Ubiquitous Euphoria: November 2011

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Christmas is Coming!

All of the kiddos in my house are very excited for Christmas. They were so thrilled for Thanksgiving to come not because of the turkey but because I told them we would decorate for Christmas afterwards. They loved helping me decorate the house and watching their dad put the lights up outside. Today I wrapped the first few presents (all from Great Grandma Maynerich) and you'd better believe they noticed them as soon as they walked in from school. Tonight I pulled out a bin of Nathan's clothes and found the Christmas PJs from last year's Black Friday deals. I don't remember who bought them for him but they must have been inspired as he LOVES Lightning McQueen this year.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Kitchen Remodel 2011

About three weeks ago Brad and I decided to change the hardware in our poor kitchen and fix some of the cabinets and drawers that were in need of attention (remember the post with me and the power tools?). We knew a remodel was in our future but we were putting it off until we won the lottery we don't play. Sometimes things start off innocently enough and then the unexpected turns things into a lot of work! My Husband is my Hero for many reasons but this month it is because I watched him go from trying to make my life more comfortable to doing amazing things that I could never do myself. His father Bart and cousin Ethan helped (Thank you so much) but for the most part Brad was a one man show. He hung the cabinets by himself!!!!!! My 1960s Kitchen is in the landfill. I have to say that it was good to my family. It served its purpose and I was very happy to have it. My mission taught me that it is a privilege and luxury to have a kitchen. I feel spoiled to have everything nice and new and clean. I feel even more spoiled to have a husband who loves his family so much that he would work so hard for them (I didn't have to go to Poland to figure that one out!). Enough gushing..on to the pictures...

Notice the smile on Brad's face? This was the Saturday that we were going to spruce up the kitchen. You know, put new tracks on the drawers and such. The only problem was that the cabinets were custom built ages ago. They no longer make the kind of hinges and tracks necessary. Brad said we were just going to have to bite the bullet and get new cabinets.

Brad ripped the cabinets out. It was pretty uneventful except for the cabinet door that split his head open and landed us in the emergency room for some of that expensive glue. Lucky for us he had already maxed out his coinsurance for the year and we didn't have to pay. After the cabinets were out we decided that we could not put new cabinets on a disgusting floor, it had to come out too. Turns out there were two floors that had to come out. Oh Joy!

We had to take two trips to the dump. I helped out on this part. It was actually really fun. I enjoyed throwing my old kitchen in a big whole with the wind blowing through my hair! I must say I think I impressed some of the men there with my amazing strength! See that big piece of floor- yeah I threw that!

You can not put in a new floor without a fresh coat of paint!

The staining was next. Tedious and braincell killing but fun. I helped on this too. I did all the backsides! Our back room turned into a workshop and the kids were displaced for a while. They were oblivious to the mess but it was the hardest part of the remodel for me. We had a lot of sandwiches and my mother-in-law took mercy on us and fed us many times. Thank you Dorothy! We did not have a built-in dishwasher so Brad the plumber and electrician went to work. He also installed lighting above and under the upper cabinets.

Here it is! There are just a couple finishing things to do but for the most part it is done. Amazing what can be done in a few weeks. Brad took a day and a half off but for the most part he did it after work and on weekends. It is so fun to be in the kitchen now!