R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Occasionally, in our house, bedtime just goes bad.  The kids delay, fuss, whine, and refuse to listen, and at the end of a long day it's enough for me to lose my cool.  Tonight was one of those nights. 

Every night each of the kids gets to pick one book to be read, and once they're in bed they each get a song.  They love this part of the routine, I love this part of the routine, but sadly it's also the only thing motivating enough to threaten (somehow "behave or you can't brush your teeth!" just never seems to work), and sometimes, like tonight, they lose some or all of it. 

So, Zach had just lost his story, and rather than quickly shape up so as to not lose the song, like his sister did, he chose to hit me instead.  Bad move.  He was lucky, I was patient tonight and actually paused to warn him that hitting would land him in his bed without the song.  He didn't seem to care, and hit me again.  So into his bed he went.  Light off.  Door closed.  Commence screaming.  I let it go for two minutes and then went in to calm him down.  Once the crying stopped I sat him on the bed and reviewed the situation, explaining again why he would not be getting songs.  I told him that even though I love singing to him, he needed to learn that not listening, and hitting result in losing the things that he loves.  He sat there for a minute and considered what I said.  Then he looked right in my eyes and said, "Well, I can't respect that." 

Sadly for Zach, not respecting my decision did not earn him the song back.  But we're both looking forward to a lovely ballad tomorrow night.

Easter 2012

Three days before Easter, my dining room looked something like this (worse actually, because this was taken at the start of the project!):

And you saw how the kitchen looked in previous posts.  But, somehow we managed to get it all back together just in time to have 16 guests for a lovely dinner, and a fun day!  Lexi and Zach were up early searching for the eggs that the Easter Bunny left hidden around our house.  While Lexi really enjoys the scavenger hunt, Zachary would really prefer tearing the house apart to find the eggs.  I really had to hold him back.  But they still had fun, and really enjoyed going through their baskets. 

Lexi and Zach found some eggs in the new closet.  Check out those awesome shelves!

Eggs under here??

Yup!

Enjoying their baskets

However, the best part of the day for them is when their cousins arrive.  Once the Lillis kids arrive, we barely see the kids again.  That is, of course, until Auntie and I tell them it's time to find the eggs in the yard!  They were running so fast that I had to force them to stop just to get a couple of pictures!!

Lexi and Stephanie in their matching dresses

The cousins!  (minus Zach who was sleeping)

Egg hunting.

Found one!

Cassie has an arm load!

Lexi got one!

The girls show off the loot!

Auntie Amy helped remember Nana by making the kids cookie Easter baskets, as Nana used to make for us each year.

After the egg hunt we had a wonderful, and at times hilarious, dinner with Gigi, Poppy, Great Gram, Amy and Scott, Uncle Jay, and Erin and Kat.  Megan had to leave early to work, and she was missed.

The crew with Poppy.

The crew with Gigi.

It was another wonderful Easter, and a great way for us to show off the new kitchen.

Finally "done"!!

The thing about owning a home in general, but especially an old home, is that you're never really "done" any project.  There is always more to be done, and sometimes fixing one thing makes other problems more noticeable.  But, for the sake of argument, we are finally done with our kitchen remodel!  Done, as in I don't have to rush to get dressed every morning so that I will be fully clothed when the contractors arrive at 7am, and when I come home for lunch I don't have a symphony of nail guns going off behind me, and there is not a three inch layer of dust over everything every, single day.  Ahren and I are thrilled with the result.  We both have little, tiny details that we absolutely LOVE.  He is thrilled that we don't have a pipe running through our cabinets and counter anymore, I am thrilled that for about an hour a day, we get a little square of light on the floor from the upstairs windows (thanks to the new bedroom door).  But the best part is that the hideous floor, miserable walls, and awful drop ceiling are finally G.O.N.E.!!!

Here are some before and after pictures for your viewing pleasure.  (Some have already been posted, but I love seeing them next to each other).

Old kitchen

New Kitchen

Old eat-in area

New eat in area

Old view from the door

New view from the door

It's still the same kitchen, just improved.  I am really glad to finally be able to enjoy it!