All moved in!

Here are our "current" pics - was going to call them the finished product but we are by no means finished! (we're not even half started!)


Upstairs view from outside the balcony - looking on to the block where we take the dogs to wee if it's too muddy to have them outside :)Lunchtime on about day 4 ... looking very weary but still loving the house!

Master bedroom still with crap to put away (yes we always put ourselves last!)

Special thanks to Dad for building and starting the vegie garden for me as we were unloading the truck, I finally planted it yesterday. Looking forward to having the crops this time! (that's a running joke - i never ever get to have any of my own crops for reasons beyond my control - we always move out before they fruit - so now that we're in this house, I'm probably testing the waters but I figure what's a house without a vegie garden?? - I'm doing it anyway!)

View of outside from my kitchen window

View of kitchen window

My very sexy cooker! She cooks so beautifully!

View of kitchen from the side.

View of kitchen from middle of lounge (yes those lights are going shortly - i hate them!)

Jessie crapped on the floor yesterday at around 6am so I was NOT HAPPY and they can stay out for as long as it takes for her to get some brownie points. The dogs aren't too thrilled about their current outside arrangement...

Meals area and alfresco

The home theatre (the guitar hero room) - this one is a work in progress, we will be getting another telly apparently and damn it this couch has to go!

Mummy's lounge room (one side)

Other side

Powder room from toilet side

My laundry

Damon's room part 1

Damon's room part 2

Boys bathroom part 1

Boys bathroom part 2

Boys bathroom part 3

Jake's room part 1

Jake's room part 2

Bay's room part 1

Bay's room part 2

Upstairs lounge and study nook

Our 24 hour view of the front door (yes the cat is ALWAYS there wanting to come in)

Ensuite part 1

Ensuite part 2

The mountain of boxes (this was only part of it!)

My lovely kitchen

New fridge and freezer, and the door to my "office" (pantry!) where the secret family meetings are held.

Anyone want some mud??

Hubby says: "We're not in Kansas anymore"

Ha ha ha.

Anyway, on Friday morning we let the dogs out to wee as normal, and they decided to trample in the mud in the most glorious fashion, so they stayed outside all day (which didn't bother them, they huddled around the fence and barked non stop all day long ...)

(apologies to the neighbours)

We let them in after tea time, they had crusts of mud all over their legs and bellies, and they had a bath. Then we decided the tactic for them to go to the toilet would be to walk them across the road to the vacant block - which worked much better!

Mick whipper snippered on the weekend so that the dogs didn't have to leap "meaty-bites" style over the grass, and the yard is so substantial compared to what we are used to, he was COVERED in grass and weed. Some of the weeds resembled trees, the trunks were that thick!

Our crossover was poured today, so YAY but bad news - it's meant to rain for the rest of the week, so no more concrete until the concreter comes back from holidays (unless we get no rain - but i doubt it)

So bummer, no driveway yet, which means no visitors, but is that really a bummer? We can do gardening!

This weekend I've decided we're putting some crushed rock out the back around the washing line so that the dogs no longer have mud to walk in (and then that's the remainder of the landing for the washing line) Wonder if I will actually get it done...

Moving in ... part one...

Our first day of owning this house was tarnished by the shittiest weather we have seen in a long time. It rained all weekend, and the ground had just started to dry when we took our first load there on Monday.
Mick was adamant that the weather report said it wouldn't rain on Monday, despite my vision of us standing in torrential rain spreading crushed rock (had that vision on Saturday morning at 5.30am)
So here he stands spreading some rock so I can get up the driveway to help him.
We managed to keep the house clean and look forward to going there tonight with the rest of our little loads.
The kitchen is almost set up, and ready for action :)

Truck day on Thursday.

Today the blinds went in, and the driveway was cut out. It should be boxed tomorrow and poured on Thursday with any luck (read: if the bloody rain doesn't come back)
Today is the most glorious sunshiney day, I'm so pissed that we didn't have a specific date from the concreter as then we wouldn't have had to commit to moving with the truck on Thursday, so we would have been able to rest up for another week - would have also come in handy as I got Gastro on Thursday (YIKES) and spent until sunday arvo doubled over in pain (and on the toilet)
TMI - probably. I'll just leave it there.

We're getting the keys on Monday!

Howdy,
Well PCI has come and gone, without a hitch at all - Carlisle are easily the most stress and hassle free builder we've ever dealt with (out of three major builders, that's a good rap!)
We had a couple of issues with our PCI and the supervisor (who is a total legend by way of organisation!) had already booked these items in for replacing and fixing - so we really had no issues whatsoever to come of it.
We're booked in to settle on Monday. :) We're going straight there to seal the grout straight afterwards, then will start moving in our crap.
Fences are going up on Monday, Blinds are going in on Tuesday morning, and on Thursday it is truck day. The antennas will be connected, and then the fridge and freezer will be delivered, and we'll sleep there for the first night.
YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
And I have a few days off work to help us move.
Damo and Jake will have their first day at Werribee Primary on the following monday, we're not yet nervous about this but I know it will come. I've taken Monday off work also, just in case ... but I think that a friday night bath with red wine and hubby will be wonderful, and can't wait till Monday to see if I can actually cook and not feel alien in my new kitchen :)
(and hopefully if I haven't done so by then, I can get the vegies started!)
x

Outside is painted!

House is all painted on the outside now - so all we are waiting for is the PCI on Monday, then we find out how organised they REALLY are inside. Can't wait to get those keys!
First weekend we have decided we are going to be making the vegie garden (raised beds) and of course, the driveway will be done before we officially move there...

PCI is booked

Howdy
No pics, but I can tell you that we're booked for our walkthru of our finished house on Monday August 23! Which is exciting of course.
This week we were meant to have the outside painted but we have just had three days of constant rain and it ain't a pretty worksite I can tell you that now! On Sunday when we went past they had done the glass panels on the Verandah and it was looking very pretty.
That's about it for today. Got stuff to do.

Countdown to settlement day begins...

Well, here's the exciting news ... our SS has casually mentioned that PCI will be around August 20, which means that we're in our last 2 weeks of finishing, then a week of fixing, and settlement should logically have no problem by being the start of September!

Here's Bay standing guard at the house last night. They've taken down the fences and done a minor site clean. But then I looked inside and screamed...

CARPET!!!

You'd think they'd clean the friggin floor before laying it, wouldn't you! I'll go off my rocker if there are marks on it. (highly unlikely though that i'll need to do that)

We're anticipating our outdoor colours showing up in the next week. They really only have to put taps in the benchtops, patch fix what they've stuffed, (they need to re-do the splashback where the rangehood is going as that is supposed to be tiled) and then complete the balcony, and just make sure that it's all correct and lovely.

In other news, I have the bestest hubby in the world. I got a new coffee machine today (tomorrow is my birthday) and I can honestly say I never ever dreamed that much money would be "justifiable" to my husband ... but well, he bought it without a worry in the world. I tell you now, I never saw THAT coming.

So now, when you come to my beautiful new house to visit, I don't have to stand there frothing milk for yonks. YIPPEE! (and yes, the coffee that comes out is stinking hot, as soon as we figured out that would be the case, we were happy to purchase the machine!)

Packing has begun. The house is currently littered with boxes.

We've decided we're not going to wait for a concreter to decide when they can do our driveway, we're just going to move in, stuff it. After all, we just want to move in. It will be easy enough not trampling mud in the house provided we have heaps of rock down.

And that of course has brought on a new reality ... we have to change the boys schools sooner rather than later. It has it's own advantages and disadvantages no matter which way we go, really.

Move them now, and Damo has a term of grade 6 at the new school, then goes to another new school for year 7... but move them later, and Jake is all alone at his new school, and all next term while they remain at Baden Powell, they are on either 3 buses home, or a bus and I pick them up from the plaza every night after work (but I know they'll get sick of this quickly)

Currently they are in their element of responsibility riding themselves to and from school - and I'm bummed that they didn't start it earlier. They are being FABULOUS with each other, protecting each other and making sure the other is safe. I am so proud of my babies.

So after we move, the boys are going to change schools very quickly, Bay will start at Werribee High on his own, and Damo and Jake will start at Werribee Primary. Even though it will only be 1 term, Jake will really do well adjusting if his big brother is there for a bit to help him settle in. Then next year, Damo will go to Werribee High with Bay. After school, the boys will all be able to ride home again - Bay can just collect Damo and Jake on the way.

I'm so looking forward to getting in to this gorgeous house, and starting my vegie garden. I now work upstairs (changed roles) and I'm sitting next to the farm chick of the century. She is vegie, chicken and plant queen and is currently offloading all her volumes of gardening books onto me (and they are gratefully received!)

Hubby is a bit concerned that i've gone from reading Cosmo to reading Gardening Australia but I assure you, it's all in the name of beautification. Yes I'm trying to psych myself up to overcome my fear of chickens, but I really don't think the dogs would tolerate them (read: I'm too wimpy to bother with that crap)

But all the same, I'm certainly loving the daydreaming that one day I'll be coming home from work to a garden abundant with fresh fruit and vegies that I can offload to family when they come to visit - just like Grandma and Grandpa used to do for us. Heck, who knows, the amount of time we're in this house, hopefully one day I can do that for my boys and their children too!