Family Photos #7 - Change

The theme for FP#7 was CHANGE, as chosen by Dave.

Since he picked it, we’ll start with him. I suspect he was inspired by the change of seasons (it’s autumn here now, and cold enough that yesterday we turned the heater on for the first time). Certainly, that’s what he chose to photograph with this beauty.

Marcus wasn’t quite sure about the idea of change until he found 10 cents in the car on Sunday and his Grandad Ross gave him an Australian 10-cent coin to go with the New Zealand one. I don’t remember the details exactly, but we were talking one day in the supermarket and a lady gave him some Japanese small change she had in her purse after getting back to New Zealand the day before. So here we have New Zealand, Australian and Japanese change. (Marcus hasn’t quite grasped the idea of close ups and focusing the camera yet.)

Pam got in quickly with her photo, which wasn’t anything I had thought of when I considered the idea of change. But as she pointed out, a generation ago you wouldn’t have found a pizza oven in a friends’ garden where you could sit in the sun and cook your lunch. Times change.

When I told Sally the theme, her reaction was, “that’s easy”. She moved house at the weekend, so it’s all about change for her right now. Here are a lot of boxes and a cat who probably isn’t so keen on the whole idea of change right now.

As for me, the theme turned out to be pretty easy for me too. It was my birthday at the end of March and while I’m not going to tell you what number changed to the next one, I had a lovely day. Family and friends got together to buy me a Kindle which I absolutely love and I was well looked after all round. (The very cool card Sally sent me is sadly missing from the photo as I hadn’t checked the letterbox when I took this.)

And this week you get a bonus, lucky viewers. Marcus has developed a fascination with Doctor Who (that isn’t quite matched by his ability to sit down and actually watch it) and having a mother who is a fan and gets given Doctor Who-style presents means there are several TARDISes (TARDIi?) around the place. He recently lined them all up and took a photo. The TARDIS is meant to be all about change, so I’m including his picture just for fun. (Although I’m rather embarrassed to discover there were five!)

After talking to Mum, who has just been down to Christchurch, I chose the next theme and it is MUNTED (if you scroll down the page linked you’ll come to the specific Christchurch definition).

Family Photos #6 - Warmth

Once again I am late. I shall endeavour to improve.

The theme for FP#6 was WARMTH, as chosen by Sally.

Marcus had a few choices, including Mummy sleeping with her socks on (okay, pretending to sleep for the photo, but it’s true I can’t get to sleep if my feet are cold) and Marcus himself tucked up in bed with Boris the white tiger (taken by me). In the end though, he chose a picture of his very favourite, woolly red socks, which were bought a couple of years ago for Red Socks Day and have remained favourites ever since.

Pam provided a lovely, late summer picture that I’m guessing is from her garden.

Sally sent us this darling bunny. If you live in Wellington, he’s looking for a new home and can be found at the Wellington SPCA.

I admit that I’m the one who actually took Dave’s photo, but it was at his request and you’ll see, when you take a look, why he couldn’t do it himself. Cally considers him to be her rightful sleeping place at night – I took this when I woke up at 1am to take a trip to the bathroom.

I thought about this one quite a lot. I have a picture of Cally curled up behind the TV having a sleep, but I decided this one of our Galileo thermometer showing it to be a balmy 24C in late March.

Dave has chosen the next theme and it is CHANGE.

Family Photos – Week Five = Rest and Relaxation

Sorry this is so late. It took everyone, including me, a while to get our photos taken and then I got a head cold when I was just getting organised to put up the post.

Given the fact we all have busy lives, we’ve decided to make this a fortnightly challenge rather than a weekly one. That gives everyone a bit more time to find a good photo.

The theme for Week 4 was REST AND RELAXATION.

Marcus had an excellent idea and set up a photo-shoot for his favourite bedtime friend, Brown Bear Barney.

Pam sent us a photo of Grandad Len taking a moment for a bit of R&R. You can see who influenced me to be a reader, which Dave and I then passed on to Marcus.

Sally’s photo shows one of her workmates getting in a nap on the job.

Dave pointed out that he seems to get very little time for any rest or relaxation, but that if he did, this is what he’d choose to do with it.

As for me, I couldn’t resist this picture of Marcus sleeping. He has always slept in some very strange positions or with an interesting array of friends. (I have sneaked into his room and snapped a photo many times and fortunately he never responds to the flash at all and keeps right on sleeping.)

Sally chose the next theme and it is WARMTH.

Family Photos – Week 4=Signs

Firstly, please welcome my sister, Sally, who is joining the fun. Thanks for playing, Sally.

The theme for Week 4 was SIGNS.

Marcus has his own special hideaway in the storage space under the house, which was made to be his “office” because Daddy had an office and he wanted one too. This space now has a sign on the door. Not only did Marcus photograph a sign, he made it first too.

This sign is located at the entrance to Dave’s work (although facing towards the people coming out, not the ones coming in). He did once tell me the story of why it looks like it does, but I’m afraid I don’t remember it. If you want to know, you’ll have to ask him.

Pam sent along this one. She tells me Marcus should remember it as when they walked along this bit of shared pathway together Marcus was sure it meant the man had fallen off his bike.

Sally has been kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park this week (which sound like a fabulous way to have a holiday, but rather too strenuous for me), so what could be more appropriate than this sign.

As for me, I’ve been dropping Marcus off at the school turning circle for a couple of weeks now, but last week was the first time I picked him up there after school as well. He’s feeling very grown up and independent doing it, and it makes things so much easier for me too. I thought such a big step forward deserved to be commemorated with a photo.

So there you are, five very different “signs” photos. Thanks again to Sally for joining us. Dave has chosen the theme for week 5 and it is REST AND RELAXATION. There should be lots of possibilities for that one.

Delay with this week’s family photos

Sorry, but there’s going to be a delay posting this week’s photos. I needed to ask permission to publish my photo of choice and I’m just waiting to hear back.

Family Photos – Week 2 = Car

Dave came in on the wire, taking his photo about 7.30 on Sunday night, but everyone has managed to produce a photo.

The theme for Week 2 was CAR.

Marcus took a picture of Dave changing the temporary tyre back to the repaired one after my car got a flat when I was taking Marcus to school on Monday.

Dave took a picture from the driver’s seat while popping out to the supermarket tonight.

Pam took a picture of this once handsome 1958 Jaguar, which is now showing a bit of wear and tear.

I took a picture of one of the occupants of Marcus’ sandpit. This was a present for his birthday two weeks ago, so it is still a new favourite.

I’ve chosen the theme for Week 3 and it is GREEN.

Family Photos – Week 1 = Cat

My parents gave Marcus a camera for his birthday. So far he’s alternated between taking lots of photos and forgetting about it completely. So to keep his interest up, we’ve set up a challenge. Each week we’re going to pick a topic or theme and everyone (so far that’s me, Marcus, Dave and my mother) has to take a photo based on that. On Mondays, I’ll put them up here on my blog.

The theme for Week 1 was CAT.

Marcus took a picture of our cat, Cally.

Dave took a picture from Marcus’ pre-school dictionary.

Pam (aka Mum or Granny Pam) took a picture of her cat, Mac.

Kerry (ie me) took a picture of her appliqued bag.

Marcus has chosen the theme for Week 2 and it is CAR.