learn to love - yw baptism

one of our beautiful young women was baptised this morning and it was such a special experience. we have watched her grow over the past few months, coming from a member family who have been less active for many years, she had never been baptised, but has decided to do so.

she is such a sweet, fun girl and our presidency were so pleased to see her make the choice. we even decided to sing together at her baptism and were blessed with the most wonderful spirit in the room as we did so.

come follow me, the saviour said

then let us in his footsteps tread

for thus alone, can we be one

with god's own loved begotten son

come follow me, a simple phrase

yet truths sublime effulgent rays

are in these simple words combined

to urge, inspire, the human mind

is it enough, alone to know

that we must follow him below

while travelling through this vale of tears

no this extends to holier spheres

for thrones, dominions, kingdoms, powers

and glory great and bliss are ours,

if we throughout eternity

obey his words "come follow me"

i was really impressed with the final speaker at the baptism, one of our bishopric counselors who spoke about the importance of "learning to love", which really made me think. it is so true, we do need to learn to love. to love people who love us, to love people who don't, people who have hurt us and people who we may have hurt unintentionally. it was so thought provoking!

so - think who needs you, and learn to love ❤

creamy chicken pasta

there have been quite a few experimental recipes happening in our house lately - one of them being this creamy chicken pasta. please excuse this very unappealing photo, but the kids loved it, even the little nugget that claims not to like zucchini - so here is me recording the recipe for future reference.

based very loosely on a recipe from here:

creamy chicken pasta

-500g penne pasta

-2 diced zucchini

-1 bunch chinese vegetables

-400g diced chicken thighs

-1 teaspoon onion powder

-2 teaspoons minced garlic

-250g cream

-1/2 cup chicken stock

-sprinkle of dried parsley

-parmesan cheese to serve

1. cook pasta according to directions

2.  cook garlic in a small amount of oil until fragrant. add chicken and cook until brown. add diced zucchini and chinese veggies and allow to cook until soft.

3. stir in cream, stock, chicken, parsley and onion powder, allow to simmer until well cooked.

4. add pasta, stir in, then serve. top with parmesan cheese.

a gaming birthday party for joseph

this is the happiest six year old on the planet. yesterday he and seven of his friends (and believe me i love that he included his big sister and two of her friends (that are his friends too) as part of the seven) had 2 hours to game their butts off at the local timezone. it was seriously all his dreams come true in a single day.

he and madeline even dressed the part - they were so excited, it is seriously all i have heard about for weeks on end. joseph loves computer games and he had been asking me since before his last birthday if he could have a gaming birthday at timezone, but last year we thought he was still just a bit too young. this year he was totally ready!

joseph and his little bestie charlie ready to rock the place.

joseph and the birthday squad - i meanly made them all squish up and smile - straight after getting their instructions, before i would let them start, because i knew i had no chance of getting them all in one place again haha,

this game was the favourite of the day i think - joseph and charlie played it time and time again, best bit was - it actually shot real water at the screen to fight the bad guys.

he played some ball with dad...

and once the party room was available i got set up inside. i had ordered an awesome mario and luigi pack online, but it got way delayed and didn't make it in time so i did the best i could with what i could find... red and white spotted plates and green and white spotted serviettes, which looked like mushrooms and fitted the theme perfectly. thank you big w!

we also had mushroom cookies made by my clever friend jennifer at baked on benrua - and yrllow mystery box goodie boxes, printed onto heavy paper and cut and taped into place...

 then filled with gold coins (of the chocolate variety!) just like in the game. well done mum, well done.

joseph and his mates - all super stoked to be there!

i also made these mushroom cupcakes - super easy just green icing, some white chocolate melts and a marker to draw the eyes on the side. i was the happiest mum on the planet - when i showed the first one to joseph, he was so happy he actually did a little dance on the spot. day, made!

i must admit though, the easiest bit of the whole day was the cake. he insisted on having an icecream cake, which i had planned to make - only to find out that the freezer in the timezone party room was really tiny and wouldn't hold a home made one. so... that idea went out the window. instead we went to woolworths the day before and chose one he liked, then i left doug with the kids and slipped out downstairs to grab it right before it was time to get it out and ready. mario and luigi toppers from mcdonalds happy meals last year? done done and done. and he loved it!

our big six year old. 

cake with mum and dad. he was seriously so happy with the day and kept telling me all that night about how it was the "best party ever" and how he wants exactly the same thing next year. ha. okay. let's wait and see.

and just cause he's cute - here's a photo of alexander enjoying his big brothers party. 

best. day. ever!

joseph is six

not entirely sure how this happened, but joseph has turned six! it feels like just yesterday that he was a baby... then a small child that wouldn't talk and did not want to be toilet trained - then having to have his teeth removed... then going off to school, full time... and now all of a sudden he's in year one! what the heck child!

some joseph updates: over the last few months he has been incredibly hard work. ever since dougs dad went into hospital for the last time and doug had to keep spending hours and days there and away from us, he hasn't coped. he loves doug so much and is super close to him, so after stephens death, if doug had to go anywhere, joseph just lost his mind and would scream and cry and thrown a tantrum.

then... when school started, he just wouldn't go into class and would stand outside and cry and just wouldn't go in, and then lose it when someone tried to make him.

but, we made it through, as we always do and now he is going in to class quite happily and is doing well - so i guess mummy won't have to kill him after all haha. he really is a loveable kid, with the most adorable face and i love his cuddles and sloppy kisses.  

he had the happiest day, starting with daddy being home, getting some funky presents including a kids garmin watch of his very own (sneaky mum and dad to encourage him to move more), a raiders t-shirt and a back to the future t-shirt. he was so chuffed! 

then he took funky (in his opinion, i don't know how keen on the decorations i was to be honest, but he loved them) cupcakes we decorated last night to school to share...

and got to to have dinner at hungry jacks with his favourite people (dad, me, maddie, alex, grandma and the pinkers) for special treat

plus we even busted out the cake he had asked for (a mini red velvet cake from woolworths) at hungr jacks much to his delight.

little joseph kendall, i love you and your foul attitude like crazy and look forward to another year with you. you are the coolest, crankiest and most loveable kid i know.

sundays are for family

sundays are for family... so sometimes that means driving to pinnaroo valley after church to see poppy steve. i love that the kids still talk about him so much and hope that doesn't go away as i want alex to know him like the others do. they rake the leaves off of his grave, chat to him and always look for flowers that don't have a grave to put with him.

we miss him so much even though we know he is safe, so being near him is good for all of us.

a family is forever - and we are making sure ours will be. 

joseph's lost teeth!

after all this time waiting, joseph has finally lost some teeth without the assistance of a surgeon. back in 2015, a few days after his third birthday, he fell and smacked his teeth into concrete. after a few months, the nerves in his teeth became infected and he developed an abscess above each tooth, which required immediate removal. thanks to the wonderful team at princess margaret hospital it was taken care of pretty quickly, but he has had a giant hole in his mouth ever since. 

now that hole is even bigger, as his bottom teeth fell out this week... two days in a row! i couldn't believe it, but he is happy as a lark - and to be honest, i am pretty stoked, because it means it can't be too much longer before his adult teeth grow in up top. can't wait to see my little man with teeth again!

so... funny story. he carefully left his teeth out for the tooth fairy. the first night she was on the ball and came and collected it no problem. the second night she forgot. oh dear. but i was quick with my response. oh honey, the tooth fairy is very busy... maybe she just hasn't been yet! then quickly went into his room with the same $2 from the day before, did the swap and got out of there. i asked him 10 minutes later if she had been yet and he yelled "yessssss! she left me 2 dollars!" nice save there huh! haha. 

well, little one... i can't wait to see you with teeth!

alexander is sixteen months!

this adorable little nugget is now sixteen months old. what?!

during the last month our little redhead:

-was introduced to the cozy coupe and he loves it so much that he growls when you want him to get out of it

-started saying: grandma! joseph! nanna!

-always makes an angry growl noise when you tell him off and then stomps off

-had his first trip to the beach. ate plenty of sand and loved the water

-is obsessed with his little postbox toy and posting all the letters.

-was forced to sleep against his will and after a lot of screaming, he is finally sleeping through the night

-is into absolutely everything. empties drawers, cupboards, always has the fridge open...

what can i say? he is hard work, but oh do we love him!

baby alexander, you are so so loved.