progress

We are still working on the kitchen. This past week I got all of the stuff out of the boxes and washed it and put it away. The kitchen is really functional now. And there is space to spare in the cupboards!! The lay out works much better for cooking. We aren't going to put our table back in, the space is nice. We may get a smaller table or something later, but for now we will use the dining room.

Kitchen update

New this weekend: hardware!! Yeah!! Love the bin pulls! And stuff in the cupboards, which you can't see, but is incredibly satisfactory:)

The fridge is in its spot and it fits perfectly!

Ethan is 6!

Ethan turned 6 on Saturday. Thursday I searched the attic and basement and found the necessary things to whip up a batch of box mix cupcakes for his birthday treat for school. After that endeavor I was very thankful we has asked John and Ginny to host his party and that Becky had offered to bake a cake. Baking in a half completed kitchen is not easy!

Saturday morning they put all the new Lego sets together before breakfast!

Lego cake! Yeah Aunt Becky!

So eager to blow out those candles!

almost there

The counters are in! And so is the sink! I can use my kitchen today:) I used the stove for the first time last night. It was very nice to cook food again, although I have been enjoying the 20 minute prep time for dinner these past couple of weeks. Today I will move back in. Tonight we will need to seal the counter tops, but I can use the kitchen today anyway. It is time to be settled back in again.

Happiness: cooking and baking again:)

steady eddie

Jeremiah and Mike started installing the granite counter tops last night. They will finish tonight. The sink is still not hooked up:/ Soon though, very soon!

Anya loves sitting in this cupboard:)

onward . .

Jeremiah cut the hole for the sink and I painted behind the cabinets. The sink is not hooked up yet, so we are still using the dining room for our kitchen.

Sabado

Saturday was a odd jobs day. We are now at the point that there are about 20 things that need to be done before the kitchen is finished and all of them are 1/2 day projects. It will be another couple of weeks before all is said and done. Monday it will be back to work as normal. I am going to miss having Jeremiah around.

The plywood is in to support the countertops

The new microwave

The kids fort. It even has a stove pipe:)

Friday

Cabinets!! What a lovely thing! They are all in and how very, very nice they look. A HUGE shout out to and gigantic Thank YOU to Megan Becker who designed our kitchen for us. We love it and it is great!

Now begins the time of little finishing jobs and there are a lot of them. All of them seem kind of annoying and piddling compared to the exciting things of this week, but they must all be done and they all have their good purpose.

Hans with his tree

side note: our porch is filled with cardboard. we can't really get in the front door right now:)

starting in the morning

three little minions

and here they are!

oooh! AAAHH!

Thursday

Jeremiah finished the ceiling this morning and it looks great! Al came and he and Jeremiah put in the flooring. It looks good. The electrician came back and finished all of the wiring. So a lot of important things got finished, but not so visually dramatic:)

Tomorrow is the day for the cabinets. The boys are super excited about using the boxes to build forts. Ethan even informed his class mates that Thursday he would have a lot of boxes to share. He was a little disappointed when he got home and all the boxes were still closed.

We went out for dinner and it was the first time that it was actually less stressful to go out for dinner than to eat at home:) The kids did great and Denny's is awesome!

Al and Jeremiah pounding down the sub-floor.

new floor

Wednesday

Not a lot of obvious changes today, but a lot of necessary things got done. Jeremiah mudded the walls and fixed some spots in the floor. He also moved the gas pipe for the stove. I got to help today:) I washed the ceiling and realized that it was a good thing to do cause I changed water four times. This evening Jeremiah mowed the lawn and I planted some more of our garden. Jeremiah also got paint for the ceiling and he is working on that right now. Tomorrow the floor will be installed so we want to have the ceiling painted before the floor is in.

The kids are having fun with the process. The all want "in" the kitchen, not just watching over the gate:) Ethan is constantly searching for little jobs or trash to throw in the dumpster when he is "in". Hans, on the other hand, is constantly finding new things to do, mostly dangerous, but all quite creative. We STILL can not turn our back on him. Anya does not get to go in, much to her disappointment.

Hans needed a pen in his ear like daddy

this is the view

And here is our make-shift kitchen in the dining room.

Tuesday

More Progress! Yeah!!

View in the mud room

Earon, who was my hero, she helped so much!

new door to the mud room!

installing drywall

the hottie contractor;)

and now it looks like a room again!

Monday

Oh me oh my, this project is feeling huge! Monday was the day for the electrician to come, and everything is almost done. He will be back for a little bit on Tuesday. John and Jeremiah did some framing and reinforcing and I think everything is ready for the drywall Tuesday.

One little crick in the system is that the kids all have colds. Argh!! They are stuffy and cranky by spells, not exactly the best week for it. Oh well, we will do this!

This is the new vent for the microwave above the stove. Nice:)