If you can't stand the heat...

Where ever we have lived the kitchen has always been the hub of the house. Both Michael and I love to cook and living in rented units where the kitchens have been small and old has not always been great. When buying our house we new the kitchen was spacious with a gas stove, electric oven, dishwasher and walk-in pantry. When we moved in and went to use the oven for the first time we were surprised how small the inside of it was - our roasting pan didn't fit. Oh well we thought, in a few years time we can fulfil the dream of getting a big oven, but for now we can survive. Then we went to use the oven and it took almost two hours to cook chicken wings. So instead of having the oven repaired we decided to bite the bullet and get ourselves our dream oven and put together the kitchen we've always wanted (on a tiny budget). So below is the result of what a new oven, lick of paint and a change of door handles can do to transform a kitchen.

The before photo.

Out with the old handles and in with the new.

Look at me. I can grout.

The oven.

Michael and his two painting assistants.

The finished kitchen - 1 of 3.

The finished kitchen - 2 of 3.

The finished kitchen - 3 of 3.

Goodbye winter, hello spring

I'm not really a sun worshipper, but this winter has been bitter. We have had the fire on every night in the house and I've been dressing like an eskimo. So as the first day of spring arrived bringing with it a change in temperature, I was overjoyed. At last the sun was warming the day and the breezes were not as chilly. In fact the last few days have felt more like summer than spring.

With the outdoors beckoning and a garden to enjoy it was time to make the most of it with some al fresco dining and a spot of painting.

The many moods of little Miss Mini-Me

I'm scared. Last week Milly and I had a stand off. She wanted to steal some of Henry's lunch, the same lunch that was sitting in her bowl in front of her. When I pointed this out to her she swiped her bowl off the table spilling it all over the floor with a look of defiance. I explained to her that we don't throw our food on the floor and could she please pick up her bowl. She shook her head. I repeated myself and she shook her head again and walked away. This went on for a while with my voice taking a more serious tone as I was getting nowhere. She struggled against me when I picked her up and brought her back to where her bowl sat upturned on the floor. And just to demonstrate how determined she was not to pick up the bowl she started to throw a tantrum. There was wailing, real tears, rolling about on the floor, hitting the fridge, stamping the feet. I just calmly sat on the floor looking at her............and so the battle of wills began.

If Milly wants something and the answer is no, she throws a tantrum. If she's told to stop because she might break something or hurt herself, she throws a tantrum. I know because she can't talk she's just expressing her displeasure with what she's being told, but my oh my she expresses her displeasure to the extreme. She is stubborn, likes to do things her own way, laughs at other people's misfortunes - she is just like me. And on the day we did battle I found myself looking at a mini-me and knew neither of us was going to give in.

For a good ten minutes the crying and rolling on the floor continued. Milly had worked herself into such a state she was now hysterical. I tried to comfort her and get her to calm down but she didn't want anything to do with me. She ran up the hall and back, then into a room and slammed the door. This turned out to be the deal breaker - on slamming the door behind her she realised she couldn't reach the handle to open it. There was silence, no crying, nothing. I opened the door a little and went back to where I was sitting on the floor. Slowly the door opened further and a little face peered out. I opened my arms and she came and gave me a hug and I told her it was alright. I asked if she could please pick up her bowl. Without hesitation she toddled over to her bowl and it picked up and some of the food as well.

Some parents advise picking your battles with your kids. Milly is only 16 months old. I'm scared of what she's going to be like in a few years when she can talk, and worse what she'll be like when she's a teenager. One thing is for sure. I know it was the first of many battles and I'm sure I won't win them all.

Sixteen trucks

Henry is slowly improving with his language and talking. Don't get me wrong, he can make himself understood and most of his words are said clearly. As his parents, we are very good at translating "Henry speak" into the English language. However, every now and then when he is trying to tell us something we stare blankly at him and get him to repeat himself over and over again until we get it. And so was the case earlier this week when we were in the car and Henry wanted me to play his music CD.

"Not Playschool one Mum-mum. Sixteen trucks one." he said.

"Which one?" I asked.

"Sixteen trucks." he replied.

"We don't have a sixteen trucks CD." I said.

"Yes we do." Henry stated confidently.

"How do the songs go?" I tried.

And then out came the familiar lyrics to "I Like to Sing" and I realised sixteen trucks was actually Henry trying to say Justine Clarke.

Mr and Mrs

The castle.

(Emma and Dave's house in Kangaroo Valley)

Mr and Mrs reunited in their royal carriage.

The royal couple engage in some marshmallow toasting with a local.

Seated in their thrones, it's bacon for breakfast.

Starting to show the strain of keeping up appearances.
A rare glimpse of royalty at play.

Showing their support for their favourite cause "Squeaky Clean Before Bed".

As the royal visit draws to a close, a last supper is held to celebrate the reunion.

Better Homes and Gardens - eat your heart out

We've started turning our house into a home. One of the first rooms to get a makeover is the room joining the kitchen. The previous owners used it as a second lounge room but we wanted to make it part of the kitchen and use it as an informal room to socialise when entertaining, as well as a bit of a family room for the kids to play in.

The "before" photo.

The painters are in.

The smile says it all.

The "after" photo.

The homemakers

Hooray we have finally moved out of our rented flat and moved into our beautiful new home. It was not made easy thanks to one Miss Milly who on the day of moving awoke screaming at 4.00am and decided once she had calmed down not to go back to sleep. The rest of the day was spent helping the removalists and cleaning the flat, then it was the two hour drive up to Newcastle and the unpacking of boxes and positioning of furniture. It was an exceptionally long day and we were knackered. Milly was not a happy camper and didn't like the change of scene. She cried and carried on, was overtired but refused to go to sleep. Finally she passed out lying on Michael's chest. Henry was a little frightened sleeping in a new room so ended up in the bed with me. Michael slept with Milly who woke screaming again, this time just after 2.00am.

Our first day in the house was spent unpacking and playing in the garden. Milly was still unhappy and very clingy. Looking around the house with all our stuff in it we can't believe we managed to fit it all in a small two bedroom unit. We absolutely love our house and the space.

Our second night in the house was easier. Henry slept in his room and Milly didn't put up as much a fight as the previous nights. She was so tired she went down at 6.45pm and didn't wake up again until 7.30am the next morning. I'm very pleased to report she is much happier now and has adjusted to her new home.

So now we are almost settled in with only a few more boxes remaining to be unpacked. We've had a few trips to Bunnings and homeware shops and are enjoying playing house. We couldn't be happier.

Our life in boxes.

The first breakfast in our house. It was cold and we were all rugged up.

Bleary eyed and exhausted.

The great Australian dream: a hills hoist.

It's ours

Yesterday at 11.10am we officially became home owners.

Michael went up to Newcastle to collect the keys and view the empty house. It was only the second time he had been through the place. The previous owners had left it in immaculate condition and their real estate agent had left us a hamper filled with sparkling wine and goodies. Our letterbox also contained our first piece of mail - a congratulatory card from Steve and Anna Hobson.

We move in tomorrow.

Heroes caught on new camera

Michael has gotten us a new camera and we are now back to capturing all those precious moments and embarassing ones. We have been busy packing up our flat in preparation for the big move north in less than three weeks. Our two little helpers are enjoying the many boxes now stacking up around the place. It's amazing how a good old fashioned cardboard box can entertain a child.

Recently, Henry has been enjoying playing dress ups. His current favourite (pictured above) is what he calls "Batman". Now I know and you know what Batman really looks like, but Henry doesn't even know who Batman is. We were at the playground where Henry was playing with a boy in a Batman costume. Since then as far as Henry is concerned anything that he wears that covers his eyes and can be attached to the back of him as a cape he believes he is Batman. As the thoughtful little boy he is he didn't want Milly to be left out, so he insisted she be given a cape as well (see picture below). And when Milly wears her cape he calls her Bat Milly, or as he pronounces her name "Bat Milwee". I of course had to find a cape for myself too and was named Bat Mum Mum. Then the three of us flew around the flat solving mysteries and saving the day.

Scrubber

This morning I found myself on my hands and knees scrubbing the carpet - twice.

The first time was cleaning up poo on the carpet courtesy of Milly. Stupidly when I first saw it I thought it was dog poo and wondered how a dog had gotten in the flat. Then as I watched Milly drag the poo around with her feet and get her hands in it I remembered she was not wearing a nappy. Note to self: don't let Milly have nappy-free time in the flat.

The second instance was spilt yogurt, this time thanks to Henry. He did apologise, bless him. Note to self: reinforce flat rule of all yogurt to be consumed in areas that are not carpeted.

So now with only three weeks until we move I'm thankful that our new house has floorboards.

PS. We are still without a camera so no photos sorry.

So long Sydney

After such a long time deliberating we have decided to move to Newcastle. It was an incredibly hard decision, but we have finally made it and are now doing what we must to make the transition a reality.

Mosman has been an interesting place to live. Really it is a beautiful suburb with lots of big old trees and lovely parks. It’s been great for the kids. It’s also the suburb where people walk their cats on leashes, designer dog water bowls sit outside expensive clothes shops for the clientele’s pampered pooches, mums at the kid’s playground bring china cups and saucers to drink their tea, and the median price of a house is almost $2 million.

Our good news is we have found a house in Newcastle and relocate in five weeks. The excitement of finally owning our own home is hard to contain, and to have space inside and a garden for the kids is something we have only dreamt about.

It has three bedrooms plus a study, two bathrooms, three toilets, two living areas, a dining room, modern kitchen and separate laundry, gas fireplace and air conditioning, a large private terrace and good sized manicured fenced garden. It is split level with polished floorboards and lots of storage. There are good schools close by as well. We can’t decide on what it is about the house that we like the most – the space, garden or more than one toilet. But the one thing we can both agree on is how much we will love having a dishwasher.

E18

Apologies for the lack of recent photos. We've had a disaster. We have a Canon Ixus digital camera and on the weekend it stopped working. The camera's display window is black and shows an error notice "E18". When Michael googled E18 the following message was top of the list:

"The E18 error message is the worst that can happen to an owner of the Canon IXUS. By manky mechanics the camera cannot drive their lens out any longer and displays the error "E18" in the lcd display. If the warranty of the camera has ran out it's not worthwhile to repair it by Canon in most cases."

This was not good news.

Step by step

On Sunday, 1 June 2008 at 12.24pm Milly took her first steps. She was in the kitchen with Michael and simply took a few shuffling steps forward. She looked pretty pleased with herself, I was smiling proudly, and Henry couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about. Michael was excited because as the bread winner of the household there is rarely a chance for him to witness these big milestones. As luck would have it he was there when Henry took his first steps too.

Since Sunday Milly hasn't really shown that much interest in walking. Occassionally we'll stand her up and encourage her to "walk to Dadda", and she'll teeter towards him like a smiling Frankenstein before falling into his arms for a hug. But anyone who already has children will know that once they start walking, it just gets that little bit more difficult to keep your eyes on them - and for that reason we are not forcing her.

Having seen all the attention Milly has received, Henry now likes to practise his walking too and fall into our arms for a congratulatory cuddle.

Snuggles

One of the things I miss most now that Henry and Milly are no longer little babies, is they no longer need or want to be hugged or snuggled. This makes any willing hugs I do get from them extra special. It is feeling the warmth of their bodies when they are snuggled into me, or hearing their slow, deep breathing when they are relaxed and asleep that I miss the most.

With them both recently being sick with dreadful colds I was lucky enough to have them needing me again. A big snuggle with me helped get them off to sleep and make them feel better - it also made me feel pretty good to.

Also, Henry has started going to day care for one day a week. He's adjusted well to this addition to his routine, with the occassional teary eye when Michael drops him off in the morning. When I pick him up later in the afternoon, I spy on him before letting him know that I'm there. He always looks like he is having fun and is playing with other kids. We've already noticed he is more social with other children and he's speaking has improved. He's still a shy boy, but he is slowly coming out of his shell. The picture below was taken just as he was leaving for his first day of day care.