Wars and rumours of wars

The Bible speaks of wars and rumours of wars in Matthew 24, that will precede the second coming... and oh are we seeing these things come to pass. It was just six months ago that we saw the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan, leaving them to fight their political unrest alone. 

Now we have seen Russia invade Ukraine and the situation continues to escalate. I know, exactly how blessed we are to be in a country where these things do not affect us personally, but the possibility of World War III looming on the horizon is very real and something that is causing horrendous amounts of anxiety for so many people. It is scary that this could in time, affect the entire world. Not just those countries, not just Europe, but eventually, all of us.

In these times, there seems that there is little and really nothing we can do. Thinking of it non stop only creates more anxiety for those prone to it. Reading the news articles and watching the reports has the same affect. I felt so hopeless and lost, as to anything I could do, when it seemed like even praying for relief and peace for these people was not enough. When my anxiety was at its worst, I saw this post on Instagram and it changed my thinking. It is the truth. Praying is the most we can do. The Lord hears us and understands us and knows of our pleas for ourselves and others. It is the best of all the things we can do to help, whether the world sees it that way or not.

So when I attended the temple on Saturday, I focused my thoughts to those suffering due to the issues in Ukraine at this time. I know the temple is the closest place to heaven on earth, so the best place to pray and be close to Heavenly Father. I always feel like the veil between heaven and earth is thinnest there and our prayers must be heard so much more clearly. 

Rosemary M Wixom once said that, "In the temple all feelings of inadequacy and imperfection begin to fade." I feel certain that the more I attend, the more my feelings of anxiety will too. The Lord knows our needs and will direct us when we try our utmost to be closer to Him. ❤ 

Joseph got glasses!

I am dying. Joseph got glasses this week and they are sooooo bloody adorable. I can't even deal. 

He has had a slightly lazy eye for quite some time, visible particularly when he was tired or distracted. I shrugged it off as it wasn't an "all the time" thing, but when I took some photos of him recently and it was noticeable yet again, I thought I had better do something about it and made him an appointment at the local optometrist. They were awesome and I am really glad I followed my mum intuition and looked into it.

He does indeed have a lazy eye, his left, and his right eye had just been doing everything. His eyes were working perfectly well, he had great eyesight, out of one eye. When they tested them singularly, all he could see from his left was a big old blur. He needs to wear his glasses full time for three month at which time they will reassess to see what kind of difference the glasses are making - and we made need to patch his good eye to allow the other one to be strengthened and catch up over a period of time. That's great news, totally fixable, no long term issues.

The hardest part was finding a pair of glasses that fit his face. He doesn't have a kid sized face, so none of the kids ones were working for him - there was some tween ones, but there was only two that actually fitted his face and both of them were a bit meh - and were $149 and $199. Eek. We had resigned ourselves that we were just going to have to go with something that was average, until Doug found these "slim fit" adult ones in their "affordable" section for $39 - that included the lenses!!! I couldn't even believe it! PLUS, they looked absolutely adorable on him. Perfection!

He asked every single day after they were ordered how long it would be until they arrived - and when they did, he was thrilled to pieces. He LOVES them and doesn't even want to take them off. Talk about winning! Thank you Aunty Dom for being his favourite human and being a glasses wearer. Made my life so damn easy. ❤

Ohhhh duck cake!

When I was a kid in the 80's, everyone had birthday cakes from the Women's Weekly Birthday Cake book. We would flick through and choose one that we loved and our mums would get to work. Joseph decided he wanted the duck cake and I was going to make it happen, no matter what! He looked through it over and over, but was hell bent on the duck cake. 

I baked the vanilla cake I used for Ross's birthday cake here and then cut it to shape and used skewers to hold it as necessary- with a few tips from this handy YouTube video here. 

The icing was the scariest part, following the decades old instructions and hoping that it would work out! Thankfully it did and we were good to go!

Just the bow was remaining - and we didn't have any orange ribbon... so guess who cut the handle off a reusable shopping bag and used that for the bow. That's right, this girl hahahah. No complaints at all, it worked perfectly!

I was so, so happy with this cake. Joseph nearly died with excitement and I was so thrilled. 100% worth the effort. 10/10 would do again just for that kind of reaction.

The book is incredible and I know so many people have wonderful memories from it. The most beautiful video that you can watch here, was made with the author 38 years after the book was released and it's so worth the watch. Australian Women's Weekly, you are amazing. Thanks for the memories!

Sweet sixteen and always been kissed

Sixteen years married today. Sweet sixteen and always been kissed.

Time to share some of the beautiful photos from the most beautiful day. I am so lucky to have what I have. Douglas, I might hate on you a lot of time, but I love you more than I could ever explain. Here's to the next sixteen years! ❤

 

Joseph's twos-day party

This year there was a really cool day in the calendar. Twos-day. 22/2/2022 which fell on a Tuesday, so it was affectionally dubbed TWOS-day all over the internet. Joseph's birthday is on the 20th, so he decided that Twosday was 100% his and he was having his birthday party that day.

We had the party after school and knowing it was going to be hot, we organised with the parents to send some extra clothes and started the afternoon with a big waterfight. I spent the last half an hour before everyone arrived filling water balloons so they could go wild.

They had the best time! There was so much laughter and squealing in the street while they had their waterfight and funnily enough, Maddie ended up being the one who copped it as all Joseph's friends ganged up on her and soaked her, then grabbed the buckets and tipped the rest of the water on her too.

The best was yet to come though, as we headed inside once they dried off and came inside - we had hired Joseph a mini claw machine! When it got dropped off, he nearly died with excitement and I'm pretty sure it was the absolute highlight of his life. My friend's boyfriend owns three of them and hires them out for parties and events and oh my goodness was it a hit. The kids spent all afternoon playing it and refilling it over and over until it was time for pizza and cake.

Joseph has been on about wanting the duck cake from Bluey for months since he saw the episode where Bandit makes it for Bingo, so he insisted he needed it for his party. So, I made it happen and his face was so worth it. I have never seen him happier in his life than when he walked in the door and the duck cake was made and waiting on the kitchen table. Life, made.

Made every single second that went into it, worth it.

Joseph declared that this was by far the greatest day in his entire life and did not stop smiling once. I feel like we absolutely nailed this party. He and his mates had a ball. ❤

 

Joseph's baptism

We had the most beautiful day yesterday being a part of Joseph's special day as he was baptised a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by his father. In our religion, children are baptised at age eight, allowing them to be old enough to make that decision for themselves and know what is expected of them. It's one of the things I love the most about our church! 

Our normally shy and out of the way child was very smiley and excited to be baptised which was lovely for us as parents. Look at that face!

I love him when he smiles. Melts my heart.

I found a way for Grandma and Poppy to share the day with us and I'm so glad I did. They were watching today, I am certain of it.

Everything went beautifully, with lovely talks from family members and a beautiful blessing from his father as he confirmed him a member of the church with assistance from his Grandad Neil and Uncle Jared.

Aunty Jenny made us these gorgeous CTR cookies in Joseph's favourite colour, bright orange! They were a big hit, especially with our few close friends who aren't members of our church that Joseph had invited to come along. It was lovely having them share the day with us.

We had a little afternoon tea in the hall and although a lot of people we had invited weren't able to make it, it was lovely just having all our nearest and dearest. This wall of photos I set up was a huge hit. So cheap, but really effective... everyone loved seeing the pics of him through the years, there were so many adorable shots to look at.

Joseph says his favourite part of the day was the "pizza cake" I made. I wanted to make it extra fun for him, so had a last minute of adding gummy pizza slices to the top of each rosette. He loved it and I was so glad I had done it. 

I mean, look at that face!

I also love this pic of Alex eagerly looking on, waiting to get into it.

Which they all did, the minute it was cut. Joseph loved the inside too, it was so fun!

Joseph told me he had the "best" day and was all smiles. I'm so glad it was a good day for him and something he will always remember.

I was also super stoked to get this sneaky shot sent to me from my neighbour who came to Joseph's baptism. She said to me, I don't know if you're allowed to take photos in your church but I took this anyway because I thought it was so special that you'd want to remember it. You're not allowed, but that kind out went out the window with covid now that we are constantly having to facetime people in for events like this. I absolutely love this shot and will cherish it. ❤

Joseph turns 8!

Joseph turned 8 today! I can't believe he made it to 8 and I haven't killed him yet. Baha. 

He was so stoked with all his gifts and I was too... I did so well, he got a brand new in the packet sloth oodie that I found on marketplace for a fraction of the new price - $50 that Uncle Isaac kindly collected one morning on his way to work at the crack of dawn. 

Rubber ducky socks that I found at Spotlight, when I was buying him a beanbag that was on half price sale as well as using my $10 Spotlight birthday voucher...

He desperately wanted a Mario Lego set that was freaking $150 recommended retail price. I was like holy heck, I'm not paying that - so I got looking for the lowest price I could and found one on marketplace for $75. Woo!

We also found him a $90 Switch backpack brand new in the bag for $40 which was a huge win. So here is some proof that you can get amazing gifts without paying full price for them!

The most special gift was a jade carving from the otara markets that Grandma had bought herself when Madeline was a baby and we went to NZ for Doug's grandparents unveiling. She only wore it once that I can remember and when we cleaned up her house, I found it carefully wrapped in a bag in her bedroom. It was a perfect baptism gift from his grandparents who I am sure will be watching over him today. ❤

The most special part of his birthday of course is that he's going to be baptised today - on his actual birthday which very few people get. We spent last night blowing up balloons to make this beautiful rainbow garland which I barely managed to fit in my car... and we are all excited to go back to church and be a part of his extra special day!

Here we go! ❤