Sunday, December 26, 2010

Another Christmas done and dusted!

....*sigh*.... is it really all over? Blink and you miss it? That is why I love the first 24 days of December so much more than the 25th .... a lot more to enjoy. Still, all went well in this house with two very excited and satisfied children. Not too late to bed and not up too early. Hugh was waiting by our bed at 7:29am (per instructions) ready to dive downstairs.

I really am going to make more of an effort with my photography this year as I love it so. Below is a table ornament that was from Den's work Christmas dinner ... and my Chonk in the background - licking the bowl from the cake I had just whipped up!

I had used Picasa to edit this photo.




This week I did much spring cleaning and listend to my children while I did so. Katie wanted to write a book, so Hugh and I tried to help her out - her spelling is 99% phonetic and is a language unto herself. Here is Hugh setting her up to type out her story.




That is after he had kindly offered to scribe all her ramblings down! LOL!




I helped her with the finished product ... all printed off and placed nicely in a plastic pocket folder. "The Adventures of Wattle" (her yellow teddy). She is very proud of each installment she does - so far we have the 'Christmas' story and 'Wattle goes to the Park'.


Keeps her out of mischief while the boys and I compute!





Christmas Day saw us celebrate with Den's family and an outdoors BBQ. Here is a quick collage ... and no we did not get a puppy! I am not that silly! LOL! By personal favourite is the delicious pavlova in the bottom right corner - yum-oh!

Tomorrow we are off to celebrate with my family!





I could not wait to get my hands on Lightroom 3 for Christmas ... I could spend hours playing with photos and can't wait to use it fully. Here are a couple of quickly edited shots of my first play:

1. some ornaments at the Christmas table



2. Den and his two precious this morning - the Ipad I bought him for Christmas and his furry friend who never leaves his side! "Precious" is what he nicknamed his Ipad aka Lord of the Rings and the 'precious'! LOL!



Below are some of the pages I have recently scrapped. Click HERE for credits on any of the pages seen below:
















So guess I will speak to you all again NEXT YEAR!

11 comments:

Meg B. said...

Helen -- I LOVE my Lightroom 3!!!! I have some free presets on my blog, plus here's another good site for presets:
http://www.presetsheaven.com/

See you at the O!
-meg

Sue said...

Happy Boxing Day Helen!

LOL @ the post title ... but it's so true though! Writing has never been my strong point, so WTG Katie & Hugh for getting together to write a book ... those kids are just so sweet & talented. Hope you had a fabulous day with Den's family yesterday & I hope today is just as wonderful with yours! As for me? Well, chillin' out, watching all the Boxing Day football matches & generally eating & drinking way too much ... sounds like a plan to me! Enjoy the rest of the festive holidays Helen & all the best to you & yours for 2011!!!

Hugs,
Sue
-x-

Sue said...

I've just seen the score at the end of day 1 in the 4th Ashes test ... what the heck happened??? Come on England! ♥ LOL!

MariaT said...

I love that Katie writes her own books! And what a wonderful brother to help :)

Val said...

love to read you sweetie,
I sure will be up for a 2011 ride, by your side

val

Amy said...

Keep me posted on tricks and tips in LR. Mine should be here this week!

katell said...

Happy for you ;-)))
An ipad: wowwwwwwwww!!! I dream about it!! lol !!!!
The little dog on your picture is too cute...is yours?

salamandre said...

Helen, wish you a happy new year, mon amie!!!
All the best to you and yours for 2011!!!

Kim said...

Helen, thanks so much for the heartwarming comment on my blog! You're the sweetest! Happy New Year to you too, dear. Definitely keep going with your photography, your photos are amazing and now that you got Lightroom 3, they will even be more awesome! Hugs and kisses!
Kim

Nancy said...

katie's book looks awesome, so much detail she put into it. glad you had a nice christmas, i got Vinny an ipad too. i'm using it all the time! it's so cool. found this free lightroom preset link, it's got 190 free presets you can download. i haven't had time to do it yet, but i will soon.
http://www.ononesoftware.com/products/perfect-presets-lightroom/

Yummers! said...

I know nothing about Lightroom 3 but I will Google it and see what I can find out. I'd love a new toy... however one of my good lens was cracked on my flight home from Colorado before Christmas and I need to replace it first.

As a Reading Specialist I'm all for kids writing their own books. Way to go Katie!!

Happy 2011 Helen!!
Grammy J

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