A weekend of celebration

It feels like it's been a little while since I last posted an update here on our little family journal. Aria and I have been incredibly busy this past week with preparations for Michael's 30th birthday and Mothers day. When I decided to go homemade with all our gifts this year I had wondered if this might be somewhat stressful, but as it turns out it is incredibly therapeutic. I like to meditate and ponder on the person I am creating for - to see them on their beautifully radiant soul level and send them love and light (I first heard of this idea from Melisa Nielsen who runs the be a beacon program and A little garden flower & Waldorf essentials blog/radio. A dear friend reminded me of this meditation recently (divine timing!) for which I am very appreciative.) What a glorious way to spend our days enveloping ourselved in the warmth and joy of pure love:)



It was "dadda's" birthday on the Saturday, and Mothers day on the Sunday so we thought why not just invite the whole clan over to stay for the weekend? I really look forward to times such as this spent with the whole family. I'm very grateful to have such a wonderful set of people to journey through this life with. So many unique personalities - some are similar and some are contrasting but they all flow beautifully together and complement each other.

Aria was full of dreamy concentration as she decorated a big 30 in blue and gold

The finished product!

Next we got busy with some wall hanging decorations for the party

"weeeee"... "Petty wool". And when she draped the wool over me: "Petty Mama"

Our little outdoor work station made cosy with a sheepskin rug while it rained and blew all around us. We had a great afternoon doing these!

 Lots of treasures from nature to admire. Sea shells, walnut shells, wool roving, a variety of autumn leaves in all shapes, clours and sizes, and some berries and flowers from the trees in our back yard.

Dadda's gifts all wrapped and ready:)

Birthday banner sewn and hung up. (Aria loved chosing all the colours for this and helping me cut the threads and ribbon. She also loved watching me try to hang it up! She's not even 2 and I'm already being made fun of! Ha!!)

Crown made and in place for the birthday boy who is sleeping in. (A very rare luxury these days!) Aria chose the star for his crown and helped me cut the gold thread.

Wake up sleepy!

Yoga fun on Dadda's new mat.

Assembling a new patio heater in preparation for the party.

Dadda's new warm funky head gear. Aria kept saying "Dadda hat" repeatedly while I was knitting it for him. She really must've wondered what all the fuss was about Dadda this week! He also has a scarf on the way that I didn't quite get finished.

Ready for a celebration. You can't tell in this photo but there were heaps of candles and dimmed lights which made for a really warm atmosphere.

We enjoyed a toasty warm cream of mushroom soup, organic roasted lamb and chicken and lots of roast vegies and some delicious salads from Pa and Dorothy. For dessert I made a flourless cacao cake - we ate this with Trifle from Nanna, fruit salad from Grandma, Passionfruit and berry desserts from Aunty Kirsty and the most awesome looking superhero chocolate birthday cake from cake deorator extraodonaire, Aunty Carol. 

Pictionary provided some great belly laughs! I had to come up with all the words (which nearly melted my full-to-the-brim and slightly frazzled Mothers brain! I got there though!)

A brazier fire and some flame torches kept us warm outside as well.

Kirsty and Brandon enjoyed themselves so much that they couldn't stand it any longer and fell asleep on our couch, hehe... They didn't move a MUSCLE for over an hour! Neither of them! Plenty of great photo ops:)

Rise and shine, it's Mothers day! 

I feel extremely blessed to be a Mother to such a gentle and magical soul. As any Mother will know, words just can't express how much our inner and worlds change having entered into this maternal phase of the divine feminine energy. In this shot we're both trying not to squint too much at the flash. I got given some very cosy pjs and I wanted to jump straight into them and back to bed!

Aria and I also enjoyed making gifts for the two Nannas over the week as well as all the things we did for Dadda. Some needle felted flowers, candles, some wooden hearts with hanging treasures from nature tied to them (a little hanging decoration type of thing similar to the wall hangings we did for Michael's 30th), and of course a little organic dark chocolate.

Some of my needle felted Mothers day flowers...

...and another

A bbq picnic at the very picutresque 'Seawinds park' near Arthurs seat close to where we live was enjoyed by all. Here are Mother and Son kickin' back (she's singing, not yawning!).

My beautiful Mother:)

Aria tried to take off with Nanna's hand bag a number of times. A little heavy though I think!

Exhausting work! Time for bed:)

Off to catch some stunning views and some beautiful autumn surrounds.

Everywhere was a chair for this little one. And Aunty Kirsty was requested to sit next to her at each new location.

Koala rides on Grandma must be rather perplexing!

My adorable little Brother and Sister - our hearts are linked.

Aria kept saying "Happy Mama" (as in happy Mothers day). I'd have to say she got that one right! I'm wrapped in a blanket my Mother made for me while she was pregnant with me. It has a nurturing energy to it and I was very drawn to it over the weekend, (worked wonders to keep those chills at bay too!) I think I may have to crochet one for Aria... another thing to add to my to do list.

The view of Melbourne from one of the lookout points reminded Kirsty of 'Heaven'. A very apt image to punctuate this magical and loving weekend.

Peace 

xxx