messyart

4 wheel driving and getting my hair done

So this weekend we were invited to stay with my brother and his wife at Bribie Island. They have one girl and one boy, and our kids all adore eachother. So they were very excited to be going up to visit. Plus my brothers the cool crazy uncle with the awesome 4WD and the boat and so many cool gadgets....whats not to love? My kids are great travelers. I found this out early on when i was teaching on a Scrapbooking tour in NZ years ago,where we drove for many many many hours from one venue to the next. So the drive up there went quickly and painlessly. I actually enjoy the long drives with my kids. (The Mr. missed out as he had a work thing on).

This is what we arrived to....

Wow.

We got settled and then all jumped in my brother 4WD and went for a drive along the beach there. The kids had a ball 4WD'n. All that bumping and sliding...so many giggles and squeals!

We drew on this log with burnt embers left behind from someones bonfire.

We played on the beach till the sun started setting and it got too cold.

(look at crazy auntie Nicole)

My brother sat in his hardcore 4WD being very un-hardcore like as he hid from the wind ;)


On Sunday we stumbled across a tiny little craft market. It was nothing much, but the kids liked it because they had a little stall where you would search for gems amoung rocks, and they got to watch the locals woodworking, wood burning and turning wool into thread to knit :)

Afterwards we took the kids down to a local park and enjoyd a picnic lunch and lots of play time.

When we got back the girls set up a hair salon in one of the bedrooms and i got my hair done....for free!

We had a nice sunset dinner before heading back home. The kids had a blast on our super quick little get-a-way. And i enjoyed the long peaceful drive home as they all slept in the car ;)

Hope you had a great weekend too!

 

 

My littlest man turned 2!!!

So we celebrated a birthday this weekend. My littlest man turned 2, which makes me happy because i love this age :) 

( i know, i say that about every age, but i guess i just love it all)

But it also makes me sad because he is growing up so fast! Too fast . *sigh* His real birthday was tuesday before the weekend. In true mumma style we celebreated from tuesday to sunday! He didn't understant at first, but very quickly realised that everyime someone sang him Happy Birthday, it was usually followed with the presentation of a gift of some sort. So then he spent the next few day singing himself Happy Birthday and then turning to us with an expectant look on his face. It was kinda super cute.

He opened his gifts from the kids in bed. They had made up thoughtful little gifts from toys and treasures from their room, and had each made him their own card. So sweet. This little man just has no idea how very loved he is .

Then we made him some blue pancakes with sprinkles on top. (The blue was an accident, the sprinkles turned them blue! ) And we blew up balloons and had them scattered over the lounge , cause he loves balloons. That was his actual Bday celebrations.

The Mr. and i had planned to have his room finished for his birthday. Somehow, things just didnt work out, but although it may not be finished, we did get alot done. We were making him a reading bed out of an old pallet, i'll share some pics of that soon. 

But heres some pillows my dear friend made for his reading bed...

And a hanging decoration she made for him last year that we only finally got to hanging up! (Just don't mind the ugly table cloth/curtain behind it. We still have no proper window fittings!)

And these are some little canvas's i made.

Today we celebrated his birthday with family and friends. 

We had lots of food and lots of fun. Although not everyone could be there, as my sister was overseas, mum was working to cover for her and my brother was fishing ( nice one, Jamil ;P ). 

This was the set up before everyone came :)

 

Can you spot the birthday boy?

 OUtdoor Daybed....where i plan to spend this evening ;)

Pinyata.

Photo Bunting. 

Mojitos....yum! 

Food

Just desserts thrown onto a table, NOT a dessert table ;)

The commotion was all just a little too much for daddy...

Happy Birthday Little man!

lookie what i got......

My very first slr camera! Now maybe i can stop taking all my photos with my iPhone :)

Although i have NO IDEA how to use this thing, so i dare say it will be awhile before i am sharing any amazing pics with you ;) Oh, and i welcome any tips !

Today i went up to visit my sister at her shop, and to do some signage on her window for her. It was a rush job, and i've never written on a window before, but i was pretty happy with the result. (not the best pic, but you get the idea)

 

Afterwards we had dinner together and them little man got a treat for being so good all night. Well dad ate most of it, and then gave little man a lick, but once tj got it, he just wouldn't let it go!

Oh! That sweet little tongue!

I could eat him up !

After we came home and everyone went to bed, i completed a task i had been dreading for a very long time.

7 years of photos, backed up and organised...thankyouverymuch!

Feels good to finally get it done :)

 

the smallest oragami swan ever

Biggest bro loves his oragami. Well, loves anything much to do with paper, really (a child after my own heart). He's always making some kind of creature. Awhile back i got him a couple of paper crafting books for boys, and they were... and still are, a huge hit with him!

{found here}

{found here}

He's always making me little creatures. I love alll his little creations. A few days back he made some teeny tiny oragami swans. How he even managed to create such small folds is beyond me! There was an even smaller one, but he gave it to a friend.

I held up a coffee cup so you get an idea of the size.

I also love these little box creatures he came up with all on his own....

In fact, if you ever come to my house, you'll find tiny paper creatures everywhere. Sitting on frames, hanging off walls, even decorating out tiolet! I hope he never grows out of making things, for i can imagine my home not full of these wonderful creations!

 

Life lately via my iPhone

Happy Monday.

a weekend in instagram pics

a rainbow spotted whilst driving

cute giggles
playing on the beach
coffee and cake with my girl
teaching lil' brother the ropes
eating with the big boys
climbing on mummy
what i wake up too
tired eyes from a (good) busy weekend
words of wisdom ;)

 

Hope you had a lovely weekend too!

making messes

This little man loves to sneak into his brothers room when they are at school and get into all thier things. Oh, how he can make a mess. He can destroy an entite room in under 60seconds...no lie!

 Don't worry, i clean it all up before the boys get home.

Well, not always.

Sometimes i leave it, with a note like this one on top....

Made these invites for a client today.

And then spent the rest of the day recovering with my little mess maker on the couch.  

markets, mothers day and margaritas...

I had a lovely , very full weekend this weekend . Maybe a bit too full as i'm feeling a bit unwell today. So's little man. So were both chillin out today .

On friday night i helped my sister with her market stall for nZkat Designs at a the Village Markets in Miami. If you've not been to these markets yet, they are definitely worth a look. They are on the second friday night of every month. These markets are full af art, fashion and vintage goodness. Oh, and lets not forget the yummy food! Nam from Hatchi (my fave restaurant in Palmy...such yummy japanese!) has a stall with really good chicken skewers and edaname. You can even purchase a beer or wine to drink as you wander around.

 The night was so much fun. I love doing the markets. I even bought a new wallet from Lokoa, another stall holder there. 

On Sunday we celebrated Mothers Day. My sister came round and her and Adam cooked me and mum (and  everyone eles) a really yummy Breaky Stack (my fave breaky.....sooooo good!) Afterwards we played some Wii Racing and then headed to the beach and chilled for awhile in the sun, before dropping the bigger kids of to mums (her mothers day request) and heading down to meet my sister and her man for a drink and some live music at Point Break. All in all, it was a pretty good weekend. 

To all the mothers , grandmothers, mothers to be..... i hope you had a lovely day!

Happy Mothers Day!

a good good friday and an Easter DIY

family time at the beach....

This is a little Easter DIY project i did, tute poted over on the RubyJu blog.

 Now were off to dye some eggs :) Happy good Friday to you !

good morning jellybean

This is what i wake up to almost every morning...

I know theres this big debate about whether kids should sleep in your bed or not, but quite frankly, i think it's rubbish. TJ loves sleeping with us. He does start off in his bed, but he wakes most nights round midnight , and we get him and bring him in with us. He's happy and we're happy. So what could be bad about that?

I love watching him potter around the house doing all his little things. Except for when he empties out EVERY ONE OF MY TUPPERWARE DRAWERS....that's not so cute (honey, if your reading...please PLEASE can you put some child locks on!!!!!) But i love the way he is amused by the simple things we fail to notice as adults. Like the wonder of a washing machine....

 
 I wish i could still be this easily entertained!