family fun

Our son Nathan wanted to take his wife on a trip for her birthday so we spent several days staying with the kids.  I know I'm biased but these are some of the best behaved kids I've ever been with.  They did what they were asked and never gave us a second of trouble.  We had so much fun with them and while they were in school we even had time to explore parts of the big city we usually don't have time for.  We checked out old parts of the city including a farmers market that has been in business since 1779.  While there had the best ham and cheese on croissant we had ever eaten.  Then we found the candy shop where of course we had to buy some of the hand made turtles.
We had the kids cooking and tasting new foods.  J made chocolate covered strawberries, C made baked cookies and we made stuffed baked potatoes one night and real not out of a jar spaghetti another.  Hopefully we made memories with them, that's far more important than anything else we could give them.  Their new puppy is a pain but cute as she can be, once she grows up a little bit and learns some manners she will be great.  My one regret is the nasty cold I managed to bring back with me.

the strawberries were delicious

this kids likes to try new things, he now loves peas and caramelized onions

Lexus is very sweet but I have bruises where she stomped on my feet and Diva is still ticked off.

kitchen update

Week 8 has started with little progress.  The biggest hold up seems to be the people that make the counter tops for Menards.  They are SLOW, we still do not have our final approval sheets with exact measurements.  Until we have that we can not get the template and the counters can't be ordered until the template is approved.  To say that I am not happy is a vast understatement.  They will not answer customers direct questions or emails.  Poor customer service at it's most blatant.  At this rate we won't have the kitchen finished until April.
We have made a little progress this week.  The pantry cabinet is now in use and I can start putting dishes in the upper cabinets.  We purchased a hanging microwave/convection oven that AH is beginning to install.  Of course it came with a manual the size of a text book I'll need to figure out.  This project is a very slow learning process.

at least it isn't in the middle of the floor any more

now has doors and is filled with all our packaged food

gift

My next door neighbor Irma is finally back from her visit to Brazil.  She hasn't lived in America too long and still looks at every thing with new eyes.  To her the most common place things are beautiful and wonderful.  She makes me stop and really look at what I usually take for granted  She was kind enough to bring us back a box of Brazilian chocolates.  I'm always surprised when I taste sweets from other countries.  I don't think any place uses as much sugar as America.
Irma also brought back a bottle of a Brazilian liquor that is their equivalent of tequila, I tasted a tiny bit and it felt like liquid fire.  I'll have to have her show me what to do with it.
I love presents that make you feel like the giver really took the time to think about you personally.

brownie brittle

I picked up a bag of brownie brittle at the grocery store and loved it, but at $3.99 for 5oz it was not going to be a regular thing.  I Googled a few recipes and made my own from a mix.  Crispy, chocolaty and crunchy, YUM.
1 box brownie mix that fits a 9X13 pan
1/4C water and oil
1 egg
Nuts or chocolate chips optional I used 1C of chips
Mix together then spread as thin as possible in a parchment lined cookie sheet
Bake at 350 30-40 minutes until the edges start to feel crisp.  Turn off the oven and let the pan sit in there for 2-3 hours.  Remove from parchment and break into chunks.  At 1 Carb for 1 oz and 120 calories it makes a great snack, unless you crumble it on ice cream then it goes higher. Store in an air tight bag.

kitchen update

I bet the readers who check out this blog regularly are about as tired as I am of seeing that title.  Week seven has shown progress but it is the inside and little stuff that doesn't make a big visual impact.  The bigest thing is the counter tops have been ordered, well at least the second set of measurements have been sent in.  We will get a full size template to lay out and make sure everything is an exact fit.  Only after that is approved will the actual tops be started.  We have some funny angles and cuts so we felt this was the best way to go.  We chose a composite heavy duty laminate after checking out all our options.  Most of the other materials including Silestone, marble and quartz were out of our budget, coming in at more than we had planned for the entire remodel.  Granite was lower but so overdone.  We ruled out concrete due to the weight and mess of doing it our self.  With a 112 year old house it didn't seem to be the best choice.  The doors are on almost all the cabinets, the slider baskets for the pantry are installed, cabinet shelves are in and our handles and turn tables have arrived.  AH is working on trying to get all the lower cabinets plumb and level.  Not an easy task in this old house.  I should be able to load the pantry and upper cabinets this week.  After all that is done we will be in a holding pattern until the counters arrive.  The tile back-splash can't be done until after the counters.  We can get the lighting, painting and some of the little details done during the wait.

doors and drawers, yea!!!

pantry sliders this is where most of our packaged food will be stored

sink cabinet, at least it isn't in the middle of the floor

I pick up new wall paper at thrift stores and rummage sales for .50-$1.00  it makes great shelf and drawer liner.  I just toss and replace once a year

junkin finds

Rummage sale season hasn't started yet so i need to get my junkin fix at thrift stores.  There is a lot of junk in these kind of stores so you really have to look deep to find great bargains, especially if you plan to resell some of the finds.  Here was my haul last week.

pretty crystal ugly brass this is an easy fix with a little paint $8 for 2

lead crystal vase 11" high 7" across $3

I had been watch this set of sliver plate for months.  It was priced way too high  to begin with but I waited and it finally came down to $24 for the set.  Missing 1 knife and the salad forks but I probably will make it into jewelry so I don't care.

Two huge 24-26" high galvanized flower buckets on the clearance rack at Menards originally marked $36 each I got the pair for $16.  Imagine them upside down with a tray or pizza pan attached.  They would make some pretty funky out door tables

Always check the clearance rack in stores, you never know what bargains you'll find.

that cost how much??

I knew from the beginning of the kitchen remodel that I wanted slide out baskets in the pantry and all the lower cabinets with turn tables and baskets  on the rest of the shelves where needed.  After much searching and price comparison I decided on the chrome slide outs and drawers and rubber maid turn tables from Home Depot.  They had the best selection and prices.  I never realized how expensive these things are.  Good grief they cost almost as much as the cabinets.  Part of them have arrived, they are supper heavy duty and are going to make my life much easier.  The pain of the price will recede soon.

kitchen update

Week five and we are starting to feel like we are making a little progress.  It isn't easy to live through weeks of the mess of remodeling.  It is especially bad if it is the kitchen and there is no place in town to eat dinner.  We've been managing with crock pot meals, take out when we are in another town and the kindness of a couple of friends bringing us food.
This week the lower cabinets got set, the underside of the cabinets stained, doors on most of the cabinets and we ordered our counter tops, slide outs for all the bottom cabinets and handles.  AH decided the bottoms of each cabinet should be lined with luan so they wouldn't stain.  We also removed all the MDF shelves that could warp or sag and are replacing them with oak plywood shelves.  These things shouldn't fall apart unless they are hit by a tank.  We know the counters are going to take 3 weeks so that will be the last thing in this phase of the remodel.  We will re-sand and re-poly the floors when the weather turns warm and we can have all the windows open.  The fumes from the polyurethane we put on the cabinets last week gave both of us sever headaches and nausea for days.  I have to keep repeating to myself it will be wonderful in the end and worth every second of inconvenience.  I think it's God trying to teach me patience.

the kitties think their new jungle gym is very cool

we still haven't taken the old sink cabinet out and probably won't until a couple of days before the counter top arrives

literally only a butt width between cabinet, stove and microwave

tools, tools and more tools

 

kitchen update

As I am writing this it is February first and we are almost at the end of week four of the remodel.  No decisions yet on the counter top but we are making progress.  New electrical is in, side panels are stained and ready to be installed.  All of the top cabinets are in, the bottom cabinets are set and the concrete board is being installed as I write.  By the end of the day we should have a template ready for making a counter top decision.  We need to make another trip to Menards but it is snowing too hard to do that today.  When we go we will order hardware, get plywood to cut all new shelves, there aren't enough shelves and they are made of MDF which could sag or warp so we are replacing them.  We probably will also pick up the white subway tile we are using for the back splash.  Every time we hit Menards or Home Depot we manage to spend several hundred dollars but we are still on budget, hope that continues.  I've been researching pull outs and storage accessories like spice racks on the doors but I want to wait until every thing is installed before I decide on those.  The next big project is spraying the insides of the cabinets with urethane.  I think it would be fine to just do the bottoms but AH wants to cover every thing. I will have to leave and go shop or hang out with a friend when he does that, it makes me sick   Maybe I'm seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel.

Dusty enjoying a new place to hang out

So much to check out

stuff every where  that green cabinet is holding all out food

from living room to north wall  that empty space will hold open shelves when we are finished

most cabinets in

Yep it still looks like a construction site

Winter Jam

Winter Jam is a Christian concert featuring all of the most popular Christian bands in one 5 hour show.  This was our gift to our grand kids for Christmas this year.  Unfortunately our oldest grandson was not able to go due to a scheduling conflict.  Insert rant about schools that fill every waking moment with games and practices.  In my personal  opinion there shouldn't even be competitive sports in jr high. The crowd of 19000 was crazy and the music was loud.  We had great seats and a wonderful time.  There is such a power being in a large crowd all worshiping the Lord.  It was such a pleasure to be able to share such an experience with family and friends.

Lauren, a part of the family at least for this night

Kaylie

Barb

Tracy and Joe

Zack

Ben

Jaydin

Katelyn

Chase



Missed Nathan and Andy they were probably on a food or potty run with one of the kids.  In six hours I think the food total was 6 hot dogs, 7 hamburgers, 8 sodas, 18 bottles of water, 4 pretzels , 3 bags of pop corn and 5 bowls of dipping dots.  Who knows how many potty runs.  The fun we had experiencing it together, priceless.

 

kitchen update

Week 3 of the kitchen remodel really didn't happen.  We were gone all weekend(see next post ).  During the week we rerouted some wires, leveled upper cabinets and added a few outlets.  you can never have enough outlets in a kitchen.  I also ran around and spent plenty of time on the phone, getting estimates for a different type of counter top.  AH is still leaning towards concrete but in a 112 year old sagging house I'm very afraid that all the extra weight would leave us with continuing cracks.  So far we have eliminated quartz, soap stone and silestone.  With each running $75-100 per square foot they are just too expensive for our budget, which so far we have stuck pretty close to.  It's a continuing discussion for us and we have to decide soon.  Patience is starting to run a little low.