Weekend with cousins

Last weekend Mike's cousin Alma and his family came to visit us from North Carolina. We cleared out the basement for them and enjoyed having company despite having a chaotic home. We went into the city on Saturday morning. We parked at Lincoln center and walked across the street to the temple in Manhattan. It was really neat to visit the temple even though they don't really have temple grounds or a visitors center.

Here is Alma, Susan, Brigitta, Teagun and Phoebe across the street from the temple. I snapped a picture of them as we waitied for the light to change.



We only went into the lobby to escape the wind and take a quick picture.

We were still lived in Auburn, WA when this temple was dedicated.

After passing by the temple, we walked down the block to Central Park. The kids had a great time exploring and even found an unusual tree to climb on. It looked as if the tree had somehow fallen over at some point and continued to grow in a laying down position. It made for the perfect tree climb.


The kids found a massive rock to climb around on. They were playing all sorts of games. Phoebe found a perfect little niche in the rock and pretended it was her bed. Aaron enjoyed rolling pebbles down the steep side of the rock. And Connor and Brigitta were having a great time exploring the rock.

Connor thoroughly enjoyed having cousins to play with and asked when we would see them again. We told them that they live far away but maybe we would get the chance to see them again soon. The following day, Aaron reminded me that he didn't get to watch Stuart Little 2 with Dad's cousins. Both the boys were sad to have such a short visit. Makes me wish we were closer to family to get more playtime with cousins! Just check out Connor's smile.

After strolling through Central Park, we ventured on to the Museum of Natural History. What a great place to visit! Aaron was a tiny bit nervous at first because he's seen Night at the Museum and thought visiting the museum would be something like the movie. But he quickly got over his scepticism and enjoyed seeing the similiarities between the movie and the real museum. We spent just a few hours there and didn't even see half of it. This will definitely be a place that we come back to again and again. (Thanks PwC!)

Here's the kitchen in the demolition phase...

Kitchen Update...

I can't imagine a busier week than last week but this week might top it. We are nearing the end of our kitchen remodel. We picked out the granite last Friday and it will be installed mid week and the wood countertop for the island comes tomorrow. We have the plumber and electrician coming out this week. We should have a functioning kitchen by the end of the week. Here are a few snapshots of the kitchen up to date.

As you can see, the flooring was not yet refinished. Below, you can see the finished hardwood. We ended up having to stain the new hardwood in the kitchen to try and match it up. It turned out really nice. The painters were here all day yesterday and the ceiling, walls, and trimwork in the living room and upstairs hallway received final coats.

The columns and kneewalls turned out fabulous.

Here's the kitchen after the hardwood was installed. Below, you can see the installed cabinets. I'm going to do the second coat of paint a shade lighter. The carpenter is going to install the last of the crown in the kitchen and dining room tomorrow and then the painters will finish up this week.

We loaded up the pantry yesterday. It was so nice to get all our food out of the hall closet downstairs. I never thought organizing a pantry could be so thrilling. I think Mike even enjoyed helping out.

Have you ever been caught with your foot in your mouth?

It happens to Aubrey all the time!

Nine months old...

Aubrey had her nine month checkup last Wednesday. She is a healthy 18 lbs. 10 oz. and 28 1/2 inches long. Can't remember what her head is but it's definitely normal. She unfortunately had to have four immunization shots. I hate the shots. And I would have to say that she is probably just now getting over the soreness and back to her normal self. She still hasn't cut any teeth and we suspect that that is causing her some grief as well. She hasn't been sleeping so well. But she's still our little sweetie pie!

Sweet Progress...

Lovely window in the shower...it was so gross when we first moved in...

I would have sworn that this sink was the original in the house...or at least the vanity. Also pretty gross... one of the previous owners tried to make an improvement by adding the bead board. It was just a bandaid for a much needed remodel.

Our floor was a tile laminant on top of some other laminate. The pieces were loose and would sort of squish under your feet. This toilet overflowed on us once and after that, I always had the bath mats down. Squish...squish...
Demo...
Removing the cast iron tub was the toughest part of the project. Now, notice that in the original picture, it was some vinyl tub and shower over the orignal tub and tile work. They have these guys come out and give you a new bathroom in a day. Another bandaid solution...

Ahhhh...sweet progress...I went with the subway style tiles. I love it. You can't see it but I had them tile out two ledges for shampoos and stuff. They're about 8"x 12" in size. I also had them put the floor tile on diagonally. I really like how it turned out. New toilet...comfort height. Granite counter with undermounted sink, java colored cabinets, and Delta Victorian hardware. I'm so pleased. The color looks baby blue in these pictures but it's more of a light blue gray...close to Restoration Hardware's silver sage color. It's a great contrast.

Still working on finding the right hardware for the vanity and the wall storage cabinet. These are not the final pictures. We still have to hang the mirror, light, and wall cabinet above the toilet and the bathroom accessories. So although the major work is done, we are still not using the bathroom. And it needs a major cleaning too.

And here is our new entryway kneewall and column. We will have two more just like this upon entering the dining room. The painters have done an amazing job at fixing up the walls. We have painted wallpaper in every room of the house. (one of the those things I wish our real estate agent would have picked up on. ) And all the flaws are showing. It was a ton of work to fix up the walls in the hallway, and soon the living room and dining room walls will both be smoothed as well. Demo on the kitchen starts towards the end of the week. I'm suppose to be packing up. It's been really exciting to see the transformation. The new trim work looks wonderful. I love the new base trim.

Stay tuned for future updates and a tour...