Watch this space....

After taking a whole year off blogging... I'm back!

Watch this space for more updates from Jilly, MrMac, Tinkerbelle, Transformer, Spiderman and Spot!  I'm thinking they may be wanting to change their aliases for a start!  I sense a Star Wars theme coming on....!

So I'm sorry about the long wait for all our dear family and friends who read this blog, but I will be using these holidays to catch up and post up.  I also sense a separate teaching blog happening...!  That's it for now... got a blocked kitchen sink to deal with :(

Love jm
xxxx

Potato people!

No.. not the book!  Just the timeless classical toy: Mr Potato Head.

It is also a miracle that we still have all the bits and bobs after all these years.  I attribute that to the big container it came in.  I just love toys that come in their own container.  It makes cleaning up so much easier!

Spot will sit and play with this toy for ages!  And they like to make up little stories with them.  Another toy where the kids can change it around and make hilarous things.  I love the one on the end with the horn for a hat!

Magnet toys

I have to admit that I am sad I cannot include the beautiful, smiling faces of the little ones in these photos, I post these photos so that our families and friends can have an idea of what we get up to.  (Or what the little ones get up to...!)

Within these parameters I can at least use this blog as a way of allowing the kids to look back on these little things they did when they were younger.  And add that I just loved spending the morning playing with Spiderman and Spot, and watching Spiderman do these pictures entirely on his own! 

And together, Spot and I created these:

I know I shouldn't say 'create' because we're really just following the card, but the beauty of this toy is that it allows for the older ones to make up their own animals/scenes etc.  It's a toy that really grows with them.  I also can't believe that we still have all the pieces and cards after 2 or 3 years.  That is definitely a miracle!

Blooming roses...

...are greeting me everytime I walk out the back door.  They are just beautiful.  I thought I'd snap these before I pick a couple for a vase inside.  They are delicately fragranced and absolutely perfect. 

We were lucky enough to score 3 rose plants when our friends were extending their house.  As you can see they survived the trauma of being uprooted and replanted very well!  Thanks J&P!

A beautiful white rose

Birthday cupcakes

Last week was a really incovenient time for me to have my birthday!  Even though we posponed it for a few days, it was still very low key due to everyone feeling poorly.

Nevertheless, the kids helped to bake a batch of chocolate cupcakes.

Mmmm!  We baked a double batch so there were lots and lots and lots...!

I photographed these while little people were busy decorating the others with fairy dust:

And voila!  Birthday cupcakes for dessert, following a delicious dinner cooked for me by mrmac!  Thankyou darling!

A sick week...

As we have been sick this week with a nasty tummy bug, here are just a couple of points:

• beach towels make great bed sheets in the middle-of-the-night-emergency-sheet-change scenario.  They also double as blankets, and couch protectors!
• I have found you can never have too many buckets.
• the washing machine has been going non-stop.
• the "Get $ 1.00 for everytime you get it in the bucket/toilet" is working a treat.  However we are down quite a bit of money.  The count so far rests at: Tinkerbell - $5, Transformer - $ 12, Spot - $ 3 although he has missed a few times bless him :(  and poor Spiderman is on $ 0 .  He hasn't vomited as yet.  Touch wood.  At least the money is a little silver lining for the poor little souls.
• and finally, hydralyte, hydralyte, hydralyte!!  Those iceblocks have been really good.

I'm sure this coming week will see us in much better health.

Bathrooms Part 1

Lots of family members have requested some photos of the new bathrooms, so here I am to oblige!  We have been enjoying these newly renovated bathrooms for nearly 3 months now and they were worth every penny.

If you want to know where Mrmac sourced some fittings/fixtures just post questions in the comments section.

We're starting here with the main bathroom. 

I've taken this standing at the doorway.  If I included anything higher you would see the lovely green paint remaining from our old bathrooms.  This is the most glorious bath to soak in.   Yes it is stone.   My photography does not do it justice.
Also in this photo are the heated towel rails.  We are still convincing little people (namely Spiderman and Spot) NOT to use them as a ladder!  (We have already had a little person get too excited and one came off.  They are fantastic as they just clip on again.)

loving this spout... especially the lovely reflected green colour from the skylight...

Moving on now to the shower.  Features to point out here include the recessed shelf which looks awesome, and the glorious shower head. 

Here is the wall hung vanity (custom built) and the recessed mirrored cabinets.  Both give the illusion of space, but once again, my photography is letting us down here.

The switches include downlights with dimmer and an over the vanity light, as well as underfloor heating.
 
Last but not least is the main toilet.  We completely redesigned this bathroom from a 3-way walk through including toilet.  We added a wall and included a small vanity to wash hands.

In-wall cistern with handy storage shelf  - and also the lovely pale green paint which will soon be gone (thank goodness!)
NB - the tile colour in these photos is showing up much darker than what we chose.  The tiles are a match to the colour of the vanity, and not this terra cotta thing that's happening in these photos.

Stay tuned for part 2!