Point + Shoot : Up + Down



Escaping - or having myself a 'staycation'
as one clever friend calls it.

My little man was not himself at all for much of this weekend-

and whoever he was certainly didn't like Hubby or I very much a lot of the time!

Magoo feeling off colour, needing extra sleep and possibly fighting some sort

of bug that I didn't want to share with everyone, 

meant that our busy long weekend plans were adjusted, some cancelled

altogether and others pared right back.

I consciously sought lots of snippets of chill (read - lazy) though

and shared plenty of lovely time with my (dual-personality) boy.

One of his finer moments - as deckhand!

I spent lots of time outdoors, elsewhere or on the deck

avoiding the heady paint fumes Hubby was immersed in - for one lousy door frame.

(Yep, I have noted the possible correlation between the paint

 and Magoo feeling unwell - and I feel suitably bad about it.)

It certainly wasn't a weekend write off.

We read, we played, we cuddled, we napped, we shared our favourite

'tasting plates' and Magoo and I went out for a sneaky ice cream

 while Hubby paddled in an event.

There were birthdays and anniversaries to delight in,

pancakes and cupcakes to gobble and

enough cuteness to save Magoo from searchng for his own place just yet.

We walked my favourite walk.

A few times.

I feel so 'transported' when I head up into 'the bush'.

'The bush' five minutes walk from home and smack-bang in the centre of our suburb!

We often meet kangaroos or bobtail friends out bush

and our dog is in sniffy canine heaven up there.

Trust me, butter did in fact melt in that smiley mouth.



Linking with

Lou's Point + Shoot

 Sonia's Wonderful Weekends

and

Mandy's Sentimental Summer

Happy Monday...

(especially if yours is a public holiday like mine!)

Shar :-)

Point + Shoot : Howzat Weekend, Eh?

She was a bit o' alright, my weekend.

Strollin' in the sunshine wif me family.

Little bit of biscuit mixin'.

Chin wag and lunch wif me ol' mate.

New threads that make this codger feel a million big ones

- without costing anywhere near that much dosh.

A right proper tea party for the little tackers chased with a boozy barbie for the ol' lads.

Bit of a Bunnings jaunt in there.

Followed by a bit of shiftin' an a bit of liftin' round the house.

Not bad, not bad at all.

What'd yous lot get up to?

Linkin' wif

Lou's Point + Shoot

and

Mandy's Sentimental Summer

Shar :-)

(Sonia's not playing 'Wonderful Weekends' this week.
She's going all serious, like, instead.
It may or may not have something to do with Blogger
dropping her from my reader and her being mortally wounded an' all that.
I'm finking it may.)

Point + Shoot : Good Cop, Bad Cop

Can you guess who's 'Officer Bad' in our household?

Hubby and I usually play the bad cop/good cop parenting game

in a pretty subtle and balanced way.

One that ticks along just fine.

I don't need to be catering for my son's every last

(and often ridiculous)

whim for Magoo to know how much I adore him or for him to love me right on back,

so I seem to be the consistent, firm one - and that's okay with me.

On Saturday, the scales went a bit haywire around here. 

The good cop/bad cop routine went up a notch and it more resembled

 'greatest mate/worst Mum ever'.

I'm all for cramming as much fun into our day as possible,

but occasionally my nearest and dearest leaves me out there

swinging in the breeze on my own in discipline land.

In fact, the good cop seemed hell bent on causing chaos

and encouraging a sugar-fuelled feral uprising!

I cleaned, washed, tidied, cooked and nagged my way through the day

 - trying in vain to bring back my usually fairly well mannered,

 rested and obedient little man.

But I was the Chief of the Fun Police with no back-up.

The meltdown (Magoo's - not my much tamer version!)  - she weren't pretty.

The poor boy was so hyped, exhausted and lacking his usual comfortable

boundaries he toooootally lost it by Saturday evening.

Thankfully, on Sunday normal transmission resumed around these parts.

Balance was restored, manners re-instated and we could ALL have some fun.

It was a blissful day filled with everyone's favourites - and minus the tantrums.

The delicious Donna Hay brownies I won over at Posie's place.

Photo by Master Magoo.

Halle Berry eat your heart out.

Are you the good or bad cop on your beat?

Linking with

Lou's Point + Shoot

Sonia's Wonderful Weekends

and

Mandy's Sentimental Weekends

Nasty Officer Shar :-)

Point + Shoot : RIP 35

All this blogland talk of funeral songs on the weekend was most appropriate.

Hubby laid his 35th year to rest yesterday.

We thought it was fitting to commemorate the occasion at a brewery with buddies

 one day, then with family and cake the next.

35 would have wanted it that way.

A sombre snapshot and a few words of wisdom...

When you tire of the playground, gather your pals and line up for the 'Catch Me (someone else's) Dad!' game.

And when he tires of you, "attack!!"

While your child is occupied with a Dad, enjoy a drink and a cuddle.

Treat your Daddy real nice on his birthday.



He who stirs the mixture, eats the mixture.



Three is a great age to be - no matter how old you are.

Linking with

Lou's Point + Shoot

 

Sonia's Wonderful weekends

  

 and

Mandy's Sentimental Summer

 

Welcome to Monday!

Shar :-)

Point + Shoot : On the Weekend...

On the weekend...

I made a new friend.

A really, really, brand spanking new friend.

My newest little buddy Archie.

Oh that precious skin, the smell, those teeny tiny toes...

Don't get me started.

I loved on my slightly older friends too!

Always my bubby.

What's not to love about exquisite table manners like these, really?

Whilst I spent far too many valuable weekend minutes (hours) on schoolwork

related 'stuff' for my liking, my head feels lighter for it.

A spot of gardening, car cleaning, dog washing, campsite booking and gifting with my beautiful boys lightened the 'to do' list too.

How was your weekend?

Linking with Lou's Point + Shoot

Sonia's Wonderful Weekends

 and

Mandy's Sentimental Summer

Here's to a nice, light week hey.

Shar :-)

Point + Shoot : Monster Street

A weekend of firsts...

My first ever garage sale.

Courtesy of a neighbour's great idea.

Not just any garage sale - a Monster Street Garage Sale.

As in six families in our cul-de-sac held garage sales on Sunday morning.

One ad, six garage sales, eleventy thousand people (or so) in our street

- an hour before the advertised time, if you don't mind.

I've never had an audience to support the opening of my garage before!

There are some die hards out there.

And there are some cute little people who loved setting up their 'shops'

 and being 'shop-persons' - until the novelty wore off about 8am

 and normal play transmission resumed for them.

The feeling of community in our street over the weekend was just brilliant

- and not a bottle of beer in sight!

We wandered between each other's yards, socialising and comparing junk.

The kids played playroom ping pong between the houses and even performed a wonderful (it's an acquired taste) impromptu concert.

I gave free plant cuttings to a woman before realising other neighbours were actually selling the green stuff.
I asked people what they would like to pay for items and sold clothing for less than the cost of my wooden coat hangers - which they took with them.
A seasoned campaigner, I am not.

A number of 'customers' commented on the lovely feel in our street and how lucky we are.

We are.

My first ever Krispy Kreme experience.

Courtesy of a neighbour's return from Melbourne.

(It's a sheltered, amazing-donut-deprived existence we live over here in the West.)

I shall dream in Krispy Kreme tonight.

Magoo's first ever skateboard.

Courtesy of another neighbour's junk.

Bruises courtesy of my brilliant parenting.

Hope you had a beautiful monster of a weekend too.

Linking myself silly with

Lou's Point + Shoot

Sonia's Wonderful Weekends

and

Mandy's Sentimental Summer

Happy Monday!

Shar :-)

Point + Shoot : Doctor, Doctor

Thanks to my Hubby, I spent the bulk of my weekend at The Doctor*.

And The Doctor* didn't even show up as planned on the Saturday**.

Awful, pitiful, unfair... I know.

I deserve a medal.

Half of my weekend spent with a little boy in a crowded space

with nothing to do but stare aimlessly at this :

And listen to this :

And feel like this :

Hubby owes me. Big time.

*'The Doctor' refers to an international paddling event that is hosted in Perth each year. Competitors paddle 27km from Rottenst Island to our local beach at Sorrento, WA - usually with the assistance (and fun) of the afternoon sea breeze known as 'The Fremantle Doctor'.

The next day is a follow up team event called 'The Coastal Challenge'

which runs from Fremantle to Sorrento.

**The race on Saturday is usually a downwind escapade, but with nothing but a gentle crosswind to contend with, the race was pure, hard, slower than usual, slog.

Even the winners couldn't find many positive things to say.

Please, don't shower me with sympathy.

It just makes the whole ordeal even worse, really.

Hopefully next weekend Hubby will make it up to me and I'll get to enjoy

my coveted simple pleasures of sun, surf and sand.

It's not too much to ask, is it?

Linking with

Lou's Point + Shoot

Sonia's Wonderful Weekends

&

Mandy's Sentimental Summer

Shar ;-)