Wallpaper at last...

...Yeah!!! After three years of looking at my stripped walls, I had become quite accustomed to them. However after another set of photos taken with the bare walls as the backdrop - I'd truly had enough. So - 10 days before Christmas I decided I wanted wallpaper on the walls for Christmas. We already had the paper (sitting in storage for 3 years), plus the size and glue and all the tools, plus the sandpaper, oil and stain for the skirting board, so time was really the only expense (and getting mum's time too - as she's the main paperhanger in our family).

Anyway, after hours of sanding (with a little help from Jayden), staining, oiling, sizing cutting, pasting and some very precarious positions (on mum's part-over the stairwell), we went from bare walls to colourful walls. I got my photos back up on the wall by the stairwell and just need to get some pictures/paintings for the other walls to add a bit more life. Here's how it looked before and after.

So much to catch up on

It's been so long since my last entry. There's just been so much going on, that the blog has taken a real back seat. I have loads of picutres to share though, so will try and get a couple posted each day over the next few days.

Not a pretty sight.....

....although not the worst job he's ever done. Here is the latest attempt on his hair. Hiding the scissors is futile as I swear he can smell them a mile away. So I'm tossing up, do I get in and fix it tonight, or send him to school with his own style????

Becasue I didn't have my camera....

...I missed the most amazing photo opportunity. I was gardening yesterday in Greenhithe. In the middle of some low down palms I was trimming was a birds nest, with 3 baby chicks crying out for mama. Damn they were cute (a little ugly too, but cute at the same time). What an awesome photo that would have been. I'm almost tempted to go back and see if they are still there just to get a photo.

Taryn and her drums

After 3 days on her drums...

Been a while....

Since I posted. Things have settled down a bit since my last post, just been so busy with other items, that I haven't had a real chance to sit and blog. Have had KaiserCraft orders coming out my ears with new orders still going through this week. Had the school Art Auction - it went amazingly well. I had said that I would like us to raise at least $2,000. We made $5,714.! Had a sausage sizzle the day of the elections, as our school hall was used as a polling booth. We sold out! then had Taryn's birthday to organise. Whilst she didn't have a party, we had a family afternoon tea on Wednesday and also had to try and get her new drum set in and set up on the Tuesday night. That was interesting! Tonight she is having 2 friends stay over, so hopefully that will be fun for her. She on the drums now, so I'll go and get a small video of how she plays after just 3 days and post it. This week I'll be preparing for the craft market being held next weekend. So everything has been pretty full on lately, but life is good.

It's Life Jim, but not as we know it...

Kinda feels like that round here some times.
All of a sudden, Jayden has decided to revert back to some behaviour that is just beyond any form of reasoning. It's inorganic collection time and so (despite our requests not to do so), he keeps heading out to find new junk to bring home. Some bits aren't so bad and we just ask him to go return them. However, we have also had; the old printer, which he proceeded to take apart, smash the ink cartridges and paint the outside downpipes, himself and his clothes with the ink and an old can of white oil based paint (gone off and lumpy) with which he decided to start painting the back fence (previously-whilst in need of repair and a repaint - dark brown). In the process he ruined a full set of clothes (including new jandals). He then proceeded to tip the entire tin of paint out onto the lawn. He was warned not go to near the paint again and to stay out of the backyard until we had managed to clean some of it up. Yesterday I noticed he was once again covered in paint. I told him off and sent him to his room, only to be told (by him yelling it at me), that it was not the same paint, it was from a different can from a different house!!! - Oh, that makes it allright then!
Along with that, we've had the pipe cleaner stuck into the electrical socket, a full container of powder emptied out in between our dressers (right over the hairdryer and all the plugs) and a new tube of lip balm cut up and dug out with tweezers and smeared everywhere!
I will never be able to say parenting Jayden was boring!!!