Two Going on Twelve

A recent conversation at our house:

"Mommy, I NEED animal crackers"

"No Madeleine, not now. It is almost time for supper."

"Mommy, don't you tell me no!"

Nice. A preview of the teenage years?

Trials and Tribulations of the Toddler Bed

A few weeks ago when David’s parents came to visit, I had the brilliant idea of converting Madeleine’s crib to a toddler bed. I figured his dad could help take the front part off. Has she outgrown the crib? No. Does she climb out of the crib? No. Is she getting body parts stuck in the crib slats? No. I just figured almost 2 ½ was old enough to transition to a toddler bed.

The first morning I went in to get her at the normal time. I turned on the light and Madeleine wasn’t on the bed. Her pillow and blanket were in a pile on the floor. Checked under the pile – nothing. Then I heard the distinctive sound of a little snore and this is what I found:

The scene from the Wizard of Oz where the house landed on the Wicked Witch played out in my mind. She was under there with baby doll clutched in her arm. How she managed this one, I’m not sure. I just know that taking her out required a bit of finesse. I didn’t want her to try and get up on her own and wind up bumping her head and getting stuck. Getting her out from under there reminded me I hadn’t used the dry mop under her crib in a while.

Over the next few mornings I’d go in her room and find her in all different locations – in the closet, by her hamper, in the middle of the room and right in front of the door. I decided to tuck the blankets in underneath the mattress even though it wasn’t too cold. Nice idea, but, well, she was getting out from underneath the blankets somehow and landing with a thud on the floor. “Mommy, mommy, holp me”.

After the 4th night in a row where I had to go in on 3 separate occasions to pick her up I decided I needed a new plan of attack. Last night I tucked her in on both sides and made sure she was in there snugly. Apparently too snug. At 9 PM I heard “Mommy, mommy, I shuck”. Ooops, had those blankets a little too snug and she couldn’t roll over. I loosened them slightly and we made sure she could roll over before I left the room. Fast forward to this morning – SCORE – she was still snug in her bed.

Twelfth night is the charm, I guess!

The Little Elephant

Madeleine hasn't shown much interest in Halloween before this year. The first year she looked ticked off that I dared to put her in a costume:

Last year she was sick and not all that agreeable when it came to taking pictures.

This year, we brought her to the Halloween store to find a costume. There were 4 or 5 animal costumes in her size, so we lined them up and let her choose. She raised her arm up to her face like an elephant's trunk and trumpeted. An easy choice in her mind.

One of the benefits of living in our neighborhood is not being able to look into my next door neighbor's house while standing in mine. The downside is our street is 1/2 mile long with no street lights. We went to 8 of the 12 houses on our street and she came come with a bucket full of candy. This year I got smart - instead of walking with her and ultimately carrying her, I broke out the wagon to take her around:

The flaw in this plan was someone expected wagon-to-door service and didn't want to keep getting out once we got to the house. Ah well, she has fun and that's what counts.

Bad Blogger

Yes, I am a bad blogger these days. :( Not going to focus on the bad though!

I think Fall has arrived here in Iowa. The temperatures dropped last week and the leaves and the stupid walnuts are falling from the trees.

Seriously, I hate the black walnut tree in our front yard. Aside from the fact I swear there are squirrels up there trying to lob walnuts at me every morning, they make a mess. The walnuts themselves look like green apples from a distance. When they fall they tend to split open and at first the smelly juice is yellow before it turns an even uglier green-black color. Did I mention it stains? Mix smelly, smashed open black walnuts and a 2 yr old and see what you come up with. Thankfully I have managed to get her hands washed quickly. She has learned. Now she just kicks them.

We went apple picking a couple of weeks ago and had a good time. I would love to post pictures I have taken but I cannot find the battery charger for the camera. My friend Cynde took this one:



She had fun. We picked a bunch of apples, bought apple turnovers and checked out the pumpkins. She polished off 2 apples herself and managed to make a couple of friends. They decided it was better to sit in the shade and eat apples than pick them in the hot sun.


So far I haven't done much with the apples other than to eat them. I did make a batch of Overnight Apple Butter that I like. I made an Apple Butterscotch Bread that used the apple butter but I really didn't care for it at all. Had a funny taste to it, which is sad since I like different quick breads for breakfast. Pull a slice from the freezer and go!

I no like ...

Oy. That's all I hear these days: I no like this cheese', 'I no like this green stuff', 'I no like this shirt.' It wouldn't be so bad ... but she has eaten that cheese and spinach before and has worn the shirt many times. I pointed that out to her ... and now I hear 'I no like that shirt - anymore'.

I have been lax with the picture taken but through no real fault of my own. OK, I misplaced the battery charger for the camera battery. Personally, I think it walked away someplace and I should look for it in someome's kitchen. Haven't gotten that far yet though. :)

Sigh, just not motivated to write anymore tonight. Who am I kidding? NCIS is on.

YEAH! We are potty trained!

Dare I announce we are potty trained?

OK, so she peed while we were checking out the pumpkin last night, but doesn't it count that she KNEW it was coming? That she announced "Mommy, Ma'line peeing!" as she squatted on the walkway?

What counts is that she has not had an accident in daycare for 2 weeks (knock on wood) and she is very good (usually) about going at home. We just need to work on (me included) making sure she goes prior to going outside or getting involved in a project.

It has been cold and rainy here most of the week. I fear summer is over and we are swinging into Fall. While I like the change of seasons, the leaves changing colors, apples and pumpkins, I wish we had a little more of the HHH weather. I know my tomatoes were wishing it had been a lot hotter (and sunnier) this summer.

Ma’line no like ….

I have been hearing that quite a bit these days when it comes to meal time. The other morning I was getting some breakfast together for her. I washed some grapes (her current favorite) and cut her a slice of Zucchini Carrot Bread, topped with a schmear of cream cheese. ‘No mommy’, she says, handing it back to me, "Ma’line no like this bread". Wouldn't even try it and it was a brand new recipe too! Sigh.

Last night I made a new recipe – Ziti with Cherry Tomatoes, Spinach and Gorgonzola Sauce. This recipe came together pretty quickly and was quite tasty (got to love that) so I had all the ingredients out on the counter when I whipped up the sauce. I watched out of the corner of my eye as a little hand reached up onto the counter and grabbed the container that held the rest of the gorgonzola. I watched as she picked up a crumble and stuck it in her mouth, fully expecting to see it come back out. "Mmmmm”, she says, "Ma’line likes this", and then proceeds to the silverware drawer where she pulls out a spoon. She walked over the table, sat in her chair and proceeded to eat what little was left in the container.

Fast forward to supper time. I had grilled up some chicken breasts to mix in with the pasta so we had a little more protein. She was happily eating the pasta, chicken, tomatoes and sauce and then happened upon a piece of spinach. The look on her face was priceless and she promptly spit it out. She looked at it all mixed in with her pasta and then looked over my plate. "Ma’line no like the green stuff" she said and spent the next five minutes picking out every speck of green and giving it to me. Should I mention she has eaten spinach before?

It seems my 2 yr old has pretty diverse palate. Counted among her favorites are feta cheese, salami, kalamata olives, black olives, blue cheese dressing and now gorgonzola cheese. When it comes to veggies and dip, she chooses pepper slices (green and red) over anything else. She loves salmon and gobbled up a pasta casserole that was made with sliced eggplant.

But she won’t even try zucchini bread.

Happy Birthday David!!

OK, I am a day late BUT better late than never, right?

Since Madeleine is aware of the concept of a birthday (I think) I figured we'd start celebrating each of our birthdays. OK, who am I kidding, it is an excuse to make a cake!!

David isn't a big fan of chocolate cake or really sweets) but I know he does like carrot cake. I found a recipe for an Orange-Pineapple Carrot Cake that sounded good plus, bonus, it was made in a 9 by 13 pan (no layers!). Madeleine cast her vote for an Elmo cake but I convinced her Daddy would like the carrot cake better. It was simple enough to put together and it tasted great. One change I would make would be too add a little more spice; maybe some nutmeg and a touch of cloves. I cut the recipe for the frosting down by 1/3 and still had plenty to cover the cake. I grated some fresh nutmeg on the top. YUM.

Of course, instead of singing 'Happy Birthday Daddy' she sang 'Happy Birthday Madeleine'. I told her it was daddy's birthday. 'No mommy. Ma'line's birthday'.

Approaching the End of the Summer

Hard to believe we are already approaching the end of August. I know the neighborhood kids start back to school this week. Next week Madeleine moves up to the Toddler Room. Techinically she should have moved back in June when she turned 2, but they didn't have room until the older kids went back to school. I am hoping the new room will help with the potty training. They go more frequently in that room AND they have their own bathrooms.

We did manage to go on one mini-vacation this year. Madeleine and I headed up to Minneapolis last weekend. We went to the Minnesota Zoo, Cascade Bay and attempted the Mall of America. Who knew New Kids on the Block would be giving a free concert? On Saturday morning we met a friend of mine and went to a wonderful bakery for some cinnamon rolls before going to the farmer's market. Of course no road trip would be complete without outlet shopping (chopping! chopping!) ... but not shopping at any ole outlet ... shopping at a chocolate outlet.

By far, any activity that involved water was Madeleine's favorite. At the zoo we came upon some fountains where lots of other kids were already running through them and playing. Many had on bathing suits. As you can see, not having a bathing suit with us didn't stop her!

We were chatting about it on the way home and decided we were going to make out girls weekend an annual tradition .... where to go next year??!!??

A Night at the Beauty Parlor

I have been having a lot of trouble with my laptop this week freezing up on me this week. Not liking me playing around with pictures or even surfing the web. Anyway, been running a ton of virus scans on it, etc., hasn't found anything so fingers crossed all is back to normal.

Last night we came home from eating out and Madeleine needed to get into her pajamas. Procrastinator that she is, she decided daddy needed a 'pony' (as in ponytail) before she could put her jammies on. Just over her arm, on the bed, you can see a sample sized bottle of Clinique's 'Happy' perfume. Apparently daddy's hair needed to be sprayed with it before getitng combed.

I'm almost done mommy!!

I was hoping she was going to break out the barrettes. :)

Olympic Games of our own

I've been running crazy for the last week, but I thought that I'd post a video from Madeleine's tumbling show last week. They all marched out as if they were in the Olympics - theme music and all. Too cute. I need to get better with the camera.



After the march, the kids basically went around and showed us what they like to do. Since it is a parent/tot class, I am already in the know. Once she got the hang of it, she decided she loved jumping on the trampoline. She has since discovered she can bounce on her bottom but hasn't quite figured out where to go from there!



When you see her looking down at the trampoline it is so she can find the smiley face she is supposed to be jumping on. So, I think it is safe to say she likes going to tumbling, so we'll enroll again when the Fall session starts.

Potty Training

All I can say is I am happy I have a washer machine with a 'sanitary' cycle.

I wouldn't say it is going bad. She (for the most part) will tell us when she needs to pee. She runs into the bathroom before we go to her daycare room in the morning and before we leave the center at night. She is all about wiping and flushing (I DO!) and washing her hands. She tries her best to put her 'panties' on in the morning (although we need to work on one leg per hole) and knows she only wears a diaper at night.

She will not, however, tell us when she needs to poop. Sigh. I know she knows what she is (or in this case isn't) doing. David watched her change her teddy bear's diaper because it was 'dirty' and he 'didn't tell Ma'line potty'. She had him get her some wipes, had him help her put the diaper on the bear. She even told the bear he needed to tell her when he needed to go potty. TAKE YOUR OWN ADVICE!!! :)

Our First Harvest

Madeleine and I go out to the garden every other night or so to see if it needs watering and to see if any of our vegetables are ready for picking. We were happy to see that we had a zucchini to pick the other night. Yeah!! Our first vegetable!

I helped her pick it and then she insisted on carrying it back into the house to show daddy. She showed it to him and then was carrying it around the kitchen. I started making supper.

A few minutes later, Madeleine came by and put the zucchini up on the counter. I glanced at it but didn't really look as I was trying to get supper together before she started diving into the cabinets.

David came by and picked up the zucchini ... and asked me what happened to it.

Hmmmm. Didn't look like that when we picked it! Upon closer inspection I noticed the drool and the fact that the little holes are actually bite marks. I guess someone couldn't wait to taste it!

I am also happy to see that my Hydrangea is actually blooming this year. We moved into this house 4 years ago (almost to the day!) and the following spring I planted the bush. This is the first year that I have had any blooms. They ended up being pink; I am debating whether or not I want to mess with the pH of the soil to try and get blue blossoms next year.

Adventures in Cooking

I am slowly but surely getting back into the swing of cooking after the kitchen. Hey, 5 months without a kitchen - I need to ease back into cooking!

I try to make dishes that will provide us with leftovers we can eat over the course of the week since we really get home too late to cook a proper meal before Madeleine needs to get her bath and story before bed. A couple of years ago I bought some cedar planks with the thought of using them on the grill. I wanted to try them this weekend and salmon was on sale at the grocery store ... all I needed was the recipe.

I remember seeing a recipe for cedar plank salmon in an old issue of Cooking Light. I searched the website and found a different one instead - Cedar-Planked Salmon with Barbecue Spice Rub. Seemed easy enough, soak the planks, make a rub, rub the fish and cook. Bonus, it was in an article entitled 'Grill Once, Eat Twice' with the second meal being tacos. Easy yet we technically aren't eating the same thing again.

I was standing at the sink chopping the vegetables for one of our side dishes, Cabbage and Corn Slaw with Cilantro and Orange Dressing, when I noticed it was pretty gray outside. Actually it was very gray out one window. Wait - it isn't gray - that's SMOKE!

I flew downstairs to the grill and smoke was just pouring out of it. Visions of charred salmon were dancing in my head and I was already planning a replacement meal of scrambled eggs and bacon. I opened the grill and there sat my two pieces of salmon, on their respective planks, completely surrounded by fire. If I hadn't panicked at the thought of supper going up in flames I would have taken a picture before trying to rescue the salmon. Literally, they were surround by a ring of fire. Whoops, maybe I didn't soak them long enough.

Eh, regardless of the fact they almost went up in flames it was a very tasty supper. I rounded out the meal with Springtime Pasta Salad since I am a huge fan of dill and Madeleine is an olive fiend. She even polished off the salmon I gave her. Of course, she called it chicken ... but she ate it!

Adeventures in Potty Training

I am really trying my best to get on track and post a couple of times a week but the days just seem to get away from me!

David started back at physical therapy this week so that is a good thing. The only appointment we could get one day this week was 8:15. Since I knew we couldn't get Madeleine up to daycare and then drive downtown to the hospital I figured we'd have breakfast in the cafeteria while we waited for him.

Everything was great. We were sitting at the table sharing some scrambled eggs, a biscuit and fruit (OK, I wasn't getting any of the fruit) and she was chatting up a storm about ... something (I'll admit it - I don't get 1/2 of what she says sometimes). All of a sudden she stand up on her chair and starts yelling:

'"Mommy! Mommy! Potty mommy! Poopy! POOPY! POTTY!"

As one can imagine, this loud announcement was made just as there was a lull in the conversations around us. I heard a few giggles. As any mom who has gone through potty training knows, she says she has to go and you go. NOW. I closed up our container of food (HA, I knew I was being smart getting a take-out container) and a nurse pointed us in the direction of the nearest rest room, which wasn't all that near.

Let me start by saying public rest rooms gross me out. I really hate them and it makes queasy thinking about all the public rest rooms we will be visiting during this potty training experience. Despite my pleadings, I cannot get Madeleine to stand still and not touch anything. She has to investigate and touch everything. Everything. Blech.

Good mom that I am, I got her in the tiny bathroom, covered the seat with toilet paper, got her skirt and pull-up down and actually got her to hold onto me and not the toilet (blech). Then we waited. And waited. Nothing.

"Madeleine, don't you need to use the potty?"

"No mommy, Ma'line just tooted"

Sigh.

It's all about the sharing!

Nothing exciting for supper here tonight - basic tacos, but Madeleine was excited to see that I bought pudding at the grocery store. She and David will often share a cup of pudding for dessert.

Tonight David opened it up and as usual let her lick the lid. Her gave her a spoonful then went to take a spoonful for himself:

"No, Daddy. Sophie next."

He looks at me. Goes to put the spoonful of pudding in his mouth.

"No, Daddy. Sophie next."

She wanted Sophie in on the sharing. Too funny. She was pretty emphatic that Sophie was also getting pudding and I'm guessing Sophie didn't mind in the least. David wasn't too thrilled he had to share the puddig with someone else too.

In case anyone was wondering, Sophie got her pudding on the lid. :)

Like Mother, Like Daughter ??!!?!

One of the stories that my mom told me that stuck in my head was the time I stuck a playing piece from a board game up my nose. She made me sniff pepper until I sneezed it out. Nice.

I arrived at daycare this afternoon and Madeleine's teacher grabbed me before I read her daily note. She went to wipe Madeleine's nose that afternoon because it was runny and she saw something black underneath it. Upon closer inspection, the black thing was a tiny piece of a tire chip from the playground and she realized that Madeleine's nose looked bigger on one side than the other. Yep, for some reason she thought stuffing a tire chip up her nose was a good idea. Sigh.

Her teacher told me she started stressing and was close to tears because she couldn't get it out and didn't want to call me. I'd have to take her to the ER as it is considered a surgical procedure to have it removed. Apparently this has happened before ...

All is well though. After a few people trying, they managed to get it out. We had a nice chat in the car on the way over to pick up David about not putting things in her nose.

"Madeleine, are you supposed to be putting things up your nose anymore?"

"No Mommy (points her finger at me) Nuting"

Any bets on how long before she sticks something else up there??

Getting Organized

I have been busy attempting to organize things so I have been remiss in posting. We also had a little thing called a flood around here; we were not directly affected but our commute time tripled for a week or so. More on that later.

I need to get back into the swing of things. I have actually been planning meals and cooking again, so this is a good thing. Tonight we had beef kabobs, marinated in Greek dressing from my favorite spice source (Penzey's) with an assortment of vegetables. We learned Madeleine doesn't like asparagus :)

Good news: Our entryway has been painted a nice sunny yellow. We are waiting for the trim to come in so it can get painted and put up in the hallway. All the wood has come in for our stairs so The Stair Guy (aka Jeff) was back this week.

Bad news: The people who did our counter top, who isn't going to earn any glowing recommendations from me, apparently did not seal the sink in properly. It is leaking into the cabinet under the sink. David has called them twice and someone has yet to come down and take a look at it.

Madeleine's birthday party was a success. As always, I made too much food, but that was OK since it meant I didn't have to cook for the rest of the week! My dad and Dave's parents were here for the long weekend.

We bought Madeleine a Radio Flyer tricycle for her birthday. It has a push handle in the back so I can push her around the neighborhood since she doesn't have the hang of pedaling yet. Kathy (aka Nana) bought her an Elmo helmet and elbow/knee pads, which made her happy (if you didn't know, Elmo is King around here). In theory it was a great birthday present. In reality, we get to walk 100 feet or so, she decided she wants to push the tricycle and about 10 minutes later our walk is over. So much for my nightly exercise - I think I'll need to find something else to do!

Happy Birthday Madeleine!!!

Madeleine turns two today. I find it funny that she calls all the kids at daycare that are younger than her 'babies' since I still think she is a baby. I guess she is a little girl ... but she'll always be my baby :)

We are busy here trying to put the house back together before company arrives tomorrow. I am still finding drywall dust and sawdust everywhere. It is looking pretty good though, and should be in good shape for her party this weekend.

Happy Mother's Day!

Just wanted to hop on and wish all the moms out there a Happy Mother's Day.

Things around here have been busy, busy, busy. The kitchen is just about finished and we spent a good chunk of today unpacking boxes and trying to figure out where to put things. I have so much storage space now and I LOVE it. No more storing my roasting pan in the spare bedroom closet!

Vocabulary explosion!!!

It is just amazing the speed at which Madeleine's vocabulary is growing these days.

About a week and a half ago we were driving in the car. David and I we talking when we heard a little voice from the back seat start singing, "Twinkle, twinkle little star ..." Hmm, didn't know she knew that one.

Last weekend we were puttering around the house when she walked into the room singing. I recognized the tune although some of the words were garbled, "A, B, C, D, E, F, G ...". The alphabet song - when in the world did she learn the alphabet song? Monday when I picked her up at daycare her teacher came over to me. She told me she was at the sink cleaning up when she heard a little voice at the table singing the alphabet song. She couldn't believe she remembered it either. They only sing it once a week, if that, at music class.

Granted a lot of what she is saying we still don't understand but she is perfectly content to hold long conversations with us. Usually they end with us agreeing with her - who knows, we probably agreed to buy her a car when she gets her license!

Pink eye - AGAIN

Ah, the joys of having a little one in daycare. This is the second time in 6 weeks that I have had pink eye. I know exactly how I get it too - she loves to point out your eyes, nose, mouth, etc. Problem is, she sticks her fingers in your eyes, nose and mouth. Sigh. My right eye was really red and very puffy on Tuesday. Haven't worn a contact in that eye all week which makes work interesting, especially since I haven't been able to replace my glasses since she broke them last month.

The kitchen is coming together, albeit slowly. Our neighbor (who is a plumber) came over this past weekend and hooked up the cook top, the kitchen sink and the dishwasher. Yeah! Unfortunately the counter top people did not call us to see how we wanted the sink cut in when they saw there were two ways to do it. We purchased a colander and a cutting board that fits into the smaller sink. They missed cutting a lip or something for it so the colander and cutting board do not fit. They are coming by tomorrow to check it out.

I am really, really, really hoping that the kitchen gets finished soon. I am tired of eating food that I do not make. I am tired of having everything be right in Madeleine's grasp. I am tired of living in chaos.

In positive news it hit the mid-60's this week! Madeleine and I got to go out for a walk around the neighborhood once before the rain settled in. Rain today and tomorrow but hopefully it'll clear before the weekend hits. I am ready to clean up my flower beds and scout out a spot for my vegetable garden!

Finally home!

David came home from the hospital tonight - yeah! He'll be home from work until the staples come out and a cast gets put on his leg. Sophie was so excited to have him home she climbed up on his lap as only a 70 lb dog can. I told him that's what he gets for giving her treats all the time!

I came home hopeful that all my appliances would be in there new homes. I hit the button and watched as the garage door opened ... to reveal my dishwasher. I came through the laundry room, peeked around the corner into the office ... and there sat my refrigerator. Sigh. The cooktop is still in the box in the kitchen.

Here are some pictures with counter tops installed. I don't think the pictures do it justice as you can't see the flecks. The pictures have some spots on them - reflection of the sun maybe?

The sweetest sound

I once read a magazine article in which someone (of course I can't remember who it was) said the sweetest sound she ever heard was her child's voice calling her mommy.

I wouldn't know what that sounds like.

Before anyone misunderstands me, let me say that Madeleine is a little chatterbox. She talks on the way home from daycare about her friends. She talks to Sophie when we get home. She is even starting to talk on the phone. She does not, however, call me mommy.

Yesterday we drove down to the hospital to bring David a couple of sandwiches (he is complaining about the hospital food). The hospital is south of us, so as we drove past our exit, a little voice pipes up from the back seat as she starts pulling on the straps of her car seat,

"Hey, Ria, no!! Out here now!"

My daughter does not call me mommy, she calls me Ria.

"No, no Ria. No night-night yet"

"Tank you Ria"

"Peas Ria"

"Hi Ria, how are you?"

and perhaps my personal favorite, yelled from the crib

"Hey, Ria, up NOW"

I've tried telling her that my name is mommy. She looks at me, smiles, repeats mommy and then I am 'Ria' again 10 minutes later. I know (at this point in time anyway) she isn't doing it to spite me - she hears everyone else calling me 'Maria' so of course that what she should call me too.

So, I continue to correct her and tell her my name is mommy each time she calls me 'Ria'. I can only hope it sinks in before her teenage years hit and then she IS doing it to spite me!

And for those who may be wondering ... the counter tops were installed and I am VERY happy with them. Unfortunately there is not a lot of light in the kitchen right now and the pictures look too dark. We need a nice suuny day - no more snow!!!!!!!

Excitement is building ...

The counter tops are being installed tomorrow - yeah!! I can't wait. I am so looking forward to being able to put everything that is stored in the office back into the kitchen where it belongs. Space is getting pretty tight in there especially since my little helper has been pulling stuff out of bags and boxes and off the bookshelves - Holp you! Holp you! It amazes me that someone so small can manage to tear through a room and cause so much destruction!

I'll give her credit where credit is due - she did find a banana in there that I knew I bought for her and then lost. Those that know me know I hate them (blech) so I am happy she found it before it was too far gone.

Back to the kitchen! Here are some shots of what it looks like now:

View from the hearth room


Replaced the big white cabinet with one that is smaller to open the area up more

While we were having the floors refinished, we decided to go ahead and get rid of the carpeting on the stairs. We had already replaced the carpeting in the hallway upstairs with hardwood floors, and Madeleine's room and one of the spare rooms also have wood floors.

Before:

A whole other story, but we are still waiting for the guys to come back and finish the stairs!

I want my kitchen back!!!!!

As some of you know, we started a kitchen remodel the first week of February. We had to repair the water damage to our hardwood floors in the kitchen from the pipes that broke last February while we were out in Denver.

Now, when we first bought the house, I am pretty sure that I made my dislike of the counter tops well known. I liked the layout of the kitchen, I loved having 2 wall ovens and I liked having a cook top. I did NOT like the tile counter tops. Here are a few of the before pictures:

The tall cabinet is going away along with the soffit


View from the hearth room


Removing the wet bar and putting in a pantry


Looks like fun to keep clean, doesn't it?


The one thing I knew that I really wanted was black granite - galaxy to be exact. Black with flecks of gold, silver and copper. Next thing I knew we were looking at new cabinets and of course new appliances, black, to replace the white. That made me happy as I would finally have a refrigerator that was useful. The refrigerator we had was a cabinet depth model and it really didn't hold anything.

Fast forward 10 weeks. My new refrigerator is in the office with the old microwave. We are still eating off of paper plates. The stash of already made meals I had in the freezer is pretty much gone. Soon it should be ready ... although I keep telling myself that! The counter tops are supposed to be installed on Tuesday, so fingers crossed!!

Here are a few pictures of the work in progress:

Totally gutted


With wet bar removed


All the walls are patched up

How to begin??!!??

I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog. I figured it would be a way to keep in touch with friends and family that we have all over the US.

I actually created the page at the beginning of the month but then didn't post anything. All of a sudden it was like being back in college and faced with writing a term paper. You know, you sit and stare at a blank piece of paper wondering how in the world to start it. Start writing, stop, start writing again, continue the process a few times until you are happy with what you've written.

I've decided to take the easy route and just say - Welcome!