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The Kitchen

Here is where we stand, two days before Christmas. No kitchen. It's all in the garage ready to be put together, and I know my husband and my dad really did try to get it done for Christmas, but alas, no such luck. What you can't tell from the picture is that all the plumbing is finished (including the pipes for the new bathroom that's going in upstairs), the electricity has been updated and installed, lights are working, wires are ready for all the appliances, the wall has been moved back 2 feet, the radiator pipes that lead upstairs have been moved (and the radiator is still working as it should - whew!), and the ceiling has been insulated. The light switches work and we can even turn on the garage light from our kitchen now, and we are ready to drywall and put in flooring - so, we are getting there.


This now becomes my birthday wish. Which, by the way, will be my 30th again this year. Just in case you wanted to know...

Things Ive Done

Here goes - - -
Simply copy the list and cross out the ones you have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang/played a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Made a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

This is what Mia got in the mail today...




And for my friend, Julie - here's the finished gingerbread house. We had a great time making it. Me, the architect (it's cardboard), Patrick the contractor, and the girls the decorators. :) Merry Merry!

A Week Away

What makes it Christmas for you? For me, it's the excitement of finding just the right gift for someone, the beautiful lights on trees and houses, the Christmas specials on TV, the music, Sticky Buns on Christmas morning, a cup of cocoa with a candy cane in it, reading the Advent verses on Sundays leading up to the 25th, and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus Christmas morning. Add children to the mix, and it's just *magic*.

Mia and Laney are working really hard on trying to be good for Santa, but all the excitement is causing a bit of high energy to escape in all but the best possible ways. Speaking of which, I gotta go. I hear screaming.

Since I don't have photos today, instead I will share with you the funniest thing I read today. This is from an old friend on facebook:

"(My friend)'s son believes that 'baby cheez-its' was born in the manger. Maybe we should cut back on the snacks... "

Too cute!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A few days late, and we're still in Raleigh, but Happy Thanksgiving! The girls and I will be here a few more days while they paint some of the rooms in our house, then we'll head home and decorate like crazy to try to eek out the longest possible Christmas season we can. :) The kitchen is coming along with cabinets coming today, the rest of the appliances next weekend, and we're a little stuck with some unexpected radiator pipes that need moving. Stay tuned to see what we decide to do...

It's The End of the Kitchen as We Know It...

and I feel fine. Fine? Well, not entirely. The kitchen was demolished today. We have no sink in which to wash dishes. The fridge is in the dining room. Our house has been essentially compressed into 3 rooms - a kitchen/dining room, a living/play room, and an office. The kids are going to go berserk on rainy/snowy/cold days when they can't go outside.

But on the Upside - - - WE. ARE. GETTING. A. NEW. KITCHEN!!!!! The appliances arrive next week (we had to have them shipped early to take advantage of a rebate that was worth it), the cabinets in early December, and if all goes well, we'll be sitting pretty making dinners in our new kitchen for Christmas. Holy mackinoly it's really happening.

Want to see? Patrick and his friend Jason worked all day to remove the old appliances, cabinets, tile, plaster, and lathe. I'm not sure you can actually see from the photos what it really looks like due to weird angles and such, but here you go nonetheless.

Happy Birthday Patrick!

Patrick's birthday was yesterday, and he took the day off work. (Yippee!!) Mia was delighted that he was available to see her "tricks" on the monkey bars at school during drop off, and Laney was not so delighted to have to go to the Nanny even though her Mommy and Daddy were BOTH home for the day. But both girls were very happy to make cards and to make and eat chocolate cake and pumpkin pie, and they were absolutely GIDDY about getting to go out to a "restaurank" for dinner.

Happy Birthday, Honey. We love you.

A Visit From Cousin Jacque!

My niece, Jacque, visited her Aunt Heather in Virginia this past weekend and the girls played at the Reston Zoo together! What fun! The girls fed the lambs and goats, and we went on a "safari ride" where we were inundated with giant camels! We had a fun time and were sad to only have a short time to spend with Jacque, but we were so glad for the visit!

Laney Goes Green

'nuff said.

Whew!

What a Weekend! (Still recovering...) Between Halloween, a Bar Mitzvah, a Birthday Party, an Election Day Bakesale, Election Night festivities, and a Time Change, I'm beat! But what fun!

Halloween night was kicked off with a Pancake Dinner hosted by our good friends and neighbors, then we all headed out to purge the neighborhood of their goodies and admire the carving skills in the area. Turns out political pumpkins took the cake this year, with all but one in some way referring to our new President Elect.

The night after Halloween, Patrick and I attended a Bar Mitzvah for our next door neighbor's son and we had a really nice time. Neither of us had been to one before, so it was really fun and also very interesting to learn about the customs and traditions involved in this coming of age milestone as well as the Jewish religion. David did a great job with his Torah readings, and though he shared his night with another Bar Mitzvah, he definitely shone brighter. (Don't tell the other family that, though.)

The following day we went to a Birthday Party at Pump It Up, an all inflatable jumping place (what a great idea for a party place!) and the girls just wore themselves out. Though I was a little unnerved by the bigger kids pushing by and over the 2 year olds, everyone had a great time. Happy 2nd Birthday, Elliott!!

THEN, Election Day the girls' preschool had a bakesale to try to take advantage of the extra voters and some potential school donations, so Monday was spent baking. I love to bake, but the kids had the day off of school, so I didn't really get to make as much as I wanted. This was a good thing, however, because we didn't sell all the things that we made. (Can I gloat? My banana bread was all gobbled up- yippee!)

Lastly, that night Patrick's company had a huge Election Watching Party in typical Accenture style. It was fun! There was a huge room decorated with one side in Blue Donkeys and one side in Red Elephants showing CNN, and there were satellite rooms - one Red showing Fox News, and one Blue showing MSNBC. Other rooms held human statues, a raffle drawing, food of course, and meandering ex-presidents. Lots of fun for us all.

Carving Pumpkins and Building Walls

This past week we spent a good chunk of time working on our front yard and new kitchen. It's been a long time in the planning stage, but this week, we finally were able to begin on the actual building (and demolishing) process. My dad and mom came up and now we have new wall studs that will become one of the walls for the kitchen, as well as a new retaining wall and sod in the front. Woo-hoo! You would understand my enthusiasm if you could have seen the front yard just prior to the work - old rotting railroad ties, dirt and weeds. It was lovely - not. But now it is! (Going to add pics tomorrow - I can't believe I didn't take any!)






Sunday evening, we spent family time carving pumpkins. Both girls drew their own jack-o-lantern faces and neither one was even remotely interested in getting gooky pumpkin and seeds all over their hands, so Mom and Dad had to do that part. (When I was a kid, that was the best part! Well, that and the toasted pumpkin seeds!) The result was fun all around and some great spooky jack-o-lanterns on our porch.

Unwelcome Visitor

So, when will our little friend go away? Anyone have suggestions? In the meantime, we have named him Ricky.

Sick Weekend

Well, Laney came down with the Coxsackie virus blisters Friday. No wonder she was so cranky last week. Mia was disappointed because that meant we would be missing a Halloween party on Saturday that she had really been looking forward to.

No worries - Mom to the rescue! I happened to have a few things in my bag to make our own party. First Mia made cookies.


Then, we hung decorations we had made earlier in the week and donned Halloween Costumes. (Thank you to Travis for lending his hat.)

Then, we made Halloween cards, ate spooky snacks and the cookies, applied creepy tattoos, and had orange milk.

Then, we got to play in the dark with glow sticks - Mia bit into one and we worried a bit about poison. (So far, she's still normal, aside from HER Coxsackie blisters that showed up yesterday afternoon.)

We had an uninvited visitor or two, asking for treats (almost like real Halloween!)
and then we went to bed.

Phew! Crisis (and disappointed 2 and 4 year old meltdowns) averted.

Thank God for Surge Suppressors

Well, we just inadvertently tested our very old surge suppressor. This was used in our kitchen to plug in all sorts of things, from the phone to the clock radio, to mixers when we need them. It also happens to have been attached to the wall just below some hooks, buckets, and other holders for pens, keys, and other "junk drawer" items. Since we don't have a drawer at all in our kitchen, we use this system the previous owners set up (for now).

Well, at least we DID.

Today I was throwing dirty clothes down into the basement, and when I shut the door, I knocked an old keyring off a hook that had been hanging just directly above the surge suppressor. One of the metal key ring accessories managed to land just between the outlet and the plug that was plugged into the outlet. After a pop! and the smell of hot electricity, I realized what had happened and unplugged the surge suppressor, and then removed the items from the suppressor.

Guess we'll have to figure out a new system. But for now, I'm just happy I didn't burn the house down.

(I have to add this note: According to my dad, a 3 prong outlet was designed to face upside-down: with the ground plug on the top. This example is exactly why they were designed this way. Unfortunately, hardly anyone installs them this way, and our surge suppressor was not facing this way. It was hanging with the label upright, looking like a smiley.)


UPDATE: Turns out the surge suppressor didn't work. The circuit breaker is what kept our house from burning down. Thank God for Circuit Breakers. :)

Oh a happier note, here are some fun pictures from this past week.

Puda and Roddy - A Story by Mia

by Mia Volpe

This is a mama and baby pumpkin, Roddy and Puda. They are going on a walk and got their umbrella.

Apple friend said "You're not bigger than ME!"

"Yes I AM!" said Pumpkin, and she was off on a magic carpet ride. The End.

There's more.

Puda said "Apple, I am bigger but You're small."

"Aw! I am NOT down low! I want to be big so I am big! So I am going to invite you to lunch!" (said Apple). So she always wanted to, always wanted to, ALWAYS wanted to. And she did.

They ate peanut butter sandwiches with peanut butter and jelly. And then they went on a walk.

She wanted to have a surprise cake and she did and she had a big bite. She ate it and had a tummy ache. So she had to go to the hospital and then she got all better and turned 4 on her birthday. And the baby said "I wish I was 4 and I'd love to be 6."

And then this is a very long story.

At the end of the day, they went to sleep and in the morning Apple was gone!

"Where did Apple go?"

"Oh Oh! Where's Apple?"

She went jogging. They didn't know where she was. The End.

Not the end.

She was off on a magic carpet ride again and she was tiny and she growed up really really big! Puda and Roddy and Tita (the Apple) got pooped on by a camel cricket. Yick! Blech! And Roddy got bit by a mosquito.

Tita got bit by a bird. Then they ran away and one got stung by a bee (Puda).

The End.

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night...

...and Patrick was out of town for work.

The house was quiet, the kids asleep, and I was trying to sleep.

I could hear every creak and bump as I tried to rest in our old and creaky little house and pretend that this night was the same as every other night when Patrick is home.

2:00 a.m. I heard something.

A distinct thump.

Then again.

It was coming from outside the house, JUST outside the house.

Man was I getting freaked out.

There was someone, or something just outside our back door!

Just like the not-so-bright victim in a scary movie, I grabbed the flashlight and went to investigate.

On the way down the stairs I could hear scratching noises!

Now I was really freaked, I also grabbed the phone, with 911 dialed but not executed.

Just in case.


Then I shone my flashlight right into the beady eyes of the burglar who would threaten my family (and our trash). When he saw me, his cockiness allowed him to simply push over the garbage can, look at me for a photo op, and casually saunter away.

It Must Be Me

Clearly I am not paying enough attention to the girls lately. I took a moment to send an email, and poof! - there go Mia's bangs.














The good part is that I think we have enough time for them to grow back before school pictures mid October. (Ha ha! Yeah, right!)

The Desitin Incident

All I can say is, well, a picture is worth a thousand words...



And, Mia is not off the hook, either. Twice recently, she has made "breakfast" for us as a surprise. The first time, she made graham crackers in water and Benefiber with a sprinkling of baking soda, and the next time she made us Raisin Bran with toothpaste. Yum, yum.

Welcome Cameron!

Just wanted to send a special Congratulations to Laura and Darby on the arrival of their new baby boy, Cameron, who arrived yesterday! We can't wait to visit and see him in person. Welcome to the World, Cameron!