A Frosty Extreme Close Up – A Gallery Post

This week’s theme for the Gallery is extreme close up.

J took this a few weeks ago, (and many more like it), when the weather here turned very, very cold. He was fascinated by the snow and the frost, it was something we never saw whilst in Oz and something he didn’t remember.

Why not head over to Sticky Fingers to check out more extreme close ups

Read Full Post »

The Gallery – Light

I took  these pictures on one of our last nights in Australia.

 

The light from the sun setting made the sky go a fantastic colour…………it was simply beautiful!

 

Why not pop over to Sticky Fingers to discover more pictures of Light

 

Read Full Post »

The Gallery – 11.11.11

This week’s theme for The Gallery is 11.11.11

A similar thing was done back in August, basically the idea is to take picture on this day, (and only this day), for this week’s Gallery.

I took this picture and although it may have seemed like an obvious choice for today, it’s something that means alot to me too.

Every year my Granddad would don his hat and medals etc and stand in the middle of town somewhere collecting money and selling poppies for the Poppy Appeal. And every year he and my Nan would pop some money in the collection tin and give us a poppy to wear as a sign of respect for all of those who had lost their lives in wars. Each and every year since my childhood I have bought a Poppy and worn it showing my respect for fallen soldiers, even J gets a poppy.

For me 11.11.11 won’t just be another Poppy Appeal, it will bring back some wonderful memories of my Granddad all dressed up, it makes me feel very proud thinking of him standing in town with his tray of poppies. So once again I am wearing my poppy as a sign of respect not just to soldiers and their families but also for my Granddad.

Why not pop over to Sticky Fingers to check out other Gallery posts

Read Full Post »

Rays Of Light and Colour – A Gallery Post

When I saw the theme for this weeks Gallery was Colour I considered using several different pictures. I had pictures of animals, there’s so many fantastic and colourful animals in Australia. We’ve had some really colourful (and noisy) birds in our backyard, then there’s the bugs…….. and then the bigger animals…………… way too any pictures to choose from

So then I considered posting some of J’s artwork, ok it would have been yet another picture of Angry Birds, Smurfs or Mario that he would have drawn but it would have been colourful. In fact I had a couple of pictures all set and ready to go but then last night the sky did this……………………

Rays of Colourful Light

What can I say, I’m a sucker for good sky picture. I love the colour that the rays of light made as the sun started to set.

Read Full Post »

A Happy Memory – A Gallery Post

So this theme for the Gallery is A Happy Memory.

Tara over at Sticky Fingers couldn’t have picked a harder topic, when you have so many happy memories how do you choose just one, well I couldn’t but I did manage to hold back and just chose a few.

I know that I’ve used this photo in the Gallery before but I just had to use it again. I took this picture of my beautiful Nan a couple of months before she passed away. It was taken at her 80th birthday party that I had helped to organise. To me this photo represents one of the happiest memories that I have, my Nan was happy, she had a great time and was a little tipsy when I took her home and to me she hadn’t looked as happy for a very long time. I miss her everyday but when I look at this picture all I feel is happiness and love.

My next photo is quite possibly one of my happiest moments EVER!

This photo was taken when we finally got to take our little man home. We had waited so long to become Mummy and Daddy and so this photo brings back one of my happiest memories, the day we finally got to bring our baby boy home

Since J entered our lives we’ve had one happy memory after another, it’s so hard to choose between them but here’s a few favourites…………..

J presented me with breakfast in bed on Mothers Day this year, A very special happy memory

my Great Uncle B and I have always had a special relationship, I love this photo because it reminds me of the special relationships J also has with my Uncle B, it's almost like there is nobody else around

 

This was taken on our first family holiday and J's face is just pure happiness

 

 

Read Full Post »

The Gallery – Animals

This week’s theme for the Gallery over at Sticky Fingers is Animals.

This is an easy theme for me, it’s one of J’s favourite topics. He has an amazing connection with animals and tends to get on much better with animals than he does people. It still amazes me when I watch my beautiful little man, the child who hates to get his hands dirty, quite happily cover his hands with kangaroo, sheep or even elephant slobber whilst feeding them!

Whilst this is an easy theme, it’s not so easy to choose just one photo so here’s a few……..

One of J’s favourite things to do, whatever the weather is to feed the ducks

………………………. Or whatever else decides to say hello when we’re out at the local park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We don’t always have to go to the local park to see wildlife, as well as a geckos, frogs and a whole lot of different bugs we’re usually treated to frequent visits from these in our garden.

Since arriving in Australia early last year we’ve seen a whole host of beautiful Australian wildlife, most of which at Australia Zoo……………….

J's favourite Australian Animal

 

my favourite Aussie Animal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And ofcourse everywhere we go, Special Doggy goes too

Read Full Post »

The Gallery – World Photography Day

This week Tara over at Sticky Fingers made the theme for the Gallery World Photography Day and left instructions that today’s post should be a photo from today or the weekend.

We’ve decided to “bite the bullet” and go away for a few days, only the second time we’ve done so as a family since J was born. Last night I managed to get J to pack his small case with toys that he absolutely had to take with him

Then I rushed around packing a case with clothes and such like ready for our little trip. We’re going on a small road trip to check out some areas that are on our “we might move to if the area’s right for us” list. This means we will be in the car for quite a long period of time, this is something I’m dreading because half an hour in the car with J is usually more than enough so wish us luck! (I’m thinking we may have a few stops along the way, especially since he hasn’t been in the best of moods this week)

So I took this picture today especially for the Gallery. I think it’s quite a big moment in our lives, we’re all packed and ready to go on our second holiday as a family, hopefully all prepared for a long journey in the car with little man and excited to be visiting what could possibly be our next home.

Read Full Post »

The Gallery – My Little Green Man

This week Tara over at Sticky Fingers has made the theme for the Gallery “Green”

This is how my little man looked today and last night at the mention of that dirty word………SCHOOL!     Today my little man went back to school………….. regrettably

Last night we had huge meltdowns because he didn’t want to go to school, he “hates” school, he isn’t going to wear his uniform and so on……..

After he had calmed down a little (enough to talk to him anyway) we chatted for a while about some of the things he didn’t like or was worried about. We had all of the usual things, such as “the classroom is too noisy”, (there’s 27 kids in his class!), “the uniform hurts me”, (he doesn’t like the material or tags etc), “I’m bored” and so on. However also whilst chatting to him we also had a couple of (we thought) quite alarming comments made by him.

First he said that he doesn’t have any friends and some of the kids are mean to him. I asked if that makes him feel sad and if he tells his teacher. He answered, yes he feels sad but he’s a big boy and isn’t allowed to cry at school and when he told his teacher she said don’t worry.  WHAT?!?!  Ok so I know he probably hasn’t been told directly that he isn’t allowed to cry at school and that his teacher probably didn’t take into consideration how literally he would take her words but seriously, telling an ASD child to not worry and not being allowed to cry at school?

Moving on, as we got into our conversation he revealed that our thinking chair isn’t the same as the one at school, no he didn’t mean in appearance although ours is slightly different but the same colour………… red because if you have to sit on it you have made a red, sad choice.  He went on to say that his teacher had said if you are silly on the thinking chair you have to go and STAY in Mr T office…………………….. Again with the literal thinking!

Now I know that even we slip up from time to time but seriously, should it be one thing after another with his school.  We chose the school that he goes to because we were told it was “Autism Central” around our area, so we thought the best thing to do was to send him to a school that “knows” ASD’s. This is the same school, where he attends EI 2 days a week, although I am told that this will hopefully be cut to one day this term and 4 days in Prep. The EI centre (the ECDP) is wonderful, he has a fantastic teacher there and 2 teacher aides who are just as wonderful but J is just not getting the support we feel he needs and deserves from the school, mainstream. My husband and I are convinced that they don’t buy into the whole “ASD thing” and because J is high functioning he’s not seen as having a special need.

Question is where do we go from here?……………………………..

And in the meantime I’m dealing with a very “green, sick to his stomach, hates school” little man

Read Full Post »

The Gallery:Mother Love

It’s been a few weeks since I took part in the Gallery over at Sticky Fingers but this week’s theme was Mother Love…………………. obviously a theme very close to my heart at the moment.

I feel very lucky to be a Mum and to be blessed with my precious little man.  He’s an amazing person, who makes me smile, makes me laugh, sometimes cry, fills my heart with love and pride………………. he’s quite simply my best friend

This month would have been my Nan’s birthday and for the past 5 years at around this time I can’t stop my happy memories from flooding back. My Nan was my world and created so many happy memories for me not just as a child but also when things got tough after my Granddad passed away. My Nan struggled with Altziemers for about 7 years until finally life was just too much for her, but I have so many happy memories of my Nan during those 7 years. Even after she had left us I believe she was with me, watching over my special little man so that he could become our world and fill the void

And finally to my Mum………… my Mum and I have always been friends but I’ve always been closer to my Nan, my younger sister has always had that close bond with my Mum. So I guess what I’m trying to say is………………. I’ve probably not said it enough but I love you Mum!

Thankyou J, Nan and Mum for providing me with Mother Love! xxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Read Full Post »

What Mother Nature Left Behind – The Gallery

Read Full Post »