I cant believe my little boy is turning 3! He doesn't have a baby face anymore but I guess he will always be my baby. Super strong willed and independent, he keeps me busy. We went out this morning for some just for fun photos:

Don't you grow up too fast! Please slow down :)

We had a bday party at childcare this afternoon + I made cupcakes and we sang happy birthday at home, and he got some Ben Ten toys + a big Ben Ten themed bday party is planned for Sunday.  Oh, It is the start of the birthday season on our house, now there is hubby on the first of December, Matty on 15th, mine on the 17th and with baby Jesus on the 25th, that's a lot of celebrating :) (and a lot of work)

See you back on Sunday with the new Pencil Lines sketch and free template.

xoxo

Hello!!!!! We came back on Wednesday! I still have visitors at home so that is why I haven't been around much. But just wanted to start sharing a couple of things before they stack up :)

Firstly some highlights of our vacation that had highs and lows. The boys weren't interested in shows and the COLD water in the parks, but they loved the characters:

After lunch they managed to get in the water:

At night we had a fire show, I played with the camera!

Matty got an allergic reaction to God knows what, we think it was the smoke from the fire show. He got really puffy eyes and the next day we went to Sea World, you can still see how it is a little swollen and how he doesn't look like he was having fun:

'

but there were some good times:

As you can see from the above picture, after lunch his eyes were much better.

Next day we went to Movie World and it was by far the kids' favourite day. Matty just LOVED the Scooby Doo ride, he went twice, Lucas was very disappointed he could not go and I stayed outside with him.

Throughout the day Mateus asthma was playing up, I was giving him the puffer almost every hour, it went through the night and one hour after he finally slept he woke up screaming he could not breath. We called the ambulance and went to the hospital. Luckily we stayed there less than one hour because as soon as he was given steroids he got better. We gave him the medication for the next 3 days and he was fine, phew.

The last 4 days had rain forecast so we didn't plan anything far from the hotel, the first day I just stayed in the room with Matty to make sure he was ok, and the other two we enjoyed the hotel facilities. On the Monday night me, hubby and the in-laws went to Draculas. I loved it, it is hard to describe, it was my second time there and I have to say is something people should do if they plan to go anywhere near the Gold Coast. If your English is good you will get the jokes and the night will be complete, but just the music is worth it :) It was also the very first time the kids stayed with a baby sitter. I was a bit stressful but hassle free experience and the boys had no problem with it :) might be doing it again some time hehehe

I could share some more photos of our way back and the time we spent in Brisbane but this post is way too image heavy already and, you know me, there will be scrapbook pages with the photos :)

(it is also 4AM and I am done LOL)

See you tomorrow with a COOL giveaway :)

Hi, my first maternity session led to a first newborn session :) Meet baby K:

Doesn't even look like the same baby on all the photos :) The light was, once again, NOT good, it was very cloud and I don't have any lighting equipment, so I had to fix it all during editing. In some photos the colors got so bad after fixing the light that I had to convert them to black and white but I love the result! and mom and dad are also happy, now they want a family session :)

Have a great weekend!

(no pun intended or reference to my last kit, hehehe)

You must be wondering why I have stopped posting photos. Well, I haven't totally stopped taking them but it has been hard to get out and about with the kids in the current weather. The weekend before last it was ok go, and we did go out for some exercise and I finally got the camera out.

Lucas was having a great time, he just loves being out and about. Matty on the other hand decided to be Mister Drama, complained the whole that it was too hard, his legs were hurting, blah blah blah, well, with camera in hand I don't stop, I still took photos of his "bad mood"

it doesn't last long though

and on the way back he was a happy chappy (well, it was downhill so he didn't even have to pedal!)

(first four photos and last photo edited with Itty Bitty Actions)

No hybrid feature this week, I think I might have to start having them every other week as I am torn between lots of different projects :)

Hope everything is good on your end because here... it's crazy good, hehe

xoxo

For the one little word prompt this week: Joy.

Everything by CD Muckosky except background paper by Michelle Coleman.

Now, I think this page is cute, but it really doesn't fit my style... I think. I am not sure what my style is, I can't see it, but I know what is not me, and even though I love fantasy settings and style, I find these pages very pretty, I can't do it myself. It is the same with the minimalist style. For example, I loooove what Dunia can create, her style is amazing and so clean, but when I try it myself... it doesn't work. So, I am still trying to figure out my style, anyone knows? hehehe

Here is the original photo:

I *have* to stop scrapping these photos of Lucas, listen to me, do what I tell you but don't do what I do, do NOT scrap more than two pages of the same series of photos or you will end up in the situation I am in at the moment, where I still want to scrap a couple more pages for 2008 but am already way over the 100 page limit, which means I will have to chose some pages to not make to the album. and I still wanted to scrap these two photos:

Will I ever learn? :)

In other news, I am still sick, but a little better, like, I can stay out of bed, and we did go out for brunch today, so that's good...

oh, and Happy Fourth of July to my American friends, hope you have an amazing day of celebrations :)

See you guys tomorrow with Pencil Lines :)

I know most of my readers are in the US and in the middle of summer, but it is Winter here, COLD winter. My last month's photos? are Autumn photos. I am going to save some of them for later, but here are some of my favourites this month:

Lucas loooves the moon, he is always looking for it.

Just after we got back from our trip to Brazil I noticed that Autumn was at its peak and I was going to miss out. So I grabbed Mateus one day after school and let him play with the leaves while I photographed to my heart's content (I swear the trees look like they were on fire... the photos don't do Autumn justice in here!!).

awww my sun flare (and my cheeky boys LOL)!

check Mateus' fingers on this one LOL isn't he too young for that?

Now some home shots (since we have been at home so often with this weather!).

Lucas has been VERY attached to Mac, they are together non stop. Mac has become an inside dog since we came back from Brazil. It is too cold outside and I don't to keep her outside if she is allowed to come in all the time. If she is coming in so she should stay in so she is clean! She has been VERY good up until now, she is very clever and rarely has an "accident" inside but she started to get interested in the kids toys now that it has been a while and she is started to get bored with her own toys. She chewed on a couple already. It is good to teach the kids not to leave their toys in the floor though...

(ugh, look at the carpet next to Lucas, meals area + carpet + children = not a good combo)

My boys at home sick and just so tired:

and lastly, the state of the living room that week we spent home:

that was like a minute after I had organized everything and tried to settle the boys down with a movie... it does get worse than that if you put toys in the equation, but that is supposed to be the TV room which is clean and organized at all times (quite different from the family room). 

Talking about being home sick... we are sick again... just me and Lucas this time, but still, it sucks a bit. Hoping to get out of that cycle... I want to go see the snow. I have a feeling the kids will LOVE it.

Sorry for the long and image heavy post, it just built up and up and I still have loads more photos I wanted to share. I did a photoshoot last week that I REALLY want to share, it was with a friend who is pregnant, and I like the results of this first attempt at a maternity shot. But I wanted to share my photos before so, next time :)

*** Edit to add: from the sun flare photo down, all photos edited with Jinky Art's Sweet Photoshop Actions. The first 4 photos just had a little boost of light, shade and color in Lightroom.

My boys and Isabella:

Look at the little pout :) I don't think she likes being smothered by her cousins :)

Needless to say it was great to play with the camera and these little models! Even though it was a dark cloudy day, these are precious to me!

No scrapping yet, too busy playing with the photos, these were edited using Jinky Art's IttyBitty Actions - Sweet set. Talking about Jinky Art, congratulations to Barb Uil for her new baby girl:)

See you soon!

My niece and Godchild: Isabella

(you can click on images for a little larger versions! the reductions get so blurry)

I'll be back soon with more :)

As I mentioned before, I am overwhelmed with the number of photos of my trip; but there is one highlight that will sure make it to this blog: meeting Isabella for the first time. Here are the photos of our first lunch together, the first time the boys got to hold her (and for some reason they were very eager to):

well, at first she didn't like it, but she ended up settling :) and I just adore that tiny baby cry! so cute!!!

aww, she is such a good baby, and I admit I was super happy she slept in my arms!

and off course, we took the chance to get a family shot in:

mmm, this is just day one :) more photos to come! Now is super late and I should have been in bed a while ago!!!

xoxo

Hello :) Hope everyone had a fantastic Mother's Day! Mine was nice and quiet (well, as quiet as the kids allowed), just the way I like it. Woke up to handmade presents from the kids and the Twilight DVD from hubby (movie I haven't seen yet of the book I also haven't read). Took photos (had photos taken, see below) then brunch at the local shoppes and shopping for a new handbag and boots. Then back home and everyone did exactly what they wanted. Matty played Batman Lego on the Playstation, Lucas watched a new Mickey Mouse DVD, Alex went to take a nap and I... was scrapping and editing photos :) Ended the day with a little TV we watched the finale of So you think you can Dance Australia that was recorded a couple of weeks ago. I was happy I still didn't know the winner and even happier that it was Tahlia, I think she did great and I can't wait to see her performance at the US Finale of So you think you can Dance.

Yesterday I thought I was going to buy myself a new lens or camera for Mother's day, but found out the prices went up so much the money we had saved was not enough (it was a major bummer). Even Alex was disappointed, now he had to think of something else to give me LOL. But, if camera gear is not available, the next best thing he could do was take photos and so he did.  Even though I put on a ton of weight over my vacation time and had my hair back, I still think this will be one of my all time favourite photos of me and the boys:

Thanks Alex!

(the sunflare was a complete fluke, we had no idea the sun was entering the lenses and we didn't plan for it. Some people would toss something like this but I absolutely love the feel of this photo)

xoxo