Kids with real paint

We decided to get the kids involved in their own room makeover as part of our a-room-a-month mission.

So this past public holiday we dressed them in old clothes and braved two kiddies with "real" paint and paintbrushes... they had so much fun!

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully we'll be able to make our deadline for the end of the month... so much to do still!

Christopher's Creepy Crawly Critters Celebration

During the months of January and February this year we attended a marathon of 8 kids parties over 7 weekends, ending off with Christopher's 4th Birthday Party.


Long overdue, here are some pics of the days events:


This was my second attempt at baking a birthday cake (the other times I outsourced this task), with the help of my brother, I think it turned out quite OK!

Dad:"The wind keeps on blowing out the candles".  Christopher:"Naughty wind! It's not the wind's Birthday!"

Me and my crazy boy!

 

To Christopher's and many of the other kiddies delight, Grandpa Kenny managed to find three chameleon's in the southern suburbs and brought them with for the kids to see... we let them go in our garden, and they are living happily in the trees (hopefully munching away at all the flies!)

 

 

Sticking to the theme of the party, I whipped up some goodies for the kids to enjoy:
Dirt 'n Slugs (Layered green jelly, chocolate mousse, crushed biscuits & worm sweets)
Caterpillar Treats (grapes on a stick)
Roasted Snails (flings)
Sausage & worms (Vienna sausages with spaghetti)
Ants-on-a-log (banana with peanut butter and raisins)
PopRoach (popcorn with pecan nuts)
Fly Juice (energade cool-drink with raisins)
and a special THANK YOU to my brother Stephan, for making the cupcakes and helping with the cake!

Bradley also organised some "suckers" (ice lollies) for the kids and we got the mandatory water-slide!

 

Another successful party done and dusted! Thank you to all the family and Christopher's friends for joining in on the celebrations and for giving him such lovely gifts! We are spoilt to have such wonderful people in our lives xx

Bicycle Moments

You know those proud moments, when your kids achieve and take part of something wonderful... those moments that make you want to bottle the feeling to keep forever.  Last Saturday was one of them.

My kids took part and completed the "Tricycle" tour, part of the Cape Argus Cycle Tour held in Cape Town every year.  What a fantastically well organised event!  Something that we'll definitely repeat again,  there was even a comment from Bradley about a goal to complete the Argus himself next year! (the big one, not the tricycle tour)

Enjoy the pics, I think they speak for themselves:

 

 

  

 

  

 

 

  

So proud of my monkey's with their medals!

A-room-A-month

Since the end of last year, the house and all renovations/redecorations that went with it were neglected.  Holidays & Birthday's took preference, and our time over the past few weekends were spent at parties!

This left us with an unfinished house, in a perpetual state of being "not-quite-done-yet".  From the time of moving in, to now, we've touched on each space in the house, trying to improve bits and pieces as we go along, sometimes a big reno, sometimes a quick fix... resulting in every space and room still needing "finishing".

Bradley and I have resolved to tackle all the loose ends over the next year, which brings us to the:

a-room-a-month challenge

It's simple really, each month we will try to complete one room/space/area in the house.  Not an easy task, but a necessary one.  This could include everything from painting skirtings, to fixing light fittings, to hanging curtains, refurbishing and decorating.

We haven't planned the order of which room we'll tackle in each month, as it will come down to time and finances available, so we'll decide after each room is complete which area get's our attention next.

First up: The kids bedroom

Amongst other things we have to:

Paint skirtings

Paint cupboard doors

Hang curtains properly

Put up pictures & hooks

Put window arms back on!

Organise soft toys

Make bunting flags

Clear out and repack clothing

(take out all clothes they've outgrown!)
Do something with the books that end up here instead of the playroom...

Hopefully I'll be able to report back on a finished room - the first in the house - by the end of this month.  Input, suggestions, ideas, feedback and encouragement is always welcome!

Have a happy weekend

PS many people have asked me about the floor in the kids bedroom.  

We "white-washed" it, during our previous renovation: sand floor, paint white, wipe off paint, apply water-based varnish.  I like the lighter floors compared to the dark wood look, and we'll probably end up doing the same for the kids playroom: