An Exciting Week

Last week was full of some pretty big events. I officially have my kitchen with all of the appliances in working order! It is a beautiful thing... to be able to make whatever kind of meal you want- free of limitations and freezer burn. And free of added fat, sodium, extra preservatives and packaging. You get the idea. By the way the induction cooktop... is... AWESOME. Period. I was really nervous about it. Talk about changing your mind. We had a brand new gas cooktop all ready to go. They cut the granite for that cooktop. It was after that that I became certain that what I really really wanted was the induction cooktop. I was really nervous about whether I had done the right thing to change at the last minute like that. You can only imagine how very happy I was to find out, after returning the one and buying the other, that it fit the hole that was cut.

Luke has potty trained! After having only one experience prior to my son, I am absolutely thrilled at how not miserable the experience has been. I skipped right over the stickers and went straight for the treats to reward him. He did NOT want to go #2 but when I explained the reward process there was no hesitation. In fact he put "a lot of effort" into getting that reward every time he sat down so we had to change things up- must be dry for half of the day. Well he has been dry for days. In fact he has only had two minor accidents this entire time. The other crazy thing is that after day two of training Luke started waking up in the morning with a dry diaper. I didn't realize we could take care of the day time routine and get the nighttime down as well all in one week. Hooray! He is also a year older than Allie was. I won't make that mistake again.

Wesley is weaned. Have you heard the breastfeeding statistics? "Women who breastfeed lower their risk of breast cancer. Nursing for a lifetime total of: 2 years lowers the risk before menopause by 40%, 6 years lowers the risk before menopause by 66%, 7 years lowers the risk of breast cancer throughout a woman's lifetime to almost zero." I have nursed for a total of 4 years. So I guess my risk is down to 50%-ish? I just find these figures fascinating.

Here is a sneak peak at the counter. You cannot appreciate how funny we thought the still life art was at 11pm after a very exhausting day. Two words for you- slap happy!
Grandpa just getting ready to head out the door to go swimming. It was soooo much fun to have them come.
A few more of the construction shots. We believe in child labor. Luke did a good job mopping the concrete so we could be ready for the cabinets and floor to go in. Wesley came along and was only interested in playing in the dirty soapy water. And then his mom made him stop. No fair.

The cute boy in the back mopping with Luke was our electrician's 9 year old son. He was always up for shoveling dirt or helping out in anyway that he could. However he was not interested in pretending to get married to Allie. That was exactly what she wanted to play every time he came over. I tried really hard to explain to her that 9 year old boys don't really want to play make-believe weddings with 5 year old girls. She still doesn't believe me.

We're In!

Well... mostly. We still have to get the cooktop wired in and then I will have all my appliances. I have already used the oven (1st thing I baked was enchiladas), the microwave, the dishwasher, sink (which is not an appliance but one of the best features of our kitchen and maybe ANY kitchen) and of course our refrigerator. We kept our old refrigerator because it works and we can save up for a new one later but our current refrigerator feels like new because for the first time ever we can use the water dispenser in the door! It is so awesome. I know you are anxious to see photos (believe me you cannot be more anxious than we were) but we are waiting for the finishing touches on the cabinets. They are supposed to come back and fix some things, add some things... soooo... you will just have to wait.

My parents and Jenny came into town last week. It was so much fun! And they all worked so hard! We sanded, stained, painted, wired, dug, washed, cleaned, laughed, ate, shopped and swam- among other things. You don't have to read this list since you just read the brief description anyway but I have to write it down because I want to remember how much they did with and for us. We rewired the oven (a story in and of itself dealing with cutting more holes in more walls but we are so past caring that I hardly feel the desire to go into details), remounted the oven for the 3rd time, rewired the dishwasher, wired the outlets, jimmy-rigged the evaporative coolers (so we could actually have cool air... aaaahhhh), rewired the hall switches, filled the trench (mostly), swept and mopped the floor, painted and remudded the walls, wiped, vaccumed and power dusted and the cabinets, washed every pot and pan and spoon etc while unloading the boxes to put back into the kitchen, sanded the window seal and sealed it, cut down and pulled out the dead pyracantha bush (died in the the ditch dig), returned oodles of things to Lowes and Home Depot, washed and dried clothes, cleaned bathrooms, played with kids, went swimming, went "garage sailing" (where I bought two bar stools for a dollar each and a really cute pair of Kenneth Cole shoes, jewelry, a baby seat that attaches to the bar, running shoes- it was so exciting and so fun!), went to Savers and the temple. I am telling you it was nonstop! We took a long Sunday nap after they left. We miss them still.

And now some photos of today's rain. This was just after the rain had stopped and this is the water coming off the roof through one of the canales (pronounced canalees, really).
Here you can see that last part of my ditch that has not been filled in yet. It is now a duck pond. Except I have no ducks.

This shot is our brand new ceiling- with the hole that rain water was coming through. Might as well add "new roof" to our remodel list.

And now for a few more construction shots. Wesley's favorite tool by far was this little key hole saw. He LOVED it. And if you ever left it out he would snatch it up!
By the way that is my mixer cabinet. The mixer will be on a shelf that pops up and out and then back away again so I won't have it constantly sitting on my counter. Love it!

I Wanted To Go Green

When we first walked through our house as potential buyers we knew we would want to take out the wall between the kitchen and family room. The kitchen was 30+ years old and would need some changes. So for years now I have been thinking and daydreaming about how our kitchen remodel would be. And I wanted to go green.

Bamboo floors- a fast growing hardwood, awesome! And then we heard from several people that bamboo floors do not do well in New Mexico because of how dry we are here. No to bamboo floors.

Paper counter tops- made from recycled paper and pressed, supposedly looks similar to stone. The company that used to sell them no longer carries the product because as it turned out, they are not great in wet areas. I know, that seems obvious. The magazines I had read about them in said they were a great "green" option but apparently they were unaware that the warranty had been dropped. The recycled glass countertops? Jason thought they were ugly.

Cabinets- I liked the color of our old cabinets just fine. I looked into revamping them with pull out drawers and new doors and hardware. As it turns out it was cheaper to just get completely new cabinets. So I was excited to go with a locally made and locally owned cabinet company. We came to find out they make the pieces in the northwest and stain them in the south and assemble them here in Los Lunas (just south of Albuquerque). Our cabinet installers claim Gov. Richardson attracted the company to NM and lets them put out a lot more VOCs than they were aloud in NV. Hmmm.

Appliances- Energy Star. Which are expensive. We ended up buying appliances that were scratch and dent or out of the box which has really saved us a lot of money. And money is kind of green, right?!

Dishes- pick out one plate, cup and bowl for each person and wash them after every meal. I tried that for maybe a week or two before I caved and bought a bunch of paper/Styrofoam plates, cups and bowls.

So I really wanted to go green. Well... we have painted the walls green, Soothing Avocado to be exact. So there.

Have you seen the Goode Family? I think I'll go take a shower in my rain barrel.
*A quick note since I wrote this post almost a week ago. First of all, I couldn't find the wide angle lens so you could see the whole kitchen with the cabinets now installed. Believe me, that was not without some heartache and a couple of trips by the company to fix things. They will have to come out one more time still. But yes, the walls are painted and the cabinets are basically in.

We have recently found out that maybe we did NOT have to do all that digging. It is a long story and an issue of the city saying one thing and the electric company saying another. Again I feel crummy even complaining at all. It's not just one thing, it is the layer of everything happening. So maybe I didn't have to take out all those trees, kills bushes and flowers and bulbs, not let my children go out in the back yard for what seems like forever now, my garden over growing with weeds until I can get to it. And let's not even start with the amount of money spent for that ditch alone. The worst is the kitchen would be already done long before NOW. Aaaaauuuugh!!!!!!!

Serenity now! Serenity now.