fathers day 2019

couldn't let father's day go by without recognising this deadset legend. you've made my life absolute bliss. even though every single time i used the phone as a teenager you were "expecting an important call from peru/turkey/italy" (take your pick haha) and you pretend to be disgusted by my sense of humour that i inherited straight from you... i'd still choose you every single time. love you so much!

and...

doug, your personality was made for being a dad (unless they argue back). you're full of epic one liners that they quote for months afterwards and make them laugh all the time with your knock knock jokes... but watching you with your dad is the best, cause i know for sure that you learned it allllll from him. love you both so much, i'm so lucky to have you, together. ♥

faction carnival 2019

today was our annual primary school sports carnival. oh my gosh. it has been poooooouring down with rain for the last two days - and every time i got a message from the school message system yesterday i expected it to be the final straw and that the carnival was cancelled, but when i picked the kids up, it was still on and all the parents were left wondering if the staff were sane... joseph's teacher even said (only half joking) that i might want to keep my kids home. we had a good laugh over that.

this morning it still looked terrible, rain was looming and i braced myself as i carefully filled my kids hair with red hairspray... we got out of the car and it poured again, we all had to race to class and i decided to take alex home. but then it stopped and even though it was blowing a gale, there was no more rain. so i found a place to stand with some other cool mums and cheered my kids on in their sprints. 

this amazing little boy who always seems so uninterested in sport stared straight down the line and took off as soon as they sounded the horn and came in third in his race! he was so pleased with himself and rightly so. what a legend!

here he is! little champ

maddie was devastated, in her past two years of carnivals, she has placed each time in the sprint, but this time tried so hard that she overcorrected, stumbled and lost time against the others. she was so upset not placing, but we could see she had really tried. poor love. i know she hated being reminded, but there is always next year!

joseph also cracked me up when he was the only one in his faction that actually ran when it was time to do their flag race. everyone else was casually strolling from bucket to bucket while we all cracked up on the sidelines.

we had a super fun day and when i came back to the oval at the end of the day, presentations were in full swing... 3 of the champions from year two were from madeline's class, as well as the girl who won the sportsmanship award - annnnnnd giles (red) won the carnival!!!!! the kids were well pleased, as were my other mum friends i'd been with all day - as luck may have it, all our kids were in the same faction! wooooooo. go giles go!

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fun fact: our school factions are named after explorers

giles - red

forrest - green

eyre - blue

gibson - yellow

temple time

i made a promise just a few months after we moved into our new house, that i would make it to the temple once in each calendar month... and i have managed it. so far, so good. i love that i am able to serve and be in the lords house and make time for the temple.

"There exists a righteous unity between the temple and the home. Understanding the eternal nature of the temple will draw you to your family; understanding the eternal nature of the family will draw you to the temple." —Gary E. Stevenson

i know that by making time for the temple, i am being the example that my children need. by seeing their parents attend the temple, they will want to make the gospel of the highest priority in their own lives and to make it a goal to attend themselves one day.

"Prepare now for the temple, the mountain of the Lord. Never allow the goal of the temple to be out of your sight. Walk into His presence in purity and virtue, and receive His blessings—even 'all that he hath.'" —Elaine S. Dalton

make the temple a priority in your own home, for as long as we can see the temple, we will never be lost. ♥

beehive day

we had the most amazing afternoon with our beehives on saturday! i'm the beehive (young women aged 11-13) leader and we decided as a presidency that we would make a special afternoon for them as they often miss out on stake activities that are 14 and up. after thinking about it for a while, i decided to make it something crafty, with food... easy right?

our schedule for the afternoon was:

1pm: welcome and introduction to the afternoon

we made sure the girls all knew each other and then played a game that involved blowing up a balloon then running with it between their knees from one side of the rec hall to the other. if you dropped the balloon you had to start again, if you popped it, you were out. easy, but there was a lotttt of giggles

1:15pm: cooking time. we gathered in the kitchen to make hot chocolate (for later) and chocolate truffles (for the girls to take home). i picked easy things so we could get it done without too much trouble. i gave the girls a bowl each to put their truffles on when they were finished and they took them home in a paper bag at the end of the day.

1:45pm: hairclip making. we made fabric covered hairclips - another simple but fun activity

all you need are scissors, glue, a fabric button kit, a bunch of different fabrics and hair clips. our creative girls loved choosing their fabrics and making them.

2:45pm: johnny lingo movie. i have always been a huge fan of this movie. it speaks of how speaking kindly to others can change their life completely, as sometimes you won't know of your own beauty until someone else can see it. it has such an amazing story and i was so excited to share it with the. bear in mind it is super old, but it's amazing. please go watch it!

i set up one of the rooms to look like a theatre room and served popcorn, which made it that little bit more fun. after the movie i gave each of the girls a card and asked them to write their name on the front and then pass it to their right. each girl wrote something they liked or admired about the girl whose name was on the front. there is nothing better than reading something nice about yourself, so i hope they have the desired effect when they read them later.

3:30pm: nails! one of the girls in our ward is completely nuts about nails, she has glitter, stickers, stamps, transfers, you name it, she can do it. she is amazing!!! so the next hour or so was taken up by all the girls going crazy doing their nails with professional advice.

4:30pm afternoon tea in the courtyard. we are so, so lucky and have the cutest courtyard in the middle of our building. i truly wish people would use it more often as it is the best thing out. i took along all my fancy tea party things and set up afternoon tea for the girls. chair covers, sashes, flowers... even bunting around the tree in the middle! it looked gorgeous and seeing all their faces when they got to sit down was well worth it.

such a perfect end to the afternoon. while we sat together, we talked about what they had liked the most from the day... they all liked different things... but were mostly happy with the food. no surprises there! that's kids for you.

last but not least, we sent the girls home with a bag of goodies... each stamped with their name. 

they contained:

a cool pen

a gratitude journal 

some young womens printouts and a letter each from our presidency

the beehive purpose statement (free printable available here)

(plus their 

chocolate truffles,

haircips and

cards with nice things from earlier)

i have the best time putting this activity together for the girls and loved watching them have a good time. it was worth all the effort and i would highly recommend you do it for your ward!

smarty pants

so proud of this little girl. i know she works hard at school (and let's be honest, she is super smart which certainly helps) but yesterday she was acknowledged for her efforts with an honour certificate at their school assembly!

madeline is consistently reflecting on her learning. madeline continues to set goals and demonstrates a growth mindset towards all learning tasks. well done superstar!

i am so proud to be her mum and watch her grow and learn. yay maddie!

marriage is forever

sometimes we need a little reminder of why we work hard at our marriages... and here is a good one.

 my marriage was, from the very beginning, something that i intended to be a part of for time and all eternity. i told my young womens class once years ago, that an eternal marriage was something i wanted, because when you love someone that much, this life just isn't long enough. for that reason, i intend to keep building... so that when we reach the eternities, i have something huge that we built, together, day by day, that will truly last forever. 

baby alexanders bedroom

i have finally moved all the rubbish (well not rubbish but all the things that have homes that weren't in their homes) out of alexander's room and now it looks like a baby's room! poor child. it wasn't undone, but it wasn't done... but now it is. dad came and worked his magic a couple of weeks ago and put up a picture rail for me to put some of his cute things up on display.

my mother kindly painted me these drawers i found on gumtree whilst pregnant (and by kindly, i mean she rolled her eyes and said jaaaaaade, why did you buy those? they have broken bits and dad is going to complain about having to fix them and do you know what a pain it is to paint things white?) and they look amazing! so happy, she's the best. huge props to dad for doing the fixing too. 

then, whilst opping in northam last month, i found these gorgeous prints which i just knew would be perfect for his room. i am loving his little space. congrats baby alex, you've finally got your own room... almost a year later!