Day 365 - New Year's Eve and the Art of Self Taking a Family Portrait

We learned today that even with a remote for the camera it is hard to take a picture of yourselves sometimes! A few times the camera wanted to focus on the background rather than us, and a few times Henry just wasn't in the mood! We also learnt that sparklers only cause smoke in the daytime, which tends to make you look like you are on fire. But this is the final picture for my project, us on the final day of 2011!

So on this final day of 2011 I have had a flick back through the year of my blog and noticed the following...

Number of posts - 365
Pageviews up until now - 10,193
Most Read Post (according to stats) was the Day of Chaos (Day 251) with 42 page views, closely followed by The Story of Dale and the Policeman (Day 196) with 35 page views
Most Commented on Post via Face Book would have to be Day 98 (Dale's Hidden Treasure) closely followed by Day 196 (Story of Dale and the Policeman) Funny that both posts are about Dale!
Big Events of the Year included, Henry crawling and later walking and David and Dani's wedding, Henry turned one and Kinzie was born.
Number of photos of Henry - 113
Posts mentioning shoes - 14
Posts mentioning chocolate - 21

So that's it... Happy New Year's Eve!

Day 348 - An Exciting Gift!

How exciting, but frustrating to get home and find that Dale bought me an iPad! Frustrating because I had to race out to the year six farewell and couldn't even look at it until I got home later on. After an interesting dinner followed by some confusing line dancing (for me anyway) I stopped for a glass of wine afterwards with the other teachers and got home to set up my new toy! Thanks Dale!

Day 344 - Christmas Toy Run

The Toy Run is an event organised by the Motor Cycle Riders Association which, according to Google has been running for 31 years. Here is Dale this morning with his reindeer antlers attached and toys in his back pack to donate to those in need this Christmas.

Day 323 - Putting in an Order with Santa!

I can't believe it is already a year since the first time Henry met Santa! This year he needed Jenna to be in the photo with him, and I am pretty happy with the result! Although I didn't take this photo, I think it is as good as one of my own, considering I had to brighten the image up, fix the red eyes and straighten it (don't have vertical stripes if you can't keep the camera straight huh?) The 'photographer' really only pressed the button! Thanks to Dale for getting the big smiles from Henry!

Day 303 - Is That You Daddy?

Dale left at about 7 this morning on his way to Phillip Island for a couple of track days and all day Henry has been on his mobile... He must be on the phone to his Dad :P

Day 289 - Dale's Great Shot!

Dale is my guest photographer today, because although I took a heap of photos today, this one really stands out to both of us, even though we can't quite put our fingers on why! Obviously it isn't posed, but it is somehow by a fluke, well composed, none of us is looking at the camera, but rather, we are all involved in doing something of our own. Henry is busy playing; I am trying to coat him in sunscreen, Jenna is reapplying her sunscreen and I think Glenda may be taking a photo of Henry. I love how the sky behind us is bright, yet cloudy as well. Great shot Dale!

Day 285 - Dem Bones, Dem Bones...

So this is an X-ray of Dale's elbow. Over a week ago he went out on his dirt bike and ten minutes in, little did he know, but he had a fractured radial head of the left elbow. So in a lot of pain, Dale shouldn't drive his car (leaves me with a manual - lack of experience lately) and he can't lift much or ride dirt bikes for the next six weeks. It still waits to be seen if he will be fit for his trip to Phillip Island in a couple of weeks. So a day of work for today, but waiting for a CT scan next.

Day 260 - Tiptoe Through the Tulips

I don't know if I have had a day so far on this blog when it was harder to choose a photo! Today was such a gorgeous day we went to the park for a couple of hours as well as Floriade in the afternoon. Let's just say that I was very snap happy! Anyway, Floriade doesn't happen every day, so I thought I should choose one of those for today. The tulips and other bulbs are in bloom and today was opening day. As usual it is a lovely way to spend the afternoon wandering around admiring and taking photos. In this picture Dale is supposed to be waving Henry style; Henry looks vaguely amused. I'm looking forward to going back during the school holidays when all of the flowers are out and when I have time to browse the market stalls!

Day 253 - Trackside

Dale was racing at Eastern Creek today so Henry, Mum and I went over to watch in the afternoon. After a not so good start, where Dale felt the clutch slipping on the bike, he ended up in a pretty good spot by the afternoon, ready to start again on Sunday. Henry wasn't sure what to make of it all but I am sure that in good time, if Dale has anything to do with it, Henry will get right into it :)

Day 247 - Fathers Day

Today was Fathers Day and Henry gave Dale a nice bottle of scotch and this rather fetching necklace / wall hanging (we aren't quite sure?) brought home from daycare! Dale proudly wore it for most of the day :) For Fathers Day we enjoyed a special breakfast of pancakes and later Henry skyped his Opa to say hello.  Happy Fathers Day to Dad and to Dale!

Day 219 - Following in Dad's Footsteps

Henry has finally gotten used to the Cozy Coupe and appears to love his car (just like his Daddy). Although he doesn't realise that the fun part is supposed to be the driving around, he just loves getting in and closing the door. Then opening the door and getting out again. Then getting in and closing the door. Then opening the door and getting out again. I think you get the idea...

Day 215 - Happy Birthday Dale!

For the second year running, poor Dale has had his birthday overshadowed by a much shorter birthday boy and with their birthdays only a few days apart, I guess it is destined to happen. I really felt like we had had too much cake this week, so I went with the much healthier option of cheesecake which we shared after Dale got home from his class tonight. Happy Birthday Dale! xxx

Day 197 - Helping Dad

Just had to snap this picture this afternoon of Dale and Henry building our new wall unit together. Yes, Henry was quite interested in the drill and the set of drill bits that made a good sound when rattled in their case, and he did like hiding behind the cupboards that were yet to be hung for a bit of peek-a-boo! Our kitchen / family room is finally coming together with the pantry almost to the painting stage today and our wall unit that we bought in Ikea last month, finally being unpacked!

Day 196 - The Story of Dale and the Policeman

As I knew that Dale was having lunch at Art Oven today I asked him to bring me home a Portugese Tart. Wouldn't you know it, when he walked through the door, he had no tarts! He decided that he would go back to work to get them out of the fridge, otherwise they would be there all weekend and no good by Monday. I have to say that I didn't say no to this offer and thought he should be back just in time for dinner which was already cooking. Anyway,  to cut a long story short, I did think that the trip took a little longer than expected and it turns out that Dale had been pulled over on the way to the office for not giving way at a roundabout. He did know that it was clear, but the police officer had to ask why he was in such a hurry... his answer? Dessert!

Day 187 - In the Hot Seat!

I have been dreaming of a big square dining table for a while now, so went over to Vast Interiors this afternoon to look at their sale. I love these red chairs and 8 would fit around a table I liked as well. Anyway I mainly took the picture to show Dale my brilliant idea!

Day 165 - Reading With Dad

We have just adjusted Henry's bed time routine to include a book and it is a bit hit and miss! Sometimes he is just too tired, sometimes he gets most of the pleasure out of opening and shutting the book, but also (as the photo shows) sometimes he sits still and enjoys! I know I was told at some professional learning course last year how important it was for boys to see their fathers read, so that they don't get the idea that reading is a girl thing, so I think it is great that this is who Henry is doing most of his reading with so far. I also read this week that it doesn't matter if baby is more interested in opening and closing the book than reading, it is all "reading behaviour"! :-D

Day 163 - Ikea Here We Come

I really used to like shopping at Ikea when it was in Blacktown, but today we went to the new (well not really new) store at Homebush Bay. Now I love shopping, but this was unbelievable. A wet long weekend, everyone had decided to go shopping and the Rhodes Shopping Centre carpark was just the start. Dale was quite excited when we first arrived (can you tell from the picture?) but excitement soon turned to exhaustion. Now as it was all too hard to decide on which wall unit components to get, we will have to go back again with our prepared list in a few weeks!

Day 135 - Who Does Henry Look Like?

I went and got a bunch of photos printed today; just a few recent ones to update the magnetic frames on the fridge and I also got a couple of my own baby photos printed for one of those Match the Teacher to the Baby Photo things someone will be running at our school fete.

Anyway, when I looked at my photo (the one at the top) I thought I looked a bit similar to Henry. So here we all are. Dale is in the bottom left. I think they have the same nose and I notice that Dale had Henry's current hairstyle! What do you think?

Day 134 - Welcome to the World, Kinzie!

Welcome to little Kinzie, Henry's little cousin! Kinzie was born on Thursday afternoon to Erin and Dan (Dale's brother). I think she was about 3.4kg and has lots and lots of dark hair (of which, Henry is quite jealous!).  We went over to the hospital yesterday to visit Erin, who is recovering from her caesar and we couldn't believe how tiny little Kinzie is. It's amazing what can happen over 9 months, when we compare her to where Henry is now!

Day 131 - Our Kitchen Rules

Yep, here's Dale in the kitchen making one of the best curries we have had for a long time! Using a recipe for a thai red beef curry, he adapted it to a simple mussaman curry adding peanut butter and potatoes. It was fantastic. I always joke that if Dale went on My Kitchen Rules, he would be like the guy who sat rocking in the corner in series one, but secretly he's pretty good in the kitchen :-)