maddie's first sleepover

maddie came home from her first sleepover at my parents a few hours ago... she was so excited to go and helped me pack her bag, then excitedly waited by the door most of the day for them to arrive. the minute they knocked, she rushed to meet them and tried to get straight into the car. she was so disappointed when they wanted to come in and visit a while... "can we go yet, can we go yet?"

during the day she was there she had a lovely time, but when it came to bed - she kept waking up and whining for me. poor love. first time away from home. so when the second night came and she didn't want to go to bed again and got a bit teary, mum and dad packed her back into the car and drove her back to perth. of course she was fast asleep by the time they got here and we popped her straight back into bed... but at least she's done it once now.

i know she did have a wonderful time though and kept telling me all about everything they had done, so hopefully we'll have a little more luck next time around. ♥

visiting teaching christmas gifts

here are the gifts florence and i took a few weeks ago for christmas to the girls we visit teach.

casserole dish carrybags

years ago, i received one from my visiting teacher and decided i was going to make some. i had all the fabric and a little motivation, but when joseph was playing up and mum was at our house, she took over and had them all made within an hour. oh, she is the best. no arguments here!

i know you will all easily be able to tell from the picture how to make them, but here is a small rundown and the measurements for the square. i'm not good with sewing terms, so excuse me if none of this makes perfect sense.

you'll need half a metre of fabric and lining (they end up being 45cm across, so to allow for hems) and if your fabric is wide enough, you'll probably be able to get two from it - i got 4 from the two half metres i purchased. some wadding (to pad it so once your dish is inside no one gets burnt) and a piece of reasonably thick cord.

sew your fabric, lining and wadding into a 45cm square, then turn - fold open edge in and top stitch around all the edges, fold in a triangle of about 4cm and then sew two opposite ends across 2cm in, to hold them in place, ensure there is enough room to thread cord through. make a handle, the same way about 10cm or so wide, turn and top stitch. pin your handle to the other two points once folded in and stitch them to attach handle to the back, again leaving enough space for the cord which you will then thread through... and you're done. 

wrap and gift!

and thank you mum! you are truly the best.

joseph's room

i have been meaning to post joseph's finished room for quite some time, but seem to have failed miserably in doing so.

i had such a good time making this space for our little man and i am so glad i went with bright yellow and green with grey and white... it looks amazing and i am thrilled. i love to be in here with him. ♥ 

so here we are; better late than never...

canvas: officeworks

weathered blocks: chris lentz-reid

yellow frames: thingz home and gifts

mini fale, handheld drum and carved turtle: flea markets samoa

yellow house lantern: kmart

giraffe led night light: target

(drawers from ikea)

cot & change table: has baby

rug & cushion: anna joy french

metal storage baskets: kmart 

nappy stacker: ma & me

grey/yellow dachshund bedding set: target au

teddy bear: funky kids

deer head: the reject shop

mobile: made by my talented mum whilst in samoa

tupac and biggie cushions: passive juice motel

knitted blanket: target

deer cushion: ma & me

patchwork quilt: also made by my mum whilst in samoa, she was on a roll!

green storage cubes: target

monkey over door hangers: kmart

bookshelf: homeart

toy tub: kmart

dream frame: spotlight

vintage train: vinnies stores

elephant: ma & me

a new year and a new resolution

so here it is. there has been two thousand and fifteen years since christ was born. that's a really long time. especially considering i've only been alive for just over 31 of them. 

i saw online a few years ago a girl who had decided to make a single word resolution... what a fabulous idea. because let'd be honest, when you make a list and are too specific it's sometime only days (or even hours) before you've broken some or all of them. when you focus on one thing, it's much easier to make it happen!

so my focus this year will be to become closer. 

closer to my husband, my children, my family and friends.

and of course to the lord. to read and pray and think more and make myself better that way... and as a side note, maybe try and be a little less critical. (i am the queen of silent judgement :( )

so here goes 2015. come at me. (i think) i'm ready!

landis family photos

today i had the absolute pleasure of taking family photographs for some very close friends. throughout the month of december, the australia perth temple presidency opened the gates to the temple on monday nights, to allow families to visit during their weekly family home evening. this was the last opportunity to do so... and what better place could there be for family photos, than within the beautiful gardens of the temple? 

sometime i look back on photos and feel as though i really manged to capture the personalities of the people in the shots. today was one of those days. it made me so, so happy to go through the shots later and pick which ones i was going to edit.

and the beautiful surroundings made them even better!

this is by far my favourite, just that cheeky little grin - surrounded by the most loving parents. 

just. so. much. love.

and this photo definitely proves that they are one of those couples that are still as in love now as the day they got married. ♥

i am in love with mason's cute little grin. he just makes me happy every time i see him.

i could do photos with rob & bianca over and over, my camera loves their family as much as i do... but i am so glad we had this opportunity to make some beautiful memories in a beautiful place. 

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! 

♥

kendall christmas 2014

and so it's all over for another year... i love christmas, so much. i just always lean back the day afterwards and think wow! all that work for one day. thank goodness it is only once a year! haha. i love also that as a member of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints, that we know what christmas is really about. that christ was the first gift, given by a loving father to save his children. 

i love to give gifts and this year was no exception, i went to a lot of effort to find the perfect gifts for the children - and when it was all laid out i was like - heck! that seems like a lot of gifts, but as they were unwrapped it wasn't that crazy... madeline and joseph loved their gifts. they each had 3 gifts from santa (as well as little things in their stockings) one containing two books, a piece of clothing (maddie's was an anna corononation dress (from frozen) and she was stoked!) and a toy. perfect.

i also always leave one gift unwrapped deliberately... so that there is something to distract them early in the morning, which enables us to have breakfast and the likes before gifts. as you can see in the above pics, madeline's was a my little pony dollhouse i found on gumtree (an australian online buy/sell/swap page) for just $10!! and joseph's a playset that a friend was selling on facebook for $50. score! 

i always purchase things throughout the year, to ensure that when the birthdays and christmas come i am not having to fork out large amounts of money all at once. it has really worked for me too. especially now with children!

doug bought me this beautiful star for my pandora bracelet... amongst other things (he spoils me rotten at christmas time, and i am always unwrapping long after everyone else is done.) and surprised me with two tickets to les miserables, which is showing in perth in just a few weeks! i am beyond thrilled, i love musicals and am so excited to see it again. 

and i did well for him also! i had mum and dad buy a hand carved drum from samoa and have it shipped home with all their items. he was so happy... which made me happy. he had been looking at them over and over during our stay, but hadn't even considered the possibility of purchasing one as we really had no way to get it home. but mum and dad made it happen! they also brought him home some wonderful traditional gifts and a big bush knife haha, which he was thrilled with.

the kids had a play outside with the hose (it was verrrrrrrry hot) while i finished making my food to take to dinner at jared and donna's under the watchful eye (and camera) of their sweet nanna. how wonderful it is to have my parents home - and what a great picture. they really are adorable children.

joseph tearing into his present from aunty renee and uncle isaac, who arrived to spend some quality time with mum and dad... worked well for doug and i who were dying to take a nap, after being up most of the night wrapping gifts for the kids! the things you do for love...

this was by far my favourite gift that arrived at our home, a little matai doll sold at the shop that mums friend owns in samoa. i saw them online and was dying to have one for him, only to find out that she had already spoken to her and gotten the fabric to bring home and make him one. i am in love!

and apparently he is too!

we arrived at jared & donnas house for dinner to see these two little girls running around in matching red dresses, madeline had worn her red christmas dress and emma had to match. so adorable. i remember loving to wear matching clothes to other people at that age too!

i made a christmas trifle... mmm trifle. as much as i would love to have a winter christmas just once, i love that in australia there is sun, swimming, dresses and icecream! apparently there had been a disaster with the trifle donna had made for family lunch (with her side of the family) and everyone started asking me how i had made mine, so recipe to follow in a few days!

my nephew ben and i

cuddles with my sweet babies

and a token selfie with my mini me - laura.

what a wonderful christmas. i am so grateful for such a beautiful family!

madeline was exhausted by the end of the day (joseph was long asleep by this stage) but still insisted on sleeping with her new anna and elsa stuffed dolls (from aunty renee and uncle isaac) and the care bear from us. what a gorgeous picture. ♥

we were sad to not have doug's parents with us this year, but all going well - they'll be living here by next year... fingers crossed!