Life with Lisa Kelly Photography

My Life is a Musical...........

Last night as we sat around the dinner table I broke into song..........not just any song, it was "Do They Know it's Christmas" by Bandaid, a true classic.  Fraser ran over (god forbid he'd be at the table eating food like a normal person) and starting to sing with me.  Liv and The Singing Chef started doing back up vocals and the food was forgotten........

Now in some families, this might seem a little weird.  But for The Kelly's, this is standard practice.  We are a family who like to sing.  We not only sing songs, we often "sing speak".  The other morning The Singing Chef started sing speaking with an opera flavour and pretty soon we were all opera sing speaking.  I looked around at my family and thought how strange other's would find this behaviour, but for us it's perfectly normal and loads of fun.

Don't get the misguided impression that I actually can sing, because I can't.  But I'm not going to let that stop me.  Liv and The Singing Chef can sing really well, Fraser and I are a little more vocally challenged but man, noone could say we don't give it a red hot go.

Most of my friends probably don't even know that my life is often playing out just like a musical but I doubt whether they would be surprised LOL.......no I don't think they'd be surprised, hehehe.

We love our music, THAT IS FOR SURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The house The "G's" built..............

On the weekend I was lucky enough to take photos of a wonderful family.  I think they are wonderful because they built the house we live in.  We bought the house off them 4 1/2 years ago and we have been living in heaven ever since.  We didn't know them personally at the time but some of our children go to school together so over the years I have gotten to know them and love them to death.  The mum is the hottest looking mother of 5 you'll ever see that's for sure.

I think it was weird for the kids to come back to this house they spent a good part of their lives in and I know mum and dad enjoyed seeing how the garden had grown and I know this house still is special to them.  It felt a bit weird having them walk through the house, sort of like I was standing there naked (well now that would be weird) but you know what i mean.

Anyway the kids were just a true dream.  I love the way large families have this amazing banter that goes on between the kids.  I now know who is the favourite, who used to be the favourite, who is weird, who is grumpy, etc.............no secrets with kids around LOL.

Here they are...........aren't they cute!

So the kids tell me he is the grumpy older brother......I say you'd be grumpy too with 4 annoying younger brothers and sisters

This dude is the jokester I think........

This is sweet Miss E, she is going to be our babysitter if The Singing Chef and I ever actually get a life and get to go out LOL...........she used to be the favourite, now she's not but I think she is the good girl.  And by the way, could she be any more gorgeous.  I love all of her photos, I will show you guys more once the family have seen them.  She has a thing for superman (well who doesn't, what's not to love) and I think mum and dad better watch out because she is only 14 and she is gorgeous.......

P.S. she doesn't normally wear lipstick, we just thought it would be fun for these photos

Ahhhh, here is the favourite.  The other kids were unanimous on that count!

And Miss R, not sure but I think she is the "baby" and adored by all

I love feet shots, especially when the feet are soooooo dirty LOL!

Miss E put in a special request for the photos to be put on the blog because her and mum are avid readers of my constant dribble so there you go............you're famous (sort of LOL).

Let the Decorating begin..................

I got the Singing Chef to bring all of the boxes of Christmas decorations inside this afternoon so that I can make a start on the decorating this week.  Here is a picture of all of the stuff, although the trees aren't here because they are outside with bug spray all over them to make sure there are no creepy crawlies.

Once everything came inside I mentioned to the Singing Chef that it didn't seem like as much as last year.  He just looked at me, rolled his eyes and say "yeah right.............".  I'm not sure what he means by that.

Looking at it all here though, hmmmm you know what I'll be doing all week.  I will make sure to share some pics once it is all done.

He gives me flowers - sort of!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I read a story on another blog recently about a woman who was feeling discontent in her marriage.  Before she was married her husband used to bring her flowers to every date, for every special occasion, and sometimes even for no reason at all.  After they got married of course the flowers slowly stopped.  She started feeling sad that he didn't remember to bring her real flowers, but then she realised flowers were coming in other ways: he folded the laundry without being asked, a flower.  He washed the dishes without being asked, a flower.  He picked up bread and milk on the way home without being asked, a flower.  He hadn't been gifting her actual flowers, but figurative ones.  The kind that come through actions.

I was talking to a friend recently about how for me true romance is The Singing Chef doing something helpful and thoughtful.  After reading this lady's story I realise:-

- He does all of the ironing without being asked, a flower

- He makes a curry from scratch because I love them, a flower

- He takes care of the children while I take a little nap, a flower

- Taking the kids out every weekend while I have a shoot, a flower

But the best one...............

- Everytime there is a drama with my very dramatic family, The Sing Chef gives me a whole rose garden.

Because that is when he truly shines!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that is what I call  "True Romance".

(thank goodness he doesn't read this blog, he might get the idea I like him or something, and we definitely can't have that)

Does your partner give you flowers??????????????

Old Video Footage, Fridges, Orthodontists, Rain and Christmas Newsletters

Wow, that's a mouthful of a title LOL...........these are just a few of the things that I have packed into my day.

My day started with rain............rain, rain, rain.  And as much as we need rain, it is an unfortunate and tragic thing for my business.  Because I am a natural light photographer and all of my sessions are held semi outsideish, rain means rescheduling.  And at the moment, there just isn't anywhere to reschedule to.  So alas, today's client and tomorrow's are now going to come in January.  Just want to shout out to those two clients because they are such troupers.  They realise that I cannot control the weather, that's Mother Nature's job (can I just say she is sucking at the moment LOL).

So I had a free morning, hehe when I say free you may be imagining me laying on the couch watching Christmas movies (this is what ran through my mind when we had to cancel) but no, alas I am so busy all I got to do with that time is WORK WORK WORK!!!!!!!!!!!

By late morning our new fridge arrived and when the huge monster of a thing was wheeled in i had this insane moment of panic.  Even though we had measured everything I felt pretty sure there was no way it would fit.  In true Kelly style we had gone in looking for a fridge with a freezer up the top and had ended up buying a side by side, hehe.  We always do the complete opposite of what we think we will.  I was so nervous about it not fitting that when I took the packaging out of inside I kept it in case we had to beg the store to let us return it.  But when The Singing Chef came home all of my fears were put to rest because it did fit, but only with about half a centimetre each side LOL.  He had wanted me to leave it for him to do, and as we speak he has been working on the transfer of food and where things will go for 3 hours (you think I'm kidding, I wish I was LOL).

The crazy thing about getting a new fridge is, it got me thinking back to when we bought are last fridge.  It was just after we got married, and just after my father died.  My father was killed in an industrial accident 6 weeks after our wedding and after lots of pain and court hearings my mother received a payment to somehow cover dad's death (as if it ever could).  Anyway mum decided to give my brother and I a small amount of money and with that The Singing Chef and I bought a fridge amongst a few other things.  The Singing Chef and I adored that fridge.  It sounds weird but I guess it was one of the most expensive things we had ever bought and we thought it was beautiful and shiny and perfect.  And the only reason we are replacing it is quite embarrassing really LOL.  We wanted a fridge in the garage and we looked around for a secondhand one and couldn't find anything that suited and when we looked at smaller new fridges they were actually quite expensive.   We realised that our existing fridge was 11 years old so in the end we decided to just get a new one and put our existing one in the garage.  It's all a bit indulgent I guess but look at this fridge, it's so clean. I took photos of this beautiful clean new fridge because frankly, it will never be this tidy, this clean, this gorgeous ever again and I want to remember it the way it was LOL.....

Isn't she the cutest fridge ever.  As I said, not long now before mould and salmonella starts to grow inside it.

After school Liv had an orthodontists appointment to check out the expander contraption gizmo thingy in her mouth.  We were literally there for 5 minutes, if that, and I thought to myself, WHYYYYYYYYYY.  Why do I have to drive all of this way just for you to open her mouth and say, ooh yes it's going fine, come back in 8 weeks.  Why does my life consist of millions of appointments with me trying to fit out lives in between.  Sometimes it drives me a little crazy.  But I am positive Liv will be rich and famous and this will all be worthwhile.  And then I will milk her dry and make her feel guilty for all of my pain and suffering and I will be rich and famous by hanging onto her coat tails LOL.

Then we came home and after the kids had a shower they decided to watch some old video footage of when they were little.  We just threw any old tape in, not knowing the age they would be etc. and it started off on the day before Fraser was born.  I was asking Olivia about the new baby, her feelings and thoughts about the whole thing etc.  I believe I said out loud that I didn't think this baby was ever going to come.  Little did either of us know that the next day we would have a new life with us.  Ironically, it would have only be a few short hours after this footage that I started to go into serious labour but here I was blissfully unaware of the god-awful pain to come in that same day LOL.

Watching the footage of Liv so little (I almost couldn't remember her like that) and then Fraser as a new baby made my ovaries clack together madly.  I mentioned to The Singing Chef that it was making me feel like I needed another baby.  He pretended to ignore me, hahaha, or maybe he was just too enthralled with his new fridge to really hear me.  Best that he didn't hear I guess.  I am still feeling quite emotional after seeing a few hours of it.  There is something so cool about little kids isn't there.  One thing that we all found funny was how hyper Liv was and how much she smothered and hurt her brother.  Fraser is always getting into trouble for hurting her and now I realise it is just karma LOL.............

 

Tonight I am going to start the Family Christmas Newsletter.  In otherwords, I have had a few champers and I am getting ready to lie to the world about how perfect my life is.  That's what Christmas newsletters are for right??????????  Making your life seem soooooooooo amazing and glossy so that everyone reading it feels crappy.  I know it's wrong but who am I to try to change things with honesty.  I am honest enough on here.  I don't need the old aunties and uncles and friends we haven't seen since our wedding to know life isn't always perfect.  I need someone to believe I have all of the balls in the air effortlessly, and a tidy house to boot.  I need someone to think "wow, that girl is so amazing, I wish I was like her".   Even if it's all smoke and mirrors, it's a cool thing and I like it, SORTA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahhhhh, a day in the life of plain old me.  What was your day like?

Sweet Mr. Sleepyhead.....

Ahhhhh, there is nothing more divine than a sleepy newborn.  This gorgoeus little guy slept through the whole session, unheard of behaviour, hehe.  I'm used to spending hours waiting for newborns to settle and be ready for me to squish them and smoosh them into shape but not so for this session.  He was still so very feotal in the way he laid as well, all curled and small and one of the most beautiful looking boys I've seen.  Dad can't wait to get him his first surfboard (I'm sure mum is secretly hoping that's a ways off LOL).  Mum and dad were just so super attentive and were so confident when handling him which is so rare in new parents.  They are so thrilled to be taking this wonderful journey and I was just as thrilled to be a small part of the beginning of this family...........

 

I seriously can't wait to show mum and dad these photos, this session was wonderful on every level for me and the photos are just divine..........

Party of Four!!!!!!

It's such a complete joy and luxury to take photos of older kids.  It's so cool to be able to direct them and have them understand me, as opposed to toddlers who rule the show, hehe.

I just thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with them and they were very patient with me LOL.  I hope their mum loves them.......

Nigella Lawson - she's The Singing Chef's dream girl

To my knowledge The Singing Chef isn't much into "porn" except for food porn in the shape of Nigella Lawson's show.  The way that woman describes food should make her show have an R rating.  TSC sits there drooling, and I'm not entirely sure it's over the food.  She's beautiful, volumptuous and a sexy cook.  What more could a guy want.  And her "Mary-Kate & Ashleys (her twins)" would make any man's head turn, hehe.

Here is an extract from a review of her new show published in the Age today:-

But it's her command of the language that really turns me on. Why say lemon juice when you could say "citrussy rain"? "Shatter the chocolate into shards and smithereens." "Crush the cardamom so their little black seeds can smoke their lovely musky breath through the mix." "I love that buttery pearl jade colour of the avocado flesh. It's so restful somehow this amount of green. But now I'm going to rupture this mood of calm by massacring the avocados. Mmmm, disturbingly satisfying."

Funny hey.  Her descriptions are music to The Singing Chef's ears.  And I can't be jealous, I think she's hot too LOL............................

To read the whole article click here:- Nigela Lawson Article

A Very Public "THANK YOU" to a very dear friend!

I have some wonderful friends, I am completely blessed that way and each one brings something amazing and unique to the table.  Today I want to thank a very lovely friend of mine and I know she is completely hooked on my blog so I thought it would be nice to do it here in a public forum.

I want to thank my beautiful friend Debbie.  Debbie is my "crazy organised do anything for you even though it may mean putting her life completely upside down to do so" friend..... 

One of my favourite things about her is the things she makes me LOL.  Is that wrong that I love her partly because of the things she gives me, hehe, sounds like my kids.  But seriously she is the most wonderful quilter/seamstress/craftsperson.  As we have established I am crazy about Christmas and my home is quite the showpiece once decorated.  One of the main reasons is that my home is filled with handmade (with love) quilts and hanging art that my sweet friend has made for me.  Everytime she comes to my home she brings me some wonderful Christmas craft item.   I am embarrassed to say that I would just be mortified now if she didn't bring something, she always does and like a child, I am getting used to it.

The main reason for my waffling on today is because I got a parcel in the mail from her this afternoon containing this beautiful exquisite piece for the bottom of my NEW (third, hehe) tree:-

Isn't it just perfect.  Here are some detail shots:-

The amount of work, sweat, detail and love that she has poured into this piece is phenomenal and I am feeling completely humbled by her absolute kindness.

You see, the reason this arrived in the mail today is a sad tale.  Debbie was due to fly here on 1st December to spend the weekend with me in my perfectly decorated home (yeah right).  She was coming to see all of the lovely decorations and all of my hard work that I put into creating a home that brings magic into my kids lives.  She of all of my friends would be one to truly appreciate all of the effort.  But sadly last week she found out she had to have a very serious operation this coming Friday and will unfortunately still be in hospital and recovering so is unable to now come.  She had made this beautiful gift to bring to me like she always does when she comes to stay.

So as excited as I am about the beautiful gift, I am worried and sad for her to have to go through this experience.   I am blown away that she is still thinking of me even though I know she's been told how serious her operation is.  That she still found time to send this parcel filled with love humbles me more than I can express.

You see, I have no idea what she gets out of this friendship.  I know what I get from my friendship with her.  She's completely inspiring in her organisation and eye for detail and I am completely hopeless.  She always remembers every occasion in my life, I always forget hers.  She is constantly building me up and supporting me in my endeavours, I don't know whether I can honestly say the same.  She is a wonderful mother to her kids, I try my hardest but probably don't always hit the mark.  She's thoughtful, I'm forgetful.  I aspire to be as creative as she.  I boss her around, she listens LOL.  She makes me cool stuff, I give her nothing, hehe......

So I guess I would love everyone who reads this to send good vibes her way for Friday and I want her to know that I love and appreciate her, even though often you'd never bloody know it.

Debbie Lyn, Friday will be fine you hear me.  Do as you're told!  LOLOLOLOL........

Teacher's Pet

I had the absolute pleasure of having a session with Liv's teacher from last year this past weekend.  This wonderful teacher was such a strong influence on her, always encouraging her to reach for the stars and believe in herself.  She is exactly what a teacher is meant to be.  I feel like she gave myself and my beautiful daughter a great gift and I was hoping to do the same for her and her family.

Her daughters' were just so stinkin' cute, the curls , the cheeky smiles, the giggles and the bubbly personalities.  I can't wait for her to see these.  Hopefully she will think I am giving her a precious gift just like she gave me...........

So Mrs. M, let me formally just thank you for touching our daughters life in such a wonderful, heartfelt way......