Delaney Road Settlement Day

The day has arrived and the first home we owned has officially sold and settled and is now home to someone else. We have had so many happy memories here and loved our home and our neighbours and being where we were. I didn't even want to move because I loved the where of our house so much... which is why the new house was perfect of course! 700m up the hill.

The house is the cleanest it's ever been, everything is shiny and ready for the new owners and we finally took the very last of our belongings up the hill... yesterday haha. One last shelving unit that had been in the garage, sticking out of the back of Doug's ute.

So goodbye Delaney Road! Farewell to our incredible neighbours who we love so much who are thankfully still just down the road... and goodbye to the place where we had so many wonderful memories... and hello to the new house - for some wonderful new ones!

Enough keys for you? hahah. Reminded me of the last scene in Friends where everyone put their keys on the bench.

And just because I am who I am... there's two pages of notes for the new owners. Oops.

❤

Shutters are in!

Our shutters are finally in - and not a moment too soon, considering we plan on moving in this weekend! They look amazing and I am so happy. We decided not to do the entire house even though I love them, I just wanted sheers in the main living areas for maximum light.

Here is Alex's room.

The garage - yes we had to put some on the garage window, as it's house frontage and it would have looked ridiculous without them there. You can clearly see that panel when you stand at the front looking in.

The study window.

Madeline's room

and Joseph's room.

Looks amazing... All done! Perfect timing - let's move in! ❤

Big brothers are the best

Big brothers are actually amazing. There's been a few jobs at the new house that we just haven't managed to get done, because I couldn't find someone to do them! Two of the downpipes out the front were rusted through and not running into the drains, a few of the down pipes were missing their bottom piece that juts out to angle them into the drains and the vents in the ceiling and wall in the lounge for the gas to flow out of the house when we use the gas heater were missing and needed to be purchased and installed.

Enter Jared Goodlet, the master, who did it all, and then fitted my dishwasher to boot. What a legend. He took his time to make sure it was done properly, problem solving as he went along and did such an amazing job.

I can't even tell you how grateful I am to have a big brother who has always had time for me. ❤

 

The attic!

It has always been my dream to have an attic. I grew up reading any book I could get my hands on and most of them featured fabulous attics full of antiques and sloping ceiling beams with dusty windows. Look I'll take what I can get, considering my attic is solely for storage, but I am thrilled with our first addition to the Kendall Dream House. Our first tradie in was Ben from Aussie Attics to fit this amazing ceiling space, which is about 16m x 2ish m high in the middle - perfect for all my storage needs considering I don't have a shed (yet!) 

There is a staircase/ladder leading up from the entrance in our bedroom and light switch on our wall courtesy of Tom our resident electrician right next door. He simply disconnected the light that was in the entry and reconnected it in the roof. Bingo.

The entire room is dustproof and capable of holding plenty of weight, I am really stoked with the finished product and well intend on storing all my party supplies in the roof. So much room for activities hahaha.

Looks a-maz-ing and I am beyond happy.

Thank you Aussie Attics! 

We bought a house!

Sooooo... we bought a house! After back and forth and round about for weeks with the seller and the settlement agents, the settlement for our new home finally went through today! I still feel crazy anxious, especially when I think about the sheer amount of work there is to do, the amount of tradies we will have to get through and the cost of it all! But, we are so, so thrilled. We are literally ready to make a start on the Kendall dream house! So exciting. I can't wait to show off everything as it's done. 

New house story

Get comfortable and brace yourself for a long story.

About 2 years ago, Doug and I started talking about how we would love to get a bigger house with a decent block, but I didn't reeeeally want to move as I love where we live. As time has gone by and Alex has gotten bigger, it's become apparent that we are outgrowing our little (but lovely!) house with the teeny backyard, even though we have a giant park available across the road.

I love the houses on Kalinga Dr, which is just 700m away from our current house, one street parallel from the kids school and the high school we have them enrolled at. They are big blocks (1050m, which is a quarter acre) which is just unheard of in Ellenbrook these days...  and the problem is getting one of them, as anyone who has one, doesn't want to sell it! I was always eyeing off a certain one, which is next door to Madeline's friend. Her parents would always tell us we needed to buy it so we could be neighbours. The house was actually empty for an extended period of time, as the owners had split - he'd moved out and then she had abandoned the property. We and a few other friends of ours even started referring to the house as "our house" as we kept saying if it ever came up for sale, we would buy it! I even said to Doug a while back, if that house comes up for sale before we have the money, I would be so mad, I really want it! It's exactly where I want to live. 

So, Doug and I actually started looking for a bigger place a while ago. We even made an offer on a house in Ellenbrook. It felt right, we loved the house, we loved the property - the only things I didn't really like was that the kids rooms were still small and where it was. It was all the way over in the Bridges, which is not at all where we wanted to live, but it felt good, so we made an offer. So when offer was rejected, we were actually so surprised! I was like OH. Weird. We felt like it was right, we felt confident in our offer and then, just, nothing.

So, here's me telling my SIL this story while I'm at her house catching up with her... she's like oh that's so strange, it really sounded like it was meant to be! To which I said, yeah who knows, either someone blew our offer out of the water (edited to add, months later - can confirm this is what happened, it went for $85k more than we offered!) or they didn't like the conditions we placed on our offer. I then went on to say that it didn't matter - and that there was obviously something better around the corner for us. 

Not even kidding, 30 seconds later, my phone buzzed, it was the girl next door, telling me she had just seen online that "our house" was actually for sale! What. The. Heck. What are the chances of the actual house we had wanted and waited for, not only being for sale and us being in a position to buy it. What a huge, big, fat, put in our laps, blessing. There is absolutely no denying that.

So. We went to the home open, we talked about it for ages. We prayed about it and of course me being me, kept freaking out about it. Then Doug (and his sister, bless her) were like what more of a sign do you need? Are you mad? Can you not see the wonderful, amazing opportunity the Lord has put in your lap? That's probably exactly what I needed to hear, although still not making me feel any better haha. We made an offer, then another offer, then a counter offer - and the house is currently under offer - to us! We are waiting and trying to not get too excited as there is quite a lot of restrictions on the deed and the sale may not go through. Plus there is a lot of work to do on the house even if it does go through, so either way, we wouldn't be moving for months. Just have to sit back, try to relax and see what happens. Fingers crossed!

plantation shutters

we had these babies fitted to the three back bedrooms yesterday and i am in love! i am so so happy with them!! we were lucky enough to buy a house that had been completely decked out with norman style plantation shutters throughout, with the exception of the three back bedrooms. they had some basic curtains which over the past 22 months we've been here had quickly died, even to the point that you couldn't even open and shut the ones in the kids rooms... and that was without them even touching them! 

i am so thrilled, they just look so tidy and really complete the rooms... but most of all, i am bummed i didn't take a picture of the rooms before they were fitted, the before and after was amazing!

worth every cent! ♥

halloweeeeeen twenty-sixteeeeen

i'm not really a halloween person... to be perfectly honest, i have always thought it is a stupid american tradition that doesn't really belong in australia... but after last years exposure to the joy of halloween in our new house where there are lots of new houses and lots of young children i realized that it's kind of fun.

this year we went out trick or treating with maddie's friend isabella and her little brother and hit up about 20 or so houses just by wandering around our neighbourhood looking for decorations. the kids were loving it, until we got to one house that had a guy dressed in a scary costume that jumped out and scared the kids, then it was tears all the way home... i couldn't help but laugh, but they were seriously scared!

queen elsa and her witchy friend

doug stayed home and wore his chimp mask whilst handing out lollipops to the neighbourhood kids... i think he had just as good a time as we did! as we walked around, i told the kids to knock on our door, much to their amusement.,, but that's our house! oh daddy! he's a monkey!

having the best time ♥

and our little joseph... doug's parents bought him a little skeleton suit, but he wasn't having a bar of it, so in the end we showed him his all blacks shirt, which he was more than happy to wear. done. let's go!

you never know, halloween might just be growing on me...

upside down and inside out

today we helped friends of ours move and took these two crazy kids along for the ride. doug helped move heavy things and i cleaned... and they played and giggled and got in everyones way but had a good time.

joseph even frightened all of us, when we couldn't find him at one stage... only to discover he was laying in a beanbag and had covered himself with the other... phew!

and at the end of the day, we made samoan koko and sat around chatting at the new house. it was a good day, a very good day ♥

one year down!

monday marked one year in our kendall dream house and i was so proud of myself, because the photo wall was done with two days to spare! i promised doug when we moved in that i would have it done before we had been here a year, so i realised a few weeks ago that i would have to get my act together if i was going to make the deadline.

when we moved in, the previous owners had kindly left their frames in place for us to have... and i was so grateful, as it was done beautifully... all perfectly spaced, aligned, matched... every ocd's dream. also amazing as i would have had to a) find new frames that perfectly fit into the spaces that were left, or removed all the screws, filled, sanded and repainted the wall. ummmmm, nobody has time or patience for that!

so onto etsy i went. i had a rough idea of a few prints i wanted to purchase, and got looking for the family proclamation with the option of adding our own wedding photo, the thirteen articles of faith and the living christ (the testimony of the twelve apostles) my search came up great when i stumbled across lemons that are pink on etsy, who had all three prints that matched, but was willing to go the extra mile and create me a custom family proclamation to match them. yay! i was completely and utterly amazed by her customer service and attention to detail, as all three prints came out beautifully, were sized perfectly to the measurements i gave her and she sent 3 proofs of the family proclamation with ever so slight changes, with no problems at all. i highly recommend samantha... she's the best!

i am so beyond happy with the wall and how it turned out. i couldn't help myself for the first few days, i would just go into the hallway and stare at it. so happy! 

a picture says a thousand words... but this wall says a million ♥

literary love

i am in love.

 i am a bookaholic and today these babies were finally anchored to the wall and ready for me to fill with my loves. big love to doug for assembling them and dad for doing the hard bit of anchoring them (that did not look like fun...) this sight makes me so incredibly happy... and i am loving all the little changes we are making here to make this house our home.

♥

halloween!

i must admit i have always been a little but of a halloween scrooge. i always feel like it's an american thing and have never really gotten too excited about it except for when we had american friends living in australia that threw a party each year. this year though miss madeline had her heart set on doing something for halloween, so when we got home from the show, she dressed up in her ballerina dress (she insisted she wanted to be a ballerina, not something scary thank goodness!) and we went trick or treating in our neighbourhood. we went to about 5 houses (here if people want to participate they decorate out the front of their house so you can tell...) and that seemed to be enough for her so off we went home again.

our new neighbourhood seems to be right into it though, there were some houses that had some mad decorations, including one that was a fully decked out haunted house maze, and they had blocked off the entire street! i wish i had have managed to get a picture of our street, there were children everywhere for hours!! the park was full, there was so much noise and there was even a haunted carriage tour, a horse drawn wagon full of kids that was picking up and collecting from the park across the road! the horses were painted with bones on their coats, the girls driving had costumes and their faces painted as sugar skulls and it looked amazing! i assume they were taking the kids to all the awesome local houses... what a cool neighbourhood to live in! i am feeling very inspired for next year.

maddie's favourite bit though was definitely answering the door when people knocked on it. we didn't have decorations but we got the occasional knock. she would race to the door and tell each of the kids she loved their costumes before she gave them chocolate... and when we ran out she was even more excited telling them that it was all gone. weird kid.

oh well. here's to next year. i will be prepared!  

park life

i love the park across the road. we have been there at least once a day since we moved in and the kids are loving every single minute. it's so nice. out the front door, run across the road... and run to the park. the other day, while they ran and played and laughed and sang (well, madeline sang) i lay under a tree and just, for the first time in ages, just did nothing. other than watch them play, i did nothing.

after all the stress of moving, packing, unpacking, the endless phonecalls sorting things out, changing addresses for everything you can think of... it was nice to have some down time. our new house is lovely - and the park life is a beautiful added bonus.

the kids are loving it  and so am i.

it's the end of the world as we know it

and i feel overwhelmed, anxious, stressed and like i can't even fathom with the mess i have to sort out... but mostly fine.

27 myimbar way was our married home, the home where we welcomed our two children, laughed, cried, fought, celebrated, played, but mostly loved. we have loved living here and it truly feels like the end of an era leaving it behind.

it seriously felt like we were saying goodbye to a dear friend as we, and some beautiful, patient, amazing friends cleaned and then made our way out the front door for the last time. there have been so many good times in that place, i can't even name a small part of them. but onwards and upwards we go, and i know in time, there will be many more in our new place.

the last supper in the backyard... kfc while we rested for a little while before getting stuck back into the cleaning.

one last look back from the front of the house, goodbye old friend! we will miss you!

x ♥ x

p.s. i seriously felt obligated to show this off... as you can see the grout in the kitchen had managed to build up a lot of muck over the years... and it was actually black! who would have thought that oven cleaner was the answer? spray that sucker on, quick scrub with some water and a scrubbing brush... and back to white it goes! winner! maybe we will get our bond back after all!

moving day!

i was told this morning that the only thing more stressful than moving is losing a loved one that you're really close to. i would believe that now. without a doubt. so anyone i know that has moved interstate, or even intercountry, you are my heroes! i was so emotional last night, not because i am sad to leave, but just that it's so overwhelming! and then of course had another cry when my brother jared turned up with the van and it all just felt so real! but the move is done, all our things are at the new house, and i am assuming that it will take us about the next 18 years to sort it all out. blerggggg.

i must admit the highlight of the day was watching my dad cut up the table isaac made me as a wedding gift (which was waterlogged from having no where out of the weather to store it) because we weren't able to pull it apart and it was bowed beyone repair! out with the chainsaw... let's solve this the country way!

i also now know it is true what they say, that you never know how much stuff you have until you have to move it all! oh my word, we had the truck full, sardined in until we couldn't add any more and we still had to do a second load. and this was no miniature truck, jared had hired a 6 tonne furniture removal truck!! time for a cull i think!

it was a lot of work and we are so so grateful to the friends and family that came and helped us get it all done. it certainly isn't something that we could have done ourselves and we are so overwhelmed with the support we had. one thing is for sure though, we are thrilled to be home sweet home in our new place... and i never ever want to move again. not as long as i live. so this house had better be good to us! we love it and can't wait to get settled.

chilling in the truck with my dad and oldest brother who kindly gave up his day to drive this huge truck full of our crap.

game over! a job well done ♥