Just two little kids...

Yesterday I thought it a great idea to dress the kids in some of the new stock Ive been designing for my store for Spring/ Summer and take some pics up at my inlaw's beautiful property. Sounds simple! But nothing is ever simple with kids..... about 6 hours later I had 2 half decent pics , 30009 terrible ones and pretty much gave up!

Elliott prefers to frolic half-naked than be dressed at all, and Fern wants to dance with the box of ribbons rather than sport them in her hair... 

But in the end it didn't matter. I left them to it. And captured my best photo of the day without trying. Unstaged. Just two little kids playing together with no fears or inhibitions. Just as it should be...

Happiness Is...

Happiness is... a slice of chocolate cake.

...its the simple things, folks. Im so glad I have my little Elliott to remind me of this. 

What is making YOU happy today?

One stormy afternoon...

Yesterday afternoon was stormy on the farm... heavy grey clouds loomed overhead and it was the perfect afternoon to stay inside in front of the TV. But we didn't, we went for a walk in the overgrown scrub surrounding our cottage instead... This is what we discovered.

An imystery...

As I was downloading pics and movies from my iphone yesterday, I discovered something more than a little bizarre:

And to be perfectly honest, I have absolutely no clue how these images got onto my phone OR who the UFO (unidentified foreign objects) got there in the pictures!! I am not aware of any special software on my phone that would add such an embellishment to my images?! Perhaps it was my husband, but I didn't even know he could turn my phone on let along manipulate images in this way?? Its an imystery to me...

On an inote, however, I do find it mildly amusing that my not-quite-three year old can turn both the iphone and the ipad on without assistance, scroll across until she finds the app she is searching for and use it like she's been doing it all her life. The ipad in particular is her fave, she has asked for one for xmas (not happening) and is addicted to the talking books and the Tinkerbell app in particular. Have you seen that one? It has a talking Tinkerbell that repeats what you say and is where Fern discovered her first joke. Randomly, my daughter asked, 

"mum? What did the bumble bee say to the flower?"

I said, "I don't know Fern. What did the bumblebee say to the flower?"

"Hello honey!" my daughter cackled.

And just like that, my two year old told her first joke.

Yes, my daughter wants her own ipad. And to think I didnt even own my first mobile phone until I was 22!

Are your kids isavvy? What are your favy apps? Have you ever discovered something totally random on your phone -- do share!!

xx

Wordless Wednesday: "Keep your eyes on your (small) fries!

Fern's 'face art'.
Can you believe I was only sitting about a metre away (behind a wall) while this occurred?
Why is there never backup to assist when this happens?! 

The Long White Cloud in Pictures...

Happy Monday!

I have been a tiny bit tardy with boring you all with my holiday snaps from NZ, and I can tell you are champing at the bit to peek into the escapades of the Cleary clan?

Anyway, I can't resist sharing a little of our trip with you. Well -- the ones off my iphone anyway: the rest of my snaps are trapped on my Macbook while I wait for my charger to be posted to me from NZ... ooops...

We were lucky enough to have my parents-in-law (you know, the ones most of you want to adopt... and frankly I don't blame you) along in tow -- to 'babysit' and otherwise fatten up my children with every "fluffy" (cappuccino) between here and Auckland while Dan and I attended a work conference.

In true Cleary style, the only forseeable means of transport for all of us was - no, not a car (my suggestion) or a train (my dad's suggestion) but....... a stretch limousine!

Yes folks, we got a limousine to the airport. As you do. The kids loved it, of course, and although it smelt a little too much like a year 12 high school formal, I did too:

The first part of our trip was in Auckland for the conference. There are only so many days you can be cooped up inside a hotel room with two kids under 3... but it's amazing how much entertainment a packet of balloons can provide:

Well, balloons and "fluffys". I truly think Fern drank every fluffy in NZ -- amazing how many interpretations of a "fluffy" there are! But this was my own personal fave - complete with cocktail umbrella!!



One of Fern's squillion "fluffys". Oh -- and that's "Whitey". The Novatel gave him to her at checkin. He stayed in her arms for an entire week. There were tears when we didn't have him within arm's reach. But when we got home with him we lost immediate interest. In fact, Fern wanted to leave him at the airport. I dunno. Kids.



My kids did not exactly set any world records for sleep in the hotel. It would be safe to say that one small hotel room with two adults and two kids under 3 does not work. Not unless any of you want more than 3 hours sleep per 24 hours. I am still catching up -- and I've been back for a week. Anyway. Poor Elliott got his sleep where he could:



Elli - in his $27 stroller propped up between two chairs having a good-ole kip!

There were a few unexpected discoveries:

And little Elli had everybody by the short n curlies (hair, that is)

Wait...  Is that ANOTHER "fluffy?"



The second part of our trip was a drive to Lake Taupo, where we stayed in lovely self contained cottages with a tremendous view of the mountains and snow, glorious snow!

I was rather excited about our trip to the snow, in case you missed it. I loved every second. We didn't have any appropriate snow gear (only going for a couple of hours and never having been before!) apart from my gloves (borrowed) so I found snowman building a little easier... poor Fern, Dan and Lesley got frostbite o-the fingers in our exhuberant bid to create the worlds most amazing snowman:

I couldn't stop myself; I slid on my bottom down the hill (several times). Then I had to sit in wet pants for the hour trip back to the resort!

Um, I do think I might sound a little too much like Bridget Jones in this clip:

Fern and Dan had a go, too, but clearly didn't have as much prowess at it as me:

Little Elliott slept in the car for much of our snow adventure, but did manage a quick slide down the snow with his dad before we left. In true Elliott style, he just sat there, sliding a billion miles an hour in the snow, blinking into the sunlight like he did it everyday. Nothing fazes that child.

Of course, there's no place quite like home... and although it was a great trip I'm glad to be back. Nothing beats your own bed (and shower, for that matter) but why is it that I have done at least 17 loads of catch-up washing since we got back, and I am still no closer to seeing the bottom of the laundry basket? Seriously?

Have a great week folks... if you need me, I'll be on a sewing stampede. Aside from a slightly intimidating amount of bm3 orders (bring 'em on!) and designing a bunch of new stauff for Spring (my Facebook fans have already seen a sneaky -- have you "liked" my page yet?) I have a lot to conquer for Elliott's Teddy Bear picnic party which is in two weekends time. First up? An outdoor teepee! Stay tuned for pics and the how-to. Yayee!

Wordless Wednesday... Happy Days!

Happiness is sharing a cupcake with a friend...

Share YOUR happiness here. That is all.

Modelling BM3 Outtakes....

This week, I photographed one of my best friend Belinda's gorgeous baby girl wearing some my new designs... little Lily is 8 months old, and such an adorably petite little creature AND she seems to have taking a shining to my little Elliott! She looked so adorable in the designs (some of which are in store, others to come by Spring!) But working with babies and kids in general can be challenging... and even the most patient of babies get frustrated and bored with costume changes and being asked to sit still for any length of time! I managed to get some beautiful shots of Lily, but in between were a couple of funnies which I couldn't resist with sharing with you:

Tutu-'Halo'!

Life's too short to sit still...

 Amongst my new range I'm working on for Spring are these baby fairy skirts made from layers of Tulle, vintage crochet detailing, lace and fabric. Stay tuned, folks!

ps. Baby Boy bow ties still on sale for $10 each -- but only til Sunday! Grab them from my Madeit site and make YOUR boy-o the coolest kid in the crowd!

pps. If you are located on the Central Coast and have a gorgeous baby boy or girl who would like to model my designs -- please contact me! I'm always looking for babies and mine have grown up way too fast! 

Chasing Rainbows...

Once in a blue moon....... your camera captures a moment so special, so unique, so beautiful... it needs no words. This was one of those moments.

Have a lovely evening. x