Well, it’s nearly there… the external render and paint is all done and we hardly recognise the place! Check out the piccies…
Also, Jason was lucky enough to score a pool table for his birthday, so we’ve already put in some late nights over a few drinks! Thanks for all the accessories everyone!
Lots of fiddly things to finish around the house, but it’s very livable now and it’s looking great…
Cheers,
Jason and Chrissy
Hi Everyone!
Well, October is a big birthday month in the Bell household, so Happy Birthday Jason, Dan and Susie!
Jason turned ’30′, so in celebration (or was it in commiseration?), we threw a bit of a shin-dig for him at home… a good opportunity to get lots of friends and family together to enjoy a heap of food and drink and christen our new, bigger, better home!
It turned out to be a good night and we all had a great time! Thanks to everyone who made it along to share it with us and also to those who couldn’t make it, but were thinking of us on the night!!!
Cheers,
Jason and Chrissy
Well, for those who didn’t know, I am currently in Perth for the APAC Conference (http://www.apac.edu.au/apac07/). I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to present, see conference program (http://www.apac.edu.au/apac07/pages/program/APAC07%20Program%20030907.htm).
Anyway, I arrived in Perth on Friday, after a five and a half hour flight from Brisbane. It was an uneventful flight and the Qantas crew were very good.
Well, the place I am staying in is called Rendezvous Observation City Hotel at Scarborough (http://www.rendezvoushotels.com/perth/). The room is pretty basic, but as you can see from the picture below, I have a nice view.
I spent the day (Saturday), wandering the City. I had a look around “Hay†Street Mall. I then decided to go for a walk along the Swan River. I came across an unusual structure, the Swan Bells Belltower which is the largest musical instrument in the world.
One of the most outstanding things I noticed about Perth, is that it is very clean and the people are quite friendly. There are lots of walking tracks, grassed areas with people playing on them, and I saw a lot of walkers and bike riders along the river bank.
My destination was of course the Casino (lost this time unfortunately), but it was a nice place (see image below). I think I walked around 5 kms from the Mall to the Casino.
On my return journey, I decide to walk past the WACA and check it out. Unfortunately it was all closed up, but now I at least know where it is!
Until next time…
Take it easy,
Jason
For the past few weeks, there have been some strange going’s on in the Bell Household after the lights go out…
Chief Inspector Mum was woken by giggling at around 3am. Further inspection revealed that:
• The loungeroom and kitchen lights were on;
• Both potential suspects were awake (however one was still restricted to her cot, the other was at large);
• Picnic table (aka blanket box/coffee table) was found neatly draped with a table cloth (blanket);
• Food items had been mustered from the kitchen cupboards;
• Plates and cutlery had come from the playset; and
• Guests (also known as teddies and dollies) had assembled at the late night invitation-only function.
Examine evidence at Exhibit A and B.
…Exhibit A
…Exhibit B
Upon full investigation of the crime scene, the repeat offender was handed an on-the spot fine (cleanup duty) and was sentenced to go back to bed.
Appeals were heard by Judge Dad the following morning and are still ongoing.
Cheeky but too cute, hehehehehehe,
Chief Inspector Mum
Well, as they say, a picture says a thousand words!!! We’ve finally finished the three bedrooms, hallway and stairwell! The tilers finished up last week and the carpet was laid today. We’ll now be able to move the girls back into their rooms after four months in the lounge room – yippee!
…new hallway to stairs, store room and girls rooms
…Laura’s new room
…Katie’s new room
…Spare room
…Stairwell (to games room)
…New tiles in dining room
Still a fair bit to be done though – bathroom is yet to be finished, the renderers are only about half way around the house and there is lots of putting and varnishing still to be done. Once we’ve finished inside, then it will be time to start cleaning up around the yard! All the extra vehicle traffic, storage of bricks and timber and washing out of mortar, concrete and paint has really taken its toll on the gardens and lawn (mmm… what grass down the back?)! So we’ll be at it for a few more weeks yet!
Jason and I are pretty buggered at the moment… it’s been hard work spending a day at work, coming home to look after the kids, tucking them into bed and then heading out to put the finishing touches on the extension often until the wee hours of the morning! But we’re really happy with how it’s all turned out and it’s certainly been a worthwhile experience! Can’t wait until it’s all finished and we can sit back and enjoy our house (plus maybe a well earned break)!!!
Hope you’re all doing well and thanks for tuning in!
Cheers,
Chrissy and Jason
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
Well, it’s time for another blog about our precious little girls.
Katelyn has just turned 6 months. Her latest stats are:
Length: 67.5cm (longer than your average bear)
Weight: 6.95kg (lighter than your average bear)
Latest milestones: 2 bottom teeth (which she got at just 4 months of age) and about 6 more teeth which are on the way! Sits up supported. Rolls around to get what she wants. Trying solid food.
…Katelyn (Katie Koala) at 6 Months
Katelyn has just started baby rice cereal and her first vegetables. She doesn’t seem to mind it too much, kicking her legs and beaming with excitement when the little bowl comes her way and then opening her mouth wide for the spoon. She’s beginning to sleep a little better at night too (well sometimes), so that’s a bonus too!
Laura hasn’t taken long to get in on the action… Whilst Jason was away on a work trip last week, I was busy preparing dinner when my ‘little helper’ sprung into action. Katelyn was hungry and having a little whinge, so I put her into the high chair and prepared her little bowl of cereal. I then went back into the kitchen to finish preparing Laura and my meals. Everything had suddenly gone quiet though, so I turned around to check on the girls… Laura had picked up the cereal bowl and spoon and had started feeding Katelyn!!! There was a snowy white smear of food all over Katelyn’s face and both girls were starting to get the giggles… Laura doted on her sister, encouraging her with mimicked phrases like “there you go Katelyn, is that good?  “mmm, good girlâ€. I guess Laura has been listening… pity she doesn’t like listening when she’s being spoken to though!!!
We’ve nicknamed Laura ‘Laura the Explorer’ because she loves to get around ‘looking for animals’ whilst on pretend safari at home, going on ‘bear hunts’ and exploring in the garden. She also loves to visit the zoo so she can ‘run with the ducks’ and see the turtles… “not just their heads Mum, I want to see their eyes and their bodies too”, asking “can we make them come out of the water”!!!
…Laura the Explorer
We’ve nicknamed Katelyn ‘Katie Koala’ because with this unusually cold winter, she can often be found hanging on and cuddling in to me just like a little koala! We’ve been encouraging Katelyn to get mobile by placing toys around her at about 1 metre distance. She lines up and rolls until she gets them. Laura found this difficult to begin with, constantly wanting to help Katelyn and saying “but Katelyn wants it”. One evening I went into the lounge room to find Laura rolling Katelyn along the floor to reach her toys which she had positioned about 5 metres away, “look Mum I’m helping Katelyn rollâ€!!!
I’m going back to work in a few weeks time (just part-time to begin with), which means Katelyn will be starting daycare soon… I’ve got mixed emotions on that one of course… I love my job, but I also love being at home with my girls!!! I know they’ll both cope really well though and just a few days a week should mean the best of both worlds for us all I hope.
Until next time,
Chrissy, Jason, Laura and Katelyn
Well… it’s all happening here!
In the last fortnight:
* all the bricks have been removed from the back wall so that the new frame could be joined up to the existing part of the house;
* the roof trusses have been erected;
* the new colourbond roof and guttering has gone on;
* the water has been put through to the new bathroom and garden tap;
* more support beams have been added for the floor; and
* the frame has been finished off with extra timber ready to receive the gyprock walls.
…side view
…rear view
…courtyard view
The builders will soon be ‘breaking in’ to the back section of the house, so we have moved the girls out of their ‘old rooms’ and they are sharing the loungeroom (yes, even our barnyard sized loungeroom is looking rather crammed, packed full with toys, furniture, boxes and of course two little girls)!!! We convinced Laura that it would be fun to stay in a ‘cubby room’ whilst Ray was finishing off her ‘new room’, so we set out to make a little hidey hole for her and her bed, constructed from boxes and all the odd bits of furniture. She thinks it’s pretty cool, so hopefully the novelty of it all will keep her occupied until her new room is ready. She’s been keeping her little sister in order too… Katelyn was having a little whinge when we put them both to bed one night, to which Laura responded “Katelyn, just be quiet, it’s time to sleep!” When we need to escape the chaos, we resort to either Susie or Mum and Dad’s houses (thanks guys, you’re the best)! I think we will be spending even more time there in the next few weeks as the noise and dust levels increase!
In the next few weeks, we hope to see the bricks go up, the external doors and windows go in, the electrical wiring go in and the internal gyprock walls go on. It’s great to see the jigsaw puzzle coming together and it’s starting to look really good!
Anyway, all the best and thanks for visiting our blog!
Cheers,
Chrissy, Jason, Laura and Katelyn
Since our last update, the builder has added the upstairs floor and erected the second story frame. The weather’s been quite wet here, so that’s caused a few delays but it looks as though things are now back on track!
Here are the latest piccies…
…going up, up, up!
…site supervisor Katelyn checks out the plans (or was that the junk mail)!
… enjoying the sunshine (dare I say it’s a rarity lately)!
All the action hasn’t been worrying Katelyn much and even Laura’s been really good. She’s been asking lots of questions about what the builders are doing and when woken from her midday nap the other day by them drilling away on the other side of her wall, she stumbled out to tell me “Mummy, ‘Ray the Builder’s’ making a big noise and it’s hurting my ears. I think it must be afternoon tea time now!” Needless to say, she didn’t get much sleep that day… other things were on her mind!
It’s getting really exciting now that we can actually see each of the rooms marked out. There are lots more fiddly things to do though before the roof trusses can be erected, but hopefully that will happen next week. We’ll keep you posted.
Cheers,
Jason and Chrissy
As they say, a picture says a thousand words!!!
Things are certainly taking shape now the slab is down and the frame is going up! It’s really starting to look like something now!
We’ll keep you posted on the progress…
Jason and Chrissy
Wow, what a trip! In need of a good break away from it all, we invited my parents to share some time away with us (and to help them celebrate a big milestone in their lives together)! We then packed the kids and the kitchen sink and headed off for a few days away in the twin towns of Agnes Waters / 1770. Aptly named, 1770 is recognized as the “Birthplace of Queensland” as Lt James Cook and his crew came ashore on 24 May 1770.
It’s obviously seen a lot of change since way back when, but what a truly beautiful part of the world!
We stayed in a lovely new 2 bedroom self contained apartment just a minute’s walk from the beach. We feasted on a mountain of food, spent lots of time with the kids on the beach and at the park and took some scenic walks and drives.
…Lookout at 1770
…Agnes Waters Beach
…Laura and Jason go running
.. Katelyn kicks back on the blanket
…Funky sand art by ‘the Crab’ – looks like a firework!
… Ma, Laura and Pa
…Chrissy, Laura and Ma
As you can probably guess, we all had a great time and we’re looking forward to our next holiday already!!!
Cheers,
Chrissy
It’s been three weeks since the first earth was turned on the extension. In this time, the plumbing’s been realigned, 80 cubic metres of soil removed, footings dug and laid and retaining walls erected. Things are running a little behind schedule on account of a week of rain, but other than that, it’s starting to take shape.
Here are the latest piccies.
In the next fortnight, we should see the slab and frame in place. It’s really good to watch the jigsaw puzzle being put together and we have a newfound admiration for builders, their organisational skills and their problem solving abilities! There are so many moving pieces in a job like this!
Cheers,
Jason, Chrissy and the Girls
Proof that I was actually in the U.S. Check out the following website http://developer.apple.com/wwdc/events/, see the Scientific Development Poster Session picture.
Crazy hey, and this is the proper Apple Website advertising it’s worldwide developers conference 
Cool hey.
Until next time,
Take it easy,
Jason.
Good news… the extension has finally started! It took all of a few minutes for the first bit of machinery to wreak havoc and devastation on the backyard as a new plumbing trench was dug. Laura was pretty impressed though, shouting “Mummy… Ray the Builder’s here…. and he’s got a digger… he’s going to make me a new room!” She was very cute!
…before chaos
… chaos begins
…’digger’ at work
Little does she know that it’s going to take about 3 months to finish and in that time, there’ll be a lot of dust and noise and she’ll even have to move out of her current room for a while too! Now that will be interesting.
Cheers and we’ll keep you posted on all the action,
Chrissy and Jason
Hi Everyone!
It’s about time we give you an update on our precious little girls!
Katelyn has turned 4 months! We’ve just visited the Dr for the latest round of immunisations, a quick checkup and a weigh and measure. She now weighs 6.33kg and is 66cm long (a little longer and a little heavier than Laura for those who like to compare). I’ve nicknamed her ‘smiley’, as she always seems to be beeming with a broad, cheeky little grin. Laura is a constant source of amusement to her and she’s always giggling at her big sister who she is just crazy about.
Laura adores her too and the two of them are just so cute together – always smiling, giggling and giving eachother lots of little kisses and cuddles. Laura is remarkably concerned for her little sister’s welfare – often interpreting her cries for me, giving her cuddle and saying “it’s okay Katelyn, I’ve got you†and often running into her room if she hears a noise saying “I’ll check on herâ€!
They love playing together and their favourite things are reading stories together and dancing to Laura’s ‘special’ music (an assortment of nursery rhymes and kids songs), but really any music will do. Even when we’re listening to the radio in the car, Laura will often sprout ‘I like this song, can you make it louder please?’
Katelyn has just cut her first tooth (very young and even earlier than Laura)! She figured it would be a special Mother’s Day present for me I think! Laura’s pretty impressed about it, because she was always asking why Katelyn didn’t have teeth like her! So now they’re just the same and Katelyn can go to the Dentist too!
We visited a friends ‘farm’ the other day and Laura had a great time playing with the dogs and the chickens and feeding the baby goats. She was very impressed by the whole setup!
Laura’s favourite sayings at the moment are “Mummy, I gotta tell you a secret†and “I’ve gotta ask you a questionâ€. She can have a full chat with you now when she’s in the mood and loves providing a running commentary on everything she’s been doing. We’re noticing a real difference with her vocab and comprehension now, she just seems to be taking so much in, asking questions and putting things together for herself which is great. She’s very observant and will often stop us to clarify things. The other day, she was telling me “When the sun goes down… it’s night time, time for sleeping. When the sun comes up… it’s day time, time for playing!†She then followed this up with “It’s not night time now!†Do you think she wanted more play time???
Anyway, talking about playtime, I’m a woman in demand and there are two needy little girls here waiting for my attention! Hope you all have a great day and we’ll blog again soon!
Cheers,
Chrissy, Jason, Laura and Katelyn
Well, the three day conference is over and I must say that this year was better than last year. Not to say that last year wasn’t good, but I just really enjoyed the presentations and Chicago isn’t bad either! For those who might be interested, the slides for the presentations can be found at http://www.accessgrid.org/node/738 and general notes from the conference can be found at http://accessgrid.karen.net.nz/index.php/Access_Grid_Retreat_2007_-_Report.
I won’t go on too much about the conference, other than to say it was an awesome opportunity to network with people working in the area of Access Grids.
I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to present. After day 2, all the participants were asked to vote for the best three presentations. My presentation was lucky enough to be selected as one of the top three, so I received an Xbox 360, with wireless controller and Arcade Game Pack. I must admit, I was hugely surprised as there were a number of excellent presentations given (now I just have to figure how to get the box to fit in my luggage). Another Aussie also won an Xbox too, so must be saying something the standard of us Aussies!
Anyway, the last few days have been great and I have managed to network with a lot of people. I think the Access Grids are in good hands.
Until next time.
Take it easy,
Jason.
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