The Bell Family

Well, it’s all go here…

Since our last update:
* The majority of internal timber has been put up around the doors and windows and the new doors have been hung (although the skirting boards are yet to be done);
* The cupboards and shelving have been put in;
*We’ve finished the bulk of the painting in the new section of the house (although we still have a fair amount of patching to do where the new part joins the old and we still need to paint the doors and cupboard shelving, plus finish staining the architraves and skirting boards when they are completed etc);
* The light fittings have been connected and the electrical finished off; and
* The concrete pathways poured around the back section of the house.

Here are some piccies…

Piccie of JB painting the “Games” room!

Piccie of JB painting the “Games” room, using his special “cutting in” tool!

Piccie of the feature wall in the games room!

Piccie of the finished feature wall in the games room!

Piccie of one of the unfinished kids cupboards in their bedroom!

Piccie of how the house looks from the outside at the moment!

Jason’s done a great job with all the painting and I’m actually pretty impressed that he’s been able to finish it in such a short time… there was a heck of a lot of work there and we must have used at least 120L of paint… so that’s no mean feat given he works full time and we have two young kids! We’ve both been burning the midnight oil… hooking in once the kids are in bed each night, so we’ll be looking forward to a good break when all this is done!

In the next month or two, the following things still need to be finished off:
* The internal stairs;
* Install sliding mirrored doors in the new bedrooms;
* Install the security screens;
* Install the new bathroom shower, toilet and basin;
* Tile the bathroom;
* Tile the games room;
* Tile the main part of the house (the old bit);
* Lay new carpet in the bedrooms;
* Replace the back timber ramp;
* Finish patching and painting;
* Return the backyard to some sort of order; and then
* Return our house to some sort of order!

We’re all looking forward to graduating from our temporary ‘one bedroom flat’ back into our new and improved four bedroom house with extra storage and living space!!!

Cheers,
Jason and Chrissy

The Girls have been soooo much fun lately! They’re both such happy little people and just love playing.

Some of Laura’s latest funnies are…
* when Jason told her she was a real ‘character’, Laura responded “I’m not a character, I’m a person!”
* ‘o-oh, spaghetti-o!’
* ‘oopsy daisy’
* whilst in the car, Laura saw a cattle train and commented “Where are those cows going? What happens if they have to go to the toilet?” hmmm, I haven’t taken the creative responses to ‘nearly 3-year-old’s’ course yet….
* whilst playing late one evening, Laura needed to go to the toilet, so she jumped up and bolted into the bathroom, as she got to the closed door, we hear ding, ‘owwww’ as she bumps straight into the door in the dark and then fumbles with the doorknob
* when watching planes go over, Laura often asks “is that Annie or Daddy’s plane”? I think some people travel too much!
* when told that Ma and Pa are going away, Laura asked “Are they going on another big boat?!?! Can we go too?” – lucky cruise-ship fanatics!
* when trying to avoid sleep-time, “can we read another book” and “can we read it again”
* when talking to Annie on the phone late one night, Laura says “is that Annie, can I talk to her – hi Annie, how you going, yeah, good”… and as if once wasn’t enough “I want to talk to Annie again… hi Annie, how’s it going?’
* whilst looking at her new room, Laura asked “am I going to have lights… and what about a fan…. and do I get carpet too?”

Katelyn is really mobile now and just loves crawling after her big sister. She’s into absolutely everything now, but especially loves tipping over the box of blocks and hearing them all spill onto the floor! She has 6 teeth now and there’s a few more on the way.

Laura and Katelyn appear to play together really well at this stage, occasionally there’s a little tiff when Laura decides she wants whatever Katelyn has just picked up, but generally they have fun occupying themselves. They love dressing up and when preparing dinner, I often hear giggles coming from the loungeroom… when I walk in, they’re generally both up to mischief with toys all over the place and a couple of hats and scarves on!

Here are some pictures of our gorgeous little darlings…

… sisters

… cuddle time

… dress-ups, hehehehe, no Mummy, we’re not up to mischief!

… swing-time

…Laura at the park

… Daddy’s Little Princess

… brrm, brrm, look ‘no hands’!

Have a great day,
Chrissy and Jason

It’s been 3 months since the first earth was turned on our little extension project… and we’re beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel (well through all the dust and boxes that is)!

Jason and I have spent the last two weeks madly painting the new rooms… each night after dinner, we put the kids to bed, cleanup and then hook in until the wee hours of the morning!!! Jason’s just had a few days off work too, which has really helped the progress with things but it’s been damn hard work!!!

I must admit though, it’s looking great!

Here are a few piccies…

The builder has left us to our own devices whilst we’ve been painting, but he’s back now and has started fitting the door jams, architraves and skirting boards, as well as fitting out the cupboards. The stairs, bathroom, electrical, tiling and carpets are still yet to be done too, so still some time before practical completion.

Thinking of you all and can’t wait until it’s done,
Chrissy and Jason

The external rendering and painting of the new extension has just been completed… Once the scaffolding comes down, it will look amazing. We can’t wait until the rest of the house is completed, we won’t know the place!

Here are a few piccies…

Cheers,
Chrissy and Jason

Wow… things have really taken shape since our last update!!!

Over the last fortnight:
* the windows were removed from the girls old rooms;
* external windows and doors were put into the extension;
* the extension was joined up to the back of the house;
* the wiring was completed;
* the brickwork was done;
* the eaves were put up; and
* the gyprock was nailed up inside (although it still has to be plastered).

We can now walk through Laura’s old room (which will become our walk through study/hallway) into a new hallway, storage room, the girls new rooms and down the stairs into the games room and new bathroom! The place is huge!!!

Here are some piccies…

…view from back corner

…stairwell (well – hole with a ladder anyway!)

…games room

…games room

It’s looking really good and we’re so happy with how things are turning out. We couldn’t match the old brick though and the closest match wasn’t close at all, so we’ve decided to give the whole house an update and it’s currently being rendered and painted. More photo’s on that one soon.

The next few weeks should be a busy time with the internal and external painting, bathroom fitout, stairs, architraves, doors, cupboards, external pathway, electrical fittings, tiling, carpets and furnishings to be done! But for now anyway, there’s nothing more important than spending some time with our girls!!!

Until next time, cheers,
Chrissy, Jason and the Girls