Caught In The Rain

Weekends. Ah weekends. How I love you!

Yesterday we went to the beach, hung out on the sand, enjoyed some time just the three of us. Bliss.

Today we went to see my MIL for her birthday. Then came home. Did a frenzied "tidy" of the house - and when I say "tidy" the term is very, very loose - but you can now see we have floor. We went walking in the afternoon - a brave move, the Doctor on his bike, everyone else walking. And of course, on our return trip, it bucketed down. Thunder cracked. Sheet lightning. The works. Tiny cried. I carried Tiny under the umbrella, like a koala. The Doctor kept riding his bike. Matt was soaked. We all were soaked. But it was fun. And funny.

And this weekend we kicked off a new family tradition. I've been feeling out of the loop on family life for a while now. Struggling to get involved. Exhausted by my four days of work, sad that I'm missing out, desperate to still be in touch with my smalls.

So I picked up my copy of Amanda Soule's 'The Creative Family'. I'm no Soulemama, but when I need some inspiration - who am I gonna call? And it ain't the Ghostbusters.

Our new family tradition is one that was picked up with gusto and the Doctor has already asked to do it every single night. Halleluljah! We sat and did family drawing for 45 minutes. So. Much. Fun. I can't wait to reprise this as often as possible.



WINNERS::

These peeps should email me (lexipmm (at) gmail (dot) com) ASAP to receive their tickets to the Powerhouse Discovery Centre. Hope to see you there!

- Permanently Twenty Three

- Aneets: Meandering Through Motherhood

- Lisa Tilse: The Red Thread

- Sarah at The Super Whites

- Sarah at ChoccyBangles

hair + nails

oh my ...

"the coveted" did a little snipet on how to do colored tips for your nails or colored cutical moons. check it out ...

http://the-coveted.com/blog/2011/07/19/easy-diy-half-moon-manicures/

Life Is Beachy

Ah - the sneak preview of the Summer to come. Welcome.

After being road raged at on the way to Balmoral this morning, we enjoyed a couple of hours with the sun beating down on our backs.

Such a civilised morning - grabbed a takeaway coffee, propped ourselves up on the beach, sand toys, dinosaurs, shell-gathering a-plenty.

It was all going so well until an unexpected wave toppled Tiny from her feet. What came out of the water was a very wet, very sandy, very sad little Tiny. Nevertheless she picked herself back up, nuded up and resumed walking along the waterfront.

Thanks for turning on the sunshine for Saturday at the beach.

My Name Is Trouble

Last night I was so exhausted I went to bed at 7pm and didn't resurface until 8am. I was one tired mama. I ignored all calls for dinner, got into my PJs and fell into the deepest sleep.

It's Saturday, and who doesn't need a good song to propel them into a weekend of goodness.

We're off to the beach - or the "island" as Tiny calls it, to dig in the sand, play and hang out together. Despite the Doctor's six year old-man grumpiness and much to his disgust, we're going. I even bribed him with 50c. It's all about stocks baby. Apparently he's buffering against the GFC. Sadly the same can't be said for our bank account, but heck, that's a whole new (and boring) story.

The house is a mess. There's grocery shopping to be done. Too bad - we've gone fishing.

Westpac Young Fashion Designer Award - Voting now online

For the second year running Westpac is holding its Young Designer Award in the lead-up to NZFW.  This year's entries showcase the considerable talent coming through the ranks with young designers like Jessica Grubisa, Roxanna Zamani and Glen Prentice joined by Ruri Castillo, Georgia Currie, Laura Marshall, Trish Peng & Qiuiae Wong, Lucie Sutichunta, Helen Trethewey and Miriam White. The quality of work across the board is very good indeed, passionate creations from a new generation brimming with ideas. So, don't dilly dally, get in behind your favourite designer by voting for them here on the Westpac Young Designer Facebook page. Simply click through the 'contests' tab to see the entries and you are allowed one vote per day. The designer with most votes wins the more-than-handy $5k prize plus dedicated business banking advice, one of the vital tools for any young designer. We are biased toward Jessica Grubisa (above) as she is of course Black assistant fashion editor but the competition from the likes of Zamani (below) is fierce.

TIBI

IF I WEREN'T ALREADY MARRIED, TWICE

(to the same man, mind you)...



I WOULD GET MARRIED IN THIS THIS DRESS:

http://www.tibi.com/shop/painted-blossom-long-dress

THERE'S ALWAYS TIME FOR A THIRD WEDDING ...

Skater's Dream House

Did you ever draw dream houses when you were a kid? I did. I spent hours drawing floor plans, a really big bedroom, an indoor swimming pool - and by indoor, I mean it was in the heart of the home, large wardrobe, big kitchen, probably a spa, all the bells and whistles. I loved drawing those little floor plans in multi-coloured textas. A wannabe architect.

Well imagine my glee this morning when I stumbled upon this ace house - the PAS House. Everything in the house is skate-able. The walls. The furniture. The whole kit and kaboodle. But you can only skate in there if you're a pro-skater. The PAS House is only a full-scale model of one room of the house, but I'm already saving my pennies.

When the Doctor's bigger, I think we'll invest in this home (ahem). I can imagine teenage boys digging on this idea. Heck, I dig on this idea. Uber cool!