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photography

Thud turns two and there’s lots of TRUCKS

written by Lauren

Cue the tears and the wailing “how is my baby TWO already!?” You know how it goes.

Well, technically his birthday isn’t for a few more days, but we had a party last weekend for the family and this is how it went down….

P.S I’m using these pics for my 10 on 10 photo post – where I talk less and show more. Ooh, boomchickawahwah, that makes me sound really sleazy. But you get my drift… I share 10 photos from one day and at the end, I’ll give you a link to another blogger who has done the same thing and you can hop around to a great group of much more talented photographers than me.

Thud had a construction themed birthday. His favourite thing to scream in my ear as we drive the streets of Canberra is TRRUUUCCK! We are also surrounded by construction with three houses being built on our street right now, so he’s a bit fond of all the big machines and noise.

So there were yellow and black balloons (obvs). I considered hiring a helium cylinder which we did for his first birthday, but I decided the first birthday had been so OTT that he didn’t need helium balloons for at least the next five years. Kinda glad we went the cheap and cheerful option because nothing gave him more joy on his party morning than running up and down the hallway kicking the balloons.

Playing with balloons at a construction themed 2nd birthday

Happiest birthday boy alive. Lots of squealing.

And here we have the cake.

Last year I went all out. We had a jungle themed party and I made a fondant cartoon monkey by myself (which, I’m not going to lie, was spectacular) but there was no way I was spending 8 hours on the 2nd birthday cake. Sorry mate.

This year it was a plastic truck stuck on top of the cake. Some boulders and rubble, with a couple of road sign cookies and we’re good to go.

Truck cake for a construction themed 2nd birthday

Was delicious. All cakes should come with a side serving of Violet Crumble and Maltesers.

I like cookies. I like cake and cookies. #Idon’tquitsugar

I made little road sign cookies for the party. The ‘2’ is a speed sign. Which is sort of hilarious because Thud is more of an 80km/h type of kid.

Road sign cookies for a construction themed 2nd birthday

Road sign cookies slathered in royal icing and fondant #diabeticcoma

Thank you Pinterest for this idea. No thanks however for the mini-tantrum that ensued when we showed Thud his new truck and then took it back off him to use for party props. In hindsight, it was a pretty cruel thing to do.

He lived. And he enjoyed the corn chips.

Chips in a toy truck for a construction themed 2nd birthday

I’m all for party food like pies and sausage rolls, but when I saw the recipe for BBQ ribs on Shannon’s Kitchen, I knew that’s what we’d be having. They were amazing.

We also served up some beer-can chicken, a sublime potato bake made by the Sarge and some sausages for the kids. And a salad to make it look like we are somewhat healthy people. No one ate the salad.

Warning. You need to cook these ribs for three hours in your oven. The smell will reach every corner of your house and will drive you mad with desire until you are willing to sell your body for a taste of that sweet, sweet BBQ tang….

And then presents!

Why do we make faces like this? Do we think our kids will be more excited if they see us flipping out over a toy lawnmower?

Luckily Thud had his cousins on hand to help him work his new mower.

Boys and machines. It’s genetic.

And then cake.

Cake was almost lost to a bear attack. It survived.

Happy birthday to you! It was sung three times so he could blow out his candles three times.

He was not happy I said no to a fourth rendition, but you know… boundaries.

sniff…. blowing out those two little candles….

And then an awful lot of cake was eaten. Blergh…..

He looks so gentlemanly eating cake with cutlery, but in actual fact, he was just scooping the icing off the cake so he could eat that. Cue a sugar high for the ages.

So there we go. Little Thud’s 2nd birthday party. Such a big boy!!!!

Now it’s time to head on over to my gorgeous friend Sasha’s blog at From the Left Field. She’s a much better photographer than I am and she has two totally adorable little girls. You’ll love them xxx

June 10, 2015

Easter at House Thud – 10 on 10 photos in April

written by Lauren

It’s that time again… time for less words and more photos.

Every month I join a bunch of bloggers who are taking a break from all the words and telling their stories with pictures. We post 10 photos on the 10th of the month. At the end of the post you’ll find a link to the next person and their 10 photos… and then you hop along the circle until you come back to me (check out Feb and March). Make sense?

No? Eh, don’t worry, just scroll down…. (where you’ll find I recklessly disregard the ‘less words’ rule)

Here’s what Easter looked like in House Thud (Game of Thrones people. It’s back in two days!)

Yes, I know rabbits are pests blah blah blah…. they’re also FREAKIN’ CUTE! And they poo chocolate eggs. Thank you Easter bunny! Thank you Canberra for being infested with the bunnies.

Found him!

I had the whole fandang family down for Easter Sunday. Trust me, there was a lot of food, but I didn’t care about any of that. I was all about the pretty. I spent way too long trying to set the table…

Yep, that’s carrots

I’ve had this branch hanging on my wall since Christmas. It was my rustic, no-chocolate Advent Calendar. I keep meaning to take it down….. but look, my laziness came in handy! Instant Easterfication with a garland of circles cut from old Beatrix Potter books and sewn together.

advent calendar hangover repurposed into garland holder

How many times have you thought,” Jeez I need a big old branch hanging off my wall”? Me too. Luckily I have one for such occasions.

As usual, I let Pinterest corrupt my plans. Apparently people do Easter trees now. So of course I had to have one. And when I say ‘tree’ I mean ‘twigs in vase’. It has no presents underneath, so I’m not really sure what purpose it serves, but I thought it looked pretty. Especially with my beloved family of felt ball animals…. Sylvanian Families eat your hearts out.

no presents, but still pretty

Please stop and appreciate this egg. No, I mean it. Please linger. Admire. Comment on how beautiful the bling egg is. Do you know how much effort went into this stupid thing? Have you ever blown the yolk out of a tiny hole in the top of an egg? It’s bloody hard. You blow until your eyes bulge and your pelvic floor starts to give. It’s highly unenjoyable. And then you sit down with a bowl of glue and a tray of glitter which ends up everywhere including on your eyeball… I sacrificed for this egg. Enjoy.

I nearly gave myself salmonella and a prolapsed bladder for this thing.

I did mention I didn’t care about the food, but I did care about the cheesecake.

berries and chocolate because Easter

Of course there was an egg hunt. It’s Easter!

When my nephews arrived they ran straight for the backyard looking for eggs. There were no eggs because the bunny was not particularly organised just yet…. Mister Nearly Five walked up and said “Aunty, did the Easter Bunny come here? I can’t find any eggs.”

One of my very special skills is thinking on the fly…. so I said, without missing a beat, “Well, yes he did come and hide some eggs, but you know what I had to do? I had to go and collect them all because I knew you were bringing your puppy today and dogs can’t eat chocolate and I didn’t want him to find any of the eggs and get sick, so I found every last egg and put them away, and I thought maybe after lunch I could go and put them all back where I found them and then you boys could run outside and find them. Just don’t tell the little boys because I want it to be a surprise for them, ok?”

“Oh, ok,” he said gravely. “Dogs can’t eat chocolate cause they could die.”

“Exactly,” I said, and we both nodded with much seriousness.

Exactly where he originally left them, and where I collected them and where I put them back again.

Bless his little cotton socks… Thud was not exactly sure what was going on. All he knew was his cousins were running around like wildlings and he had to follow. Luckily his adorable big cousins dragged him along and kept popping eggs into his bag. Sharing is caring.

yoink

It’s not the end of a hunt until you’ve tipped your bag out and tallied up your takings. It’s the law.

the haul

The end. Except for the grammatically ambiguous sign…

The lack of comma after Easter hurts my eyes

Bonus photo!

The next person in the photo circle is Shannon from My 2 Morrows – a gorgeous blogging friend who I met in real life last month at a Problogger training event in Sydney. That’s Shannon, 2nd from right, standing next to me.

Just a few awesome chicks is all… L-R: Kirralee Baker Escape with Kids, Sam Colden The Annoyed Thyroid, Victoria Tonner Boiled Eggs and Soldiers, Vivien Au Ms K Flatwhite, ME, Shannon Morrow My 2 Morrows, Chris Cooper Bits and Pieces.

So now hop on over (geddit? Hop?) to Shannon’s blog for her 10 on 10 xxx

April 10, 2015

10 on 10 photo project – March in Canberra

written by Lauren

Yep, this is happening again. Photos, not words.

Once a month, I link up with a bunch of cool people who take ten photos from one day and then share it on the tenth of the month (10 on 10. Ten photos on the Tenth. Geddit?). At the end of each post you’ll get a link which will take you to the next person in the circle so you can see what everyone has done. Because it’s just pictures, it’s really quick and fun to follow the links. Except of course when you get to mine…. because I am words. ALL THE WORDS (This is restrained, trust me).

So here’s my day in March:

Wait…shit, I just can’t lie to you. These photos were taken over two days not one. I know, I know, too many words, AND two days worth of photos. Such. A. Rebel. But we had two great Canberra days, with lots of fab photos and I couldn’t/ wouldn’t pick between them.

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March 10, 2015

10 on 10 photo project – A day in the life of February 2015

written by Lauren

To give you a break from the never ending WORDS that I heap on you from these pages, I’ve joined a photography circle. Like a quilting circle without the quilting. And we don’t meet up. Or even see each other ever. So, nothing at all like a quilting circle.

The idea is that we take one normal day, photograph the bejesus out of it, then post our 10 favourite photos from that day on the tenth of the month. We all link to someone else in the circle so you can hop along and see what other people have come up with for their 10 on 10. Following? Picking up what I’m putting down? Catching what I’m throwing?

So, for once, I’ll shut up (sort of. Captions don’t count) and show you a day in my life….