Merry Christmas 2012 and Happy 2013

Our Christmas this year will be a busy one, we have builders and trades people all over the place trying to finish our extension so they can go on holidays too. However it will not be finished until the new year. The brick layer was 3 days late in starting so that meant our new garage door was not measured up until monday this week, and the cut off was last friday to have it before christmas... Oh well just another thing to add to the list of hold ups. We now have walls and trusses on the roof but our house only has half a roof at the moment as the roof will not be ready till the weekend for tilling, I do hope the weather is kind to us, we have already had rain and It looks like there will be more on the way. Jason, Liam and I will be spending christmas lunch with family at Grandma & Granddad's house, I am looking forward to a fuss free day. We wish everyone a Happy and Safe Christmas and New Year...From the Rochfords.

Liam's Wish...

Lately there has been an addvert on TV, (the short version) A boy running around the back yard wearing a cardboard box on his head with a Helmet drawn on the box and a visor cut out the front, He also has "Stonner" written on the side of the helmet and also on his Gumboots, he is pretending to ride a motorbike making the correct noise... suddenly its Christmas and the same boy is ridding a Honda with all the protective gear on ( which matches the 50cc Bike. Liam watches the ad with great Interest and then looks at me and says "For Me, Mobike for me" I was looking on Gumtree today for something and I found a Advertisement for a 50cc Motorbike for sale... We went for a look and I guess Liam got his wish. Today he had his first ride on a Motorbike...

Awesome Day gone Bad...

Liam and I went into town this morning to go to playgroup, to find it wasn't on... Oh well I say lets check out the new River Heart Parklands, I heard it was fun for kids so off we went... Liam had a magical time in the water Bubblers playing with other kids and getting wet. Finally he got cold and wanted to go to the sandpit ( in a old boat) Its really cool, so off he ran, me following watching closely, he got sick of that pretty quickly when one kid was throwing sand at him, so off to the BIG forts in the rainforest walk, But he ran... I just could not get him to listen to me, leave alone come back so over the bridge I went in a hurry, down the fairly steep down hill and my foot slipped and thong got stuck in between the wood my toes went under my foot as I fell backwards, OMG The pain, I thought I had broken my foot, someone came to help, I couldn't walk, The Ambulance came and helped me to the car, by then Jason and Brenda were there, Brenda took Liam and Jason took Me off to the local medical centre... The prognosis after waiting for the x-ray report is that there is no fracture. Phew... I am on crutches for a week or more but that is it... Lucky I will post some photo's of Liam in the water when I figure out how to get them off the phone...

Waiting...

Work on our Extension has ground to a halt... our builder put the order in for our Caufield Green window (All 3 of them) and the "lead time" has now been changed from 9 days to 24 days... This has all happened since our builder got a quote from the company for the windows. All we can do is wait... It means that the brick layer won't start until the windows are here, So we are just in a holding pattern until we get windows, The bricks have been delivered and the Trusses will be here by the end of the week but nothing will be done until we get a window Delivery... Ho Hum, Waiting is just so much fun. Not! We have a Slab, but It needs to be adjusted as the concrete went off too Quickly for the concreter. (Our Builder is cranky that his mate didn't send 2 guys to do the work) It is just minor finishing work that needs to be done but still it isn't right. We also got home saturday to find that the house had almost an Inch of water in the garage along one wall because it Rained that hard and the down pipe was removed that the water found its way under the garage door. well that is all my news for the moment, I will post a photo of day 5 asap. Maybe we will get some luck soon.

The slab.

Work has continued this week with the slab being poured today. There has been alot of work done but it has been all under the ground and now under concrete, our footings are so deep as the ground her is very bad its one of the worst classes of soil. so our slab has deep footings to hold it in place and lots of steel reinforcing. It aint going anywhere, thats for sure...

Day 1 Dig the foundations & make metal cages for the trenches.

Day 2 tie in all the cages and then pour the foundations.

Day 3 Remove bricks from walls and fill the ground with builders sand (Half Day)

Day 4 Prep for slab pour. Boxing and Steel Reinforcing.

Work finally starts on our Extension!

After a long almost 8 months wait, or should i say planning and Engineering stage... Our Extension has been started. we had a false start last week where the Council had neglected to forward us the stamped plans and the Builder would not do anything with out them. So that was Monday and Tuesday out. Wednesday they were here marking out & checking Levels ect. Then the next hold up... We could not dig the foundations because we are in a fire ant area and we needed certification from the Department of Industry to say we were clear of fire ants... They couldn't come till Friday... So Monday it is the 22.10.2012 and we have finally started the foundations. The concreter will be here tomorrow to pour the foundations and the council & Engineer will be here early tomorrow to check the Foundations before they are poured...

The Before Photo

The First ground Breaking.

Liam's Prime position so he doesn't miss any action.

October so far...

Before Liam's Haircut.

Liam's new Haircut... Short back and sides and spiky top!

Play time with Samara at McDonalds

My new Friend Samara. Our Big News is... Wait for it... after being in our new house for 7 Months we are finally getting our new garage extension! We waited for Builders Quotes and then Soil testing and the Drafts man and finally the council. But we are here ready to have work start on Monday! I'm excited but a little apprehensive as I fear I will have trouble keeping Liam away from the Builders, Digging machines, concrete trucks, Brick Layers, and All their equipment. I think I'm going to need nerves of steel and patients in abundance. which I fear I don't have. Oh well I think I might have to bring out the play pen and tie it across the garage door opening so that he can see what is going on but not get out... It may be my only saving grace... I hope

Putting the animals to bed at Grandads

When we visit Granddad and Grandma's Liam Loves helping with the animals, They have Fudge, & Chocolate (Cows), Wilbur the Goat, and 4 Chickens. Granddad lets him give zucchini, carrots, and bread to the cows and after Chocolate has his milk, Liam helps put the chickens in their coop for the night. But Liam would rather sit next to them and pat them. He loves chickens. After he pats the chickens he tells them " Into bed Girls" and they go up into their coop. Then he gets to collect the eggs. Granddad sometimes puts Liam's name on one of the eggs and he gets egg toast for breakfast the next day using his egg.

Liam turns 3.

Today is Liam's 3rd birthday, We have had a fantastic day with friends and family at home, Liam got very spoilt I must say, but I think he just enjoyed having his friends and family there to play with him. It was great that some of our friends travelled the distance to come for his little party. (Thanks heaps you guys you helped make it a great day)

Fort Finishing Touches...

The Finishing Touches have now been installed to the fort, A Telescope, A portable phone, A set of Binoculars, A steering wheel, and a set of Handles to make it easier to get into the cubby house. Liam would like to thank Grandma and Granddad for these awesome Playground accessories as they are a Birthday gift for his up and coming Third Birthday. Jason Also installed the final gift from us to Liam for his Birthday... A Turbo Wave Slide... And sand in the sandpit! (Now where did I put those sandpit toys, when we moved...) I don't think many 3 year olds can say their dad built them a fort for their birthday but our little man can!

The Rochford's Fort

When we decided to move out here to our new home we agreed that parks are a little further away than they were in the city... And that It would be good to have a fort In the back yard, for Liam and any visiting kids to play on, The problem was I had one idea and Jason had another...! In the end this is what we came up with, Its a huge 2m wide & 5m Long the cubby house (left side) is 600mm off the ground and then the Slide platform (middle) is 1200mm High then the Deck (Yes a Deck)is approximately 1500mm high. Under the Deck is the sandpit! We plan on adding more equipment as Liam grows up, ie. Fireman's pole, Rope net, just to keep his interest and skill development.( I would also like to Thank Shane and Jason for all their hard work in building this mega fort, It is truly Awesome) Now that should keep any kid happy for years!

Liam & Lulu try out the new fort.

Progress after the 2nd weekend of work

The Frame work was up after just 1 weekend.

Our very Happy little man!

A Special Visit!

My very good friend Terry and her hubby Dave visited us in August. It was a fantastic way to spend a day. Liam instantly loved them both, he had a great time colouring in with Terry and watching a movie with Dave. Of course he was so excited to show them "His" new house and the yard! It was lovely to catch up with such great mates.(Missing you heaps Terry)

Mr Liam the Mechanic...

The other day Liam and I were outside playing when suddenly Liam exclaimed that his little car broke... I said oh know what will we do...? To that Liam exclaimed "Fix Mummy" He took my hand and made me open the door to the house he then went to his tool box and took out "Pat" the Hammer, "Squeeze" the Pliers, "Rusty" the wrench, and "felipe" the screwdriver (All from the Handy Manny Cartoon) Liam then pushed his car into the Garage and turned it on its side then proceeded to fix it! I had to take a picture... So here is our little mechanic at work...

Thumbs up Its all fixed!

Liam's Swimming Lessons...

Liam started swimming lessons at Sandgate public pool In November 2011 he had to change swim schools when we moved but has continued here at a new school. In the beginning I was in the pool with him doing all the fun songs and teaching him to swim to the edge if he fell in, This year Liam was advanced to the next class where he is in the pool with the Teacher and 2 other children. At first I was a little worried as Liam has a little trouble sitting still and following instructions so I sat close ready to spring into action when he wasn't doing as he was told, It has taken some time but he is getting allot better at sitting on his bottom with his back to the wall, waiting for his turn. We have a little talk in the car on the way to swimming I ask him... Mummy:- what are you going to do at swimming today Liam:- Kick My Legs Mummy Mummy:- What else... Liam:- Paddle my arms Mummy:- what else... Liam:- Blow my Bubbles Mummy:- Are you going to Listen to the teacher and sit with your back to the wall and play with your toy...? Liam:- Yep mummy! I am also pleased to report that he has started kicking his legs when he goes under the water, Instead of relying on grabbing for the teachers shirt or my shirt... This is a big step and I could not be more proud of our little man.

Happy 1st Birthday Cody!

The 3rd of August marks Cody's first Birthday... Here is a snapshot taken on his special day. Cody has proven to be a great mate for Liam and Lulu. He is a very loyal and Loving Dog. A little clumsy and not entirely aware of exactly how big he actually is... He tends to knock Liam over quite often, but never means any harm. He is completely oblivious to the magpies that seem to think he is a threat and keep swooping at him in the back yard... He is truly a very loved part of our little family.

The Baby Animal Farm.

Saturday the 28th July there was a fete type thing on at Rosewood so we went along for a look Liam got to go in the Baby Animal Farm. He had a great time, holding the baby chicks, and brushing the calf, patting the kids and the Lambs. But he had the most fun chasing the Chickens, He is pictured below holding a black chicken, I think it may need medicating after Liam was finished playing with it. He would chase it around the pen, Giggling until he caught it and had a cuddle. (This is why we haven't got chickens yet...!)