We've just returned from an awesome week away. For the last 3 years Symon and I have looked forward to attending "Gathering of the Generals" in Auckland. It's a gathering especially for pastors with awesome sessions hearing stories from other pastors, lots of time spend together for questions and mentoring and an opportunity to make new friends, share your stories and have some much needed rest and relaxation.
My awesome parents looked after 3 of our children (as well as our dog) and our eldest son went to film camp, so it was just Symon and I for a week!
As well as attending the gathering, I made sure we had time in between sessions to check out some of Auckland's great cafes and stores that I had heard about.
Here are a few of the things we got up to (please excuse the poor quality of some of my pics as they were taken on my phone)!
We made sure we checked out "Junk & Disorderly" as soon as we arrived in Auckland. This place is amazing from it's old treasures to it's new items - even the pink toilet!
We had the pleasure of having dinner with Symon's big sister and family. We got to hang with our great nephew and meet our great niece for the first time as well!
During our time at The Gathering of the Generals we got to hear from and hang with amazing people and made some really good friends...
We visited some awesome cafes like Little Sister Cafe...
And Bluebells Cakery...
And "Dear Jervois"...
I also made sure we popped into Smoove to check out some of their awesome recycled vintage dresses. Thankfully they have little toys and things just next to the changing rooms to keep children husbands happy while you try on dresses. Symon was quite taken with their original Jaws Viewmaster set.
I had to take a photo of this amazing yarn bombing in Devonport...
We had the best time away and some much needed alone time together.
On the way home we picked up our eldest who had just completed a 5 day Film bootcamp with EDENZ. We got to sit and watch everyone's creations (animation, gaming, film etc). He loved it and made some great new friends.
And then it was home to these sweet cherubs. Love our family!
The artwork above our bed was due for a revamp, and I've been collecting bits and pieces for a while to make an art wall, but not quite sure how I was going to place it all together.
Did you spot Boo?
I love all things quirky and retro, and a rhino head Mother's Day gift was the perfect final piece to finish the art wall!
Thanks to the genius folk at A Beautiful Mess, I used their idea and traced around my pieces and blue tacked the tracings on my wall until I got the desired look...
Then I bribed my bearded husband to drop everything he was doing and come and help hammer in some nails and hooks to our wall, and wall-ah!
I love it! I know some people won't appreciate this look, but I love having a mix of my favourite things on my wall - plus the bonus is my boys and husband are happy because there are Doctor Who and Star Wars themed things (remember my Star Wars cross stitch?) on there as well.
Yay for fresh spaces (and patient husbands).
For more crafty makings, go here.
All my love to the mum's out there! Yesterday we celebrated Mother's Day, and on days like this I feel so blessed to be a mum with my four sweet babies (they will always be my babies, even if they are taller than me!).
Our church loves to celebrate Women on Mother's Day, and it was such an amazing day! Hubby preach an awesome word, beautiful babies were dedicated, the stage looked amazing (thanks Liz!) and there even was a photo booth for mum's and families to have pics together.
We went a bit crazy with the photo booth...
On Mother's Day my heart always goes out to those Mum's who are doing it alone, those that no longer have their Mum's around, those who dream of being Mum's but aren't, and those Mum's that have lost their precious children/babies. So often there can be a lot of pain around this day - so I pray you experience God's peace and a sense of hope.
So, all my love to you mums, especially my precious Mum and Mum-in-law - 2 lovely ladies I am so blessed to have in my life.
p.s. Here's a clip we played at church yesterday that I loved...
xoxo
I love retro stuff and I also love to recycle things when I can. When we recently created a sleep out for our oldest son (see sleepout here), I promised him I'd make him a recycled woollen blanket cushion with his choice of logo - and he chose a Space Invader!
I have a couple of woollen blankets that I want to use to make cushions out of, but I just couldn't bring myself to cut into them! I found one with some moth holes in it and cut out some unaffected pieces to use.
So much fun to make! I used red felt for this logo, and am already imagining what other designs I will make to zhuzh up the cushions in our own lounge.
Anyone could give this a go - and as I always say, anything that gets the males in my life appreciating 'handmade' is a bonus!!!
Joining in with Matariki Crafting here.
For more crafty makings go here.
For retro gaming crafty items, go here.
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You may remember me talking about making a crochet flower hairpiece for a vintage wedding we were going to. Well, we went, and the wedding was amazing! Symon had the privilege of marrying this awesome couple from our church, and the ceremony was beautiful and the styling was amazing. This was the first ever wedding I've been to where the guests were asked to dress in theme, and amazingly everyone made an effort.
So be prepared for an overdose of vintage wedding photos from the wedding of Marianna & Brendon...
The wedding was held in the beautiful grounds of The Country Yard.
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I just loved how the guys looked in their cheese cutter caps and braces...
The weddings guests looked great...
Then the bridal party arrived...
Symon did an amazing job taking the wedding (I'm biased - and love him tonnes!)...
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After the beautiful ceremony, we mingled in the beautiful gardens and ate nibbles...
Then came the reception! The décor was super dreamy with bunting strung throughout the marque, hundreds of tea cups, many sourced from second hand stores throughout New Zealand, hand stamped name tags, tea lights in Hessian wrapped jars and more.
I loved this idea - old suitcases for gifts, cards and words of wisdom, written on postcards...
Toby mugs for the guys, tea cups for the ladies...
I loved the cake, created by the beautiful Robyn...
Such a fabulous wedding, and a really precious couple.
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Congratulations guys!
p.s. Wouldn't be keeping it real if I didn't have a shot of this guy playing the fool at some point...