Kids rooms almost done!

The builder is here putting the new door on Dustin's room. He is also going to fix Ruby's door which has grown since Scott put it on a year or two ago. I am also going to get him to put the skirting boards on Ruby's floor. He is very slow. He owes us money and is working it off as slowly as possible. The shit!

Dustin used his blackboard for the first time yesterday. He was waiting for me to finish the last coat of paint and now his blackboard is covered in his and Ruby's art.  It looks great!

Dustin's room is mostly done now. I still have half his curtain to hang now that I have enough hooks, and I'll have to paint his door but that is it. Last night they both slept in their own rooms apart for the first time. The last couple nights Dustin slept with Ruby to keep her company in her new room and prior to that she was sleeping in his room while hers was getting done.

It is going to be great to be able to send them to their rooms to have a break from each other when they start fighting, which happens way to often for my comfort.

Other than the skirting boards the painting is done in Ruby's room and she has begun to move in. She needs some new furniture though and I have only begun painting the butterflies she asked for on her walls.

Yes, it is very pink!

You don't need expensive toys

I used to buy my kids a heap of stuff. It is so tempting to want to give them everything but now they are at an age where I want to encourage their imagination and scale down on all the usual toys. Since doing up their new bedrooms (almost done now) I took all their toys out to the container outside and now that it is time to bring some of them back I am thinking very hard about what I want to give them. Especially since I have seen the valuable use of imagination since they have not had many toys inside.

I don't regret giving them a lot of toys when they were little. I think it is important for toddlers to have toys to help their with motor skills and to help them develop their imagination and also to give me a break from constant entertaining, but now that they know how to share, they have great imaginations and they have developed their own individual likes, the toys I give the kids will be selected a lot more carefully.

We bought the trampoline before winter last year so they could get some exercise during the cold months and they spend a lot of time on it. The only mistake was buying all the netting that went around it because our place gets too windy and it kept blowing away.

A peek in Dustin's bedroom

It is really hard to get good photos in Dustin's room because it is on the south side of the house and is quite a dark room. I am working on making it a cosy room rather than a bright room. I tried to take these photos yesterday while the morning sun was still shining in but they are not the best photos but you can get an idea of what I have done in there.


I really love how his blackboard turned out.


The glow in the dark stars look great at night.


I really don't know how I managed to get the owl so big! It should have been half the size but he just turned out BIG!


He loves it!

Making a present for their dad

Last week they were busy making a good luck fishing necklace and a matching key ring for Scott's new boat for his birthday. Dustin also made one for himself and Ruby made herself a tiara.


Tomorrow they are having a sleep over at a friends house. It is Scott and my ten years anniversary. The anniversary of our first kiss. Cant believe it has been ten years. Ten very busy years. We bought three houses and lived in three different states. Sold two of those houses. Bought a business and sold that. Had two kids. Travelled around a lot of Australia, although we still have a lot more travelling to do.

Five of those ten years have been here on Willowdale where life has quieted down. The plan was to move to Tasmania to simplify life and we haven't quite achieved that yet. But we have done alright and we are happy and looking forward to the next ten years. We might even get around to getting married some time in the next ten!

Almost done

Dustin's new bedroom is almost finsihed. He is sleeping in there and Ruby is sleeping on a mattress on his floor because I have started her room as well. All that is left to do in Dustin's room is another coat of paint on his bed and the floor which I plan on doing the day we leave for our trip to Strahan in a couple of weeks.

I also need to buy some hooky things to hang up his other curtain. He currently has half his window covered in purple velvet. I'll probably go to Launceston to get them this week.

I also have to scrape off the paint which is on the glass on his window and that is about it, other than his new door which needs to be cut to size and painted. I'll paint it after it is done. The cutting is Scott's job of course.

It is all looking really good. Very cute and cosy with a kind of retro feel. I'm loving it and so is he.

I'll take some more photos when we get some light. It has been dark and rainy for about a week. Not good photo taking weather.

A peak in Dustin's new bedroom

Dustin is away on the mainland with Scott so I have been busy trying to get his room ready for when he comes home on Tuesday. I am almost there. Right now I am waiting for the first coat of paint to dry on his bed. I have about an hour and then I can recoat.

The colours look really good. He picked them out himself. The floor isn't as red as I would have liked it to be. We let the paint man at Bunning's change our mind about the red paint we had and suggested we buy a red pathing paint. It looks OK but isn't as bright. But I think it will do. When everything is in and he has mats down I think it will be fine.

He wanted an owl in a tree on his wall. He has a HUGE owl on a branch which couldn't possibly be strong enough to hold him. Way out of proportion, but I suppose there are not many huge purple, blue and red owls with glittery wings in the world anyway!

I have to hang his curtain's tonight, paint more of the floor and finish painting his bed. Tomorrow I have to move his fish tank in, do a few touch ups and paint the rest of the floor. I might get it don't before he gets home.

Next week we will get him a new door. I also want to get him a bedside table and a loungy chair so we will still be adding to his room even though we will be starting Ruby's pink and purple bedroom.

I made him a mat today to go beside his bed but at the last moment I stuffed it full of cushion filling. It is now a 'fat mat'. It is all cushiony. When he gets out of bed in the morning he will have something warm and soft for his feet to land in and he'll also have something nice to sit on when he is playing on the floor with his Lego and trains.

Wednesday is art and craft day

I bought these particle board mirrors from Spotlight. They cost between $8.00 and $12.00. Dustin chose a bigger one so his cost more to make. We chose our own paint colours and came home and painted them.

Dustin chose 'marine blue'.

I chose 'egg shell'.

Ruby chose 'voilet'.

Doesn't matter how well the paint job is because most of the paint gets covered up so if you don't mind the mess they can enjoy doing it themselves.

We covered them with these.

We used some 'tacky' craft glue that dries clear and glued the buttons on. Easy and they were dry the next morning and ready for hanging up.

Dustin's is my favourite. He chose the blue buttons and they look great with the 'marine blue' paint he chose. I love how this turned out.

I hung this little one up in the bathroom for the kids so they have a mirror they can see in without having to climb up on something.

As much as I tried to convince Ruby that pink paint would look better with her pink buttons she insisted on purple paint for her background. Everything has to be pink and purple now.

These little mirrors were fun and easy to make and only cost about $25 to make. I think they will make good gifts for the kids to give friends and family members so expect to see more of these in the future.

Got out of going fishing

We were all going fishing today. I'm not fond of fishing and I rarely go but I thought today I would make an effort to something that everyone else wanted to do. So I was all thinking about going fishing and hoping we didn't have to stay out there for too long, and then Ruby announces that she doesn't want to go fishing. Bugger! So Ruby and I stayed home and baked a chocolate cake and Scott and Dustin are out catching flathead for dinner tonight. Yay!

Finding stuff to do

We are trying to make the most of the not so cold and wet weather. Our winters here are wet, cold and windy so outside play is not so common. Living by the seasons as we do, it means we take up more creative and academic activities, like art and reading and of course movies, which we all love.

However the weather has been quite dry this season and not as cold for late Autumn and we have hardly had any wind so there is still a little bit of outside play left.

My kids are so depressed

NOT!

I cant believe I agreed to this

Freckles

Dustin still hasn't been brave enough to catch the bus to school in the mornings but he has caught the bus home in the afternoon. His problem is not so much the bus but walking into his classroom on his own because he is so shy. At least until he warms up :)

I've been busy crocheting a blanket to throw over the back of the couch. Our couches are dark brown leather and our lounge is dark and dingy. We are planning on painting it and putting down a new floor, new plastering and even a new window and that will help to brighten it up but in the meantime I am making some furnishings to add some colour and comfort.

Karma has been helping me with the crocheting.


The potato harvesting has stopped due the the wet weather. They are hoping things will dry out enough to come back next week. We still have some harvesting of our own so we wont need to buy potatoes for a while. I might have to find some good potato recipes because we have a LOT!


I have found homes for all my chooks now. They are all going to friends. I have delivered a couple and might drop a few more off today. I am looking forward to getting new ones in Spring. It will be strange not having any hens. I haven't been without hens for about seven years!