one the prep class bears, millie is the other one. every now and then a bear comes home to visit for a few days and we get to taken them on an adventure, "transport" was the theme this time. so mr h thought as bikes are his favourite transport, that rufus should get to have a few rides.

strapped on baby-style

up and down the street on daddy's back

this last week has been a tough one with sick kids and plumbing probs - i don't whether i spent more money at the chemist or with the plumber. however now we're all better, eating and enjoying real food, and the heavy rain is back. two days and nights of rain and the fields, golf courses and parks are all under water again. here's hoping for a cheerful last week of term 2, and then the happy return of the travelling student father.

oh to be in italy in the summer

oh that's right, my lovely husband is, he's in milan and apparently the weather is beautiful and hot, and there's so many pizza cafes, coffees and galleries to choose from that he's just not sure what to do next. groan.

whereas i'm at home on a cold saturday night with nothing on tele, no dvds to watch, no choccy. i should have planned this a bit better i think...............

photo-less posts

mmm my 5yr old son needs some more practice i think, we have a LOT of headless photos.

speaking of photos and posts, i'll be doing some posting without any photos. dull but true. my camera is elsewhere for a few weeks. but i'll try digging out some ones from pre-blogging days for a diversion.

i've been back to IKEA, once you go that's it, you're hooked. personally i'm hooked on the fabrics. i just can't choose. but finally i did choose. i am re-upholstering (ie new foam and pillow-slip style covers) a chair which was my husband's grandfathers. it has sat happily in our living room with a turkish throw over it for many years. but i saw some gorgeous fabric and just had to do it. and i'm covering some large lounge cushions in a different fabric. but you'll have to wait for the piccies i'm afraid.

not that i should be spending my evenings sewing. i have enrolled into my next 2 TAFE subjects and should be reading, typing, reading, researching. i have been spending wednesdays in a school library and will do so until the end of the year. this is a requirement of my library and information systems course and it's great. my colleagues are very helpful and i have been enjoying being surrounded by books all day. my favourite environment.

currumbin after the storm

i know you've all seen it on the news, but living through the weather we had last week here on the gold coast was frightening. we live on a hill (thank you) under the protection of a ridge so we were ok; oh so wet but ok. i've never seen the beaches so damaged, holiday makers would have been very disappointed. it'll take man-made efforts to make them safe, the bulldozers have been out and about creating some slopes on the 10 foot drops from dune to beach.

this photo shows the surf club at currumbin, usually not an island. it has a large carpark in front which is totally swamped in this photo, plus dune and footpath. the foam was up over the dune, the grass area, the carparks and across the road. we resisted going sightseeing. some friends had a frightening moment when they were all grouped on the dune watching the wild waves when a small wave just kept coming and coming and eventually washed them back almost onto the road, going over the heads of the 3yr olds and knocking parents off their feet. my friend said she is amazed that mothers were able to clutch onto their children in the tsunami at all.

mothers day

we had a mothers day morning tea at school this morning. showered with gifts, both laminated and glittery, we were served a delicious morning tea of crackers, cheese, tomato, pikelets, jam - in any combination - and then sung love songs by 22 beaming 5 year olds. there wasn't a dry mummy eye in the room.

tomorrow it's the turn of a group of 3 year olds. note to self, take a tissue.

the last of the warm weather

those were the last of the extra warm days. it was 30 degrees here saturday and sunday. cooler today, but gorgeous blue sky days are here at last. autumn here on the gold coast is just amazing. it's warm enough to wear a tshirt in the day and cool enough to pull that woollen quilt up at night.

i've decided to take over the gardening. fungus usually does all this stuff, but he's so busy with uni and work that it's looking all weedy and scruffy. so i pulled out the finished sprawling cherry tomatoes, the herbs that had gone feral, the sunflowers that were tipping over and raked it over. all with a latte in one hand, so not very energetic gardening! but it's a start!

now what to plant? i'm off to sneak-peak the rest of our street for some ideas.