Dinner Disaster

In an attempt to empty my pantry and freezer before the move, I have created some, ah, interesting meals. Last night featured a twist on chicken gumbo using spicy sausage and some Rice-A-Roni mixes. I thought it might turn out well. Let's see what the judges have to say....


Randy: Yea, dawg, I just didn't quite get it. There were some nice parts, but it wasn't quite together.

Paula: You are wonderfully creative and we have loved you since day one!

Simon: What were you thinking? It's as if an ape prepared dinner! This was a complete and utter abysmal result. Your stock is plummeting!


Oh well. Better luck next time. I hope I don't get voted off!

Dusty Kitchen

The kitchen cabinets started going up yesterday. They expect to be done with the crown molding etc. by Friday. It's starting to feel like a real home. If only there were some advanced Star Trek or Jetsons device that would allow us to orb directly to the home when complete. I am dreading this move! This is what the kitchen looked like yesterday...

This is the kitchen today, although quite dusty. The cabinets are natural hickory with oak corner pegs. I'm currently in a cave for a kitchen so I am extra excited for this completion. The photos don't do the kitchen justice. I'll try to get a more finished picture when the counter tops come in.

Out of the Fog

Well, the family bug finally caught up with me late last week. I was functioning, but barely. Thankfully, Bobby was home last week (and yesterday and today too). He was hit harder but we were able to take shifts with the kids until I got back on my feet. I had the rare opportunity to sleep last week during the day which is a strange experience. When I sleep during the day my dreams are weirder and I remember them better. I felt like Homer Simpson after he ate the Guatemalan pepper grown by mental patients at the chili cook-off. My most vivid dream was that I was trying to write a book equivalent to "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" but my habits were things like "Eat leftover canned frosting out of the tub with your index finger" (it does taste better on your finger rather than a spoon). I could not think of anything useful. I guess I won't write self help books anytime soon! The kitchen cabinets are being installed today. I hope to post pictures by Friday.

Toilet training, we have a problem.

I know there have been lots of posts involving toilets, but hey, that's just my life. It's all toilets, all the time here. Allie is definitely ready to toilet train. The only problem is she is convinced that she has to pee standing up. I guess that can happen when you have four big brothers. She refuses to sit down. She's in for a big surprise when she finally does pee, it could set us back a bit in the training department. I promise more interesting posts that don't involve toilets once everyone is well. Pete's sick today. =( I'm the last man standing.

Bob, Gary and friends?

We've had lots of germs floating around the house lately. Everyone, with the exception of Pete and myself, has been sick. I think it's the flu. This has given me a chance to catch up on some domestic chores that I have been postponing including the dreaded cleaning of the crayfish tank. The other Bob is getting really big! Gary, our snail (it seemed an appropriate name) is getting big too. The only issue I have is the new guys I see in the tank!!! Yes, more snails. blech! I can soon open my own French restaurant. There's a really little one right near the filter pipe and at least one more (I know the picture is blurry- I had to take the flash off). Any name suggestions?

Potty Talk for the 21st Century

Tommy is at the age where he gets a kick out of the words "poop", "pee", and his all-time favorite; "toilet". Tommy even composed a song that uses the word "toilet" exclusively. Imagine Tom's glee when he discovered he could use his Webkins "kinscash" to buy toilets to outfit his webkins virtual house. Tom's mission is to buy every toilet made for the webkins (they come in all different styles and colors). He now has more toilets than webkins. Thank goodness for the internet technology that allows my four-year-old to fulfill his every toilet dream. This is what I found when I went to my computer. I love how all his webkins are neatly lined up on their respective cans (watching TV no less!).

Flowers!? For Moi?

Well, it's been a good Valentines Day. No complaints here. Bobby surprised me with flowers this morning and between the lovely blooms and the cupcakes from yesterday, I'm in a good place. It might be a sugar coma. I'm leaning towards the no cooking, chinese food takeout angle for dinner and might top it off with a romantic trip to the tile store to pick up some accent tile for the shower. In all honesty, at this point, there's no better date than that.

Happy Valentines Day to Me!!!

My friend Kristina and I got together today to make some cupcakes for Valentines Day "for the kids". She is an amazing baker and I'm just honored to be in her presence when she is baking. Here is what we (when I say we, I mean she) made. They are called Black Forest Cupcakes and are vegan chocolate cupcakes filled with a homemade cherry filling and then frosted. Photos are courtesy Kristina (bakes and takes photos!).

These are with the drizzled chocolate ganache. It was really pretty.


We all enjoyed the cupcakes (except "Pete the Chocolate Party Pooper". He did, however, enjoy licking the spoon from the frosting). This is perhaps one of the greatest valentine treats I could have...mmmmmmm.

Sprinting

Since the drywall has been hung I feel like we are sprinting toward the finish line. If we don't move quickly, it's almost as if it might never get done! The priming and first coat of paint is on and the hardwood floors are being installed (they expect to be done by tomorrow). Trim is also starting to go up. There is so much activity that the work site is a bit unsafe for kids (lots of saws laying around). They have not seen their rooms painted so I promised to take a few photos today. Here's the master bedroom. They currently have brown paper over the floors to protect them while the trim guys are working on site.








Here's Matt's room. It's a little more green than the photo shows and is two tone in color. They boys all picked such strong colors that I had to lighten it with accent colors on some of the walls.






Here's Allie's room. It's a mirror image of Matt's and it's not too big, but it's quite a lovely shade of lavender.







Here's Pete's room. I think I'm going to get a window seat put between the two closets.


This one is Sammy and Tommy's room. It is the biggest bedroom and is a two-tone blue.

This is our living room under construction and quite dusty.


Here's our "guest room" with the flooring finished but not yet covered.

Sorry, I have no witty quips, just a boring housing update. Is it possible we could be done by March 15th? Probably not, but maybe April 1st. *fingers crossed*

Obi E.T.

Super cold, blustery day today. We are staying in; I even canceled my open house. Allie decided to take matters into her own hands and suit up against the cold. She looked like Obi Wan but walked around like E.T. It was really cute. I was able to post the full length shot thanks to Kristina and her tutorial.


















Anyway, she felt like a big shot. Here she is about to take on Darth Maul.



























All the extra effort to walk in her new boots seemed to take its toll as we found her on the floor 20 minutes later completely asleep.

What the .... !

I was feeding the other Bob his usual meal of frozen peas tonight when I spied something in his tank. There is a snail in his tank (top left of the blurry photo)! How did that snail get in his tank!?!? There have been no additional items (plants, rocks, etc.) added to his tank for months. How did that thing get in there!? Granted, the tank could use some cleaning, but why is there a bottom feeder in there? I hate having to fish the other Bob out when I clean his tank, what am I going to do with that thing? If anyone out there has any idea of how a snail in the dead of winter could have found his way into Bob's tank, please let me know. It is creeping me out and I have to wonder where the snail colony is hiding in this home. Can I move out yet ??

Recycling

It has been wet and dank these last few days, perfect for indoor activities. Our kids like to paint and draw so I try to provide some paper for their various projects. The best paper I have found is from old or duplicate real estate contracts. My only fear is that one day, they will get their hands on a contract that is not in the recycle pile and draw all over it. Can you imagine me handing over a Property Condition Disclosure Statement covered with kid's art? It sends shivers up my spine!

Mitt???

My husband is constantly surprising me. Yesterday he surprised me with chocolates (ok, free samples from a distributor, but I'll take it!). Today he told me he was voting Mitt. Yes... that's correct. Mitt. What might also surprise you is he is registered Republican. As Bob sees it, he is a true Republican in the old school ways (no, not George Bush Sr.).... less government interference. I think he is actually more of a Libertarian but they have no pull or primary so Republican he is. This morning as we were discussing the upcoming day (which includes voting for us today- go vote) he said he was voting Mitt. (MITT!!!) So I said "Oh, I get it. That will make the landslide for the Dems that much better if they are against Mitt." "No, I don't like McCain, I'm voting Mitt." I think he's messing with my head today. Mitt?!?! Really?!?! C'mon, really? Mitt. Hmmmmmm. How well do I know my hubby?

It's a Webkinz World

Does anyone own these? They are stuffed animals that have a tag with an access code where you can create a virtual world for them on the internet (including feeding, caring, and decorating their virtual homes). Pete bought one in November, and now, between all the kids, I think we have almost 20! They multiply like rabbits. Between Christmas and the birthday marathon, our kids have more disposable income than usual. This is their #1 purchase item. The good points are the big guys are being very generous in giving the little guys money to purchase some too. The big guys are also doing extra chores for cash; this home has never been so clean! The bad points are I need to locate Tommy's four webkinz before bed every night, (which is no easy task), the kids now compete with me to use the computer, and I would prefer they save a bit more money. The little guys were having a webkinz tea party/ rumble so I snapped the picture.

Tidbits

It was crazy last week but we survived. Bobby made it back in town without any problems even with the wild weather. Work was really busy for me this weekend with two contracts. That will spill over into the beginning of this week too. To top it all off, the home building marches on. The drywallers are running behind, but we are starting to prime the upstairs. I was supposed to have the paint color selections to my painters by Friday but absolutely no later than Saturday at noon. With Bobby coming in on Friday and getting contracts signed, I couldn't even think about colors until Saturday morning. It was so overwhelming so I did what any woman in my position would do, call her talented artist friend in a panic. I'm so lucky Kristina is patient and kind to give of her time. I think I would be rocking my huddled self in a corner right now without her help.

The colors look different on the computer monitor rather compared to the one inch paint chip. It will be an adventure to see what everything looks like on the walls. So this is what we came up with.... This is what the living room, dining room, and kitchen will have on it. It's called Macadamia.



This is Warm Stone and will be on the entryway, half bath, and office.




This color really looks different on the paint chip. It's called Reddened Earth and will be the color for the staircase. It's much less pinky on the chip. I pray it does not look pinky on the wall! I've never been much of a pink person. The trim is going to be an off white, so hopefully it will all pull together. I'm not going to go through all the kid's room colors and mudroom, etc., you'll just have to visit to see that. =)


As a "project know" update, Pete knows. They rescheduled the movie for the next night after the kids snow day (wind day) off. Pete did great, some of the kids behind him did not fare as well. There were lots of giggles and groans. I couldn't help but think while we were watching the movie that I was too young to have a kid who knows about the birds and the bees. When did I get so old? Pete did look a little stunned and asked if we could "leave now" after the movie. We went to Tim Hortons after and had a little one-on-one time. It was nice.


Hey, how about those Giants? I honestly did not have much preference either way but what a game! I have friends who are huge Pats fans so it would have been nice for them, but it was nice to see them brought down a notch especially after the cheating/spying on the home field. =)