Well, there is no time like the present to revive this old blog again and get it up and running! My main goal for this blog is to keep a record of our family for our family, and hopefully one day, when the children are grown and Dave and I are old, we can read this blog together and remember their childhood, and the many moments that have made up our life.
Without further ado, some updates!
Our family recently bought another (and much larger) house about 8 months ago. It is an old do-er, up-er and needs heaps of work (such an understatement), however we were able to snap it up for a great price... even less than what the old owners bought it for 5-6 years ago, (THAT is how run down this place is/was) AND we believe it has the bones and the potential to be a beautiful home one day! However, in the short amount of time we have lived here, we have been able to get it up to a liveable standard that we can feel comfortable in. There is still so much work to do, but we are in it for the long haul. I constantly have to remind myself to be patient (I am so impatient to live in the perfect home yesterday). Here are some pics of us renovating our ol' dump :)
The painting - oh my!! We paid my brother Lance to help us out, and he and I did most of the painting ourselves. In fact every job has been a DIY job around here! Luckily my hubby is a super handy and clever and I don't mind getting my hands dirty.
David installing our new Ikea cupboards in our walk in wardrobe. I have never in my life ever had a walk in wardrobe before. For the first 9 years of our marriage Dave and I shared a cupboard.. Now I have one side all to myself...it is complete heaven and just as amazing as I thought it would be!! (Storage people - its the little things!)
Ripping up the old carpet in preparation for the new carpet to be laid down.
Brickwork everywhere, and an ugly glass stained window to boot. Here Dave is, playing brick-layer and filling it in.
And here is the same wall with the window now all bricked in. Dave used some old bricks he found lying stren around the house and from an old built in brick bar that we knocked out. I'm not a big fan of red brick (unless its that beautiful rustic type look) but I actually love the look of painted brick. So we bought a professional spray gun thingy (real technical term) and painted all interior bricks in sight. All the ceilings were pine, so they got painted as well (by hand though) One day we want to render the outside, but that is way down on the priority list ...
Here are some random photos of how the house looks now:
Zak's room
Lily's room
The formal living area (the same room that Dave spray painted above)
And the fire place. One of my favourite aspects of this room is the fire place!! Crazy because when we first bought the home we considered ripping it out, with the hopes of replacing it with a built in fire place instead. We couldn't afford to do it however, so it stayed and we love it anyway!
One day I will do a proper post and show some photos of before and after of the rooms we have done and the rooms we have yet to tackle...
Onto more important updates: our beautiful kids, Zak and Lily!
Please excuse the very long post and rambling that is about to ensue below, however as stated previously, this is a blog about family, for our family to enjoy one day. So if you're not into kids (or long winded blog posts) maybe skip the rest!
Our handsome, kind, quiet Zak is now 8 years old, turning 9 this year (I'm trying not to cry writing that...where has my baby gone?) He is such a wonderful little man. He is growing so much everyday, and maturing all the time, it makes me proud to see how he is taking on the world. Zaki is our little sensitive soul. He is highly creative and intelligent (though you might not know, as he keeps to himself unless he decides to share his world with you). He hates getting his photo taken! He is absolutely awkward and doesn't know what to do, so he avoids them when he can! He also has a wicked sense of humour. He seriously comes up with the funniest things that can have me chuckling for days! Here are a few photos from over the last few years, to see how our amazing first son has grown.
On valentines day at our old home (approx. 3 years ago)
At bowling (you can see from his expressions, his sense of humour coming through)
Haha, again there's that sense of humour!
A day out at the art gallery.
Ice - cream at the Manly. One of our favourite family past times is to go to the bay on the weekend, ride bikes and eat fish and chips on the water.
Pulling some fun poses before Lily's kind school photos.
At Dream world, which they loved!
I was so proud of Zak this day. He really wanted to ride the rollercoaster (something he had never done before), but Lily wasn't tall enough. So he decided he would go on his own. I stayed with Lily on the ground. He was amazingly brave and loved every minute of it!
Christmas cookie decorating
On a family Christmas holiday to the Coast
Moustaches, just for fun!
In the kids dressing room at Pumpkin Patch. I remember Zak kept pulling these funny poses whenever I tried to take photos of them. I was getting annoyed because I didn't want "silly" photos I just wanted some nice-smiley-normal ones. But looking back, the photos where he is posing are the best. Love him!
He doesn't do gymnastics anymore (his choice) but he was an absolute star at it! After only doing it for a couple of terms, he came first in every one of the club competitions for his age group except one. Such a champ!
School fete fun with the fairy floss.
For his 8th birthday Zak wanted a skateboard. This was a photo of him on the first day of him trying it out. He has lost interest a little bit (because its so hard), but I think if I keep encouraging him and take him to the skate park more often, he'll get there!
Getting ready for the school Christmas concert 2013.
The loves of my life right here!
First day back at school 2014 - Zak is in Grade 3 and Lily is in Grade 1.
Well there you have it. A quick condensed update of my darling little man.
My little princess Lily is next:
What can I say that could possibly encompass Lily's big personality? She has buckets of confidence, all wrapped in a small little package. She is an absolute darling, always loving and thoughtful of others, especially her big brother, whom she absolutely adores. She has become my little sidekick even more so over the last year, and as she loves to say we are "BFF's" (I hope she will always feel that way!) She loves to put on a show, to sing and dance around and is always up to chat to anyone. She is always the first to volunteer to help around the house or in anyway she can. People have always been drawn to Lily, and wherever she goes, she seems to have a million friends. Here are some photos of my beautiful baby girl over the years:
With her beloved older brother at Southbank. The posing has already begun (note the hand on hip)
Lily went through this funny stage that whenever a camera was pointed her way, she would refuse to smile and instead pull these faces! I got fed up this day and decided to join her. We are out of that now thankfully!
You can see here, the awesome fringe she cut herself! Haha!
My gorgeous little bunny girl. This is when she was still at home with me ( a few years ago now!) and we had just dropped Zak at school and were walking back to the car.
Enjoying a babycino (not really that was her first and last - she didn't like it at all. I had to agree with her, it tasted very ordinary!)
She loves to cook in the kitchen. I need to do this with her more often. She is always wanting to help!
One of the many DIY at home activities we did to keep amused. Haha!
Having an absolute ball on the Gold Coast.
I remember specifically this day, how all the little girls in line were getting their faces painted as flowers and butterflies, and despite my encouragement to get something "girly", she just really wanted a lion. Her expression here is so priceless! She is one of a kind, my girl!
Here are a couple of photos we took before heading off to Lily's kindy for the day.
Enjoying her first little mani (it was just polish)
Dreamworld fun!
Dress ups for kindy Halloween!
Here we had bought Lily's first "big girl" uniform for her to start prep the following year. You cannot hide the elation on her face! She was so ready for big-kids school!
Dimples!
Her first pair of "high-heels" as she liked to call them. They were some cute wedges we found at Betts kids and she begged me to have them. Look how cute she looks in them! Love her xx
All ready to graduate kindy!
Christmas fun with her cousins on Grandma and Grandad's farm!
At our family holiday down the coast.
I love this photo of Lily! She's my little poser! SUCH a girly princess.
Absolutely adoring her brother as always!
Haircuts ready for school!
Makeup by Lily of course!
Lily went through a stage where she HAD to wear a sleeping mask to bed. She would not sleep without it (or bunny of course, who is always by her side)
In prep - receiving an award for knowing all her letters and sounds
At the school fete with her friends x
My beautiful fairy ballerina! Unfortunately we had just had a disaster haircut. We requested a cute bob, but came away with the layered thin mess. Thankfully that has grown out now! Phew!
She's a 1D fan (specifically a Niall fan!)
Putting on one of her gorgeous performances!
Last day of prep - she got to keep the classroom pet!
First lost tooth in prep 2013!
We sent this very wishful photo to daddy - to this day she still desperately wants a puppy!
After the Charlie and Lola play at QPAC we took a Ferris Wheel ride. I love my munchkins!
Enjoying the spoils from her 6th birthday! (this is just from mum and dad!)
Our first time fishing as a family happened earlier this year!
On a mummy and daughter date - art gallery, lunch, shopping and manis!
Looking very grown up while crossing her legs!
She absolutely adores the movie Frozen and is obsessed with Elsa. I'm sure this dress gets put on at least once a day while she sings "Let it Go!" at the top of her lings (much to the annoyance of her brother!)
And my most recent photo of Lily was taken just a few days ago at a friends ballerina birthday party. Princess perfection!
Well this blog post has taken me much longer than I had initially anticipated and its way past my bed time. I'm barely making sense, which is never a good idea when writing a blog post. I'm signing off here, but stay tuned for my nest post - I have one more important update to share!!
Mrs Kittensohn xxx
