Will's Chair

Isn't this the happiest face? This is Will's first meal in his high chair. He looks so little in this big chair but he loves it! With the floor all done, he has a permanent seat, yea!

One Step Closer

After this past week, we are closer to having a "workable and functional" kitchen!!! Shawn took a vacation day last Thursday, he had a day from 2008 that he didn't use. He thought he could use it to grout the tile. Fun, eh? At least the floor was going to get finished. Chief did not understand that he had to stay off of it. He was so confused. He's all better now that things are more "normal".

Friday night Shawn was held up at work until late. Then he had to stop and purchase our sink. The Lowe's he stopped at had a different selection than the previous Lowe's we had looked at. This was good! We wanted a black sink but were reading bad reviews on the one we thought we'd get. I get this call from him, as his cell phone was dying. He found a black cast iron one that was scratch resistant. BINGO! We have a winner. I jumped online to do some quick research. Later that night he came home with it! I was happy to see this new, beautiful, sink in the box that was going to be in the kitchen. I was sad that I had missed my monthly Bunco gathering. Oh well, there's always next month!

Saturday, my Mom and Grandma came to entertain the kids while I helped Shawn. You know with Will wanting Momma to hold him all the time, makes it hard for me to help Shawn much. Or we hear a lot of crying. Not this day! I was able to help Shawn secure the plywood that goes under neath the counter tops. Poor Shawn, having to fit into these small cabinets to screw in the braces. I held back my laughter because I felt so bad for him! We also biscuit jointed the edges where we were going to put the triple bead molding on.

Sunday after a quick trip to the lumber yard, it was time to cut the granite. We were both a bit nervous about this. Turns out it was easy to cut. Man was it heavy to lift!!! Shea and I helped him put the mortar on the plywood and then put the granite on top. Shea loved that she got to walk around on them to help set them. We also were able to move the table back into the kitchen and...are you ready...eat dinner at it!!!! Granted half of the table is still storing things that have no "home" right now but we were able to use the other half. Plus, Will has his own chair. Since the floor is complete, I got his high chair out of the box and put it together. He liked it!

Here are the photos to go with the weekend update...

Uba Tuba counter top.

Right side of the island cabinet. End panels are on too!!!


Shea helps install the granite.

Shawn screwing in the braces for the plywood.

The beautiful tile floor!!!!

We are SO excited with the progress this weekend. Hopefully this week we'll work on getting the sink in. Oh just the thought of running water in the kitchen has me all giddy!

Tile Floor

Saturday was not only Valentine's Day but the day the tile was laid in the kitchen!! What a great day! Shawn's parents, sister and brother-in-law and his brother came to help with the installation. This was so it wouldn't take us weeks to do on our own. We all know how much I get to help, thanks to Will! They got into a groove and started around noon. Shortly after starting we realized that the boxes we bought had two sizes in them...baffling. They were suppose to be 18 x18 inch tiles. Some were 17's! No fear, the guys figured out how to make it work. Whew....

Wayne putting mortar on a tile.

Nathan laying down the first tile...of many!!!!

By the time they did the big area, where the dinning room table will be, they were all getting tired. They pushed on and went around the island, by the back door and in front of the cabinets. It was starting to come together and we were really liking it!!! I was glad to see that the color I picked looked so good. Around 7:30 p.m. Shawn finished cutting the last tile and it was put in place. They were ready to eat!

Tile floor from the top of the stairs looking toward the back door.

Tile floor on the other side of the island, where the kitchen table will go.


Better light in this shot.

Sunday afternoon Shawn, I and the kids went into Columbus to look at Lowe's and Home Depot. We needed to check into sinks and faucets. We found that both places carried the same things and that the sinks seemed to be the same size that we had in the "old" kitchen. We think that we can just clean ours up and finish it with a brushed nickle look. Shawn knows this will be work but was thrilled to put the money toward something else in the kitchen....and there is plenty! The exciting part of the trip was that I found a faucet that I really liked and it was $100 off!!! We had to go to two different Home Depot's but I picked up the last one on the shelve.

After taking the kids out to eat at Cheeseburger in Paradise we came home and cleaned off the tiles and attempted to get the mortar out of the cracks. I dashed in there to get any mortar off of the new cabinets, it was driving me nuts not being able to walk out there to do that. This week we are going to put the grout down and seal it. We are hopeful to get that done this week and move onto counter tops. At least now, we are just one more step closer to the finished product. We LOVE it so far!!!

All About Shea

At Shea's pre-school through out the school year each child gets to take a turn on the "All About Me" board. Monday we have to take Shea's pictures and questionnaire in and it's her turn. Friday after school I read to her the questions that were on the form and she answered them. I truly wrote down what she said. A few times I did have to hold back a chuckle or two. I thought I needed to share this with you. I also will have to pull this out at a later date when she is older!

Here it is...

My favorite thing to do is... Eat ice cream.

My favorite book is... Where the wild things are.

My favorite color is... Pink (I wrote that down before the word was even out of her mouth)!

My favorite food is... Chicken nuggets.

When I grow up I want to be... A unicorn rider!

My birthday is... April 1, 2004

My family is.. Mom, Dad, Will & Chief. I love them!

I love... To ride my bike.

Something special about me is... I love people.

I hope you enjoyed her answers as much as I did. It was a lot of fun to fill this out with her. I wonder if I were to ask her these questions next year if she'd have the same answers??!!

What a nice day!

What a nice February surprise we are having here in Central Ohio the last couple of days, warm weather!!! It is much welcomed after the sub-zero January we've had. The Huntington family has been taking advantage of this situation and getting outside as much as possible. Sunday, Shea could not wait to go out and look for "signs of Spring". That is one of her new favorite things to do. She and Shawn were outside and I hear the conversation went like this.

Shea, "Daddy, isn't this just the most beautiful day?!" As she sat in her lawn chair in the driveway.

Shawn, "Yes dear, it is." As he chuckled at what a grown up little girl we now have.

Will and I came outside after he had gotten his belly full. He loved watching Shawn build the island for our kitchen and Shea just running around.

Shea throwing what is left of the snow!

I pulled out the stroller and wheeled him around the driveway. He was so happy, lots to look at! After lunch we went back outside and Will took his first outdoor nap. Fresh air will do that to you.

Mr. Will being all cute!

Shawn took the opportunity to open up the garage door and let the fresh air in, as he we framing up the island that will go in the kitchen. He was thrilled to have such wonderful conditions to work in. For once it wasn't snowing, raining, hurricane winds, well you get the point. With his new framing nailer, he was able to build this pretty quickly with only one trip to Carter Lumber.

Go Shawn!

When he was finished it was time to haul it inside. Let's keep in mind how well my husband builds things. This thing was no different and I couldn't lift it much...even with my big muscles. Haaaaa. I "helped" the best I could. Here it is, standing in it's place!

Island wall.

Shawn and I were also able to get the hardibacker put up on the wall. Will took an afternoon nap so I was able to help. Wahoo! Shawn says that for a free-standing wall he is very happy with how strong it is. He has to set the base cabinets this week because we are laying the tile down this Saturday. YEP, you read correctly. We'll have a floor!!!!!! We are really excited about this. Keeping the kids and Chief off of it for a couple of days will be interesting but we'll do it. This does push back getting a sink installed another week. However, the bathroom is working well as a kitchen also!

Time for a little fun!

Last night (Monday) we went into Columbus and met up with Shawn. What expensive Valentine presents we picked out... We picked out the tiles we want for the floor and also the granite for the counter tops. It was exciting but also nerve-racking. I'm just hoping it all looks good when we get it in. I'm sure it will but until then, I'm still nervous. I picked a light creme tile that has a marble look to it and the granite is called Uba Tuba. Both are what I've had my eye on for a while. I bet you can't wait to see it...me either!

Another Find for the Kitchen

This week all of our hard work searching Craigslist for a couple of months has paid off. We now have a refrigerator for the kitchen!! We've been searching all over Ohio and were able to get this one in a suburb of Columbus, how nice! I was searching for a bottom-mount one but I was unable to find one with in the budget. We did find a neat side by side. Normally you loose some space with these. This one is a little different, the door is split so that on each side there is a narrow and a larger part! How cool. We were OK with this type of side by side. I'll let you know how well I like the design after I start using it. We will also have ice cubes now! This has water & ice on the door. This is a feature Shawn really wanted.

Behold my friends...our refrigerator.

Sweet!

I now an on the hunt for a dishwasher, microwave & faucet. I'll let you know how it turns out.

A Better View

Last evening after Shawn finished adjusting the cabinet doors, we took better pictures of the cabinets. Now you can get a since of how they look together on the wall. I have wiped them all down today. Mom is here to entertained the natives while I figure out what to put in these cabinets! This is very exciting. The paint is growing on me more now that I see the cabinets next to the paint.

Shawn also hooked the old sink back up for me. YEA. You forget how nice it is to have running water and a sink drain in the kitchen. Soon, we'll be shopping for the new sink!

Here are some cabinets

There has been a lot of progress in the kitchen the past week. It helps when there is too much snow and ice on the ground to go out and do anything. Shawn was able to finish all the coats of paint on the walls. We went with the color Jalapeno. Shawn loves it and everyone who has seen it says they like it. It taking me a while but the more I look at it, the more it is growing on me. I'm just so used to all the white walls, this bold color is taking some getting used to.

Saturday, I helped Shawn hold the cabinets in place while he also screwed them into the wall. We couldn't believe that Will was actually letting me do something that wasn't all about holding him!! As long as he sat in his Bumbo where he could watch, he was fine. As each cabinet went up, the more excited we got as to how great they looked. Shawn did an excellent job of putting them up. He likes things perfect and he did a perfect job in deed!!

The cabinets as you walk up the stairs, into the kitchen.

Sunday, he was able to get the moldings and the valance up. He also put the light on the cabinet which will be above the sink. Must have this so I can see those dirty dishes! The glass doors will be right above the sink. We are very happy we chose to do one set of glass doors.

We absolutely LOVE how big and deep the cabinet above the refrigerator is. I can store lots of big things, that I don't need on a daily basis. Just keep the step stool handy!

The cabinets by the back door.

The cabinet next to the refrigerator is the microwave cabinet. We were not sure about this one, as we hadn't seen it prior to purchasing it. They did not have a display model. We really do like this! It will be great to get the microwave up off of the counter and leave additional space there for something else. Then there is a small cabinet next to it. My goal this week is to clean these cabinets off and start deciding what to put in them!!! It will be great to get some things out of the totes.

Another happening this weekend was the super bowl! Our friends, the Kuck's, came over and watched part of it with us. I have to say, this was the best game in a few years. I'm glad it was close. I loved it that Santonio Holmes had such a great game!! He's the reason I was rooting for the Steelers to win. It was not due to some players on-field behavior! As always, I loved the Budweiser horses in their commercials. They are just such great animals. Career builder had two great commercials. The other one that I liked was the Cheetos...with the woman on her cell being all obnoxious, we've all been around such behavior. Next time, I'll wish for my own flock of birds.

It's another Monday and another week. I hope that you enjoy it. Plus, I am hoping for more above freezing temps to melt more of this ice. Our driveway is like a skating rink. Have a great week!!!!!