It's begun....

I can't wait.
I can't!
I've tried...really I have.

I wanted to be respectful towards the Thanksgiving holiday and wait but it's all around me, calling me, taunting me. It's just not right but I've gotta do it.

Can you guess what I'll be doing the next few days?

It's time. That's all I have to say.

P.S. That's just two of the sets of "preseason" purchases that I have made from Rodworks. There's still another bag to go and then I have the stuff from the garage. I'm obsessed. I know it. And it's only going to get worse now that I have an additional two reasons to love it more!

That time again?

I can't believe that I'm blogging during Sons of Anarchy again. {So I must apologize if this post is a little disjointed. My concentration is confined solely to the time during the ads!}

We've had an interesting day today. More tears {no scars thank goodness!} than we've had for a while but also more success. Syd is happily walking around and mind you she has an expression of smugness/pride that cannot be beat! In saying all of that, Kendall is catching up oh, so quickly. She is gathering confidence at every opportunity and is quite happy to have a go - almost recklessly - and try and walk to you. Her balance is getting better {she can still throwdown like a drunk at 4.30am on Sunday morning trying to walk home!} but she is so proud when she gets to where she plans to go {only Storm or myself}. Her grin and joy at her own effort is contagious!

Another highlight {actually from last night} was a "conversation" that Storm and I witnessed between the girls. It was a beautiful moment full of giggling, gesturing {towards the loungeroom and back into their bedroom}, "TwinSpeak" and patting eachother on the back/arm {yes, they're comforting eachother - so cute I could die!}. It was like they were deciding whether it was better to move the "party" into the loungeroom for milk or to stay in the bedroom with the toys/dogs/parents. The whole interaction went on for about a minute and a half and was just so intense and deliberate. It left Storm and I marveling at how wonderful it is to have twins....

Our new baby

Before anyone jumps to conclusions, no, I am not pregnant.

No the surprise is that we've now joined the ranks of those who vacation in a RV. We're both so very excited as we've always talked about and wanted this for a long time. I have been wanting to see the country and what a better way to do so than in a cabin on wheels? Can anyone say roadtrip?

So here's the rundown - it's a 27ft 1992 Tioga Montara Class C with a E350 Ford engine. It can sleep six if you really want to jam them in. There's the usual items found in a RV - stovetop, oven, fridge, shower, toilet, dinette, limited storage, a queen size bed at the back and a double/full bed at the front above the cab.

So, you need to remember that this is a 1992 model (now 18 years old) and I want you to keep an open mind when it comes to the decor. Also remember that we bought it from a guy who used it to go fishing with his buddies so it was missing some TLC/cleaning.

So without further adieu...The BEFORE shots!

The cab is really straight and the engine is clean. It starts without hesitation and drives like a big SUV. The home end needs a new paintjob to make it shiny though - or maybe we can wash and wax it - who knows?

 No awning but not a deal breaker. Will look at getting one put on later. Until then we'll take our own pop-up tent thingey to hang out in outside.

 The entrance. Leaves a bit to be desired? The carpet {now gone today thanks to Stormy's huge effort - should have seen the tacks in it} was a beautiful shade of blue with flecks of dirt and grime in it. I'm afraid that the pics just don't give the carpet justice. Hopefully the removal of the carpet will help with the musty smell {that is slowly dissipating in the cabin}. One highlight of today is that Storm found lino underneath the carpet, so with a little surface prep we can lay lino tiles over the top without major fuss. Yay! FYI the battery for the generator is under the step so that is why there is the "tear" in the carpet.

 The bed above the cab. Where do I start? The curtains. Oh, first things to come out! I kept them to use as templates so I can sew new ones but very yukky and musty! This is where we will sleep. We plan to put the girls in the main bedroom area in the back so they can sleep and {hopefully} not wake up when we're in the rest of the cab or outside. Anyway, we are going to need a new mattress {or we can use a blow up mattress for a while. We'll see on prices of 2 new mattresses before we go crazy!} but it's probably the original mattress {18 years old and who knows who's been on it? It's gotta go!}

 The drivers seat. Dash is great. Needs the grip thingey from around the steering wheel to be cut and removed and new seat covers.

 The passenger seat. Ditto on the car seat cover {light blue velveteen just won't cut it for me!} The carpet is blue in the cab part and somewhat stained. It will need to be cleaned massively as we do not plan on replacing that at the moment.

 Storm sitting in the seat behind the cab. The door is to the right of the photo. We need to seriously paint the walls and reupholster the chair too. It matches the driver and passenger seat.

Oh the mirror inlay on the upper cabinets. Glorious huh? Can you see the material that I'm dealing with in this RV? It's everywhere! It looks mouldy but actually a gold "speckle" and just musty smelling. Not quite sure what's gonna happen with the mirrors. We may "frost" them so that the pattern is gone. I'm too supersticious to break them and remove them that way.



 This is the dinette area. This photo was taken from outside the doorway. The table is missing as the guy we bought it from is redoing the surface {he's a cabinet guy} and we'll get it back from him on Monday. The upholstery on the actual seats is quite good.  I'm holding out on replacing these just yet even though this is the "last resort" bed. This will be one of our last projects should it happen but it will get a great clean at the least.

 The black spot on the dinnette is the outside temperature gauge. It goes out the window. It is not a stain thank god.

 The kitchen. A very good clean is needed. New panelling to be put onto the fridge and whilst we're on the fridge - did I mention a good clean or a supersonic clean? Oh and I haven't mentioned the "surrounds" that are "embracing" all of the windows. It's a complimentary velveteen blue that needs to come off immediately {and they all did today! Thanks again Stormy}. Everything is in working order which is fantastic. The fridge can be electric or generator run so we just need to plan ahead with that. Water pressure is good and the water heater is in good nick.

 The view from the dinnette "area" to the bedroom area at the back. The guy said it was a new queen bed mattress but that just don't cut it with me. Can anyone say curb alert??? There's a bit more storage than I thought there would be. There are so many configurations on the class c motorhomes so obviously we could have had more but we also could have had less too. I'll survive and become extremely creative. Now with this being the girls room then we plan on putting them in their pack'n'plays and putting them on the bed frame. This way I can get to them, they won't fall out of bed nor wake eacother up with their erratic moving that they both do during the night. Hopefully there's enough room - I still haven't measured it out just yet. There's no door between the bedroom and other part, it is divided by a curtain. So we can shut out light but not noise. We'll see how challenging that will be shortly.

 The view back from the bedroom to the front. Yes, and the handle on the left indicates a door that leads to the....

  ...bathroom. Check out the shower! It needs new lining but we're thinking about a plastic shell. Gotta love the towel rack. Oh and there's carpet in the bathroom. Gotta go. On a positive note I am really pleased that there is a shower for the girls. Can you imagine going to the showers in a RV park and having to put the girls down on the floor to get the towels or dress them? No thanks. I can wear thongs (flip flops for you yanks) but the girls can't. So I will wash them in the shower in our RV. Nice.

 The throne. No number "2"'s in here. Storm already isn't looking forward to the dumping of the tank. Remember the scene with Robin Williams in RV? I'm gagging just thinking about it...

 And the sink. It needs updating but at the same time it is in ok condition so it can wait.

 Anyway, that's the tour of the new baby. {Sorry about the quality of the shots. My camera lens doesn't do micro like it should}. I'll post pics of the projects as they get completed. Cannot wait for them to be done and our "maiden" voyage to San Diego in February to come around. Woo hoo!

Puppy love

We're really lucky to have two wonderful puppy-dogs in Rudy and Oscar. They are so loving towards the girls and are really happy to see them in the a.m. or after a nap.

It's not uncommon for Rudy to go into the girl's room, try and stick his nose through the crib bars and lick them to say hi. Rudy can be a little rough in his enthusiasm which can backfire especially if the girls start crying {he just wants to comfort them!}.

Oscar on the other hand is so patient and lets them crawl all over him. Well truly it is really only one child who is as obsessed with the puppy's like me. Kendall. She says hi to them at every opportunity and if there's a brush around (dog brush, hairbrush, even toothbrush!) she just has to brush the doggies. 

This is what happened the other night. This is the new expression that Kendall keeps popping out. It looks like someone tooted!

 Now she poses! Won't do it on Halloween though... 

 Now she's giving both dogs hugs!

She is so fascinated by hair. She will sit and pull apart a tuft of hair or look at one strand of hair for ages. I suppose I should look at the bright side - her fine motor skills are improving!

 TA DA! Look ma - no hands!

The girls just love this toy. They can amuse themselves for ages playing with all of the different features. Oh and slamming the door...

And who could forget the other bodies in the room. For this particular set of photos we were in the girls' room. It is a 10ft by 10ft room. Tiny for 2 adults, 2 kiddies and 2 doggies with 2 cribs, assorted toys and a whole lotta love! Storm often comments that we went and did the renovations on the house but we all always end up together whether it's on our bed or in the girls' room. We're tight.

Houston, we have problem

They're following in our footsteps. I don't let them watch TV per se. They get their reading video in the morning and then usually Barney in the afternoon before dinner. Is this too much? Maybe..but one thing is for sure. They lurve TV!

Kickin' it Halloween pj style!

Aren't they cute in their Halloween PJ's? 

Halloween

Halloween hasn't meant much around the house for the past couple of years {got disillusioned one Halloween night when a grown woman that I didn't recognize and not wearing a costume knocked on our door after 10pm when our outside lights were turned off asking for candy - how rude!} so we spent Halloween with the Galvin's in their neighbourhood.

We did the same thing last year and you may remember {from a previous} post that I made "Brain" dip and chocolate crackle spiders. This year I made graveyard pudding with ghosts and headstones. I wish that I had have taken a photo of it but unfortunately, by the time that we arrived at the Galvin's the ghosts had already started melting and became unrecognizable. {It also didn't help that I left it at home - out of the fridge - and had to return to fetch it!} So if I had have taken picture it would have been of a chocolate pudding tray covered in crushed oreo "dirt" with milano cookie headstones and marshmallow ghosts. Oh well...good intentions and such.

The girls are still too young to choose what they want to wear so it was up to me to choose. Kendall was a witch and Sydney, a pumpkin fairy. My usually happy, go lucky kids didn't sleep well that day {of course! Murphy's Law} so posing for pics became a bit of an issue. We couldn't keep them in one place for long enough and had to practically hold them down for a photo. Oh and the hats that finished off the ensemble? Well they didn't stay on for long.

My little witchy-poo, Kendall.

 My little pumpkin fairy, Sydney. {She was desperately trying to get away from Daddy!}

 Kendall almost looks Robin-hoodish.

Told you that the hat came off - real quick.

  Our hosts..The Galvin Girls, Lauryn as a pumpkin, Landree as a pirate and Lily as a witch.

 The mode of transport for the evening.

 The fun was after the trick-or-treatin'. Ball pit time in the world's cleanest garage! Thanks Al.

 Why can't my girls stay dressed like Lauryn and pose happily for pics?