My “Real” Instaweekend and my digital kid

I’m inclined to believe that instagram doesn’t always give the full picture, no I don’t mean the fact that everything needs to be square, I’m referring to the “REAL” moment behind the pictures… here are my weekend instagram pictures and the stories behind them…
 
Aidan decided that riding his Y-bike backwards with hands sticking through the holes would be a good idea.
But by the time I grabbed my phone he was sitting on the floor like this.
 
 
My dad asked me to take this one because he recently opened a fb account and wanted a cool picture
Took a lot of me to post this picture, my sinuses were (are) acting up and my face is all swollen.
HATE the way I look, but couldn’t resist posting it because Aidan decided he wanted a nap in the middle of the pool

Aidan was not a fan of the water, it took us forever to coax him in and even after that he preferred to be in his dad’s arms because then he would be more than halfway out of the water.

This was taken at like 11 at night. He had taken like an eight hour nap during the day and was not about the sleeping after that. He insisted I get in house with him and then I proceeded to blind ourselves with the flash in that tiny space.

Rob has gun training (Army and police) and refused to stop playing till he proved himself.

My good friend Jenine just happened to be walking by as I was about to get a chip twisty/tornado fries/potato on a stick.
(Carnivals and family get togethers are hell on one’s diet) We took like 10 selfies before we were both kinda in this one. And then we went on this hectic playground ride which had me upside down for way longer than I care to remember.

This picture is cute and doesn’t show the mini fight me and Aidan had just seconds before. I was trying to tell him not to stick whole thing in his mouth he was trying to tell me to back off.

I bought like five corn on the cobs at the carnival, because I didn’t want to make lunch later
One fell in the street, it hurt my corn loving heart

Aidan fell asleep like this which started the practically eight hour nap… A sure fire way to wake him up is to consider a nap yourself

This cute pic was proceeded by tears from both of us. A trim ended up in a cut because he squirmed around so much and I don’t think I was ready for big boy hair. I’m so learning to cut his hair myself…His curls! his beautiful curls!
 
 
On a different note here are reasons there is no mistaking that Aidan is a “new age” digital kid.

– he brought remote into his room and tried to change picture on the wall
– he tried using laptop by touching screen (we not that fancy)
– he tried to put batteries into a non battery operated plastic stove because there were no bells and whistles
– he announced that his bear (giant one from this post) was broken… I’m guessing because  unlike Scout it doesn’t talk
– asks me to make videos of him and show it to him
 
… aidan seems to be very digitally aware and I’d be freaked out that it was stunting his mental growth if he didn’t spend so much time running around outside and playing pretend and chatting away. He is very balanced although he has a leap pad (controversial I know) and he watches TV(also frowned apon)  he also has blocks and play dough and parents who give him loads of one on one play time… so I think him being so into things that switch on is probably just signs of the times.

Bill Cosby a rapist? I dont wanna live in this world…

 
 

You know the dad from seventh heaven?  The reverend everyone looked up to?  Yes him, apparently he is a pedophile. Meanwhile Dr Cliff Huxtable from the Cosby show, well recent reports point towards him raping at least 13 women.

 Okay not the good doctor and reverend per say as they are both just TV characters… far worse. The actors charged with portraying these characters, Bill Cosby and Stephen Collins they are the ones having accusations flung at them.

 It saddens me, I remember watching these shows growing up and looking up to these men.
 The quintessential father figures who you could always rely on have been shoved off their pedestals and I for one feel let down.
 I’m not naïve, I understand that they are just people, fallible people, but this isn’t some little shoplifting case or a isolated public indecency incident where no one got hurt, this is real. This is protect your children, real.

When Chris Brown beat up Rihanna people were appalled and promptly boycotted his music (until his next single or so). The thing is rappers and hip hop artists aren’t exactly known for supporting women’s rights. They respect their moms who get shout outs at awards shows, but every other female reference is related to getting drunk and shaking it. So it’s not a big stretch that they would disrespect women on a grander scale, yes it’s not all hip hop artists – there are a few good guys out there –  but it’s quite a few and it’s not right.

The shock comes from people like Cosby and Collins , people we have come to expect the moral high ground from.

The shock is so much you find yourself looking for anyway that this is a mistake. The thing is,  Collins is said to have confessed (leaked audio and allegations from ex wife) and there is not much mistaking a confession.

As for Cosby maybe it was all just a misunderstanding. Maybe it’s thirteen individual, detailed, heartbreaking misunderstandings. It’s pretty “he said” ,  “she said” at the moment but let’s be honest the “shes” are outweighing the “hes”.

I guess this is a lesson to us all to be our own moral high ground. Be the role models our kids desperately need and to maybe not trust quite as easily.

And as far as TV father’s go, in my book, Tim Allen is quite literally … The last man standing

 
 

 

Purple eye tutorial

FROM LOVELY RANIQUE:

So someone asked me to do something specific for this week…
The daring Purple eye!

You see the purple eye for many would be a bit scary, because one wrong move and you could easily look like someone who just walked out of a bar and got knocked in the eye!

No that’s not what we want…
So today I decided to add some spunk to a plain pastel lilac eye.

It’s easy… and cheap!
I picked up this “Colours” Trio Shadow at Foshini for R20!

Here are the steps:

Step 1:
Line the eyelid with a purple kajal pencil

Step 2:
Use your angled eyeshadow brush to apply purple shadow no#1

Step 3:
Blend purple shadow no#2 over half of the eyelid

Step 4:
Use your angled brush to apply shadow no#1 under your lower lash

Step 5:
Apply your matt lilac shadow over the lid in the crease of your eye

Step 6:
Apply black eye liner and mascara

And there you go!
This is easy to achieve with any other colour.

Interview surrounded by Caffeine and Fairydust :)






 

Thursdays are talk to interesting people days (about blogs or products) and it doesn’t get much more interesting than a fashion designing suburban working mom covered in tattoos…You know pregnant, with a 4-year-old running around while running a business and so cool you wish she’d ask you to sit with her during lunch…yes THAT interesting. I love Maz from Caffeine and Fairydust ‘s wit and passion for things. She has agreed to answer some questions for me, so today I’m cool by association

-Tell us a little about your family…

I am married to my crazy skateboarding & craft beer loving husband who is my best friend and greatest love – together we have a gorgeous almost 4-year old girl named Mikayla Rose and I am currently pregnant with our little boy who is due on the 19th of December! We have two rescue cats – Rhino and Green Pepper and a rat named Tinkerbell. 

 

-What do you do when not  blogging?

I am a Fashion Designer working with companies such as Truworths, Foschini, Queenspark and Poetry, I also do some Textile and Graphic design when I have the time. At the moment I am loving being a full time mommy on maternity leave. I have also recently started selling unique vintage furniture, home decor, art and jewelry sourced/made by my talented mom! You can have a look here – https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Vita-%C3%A8-Bella/305776452961056 

I am also playing with the idea of maybe starting a kids clothing range, but we will see….

 

-What made you decide to blog?

I have always enjoyed writing as a sort of therapeutic relief, blogging is something I have always wanted to try. Cindy from 3Kids 2Dogs 1Old House greatly inspired me – I love her writing!

 

-What was your concept behind the blog?

O gosh… Chaos. I am not quite sure myself. It is sort of a journal for my family documenting my pregnancy and life as a mom in general. I am just telling my stories and giving my opinions – if it helps someone or if anyone can relate to my posts that’s great! I am no expert and I try not to give advice as I believe every single persons’ situation is different. I write about what I believe in and enjoy – which is my family, good food, fun things to do, fair treatment of animals, promoting cruelty-free products, etc.

 

– Where does blog name come from?

I have no idea, my mind works in weird ways. It just came to me… It’s the same when I design ranges/garments. Sometimes I dream about them, sometimes it just pops in my head…

 

-Did you find yourself nervous at prospect of letting people into your life in this way?

No, I have always been very open about my life. I don’t really care if people know what my secrets are. I am proud of my life and what I’ve achieved. I have been through quite a journey and I have much to share still!

 

-Do you ever worry that your child will be like “mom why are you exposing my life?”

I am always very cautious about the pictures I share or what I post when it comes to my little one, so not really. Obviously when she is older I will have to respect her privacy and be even more careful about what I write.

 

-Does your family read your blog?

Yes, my husband and my mom are my biggest fans!

 

-What do you hope to achieve through the blog?

So much! Currently I am running a series that promotes products that do not test on animals – I really wish more people will care about this. It is absolutely senseless to support a brand that still mutilates and terrorize animals in order to do their research when you have so many alternatives. I also want people to be a bit more open-minded and realize that even though I am tattooed and a little bit eccentric – I am still just a person with feelings like everyone else. I also love it when people respond to my posts so happy that they are not the only ones going through something similar to me.

 

-What do you think about the blogging culture in South Africa?

I am very new at this, but one thing I have notice and absolutely love is how supportive all the Mommy bloggers are of each other. It warms my heart! ♥

 

-What do you think makes for a “good blog”

I guess that is different for every person, I personally like blogs that are honoust and to the point. I enjoy a more relaxed style of writing. 

 

-How do you personally measure success in the blogging world

By the response and interaction from the readers on your actual articles. To me stats don’t mean much.

 

 
xoxo

Maz

Caffeine and Fairydust

Pictures because I feel too sick for anything else

So seeing as everyone in this house has bronchitis (I kid you not) I am quite literally sick and tired and there’s no craft post today. Instead look at these pictures I’ve taken recently:
I’m doing this via an app on my phone while laying in bed (off sick) and feel too crappy to add captions but you get the jist…The lil girl is a neighbour who Aidan loves to play with her name is Keana but Aidan calls her Kaynana
….oh and that’s me my sister and my mom in onsie pj’s hehe…
Ok Now I sleep…

Vote for me please

I never enter contests because I quite frankly don’t like setting myself up for failure…but I’m trying something new these days…PUTTING MYSELF OUT THERE  so it would be super awesome if you guys would click on the side there and vote for me in SA Blog Awards…. pretty please…also I’m typing this waiting for Dr to open because I seem to have pretty bad flu (sympathy vote anyone) ?

Have a awesome day….