Kitchen Remodel - Day 10

Day 10

More drywall mud.

More sanding.

More ceiling work.

 Some hallway work - ohh, that's new!

Stairway work - ohhh, also new!!

Kitchen Remodel - Day 9

Day 9 found Darren working on the first coat of drywall mud.  He spent a lot of time working on the ceiling.

Stephen's 17th Birthday

Stephen turned 17 on the 22nd.  

He kinda got cheated on his candles.  We have plenty of candles, but they are all packed away.  I found these from my 41st birthday, so I got creative.  I suppose anyone who truly knows Stephen knows that this actually fits him better than 17 candles.

 Please take note that he turned the candle around to blow it out.

 Stephen is my tea lover!  The Red Fish tea smells amazing!

 Sardines. Not impressed.

 He's been trapping again - so this was his "gag" gift from Darren.

 This was the real gift from Darren.

 Stephen was blessed with everyone's gifts and time on his birthday.  He had two friends of the family stop by with presents. 

Brigid enjoyed the cake...a lot!!

Love you, Stephen George!

Kitchen Remodel - Day 8

Day 8 involved hanging drywall and getting a little drywall taping help from Rex.  Darren and the boys are making progress and it's starting to look like a room again.

Monday Gravel

Andrew became my favorite brother for all of Monday.  He delivered gravel to our driveway while Darren and I went shopping for flooring for the kitchen.  Blase played a mean trick on the kids.  He told them (in his best Mom voice) that they would have to spread it out with rakes and shovels.  We got home from shopping to find the kids out working spreading out the gravel.  That evening Darren spread out all the gravel with the skid steer, so they kids were VERY relieved. 

April Snow

Snow in April is not that unusual.  What is crazy about the snow from April 19th was how big the snowflakes were.  These pictures don't do it justice.  You can catch glimpses of how big in a couple of the corners of the pictures.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 7

Day seven was productive for Darren.  He rerouted the vent pipe so we could have the taller upper cabinets.  Our friend, Matt Bruch, has been a great help with plumbing suggestions.

 Now Darren can finish the ceiling.  Moving onto the next step!!

This wall is ready for drywall, too.  I can't wait to see the new door and that wall all finished.  It's going to be so good to have the kitchen back!

Kitchen Remodel - Day 6

Day six of the kitchen remodel job - now nicknamed "what the beep were we thinking" - was one of the dirtiest days yet.  Darren needed to fix the ceiling where they tore out the soffits. It involved climbing into the attic to push the insulation out of the way.  It also involved taking off boards, adding new boards, and a bunch of insulation all over the place.  

Darren put up a plastic Zip Wall system between the stairs and basement and the living room and kitchen/dining room.  Last night was the first night I was grateful for it.  The kitchen/dining room is as chilly as a walk-in cooler right now.  Now if we were doing this next week when it is suppose to be 60's/70's instead of now when it was snowing and 30's, this wouldn't have been an issue.  I think the plan for Day Seven is to hang the drywall and enclose the ceiling again.  I hope it is the plan.    

We also get our cabinets delivered today (April 16th).  I'm super excited to see them.  Thanks, Dad, for letting us use the trailer to store them in until the kitchen is ready for them.

Kitchen Remodel - Days 4 and 5

Kitchen Remodel Day 4

 Darren pulled some new electric wire on Day 4.

He also stripped off some of the old flooring.

Kitchen Remodel Day 5

Day Five was spent pulling more wire and replacing the sub-flooring. 

 He also showed me the layout for the island.  This room is going to drastically change looks.

Easter 2020

We are having a wonderful Easter.  The girls were the most impatient kids this morning.  Don't let these innocent smiles fool you...

 they were yelling for their brothers just moments before this.

 Blase had to serve Mass this morning, so he found his Easter basket first.

 Looks like there will be some fun in his future.

 Stephen pretending he had NO idea where his basket was.

Stephen pretending it is his long-lost box of targets. 

 Stephen pretending he's always wanted a St. Benedict Tiny Saint charm.

Okay, he might have been a little genuinely excited about this one.

 Cormac was typical Cormac....to the point.

 This is as excited as Cormac gets for pictures.

 Rex figured that his basket would be on his chair after all three of his older brothers' baskets were.

 St. John Bosco Tiny Saint charm for Rex.  That is our homeschool patron saint.

 Well, Brech...where's your basket?  Not on your chair?  Hummmm....

 Over there?

 How about there?

 Ohh, finally...found your basket!

 Gianna is wishing we had an oven right now to bake some cookies.

 Brigid could hardly contain herself.  Maybe it was a bit cruel to make the girls wait until the very end to look inside their baskets.

 A KITE!  HER VERY OWN FIRST KITE EVER!

Can you hear the excitement?

I'm sure the neighbors heard her.

Kiara was a bit more patient than Brigid, which is odd. 

 A KITE!!  I GOT A KITE TOO!!!!

 And a toothbrush!!!

 Way to get down to business, Rex.  Maybe you should try opening it first.

 Snow.  Snow.  Snow.  

 JELLY BEANS!!!

 MORE JELLY BEANS!!!

Can you tell what her favorite Easter candy is?

 That's a fair amount of snow for Easter Sunday.

 Easter egg hunting team -  Team September 23

 GO

 Rex hide the eggs and we couldn't find one of them so he was helping the kids.

 Can you see the missing egg, Brech?

LET THE KIPPING CONTEST BEGIN!

 She's sure she's got the winning egg!

 She didn't have the winning egg.

 Blase took a picture of me taking a selfie with the winning egg to share with my family.

It got really interesting when they started two-handed kipping!

Happy Easter everyone!  May God bless all of you!