Allegedly I may be a little bit lovely ....

What a way to start a cold, wintery day Down Under than by waking up and finding a message from the blogger I most admire, nominating l'il ol me for a One Lovely Blog Award.

And indeed folks, that is how my day started today when the lovely little Texan Amy from love.bug.blog put a huge big smile on my face! Amy approaches life with a wonderful passion and her blog should definitely be listed amongst your favourites ..... go on....... I'll wait while you go and do that ...........

The One Lovely Blog Award is a "pay it forward" kind of way to recognize your favorite blogs.

Here are the rules:

1. Post the award logo on your blog and link back to the person who nominated you.

2. Tell seven things about yourself.

3. Nominate up to 15 additional bloggers who you think deserve the award.

4. Post a comment on the blog of each nominee to tell them him/her they have been nominated.

So here you go, seven things about me.....

1. I have curly hair .... but here's an interesting fact ... it didn't become really curly until I was about 20 years old.

2. You will rarely find me with 'nude' toes ... I love putting nail polish on my toe nails, especially red. I would love to have it on my fingers too - but never seem to manage to find enough time in the day for it to dry. I need to fix that.

3. When I was 13 I was Verdi's opera 'AIDA' ...... not for my voice (oh goodness no) ... but as a tumbling, acrobatic performer.

4. I gave up coffee almost 4 weeks ago, and I do miss it! I haven't had a good few months, health wise, so decided to eliminate some things from my daily diet to see if I could determine some of those things that weren't seeing eye to eye with my stomach.

 I sadly think caffeine may be one of these things, so for the time being, no chocolate or coffee for me. The chocolate I can do without, that doesn't worry me too much ...... but I have an energetic 3 year old..... oh how I miss that afternoon cup of coffee :(

5. Last month, my husband & I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary!
The day before our wedding, as a matter of accident, we discovered that my wedding band fit perfectly inside his....... and I just love walking around everyday knowing that.

6. I don't think a day goes by that I don't question my parenting skills and if I'm doing the best I can at being Tara's Mummy. Did I yell too much? Did I teach her enough today? Did I encourage her enough to play by herself? What foods did she eat today? What did we talk about? Should I have done less of the household chores and more time running up and down the house pretending to be a horse? How much should I insist that she sit at the dinner table instead of hopping off her chair every 2 1/2 minutes to have a dance?

I know it is thinking these things that will help me and push me to be the best parent I can be, I just wish some days it didn't come with all the worry that I'm not always doing a great job.

But I look at this face, that I love beyond words, and I know I am always going to worry about what is the absolute best for her....

7. After many years of competitive gymnastics, and then coaching, I launched 'Aerial Creations' - which is a clothing & merchandise based business that caters for artistic, rhythmic, tumbling, trampolining, sports acrobatic and cheer gymnasts. I have an array of wonderful customers in Australia, USA and the UK.

And I'd love to nominate the following lovelies, for the One Lovely Blog Award ......

 - Mona of  Mona's Picturesque 

 - Ashley of Ramblings and Photos

 - Sarah of Little Blue Wren Photography

 - Sara of Chasing Rainbows

 - Sheri of A Girl, Her Heart and Her Camera

Iolanthe

I have been lucky enough to take some photos recently for a local production of Gilbert & Sullivan's 'Iolanthe', presented by the Queanbeyan Players. In what was a step outside my usual genre, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed theatre photography and am looking forward to my next opportunity already. The cast and crew were just delightful to deal with - making this job so much easier and definitely lots of fun. Last night, I went to a full performance, and absolutely loved it. The movement and colours were a treat for the eyes, and many a time I found myself tapping my toes to the Gilbert & Sullivan tunes. The performance was fun and full of animation and character. 'Iolanthe' is also quite comical and the cast pulled off this component wonderfully well. I'd like to share with you some of the images taken during the dress rehearsal, to help promote the production.


And here is a promo video I put together, to showcase some additional images.

Quarterly Top 5 Photos of Tara

Linking up with the gorgeous Ashley over at Ramblings and Photos, and her combined 'Quarterly Top 5 Photos' party. The five pics to be chosen must be those taken of your child/ren, and even though it was only over a 3 month period, I enjoyed the moment to pick the photos and reminisce on all the changes. Hard to believe that in a 3 month period there has been many changes .... but there definitely has.

For one, little Tara has turned 3. She continues to learn so much, and contest so much more too! Some days can be so tiring and she questions each and every thing I say or request.

For the most part, I am happy that this will hopefully mean as she grows and matures, she won't be a person to just accept something because someone else said so. I like to think she will constantly be on the search for better solutions or other options, a better way to do things, or a more viable solution. I am sure this trait will stand her in good stead for the 'real world' ... however, in the day to day world of merely trying to get clothes and shoes on and out the door, it can be hard going sometimes!

Here are my five pics for the last quarter.....

I chose this first one, taken in April, for two reasons - one, because I have been DYING to get a photo of her looking up at the camera (I think it is such a beautiful angle - but she NEVER stands still long enough!), and two, because this is the first photo where I really have noticed the little round face disappearing as she starts to look older (which of course makes me happy and sad all at the same time!).


This collage quite simply makes me smile. I had just received an iPod for my birthday, and with an adeptness I would have thought beyond her tender years, she quickly figured out how to scroll through the apps I loaded for her. My Dad came to visit for the weekend, and she took it upon herself to teach him a technological trick or two!





This picture I love for what it represents:
 - her curiosity
 - her love of playing outdoors
 - my snazzy binoculars made from toilet paper rolls
 - the fun times her & I have
 - making up games, getting down on the ground and exploring
 - her imagination





And if this last picture didn't represent the fun times we have .... I think this one will definitely do that! Here is what happened one rainy afternoon, whilst we were stuck indoors ......

And this last one I love, because it typifies her at the moment ..... a dress and gumboots .... no matter where we go! *EDIT* Thanks for the feature Ashley :)

Her birthday!

We recently had a pink-filled birthday weekend of fun at our home, celebrating my little girl's 3rd birthday.
And it was oh so Pinkalicious. Pink balloons. Pink tissue paper pom-poms (I channeled a bit of Martha Stewart craft action). Pink cake. Pink cupcakes. Pink serviettes. Pink biscuits. Pink drink. A bit of pink heaven, right there in our house. There was excited running up and down the house all weekend, Grandparents visiting from interstate, and thus to Tara's delight she had her pick of family to assign all the tasks of playing with her, bathing her, dressing her, getting her drinks - she was in her element & I got a small reprieve! It was lovely to have just a small gathering to celebrate a day special to her, and so very special for my husband and I too.

Birthday morning she awoke with the excited exclamation of "I'm three! I'm three!", and asked me a few times during the day if it was still her birthday. The day after her birthday she woke up and tentatively asked if she was still three. On positive confirmation there was an excited hand to her mouth and a bit of three year old jumping around. Shame I don't wake with the same excitement when I realise my age each morning. (Groan, slowly wake, stumble along from bedroom to bathroom, creaking joints, shower, breakfast, coffee...... "Oh, I'm that age! Now I remember why I feel like this!").

Here are some pictures I'd love to share with you all. Happy Birthday to the little girl that I love so very much.

Red is not my favourite colour!

I was showered, dressed and all ready to go. We'd both had breakfast. It was 9.20am and I had Tara booked in for a hairdresser appointment in town at 10am. Plenty of time to spare   ... no crazy running around. Just needed to get little Miss dressed and we'd be off. I even allowed myself the indulgence of thinking of the errands I could get done before her hair cut.

I smiled to myself as I observed her wonderful good mood, as she skipped up to me, hugged my leg and told me I was pretty, before telling me she was going to play me a sweet yearning tune on her harmonica (yes, she actually said 'sweet, yearning tune'. Funny child.). And I happily watched as my snowy haired little girl, a few days from turning 3 proceeded to perform this sweet, yearning tune complete with boppy, interpretive dance.

Okay, so just to get her dressed and we are out the door.

Quickly put a red top and blue skirt on her while she is distracted with 'Bananas in Pyjamas'. Once those two pieces of fruit in stripy pjs have finished I turn off the t.v, ready to pop her shoes on and out the door we go ...... tv off, she looks down and howls "But red isn't my favourite colour!".

Dramatic flounce to the floor followed by sobs of tears.

Small child coaxed to her room to pick out another top.

Pink top on. Happy smiles.

Sees blue skirt on and rips it to the ground "I can't wear a skirt, I need to wear a dress so I can be a BALL-E-NINA!". Of course. I am sorry. Let's go and find a dress.

"I can't wear THAT dress! It's too small. I am growing bigger and bigger".

More tears.

Frantically glance at watch and notice the time .... quick, shoes on, let's go.

"These shoes are too small". Shoes promptly flung to the floor.

Try second pair of shoes. Tears ensue. "My socks are all crooked! I can't wear these shoes". Shoes promptly flung to the floor.

Gumboots are happily retrieved, so off we go to the shops with my precious child wearing a dress, pants and gumboots :)
(I did laugh later on when we walked into a shop and the lovely shop assistant took one look at her and smiled, saying "Oh look at you! You chose your own clothes this morning didn't you?!").

Time to go, but first Tara stops in her room to collect some books and toys to take.

After another 5 minutes, my empty shopping bag now contains two little ponies, ponies' hair brushes, 13 library books, a photo album and a magnifying glass. Tara is happily standing there with a teddy in arms.

Drag self and overloaded shopping bag to the door, juggling car keys and sunglasses. Hear more tears.

Turn around to see Tara standing there looking at the teddy (THAT SHE CHOSE) "I CAN"T take this teddy, it is sitting. I need a teddy that is standing!". Of course.

Runs off to find a 'standing' teddy.

Finally get in the car, and fortunately the city is a short drive away. Chose to ignore the clock in the car.

10.01am. Walk into the hairdressers. Phew.

Sit down and think to myself "Did I brush my teeth this morning?".



It was kind of cute when she held my hand throughout the whole hair cut :)

I've joined the ranks of Instagram - find me @canberrabec - I'd love to know who else Instagrams :)