garden.

there is quite a bit of colour happening around mother's garden these days. we don't really have much of a garden at home so i'm making the most of the gorgeousness mum manages to maintain so well! it looks great and smells even better :)

here is a little sample of my favourites - the great australian bottle brush; the wedding bush (how appropriately named!); and a plant with cute little purple flowers (not sure on the name of that one!)

can't stop smiling

here is the little boy that can't stop smiling (well, almost)!

happy outside in the fresh air at nanna and pop's place he is occupied for hours with his toys or just with some grass or leaves...

he is loving the open space and all the lovely trees, grass and water feeding his senses. after a long playtime he is usually nice and tired for a good afternoon nap!

we are having a very relaxing time here in WA and are totally making the most of our time spent here - chilling out at base camp (mum + dad's) or out and about catching up wtih family and friends. and we can't complain about the weather - its been wonderfully warm :)

splishy splashy

bathtime! a daily ritual but one that i can rarely capture very well due to the terrible lighting for photos in our laundry.

but, thanks to a dear friend's generosity i have finally been able to take some fun bathtime photos! for a couple of weeks i borrowed christie's 35mm lens (which auto focusses - yay!) and flash. i've never been all that fond of flashes until i started experimenting with diffusing the light. the room was flooded with light like magic - suddenly i have a very clear idea of what i'll be putting on my birthday wishlist!

so here are a few of the pics... i guess they are in every parent's collection of baby photos but i'm glad i've got some of my own now :)

eamon spends a LOT of time splashing the bathwater onto the floor, but he has an unbelievable amount of fun in the process. and its definately much less tiring now that he can sit up in the bath pretty well.

thanks again christie and hope we can get together again soon x

almost there

only a couple more sleeps and eamon and i will be on the plane again and over to our second home in the west!

the last few days has been a little frantic with packing and house organising as well as all the usual looking-after-kid stuff so we really can't wait for some chillaxing at mum and dad's. mother-daughter time is well overdue and its definately time to recharge the batteries - just look at those bags under eyes! eek!

looking forward to seeing all of our wa fans soon (hardee har har) xx

hey dude...

daylight savings = more playtime + more fun!

eamon's recent most favourite thing is hanging out in the big wide outdoors world - in the hay, on the grass, munching on green bits and pieces, chatting to the girls etc.

and with the start of daylight savings last weekend, eamon has been able to spend even more time outside.

we're looking forward to many more fantastic outdoorsy play opportunities this summer!

playtime!

eamon has been able to sit for about a month or so now and is absolutely loving it!

playtime has become so much more enjoyable and longer-lasting :) hooray!

he is a real 'busy boy' and can occupy himself on his mat for a considerable time - which is fantastic...! not only for him but for his mum too :)

winter wonderland

although technically winter has finished, the snowy season has not! last week tassie was still experiencing some ferocious dumps of snow (apparently it was even in WA news!) particularly around the cradle mountain area.

we took little mate up to the lakes a few weeks ago for his first snowy experience. nature put on such a wonderful show! it was truly beautiful.

eamon seemed to enjoy the adventure too - he spent a lot of time giggling and laughing as he was carried around with daddy... they did lots of boy things like breaking up ice on frozen lakes and kicking snow around and getting as far away from mum as possible so she couldn't take photos of them. unluckily for them i still managed a few :)

a fruity nutty loaf

this here - teamed with a steaming cup of green tea - has been my little survival kit for winter's chilly mornings... my home-baked fruit + nut loaf (mmmm!)

a little tired of spending up to $7 or $8 for designer fruit bread, i decided to embark on my own fruit bread baking adventure!

and although winter (thankfully) is now in the past, i still delight in this little luxury most mornings and have no doubt this little habit will continue well into the warmer months... ...although i should work on reducing the amount of butter i've been spreading on it!

to make follow these here easy intructions...

take one packet of crusty white breadmix, prepare and add to breadmaker according to packet instructions. set the cycle time to three and a half hours or thereabouts (sweet or french, depending on your machine). fifteen to twenty minutes into the cycle (while the dough is kneading) add a small handful of roughly chopped walnuts, around 3/4 cup of sultanas, two tablespoons of brown sugar and a teaspoon each of nutmeg and cinnamon. then leave the breadmaker to do its thing. if you're the particularly adventurous type or have some dough know-how you could most certainly do this by hand.

a bit over three hours later you will have wonderfully sweet baking aromas wafting through the house and a great fruit loaf too. best served toasted with a generous spreading of real butter :)

a spring in your step

we've made it! winter is over and spring has finally arrived!

to celebrate the return of long sunny days and lovely balmy nights i took some outdoorsy shots of the girl next door... harper d. :)

she was having as much fun on the swing as i was, taking photos with the beautiful big sun behind her... hooray for warmer weather!

you have to love...

...the weekend!

since becoming a mummy the pace of weekends has really changed compared to that of pre-parenthood life.

back then we would earnestly cram every possible task/housework/car-washing/baking/adventure/bike-ride/late-night activity into the two tiny days that make up the weekend.

whereas now... we kick back a little, take in the freshness of the little world around us and really enjoy the time that we have together as a family. we've especially loved the last few weekends since ben has been home to enjoy them with us - time for long breakfasts, extended playtime with eamon and winter country drives.

family is indeed a beautiful thing. it doesn't get much better than this :)