Mommy's birthday

I am 37 today. It feels rather old. And this week is my 20 year Matric Reunion!

I got a K-Way jacket from my husband which I love! It's so nice to get something you really love as a gift. He chose perfectly. One little boy decided he wanted to give Mommy a GREEN gift. That was his only criteria! And so he chose ... wait for it .. an APPLETIZER!!!! Which he helped me drink this morning, of course! I also got a box of carefully chosen chocolates and some equally carefully chosen dishcloths. I love them all :-)

Lots of people wished me a happy day. Well, I had a hard day. It was back to school today, and I had shopping to do. Then I discovered my angel domestic helper was ill. I had tantrums, laundry, spills and a still unfinished kitchen to deal with today. But Baby had two fantastic naps. Most of the schoolwork got done, the washing got hung out and a friend visited in the afternoon. We made models of plant and animal cells out of jelly. And Daddy made supper and did almost all the evening routine. So it was hard, and I lost my temper once, and I nearly cried in the parking lot, but my birthday ended well!

Pics

I love the bumbo, but no more now after he squirmed out of it and whacked his head on the cupboard door. This one has already got the wriggliest of our babies award. Lately he's also in contention with baby his sister for drooliest.

He smiles so hard it must hurt.

My brood.

Brudders. What very very different personalities they all have so far!

Fixing up the kitchen

Here's the kitchen before. - a separate room with a little hatch out to the dining room. There were patches of rough plaster on the walls where we removed an ugly wine rack, and very old fashioned tiles with little pictures of fruit on them!

My parents just had their kitchen refreshed a bit so we got the same builder to come and do a few things to ours. So the walls have been bashed out, the tiles redone, the walls plastered and a cupboard built. (Well, half built so far!)



I could not find any tiles I liked. I dragged kids around tile places, feeling indifferent and worse about pretty much everything in a reasonable price range. Then I saw the terracotta with little colourful squares and I was sold! Unfortunately tiling terracotta is a little more complicated than ordinary tiles. They can't be cut with a tile cutter; you have to use an agle grinder. They need bigger spaces between them so you need more grout. They need a few coats of sealer. I was so happy to see the concrete floor covered up. We had spent two weekends walking around that dusty grey floor!

Love my new floor! (Here without grout or sealer of course)

The whole process has been frustrating in its slowness. There have been lots of delays. But soon ... SOON it will be done. Steve and I are going to paint it ourselves - a challenge with these littles around all day. I have half finished making blinds. The builder has a few things to finish up and getting that done is taking forever. But soon ... well, children and building are both good for learning patience. (See, I'm trying to be positive here.) We have never done any kind of building before and we have certainly learnt a lot for next time - if there is one!

Getting there!


I can't seem to move the pictures around after posting from Picasa, so these photos are out of order! I am so glad this level of mess is over!