The end of the year is nigh!

Thought I had better squeeze in another post before the end of the year (decade!!) We went on a bit of an outing to Bells Parade today, a beautiful park and playground ten minutes drive from home. The kids had fun, I took LOTS of photos, and we stopped at the Lolly Shop for ice creams and milkshakes on the way home. A very pleasant way to round off 2009. Happy New Year to you all - I hope that 2010 is full of God's richest blessings for you all!!!

My moody pre-teen!


Sawdust is FUN!!!



DS hanging about...


two going on twelve...


Surely a smile wouldn't be too hard Alice???!!!


Now some of my favourite type of pics - macro shots!!!

Proud Mummy Moment

Alice and I were just snuggled up on the couch watching 'In the Night Garden' whilst waiting for the big kids to come home from tennis. I asked her 'what does love mean, Alice?' Without missing a beat she looked at me and said 'Mum!!' Ain't love grand??!!!

It is Finished (well, almost....)

After almost a month the kitchen/dining room renovation is pretty much done and I am thrilled to be currently listening to the sound of my dishwasher chugging through it's first load in four weeks!!! The tiler finished up today, and I have managed to get everything back in and organised, so am very happy! Only one slight disaster throughout the whole process - three of the four benchtops need to be replaced as the laminate is faulty. This will be done in the new year, so I just have to put up with it until then. Overall, I am incredibly happy with how everything has worked out. I now have a beautiful, practical and incredibly functional kitchen to work in, which I am sure will make cooking a far more pleasant experince. Enjoy the photos! (sorry about it being so gloomy, but we are having an awful, cold and wet day here today)BTW, if you want a closer look at any of the photos, just click on them.

Random Photos

The big kids are out, Alice is asleep and I have a whole pile of ironing that needs doing, so I thought I would post to my blog instead! Here are just a few photos from the last month, along with a special one from today - DS's baptism. Not a great photo as it was taken from the overhead projection (not sure why there is a box around his head!) but it is the best I could do. Our God is good indeed.

Kitchen progress

It only took four hours this morning to completely remove our old kitchen. And the worst part weas hacking up the darn cork tiles - that took almost three of those four hours!!! Anyway, enjoy the pics. Work on the new kitchen starts Monday!

Friday is the day!!!

My new kitchen arrives on Friday afternoon and it is pathetic how excited I am! DH and I take to the old kitchen with a sledgehammer and crowbar on Saturday, and the serious business of creating my dream kitchen begins on Monday. All going well, it should be complete by December 7th. Watch this space for before and after photos!!!

We went, we saw, we WIGGLED!!!!

Yes folks, today we went to the concert of the year (decade perhaps!) The Wiggles came to Launceston and Alice and I went to see them. We had bought our tickets months ago, and Alice was so excited by the prospect of seeing the Wiggles 'in real'!!They put on a fantastic show. The singing was awesome, they were very funny, and Alice had a ball. She spent most of the time jumping and dancing, and was one very tired little person as a result! Enjoy the photos and video. PS - ignore the utterly gross photo iof me and concentrate on the cute little person!!!

LOVE this!!!

I was sent this email by a friend today and just thought I would share it. It is fantastic!

Twas the month before Christmas, when all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
See the PC Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a 'Holiday '.
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod
Something was changing,something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word Christmas was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears
You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.
Inclusive, sensitive, di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season,stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully,choose what you say
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS,not Happy Holiday!

Goodbye to the old kitchen...

In just a few weeks time I will be taking to our old kitchen with a sledge hammer - and probably enjoying the heck out of myself!! We bought this house six years ago this month, and I have finally convinced my DH that the kitchen simply must go. It has been eminently serviceable for the past six years, but the house is over 25 years old and the wear and tear on the kitchen is starting to show. Most of the knobs fall off when you open the cupboards, some cupboards sag terribly and have to be hoisted up and across to be shut, the oven is so old that the heat leaks out and melts the oven surrounds whenever it is used, and most of the hot plates don't work. Needless to say, I am VERY excited about the prospect of a brand new kitchen!! I decided to go with a flat pack system, through Ezikit kitchens in Hobart. A batch buddy of mine used them in her house and was so impressed that she got them back to do two bathrooms, a powder room and the bar after her kitchen was done! Anyway, the kitchen is scheduled to be delivered on November 23rd, the electrician, plumber, tiler and joiner have all been booked, so now I am just playing a waiting game, dreaming of my lovely new cooking mecca. Oh, did I mention that this new kitchen will actually have a PANTRY??? (unlike the old one, which was obviously designed by a man!!) I have uploaded some pics of the old kitchen, and also of the new tiles, Formica and doors that we are using. The floor tile is the lighter colured of the two and the splashback will be in the darker tile and the Formica for the benchtops is the speckled sample.