alex is fourteen months

baby alexander is now fourteen months old...

during the last month...

-he hands things to you when you ask, but then wants it to be passed back straight away

-when we say ta, he’ll hand anyone whatever he is holding

-he is saying hiii and byyyye

-he has started to stand balance for a while

-he took a few steps on the spot first

-he took his first few tottering steps 27th november to poppy

-he started walking!

baby a, you are truly loved

road to bethlehem 2019

every year we go as a family to the "road to bethlehem" presented by the livingston seventh day adventist church. it is absolutely one of the highlights of our christmas season. we love being able to help the children experience something that allows them to feel the true meaning of christmas. it's not about santa, or reindeer or gifts. it's about the birth of jesus christ.

i know the kids enjoy it and look forward to it (maddie used to call it mary and jesus drive when she was a little younger haha) but this pictured child was not very happy to be there this year. who knows why, but everyone else had a good time.

i love the songs, the scenes (king herods court is my favourite!) and pretty much everything about it

all the members of their church are super welcoming and never pushy about wanting to pass on their religious beliefs, which sure is handy when we have our own!

grumpo got over it after a while, but was not letting go of aunty dom for anything while he listened to the different stages of the journey. i love these two and their bond.

maddie and one of the guards. she is so outgoing and never has a problem talking to anyone she meets along the way.

this year they had this wonderful prayer tree at the end of the of the trip. i took a moment to write some family names on there. dougs dad has been unwell for a long time and has been in hospital for a few weeks, with no end in sight. i know we are all praying to the same god and i am happy for others to be praying for him along with us. ❤

afterwards the kids went off and made soldier swords in "joseph's workshop" hahaha. they had the best time making them. can't wait to see them fighting away with them. oh dear. 

maddie busily working with aunty dom on hers

joseph and his own personal workshop hahaha

thanks for a wonderful night! we will see you again next year, no doubt!

school open nights

tonight was the kids open nights at school. i remember when i was a kid, we used to have a concert with all the classes contributing to a final product, which we loved and worked on for weeks beforehand. it was so much fun and i must admit i miss it, but i realise well and good that it's not something we would be able to do at the schools here in the city. i think the total number of students at the kids school is more than double what our little country school had - you'd never fit them all into our undercover area - then add the parents, impossible!

so, at our kids school, we have an evening where the classroom is open, the kids do a little item and then parents are able to view the work they produced throughout the year and spend some time hanging out and looking around the classroom. it gives us a lot more time to be one on one with the kids which is really nice.

joseph's class sang us a song - purple soup and then we went around the classroom looking at all their work and completing a bunch of tasks on a sheet we were given...

he did good!

joseph with his teachers - he had a shared class this year with mrs turner and mrs cunningham and the absolutely lovely mrs g, who was his education assistant last year too. they have been incredible and he has come so far with them.

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then we went off to madeline's classroom, because the kids actually had their open classrooms back to back this year. score! maddie's class had made the funniest videos for us to watch about their year and then completed worksheets to see if they knew more or their parents did. i must admit, i didn't do too badly, but madeline did better than me of course, cause it was stuff that was fresh in her mind! 

maddie's teacher miss stone is our fave! she has been sooooo much fun and we just adore her. we were absolutely hoping that joseph would have her next year when we found out that she would be teaching year one, but a last minute change found her staying in year two, even though she had been given her class list and he was on it before the changes. wahhhhhhhh! i am sure it will be fine, we've not been unhappy with a teacher yet - they have all been just wonderful and we feel truly blessed that they have brought out the best in our children.

madeline has excelled again this year and we are just so proud of her. she has done so well in school and i can't wait to see what next year brings.

are we ready to receive him?: a young womens christmas lesson

today i gave a special christmas lesson to our young women. we have been focusing on personal revelation this year, how to receive it, how to recognise it and what to do with it. i felt like this would really resonate with the girls and let them know that it's something for everyone! as we spoke about each person, i set up my nativity on the table in our classroom. i also told the girls that i am sure to always place jesus and his parents at the centre of the nativity, as they are truly the centre of christmas. it was a great lesson and i could see them thinking a lot about each thing we spoke about.

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Opening Hymn – Silent Night (LDS Hymns 204)

Our lesson today is about how each person mentioned in the nativity story prepared themselves to meet Christ. Each person received a witness, personal revelation if you will, to prepare them for His arrival.

We are going to start with two videos and then we will talk about each person.

NATIVITY VIDEO

WISE MEN SEEK THE CHRIST CHILD VIDEO

Read Luke 2:1-20 (Nativity story)

Mary – How was Mary prepared?

She had lived a pure and virtuous life, she was visited by an angel to tell her, she had great faith, which is why she accepted what the angel said without a question

Joseph – How was Joseph prepared?

He had chosen a virtuous woman to be married, an angel spoke to him as he slept to tell him of Jesus’s arrival, he accepted what the angel said and took Mary as his wife even though she was pregnant prior to their marriage

The Shepherds – How were the shepherds prepared?

They lived a simple and righteous life. They were dedicated to caring for their sheep, meaning they had great love for them and I would assume for others. The angel spoke to them and although they were visibly afraid, they followed his instructions and went to see the baby.

Read Matthew 2:1-12 (Wise men arrive)

The wise men – How were the wise men prepared?

The wise men were well respected and educated men. They had wealth and servants and knew of prophecies that had been made concerning a Saviour who would come. They had studied the skies and watched and waited for many years knowing the signs that would be given. They were perhaps the most well prepared for him.

Were any of these people frightened? Yes! Mary, Joseph and the shepherds. Why? Mary was pregnant and unmarried, Joseph had a pregnant fiancée, the shepherds thought someone would attack their sheep. But everyone watched and listened to prepare themselves for Jesus. Personal revelation is not always something we want to hear or something we can prepare ourselves for, but once we have it, we can change ourselves and prepare to do what we have been instructed to do. It doesn’t mean it won’t ever be scary though.

What can we do to prepare ourselves and allow Christ to enter our homes and hearts?

Study the words of the prophets as the wise men did, pray for guidance and understanding, love others as he did and keep Christ at the center of our lives. Where there is light, darkness cannot be. Allow the light of Christ to fill our lives each day throughout December by drawing slips from our jars and always, by continuing to read the scriptures each day once the month is over.

Share experiences from the advent calendars.

Bear testimony and witness of the Saviour.

Close with O HOLY NIGHT VIDEO

ward christmas party

our ward knows how to throw an awesome party. that's for sure. for the second year in a row, we have had a party in the car park, but it was so much fun. our bishop and co organised the same inflatable waterslide we had last year and the kids were in heaven!

look at them go!

so happy to be there.

then they got to hang out with some animals in the travelling petting zoo. maddie loves animals, whereas joseph more likes to look at them, but they were very happy!

my favourite were these very festive looking goats complete with santa hats. i was very sad that my fellow goat loving friend emily wasn't here to enjoy them with me.

and alex? he was happy just to chill with his grandma and watch the world go by. cutest kid.

festive free dress day

not going to lie, i loooove a good themed free dress day at school and this one was no exception. today the kids at school had "festive free dress" day. i was so stoked. i am a total christmas person and dressing them up for this one was so fun.

joseph's shirt was gleefully purchased by me from cotton on kids just last week - doug loves rap music and we have often giggled about the snoop dogg version of "the night before christmas" or should we say - "the nizzle before christmizzle." when i saw it, i had to have it!

i love seeing red and green everywhere at christmas - and seeing a sea of it at drop off this morning made me even happier. i love that in this world of "political correctness" and not wanting to offend anyone that someone in the school p&c put the idea forward and actually it got accepted.. woo! christmas will always find a way haha.

merry christmas ellen stirling! 

oh christmas tree

i was on the ball this year - with our christmas tree up on the 1st of december. go me! haha

these two loved every minute of putting it up and quickly ran off to get red and green pjs on to pose in front of it, even though alexander had already been put to bed.

i love a traditional tree, but have a few surprises in there, like mini gold pineapples, pale green macarons, some gold swans and some new decorations this year, like these cute glittery initials from our local big w

which the kids loved finding a spot for and putting on the tree themselves

and some gold glittery seahorses, one of which you can see tucked away on the lift hand side here. my all time favourite ornaments remain the silver praying angel my mother gave me on the day of my baptism, just ten days before christmas in december 1991 and this glass bauble filled with leftover white satin from my wedding dress. i am hoping it's something my daughter will keep hanging on her tree in the years to come.

i love having the tree up, because it feels like the christmas season has officially begun. i am hoping christmas rhis year will be special, being that alex is a lot more mobile now and not a newborn - and the other two are really starting to understand what it is all about.

merry christmas everyone! i can't wait to start the celebrations!