christmas wreath

imagine my absolute delight when this christmas wreath complete with a possum was delivered for me, hand made by my mum this week. i love love love her rustic bush wreaths and i am obsessed with this. it is so beautiful and even smells like the bush! it is just perfect.

i swear my mum is actually good at every single thing she does and if she wasn't my mum i would probably hate her for it, but instead i just relish in it and remember how lucky i am - every single day! 

mum. you are the best! 

 

mothers day with borders

i have been so blessed to have these two amazing mums helping me every step of the way. those of you who know my mum (let's face it, if you are reading this you probably do) will know how incredible she is. she is so talented, can make anything... she cooks, she sews and when you need anything, if she doesn't have it, she will find it. she truly is life goals and i hope that one day i'll be just like her. 

a lot of you don't actually know my mother in law, but she is also amazing. she is so generous, always looks out for me and would do anything for me. sometimes she calls and says i have made dinner, come and pick it up. seriously so blessed. i am twice as lucky to have them both and absolutely treasure them. happy mother's day to the women who made me who i am.

i saw this on facebook this week leading up to mothers day and it is so true. love it so much. mum truly is the best friend i have ever had. i can tell her anything and never have to worry about it, because she listens, she understands and always does her best to help. i love you mum. ❤

 

this mothers day was a little different with regional borders in place... we couldn't go and visit mum! so i took advantage of some amazing local businesses in her area, owned by my best friend jennifer, who makes custom cookies at baked on benrua

and another friend chloe who runs a flower farm not far from mums house - called the grange farmhouse. they put together these amazing presents for mum and i was so stoked, it was almost as good as seeing her, knowing she was looked after.

my gifts from the kids were so cute - they bought one each from the school mothers day stall (all done online thanks to covid-19) a candle from madeline and a beaded bracelet from joseph, plus a cute keyring from each of them that they had made in class. i was quietly cracking up. madeline's had a bunch of flowers drawn on it and she had written "you smell nice." i must have cracked a smile when i saw it, she very quickly said, it's cause you wear deodorant every day! hahahah. this is from the child that spent years sniffing my worn t-shirts, so obviously she must like my smell. she also made me a coupon book and a card and joseph made me a "fill in the gaps book" about his amazing mum. super cute!

these little people test my patience on the daily but i love them madly and am so, so grateful to be their mum. ❤

we love babs! ❤️

if you don't know that my mum is amazing and my favourite person in the world, then you don't know me at all. she is seriously the best. she can cook, sew, do pretty much anything art wise (whereas i don't seem to have an artistic bone in my body) and seems to know everything. i believe that's a mum thing, but i'm still waiting for that to happen over here...

the thing i love the most though, is her endless patience with my kids. some days i feel like i absolutely want to strangle them, but she just keeps her cool and watches them play and plays with them for hours, never getting frustrated. what a winner.

for example, this cake. she decorated it with the kids and they all loved it. they could put anything they wanted, anywhere they wanted, she just laughed along with them and to be honest, it looked (and tasted!) amazing!

cutting the cake with nanna. my two favourite girls! ♥

happy birthday mum. we love you so much!

school ready

it's school time in just 8 days (but who's counting, oh me for sure! my kids are squabbling and it is time...) and i am ready to go! mum came over for the day and whipped up a library bag for joseph, cars of course. 

finished an art smock for madeline...

and then made a new library bag for madeline (she's over the frozen one that poor mum made and then hand embroidered her name into last year. sigh)

i spent the day labelling pencils and books and packing everything ready to go for next week and i am pleased to report that we are done and dusted.

now to work out how i'll cope with my baby at school next year. thank goodness it's only five days a fortnight. i don't know what i'd do with myself otherwise! i'll let you know how we go! 

a day with the girls

friday was a girls (and joseph) day out and about. we hit up a few opshops and found some excellent pieces. i was pretty happy right there... but the afternoon was even better as i had my first visit to lily and the angel in alfred cove. it's a quirky little cafe full of vintage treasures, excellent treats (vegan, gf...) cups of whatever you like and a rack of preloved clothes. what could be better? i found myself a gorgeous dress which mum insisted on paying for, turns out it was so she could take it home. hmmmmm i had better get a turn!

my orange cake and soy hot choc. yummo!

the front of the store is houses a florist as well, so there are lots of lovely flowers surrounding you as you eat and drink and enjoy a chat with the owner who is just gorgeous. i'll definitely be stopping in again next time i'm on my way to fremantle... put it on your list!

a new old sewing machine

as a child, i learned to sew on my mums elna sewing machine. i would collect scraps and make little bags and whatever other easy things took my fancy. i watched her sew so many different things over the years and i have always had a love for her machine.

when the time came for me to have my own, mum searched for one the same to no avail. she eventually bought me a modern one which does the trick, but is plastic and just not the same. i had always hoped to find one the same one day and this week it finally happened! i was on the local buy, sell, swap page and it just happened to appear in the newsfeed... at an excellent price! i was so thrilled, as was mum when i showed it to her - as apparently it's the model up from hers! ♥

cannot wait to get sewing with my "new" machine

a day for mothers ❤️

sometimes being a mum is super hard. this past week has been a bit that way... joseph had school sores a few weeks ago (how we have no idea, as madeline's school had sent home a few notes warning about them and they are highly contagious, yet she never got them!) and although he had antibiotics and his face cleared up, after wiping his face and cleaning him up and trying to get him sore free, his face has become red, dry and raw. he doesn't want to be touched, he is cranky and just not himself. last night he woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep... then he spent most of today being pretty just, disagreeable. so mother's day was not as fun as it could have been.

but i am so, so blessed. i have two (generally) healthy kids, i have a family that loves me... an amazing mother in law and mother of my own and countless blessings, every single day!

this is pretty much the truest thing i have ever read... i know i would be completely and utterly lost without my mum. she is such an amazing woman and i owe everything i am to her. if i am lucky enough to become half the woman she is, i will certainly be doing well. she truly is the most talented, beautiful and kind person i know.

mothers day just wouldn't be right without some photos of the kids... so here you are... please excuse poor joseph's face! :( i love you my babies. thank you so much for making me a mother! ♥

mother's day pamper morning

today i was pampered by my little madeline, during a mother's day pamper morning at her kindergarten. she is so blessed to have two beautiful, understanding women as her teachers who go out of their way to ensure the children (and mums!) feel special and loved.

we arrived to a sign on the gate as we enetered, wishing us all a happy mother's day

and a tea/coffee and muffin station (this mummy thought ahead and brought along a hot chocolate sachet haha) where maddie made me a drink

inside the classroom there were stations set up for our little ones to pamper us... madeline gave me a hand soak and massage

she painted my nails... (thank goodness for nail polish remover) we made a cute necklace for me to keep together (filing away the idea for future reference, patterned paper straws cut into pieces to make beads) and she gave me a three second shoulder massage. looks like her attention span is as long as mine hahah. (there was a hair styling and foot spa station too) it was just the cutest thing and i felt so loved!

and as we left, we each got some handmade bath bombs. this anti bath mama may just have to try them out because they look really cute. all of our childrens artwork was displayed by the door, thank goodness she said something nice about me! 

this mum gig can be pretty tough. but it's days like this that make it all worth while.

i love you miss maddie. thanks for making me a mummy! ♥

high tea with mama

it's my mums birthday today! and to celebrate, i left my kids with their other grandparents, so we could go opshopping and out to have high tea together in guildford. and it was so worth it. no kids to worry about... and we got to sit and chat and for once just enjoy each others company. (disclaimer: it's not that i don't love my children... it's just nice to be able to have some adult time every now and then, especially with your mum, because let's be honest, once you have kids, how often do you ever get to see your parents on your own? especially, while we're still being honest... they normally want to see the kids more than you hahahaha)

there is no one greater in the whole wide world than my mum. she is so clever and downright talented. she can sew anything, look like a master and she is so kind. she has been the finest example of love and selfless service to me in my life.

high tea was the perfect choice as we share a love for vintage china and loved every minute of our time at maddison cottage. i have been there before, but this was her first time... i think i am pretty safe to say she loved it as much as i did.

our opshopping adventures were well enjoyed too as we dug through the shelves and racks hoping for some treasure and found some great stuff. 

happy birthday mama. you mean the absolute world to me - and the finest compliment i have ever received is "you are turning into your mother." ♥

for no reason at all

i love my mum for so many reasons, more than i could ever write - even if i spent the next 3 weeks listing them. but one of the things i love the most is when she does special things for me, for no reason at all. like yesterday, she came to visit - and brought me these beautiful seduction roses from her garden. just beautiful! she's a wonderful mummy, and i am so glad she's mine.

supermum

it has come to my attention that my mother is basically supermum... i show her something i like, and next minute she presents me with an awesome copy of it. exhibit a... i am reading em falconbridges blog and see her particulary cool circle scarf, now i'm no fan of pink (rather inconvenient being that i just gave birth to a girl) but i found this awesome as piece of green stretchy material at the op-shop in singleton a few months ago and could see it becoming one of these scarves one day. so i show mum the fabric and the picture here and voila! one cool as circle scarf, which has barely left my neck since!

oh - and did i mention the awesome bag i found on etsy - that she also copied. honestly - my mum is awesome, can copy anything and saves me bulk cash when i have my heart set on something. what a legend. love you mumsie! xx

what time is it...?

i honestly wonder how long it will be before i stop caring what time it is... i constantly feel like i need to be somewhere, like i'm late for work, like i need to be doing something... it's making me a little crazy!!

i am well aware that i am doing the most important job in the world, that looking after baby madeline is my job now - but i am still waiting for it to sink in...

mothers day...

as a child, along with most other young girls, i had my baby dolls and rocked them and put them to bed in my cradle. i thought of the things i would say to my own children when the day came and the names i would give them and of the things i would teach them. all of this influence came from my own wonderful, precious mother. she is the dearest person to my heart and the greatest friend i have ever had in this life. the woman who would drop anything to come to my side - even now as i am a grown woman, and still knows the songs of my heart and sings them with me. without my mother, i would never have seen the perfect love that radiates between my father and her - and never have desired to have that for myself one day. she taught me of temple marriage and of eternal love, which i have now been blessed with in my own life. she is truly a blessing to me and i am grateful for her each and every day of my life. my own mother, my best friend. if i can be half the woman and half the mother she is, i will certainly be doing well in this life.

i love you babs! happy mothers day!

and this time next year - i'll be a mother... scary thought - but i can't wait!! :)

success!

" we would enjoy much greater success in life if we simply:
found a reason to make it work, instead of why it shouldn't "

there were no more reasons why it shouldn't
- and what do you know??
mum was a roaring success at miss johnsons vintage and handmade fair. i swear she must have sold more than all the other stalls combined. it was very quiet in comparison to the past fairs they have held - but the customers were coming again and again to buy all the beautiful goodies mum had up for grabs!

i'm so proud! go mum!!

x :) x

mumsie

i don't think i have ever in my life had a better friend than this crazy woman. my mother is the coolest person i know. by far. looking at her is pretty much like looking in a mirror that predicts the future... and i am totally okay with the results.

mum had her 57th birthday on saturday (sorry to give away your age mum!) and i swear she still has more energy than me. she cooks better than any restaurant i know, makes awesome clothes, quilts, bags, bears... (you name it - and she's tried it - or is still making it!) and is always there when i need her - and even sometimes when i don't. haha... one of my gfs knew from facebook that mums bday was on sat and i was jokingly chastised that our new work photocopier had received it's own post and that mum didn't rate a mention.

so here you are babs! your very own post. all about you.

barbara gwendoline was born in subiaco, wa, to parents gwendoline madge and roy stanley marshall on 17 july 1953. she became older sister to julie ann, brian roy and john stanley (who sadly didn't make it past a month) in the years to come.

at the tender age of 11, babs informed her mum that she was "in love with neil goodlet" and "going to marry him one day" much to nannas amusement. the day however did come - 7 years later in november 1971 when she and neil were married in the lds chapel in preston point rd bicton after dad popped the question "barbara, if i asked you to marry me - what would you say??"

mum was all but finished her hairdressing apprenticeship when baby number 1 arrived - jared leon on feb 1973, followed by aaron judd 2 years later - jan 1975 - and then two more kiddies isaac neil in may 1981 and saving the best for last - jade ellen in dec 1983. definately the best christmas present she ever got. mum told me once after 3 boys, she was so convinced that there would be another one that a girls name for me hadn't even been chosen - and i was going to be "jacob seth".

mum has had lots of jobs in recent years - but has always been the best at just being a mum. i couldn't ask for a better one - and if i do turn into you in years to come, like the boys keep predicting... i am sure i'll be okay - and cope quite well :)

i love you mum!

happy birthday - and may there be many more

xx

happy mums day!

mum and i at jared and donnas wedding

i love my mum.

everything about her.

can't even begin to tell you why and how much

but... for any of you that know her already - you'll understand...

she's perfect -

and i wouldn't change her for anything

happy mothers day babs!!!!