it can always be worse

(photo by ben merrick - found on facebook. showing the sheer size of the fire against the horizon from perth, taken tuesday evening)

just when you think things couldn't possibly be any worse... don't. cause they can. 

at 1:47 tuesday morning, we received a text message telling us to evacuate our home, because of the threat of an out of control bushfire burning in the perth hills. it had started in woorooloo and rapidly spread along to become a threat to the people in our area. we found ourselves packing our car with irreplaceable items, then moving to dougs mums house which was in an act and watch zone, compared to our evacuate zone. we arrived there at 4am, after filling both cars with fuel (in case we had to move again! not that we could go too far, the regional borders have been raised again to assist with the current lock down situation so we couldn't even go to my mums which would have been the most logical solution) only to have alex think we had arrived at grandma's for a play. it took hours to get him back to sleep again. 

i must admit i had barely thought of the fire until almost midnight, i had seen it started half way to my parents so had messaged them to check in, not realising it was headed our way! i'd even asked one of my nieces how they were... before finally looking it up and noticing where it stood in relation to us. bit silly of me considering the amount of smoke and dark skies it was causing over our way.

i won't lie. i was so freaked out when we got that message. what to do, where to go... the only thing i was truly certain of was what to pack as we had had a similar scare the summer we moved into our house, just not nearly as close. i carefully moved documents, jewellery, photographs, hard drives, baby books and other things to boxes and put them in the car - i had made a list and saved it, in case we ever found ourselves in this situation again, and i am so glad i did! before we left our home i asked doug to place his hand on the door and bless our home. i was so worried for what would be, but in that moment, i felt confident that our home would be okay. i was still nervous, but i felt confident in another way.

all day tuesday the light was crazy. a dark yellow haze fell over the area, it was so quiet, other than waking to the sounds of the choppers going back in to drop assistance retardant and water on the land. it started to rain ash everywhere and all we could do was wait and pray for the best. i kept praying and hoping and wishing that ll would be okay with our home and the homes of friends and loved ones within the area.

we returned home wednesday around noon, even though our home was still in the red evacuation area, we felt confident it was safe as our neighbours and a few others nearby were home. a few hours later, our home was moved into the yellow watch and act zone. we still await news from the school, due to being in a red/yellow emergency zone they have to have the school inspected and cleared to reopen monday. fingers crossed!

even now, friday night, (lockdown has been lifted a few hours ago with no further community cases coming to light - yay!) the fire is not completely under control. there has been erratic winds this entire time causing it to be unpredictable and out of control. it was more than 75kms in length at one stage, 85 homes have been lost and thousands of acres of land. but. the response of the firies and the public has been phenomenal. even during evacuation, people wore masks, socially distanced and gave the best of themselves. help has come from everywhere. hundreds of fire fighters were and still are fighting for people, homes and property. not a single life has been lost. 2 aerial tankers were sent from the eastern states to help. and people have prayed, for a miracle. rain is forecast for tomorrow and a few days after and i still hope it will give them the last of the relief they need to get this fire out. 

 

fun with the cousins

just what we all needed, a day to chill out with the cousins in glen forrest, cause it was freaking hot today! i loooove their backyard, since jared redid the pool fence, it's as though they have an infinity pool and it has the most glorious view of the bush. i could sit out here for hours.

alex loves getting in the water with maddie and emma holding him and it's so cute watching him splash about in the water

maddie had all her mermaid fantasies come true, lounging on emmas blow up tail in the water

and alex loved emmas big ass rubber duck

it was a great afternoon and they all loved it

especially this unexpected water baby who ended up going back in the pool after they'd already had a swim in their bathers - in his undies! i'm at my cousins, it doesn't matter. apparently he's obsessed with the water and stayed in there for hours with aunty donna watching from the kitchen window as she cooked. an afternoon well spent, brings a week of content. ❤

 

schools out for summer!

wellllll... that's a wrap on the 2019 school year. just six weeks of summer holidays ahead of us with the nuggets. they love their school (as do we!) and feel so blessed with the amazing teachers the two of them have had. this year was no exception and i felt so sad saying goodbye to them today. the only consolation is knowing that we will be back next year, and they will all still be here.

here's an outtake, love this shot - it just captures their personalities perfectly. joseph the grumble bum and madeline high on life.

joseph just wanted to get home, but madeline was happy to pose for a photo with her teacher miss stone. she is the best and i hope that we still see a lot of her.

and this photo arrived through the classroom app later this afternoon. so cute! i know the kids will all miss their teachers... bring on next year! 

fun in the sun

after my last post, would you believe it, the kids have been swimming three days in a row. alex's first swim in the pool at our friends house, then swimming at my favourite cousins house yesterday... we don't get to catch up all that often, but i love it when we do. her kids are just so kind and play around with my littles, keeping them happy while we catch up on everything we've missed. it was a great day.

and then today... we spent a couple of hours in the scorching heat (it was really hot today) at the ellenbrook water park with mel and her girls. we are so lucky to have such amazing parks, especially this one locally. we have spent so many days here since we moved here and even plan to have joseph's birthday party here this year. it is the best!

even this pale skinned mum is cheering hooray for summer this week, cause they are having the time of their lives! 

alex's first swim

it's no secret to anyone who knows me that i avoid the beach. so everyone assumes i hate water. not so. not at all. i actually really like swimming. i love the feeling of being in the water, after the initial "getting in" bit. my issue is the sun! i can put on suncream 5 times over a few hours and still end up burnt. it's just my insanely white skin which you can see above. i seriously get a headache 10 minutes after going in the sun too... and i just can't explain it. the most annoying bit, is that the kids seem to have inherited dougs genes. they both get red after a while in the sun, but then go to a nice tan the next day. maddie even has a little bather tan, lucky devil!

sometimes i brave the sun - and today was one of those occasions, so baby could have his first swim. oh did he love it! he was splashing about, moving around and loving every second. i'll have to take him in the water more often.

my happy little water baby ♥

water babies

so... unexpectedly my children have turned into water babies. four out of the five days this week they were drenched and loving it. we are super lucky to have an amazing water park in ellenbrook and we spent a few hours there the other day with our friends catching some sun... and doing yoga. crazy kids, we were dying laughing watching them.

having a break from splashing

plus we have friends with pools, so we have been swimming too, these kids are going to have an amazing summer with all this water...

they are both getting so brave too, here's maddie jumping in the deep end, where she would push herself off of the bottom of the pool, back to the edge and then jump in and do it all over again... 

here's to summer! (rank... i am totally a winter person haha)

summer fun

we raced out the door this morning to try and catch a movie with a friend at the local cinema, only to find it sold out on our arrival. boo boo boo, so instead we were forced to down some awesome chinese food at the restaurant opposite and then check out some of the shops nearby. the kids, as you can see don't need any assistance with entertaining themselves...

and home again in the arvo for party time in the pool joseph got for christmas from nanna and grandad. thank goodness for water in this heat! it was so easy to set up and the kids loved every second of it. ♥

summer in the brook

you know there's danger when church is broken up early and you're all sent home... we had a lovely welcome to summer in ellenbrook today, when the first huge fire for the season threatened homes in ellenbrook and people started to be evacuated. we raced home and got into our estate without any issues, but being that our suburb was on "watch and act" i was not risking anything and proceeded to pack all the things we can't replace into the car, ready to leave. 

thankfully the fires were contained and our home was never in any danger but i am thankful for a practice, to know where everything is that i would grab in an emergency. (also for home and contents insurance!) and to know that even if things weren't safe that we have plenty of places to go... and family who love us. ♥

trifle

after christmas at my brothers house and having this trifle loved and admired, i thought i had better share the recipe. i really however, cannot take any credit for it - as it's how my grandmother and mother made them and i just do the same. it's so simple, but so yum.

you will need:

a sponge jam roll

a large tin fruit salad (i used the cocktail one that has grapes)

2 packets jelly

custard powder

600ml cream

flake bar

method:

slice jam roll into slice appox. 20cm thick and lay in base of dish, fill gaps as much as possible.

drain fruit salad and set aside liquid. spread fruit evenly over roll slices.

make jelly according to directions, but use fruit juice as part of the water measurement

pour over fruit and roll and allow to set in fridge.

once set, make custard from powder on stovetop according to directions (i use the foster clarks brand) to make 1 litre.

leave on stove top to cool, stir occasionally to break up, once it's cool enough to touch, pour over jelly and return to fridge until fully set.

whip cream and spread layer over top.

crumble flake on it.

see? it's easy. now go and make one yourself! 

♥

lemon glazed cheesecake

i made a deal with a friend of mine, that if she came and did my hair for my work christmas party this year that i would make her some form of baked goods, of her choice. she chose lemon cheesecake, so true to my word... here it is. google found me a great recipe, which i knew i was safe with, as it was from the coles supermarkets website, meaning for once all the ingredients were available in australia! yay! 

it was a bit more in depth (compared to some of the other simple cheesecake recipes i have seen/made over the years) as it's a baked once, topped with lemon glaze, that gives it that beautiful sunshine yellow top. taste though, was a+ and i am certainly filing the recipe away for future reference. christmas day perhaps? yum yum yum. you can find it herehttp://www.taste.com.au/recipes/sunny-lemon-cheesecake/2042d51a-7415-4eed-856f-e23a1a4a1681.

papapapai-uta waterfall and old hideaway

half way across the island of upolo there is a lookout, where across the valley you can see the papapapai-uta waterfall. what a sight! the waterfall is huge and can be heard right across the valley and is so awesome to watch.

it seems as though there would be absolutely no way to get to the falls, through the steep sided valley... but in true samoan style, you can see a house - across the way, to the left of the falls. what a roar they must have to block out when it's time to sleep.

there was also this lovely patriotic tribute flying away in the breeze, so of course doug had to have a picture posing away...

you can take the boy out of samoa, but you can never take samoa out of the boy.

touristing at it's finest... let's have a photo with the waterfall so we can prove we actually went to samoa and didn't just hang out at home for 2 weeks googling awesome pictures to upload.

after the lookout we drove on, to the beach at "old hideaway" 

oh. my. gosh. 

this is the stuff that tourist brochures and google images and dreams are made of.

beautiful palm trees, crystal clear blue water and perfectly tepid water, none of this freezing your butt off like home in perth, western australia. (disclaimer, i am not dissing perth beaches, we have some of the most incredible beaches on offer, but this was another story altogether.) we could have stayed forever, if there wasn't children involved. 

mum and dad obviously know the island well by now, there was not one other person at the beach and it was quiet and calm, the only noise the wind and the water lapping away. maddie and doug had a play in the water, she loved every second of it, after initially being a little unsure... we could hear her hysterical laughter as the two of them played away.

joseph and i sat in the shade and he had a feed and then slept peacefully away... this boy is loving samoa, it's obviously agreeing with him. both kids had been cranky and unsettled in a new place, and then both of them came out in heat rash yesterday so it was lovely to see them comfortable and happy once again. i even had a dip, while joseph slept and it was lovely... and anyone that knows me will not i'm not too keen on the beach

meanwhile mum and dad were building a little bridge across the trail into the beach, there had been a large storm a few months back and all the trail was washed away. the sand obviously doesn't allow for a lot of grip and the van slipped away as we drove in and we were petrified we would have been stuck. all good though... with palm fronds and coconut hulls in place, we drove smoothly across and were on our way.

it was absolute paradise. i can't even tell you how lovely it was, beautiful shells, hermit crabs all over the place and no trace of human damage other than the odd piece of litter here and there in the greenery behind us. it's obviously a well kept secret. a lot of the beaches here are owned by villages and to swim there you have to pay an entry fee, but this is deserted, clean and lovely.

a few more shots to make you jealous...

so that's one off the samoa bucket list. day at the beach - real unspoiled beach as it should be.

mads and doug having the time of their lives.

according to mum, there was a resort here years and years ago, but this is all that remains, this gorgeous little ruin.

such a great afternoon. samoa as it was in my head

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

i love doing the primary music, and i am having so much fun with the kids... i love to watch them dance about and sing when we are doing action songs, and yesterday was no exception... it has been so so hot for weeks now (luckily over christmas it was bearable... would have been dreadful if it was like it is now, doug's parents aren't used to the dry heat here - just sucks the life out of you.) there have been days recently when it's still 40ish degrees at 7pm and then in the mid 30s after midnight!!!! gross!

so yesterday during singing time, i decided that we were going to sing once there was a snowman - because it was the only song i could think of that might make me think it was the slightest bit cool... haha. maddie is obsessed with it too and the whole time we were singing it, all i could think of was her singing it and throwing herself around, i had to try very hard to keep from laughing out loud!

being pregnant during summer is totally different to winter, i have less than a month to go and sometimes i feel so hot!!! i took my wedding rings on my last day of work, just in case - they were getting a bit tight and i didn't want to risk anything... as a teenager i had to have a ring cut off my finger, and i am certainly not risking that again. (that's another story, for another time...) i've also had my feel swell a little, (thankfully no cankles!!) which isn't very comfortable either.

other than that - things are great - and who am i to complain when there are so many women in the world who can't even have children.. i know how lucky i am, and i am thankful every day that i've been blessed with another baby and if having one meant i had to suffer through summer that was hotter than it is now, i would still do it - cause i know in the end, it's worth every single little thing that goes into it!

but just for the record, props to my mum - there are four children in my family and three of us were born in december. january and february. summer, summer and summer. my mum is my hero!

so i'll just hang about in my air-conditioning wishing for snow and hoping that one day (pregnant or not) i have a chance to build a snowman!! on the bucket list for sure!!

hot day backyard fun

monday this week was so hideously hot that maddie and i hid out inside like two little recluses. i let her crawl around on the lounge room floor while i was doing the ironing and 10 minutes later found her here in the corner standing up looking pleased as punch, hanging on to anything she could get her hands on - clever girl!

  

when daddy came home though, he finished blowing up the play pool we got madeline for christmas and then filled it up for her to have a splash. she splashed away, flinging water all over the place, having a great old time until she started to get wrinkly fingers and toes. best investment we've made in a while, she absolutely loved it!!

then she had a turn in the swing, it's been passed down from her kalgoorlie cousins and as you can see, she's a little bit in love with it. she giggled away as she swang back and forth and no one could wipe that toothy grin off her face. Simple things are clearly the best according to maddie!