Extraordinary Mondays - Sculpture by the Sea

It's that time of year again when amazing artwork descends and resides on one of Perth's beautiful beaches. It's Sculpture by the Sea time! Here's a quick summary in pictures of some of the ones we liked.

The Desert ships by Neil Jones were Amelia's favourite because "I can ride on them and feed them."

The sculpture above is my favourite of all: Lifeboat by Marwa Fahmy, Stephen Genovese, Elizabeth Marpole and Kate Parker. Incidentally, they won the $15000 NAB WA Sculptor’s Scholarship.

There are lots more to see so don't miss out. The exhibition ends 22 March.

Justine Clarke's Doin' it

This is the song currently being played over and over again in our home. Not only do the kids love it, we like it a lot too! I particularly like the gentle rhythm and the clean clear sound that makes it difficult not to sway to the song. I like the simple elegance of the melody which makes it so easy to sing along. It makes me happy.

If you haven't heard of her, she's got a website here. Justine Clarke is kinda a household name in Australian TV and well known for her time on "Play School". Other favourites that are currently in our playlist is "Watermelon" and of course, "Dinosaur Roar". I do like her songs as she doesn't sing down to the kids, the music and lyrics are sophisticated. I find that my kids engage with her songs a lot more than the mindless drone of some children's songs which shall remain unnamed.

If you haven't been introduced, go on and have a listen on her website.

Finally, some crafting!

It's been a long dearth of crafting in my life. I assure you there has been lots of painting and drawing but not by me. We've started a weeknight routine with Zachary and Amelia that involves them doing some kind of activity. Often this is drawing with some kind of medium, dot to dot or mazes. Which explains by the time they are in bed and after the toys are put away and the clothes are folded--I am trying to keep on top of the unfolded laundry--I am pooped. All I want is to veg out or go to bed.

However, I did steal a couple of minutes here and there to make the pocket axolotyl Zach has been wanting me to make for a long time. Tonight, I put the finishing touches to the axolotyl and would like to share it with you.


Isn't he just simply gorgeous? I promise I'll do up a pattern when I manage to snatch a couple of minutes around this busy household!

How is your crafting going?

Happy birthday, girlie!

Amelia celebrated her third birthday today. What a day she's had. It's no wonder she is sound asleep now.

We started the day with her waking up really early and exclaiming that it was her birthday and she was turning three. We proceeded to get some food into her before heading off to have some splishy-splashy fun at Maylands Waterland. I've never been there so didn't know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised that it was a pretty good place to have a little family party. It's nothing crash hot and definitely not brand spanking new BUT it is specifically designed for smaller children and most of the pools are shaded. Zach and Amelia loved it. Amelia was particularly intrigued by the spouts of water in the shallow pool. Zach on the other hand loved floating his makeshift boat (his flip flop) down the winding "river". They definitely want to go back there and I won't mind either. Next time, we'll remember to make different boats to race down the "river". Oh, and if you want to go there, please note that there aren't any showers. Just toilets.


After the play in the water, we went to Tina's for a surprise party. The look on Amelia's face of priceless. She was speechless and only managed a quiet smile. There were balloons, ponies, princesses and pink everywhere, and not to mention the beautiful cake Tina made for her.

Just look at that cake! Isn't it amazing? Looked and tasted absolutely yummy. Thanks Auntie Tina!

sometimes it is right there before your eyes

Khoa plays basketball weekly. And weekly, he takes his wedding rings off. Rings, as in the plural, because we each have two rings for our two weddings. Another story for another time.

Anyway, back to basketball. So he has to take his rings off to minimise injuries. Sometime several months ago, one of his rings got sucked into the mess of our home. So for months he wore only one and it looked lonely on his finger. Really did. You couldn't really go out and get a replacement. A wedding ring is special. Ours is special. They were custom made to my want for an elegant and subtly different ring.

After awhile, I didn't bother looking for it anymore. I kinda gave up hope really. I've lost so many things to our busy home.

Last weekend, after much sorting and tidying up, I've finally got the toys into some order complete with picture labels on the drawers so that our beginner reader, Zach, and our pre-reader, Amelia, and pack away without parental supervision. (wishful thinking?) When I got to the last box to be sorted, I was presented with this.


Right before my eyes, my darling husband's wedding band. FOUND!