a solution

I find that I miss alot of chances to take photos of my children. Part of the reason is that I don't always have my camera with me. It is big and half the time it is one more thing to put into the bag that may get leaked on or bumped. I also worry that if I am just carrying it around so that I have it on me for when there is that impromtu photo op there is a good chance that it might get damaged, I have already had to replace one lens. I don't like the idea of having to pay to replace my camera if it broke or got damaged but I do love the idea of being able to capture those improptu photo ops.

So here is my solution.
It is shock proof, water proof, dust proof and hopefully handbag/nappybag proof.

this is what today looked like....

because yeaterdayon my family blog I posted a picture of my daughter washing her hair all by herself and said,
"I love to watch my children grow and to see their little personalities develop. I look forward to them reaching their milestones and learning new things. I love it that our relationship deepens. But sometimes a small part of me is saddened when I reflect on moments like this one and I am reminded how fleeting childhood is. Every now and then when I look at my children and get these feelings I ask my daughter if she could just stop growing for a little bit and maybe stay three for another year. She tells me no and that she has to keep growing. Of course she does and I wouldn't want it any other way. Most of the time."
Today my little man needed me. It started the minute he woke up this morning and is still going strong as he cries for me from his bed room.
His need for me seemed to increase, as it always does when I was busy, or showing some affections the other little poppet in our family. Their sibling rivalry does not help. They have this thing going where they will both hold onto my leg saying my mummy and try and push the other one away. I still play that game with my siblings, minus the leg holding. We are always telling each other that we are the favorite and that our parents love us the most. I tell them that Mum and Dad love me so much they moved to interstate to be near me. The others deny it but I know the truth.
Ahh to be loved.

a birthday shirt

My nephew had a birthday this week. His mother said that all he needed was clothes. Which is great because I had been wanting to make a shirt like this one for one of her children. She uses her camera alot. She got her first DSLR less then three years ago and has already had to replace it because she had worn out it's shutter life.

So to the shirt.

Freezer paper prints were all the rage a couple of years ago but because I am such a big procrastinator I have only done it for a few things so it is still all the rage to me ( plus there is no way I can justify to my husband why I need to spend a whole heap of money on a gocco). There are lots of tutorials out there on freezer paper stenciling so I am not going to go into the details.

Here is what I started with.

I found the image of the camera by doing a google image search. I printed it directly onto the freezer paper to save time tracing. (A note on freezer paper for Australians, it is not anything you will find in our supermarkets {please don't try go between} you can get it from spotlight or quilting shops).

One hint that I picked up was rather then buying expensive fabric paint in all the colours that you want you can just get some fabric fixative to mix with regular acrylic paints. Works out alot cheaper and you wont end up with lost of half full fabric paints that you might not ever get through (unless you go freezer paper crazy).

Ta da!

I love the way the shirt turned out (so does my son). I want to make one for myself (and maybe my sister in law) and maybe a tote bag with the camera as well. I did a few layers of paint and was a bit heavy handed with the paint on the last layer so when I washed it it did crack a tiny bit along the grain lines but I think that also might have something to do with the fabric that the shirt is made out of as well.

And one last tip: don't forget to heat set your print before you wash. I know it seems obvious but if you are like me and are trying to do a billion things at once the obvious seems to have a way of slipping my mind.

a midwinter bonfire

Our local country community is active. Every Friday night they have a get together at the hall. We never go. We mean to but we forget or are to tired by the time Friday evening rolls around. So when we heard that there was a mid winter bonfire coming up we put it on the calender and committed ourselves to going. I am glad we did.

As soon as we got out of the car I saw this tiny little figure running towards us in the fading light. It was daughter's best school friend. For the rest of the night they were almost inseparable and when they were apart it wasn't to long before you could hear one of them calling for the other. Isn't it funny how she gets along so well with the one little girl she picked out of her who preschool class to ask to be friend and that they live down our road? I think it is wonderful.
I took my camera to try and get some photos but was pretty unsuccessful due to this little one who has decided that she does not like her photo taken (and I rarely even ask her pose as I prefer candid shots). Here she was covering her face.

And then there was this little man who was in a mood. This mood is frequenting quite regularly at the moment. It is a phase. I hope it is a quick one. It is not fun. And it is kind of embarrassing when you are in a big room full of people that you don't know. Or at school, or music group, or shopping, or the library.

It was a good night (even despite the mood). Now we just have to make more of an effort to make it to the Friday nights.

a date

Tonight my sweetheart and I went on a date. It has been a while since we went on a proper date without the children. The week before our son was born to be exact and he will be two next month.

It was nice.
No Justine Clark or Beatrix Potter in the car.
No fighting.
No high chairs.
No spilt drinks.
No stares from disrupted diners.
No salt and pepper all over the table.
No running away.
No screaming.
No mess on the floor.
No repeated trips to the toilet just because it is upstairs.
Just us.
But it is nice to come home to our little ones who were very happy to see us just as we were happy to see them. Dates are nice. We agreed tonight that we are not going to leave it two years before our next one. They are too important.

A little about me

a flower for me

This morning my daughter made me a flower. She didn't tell me that she made it. She just made it and then left it for me to find.

I went into the bathroom this morning and found it waiting for me on the counter.

When I asked her about it she said that it was a flower and that it was for me because she loved me sooo much. I love her sooo much too.
I think every mum needs to be given toilet roll and paper flowers.
I feel loved.

What is this blog about

I am amazing and inspired by all the amazing blogs out in blogland. The mummy blogs, the crafty blogs, the inspirational blogs, the funny blogs, the green blogs, photography blogs, the cooking blogs....

When I read them they give me encouragement and ideas about raising my children. They help me realise that I am not the only mum out there that loves motherhood to pieces but sometimes (or more often then that) feels snowed under by it. They help me see how fleeting and precious childhood is. They help me to not take the blessing of being a mother for granted.
All the creative blogs out there, whether they be sewing, photography, knitting, crafting or cooking, encourage me to develop talents and and do something that I enjoy. Many a online tutorial has saved the day when I have been elbow deep into some project when I thought I could just wing it.
Then there are the blogs wrote by the people who are just trying to live the best that they can. They inspire their readers to do the same by sharing little snippets of their lives, the good and the bad, but always inspiring.
All these many wonderful blogs out there are part of the reason I have decided to start this one. I have called it Simply Daily Moments because it is often the simple daily moments that others share that I love to read. One week when my children were sick and I was trying to come up with something special to do with them I realised just how special our life already was and more often then not it was the simple daily moments that made it that way. That week I also decided that I should create simple special moments or at least identify them daily rather then waiting for the dull or sick times to create them as a pick me up. So this is my little place where I can document the simple daily moments in my life that I find inspiring and also what I have done with the inspiration that I receive from others. One day I might build up the nerve to tell someone else about this blog but until then I am happy to record and relive those simple but oh so special daily moments with myself.

Taking matters into his own hands

My Little Man has a little sniffle and cough. He has decided that he does not want to wait for me to get around to wiping his nose and has taken on the job himself.

Half a box of tissues later and we have one clean nose.

I thing this sniffle season (winter and spring) is going to send us broke. Or maybe we will just need to invest in hankies. Alot of them.

a month- blogged

I set up this blog ages ago and have yet to post on it. I am a procrastinator. A major flaw.

On my personal blog I have just started a challenge along with my sisters. We are calling it a month- blogged. So I thought I would carry this little challenge over to this blog with the hopes of at least starting it (setting it up does not count, even in my books). Maybe this blog might become more then just a good intention. Maybe.

the rules

1. blog {almost} everyday for a month

2. one to two days off is allowed per week

(unofficial {added at the last minute because I know I will need it} rule)

3. nothing is too small to be counted as a post

I often set myself little challenges in relation to blogging like 'starting a new blog to record things that I want to remember that don't really fit into the family blog area' but as I set them to myself I easily break them. Hopefully this time by putting it out there I might follow through with the challenge.

Wish me luck!