RIP kenwood

it is with absolute devastation and sadness that i write this post, mourning the loss of my much used and loved kenwood mixmaster, which has been mine since douglas and i were married in 2006. but. this particular machine actually belonged to my grandmother (my mums mum) from new, and was forty-three years old! goes to show just how good their products are doesn't it!

i was actually so sad about it blowing up and unfortunately there was no chance of it even being repaired or looked at, it had to go straight in the bin - as there was a popping noise and sparks... definitely not something worthy of a second attempt. thankfully i had finished the batter for alex's birthday cake - but still had icing to do!

i was pretty freaking stoked though, because my lovely husband not only took me to get a new one today - but then didn't complain even a little when he had to nurse it all the way home from costco, because the back of my car was full to the brim with a mini inflatable bouncy castle and a bunch of mini ride on vehicles for alex's birthday party tomorrow. that's real love... nursing my kenwood. haha.

i still am honestly in awe of the amount of time nanna's one lasted though. i know she used it a lot before it was shelved when she passed away - and i have used it pretty much daily, and multiple times a day at that for the last (almost) 15 years!

i definitely knew that another kenwood was the way to go, so i got the chef xl, in the hopes that we might get another 40+ years out of it. can definitely vouch that they are built to last.

new kenwood? let's bake! i have a big batch of icing to make for a small child's birthday tomorrow! 

😂❤

starlight festival of dance october 2020

it never stops around here... we may have a birthday to organise and party food to make, but first up, lyrical troupe at the startlight festival of dance. we are so thrilled to be able to be back dancing at competitions after the april ones were closed down due to the covid issues.

madeline and her little troupe mates put in a stellar effort and walked away with third place in their category. (we absolutely will not mention that there was three entries haha - something we may want to know in the years to come, but they still danced beautifully!)

i love seeing them all on stage together and their love for dance. it makes all the long practices and driving and preparation worth it for us mums!

and seeing them so happy to take a place is the very best bit of course! look at her! ❤

i love their costume so much too, it's so flowy and delicate - their routine was to "here comes the sun" by syml, (a sweet folky style cover of the beatles original) and the sunny yellow is just the cutest thing. i'm so proud of our tiny dancer!

primary general conference packs

i love being able to get the primary children involved in general conference too - and am in loooove with this incredible huge colouring page that we also located online (forever grateful for those to share their ides and help me do wonderful things for our group here!). we gave one to each family so the children could colour together as they listen to conference. 

then, we added in a bag of popcorn with a date reminder - for further distraction!

i'm so excited to see these getting used on the day and i'm hoping the kids love them as much as i do!

the three bee's of general conference

with general conference available this weekend for us in australia, i decided to make up a little pack for the sisters i minister to and a few of my closest friends. a few weeks ago i came across this gorgeous little printable pack on one of the many relief society pages i follow. 

the pack printed into a little book with tips on how to get more out of conference and some lovely little passages and quotes and i dropped them off with a little bag of chocolate honeycomb and honeycomb swirl cookies. i love love love general conference and i love sending off something to those close to me to make it a little more fun too! ❤

 

hoddywell archery park/ toodyay

robin hood time! alex is safe and sound at nannas house so i can spend a little time with the older two at another place that we had a ton of fun at as kids - hoddywell archery park!

hoddywell is about 10 minutes up the toodyay-clackline road from my mum and dads place and i was thrilled to see the kids loved it as much as i did. they very quickly got right into it and did really well!

it's nice to have some time with just the two of them as alex always needs so much attention!

joseph especially blew me away with his efforts, i wasn't sure if he would be that keen, but got right into it and had awesome aim! he was always hitting the target and getting it right near the middle!

we really had an awesome time together and i'm really glad we did it.

robin hood himself! i love it when this kid surprises me. ❤

and miss madeline didn't do too badly either, but it did make me laugh, because she is generally so good at everything that when joseph was beating her, she got so mad! i had to keep reminding her that it was his turn to shine.

afterwards we went into toodyay and had a look around. the kids love that there is a christmas store that is open all year around.

and an old fashioned phone box!

we also had a look in the old church on the main street...

and went into the museum at connors mill which i haven't done since i was around madeline's age!

they loved having a look around, although got bored very quickly and decided it was home time. 

another day out in the wheatbelt. i love being able to share my childhood with my kids. ❤

toodyay fairytale farm

we took a trip to the fairytale farm in toodyay today with our cousinbesties the niupalau kids. i have seen a few friends recently visit and show pics off and i thought it would be a fun day out.

oh was i right. the kids had an absolute ball! all the bright colours and nursery rhymes and fairy tales scattered about the place had the kids smiling and giggling...

there was fun things to do and see - like these nutters posing for lols. 

the entire time we were there i kept thinking there was something so familiar about the place, like i had been there before, which was impossible as it didn't open that long ago. but once we went into the little shop/museum, i found out it used to be enchantmentland that was an attraction in glen forrest when i was a child! well that all makes sense now.

i loved all the animals and we had such a good time watching the kids having fun around them.

we (including me!) fed the goats... i love goats. all that was missing was my beautiful goat loving friend emily parsons to share the goat moment with.

they were just so adorable with their faces and their little noses! 

then we cuddled with some guinea pigs...

someone needs to get madeline one at some stage... i'm so against getting a pet cause they are such a pain, but she loves them so much! look at that happy face!

they literally had a full scale cuddle line with all the animals and it was the cutest thing i've ever seen!

they also had a mini golf set up

and croquet! just like in alice in wonderland!

they even had a mad hatter tea party set up too and the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever posing with the tables. it was the best day and everyone has such a good time. i love watching the kids just getting to be kids.

we will definitely be back at some stage... we love the country!

 

a day out in york

growing up in the wheatbelt was amazing. as any teenagers do, we complain about everything, and that there's nothing to do, but i can assure you, we found plenty.

york is one of the neighbouring towns to clackline where i grew up and it is so beautiful! it is wa's oldest inland town and the all the old buildings are stunning. the town hall is my favourite.

i love the old country town feel of it. i love the amount of work that went into buildings years ago. i just love the country. i was so so blessed to grow up out here. 

i mean seriously, how stunning is this building? i can just imagine the events, the meetings, the concerts that would have gone on back in the day.

and the view from the top windows isn't bad either

stunning stained glass accents...

that grand staircase... it's just amazing!

afterwards we went for a play at the local park with my friend keryn and her son jamison. we have known each other since school and are still close as anything.

this little cutie had a great time as always, give him a swing and he's happy... 

and he was especially stoked when aunty keryn took him for a glide on the flying fox.

we constantly visit york as my favourite opshop is there, but all the other things make it wonderful too, especially having friends there. i love being able to share home with my kids. ❤