Kitchen Demo- Week 1

Our first week of the kitchen renovation is over and we are rolling with the changes. On Easter Monday we moved our kitchen to the basement and just like with every other moving event, what I thought was enough boxes wasn't even close. We did manage to get things out of the kitchen and packed or moved to our new temporary kitchen in the basement. Bridget has been inspired to play restaurant and has eagerly shown her cousins our "new" kitchen. Rachael requested a new seating arrangement and is now sitting next to Emma at meals. We are still getting settled and are finding the right place for things.

Meals were a struggle this week. I hadn't done any meal planning amidst the packing and prepping for Easter and my ability to just throw something together was severely debilitated. It was nice to have straight A report cards as a great excuse to go out to dinner. This weekend friends have lent us an electric skillet which will come in really handy and I am planning ahead for next week.

The first day they took out the old cabinets and I had called around the previous week to find a company who wound pick them up to resell. and right before rain storm the cabinets and our old stove were gone. I am impressed with our contractor, Don and his employee John, so far. It turns out that the wall separating the kitchen and dining room, despite 3 contractors telling us they didn't think it was load bearing, actually is. So they spent a day putting in a recessed beam. They also discovered that the kitchen ceiling was 3 inches lower in one corner and the dining room ceiling had a belly (low center). So while they had the ceiling ripped open they jacked up the dining room ceiling a little and fixed the low corner. I don't think they got as far along as they wanted but I feel like the work has been productive.

Megan was fascinated by the gaps in the sub-floor, where the wall was removed and was trying to make out things in the basement through the cracks. Emma stood in the basement and poked a pencil next to the duct for us to see upstairs. They like to look around in the evenings at the things that are exposed. They have been good about not touching things. On the second day Don brought a dumpster and Rachael was eying things in it for use in her fairy house. She asked me and I said I would come take a look and maybe we could get some things out. I came outside to find Rachael and Megan both standing in the dumpster. We then thoroughly reviewed the rules.

Day 1, Cabinets removed, wood trim and soffit over cabinets removed

 Day 2 the load bearing wall, plaster removed

Day 3 New beam recessed into the ceiling

 

Day 4 Ceiling leveled

 This coming week the electrician will come in and they will patch the floor, walls and ceiling. Our new cabinets will be here on Tuesday. they won't go in right away but I am really glad that I will be able to have a door with me to help pick out the floor and decide on the granite color. That is the fun part.

Dada's Girl

Jim gets ribbed sometimes by his friends because he has no boys, and sometimes I am sure he likes the idea of having a son, but I doubt there is anything better than the devotion of a daughter to her father. At 4 years old Bridget is overflowing with love for her Dada. Bridge started using "Dada" this past year while Megan frequently calls him "Daddy" and they all call him "Papa". Whatever they call him it comes with the aura of the claim "he is mine". They each look to him with a need, each wants him to think she is special, valued, more so then I think they look to me for this kind of approval. Bridget's desire for this approval is right on the surface. She beams when he shows her extra tenderness and her whole body weeps if she thinks he is mad at her. Bridget likes to keep track of where Jim is in the house and she mentions him throughout the day if he is not home.

     We recently ate some M&M's as a treat after lunch and I noticed she left a few green ones on her napkin, when I asked her about it she said "I will save it for my Dada." Years ago Emma and Rachael insisted that Jim have a favorite color and so he picked green. Now Bridget who used to insist on using the pink bowl or plate has switched to needing the green one in honor of Jim. Bridget likes to snuggle in his lap when he watches soccer and in the process of rooting along with him, she has become a West Ham United fan. Recently she said "When we have our next baby, we should name him West Ham." She adores him and says great things like "My Dada is funnier than my teacher." and "My Daddy is good at everything".

   Each of the girls have expressed this love to different degrees at different ages. I just found a 2nd grade journal entry of Rachael's that expressed how much she loves her Daddy and he has piles of love notes and pictures from them. The expression of their love grows more reserved as they get older but that intense need for his love and approval hasn't diminished in the least.

Easter 2011

Happy Easter!

All of creation is reflecting the Glory of God today, with bright sun, blue sky, vibrant trees, and a chorus of birds. It is a nice change since it had been a gray and rainy spring, including most of Holy Week.  On Holy Thursday Megan and I went to Mass together, she had immediately showed interest in going with me and remarked that she liked hearing about Jesus. At the end we joined the procession of The Eucharist from the church to the chapel and before leaving she asked to stop at the prayer garden to say a little prayer. It was such a blessing to worship with her. Good Friday was appropriately dark and stormy. Our family went to the Tenebrae Service that evening. The mournful readings and songs as the church progressively gets darker really makes an impact and reflects the meaning of the the day in a very physical way that I think we forget when going to Mass.   Rachael leaned over wide-eyed during one of the readings to share her awe that the whole world went dark went Jesus died.  Bridget meanwhile attempted to color the Stations of the Cross coloring book but fussed that there was no light. She tired anyway and held each crayon up in order to tell what color it was. Every time they turned out another set of lights she would make some sort of exclamation. Bridget was sad when I explained Jesus's sacrifice for us, but she also had a sincere enthusiasm and joy at hearing of God's power to beat death for us and rise again. 

On Holy Saturday I pulled out all of the decorations and a joyful mood settled on the house. Bridget's face was so sad though to discover that she didn't have a stuffed Easter bunny like the other girls, but the sadness went away as she laid on her tummy, feet swinging in the air, playing with her little chick in her basket and Easter grass. We filled the dozens of plastic Easter eggs with goodies and ate a few along the way for the egg hunt today. In the evening after dinner we dyed eggs together around the table. They all worked really well together passing colors as needed and helping each other figure out which color was in which cup. Then it was time for bath and bed.

 We began our Easter morning with a bed full of excited girls, where we played the alphabet game using an Easter theme. We went through the alphabet in age order. Bridget began with A- Alleluia, when it was her turn again she had G and came up with Jesus. Rachael had some hard letters I, O, U but came up with Incarnate, Open the Gates and Undead. Megs and Em chimed in and with just a little help we ended with Zion. The girls sat in front of their baskets eating treats and playing. Bridget hugged her new stuffed Easter Bunny. Then we decided to watch "Tangled" as Jim fried bacon and eggs. We finished the movie after breakfast and lost track of time. So instead of getting to Mass early we rushed getting into Easter dresses and got to church right at the start. But we did get seats even if it was upstairs in the cry room. We were glad to celebrate and we look forward to continue the celebration at my parents for the egg hunt and dinner.

Happy Easter!

Kitchen Before

Upgrading our kitchen has been in our thoughts for a number of years and now is the time. Every time we hosted something at our house it was a challenge to prepare food and serve it efficiently. Large baking projects were a piling and juggling act with cookie sheets balanced on flour canisters and cutting boards balanced across the sink. Our dishwasher rolls up to our sink and I am grateful that I don't have to hand wash dishes but the dishwasher gets in the way. We have been considering finding a new home in the area and we realized that this roll up dishwasher was going be a detractor if we put the house on the market. And so we decided it was time to renovate our kitchen. If we do decide to sell, it will be a selling point and if we don't sell we will enjoy a more functional and pleasant space.

We spent hours working on cabinet configurations and appliance placement just trying to come up with a floor plan that fit our space. Even the designers that we consulted were surprised how hard it was to get things to fit. After a number of visits by contractors we determined that the wall between the kitchen and the dining room could be removed. Removing that wall gave us more flexibility and by going into the dining room 18 inches we will wind up with a great space. the girls have been hearing about cabinets and upcoming constructions, but none of it impacted them until now. Demo begins the Tuesday after Easter. Boxes are all over the kitchen, dining and living room and pictures have been removed from the fated wall. That wall has now become a huge canvas and the girls have taken full advantage of it. we got out the markers and the crayons and they had a blast. Jim and I added our touches in between unpacking the kitchen cabinets and moving things around to set up a kitchen in the basement.

Bridget has been hearing a lot about the kitchen renovation since I make calls during the day, and she was worried that we wouldn't have a bathroom when the workmen were here. She thought that everything was moving downstairs and she was happy to find out that we would still have the use of the rest of the house and she would still sleep in her bed. Having "only the kitchen" out of commission will be a big enough change.

Here are some "before" pictures of the kitchen.

Backyard Fairies

I regularly send the kids outside when the weather is nice. Sometimes they play tag or ride bikes but as of late they have been creating worlds, fairy worlds. They began gathering bits of nature and discarded items last year and over the past few months they have worked on construction. Each of the girls has constructed a house for their fairy. All of the fairies really belong to Megan but when they play each girl is in charge of a particular fairy or fairies. These houses have undergone a number of renovations and Rachael and Emma have each moved the location of their house at least once. Em and Rae both happily helped Meg and Bridget with some of the engineering issues that came up when using the sticks, moss, rocks, and leaves. They have spent hours setting up areas in the houses and finding just the right materials. Recently I went out with the camera for a tour of the fairy land. Here are some photos of their creations.

Rachael made Fawn's house where animals are always welcome

she made shelves, a rock table, moss cover sofa and bundles pillows

Note the hammock that Rachael knitted

Bridget and Rosetta, the flower fairy's House

Bridget collected berries and mushrooms for food.

Megan with Tinker Bell and Silver Mist's house, that has a work table and bath

Meg made moss floors and elevated beds of pine

Emma at Vidia's complete w/ patio with hanging lanterns

Vidia's bedroom has a stick wall and doorway, bed and dresser

Cold Camping

Each year we plan a camping trip with Rachael's GS troop in the spring and this year because Easter is so late, it wound up being the first weekend of April. Spring weather in Maryland is always a guess, and this year it has been chilly and wet. Those two adjectives do not make for the best camping weather but that didn't phase Rachael in the slightest.

The parents of the troop were a little more leery of camping in the cold so we dropped Friday night from our plans and decided to head out Saturday morning. It was a good decision since it rained and was in the low 30s, but the sun was out on Saturday. We camped at a 500 acre GS campground and it was magnificent. Rachael was in heaven, and couldn't stop smiling. We set up and had lunch then we went to a horse farm so they could earn 2 badges. Rachael put her helmet on and listened intently. We broke up into groups and Rae and I were in opposite groups so she stayed in the barn and learned about horses and learned riding techniques while my group went on a trail ride. My group got back and I got to watch Rae's group saddle up. Rachael had worn black fleece pants and sweatshirt and seemed to be a magnet for horse hair and dirt. Rae got to ride the smallest horse since she was the shortest. It was a little Mexican horse named Cinder. She looked quite nervous and excited up on the horse. When she got back from her trail ride she kept asking me if she could come again and go to a horse camp. She also asked if we could Google how to make a horse go faster when we got home. Obviously she loved it.

We headed back to our campsite and set up dinner. It was already in the 30s and the parents conferred about whether we were up for spending the night in the platform tents. All of us said we wouldn't mind going home but our girls really wanted to stay. And so we unpacked our overnight gear and settled in. The girls decided that they didn't want to work on a badge but instead wanted to explore. Every time Rachael was in earshot I heard her exclaim awe, joy or gratitude. She found 2 salamanders that were that same kind as the one she recently adopted. (I'll tell you more about that soon) and kept petitioning to take them home. My favorite phrase I heard her say was "this is the best day ever".  We grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner and then enjoyed a campfire. The trees had no leaves and we were pretty far from the modern world, so the stars were amazing.

Rachael is very comfortable camping and we had packed for cold weather so she was ready for piling on extra layers before we climbed into our sleeping bags. Complete with hat, gloves, extra socks and a thick blanket the I tucked in over her sleeping bag and under her mattress, Rae feel asleep quickly. I woke up a few times that night when my covers slide off my face and exposed my skin. When I did get up in the morning it was freezing. I know this because our water bucket had turned to ice. I was the first one up and not a single person's head was sticking out of their sleeping bag. I was glad to see Rachael still tucked in.

We had breakfast and cleaned up but before we headed home I went for a walk with her and some of the girls down to a large stream. Rachael collected shells, explored and pulled out her camera. Rachael wished we could have stayed longer, and I did too.

Coming Soon

making her stage debut... Bridget Rose

and the much anticipated return of... Megan Clare

Curtains open on June 12, 2011

Ms. Elaine had the 6 little girls gather around, during the pre-school ballet class, as she had each ballerina try on their recital costume. It took a bit of time for the 3-5 year olds to get fitted completely with wings and a hair peice, and I was incredibly impressed at how quietly and patiently they waited. Bridget twirled as soon as she had her sparkely costume on and she was overjoyed when she realized we could take it home.

Megan got her costume during her class, when I was away camping and was so eager to try it on for me when I got home. She unzipped the bag and had it on in seconds. It wouldn't be complete without the bun, so I put her hair up for the full effect. In her dance costume, her posture and movements immediatly become more graceful.

Bridget asks to put her recital costume on regularly, but after a few demonstrations, I told her we would put it away until the recital. We want it to stay clean and we don't want all of the glitter to fall off.