Home Improvements

For the past few weeks, we have been retrofitting our kitchen. I have placed a few before and after photos to share. A few of the improvements we made includes the following:

-painted cabinets
-replaced cabinets hardware with nickel (including adding handles)
-replaced porcelain sink with stainless steel
-replaced 1/3 hp with 3/4 hp garbage disposal
-replaced cheap faucet with large stainless steel
-replaced tile counter tops with granite
-replaced halogen track lighting with fluorescent cans
-painted walls
-built shelves inside nook-type area and covered with matching cabinet doors
-rearranged furniture

*A note from Nikki-- I'd been wanting to do this almost ever since we moved in and discovered I couldn't roll out pie crust or bread dough on our tile counter tops. Not to mention the cleanliness problem with a tile counter top and it's porous grout. We finally got going shortly after Christmas and have been going pretty strong ever since. This past week Zach had the week off so we could finish. We would wake up early each morning and wouldn't go to bed until late each night. The big stuff is all done now in the kitchen. There's still a few things I need to get done, like maybe something over the windows to add color and some other colorful accessories.
Before Pictures:














After pictures:






We also painted garage pretty green and added a water hose spigot for easier access to wash vehicles. The garage paint color was chosen b/c Wal-mart has those mis-tinted cans of paint for 50% off and there happened to be two gallons of this color-so that's the color we went with. It's actually pretty nice.
Gwen could tell you about the taste too-if you wanted to know. She took a little dip in it herself. Lincoln noticed first and said: "uh-oh, baby's making a mess" When we looked to see what kind of mess- she had already dipped her entire hands in the can, taken the paint stir stick and shoved it (paint and all) in her mouth and dripped it all over her clothes and the floor. If I hadn't been so worried about the fact that she had it in her mouth- I would have taken a picture.
Instead, I rushed her inside to the bath, stripped her down and tried to rinse her mouth out while Zach read the warning label on the can and called poison control. Fortunately, the paint was latex and therefore was not toxic. She was fine and had no problems with her latex paint lunch.
It was not one of my finer mother-moments. It was a serious lapse in judgement to allow the paint to be on the ground. I had intended to put it up, but got busy painting and completely forgot about it. I can now hear Mad-Eye Moody saying in my head "constant vigilance!"

Garage Photos:

Occupying the Kids

I think I've been shying away from doing posts lately b/c they take so long to do. So, this time I'm trying to do a quick post. Here goes:
This is Lincoln's new thing. On the days Zach doesn't ride his bike to work, Lincoln LOVES to get all of his gear on and go out and ride his bike. Then, after he's done, he likes to put all the gear on his bike (i.e. the gloves on the handles and the helmet on the seat) just as his father does. It's pretty cute and it keeps him entertained for 30 min. at least--which is a long time for this little 2 1/2 year old.
This is something that can keep Gwen occupied for a while as well. She loves to take the silverware out and drop it on the floor, then put it back in again. She's such a cutie that I'll just let her keep doing it even after I'm long done with the dishes.
This kept Gwen occupied while I ground wheat, but it near drove me crazy in the process. I was trying to be a good mom and allow my daughter the opportunity to experience and play with the fun texture of wheat berries. I even smiled when she dumped it all over the floor and thought, it's okay, I can sweep it up- I was expecting her to do that. But, then Lincoln thought it looked fun and wanted down off the counter where he had been watching the wheat slip into the grinder-something he loves to do. Lincoln didn't want to feel the texture of the berries, he wanted to scatter them all over my tile floor- which is what covers nearly the entire house. I eventually had to send him to his room, just so I could sweep them up. Another lesson learned.

I've been in a real blogging slump lately. We haven't been doing anything picture-worthy lately- except for the kitchen remodeling which is still in progress. For the past several weeks we've been spending our entire weekends (meaning Saturday) on our kitchen and already I love it so much more!
Add to that, I've had even less time for blogging since Lincoln's decided he doesn't need a nap everyday. I've been trying to enforce quiet time instead and I can get him to take a nap every other day. It's not so bad anymore as I've become more accustomed to this new shift in the routine. It seems like that's the life of a mother- needing to always adjust to yet another change.
I'm hoping that February will spark a renewed interest in blogging or at least a little more picture taking. We'll see.
For now you get a recent picture of our adorable children.