A TEENAGER IS IN THE HOUSE

Yesterday my boy turned 13, a teenager.

Finally! he said.

He is so desperate to grow up. I'd be quite happy for him to stay this age.

He is the most lovely, caring and considerate boy, who insists on hugs everyday.

He is so excited to be almost my height, he looks me right in the eye now without

having to stand on his tippy-toes!

He is growing at quite a rate at the moment and I'm not sure how it will feel having him taller than me,

quite strange I expect!

We celebrated his birthday by going to Adventure Park in Geelong with my sister and her kids.

We had a fantastic day, it's like a kid's dream there!

 We came home tired and sunburnt, and were met by the rest of our family for pizzas and drinks.

It's also my Mum's birthday on the same day so she had to blow the candles out as well.

Jesse had the most wonderful day, and just when he didn't think it could have gotten any better, he was given a present from my parents- something that he had wanted for a long time.

He burst into tears and held her for the longest time.

A mixture of a big day and being so happy had overwhelmed him and brought him to (happy) tears.

I love that he doesn't feel embarrassed or ashamed to express his emotions.

I hope he never changes.

It really doesn't feel like that long ago that I was holding him at the hospital, looking at the face of my tiny baby boy and wondering what he'd be like as he grew.

What he'd look like, what he'd be interested in.

I honestly couldn't be prouder of the young man he has grown to be.

Happy Birthday Jesse xx

A NEW YEAR, A NEW KITCHEN

My Dad is a clever guy.

He can build like a pro, and has some pretty amazing looking machinery in his shed.

He isn't a builder by trade, but perhaps he should have been.

He built the desk at Modern Vintage, and even made the timber bench tops by gluing, planing, sanding and lacquering small pieces of wood together.

Most recently he made my brother-in-law the most amazing table for his bar from red gum sleepers.

He's always helped me out with small jobs like new shelving and he even made me a screen printing bench, but lately, as he's stepped back from his shop, he's been yearning for a bigger job.

So...he's offered to re-do my kitchen.

Yep, the whole lot - cabinets, bench tops, everything.

I was so thrilled with the thought of timber bench tops! It's always been something I love.

But very quickly the plan has changed from simply renewing the cabinets to quite a large kitchen renovation.

All of a sudden we are knocking walls out, and extending our bedroom and laundry as well!

These are plans Ben and I have discussed before but were long ago put in the 'too big, too hard' box.

But Dad is keen. So I'm excited!!

I love my little kitchen the way it is now, but the renovations are going to open up the space and make the neighbouring room more functional.

We will have a big island bench, timber floors put down, and a butler's pantry.

At the moment I am going over everything in my head trying to figure out how it will all look, and the space I will have. There's string taped the the floor where walls will be to help visualise. I'm trying to figure out what cupboard space I need, what I would like in drawers rather than cupboards (nearly everything!), and how to lay out the pantry so it is as functional as possible.

There will be a place for everything!

I have of course been going crazy on Pinterest trying to find the exact look that I want.

It's fun but sometimes I look for too long and my brain starts to hurt so I need to

step away for a while. Haha!!

I'd really appreciate it if anyone has any tips for me, as in anything I should steer clear of or something that changed your life for the better.

This is my chance to get everything perfect!

HOMEMADE LAUNDRY POWDER

In an attempt to be a bit more frugal, I've decided to try making a few things I use around the home.

I don't know about you, but I've noticed the price of groceries has gone up crazily!

I have a budget that I stick to, but I'm finding it's not buying as much as it used to- and I'm the type that spends at least an hour in the supermarket making sure I have the lowest prices and best deals! I remember being able to spend $200 and have a bulging trolley, now it's not so bulging!

It also seems that when we're out of one cleaning product, we're out of them all.

Cleaning and beauty products can be quite pricey especially when buying a few- it can eat up a large chunk of the shopping budget.

The first thing I decided to try was laundry powder.

I did a bit of research and saw quite a few different recipes for this.

I put together a recipe from a few of the most common products that I saw used, but one thing I saw a lot of debate about was Borax. I decided to use bi-carb soda instead to avoid the nasties.

If I'm gonna go to all the trouble of making the powder then it may as well be as people friendly as I can make it!

So here's what I used:

2 cups washing soda

2 cups bi-carb soda

1 bar goats milk soap, finely grated

1 bar of Sard, finely grated

All you do is mix it all together in a bowl.

You can leave it as is but it's recommended to give it a quick go in a blender to chop the soap bits up fine so it dissolves better in the wash.

Also at this point I added a few drops of lavender oil to give a lovely fragrance.

You only need 1 tbsp per load, so it's very concentrated.

This batch makes up around 1.lkg and cost me $7.50.

That didn't seem like I was saving at all when I first looked at it, but when I saw the difference in how much you need per load, that's when it clicked.

1/2 a scoop of a store bought powder is approx 30ml, where the home made one is only 15ml.

So there you go.

I've also worked out each load to cost 12 cents, which seems pretty good compared to others.

Easy hey?

I've done a couple of loads and so far so good!

Next I'm trying fabric softener, I'll let you know how it goes.

Do you make any of your cleaning products?

I'd love any suggestions or recipes x