What would you do for a Mallowpuff?

Clearly a zerbert for a Mallowpuff is a pretty fair trade.

I'm certain Berkley wants in on this action.

A while later, Q told Jeremy that he would let him give him another zerbert in exchange for a Mallowpuff, which he couldn't say without giggling, by the way. They aren't dumb, are they?

edited to add: Thanks, Jeremy, he now thinks he can and should charge for zerberts.

just think...

Just think what we could grow if our garden weren't so unloved and completly neglected.

When I say "unloved", I'm really not kidding.

The cat's out of the bag. We are officially the world's worst gardeners. We are the house that undoubtedly causes the neighbors to just shake their heads. They may even place bets on when the lawn will be mowed next.

On a side note, I brought in a little praying mantis with this gorgeous bunch of blooms. I caught it crawling across my computer screen.

cooperation. treasured by mothers everywhere.

On quick trips, Quincy loves to walk through the grocery store carrying the basket. He walks hastily, with pride and determination. He takes his job very seriously, loading everything onto the counter and then returning the basket while I pay.

He seems too little to be such a big boy.

I think I was so keen to get a photo like this because it screams "cooperation" to me and that is huge in our house right now. He gets pretty engrossed in what he is doing. He dawdles, so I feel like I'm often asking him to cooperate, especially at bed time or while getting ready to go somewhere. He usually does, but it's definitely always best when there are no threats involved!

By the way, this is not the first time he paraded through the local Four Square wearing his sunnies from Stef, attracting a few stares and the odd comment.

notes: He loves his "Simon overalls". He also loves the idea of bread rolls, which he is being tempted by in the photo. He has never eaten more than half of a roll though. The bread lover in me can't relate. Today he had a few bites and then pretended it was an ice cream and just licked it.

edited to add: Upon looking at this photo on my blog...

Q: What's that's name?
me: Do you know who it is?
Q: Yes. (his voice filled with certainty but his eyes filled with question marks)
me: Do you really not know who it is?
Q: Yes. What's that one called?
me: Do you know where the picture was taken?
Q: Four Square. (but still no clue who it is)
me: I'll give you a hint, he lives in this house.
Q: That's a girl.
me: It's you, silly.
Q: (very sadly with a quivering lip) No, that's NOT Quincy. Quincy is a big boy. That's a grown up girl.

ties are not optional.

At our house, ties are required at the moment. For the last week or so, Quincy has been Duffy Driver from the Little Red Train books by Benedict Blathwayt, and guess what Duffy wears? Yup, a tie. And a jacket. As you can see, no one is immune.

I have lovingly been given the role of Jack the Guard. Berkley and Kai are Jack and Duffy understudies, respectively. (Be sure not to mix them up.) But Jeremy has won the best part of all, the coveted role of the Postmistress. He is so pleased.

He studies the very detailed images for ages and copies Duffy's stances and mannerisms. He regularly slips phrases from the books into conversation. I love listening to his Duffy adventures through the monitor. Some favorites:

• oh rust and dust
• race to the finish
• put on the brakes
• animals on the line
• here comes the swish train
• coke and clinker
• off in the distance
• blow the whistle looooong and loud
• Barnacle Bay. My favorite place in the whole world.

But the best of all was when I walked into his room and he jumped out of bed, exclaiming, "Duffy earlyslept (overslept)!" and then he walked with such purpose out of his room declaring that he was on his way to Birchcombe Village and he needed to load his supplies in the train.

A boy on a mission with a vivid imagination. That's a pretty cool combination.

Oh you may wonder why he needs that wrench. That's to fix the blown boiler. Of course.

Project 365

I am a huge fan of Project 365 and feel the need to share it with those of you who aren't familiar with it. I first caught wind of it on Flickr a few years ago. The idea was to take a self-portrait a day for a year. You had to take it yourself and include some part of you. Heaps of Flickr groups popped up and the photo-a-day concept spread.

Last year it infiltrated the scrapbooking world. Kits and digital templates became available to document the ordinary and extraordinary of our everyday lives. In 2009 I made my own kit based on a Becky Higgins concept. It took me all my free time in January to design, print, punch, trim, and glue, but fortunately I had help. Well, at least company.

Here is a sample layout from a random week in May...

(These are 12x12 page protectors that hold six 4x6 photos on each side. I bought them from Hobby Lobby in the US. Each journaling card is 3x4, so there are two cards per pocket. I used a 12x12 American Crafts binder.)

Based on demand last year, Becky Higgins started a company called Project Life and now sells kits (a paper version and a digital one that results in a printed photo book). In NZ they are available for a limited time at KiwiScraps and elsewhere they can be purchased through Amazon early next week. Thankfully this is what I am using this year. A few of the colors and designs aren't my style, but it's a lot cheaper and a heck of a lot faster using the kit. The whole point is for it to be a low stress way to tell your story, so fast is good.

Here is my title page for this year. I chose to add a bit of chipboard, a few brads, a metal clock, and my trusty Dymo to the kit contents, but it's not necessary. For the weekly layouts, however, the only additional thing required is a pen, an ink pad, and an optional corner rounder. You don't even need glue or a pair of scissors! Now that's easy!

I must say I am sold on this way of memory keeping. It takes so much pressure off while allowing you to document those stories that would otherwise get lost. It encourages you to get pictures off your computer and into an album. Your photos can actually be enjoyed.

It makes you focus more on your photography and really think about what photos you want to take in order to tell the stories you want to remember. I think it also helps you to live more in the moment and to find beauty in the everyday.

This format can be adapted in many ways. A photo each day might seem daunting at first. One photo a week might seem more manageable for some people or doing one two-page spread per month. Another idea would be to just do one week each month. You can always add 12x12 page protectors here and there if you want to include layouts. If you go on vacation or have heaps of photos from one event like Christmas, you can just add an extra page of favorite photos and extra journaling, if necessary.

Some people might think they don't have something photo-worthy each day. How wrong they are. We all have so many stories to tell, most of them might seem mundane. Some involve important events. Some call to mind the character traits of loved ones. Some of them are funny, while some are downright depressing. They are all worth telling, and even brief little snippets speak volumes about our lives right now. What a treasure that will be in the future. Family members, friends, and pets are obvious subjects, but there are so many other details of our day-to-day lives that, if included, would be valued years down the track. A photo of the gas pump showing current prices, a new pair of shoes, the view out of your office, current events, food photos, photos of the places you regularly visit, a photo and receipt from the supermarket, a picture of the book you are reading, your computer screen, your ipod playlist, other current technology, your alarm clock, daily routines, home decor, an heirloom, a care package, movie ticket stubs, to do lists, weekly meal plans, bills... The list goes on. If on a particular day you are thinking about something that happened in the past, you could even use an older photo from that time. I had two aunts pass away in 2009, so on those days I used old photos I had of them. Those of you who have older children can get them involved with the photography and the stories too. Send a disposable camera to school or on a playdate. The accompanying journaling could be a short blurb, a list, a funny related story, a quotation, whatever. There are no rules.

I continue to scrapbook traditionally, well for me, that's digitally at the moment. I definitely still enjoy getting the creative juices flowing while working on a layout, but now I have the freedom to be more selective in what I choose to scrapbook in this way.

I am in no way affiliated with Becky Higgins or Project Life, I just want to share a concept that I really believe in with others.

Songs for Haiti

If you donate to help Haiti, Paste Magazine will grant you access to a vault of over 200 songs to download for free. Some of the songs are previously unreleased and have been recorded especially for this cause. Some of the growing list of artists include the Cowboy Junkies, Emmylou Harris, and the Indigo Girls. The money that is donated through Paste will be spread among three charities: Doctors without Borders, Red Cross, and the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund. If you have donated elsewhere, you can also enjoy the songs based on an honor system.

Spread the word.

Summer. Finally.

Nothing says summer like board shorts, a singlet, jandals, a matching pair of skinned knees, and an ice cream cone.

We all hope it'll stay a while.

And now those three are fast asleep, dreaming of their romp in the sea.

interesting observations from an ordinary snapshot

On the surface there is nothing great about this photo. It's pretty mundane really. In fact, it nearly got culled.

However, a closer look made me realize that this little snapshot holds plenty of sentimental worth.

Notice:

1. The undies. They are one of Q's favorites. More importantly, though, those undies stayed dry all the way until his nap at 2pm. What an accomplishment! One that was worth a mini Reeses in my book. When I gave it to him, he just laughed and laughed. Sweetness.
2. The slippers. It should be the height of summer. We should be enjoying lazy days at the pool, barefeet, picnics on the beach, ice creams in the scorching sun, dog walks followed by swims in the sea, and a brand new sprinkler that still sits in its box. Instead it's a cold, wet, and windy day, like a lot of the days of late, and we are spending it in our nest, playing trains on the uper-cool track Jeremy and Quincy built last night. We are home bodies and find plenty to keep ourselves amused, but still we would appreciate more than the odd sunny day here and there. Our so-called summer this year is a bit of a downer.
3. The chewed-up post. This was courtesy of a very desperate Berkley two Christmases ago when we had Priya and Joe and the girls over for dinner. The girls were a bit scared, so we locked them in the playroom. The dogs, not the girls. We'd never done that before and I guess Berkley didn't appreciate it.
4. The train turntable. This was part of my parents' Christmas gift to Quincy. Let's just say that he's a big fan.

So there you have it, some photos deserve a second look. Think before you hit delete.

PS-Just in case there is any doubt that the train layout is uber-cool, here is proof...

under construction

Updating and filling in gaps. Ten new posts and counting...

Guess what we've been up to...

Here are a couple hints...

telling words indeed

While reading Who's Driving to Quincy before his nap today, he pointed out that the rhinoceros on one page was a mama. I asked why, thinking he'd mention the bright-colored Hawaiian shirt. Instead he said matter-of-factly, "She's carrying a camera."

Indeed.

These photos were taken one evening in mid-December when Quincy was rediscovering "the other Kawincys" after a 7-week separation. He was full of life as he cracked himself (and me) up making silly faces, kissing the other Quincys, and singing a very animated rendition of Frosty.

I must say, I'm glad my camera is often within arm's reach.

Indeed.

All that silliness would be long forgotten otherwise.

a crystal ball would come in handy

I often wonder what the future holds for these two.

For now these looks are reciprocated.

But for how long?

01.01.10

Hello 2010!

We welcomed the new year with a morning hike to Butterfly Creek with the same friends we picnicked with last night.

Amelia was a rockstar tramper, walking all the way in and halfway out without a single complaint. The other two kiddos impressed us too by walking a large chunk of the way in and a little bit of the way back.

Going at a slow pace, it's about a two-hour return hike. I think it took us six. No, seriously I'm not sure how long it took us, I didn't have a watch, but suffice it to say, we did a lot of exploring along the way.

Despite our naysaying, I think they were propelled forward by the visions of thousands of butterflies that seemed to be dancing in their heads. We're not sure why it's called Butterfly Creek, but oddly enough, we're almost certain that it has nothing to do with butterflies. We had a hard time convincing two-year-olds of that though.

No worries, the bright red dragonflies did not disappoint, especially when they landed on your hand when you held it perfectly still in a ray of light. The kids, and grown ups too, for that matter, were filled with wonder.

We had morning tea in the shade by the creek. Then the three amigos spent ages throwing stones into the water while Priya and I gasped repeatedly at their close calls with the edge.

It really was the perfect start to the year.

I think it should become a New Years Day tradition.

Definitely.