A week on...

Another week of busy times - Ellen turned 3 on Sunday, so we had a family party for her at Nanna and Granddad's complex with a swim and then BBQ. It's a great venue and everyone had a great time. Mum and I made a 'Hansel and Gretel' gingerbread house for her birthday cake with butterfly cakes leading up to the front door - a hit with everyone. She was thoroughly spoilt as usual with gifts, which we are drip feeding to her over the days to come - Grandma and Grandpa's house is starting to feel smaller with all the extra things that we're bringing!

I've had a less than good week healthwise - after the move last Monday I've been having headaches, which worsened to migraine by Friday and ended with a trip to the ER for a shot and a few hours on the drip. They're back again this week, so tests and scans to come later this week and hopefully a solution soon.

And finally - we're hoping to get something started at the new house this week - apart from mowing the lawn we've done virtually nothing except dump our furniture etc. so it will be good to get things underway.

Quick update

Sorry for the delay - no new photos and now I don't have internet access for a while, so less likely to update. Still - some news is that settlement is on Monday, so our furniture etc. will move into the new house, even if we don't. Last week we received the building and pest report which was rather deflating - we seriously considered pulling out, but renegotiated the price down to cover the estimated cost of the major repairs (hopefully...).

So now we're living with Greg's parents and they're rediscovering the joys of having two little girls in the house - 4.30am starts and the extra noise and mess that they bring. His Mum has put up all her valuables (I hope) and the girls have settled into their shared bedroom fairly well. Greg's been leaving for work at 4am, so my day starts not long after that when the girls wake either due to the noise or the sun coming up - either way, it's an early start, although a good excuse to get some exercise and explore the neighbourhood, so can't complain. We've already located a couple of new parks that we weren't aware of.

It's one of the busiest times of the year at the shop, so Greg's working huge days and early starts to get things done. So not expecting to get a lot done on the house until after the New Year when things slow down a tiny bit at the shop - although the difference between slow and busy now is starting to get blurred - it's busy all the time now.

Posts will slow down for a bit, but hopefully I'll have lots of good news and some new photos of the new house for you soon...

The last week

Dee also celebrated her birthday while she was here with us in Australia, so the girls and I made her a chocolate cake to celebrate and Olivia and I took her up to Mary Cairncross park to look out over the Glasshouse Mountains (which according to her research before arriving is all that Caloundra was listed as being famous for!). We also did the walk there and Olivia was rather taken with the lichen and moss on the trees, so we had lots of stops to investigate.





Well, I've left out a lot of things that we did with Dee while she was here, but one of the last was for us to go to Seaworld with our half-price tickets (thanks Ang!), where the girls had a great time and loved the new Sesame Street section - they were both able to go on nearly all the rides and had a ball. Some photos of the highlights for the girls - Olivia was rather worn out by the end of the day. Nanna and Ellen powered on and found lots of new friends along the way. It was a great 'girls day out' for us all.

On the move

It's true - we sold our house, bought a new one and we're on the move...and soon! Settlement for both properties is the 19th November, and the new house is a renovation job that requires some work before we can even move in, so busy times ahead!! We'll be moving in with Greg's parents for a few weeks in the meantime - thank you Arthur and Verna, and we'll try to preserve your home during our stay with the girls...all that crystal will be moved well out of reach!!

I admit that I thought there was no way that God could provide what we were looking for in the time frame and the price range - and our market research and discussions with agents certainly supported that, but as usual God can come through in His time and perfect ways, and provided for every tick box in our original list (including the renovation bit - crazy I know!), so we're once again very thankful to Him and reminded of who's really in charge in our lives.

The new property is on a big block (nearly 1200sqm) with stacks of space for the various trailers, boats etc. that we seem to accumulate rather easily, not to mention space for the girls to play - something rather lacking in our current home. So we're looking forward to the move, although rather daunted by all that has to be done in the next 2 weeks - so I'd be be off and get packing!!