Back in the kitchen!

The last few weeks have seen much accomplished in the new kitchen. Scott spent what seemed like every waking minute of his Christmas "break" working in there. Trimming the new walls with woodwork, installing the butcher block countertops, sanding, oiling, sanding, oiling, sanding... with a little help from his boys.

Last weekend a back-ordered part for the range hood arrived, and our dear friend Richie (who also gave us the cabinets) came over to help Scott install it. This week he installed the sink, and then the plumber came to hook up the sink, dishwasher and oven range!  Woohoo!!  We have an officially functional kitchen!!

Despite most of my cooking tools being still hidden away in boxes, I managed to gather what I needed to make a first simple dinner at home... minestrone soup.

This afternoon the boys hulled pecans from my parents' tree, and I tried a new recipe -- Pecan Pie Muffins.  Oh. My. Goodness.

Middlest wanted to make more before the first batch was eaten... which didn't take long, believe me!

It feels SO good to be back in our kitchen again. We still have plenty left to do, and no time this weekend to do any of it. But I know we'll get there.

I feel so blessed just to have a sink!

What simple things are you appreciating this week?

this moment {I have a kitchen sink!!}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

To join in, visit Soulemama.

Yes, Auntie Cheryl, I'm still alive!

I hope your Christmas has been merry and bright!

I am so grateful for the full 12 days in which to celebrate and rest (and catch up on a little blogging!) As odd as it was for our local schools to be in session all the way up to Christmas Eve, it sure is nice that Scott doesn't have to go back to work until after Epiphany. I've been pretty sick this month, but expecting to be back to health by the New Year!

Joyfully anticipating Christ's arrival...

This was my kitchen the week before Christmas. Oven and sink installation are on hold due to a back-ordered part -- but we're making progress, folks!

Not much baking this month, but we did make "Rice Christmas Trees" with M&M "ornaments," and shared with our neighbors!

And then Mema arrived! This was the first Christmas in three years that Scott's mom was able to fly out from South Dakota to be with us. We took her to our favorite local burger and ice cream place, and then to see the Christmas lights at our local zoo.

 

It was so fun to watch Littlest that night. We didn't go last year, and he barely remembered it from the year before, so everything was new and exciting. We had to ride the carousel twice, of course.

That's all for tonight. I'll save Christmas weekend for another post. This Mama needs some rest.


I hope you're also finding time to rest in Christ after the busy-ness of Christmas preparations and celebrations!

Prayers for a kitchen in Advent

Lord, help me remember that I WILL NOT DIE if my kitchen isn't finished before Christmas.

Dad, if you even hint at the words "I told you so," you won't be getting a Christmas present. :P

How in the world am I going to host Christmas Eve for Scott's family without even a kitchen sink?!

Lord, help me remember that Christmas will still be Christmas even if I don't have a kitchen yet...

Such have been my thoughts and prayers the last few weeks. One-track.

It felt like a small miracle when I finished prepping and priming the cabinets, and we could finally bring them out of the weather and into the house. I knew there was little chance of having the kitchen ready for Thanksgiving, but I still hoped we could move things along in time for Christmas.

Scott has worked every possible minute of the last three weekends on the cabinets, adapting, levelling, installing, matching the new to the old, even building one from scratch where we had an unexpected hole. Every bit of this kitchen project has been tedious, one person working at a time, step by tiny step.

There is no speeding the process up. There is no HGTV or DIY Network crew standing by to help get the job done in four days flat. There is no budget for hiring a team of experts. This is our DIY project, and we are doing it ourselves, however long it takes, and with the understanding that the ability to do any of it at all is a blessing.

It seems the theme of the last several posts here has been waiting. As I learned from Kimberlee Conway Ireton, wait is also the watchword for this first week of Advent. I'm thinking it's also my personal watchword of the year.

In any case, I am clinging desperately to the knowledge that this season is about CHRIST.  Not about having a pretty, decorated house. Not about baking cookies to give away. Not about being a good hostess, or making everything perfectly "Christmasy." Not about me.

I have struggled the last several months with the guilt that this kitchen remodel has taken so much of my focus, time, and energy, that I have been so unavailable to do for others. I have wondered if it will feel like a stolen blessing when it's over.

I absolutely must rest in the knowledge that this project is even more temporal than this life. That every moment is a gift, but the greatest gift is Christ. That I need only to praise Him in thankfulness -- no matter the circumstance, no matter how chaotic my life looks and feels, no matter how I fail to be like Him.

I want to infuse my veins with the Gospel, a constant reminder that He came, He died, He rose again -- His work is done, even if mine is not.

I will await His coming expectantly, doing what I can to prepare, but knowing that ultimately, His perfect timing does not, and will never, depend on me.


May our hearts and minds remain focused on the Lord this Advent as we anticipate and celebrate the holy day of Christmas. Amen.

31 days in July

What a busy, busy month! I may be too tired to think in complete sentences... but somehow I can still count.

1 red-white-and-blue Independence Day parade

4 forts in Nana's living room

1 inspiring local homeschooling conference
6 fun afternoons at the park with friends

5 long-anticipated tickets to “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.” (We took my dad and left Littlest with his Nana.)
1 lesson in leverage

3 parties to celebrate friends' birthdays
At least 20 games of chess, checkers, Battleship and Dinopoly

4 weekly cello and violin lessons
3 days (for the professional) to hang and finish the drywall

Lots and lots of 100-degree days
A dozen evenings at the pool

1 day to move our living and dining furniture into...
2 Uboxes while Scott refinishes the floors
1 teary farewell to dear friends moving to North Carolina

4 rooms to paint (including ceilings)
11 days of prepping and painting

3 cans of Behr satin Cornsilk
2 cans of Behr satin Rainwashed

2 cousins visiting from New York
3 delicious dinner invitations 
1 visit with friends to a children's museum

1 lesson in using a table saw for Eldest

3 days to lay the new tongue-and-groove floor in the kitchen and laundry room

14 days until Daddy goes back to work his easier paid job as a teacher

{this moment} big helpers

{this moment} A Friday ritual. A photo (or two?) - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, visit Soulemama to leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

The Kitchen: Slowly, but surely

I don't suppose you don't want to hear all about the details of our first building inspection and how Scott had to climb into the attic again to reinforce ceiling joists...?

Let's just say it's been a lot of hurry-up-and-wait this week. BUT, we finally passed initial inspection, the drywaller is hard at work finishing the new walls, and my part in the job effort is about to get much bigger.

Did I mention that we decided to continue the hardwood floors we have in the front rooms straight into the kitchen? We've had leftover flooring sitting in our garage for seven years, waiting for us to decide where to use it. (We considered using it in our bedroom, which has some water damage.)

Obviously it's much friendlier to the budget to use what we already have -- and I think it will be beautiful. (We originally thought we'd install Marmoleum in a dark blue and butter yellow checkerboard. The price tag was a reality check.)


So, since the wood flooring is unfinished, and we want it to flow seamlessly between the rooms, Scott will need to refinish the final coat on the floors in the living and dining rooms at the same time.

AND, since we have to take out all the furniture to do that, and the new drywall has to be painted in the kitchen and dining room... I'll be repainting all three rooms (including ceilings and moldings) starting next week!

Yes, this project just grew significantly, and we're already four weeks behind my initial unrealistic schedule, I'm afraid there's no point in getting anxious to see final pictures just yet. *wink*

But I'll give you some peeks at colors and decorating details in my next post... will that do?

The Kitchen: Progress!

It's hard to believe it's been a full month since we started remodeling our kitchen.

It has been an arduous, tedious process. And since the chimney removal, it's also been mostly a one-man show -- definitely a labor of love by my Love, who has graciously refrained from reminding me repeatedly that this was not his idea.

In the last three weeks, Scott took out all the soffits...

He tore out the studs between the dining room, kitchen and pantry, making it one giant open room (temporarily)...

He removed the vinyl flooring and particle board subfloor. (It took 8 hours just to chisel the particle board out of the laundry room because of the way the last remodel was done!)

And then, while the boys and I were off at the beach, he got strep throat.

Between the 105-degree weather outside, the giant hole in the ceiling letting in the heat, and the constant dust, he definitely needed a break to rest. (This project makes teaching geometry to teenagers feel almost like a vacation.)

This weekend, after four weeks of peeling back layer after layer of old remodel and original structures, he finally crossed from demolition to construction!

He put in the first new wood to repair the old floor and subfloor, and he built the new wall above and below the new peninsula!!

This was a seriously momentous occasion! A turning point! A cause for celebration!

I've seen Scott get a new surge of energy and motivation for the project in the last few days, working longer hours after school, spurred on by the visual evidence of his efforts.

Both the subfloor and the old pine flooring need more repairing and levelling before the new flooring can go on top. He has to finish framing the new broom closet before the drywall can be done -- but, oh! Won't that be amazing to see?!