From the Garden

Though we haven't had time to work in the garden much these past few months, we are blessed to be enjoying the fruit of past labor...


Stace has redone the strawberry patch several times, and now it is taking off.

Cora collected the fruit in the bowl Friday evening.




Our grapevine is looking very healthy, with lots of little baby grape clusters forming.

Elsewhere, the spring flowers are beautiful too.



Our Pink Lady Hawthorn bushes are a burst of pink, just as they are all over SClarita. I love this time of year!



We've also had a gorgeous crop of purple and yellow irises - thanks Mom, who gave us the cuttings a couple of years ago.

Cora and Violet's new house

Despite how it must look on the blog, Stace wasn't all-work-and-no-play during our Kitchen Week.

We went out for several meals, watched two DVDs (Megamind with Cora and The Social Network last night) and enjoyed our first barbecue of the year.

Stace also turned the pantry cardboard box into this wonderful playhouse for his girls!

You can see by Cora's smile how happy she was to see it. It has kept the girls busy and happy for four days now!

The girls have played in the house individually, and together. Violet especially loves playing peekaboo with the door and all the windows.

Decorating the house became a high priority for Cora.

She first put up construction-paper curtains and purple icicles. She taped up pictures of Nemo and some flower petals.

Then, she and Ave and Johnny went to town with markers and crayons.

Cora brings inside her toys, a battery powered lantern and her blanket and pillow.

Sunday night, we got the girls dressed for bed and they had bezzert inside the house. What fun!

I absolutely love the last few photos, from their snack time together. It's these moments of seeing our girls loving each other, loving being together, that make the hard work of parenthood worthwhile.

All in and All Done...

OK, not completely all done, but we're getting there!

In only two days, Stace and his trusty assistants installed all 16 cabinets. What a transformation.
Stace with his Official Screw Passer-Outer

Hanging the last cabinet!

The cabinet fitting was completed Thursday evening. Stace spent Friday ordering the under-cabinet lights and instant hot-water dispenser, installing the knobs and pantry roll-out shelves, and finishing a few other loose ends.

Now that the big exciting things are over, Stace still has a number of little jobs to do - plumbing, molding and trim, tile backsplash, lighting... As Sue put it, a man's work is never done!

The countertop people will be out Tuesday morning to measure, and the counters will go in the following week. Since the sink is a seamless part of the counter, we will be without a sink for about two more weeks. Still, we are thrilled to see the kitchen taking shape!

And, I must add, thanks to so many of you for leaving your encouraging comments and compliments!

Wall cabinets - check!

Stace and Cora started their day with breakfast out, and a trip to Home Depot.

Their favorite kind of daddy-daughter dates! Home Depot's jelly bean machine has nothing to do with it, I'm sure!

Then, it was on to the wall cabinets. First order of business was screwing in the wooden support.

And before too long, bingo - our first cabinet was hanging proudly.

Stace ordered some necessities online from a company that produced some very helpful how-to videos - but he left it a bit late and they weren't shipped until Monday, from Florida.

Wouldn't you know it, the box arrived while he and Cora were at Home Depot! Just in time.

From the videos, he learned about these great clamps that proved very useful.

When I asked Stace what I should be sure to include in this post, he mentioned the clamps.

I don't know what else to say about them. They are orange.

But, for my three readers who understand the importance of awesome clamps, these photos are for you.






My parents were over today to help. We planned this week off around my mom's spring break from school, and my dad took the week off, as well.




Grandpa isn't by nature a do-it-yourselfer, but he was a brilliant worker and Stace really appreciated his help.


Installing the microwave was a little tricky, as was putting up the pantry. That is one huge unit.


I'm excited to start filling it!





Before his day was through, Stace installed his second base cabinet - the small one next to the pantry that will help form a little desk area.





Another tool he's found indispensable is this laser level.





The base unit in the lights-off photo is so perfectly level, it's split the 1/8 inch laser line.




And, finally, the finished product of today's work. Phew! That was a lot to get done in a day!

...and Color!

We love our paint choice.

Between the cabinets and tile backsplash, you actually won't see all that much of it.

But Stace felt strongly about painting all the walls.















Before bed, we marked the walls for where the cabinets will be installed. With a midnight finish, it was our latest night working yet.




Meanwhile, while Stace and I painted, Grandma and Grandpa took the girls to the Wildlife Learning Center.

They spoke highly of it, so we'll have to take a trip there ourselves once life gets back to normal.

Cora spent a lot of time with the reptiles, and even touched a big snake. Violet loved pointing at the animals, too - they all were "doggies."

Priming...

This is Kitchen Week. By week's end, cabinets or bust!

Stace went to work Monday, because it was priming day, and I can prime.

Mel came over to help with the girls, and she and Cora did a bit of painting, too.

By Tuesday morning, we had a fully white room.

The weekend's work

Finished copper pipes behind the sink - yes, Stace is a plumber.

All drywalled, taped, mudded (is that a word?), and ready for texture spray.

Cora helping Dad protect the floor. The compressor for the texture spray gun is in the foreground - thanks, Keith, for letting us borrow it!

Spraying the ceiling with new texture to mask where the old florescent light box was.

Drawing

When I came upon Cora finishing up this drawing, my first thought was that Stace must have helped her with it.

Nope!

All her own work. We are definitely in the coloring/drawing phase of preschoolerhood!

From left to right in top photo, we have a friendly sun, Stace, Cora, Violet, Nemo, and me.

Party fun

It was party day Friday for our friends Mackenzie and Luke!

Jaimie and Bryan had a bouncer and a snow-cone machine, along with a nice lunch and delicious homemade cupcakes.

Kenz turned 4 recently, and Luke will be 2 very soon.

The party was scheduled for a week ago, but was postponed because of the rain/cold/soggy yard.

One week later, it was around 90s and almost too hot to be outside! Almost. Thank goodness for snow cones.

And to think that Sunday, the forecast calls for fog and a high of 63. Crazy.

Jaimie is very detail-oriented, and the party's theme was princesses and knights.

Cora wore her Sleeping Beauty dress for a little while, but it was a bit too warm to keep it on. Violet liked playing with the tiara - she took it off, and when I encouraged her to put it on her head, she tried her best! It went behind her head.

Jaimie did a fantastic job tying all sorts of things in to her theme, including Luke's shirt - it said, "I'm bringing chivalry back." Love that sentiment!

Thanks, Michelle, for the last photo of Violet! Can't you just see those top two teeth, trying to break through?

Fun week

The girls and I have had some fun this week.

On Wednesday, we went out to the nice town of Montrose to visit with Juliana, Maya and Natalia.

We met at the park where Cora was given the ladybug box and net, and the two girls went bug-hunting.

Then we went into the cute downtown area for lunch and ice cream! Not just any ice cream - yummy made-fresh-each-day ice cream.

Tuesday and Thursday were normal days - Violet and I ran errands while Cora was at school. Thursday morning, Ave came over to play, and then Genia came to visit with Owen, and she brought Starbucks.

Monday was also a special, fun day - our friends Michelle and Brooke came over for the morning.

We used to see them regularly at Stroller Strides, but life has changed, and now we don't see them as much. Plus our girls' school schedules are opposite for the time being. Anyway, we all had a great day together, with the girls playing very well. Michelle also brought Starbucks.

Yes, there is a theme here. My friendship can be bought with Starbucks.
Thanks for these photos, Michelle!