Still kitchen remodeling

When I first started this blog, I posted pictures of our kitchen remodeling. Well, we are still remodeling, but I think we are almost done. I am including recent pictures so folks can see our progress.





This is a potato, onion and garlic storage container that DH made along with "Mr. Fish" one of our 4 pets (the other 3 are hermit crabs).

This is the new sliding door leading to the deck we put on this summer.

DH took down the old chair rail and wallpaper and replaced it with wainscoting (forgive the spelling, and the shop vac).

Yes folks that is a real floor. We have been living with the luan since the project started and now we have a real floor!!!! Can you tell I am just a little happy about this.

Stupid teenage tricks

I know that the teenage brain is missing in action, but I wasn't sure just how much so till today. Big Brother (age 14.5) mows the lawn. I asked him to do that today and then put the tractor back. He mentioned that he thought tractors should be able to go on the road. I told him that he was not to take the lawn tractor on the road. He mows the lawn then everything gets quiet. I thought he had put the tractor back in the shed. No such luck. He decided that taking the tractor up the street was a good idea. No...I have no idea why he would think this was a good idea, but he did. So I took off in the van after him and found him pushing the tractor about an 1/8th of a mile from the house. It had died while crossing a neighbor's driveway. Not only had he taken it out of the yard, but he didn't check the amount of gas in it. He moved the mower out of the way and I brought him back to get the gas can. He refilled the mower and then drove it back home and put it away. He is rightfully embarrassed and I don't think he will do it again. I am going to be completely grey before I am 45 (and I turn 43 this year).

Can't argue with this logic

Little Sister has an interesting way of coming to conclusions.
This morning she asked me if she could watch "Little Einsteins". I don't have a problem with the show, but I think it is a little young for her (she's 7 1/2). I told her that she wasn't a little girl anymore and the following conversation took place:

Me: "You're not a little kid anymore"
LS: "Yes I am"
Me: "No, you're a middler"
LS: "But I'm not a large, I'm a medium which makes me small."

The conversation ended at that point and I told her she could watch "Little Einsteins". I can't argue with that kind of logic. :-)

Getting Fit on the Wii

We are an electronic family. When our XBox started dying last summer we wondered what to replace it with. We considered the XBox 360, but it didn't offer games that we could all play as a family. We pressed our luck and went in search of the illusive Wii. We figured almost a year after it was first released, it shouldn't be that hard to get. We were so wrong! I was amazed when in store after store (and on line too) I heard the same thing, "We don't have any and don't know when we will get any in". One day I was in the mall looking for something else and just for kicks I asked in the local Gamespot and they told me that they heard a rumor that EB Games in the mall had just gotten a shipment in. I rushed across the mall and asked about it. The folks at EB were shocked. They had only gotten 4 in about 10 minutes before and I was the second person to come asking about them. I quickly snatched up what I needed and began on a very interesting journey into Wii land.
Our family has had a lot of fun playing the Wii and now we are going to work on getting fit using it too. When I heard Wii fit was coming out, I made sure to be at the store when the doors opened. We got the game 2 days ago and have not been disappointed. From Little Brother and Little Sister up through DH and I, we all have burned more than a few calories on that little board.
We have done Yoga, run in place, checked our balance, ski jumped and put little balls in little holes, just to name a few. I would recommend this anyone who hates exercise but knows that if they don't they won't be healthy.
I only wish they had come out with something like this years ago. I would probably be in better shape if they had.

Stupid Kid Tricks

Well, Big Brother, my 14 year old son, has been having trouble lately with doing things before he thinks (typical 14 year old boy). Today he was mad that I was making him show his work in Pre-Algebra course. He is a good math student and it has come very easy to him. I know that he will have to show work when he takes Algebra at co-op next year so I wanted to get him used to it this year. He was being stubborn and took his book to copy. I let him go do that because I knew that it wasn't going to make any difference because he was still going to have to copy the problem and show the work. What I didn't count on was that he was going to think sticking his middle finger into the hole of a cast iron reloading set up that we had to move into the downstairs' living room when we put in a new window in the back hallway this weekend was going to be a good idea. The finger went in well, but didn't come out. He was complaining that it hurt and that is was getting cold.
The reloading set up was connected to a small stand and the hole was on the top, so the blood was rushing to his finger, making it swell. I tilted the table over and unbolted the piece from the table. I then held the piece upside down (holding the solid metal shaft that is designed to go into the hole his finger was in) trying to get the blood to drain out and shrink his finger. I got mineral oil (we had tried baby lotion and soap already) and poured it by the finger. Finally it came loose enough and popped out. I was not fancying calling the doctor to tell him that my son was a real redneck and that I was coming in with a reloader stuck to his middle finger. I wonder if he said "Hey Y'all watch this" before he did it????

Bad News, Good News

Bad News: On Friday morning I went to the dishwasher to get some clean dishes out. Much to my chagrin, the dishwasher hadn't been set off the night before, so I closed it and pushed the start button. Even more to my chagrin, nothing happened. I tried closing it again, but still nothing. This was not what I wanted to see with a family of 6 on Easter weekend.
Good News: I called the company that has our extended warranty (Thank God for those extended warranties).
Bad News: They told us they could schedule someone to come out on Monday. I was totally unthrilled about that prospect, but it was what I expected.
Good News: Later on I got a call from the local company and the nice lady told me that they could get someone out that day. OH JOY!! I would have my dishwasher for the weekend, or so I thought.
Bad News: We had no idea what the problem was and thought it might be that a mouse had bit through the cord. When I mentioned this to the lady from the local company, she said that wouldn't be covered by the warranty. Oh well, I didn't have a choice but to have it fixed so I told him to come over anyway.
Good News: When the tech arrived, he took apart the front of the dishwasher and found that it was a problem with the computer in the touch pad and would be covered by warranty. I was glad that it seemed like a small problem that needed a piece replaced. I am old enough to remember when a repair man would come with all the parts he needed to fix the appliance in his truck. He would figure out what piece wore out and he would fix it. With today's appliances, there are so many parts and there are so many different brands that it is impossible to carry all the parts they need, thus leading to...
Bad News: He needs to order a part and it won't be here for 7 to 10 days. UUGGHH!!!

Good News: I have 2 older kids that can clean, dry and put away dishes by hand, so it isn't all bad :-)

We all have our talents

The other night our next door neighbor's daughter was staying overnight. After dinner I told the girls to do the dishes. Our friend offered to help Big Sister. Little Sister wanted to help too.

Little Sister-"What can I do to help?"
Big Sister- "I don't know. Stand there and look cute."
Little Sister- "Oh Great!!! That's what I do best!"