Before...

Ahhh.. Spring! For me, it marks the end of a yummy, cozy Winter. I love spending the day in ugg-boots and drinking too much coffee and fitting 15 people in my lounge room for dinner without us all fanning ourselves desperately. I love sitting on the oil heater with a cup of tea held close and being about to bake peanut butter cookies and enjoy the warm rush of hot air as I take them out of the oven. And I love, love being able to sit and hand-quilt in the evening. Sigh. I love this time of year with it's warm, sunny days and cool-enough-to-still-have-flannel-sheets-on nights. I am desperately willing it to go slowly, drinking in every last minute.
Tim, on the other hand, grew up on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, which, apart from raining on the weekends, otherwise lives up to its optimistic name. Today, as we opened the windows for the first time in months and let the spring cleaning bug take hold, Tim also sighed, but his was in anticipation. "Oh, the humidity!" He exclaimed nostalgically, "It reminds me of home and surfing and Christmas." 'Humidity' has never, ever been a word I have used fondly. I would much rather think of snow when I thought of Christmas.
Anyway, worlds-apart differences aside, today we both rejoiced in the sunshine and let it fill us with enough energy to rearrange our house again. Not a complete overhaul, but definitely a new-chapter type change. We moved 9 month old Eve Lily into Tully's room and gave Tim back his office. That little office-once-bedroom is a lovely sunroom surrounded by windows which becomes an oven in Summer, just perfect for my Sunshine Coast man.
Like Summer, the change is both exciting and daunting.
Tully and Eve sharing a room: daunting.
Tim moving into to office and giving me the studio/dining room all to myself: exciting.
So far, with minimal fuss, both kids are asleep! Let's hope it stays that way till at least 6am.
Here are some photos of us working hard today:

Tully was very quick to discover the possibilities of a cot pulled to pieces!

This included making sure he was able to help out.

 While taking this photo, he said to me, "Mum. You need to stop taking photos now cos I'm trying (he says 'frying'!) to concenfrate."

 Evie spent the morning finding all the hidy-holes.

 And I tidied up the biggest mass of fabric and dresses from the dining room table. But you will have to wait till tomorrow's exciting episode for "...and After" because there are still a few finishing touches to go before the place is camera-worthy. :)

Ooh! And speaking of dresses, Tickle and Hide: Clothing with Alter Ego opens on Etsy.com on Thursday to celebrate the first day of spring! There's going to be a garden fiesta! With flowers and prizes and giveaways, BYO cupcakes, wine and internet connection! Can't wait!