pinker family version 2020

what a way to end the year. photos at 8am on new years eve - because after that it is just too. damn. hot. while all the pinkers are here and together, we squeezed in a photo shoot for the family at lilac park/ under the west swan road guildford bridge. it is such a gorgeous spot and we got some adorable pictures, even bringing a photo of paul along to make sure everyone was included.

there was soooo much laughing from everyone and lots of giggles from serious little skyla. she is such a doll and i loved taking photos with her.

seriously. look at those eyes! what a cutie. i was even more touched to see that the dress we sent when she arrived was the dress emily chose for the photos!

what a cute little family they make!

i know paul is missed so much by the family and i know he would be so proud of all of them and what they have managed to do and be since he passed away. he was such an amazing man and i feel privileged to have been able to know him so well.

i am sure he would be especially proud of what a good dad theron has become. what more could you want for your children, than for them to have the chance to love their children as much as you loved them.

we love the pinkers!

chocolate nativities

every year we make a christmas built treat with the pinker family. it started off as ginger bread houses, then progressed to tim tam cabins and now we are on to chocolate nativity scenes, which we found the idea for here. (cannot reccomend enough reading this post before starting, as although i have listed what you need here, it is so much easier to assemble your scenes with instructions, than trying to work it out from my pictures.)

you will need: 

1 Block of Cadbury Chocolate (or a ribbed chocolate block)

3 thin Blocks of Dark Chocolate

1 Packet of Starburst Babies – for Baby Jesus

1 pack of Mini Flakes – for Jesus manger and decoration

1 Packet of Jelly Babies for Mary, Joseph and the Three Wise Men 

1 Packet of Chocolate Melts

1 Packet of Changs Noodles – for the hay

1 Pretzel Star or Frozen Cereal Star

i actually cannot tell you how excited i am that the original poster was an aussie, so for once in our lives everything is available to us instead of having to find substitutions.

so then we built! maddie and uncle theron teamed up 

and so did joseph and aunty dom and it was a war, with an instagram poll to determine the winner.

i must admit, the stables were pretty impressive and the way they were all mapped out, to be assembled with melted chocolate was awesome. the kids loved making them!

i love this photo of joseph too. he caught me trying to get a decent shot of his nativity and quickly jumped in to photobomb it. what a cutie!

they looked so cool when they were finished and i would say that's another activity well executed. they loved it!

happy days!

elf on the shelf: 2020 edition

we all agree in this house that the elf on the shelf tradition is ridiculous but it makes us laugh so hard and the kids have so much fun with it that doug has had it going for yet another year. they appeared again overnight for december 1st, just in time to decorate the christmas tree and it's been a riot ever since. i must admit though, the thing i took the most entertainment out of this time was the labelling them with the names jingle and jangle (the name of the street drug from the netflix show riverdale, which is why all of our friends are so entertained) so that maddie couldn't keep naming them each year. 

december 1st: time to decorate the tree

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december 2nd: in the dryer, stuck in some ridiculous knock off barbie doll clothes doug got them from kmart

december 3rd: illegal animal races on the chicken table (side note, i hate that damn rubber chicken as alex is obsessed with it)

december 4th: decorating the kids fabric advent calendar

december 5th: smoothie making with some rather questionable ingredients

december 6th: hanging out in the lamps in mum and dads room

december 7th: "decorating" the christmas tree for us 

december 8th: playing poker with some other members of our household, the heeler family in the nativity

december 9th: using their spidey senses to hang from the light fitting in the living room

'

december 10th: fishing in the kids bathroom sink

december 11th: hiding in another one of our nativity sets

december 12th: ironing their clothes

december 13th: having a work out in dougs gym

december 14th: hitching a ride on ron and hermoines brooms in alex's room

december 15th: locked up in the pantry

december 16th: hanging out in yet another one of our nativity scenes (that's a good thought for next christmas, we have almost as many nativity scenes as days we need for the elves to visit - perhaps they can do one a day. you can bet doug wouldn't allow it though, he'd say it was too boring)

december 17th: playing in madeline and joseph's bedrooms

december 18th: having a sleep in, in madeline's doll cot

december 19th: they peg attacked the house. doug had wayyyy too much fun with this one, i was finding pegs for days afterwards. 

december 20th: cruising in the kids tractor

december 21st: drawing the kids favourite things on our eggs

december 22nd: picking movies. this was hilarious... doug calls people dreamers all the time and one of them is pulling out a movie called dreamer.

december 23rd: back off home in time for christmas eve!

they have made me laugh all month and i am sure they'll be back next year, ugh. 

i had to add this photo in though, doug has cracked me up so much adding random things to this nativity all month. apparently a disco ball, iron man, a shark, a care bear and the heelers were present at the birth of baby jesus - and this was just one photo i took! what a crack up.