homeschooling is go

who on earth knew it would come to this? these kids had their last day at school on friday - after the prime minister asked those who are able to keep their children home as of next week to do so. i had said from the beginning that i would leave my kids at school for as long as i could - or so long as i felt they were safe - and i have honestly believed this entire time it was the best place for them! i felt so emotional dropping my kids to school for the last time for who knows how long and even shed a few tears... all these empty classrooms all over the place... it just feels so final! the schools here will continue to operate until the end of the term, but basically for supervision only as working parents try to work out what they will do for the coming term.

soooo parents will be homeschooling, which started monday this week, until the education department works out how we will move forward, which could even be online supported homeschooling... we will just have to wait and see. i can honestly say that homeschooling has never been anything that interested me, people go to university to train to teach - and in my opinion they are the best people to do so, but i will absolutely step up and do whatever i can to make sure my kids have the best education they can during this. i know i can do it - but i am also well aware that it is not going to be easy.

wow. just wow. i still cannot believe how rapidly and crazily this has moved forward. to prevent further rapid spread of covid-19, drastic measures have been taken - as when it gets out of control, healthcare systems in all countries will not be able to cope. so... the very best thing we can all do, is remain at home, to stop the spread and keep ourselves and others safe. it is the only way.

borders within australia have been closed off too now - and further to that, the western australian regions will be bordered off too as of midnight tonight. this is not great news to us, as we will be unable to go to the farm once those border locks go into place as mum and dad are in a different one to us. but we will do our part and make this work, along with millions of other people.

so long as we are working together, we can beat this. one day things will go back to normal - and i already can't wait.

2020 in a nutshell... count your many blessings

you have to laugh or you'll cry... and that's the truth right now

cause here is my 2020 in a nutshell and it sounds like something out of a meme.

january - death and a funeral'

february - work (other people's funerals) and estate paperwork

march: the plague 

i seriously feel like i've lost 3 months of my life! i had so much to do, that it was all go go go and now it feels like there is nothing - and so much time in which to do nothing. the kids have been the strangest bit - we are, of course, keeping them home and do not leave the house unless absolutely necessary, as we've been instructed to do, but they complain a lot that they are bored. i am sure they are, they are used to being able to go outside as much as they want, across to the park - and run a muck and now, we have to stay home. 

so - i said to them this week that we need to think of some things that we are grateful for. because the best way to be happy, is to think of things that you've been blessed with. here are some of mine.

1. first and foremost. i am so grateful that we can still have church at home. that president nelson was inspired to create a home based learning program - and that my husband is able to administer the sacrament in our home.

2. i am so so so so so grateful that my husband not only has a job, but that it's an essential position and he is required to keep working through all of this. so while others may lose their job or struggle, his wages will remain the same and we will be okay. 

3. we have savings. so if something were to go wrong, we would be okay.

4. being a church member prepares you for all kinds of things. we learn to teach from the time we receive our first assignments at church, so we can teach! plus there are so many resources available online, so if it should happen that i need to start teaching my children at home, i can do so.

5. we are healthy and strong and i know we will remain so, because i was told we would be - and i have faith to believe so. 

this may be a scary and uncertain time, but i feel confident that we as a family will continue to be blessed. ❤

easter teacher gifts

the kids went off to school for the last time in the foreseeable future today - and even though it's not quite easter yet, i had planned presents for their teachers so decided just to go for it. we gave each one over with a perfect disclaimer: "made in a very clean kitchen in a house full of healthy people" and all four of them seemed very happy with baked goods.

madeline has 2 teachers this year and joseph just one, but seeing as they have such a small amount of kids left now, they have opened up the barrier doors between his class and the one next door - who just so happens to be madeline's teacher from last year - so i guess that counts as being joseph's teacher too? yeah? we adore her, so i am 100% per cent taking it - and she was thrilled to bits to be included.

this years offering was home made rocky road using whatever the heck i could get from the supermarket at this crazy time:

2 blocks woolworths milk cooking chocolate (slowly melted in microwave)

1 bag woolworths marshmallows (cut into quarters)

1 bag party mix (cut into pieces)

2/3 packet woolworths chocolate finger biscuits

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1/4 cup chopped peanuts

melt chocolate and pour over other ingredients. mix well and spread over a lined tray. allow to cool in fridge until set. bring to room temperature before cutting.

rocky road is soooo easy to make. you can literally throw anything you want in and it will work as long as your combo isn't too far out. to this day i still giggle when i remember putting froot loops in a batch because i had nothing else. seriously. sky is the limit.

we packaged them up in these adorable cups we got from target on clearance after easter last year which are the cutest! lucky we have all girl teachers huh. haha. i'm not even bothered that easter is still a while off... we are due for easter holidays soon - we just had no idea covid-19 would shut down the world and ruin everything for everyone (insert eye roll emoji here ahaha) i loved making them and just hope the teachers loved them too! we are so lucky to have been blessed with amazing teachers this year. they have truly been a source of strength to our children (and us parents!) over the last few weeks, remaining calm and assuring us all each day. they deserve the biggest pay rise of all time when this is done. 

all saints anglican church

a few weeks ago we were in the bank, opening another account when some photographs on the office wall caught my eye. they were of a beautiful old church and anyone that knows me would know that i am a sucker for an old church. upon asking a few more questions, i found out it was a local one and i made a mental note to make sure i went and had a look one day.

today was the day... as per the guidelines of social distancing, we don't want t be anywhere that anyone else is... so i took the kids for a drive and found said church.

it's in henry street in henley brook at the end of the road - which is at the end of gnangara road over west swan road (going east) and super easy to find, as it's actually the only thing on that road!

although the church is closed under current government restrictions the outside is still amazingly cute as you wander around in the small yard containing old graves. i love cemeteries too of course... so double bonus. i'll be super keen to come and have a look once the church is open again!

according to the information board out front, it is the oldest church in western australia...

another hidden gem, right on our doorstep!

born of goodly parents

i have been trying so hard to make sure we read from our come follow me book and have a discussion each night. i know that the responsibility to teach our children about the gospel is now on us and i cannot and will not let the lord down. i was trying to think of something good to teach for our family home evening on monday and the words nephi said in the opening verse of the book of mormon came into my mind, "i nephi, having been born of goodly parents." having wonderful parents of my own, i have always loved those words and know that it is something important that he pointed out. 

so for family home evening tonight - i had joseph read the words aloud from 1st nephi 1:1

I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

and then we talked about it. both we and our children were blessed with goodly parents who raised us in the gospel. to believe that god is real and hears our prayers - so that we could one day know for ourselves. we aren't so different from nephi. we have the same thing, both earthly and heavenly parents who are here to do what the hymn "i am a child of god"teaches us:

i am a child of god and he has sent me here

has given me an earthly home, with parents kind and dear

lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way

teach me all that i must do, to live with him someday.

and like it or not, we have something else the same as nephi. afflictions. because this life just wouldn't be what it is without them. maybe they are nothing like his, but we are certainly feeling some right now! my point was, having goodly parents, means we can turn to them in our times of need. like right now. i know the first person i call when i am upset is my mum! we are right here to talk to them and help when we can - but so is their heavenly father and they can talk to him any time they like too. i hope they will!

i did also find some wonderful advice on how to become goodly parents - so i'll leave it here, i am sure it will come in handy for me at some stage.

***********************

our "afflictions" in this craziness continue...

schools are still open whilst practicing social distancing, we got the message sunday afternoon that dance classes were off... so i guess we just continue to watch and wait.

earthquakes and updates

just when it seemed that things could not get any more strange, we woke up thursday morning to the news that there had been a pretty big earthquake that had hit utah, particularly salt lake city itself. andddd it had been enough to rock the angel moroni atop of the salt lake temple and knock the trump from his hand! cue the internet with people freaking out that this was going to be the end... and alllll of the epic memes. my personal favourite was the one that said we probably should start to worry now that it looked like moroni was checking his watch. nannaleah had the best comment though, "what are you all freaking out about? he can't blow his trump to signal the end of times if he can't find it, can he?" hahahha

but. what a blessing. the very reason the salt lake temple is closed is to undergo a seismic upgrade... to prevent possible damage from earthquakes! foreseen or what?

well. updates from our end. at this stage the schools here remain open... but all activities have been cancelled. my phone kept going off on friday all day with notices from the school. swimming lessons on hold, no further assemblies, colour run cancelled... every thing one by one.

our australian borders closed to anyone that is not an australian citizen or permanent resident midnight last night and we are being encouraged to stay at home to prevent any possible spread of the virus. it still feels like a bad dream, like something out of a movie - but it keeps on getting worse. madeline is just waiting for their dance classes to be cancelled and i cannot imagine that it's far away. when will this end? 

:(

everyone freaking out - leah's gold comment

harmony day at esps

each year australia celebrates harmony day - a day for inclusion and a celebration of cultural diversity. the children at ellen stirling primary school can choose to wear an orange shirt or their cultural dress. looking at what my kids chose to wear says so much... joseph in his easy as orange shirt and madeline in her samoan lava-lava print skirt made by her nanna.

and this photo says the rest. i wish i could tell you this was an outtake - but this is just real life. hahaha. he did not want to smile or even have his photo taken, but was cracking up after this.

the school had planned a full assembly including them all being able to sing the harmony day song "everyone belongs" but it (along with everything else) was cancelled due to ongoing issues with covid-19, so instead they did special activities in their classrooms and sang the song in each class.

guess it's a very good time to all pull together isn't it! this is a crazy time for everyone, especially these poor kids who really just can't completely grasp all the changes and precautions. it feels mean to them, not as though it will protect them.

thankfully one of the kids remains relatively unaffected - alex is just carrying on as usual while the world rages around him. lucky guy.

home church (and why)

today we had church at home for the first time ever... we have received email after email this week from the church headquarters as things were cancelled or changed one by one. first was the email stating that the general conference meeting normally held in our church conference centre in salt lake city, utah would be closed to the public. this was shattering news to members of our church. all of sudden this was major. never in history has general conference been closed off. thankfully due to modern technology, it will still be able to be viewed around the world, live, then be available for download not long after - which is a wonderful blessing. we still get to be a part of it! at the end of last month the church sent out a media release asking that anyone outside of the united states not travel to attend the conference due to the coronavirus issue - which has now lead to this digital only conference. 

the very next day, this announcement was made... and it all got even harder to get our heads around. all church meetings suspended. everything. our sacrament services, our stake conference scheduled for next weekend, our relief society activity that would have happened the very next day. wow. looks like home church was a go. 

in the final months of 2018, the president of our church, russell m nelson made the announcement that we would be moving from our long time 3 hour schedule to 2, a huge change for us. we originally had our sacrament meeting, followed by sunday school and then our appropriate classes (priesthood/ relief society, young men/women & primary) but changed to sacrament followed by alternate weeks of the old second and third hours of the schedule. along with that, a home centred, church supported learning program was introduced, to allow us to learn ourselves and teach our children during the week to make up for that other hour we once had.

president nelson was obviously preparing us for a time like this. how blessed we are for the revelation he received to prepare us for this sudden and unexpected situation we find ourselves in. he truly is an inspired and amazing man, perfect to lead our church in these days.

and then, if that all wasn't enough... temple sessions were suspended the day after... all leading us into this first sunday, of at home church. it was a lovely morning... dougs mother came too and we ran our own sacrament meeting like we would have at church - we sang hymns, doug blessed the sacrament, we listened to a conference talk online and read another aloud and it was surprisingly nice. i feel so lucky to have a faithful priesthood holder in my home, to have allowed us to still have a normal sunday and partake of the sacrament.

i haven't been feeling good about this all week though. it's been hard. the uncertainty of it all, the difficulty of getting any groceries that we need and more than anything the anxiety i have felt. i have been constantly stressed. it's always playing on my mind and i have prayed over and over to just feel better about it because i don't know how much longer i can handle feeling this way. i had been trying so hard to prepare myself and our family for any situation and to make sure we had anything that we might need - getting more food, thinking of what we could do to shield ourselves, the possibility of being home and quarantined - and the list goes on. it was stressing me out.

in the end, i asked my husband to give me a blessing of comfort. in our church we can have a priesthood administration for many things. people mainly recognise them as being used for those who are sick in some way, but often they are used for direction and comfort. i felt a million times better afterwards as i was given the direction i needed. i feel certain that i have done what needs to be done to prepare my family and i also feel assured that my family will remain safe and protected throughout all of this. and just from that, my whole perspective has changed. i no longer feel anxiety and stress, just a hope for an end and for things to eventually return to normal in time. 

the final paragraph of the email regarding the temples gave me hope, "we look forward with great anticipation to the time when temples can again operate at full capacity and extend the blessings of temple work to members and their ancestors." things will get back to normal. of that we can be assured.

to cement how much better i was felt afterwards, i came across this on the internet and i truly felt peace. i know our church is lead by a man inspired to give us the lords word. we will be okay. it will all be okay. it will just take time. and we will have to be patient. but i know we are all known and loved and will make it through this with faith. i am so grateful for a prophet of god, who knew what we needed, before the world even knew. ❤

stitching for the babies

sometimes i like to sew. i find stitching back and forth creating words or an image quite therapeutic. in december one of my friends from church had a baby and i decided i would make a little sampler of his name for his room - and it only took me three months to get around to it - and less than three hours to finish it hahah. add a cute coloured edge frame from our local reject shop and ta-dah! i thought it was sweet. 

then our adorable next door neighbours had a baby this week. a long awaited rainbow baby who will be very loved! i thought what the heck - let's do another one... 

so baby april got one too. i loved making them - hopefully their mums liked them too. 

madeline's indonesian assembly

today madeline's class presented the junior assembly - all in indonesian! they have been hard at work so far this year in their indonesian class learning lots of different things including how to greet people and how to say their names. thennnn they learnt to sing "baby shark" or should i say "bayi hui" in indonesian. she was so proud of herself - and no surprise, alexander absolutely loved it, bopping away in his pram the entire time they sang. 

it was quite the day for it, because she then also sang in the school choir - a song called hideaway which is so pretty. she was so excited for it and i can see why. she loves to sing and the day was full of it. i am so proud of this girl... she just loves everything she does!

alexander james: seventeen months

i blinked and it happened again.. alexander is now seventeen months old!

during the past month he:

-started to do things when you ask

-cut two more top teeth... they are everywhere!!!

-pointed at things he wants and yells mum! mum!

-started to listen and act

-always brings his baby shark toy to everyone so we can press it and make it sing

-waves his hand up and down to music “like a chinese cat” the older kids say

-uses the laundry cupboard for a hidey hole

-closes himself in places and says bye bye. bye bye!

-grins, clenches his teeth and squints his eyes as if it makes him look cuter.

-constantly waves bye bye

-picks up the old mobiles that we use as toy phones and puts them to his ear and says bye bye bye bye!!!

-loves bluey and hey duggee and dances away to their songs

-loves his colour mixing cement truck toy. he always looks for it so he can bop away to the tune it plays

-loves having twinkle twinkle little star sang to him before bed. all three (with some possibly made up) verses hahaha

twinkle twinkle little star

how i wonder what you are

up above the world so high

like a diamond in the sky

twinkle twinkle little star

how i wonder what you are

when the blazing sun is gone,

when it nothing shines upon

when you shine your little light

twinkle twinkle through the night

twinkle twinkle little star

how i wonder what you are

alex i love you so much

that is why i sing as such

now it's time for you to sleep

i pray the lord your heart will keep

twinkle twinkle little star

how i wonder what you are

i love you my little twinkling star

*************

eternal friends

have you ever met someone and just knew that you would always be friends? someone with who you could share all your thoughts? all your downfalls and all your successes? someone who just understood you? i have always had a theory regarding eternal friends and on sunday during our lesson i had the opportunity to share that with the young women. being that it was my last sunday before i will be in primary it was an especially nice thing to leave them with.

i have always thought that this life can't be the only time we spend with those people who share our laughs and lives. those with whom we spend our lives with in the gospel especially! so i have always held out that we will have eternal friends. we learn the same things, marry in the same places and make the same covenants... so why would we not live alongside them in the eternities? it doesn't matter to me that we are not sealed to each other - would they not be in the same place with their eternal families? for this reason, i feel so strongly that we need to choose our friends so carefully - so that we can continue our friendships in the next life - with those who made the same choices as us.

i was looking for a picture to go with this post and came across this lovely quote from marjorie pay hinckley, who seems to believe the same as me that gives me even more hope for it!

i truly believe that friendships are eternal and choose my friends wisely to last the test of time. 

a new calling

(gorgeous printable available with great thanks from http://proclamationpictures.blogspot.com/2019/09/2020-lds-church-youth-mutual-theme-i.html)

well knowing that no one but me ever reads this i am completely safe writing this here... but tomorrow will be my last day in young womens as i am being called to be a counselor in our ward primary presidency! and i actually feel like nephi right now that "i will go and do the things which the lord hath commanded", because this is not something i saw in my future - primary! i always thought i was so much better with the older sisters - so even being called back into young womens at the end of 2018 was a surprise. 

i am excited though - i have loved watching all the preparations that go into the primary presentation for the last few years since my kids have been in them and i loooove the primary music - so maybe i am ready to have a turn there haha. plus i will be serving with two close friends so that is always a plus. well kids (especially my two - and three as of next month, when alexander hits nursery!!), watch out 'cause here i come! 

australia has gone nuts

yesterday one of my closest friends messaged to ask how we were doing and ask if we had heard any advice from our local church leaders in regards to stocking up on our groceries as she had received some information from some members in her ward.

she wrote that she had been told that within six weeks, there will not be any packaged food available on the shelves, due to the worldwide effects of the coronavirus (covid19) that has been an issue for quite some time in china, but has started to spread abroad. that now was the time to start preparing our families and ensuring that we had enough.

this hit me like a tonne of bricks. i had heard of the virus, was aware of things happening because of it, but had absolutely no idea of the widespread affect it would have on our lives, here, so far away... but the real question was, would i be ready if it came to it? would my family have enough? i mean sure, i have always had plenty of food on hand, but would there be enough? i sat down last night and did an online grocery order to collect today and imagine my surprise that stores were already selling out of everything. my order consisted of my regular needed groceries, plus a few extras, yet they couldn't provide me with oats, any kind of flour or toilet paper... and the toilet paper saga has continued - every store, every where has sold out overnight. no idea why, but apparently it is the must have item right now. 

i feel like the country is going crazy around me and have no idea why the insanity to clear shelves... i would think people would just get what their families need, but i guess we will find out in time. 

manaias baby blessing

today one of my favourite families everrrrr had their newest baby girl blessed. i was blessed to be able to take the photos yet again and loved every minute of it. 

seriously the coolest people you will ever meet, so laid back, this is the easiest friendship ever and i love it.

daddy aitu with baby girl number 4!

and gorgeous mel. i just love this picture of her and manaia

but my absolute favourite bit of the day was watching this gorgeous little girl gang!

i love how much these girls dote on their baby sister. it is the most precious thing. 

happy blessing day baby girl! ❤