Little Things {Haircut}

I should have documented his first haircut... But I was the one cutting it.
He has had proper haircuts since then though... But I've never been carefree enough to whip out the camera and do what I love.

And now I am :)

Waiting, waiting. M took a pic of the magazine he was reading...

I had to snap some of Miss A too... since she probably won't be allowed to cut her hair until she finishes High School. 

Not that she hasn't had a haircut before. M took care of that!! It could have been much worse than it was of course... thankfully he only cut hair and not ears or face. But I may have cried a little seeing all those baby curls on my carpet...
They didn't cry of course. M actually brought the hair into me in the shower. "Mummy where should I put this?" he asked. I asked him what he had and he said "A's hair... It was in her eyes so I just trimmed it for her" (exactly what I tell him I'm doing when I trim his fringe!)... Eek!!!
They both thought she looked beautiful. I hid the scissors and told him he was a lovely brother but scissors are too dangerous to use on other people unless you are a grown up.
So they went and played together. I hope they are always this close.

But I am getting off track...

The obligatory 'before' shot.

It was a little bit tiring... 

A little bit boring...

A little bit ticklish...

And a little bit cute...

But it ended up a whole lot spunky.

Which is actually quite lucky as I may have used a certain teenage singer's haircut as inspiration. And I will stop right here as M happens to think I'm pretty cool and I don't want to risk him changing his mind ;)

Little Things {Beautiful Oops}

I recently ordered Barney Saltzberg's wonderful book 'Beautiful Oops' for Little Miss A - and it has fast become a favourite in this house.

I love it's positive outlook, and fun interactive outlay... and I loved that today; it inspired me to turn an "oops" into something beautiful of my own...

Take one guilty puppy...

Who is of course also very remorseful...

Take the pretty dress that the guilty puppy decided to 'play' with... And place it under a water filled glass container...

Fetch yourself a handy little assistant...

And you have yourself...

A 'Beautiful Oops'...

Click the link below to watch Barney's book...

Little Things {Old and New}

We spent today's in the gorgeous afternoon sun at my cousin's baby shower in town.
She's only a couple of weeks ahead of my sister and I cannot wait to meet both their little bundles.
The food was fabulous (as it always is when Aunty Jan is let loose in the kitchen), and the games were too.
And while we sat amongst old friends and family, we got ready to welcome new family and friends...
And we talked until the sun went down.

A little bit of old...

And a little bit of new...

And a whole lot of wonderful. 

Little Things {Smile}

At the end of the day, their is nothing that makes me smile quite as much as their fresh faced, sweet smelling pre-bed smiles. They light up my heart and make sure my dreams are sweet...

Life is beautiful.

Little Things {Yaya}

She has four daughters, twelve grandchildren, and ten (almost twelve) great-grandchildren.

My Mum calls her 'Mum'.

Myself and about half of my cousins call her 'Grams'.

The other half call her 'Grandma'.

The 'townie' great-grandkids call her 'Gigi'.

And my kids? They call her Yaya :)
M came up with it when he first stared talking. And it stuck...
Funnily enough, it actually means 'Grandma' in Greek.
She might be a woman of many names... But there is no-one else in the world like her.
She is the most selfless, honest, kind, warm and loving person I have ever met.
She works tools, mows lawns, cooks up a storm, walks for miles and is the queen of DIY.
And she has the best. legs. ever.
Fifty years older than me and she still rocks the denim shorts better than I could ever even dream to do!
If I need clothes mended, costumes created, mowers fixed, an oil change done on my car, or want to teach my son how to put a drill bit in his new drill - she's the go-to-girl.
She's an inspiration, and she's my rock.
Not everyone gets to live so close to the people they love.
I'm lucky. I live under the same roof as three of them. And it's only a five minute walk to Grams'.
Ten minute's walk to my Mum, Dad and Brother's house.
Five minute's drive to my sister, BIL and their unborn babe's house.
I see them all at least once a week. But I see Gram's almost every day.
We sit on the verandah and drink coffee, go for walks with the kids, tidy the yard (well, she does while I talk mostly), and talk - a lot.
Today, we painted the kids faces.
Grams is actually quite good at painting and drawing. Had she not been brought up on a farm and married with four girls to look after - she possibly would have spent more time practising, but as it is - she is still worlds better than any of us.
However.
I paid $4 for the face paint set.
And I swear not even Da Vinci could have produced something half decent from these paints.
But the kids had fun...

And so did we ;)
  

Little Things {Tilt Shift}

Today for me was quite literally all about 'little things'...
I've been experimenting with 'faking' a tilt-shift effect in PS as part of Clickinmom's May Challenge and I *think* it's staring to click!!
My first attempt was a tram from earlier this year when I went to the city... Not bad but I think I needed a higher vantage point for it to have 'really' worked...

So then I went tried the same thing out on a horse image from an event I shot in March... 

I was sitting up on a hill when I took it... 

And presto - I think it work's ok!!

It's amazing how learning new techniques and approaches can help broaden the potential you see in your surroundings everyday. I can't wait to try this out again... 

Little Things {Details}

I've made it a goal for this year to figure out these macro extension tubes that I *had* to have...

Well... I've still not figured them out as such - but I had fun playing!!

I set the camera to remote and the kiddos and I fiddled with the focus and hoped for the best ;)

A couple of my favourites (favourites being closet to 'in focus')...

I love the lines and softness in these, and I have a feeling I will be 'deserving' flowers a lot more frequently from now on... all in the name of learning of course ;)

Little Things {Happy Heart}

It's been one of those days.
One of those 'could I be any luckier?' days...
Take two beautiful children, a perfect autumn day, and throw in one trip to the orthodontist...

Trying to hide his excitement as the chair goes up!!

Getting the 'all clear'...

Spiderman toothbrush AND toothpaste! Not a bad loot...

A picnic at the airport (with no plane sightings!)

patiently waiting...

If there's not going to be a plane - I'll be one!!

A trampoline full of balloons...

A long warm bath...

And a scrumptious dinner and 'chat'...

And my heart is singing.
We have had so. much. fun.
And I feel soooo lucky in love :)
Love you both to the moon and back x

Little Things {Mother's Day}

Home-made card.
PJ's.
Cooked breakfast.
Golf with the kiddos.
Backyard footy with the kiddos.
Dinner with the Sunday Night crew.
And a little crazy home time in between...

Bliss.

Little Things {Paint the Town}

"Can we have a toy today?"
I hear this every. single. time. we go to the newsagents.
Ugh.
And I hate saying no.
So I avoid going there!! Pretty strong of me hey ;)
Parent of the year award for handling those 'tough' confrontations right here!!
Anyway, awards aside - today I decided to suggest it instead!
"Let's go get something fun from the newsagents"...
The catch? I got to choose! So chalk it was!!
And you know what? They loved it. And they used up every little bit.
Best $1.99 I ever spent...

Even Stella got in on the action...

Sweetness.