Renovations on a rental house... we MUST be crazy!

I must preface this post by saying that we are SOOOO used to owning our own home. When we found a house that suited us in a location that was TO DIE FOR, we decided to pretend, if only for a moment, that it was ours. The end result is that we have set the owner of the house up for heaps of long-term profits, in Sydney rental standards, by doing a lot of work that truly needed to be done. Here are some photos to prove it...

Front of our house and fence when we moved in (Feb. 2008)

Front of our house now (notice the rust-proofed and painted fence, along with the gardening)

Kitchen floor when we moved in...

Kitchen floor after we replaced it...

Back yard before and afters...

And for good measure, one of Brady before...

And the kids after

That pretty much sums up what we've been doing lately! There are heaps more things we've done to the house, but these are the most noticeable. I'm so happy the kids will have a decent place to play this summer when we're not at the park or playdates!!

Some pics of Brady and other Aussie news

I managed to get a few of Brady in September, and as usual they are action shots =) There are a couple of them together mixed in.

Is this photo a spitting image of Blake or what?? Talk about a mini-me...

Climbing, his all time favorite pastime

I love these pictures of the kids in their new toybox... they're about to outgrow this one as well!

Since it's necessary to wear sunscreen here every day in the summer, I decided to cut Brady's hair short so it's not getting in his hair when I put it on... I have mixed feelings about the haircut because it makes him look like such a big boy!!

I think he looks a little bit like his Mommy here... one of the only pictures where he does!!

Emptying the kitchen cabinets is great fun and keeps them entertained for about 10 minutes... that's nearly a lifetime in my world, and certainly long

enough to switch the laundry loads!!

In other news, Blake's company has decided to close down several of their international operations, with Australia being one of them. Blake has the task of implementing the entire shut-down, so we'll be here to see it through until all centres are closed. We're expecting this to take us to the end of May or early June, but it could be sooner. I'm sad that we're leaving Sydney 6 months earlier than planned, but am looking forward to enjoying a wonderful and sun-filled summer before we go. We're not sure where we'll be living when we return to the US, but I'll be sure to keep everyone posted when we know more in the next 6-9 months.

Cheers!