oh my heaven’s above!!!!

Can you say, “Oh how gorgeous!!!”  Can you believe how beautiful the Anne Geddes plush toys are?  We couldn’t resist adopting one when we stumbled across the Anne Geddes store in Downtown Disney.  Oh my heavens above, these toys are amazing works of art and are beyond beautiful.  They are softer than the softest soft and look like angels.  These babies take my breath away with their realistic baby beauty.

Phoenix’s baby makes me so happy.  Seeing Phoenix carry her bunny baby around by the ears and stopping for kisses melts my heart.

What a clever lady you are Anne Geddes!  Thank you for bringing happiness to our hearts.  ”protect, nurture, love” is such a beautiful motto to live by…

Jasmine

xox

the little slice of paradise out the back

It brings so much peace to my soul looking out of my bedroom window each morning when I wake up.  I am so happy to live on this beautiful little slice of paradise hidden in suburbia.  I will be so sad to ever leave this place.  What a find!  An old house that hasn’t been subdivided within and inch of it’s life! A yard filled with apple trees as old as the house, but so infinitely more beautiful than anything man has ever made.

Throughout the last few weeks, the earth has come alive before our very eyes.  The winter’s snow has melted and fed the beautiful earth beneath.  It takes my breath away watching the apple trees blossom and colourful flowers sprout from nowhere, everywhere.

Finally, a place where I can breathe.  A patch of mother-nature just steps away, to escape to whenever I feel the need.  The only thing that could make this yard better would be the calming sound of ocean waves right at the back of it :)

he knows me so well :)

On a sick and grumpy day, I found this in my sons homework folder – he knows me so well…  His cuteness totally turned my frown upside down…  

I love that he knows what I love from observing me over the years…  I LOVE art and I LOVE taking photos, I LOVE flowers, I LOVE Star Trek and I LOVE chocolate!  He knows me perfectly!! hahaha.  That sure put a smile on my dial :D

my evening, in pictures…

my afternoon, in pictures…

there is something magical when the sun shines through the flowers…

There is something magical when the sun shines through the flowers,

I could sit and breathe in it’s beauty for hours and hours.

emily’s happy camera straps!! yummy!!

For anyone who hasn’t visited Emily’s gorgeous Etsy Shop or Blog, go now!  You will love her originality and positivity.  Hers is a blog I check out on a regular basis because her posts help to inspire my life. Her Etsy Shop is AMAZING.  Her camera straps are sooooooo yummy, along with her laptop covers, notebooks and artwork.  Do yourself a happy favor and go explore through all of Emily’s happy goodies!!

Happy Tuesday evening to you all!

xox

i am in love!!!

I am so in love with my new camera!!!!!!!!!!  My elderly, broken-down Nikon D100 has been dying a slow death for the last six months, to the point where every other photo turned out completely black *sigh*.  I shall miss you D100, but I fear, not for long!!  My new D700 is sooooo yummy and divine.  It captures soooo much detail in low lighting without going grainy – I am inlove!!!  

I was twiddling my thumbs for a moment after putting the children to bed, then thought with sudden excitement – Hang on, it doesn’t matter that it is practically night-time outside!!! This is the D700, master of low light, let’s go play!!!!!  You would never know how dark it really was outside from these pics hey!  The sun had gone down, plus it had been a very stormy day (with a tornado warning even – eek!)  So I put the ISO at 800, shutter 100ish and f3.5, and voila! 

PS Check out how much the cats from next door love me!  They follow me everywhere!!!  Hence them being in every shot…..

Jasmine

xox

awesome

Thanks to Roma for sharing this little find with me – an article about the Assistive Technology Lab teaming up with Shriners to help my little Fi-fi.

http://www.cpdusu.org/featuredstories/shrinersATlab/

In eight months of being here in the US, we have accumulated more than $100,000 in medical bills for the children and this keeps growing by more than one hundred dollars each day.  It would have been much more if we hadn’t brought so many supplies and equipment with us from Australia and hadn’t been the recipients of so much love and charity from others.  Even the wealthiest of the wealthy could not keep up with have sick children in this country.  When medical care cost on a daily basis, insurance companies are unaffordable and have fine print to get them out of almost anything.  Did you know that more than 18,000 Americans die needlessly each year because of the the inflated cost and inaccessibility of healthcare – even with insurance?  And did you also know that despite this being the United States of America, we are listed by The World Health Organization as being ranked #37 in the world for healthcare and yet we spend more per capita than any other country on healthcare? The US should be number 1.  Given our technology and wealth, we should at least be up there with all the other first world countries (who by the way, all have universal healthcare paid for through taxes which I have experienced and loved, loved, loved.)  The government should be hanging their heads in absolute and utter embarrassment and shame at how poorly their citizens are looked after, at how most bankruptcies are health-related debt and at how US citizens have been lied to for generations about better health care alternatives being ‘evil’ or ‘communist’.  Come now!  Tis a little ignorant.  Please let me tell you that there are other ways that are better and cheaper.

I heard a quote a few months ago on change.org that went something along the lines of: ‘if we can find the money to kill people, then we can find the money to help people.’  I know it is a touchy topic, but the broken healthcare system effects us on a daily basis.  I have never experienced stress like this in my life.  I am literally turning grey and wrinkled at the age of 31.  I have researched heavily into the topic, I have spoken at the capital, I have written a plethora of letters to our government representatives, but there is so much fear of change and so many pockets that are sweetly lined by the wealthy profit-driven insurance companies.  (The ratio of HMO lobbyists to congressmen in Washington is something like 3:1)  It is quite thoroughly discouraging, especially when all the figures show that switching to a medicare-for-all type system like every other first world country is pretty much a no brainer.  The US is in the perfect situation right now to look at what every other rich democracy has been doing, what is working well, what isn’t, and create something very effective for the US.

We are so dependent and grateful for charitable organisations like Shriners and the Assistive Technology Lab at Utah State University.  They are very literally life savers for us.

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

xox

charity

♥love♥

drawing mermaids with mummy

Considering Isis’ amazing artistic talent, it is a little bit of a bummer that he is colourblind!  Because of this, he tends to stick to line drawings, which he is very good at – about one million times better than I was at seven.  But yesterday, he was determined to use colour!  It was so cute how he asked what each colour was before using it and how he tried so hard to keep in the lines like his art-rival (and crush) at school does *smile*.  He thinks she is such a good drawer and wants to marry her *so cute*.

xox

the freedom of not being in a hurry

I need to not be in a hurry more often, then I can stop to take interesting pictures like these when I stumble into them!  Sometimes it means slamming on the breaks and parking illegally for a minute, but I definitely need to do it more often…  Definitely…

♥ we love shriners ♥

We love Shriners Hospital for Children!  It is such a peaceful and generous place – it hits you the moment you step through it’s doors.  There is a warmth in the air that puts worried parents at ease and make anxious children smile.  We were back there yesterday getting Phoenix’s back brace and orthotics fitted.  The children love going there because everyone is so kind and sweet to them.  It is so important in situations like this that the children feel comfortable, safe and special.  They hear everything that is going on and have a lot to bear on their little shoulders.  I remember when my son started losing his hair from the worry that he held bravely inside.  It is too sad that these little angels have to know so much seriousness when all they should know is the carefree freedom that comes with childhood.  I must confess, the stickers and special treats help the load seem lighter – we are talking the coolest stickers and prezi’s ever.  Barbie stickers, Batman stickers, My Little Pony stickers – the best of the best!  I think it is so wonderful how people donate treats to hospitals like Shriners – thank you, whoever you are!  It puts a bright spot on our sometimes serious and worrisome visits.  It gives the children a lovely distraction and something special to look forward to.

Thank you Shriners and thank you to everyone that donates money and goodies to help make Shriners such a wonderful place of care!

If you would like to donate to Shriners, please visit http://www.shrinershq.org/

Thank you for helping my precious children!

♥♥♥