flowers from my love

there is absolutely nothing more wonderful than getting flowers for no reason. better than my birthday, valentine's day or any anniversary, is simply for no reason at all. every now and then my husband delivers and today was that day. he even got my favourites, yellow roses, which i had in my wedding bouquet. today was a good day. ❤

 

quarantine cuts

well, we are still at home, only leaving when we have to... and my hair was ratty, looked absolutely disgusting and kept knotting up

and looked a little like this... so i handed my husband a pair of scissors, gave him a rough idea of how long i wanted it...

and now it looks a little like this!

it was a lotttt of hair off, about 6 inches in fact - but he did a pretty good job and i am so happy because it's now smooth as anything and still long enough to tie up! hooray for quarantine cuts by husband hairdressers haha.

doug’s bday

yesterday this guy had his birthday... disclaimer: i generally get it right, get the best presents and never have any complaints. but this year, i was at a complete loss. he's just been to brisbane to visit his best mate james, bought himself a heap of stuff while he was over there and had a good time... what's a girl to do/buy? sooooo i actually bought him nothing. however, we went off to eb this morning after my hospital appointment to get one of the two xbox games he plays (maddeninsertyearhere and nba2kinsertyearhere - which is out next week) as a birthday gift from the kids. he seemed happy enough. and he went and got his hair freshly cut at his new favourite barber in caversham - prestige barber lounge. the guys there seem lovely and he's been very happy with his last two cuts. lunch at the coffee club here in ellenbrook then picking our monkeys up from school. all in all an uneventful day, but we got to spend it together and that was nice.

butttt tonight was the highlight for him, dinner (with his mother's instruction to order whatever he wanted - don't need to tell him twice!) at hogs breath steak house in midland with his parents and some mates of ours. best bit was me going to pay and finding out that the kids got to eat for free. woo! i've made a mental note of that, if we want hogs breath in the future, mondays and tuesdays are the way to go.

as you can see, he's got his head tilted just right here to show off his fresh fade... what a dag. butttt i love him. happy birthday to the love of my life. another year older - another year stuck with me ♥

our newest aussie

so proud of this guy! after submitting ridiculous amounts of paperwork last april, then more upon request last month, we finally got an email for his citizenship interview -which was yesterday...

he was in and out in 40 minutes, nothing outstanding and aced his test! not a single question wrong. now we just have to sit back and wait until he's notified where and when to attend his ceremony. fun times. seriously though, i am so glad it's done!

i'm officially married to an auski!

12 years down, eternity to go

on friday doug and i celebrated 12 years of marriage, at home on the couch... with a grumpy little boy who had been to the doctors for his needles that morning. sigh. i guess that's how life as a parent goes hey! but... saturday night, we got a babysitter (dougs sister, how convenient) and headed out to the mahogany creek inn, with our friends who live next door to dougs parents, and just happen to have their wedding anniversary the day after us! it was a great night, good food, good company (half her family showed up, she kept apologising, but it was great, they are good value!) and lots of fun.

we've been to the inn multiple times and would still highly recommend it to anyone. their service and food is excellent!

a birthday treasure hunt

doug is off tonight to put his birthday present to use, flying to brisbane to spend a long weekend with his best mate james. it's been quite some time since they have seen each other and i decided enough was enough and sent him off. he was so stoked and i am really glad that we made it happen. 

i wanted to make it fun for him to find his present, so i made a treasure hunt around the house...

where is somewhere

you might sit and think

and watch a movie -

and have a drink?

at the end of a very long day,

we read these to the children,

then sit and pray ♥

in samoa people are never dumb -

and they always dance to the beat of a drum...

live, love, laugh, sing

on the wall is hanging a picture thing

a day without cooking

is your good wifes wish

but she is always using

a casserole dish

your children can't cook

although they might think -

you'll find your next clue

under their kitchen sink

daddy we know you have so missed your friend -

but today we have decided that will come to an end! ♥

we hope you enjoy your holiday, have the best time!! 

x

dougie has a birthday

this little monkey turned 34 today. and to be completely honest, he doesn't look all that different... just add a beard and that's him all these years later. haha. 

i love you my doug. may today be wonderfully normal (as i know you have to work)... and i can't wait to celebrate with you soon... in samoa!! x

another year older!

so... last week (the 14th people... send me some birthday wishes next year...!) i had my birthday. and it was a wonderful day. i had to work - sigh... but the crew i work with made it extra special for me by covering my desk in chocolates and burning candles, and then singing happy birthday to me in chorus as i arrived in the building. such sweethearts.

i also made this packet cake (yes i admit, i cheated - i was running extremely short on time... i'm a busy working mummy!) to scoff at morning tea with them all, only to have the icing look like crap. so out came the leftover sugar butterflies from ella's gender reveal party and i fixed it! it looked good after that and didn't taste too bad either. thank goodness. not my finest effort...

when i finally got home from work after going to beverley's retirement party as well, doug and miss maddie were waiting for me with gifts and cake. two of my favourite things. 

doug got me this amazing kirstin ask necklace from my favourite store, wild lily empire. i am so in love with it and can't wait to wear it. i am so lucky to have a husband with such good taste! he and maddie also got me some earrings from there too. so spoiled! :) what a lucky girl i am to have such gorgeous people in my life! 

doug's birthday

 

it was doug's birthday yesterday! we had a nice low key celebration at home, cause we are all full of the flu... booooo. it was nice though, nando's for dinner, mudcake and icecream for dessert and presents!

 

 

mads had a great old time with the wrapping...

 

happy birthday babe! x

sunday dinner

 

every sunday night we have dinner with our friends from nz that moved to australia a few months ago. from one invite we have become firm friends and now it seems as though they are stuck with us!! we always look forward to our time with them, and last week we had a fabulous time with viv's ipad taking photos on the thermal mode. so cute, maddie was loving it!

 

 

john forrest photo shoot

 

niques is a-freakin-mazing with a camera and really, really, likes to play. a couple of weeks ago, we went for a field trip to the john forrest national park in swan view and took some snaps. after she dressed us up and marched us into the forrest up to the old train tunnel, these were the results.

she's just too talented for words!

 

p.s. if you've made it all the way to the bottom... we totally got attacked by ants during the shoot. way to make an uncomfortable end to the day!

random gifties

it's been a week of random gift love and i am loving it! work has been crazy these last few weeks, to the point of insanity and when i got home one afternoon these lovely gifts from my husband were sitting on the kitchen bench, what a gem. bunting? i love bunting!!

maddie also was on the receiving end of beautiful knitted blanket from a lady at our church... it is so absolutely gorgeous and i feel so loved. i swear our friends spoil her absolutely rotten.

not that i'm complaining...

and then there was more!! friday afternoon, one of the girlies that works at chippers in my place arrived to the co-ord office with treats for me, and a baby book for maddie. so much love!

i feel like the luckiest girl alive :)

first date preserved

many years ago - there was a first date. i had moved into doug's ward in brisbane and he had spied me and decided i was worth pursuing. (i wonder if he regrets that decision all these years later hahaha) so he asked me to the stake ysa ball. i being rather uncertain of the male species (after having my heart torn out and stomped on by a certain individual that will remain nameless) said, "sure but you'll have to ask my brothers permission." which he promptly did. ugh. having no other excuses after aaron's response of "i don't care, what are you asking me for? ask her!" i agreed and off we went. he arrived promptly looking very nicely dressed and handed me a rose. polite much? i was thrilled. there's nothing like good manners in a potential suitor. 

that night we kissed for the first time and have been pretty much inseparable since. i have always kept the rose for some reason, and even managed to sneak it back into wa through quarantine (shhh - i don't want them to come and take it!!) so today i made the above masterpiece. a few years back i found this gorgeous inch thick shadow frame in the vinnies near our house and knew i could make something fabulous with it, i just hadn't decided yet what it was. so after peeling open the top, sliding in a piece of cute scrapbooking paper (courtesy of my lovely friend dom - who you can get to know here) with double sided tape on the back to press it down and hold it tight - and the rose hotglued in two spots to the front - i hotglued all the openings at the back closed and voila!! a masterpiece for my children! i'm pretty proud. all at a cost of $3 for the frame. paper was a freebie, glue i already had.

and time and all eternity? priceless.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

six years

i can't believe six years have passed since
doug and i were married.

so i just thought i'd share my favourite picture from the wedding... i dreamed for so long of having this picture and then finally got to have it, thanks to our beautiful photographer mimi. (who just happened to be my young women's leader back in the day!!) for my birthday a few years ago, doug had it done up huge on a canvas for me, it's my favourite thing in the whole world and probably the first thing I would save if the house was on fire (heaven forbid...)

no woman is ever disappointed when a pandora bag shows up - (unless of course you're crazy) so imagine my delight when he surprised me when he got home today with the most beautiful pair of earrings from the pandora store. and i really was suprised. way surprised. i had absolutely no idea i was getting something!! so just to add to the reasons i love him...

not that i need another one!

i have the tree of life necklace that i got as a gift from my work when i left - plus it's my favourite charm on my bracelet... what can i say - i'm a tree hugging hippie after all...

pandora freebie with my earrings! super cute!

six years down, eternity to go! it's a very long time, and i can't think of someone i'd rather spend it with

♥♥♥♥♥♥

first day!

fix your own damn power!

doug started his new job with western power on monday - he is training in jandakot for the next 6 weeks (meaning i have no car and am forced to keep myself busy... we'll see how i go) we are very excited for the possibilities it's opening up for our little family and i am so proud of him for being chosen from such a big group of people. he'll be an apprentice linesworker for the next 4 years, based at the depot in balcatta.

just kidding, i'll do it with a smile! :)

and seeing as i am training to be the best mama i can be... here is doug's "first day at school photo!"