Birthday Week

It's been a very busy week around here this last week. My son celebrated his fourth birthday, a very exciting, hugely anticipated birthday which had the longest countdown known to man!
I don't think I'll tell my children it's nearly their birthday until the week before.
At the earliest.

So the day before the big day we met my dad and Julie at Grandma's Little Bakery, a lovely little restaurant on the Federal Highway just outside of Collector. It was my Dad's birthday on Friday so we were trying to fit everybody in!
It was a delicious lunch of Middle Eastern/Italian fusion food. And the rain even held off so that we could play at the park.
Then my sister (who we had picked up at Canberra airport before lunch) came back with us, as did my other sister and her family who had also met us for lunch.

So, yeah, full house last weekend! But the party was a success and the cake (which my son had ummed and ahhed about until the very last minute. Thank goodness for the Women's Weekly Birthday Cake book!!).

Here it is:

He loved it and considering that it was allergy-free, my daughter did too!!!

After my sisters left my mum and grandparents arrived for a visit. We had a great time, visiting the ducks at the lake and going to the club for lunch. Despite all the visitors and the very busy week, we had a great time and it was an awesome birthday week.

Which continues this week also, with the 85th birthday of my grandfather.

February sure is a busy time round here!!!

A Teeny Bump

It has appeared much earlier in this pregnancy than the others, but then so has the morning sickness :)

Playing Macro

A couple of posts ago I mentioned the photography tips Kim posted over at Starry Sky Ranch.

Well, she's now turned it into a weekend tutorial. Each weekend new tips come up. Here are some of the pics I took of my brand new roses (the first I have ever owned or grown :). I must say, that Macro function is awesome :)

The Macro function (identified on my camera with a little flower) is also ideal for getting close up pics of the kids. Check out the colours and focus in this one:

I love it!!

See what you can do with your Macro function and feel free to share!!

Kirsty

The Great Paint

It's amazing what a bit of paint can do. As an addicted avid home reno blog reader there is nothing I like more than before and after shots. Love them. I love to watch the changes, how a room unfolds, and nothing beats the final shot of the great unveiling.

I didn't take any before shots. I suck.

Here, though, are the afters of my beautiful kitchen. 

The colour on the walls is heaven. It's called Knowing, by Dulux and I'm in love with it. So clean and fresh. And the trim is Dulux Antique White USA in gloss. I used this in the lounge room, and in fact all the house's doors and skirting boards/trims will be done in this colour.

We painted the kitchen cupboards with laminate paint. We wanted simply to replace the doors and drawers but being as ancient as they are no one makes doors and drawers in that measurement anymore. Go figure. So, on our super tight budget, we painted them white instead. At least I know now that I love, love, love a white kitchen.

In case you were wondering, I shamelessly stole my dream kitchen from The Handmade Home. Thank you to Ashley and Jamin, who unknowingly, inspired me :)

Like them, I have used yellow as an accent colour. This, however, was due to the fact that we didn't change the yellow splash back tiles. Lucky when I shopped the house I had enough yellow things (who knew??) to make it work!!

Here, now, are some shots of the lounge and rumpus room. They were done first, but because the kitchen is my favourite room now, I had to show it first. The light's a bit off in some of these. Sorry! The wall colour is Dreamy Cream.

I read a great article over at Starry Sky Ranch on photography tips. I think I need to pull out my manual and play around a bit!!!!

Anyway guys, I hope you've enjoyed the new look in our abode. It's been great to finally put our own stamp of personality onto the place, after two years!!