Cyclone Marcia

February 20, 2015 / Renae / 1 Comment

Marcia Marcia Marcia.

I’m sure no one else on the Internet has written that today. I’m so funny. As some of you may be aware, we recently moved to Rockhampton, and in turn moved directly into the path of a Category 5 cyclone. Woops! We also bought a 65 year old house with the contract settling 2 days ago. We figure it’s lasted 65 years and numerous storms, surely this one won’t knock it over! Maybe we should have settled next week!

The temporary house we are in has a rather leaky roof and is in a very low lying area. It is high set but I’m a little nervous about the few pieces of furniture we have bought from garage sales that we’re storing under the house. That part isn’t built in.

Anyway we’ve done what we can and now we wait. Apparently Yeppoon is getting hit pretty badly right now. Before we moved here, a number of people said “don’t live in Rocky, live in Yeppoon. It’s much nicer out there.” I’m kind of glad we didn’t listen 🙂

Apart from the whole “cyclone” thing we are doing really well! Mum and Dad have been up here for a week and we had a little party for Quinn’s 2nd birthday last weekend which was lovely.

We’ve also had some work done on the floors of our new place in preparation for us moving in. Here’s the last couple of weeks in photos!

I got another haircut!

The kids helped me make gnocchi

Quinn chose this bag to take with her to kindy drop off which amused Chance’s teachers and the other parents.

I made Quindy a froggie cake for her birthday

Which she ate happily

Ouma came up for some lovely cuddles

There’s been a lot of this going on

We removed all the carpet from our new place in preparation for getting them polished

So far they’ve gone from this:

To this after sanding. I know, right????

Darby-doo had his 10 week check last week and weighed in at a healthy (whopping!) 7.3kg. He is doing marvelously and even letting me sleep most of the night!

And then there’s the cyclone.

So that’s us up to date for now. I’m a little excited that this is my first cyclone which I know is morbid and I’ll probably feel very differently in a few hours but for now the novelty is there.

I’ll try and do an update in the next few days!

We bought a horse

February 10, 2015 / Renae / 1 Comment

*house. We bought a house. Though, when I texted my friend with this autocorrect gem, she was pretty excited that we had embraced the country life and bought ourselves a steed, and perhaps not quite as excited when I corrected the error.

But yes, we are in the final stages of buying a house. I don’t exactly know how it happened. One minute we were looking at rentals and the next we were joking about how we should buy something instead. Just like we joked about going to Mount Isa for a year.

I’m sure this venture will work out a little better…

Some people spend months looking at places and look at dozens of houses before deciding on one and putting in an offer. We looked at this one house and decided. It was the right location, the right price (after talking them down a little) and we put in an offer 2 days after our walk through. We haggled a bit for the next 36 hours, but then the deal was done and the contract was drawn up.

I never thought I would say this but our Real Estate agent is fantastic. He’s probably in his 60s and the business is his own. He is a softly spoken, genuine guy and we just feel like we’re being well looked after. Plus whenever we have mentioned his name to locals, they have all sung his praises which is nice.

We got off to a bit of a rocky start (ha ha. Rocky…) as I rang him at about 4 and he agreed to meet us at the house at 4.30pm on that rainy afternoon. By 4.50 he hadn’t turned up and I was getting really annoyed. I rang him to see what was going on and he said “Renae I’m on my way right now.” I was all huffy, saying to Hubs “If this were a half million dollar house I’m sure he would have been here on time.” Anyway he showed up and apologised and said to me that after he got off the phone to me something came up and he completely forgot about our arranged meeting.

And you know what? I really respected and appreciated his honesty. He could have made something up to make himself look busy and important but he told the truth and from then on, he had me on side.

It’s rather exciting really. The house needs some cosmetic work – if that’s what you call a new bathroom and kitchen – but according to those who have inspected it, it’s a good sturdy house, and it has a beautiful view that is just dying to be seen from a huge wraparound deck. Yes we have big plans for the place. The first thing is to rip up the carpets and have the floors sanded and polished before we move in.

Settlement date is tomorrow week and everything is in order to go ahead. I’m really quite excited actually. I thought that the idea of living in a house being renovated would make me throw up in my mouth a little, but I really can’t wait to get stuck in to the place and make it our own. We have been scouring Gumtree and garage sales and have already bought a beautiful leather couch, a set of bookshelves and an awesome fridge, complete with ice and water dispenser. Next in my list is a washing machine.

We should be moving in on the weekend of the 21st of Feb and mum and dad are coming up this weekend for some extra help.

So even though is not a horse, it’s a big “adult” decision and I couldn’t be happier. Can’t wait to start showing some before and after pics!

Happy birthday to Quindy

February 1, 2015 / Renae / Leave a comment

Our dear little Quinderella. Holy moly you’re a cutie.

Those big brown eyes. Those gorgeous blond curls. You steal the hearts of all you meet and you have definitely stolen ours.

You are such a cheeky-chops and you get away with far too much, but no one seems to notice.

You love picking up your bag, my keys and whatever sunnies are lying around, and announcing you’re going to the shops. I ask what you’re going to buy and the answer is almost always the same.

“Ice and fruit and yoghurt.”

You love pretending to talk on the phone, and you use whatever is available to you at the time. Today you picked up a little hard paged book and pretended you had a flip phone.

You love your big brother Chanbe, and will follow him and copy whatever he does. Even when he turns on you, you can generally hold your own, and can give as good as you get. Not that we encourage such things off course….

Your latest antics are pulling a “funny face” when I’m trying to take a photo.

And even though you’re still not quite sure what to make of Darby, you do love to give him kisses and cuddles. I won’t mention the donks on the head though…

So my darling baby girl, keep smiling. Keep charming people with those eyes and curls. Keeping making Chanbe laugh with your silliness. Keep making your Gran and Grumpy smile at your sassy strut. Keep giving your baby brother kisses and cuddles – he’ll be giving them back soon enough. Keep your Dadda wrapped tightly around your little finger. And keep being my baby girl, just for a little bit longer.

Rocky rocks

January 25, 2015 / Renae / Leave a comment

Okay so it’s not exactly the most original title, but I’m sleep deprived and have had a (rather generous) glass of bubbly so it’s the best I can come up with right now.

It’s been a good first week. We arrived last Monday just after midday and it was an absolutely stinking hot day, but I dare not complain. We drove to the hospital to pick up the keys for our temp accommodation and while Hubs went to do that, I took the kids to the cafe and bought 2 huge bottles of water. It was at this point that both Quindy and Darbs decided to fill their respective nappies. I bundled them up and found the baby change room and took a look at myself in the mirror. Yikes. I was extremely glad I had decided not to meet Hubs’ colleagues that day. My hair was dripping wet and I I didn’t have sweat patches – I had dry patches, and very few of them let me tell you.

Anyway we arrived at the accommodation and were pleasantly surprised. It’s a 3 bedroom house and although it’s on the main highway through town and is a bit of a hike from the hospital, we are grateful for the space, the air con in every room, and the luscious, green grassy yard!

We spent that afternoon and the next day looking at rentals, and even a couple of houses for sale. Hubs started work on Wednesday and I took the kids to the lovely big shopping centre. We had a 100% successful trip and I was particularly impressed with the parent rooms there! I arrived home feeling very confident that this year is going to be a good one. The next 2 days were equally great with the kids and after exploring the beautiful botanical gardens this arvo, I know that there will always be things to do with the kids here.

We have a couple of things brewing in regards to housing but I’ll share more when we know more which will hopefully be very very soon!