Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of the home – at least, that is what my family seems to think.  In their opinion, all of life revolves around the table and the food that is prepared and regularly place on the table.  I can’t say that I disagree with them too much, since a lot of my memories were made around the table with family.

The kitchen is long and skinny, and the hallway leads to the laundry/scrapping room.  It has doorways that lead into the dining room, living room, sunroom, and garage as well.  It was very dark and heavy in the room, due to the dark wallpaper, dark paneling, and dark cabinetry.  The totally retro light fixture was a trial to my soul, but I was determined to deal with the hard things first.  Like wallpaper.  Three layers.  Plus two layers of border. 
The first order of business was to remove the wallpaper.  That was fun.  Under the wallpaper, we found evidence of terribly shoddy sheetrock jobs, and the added bonus of termite colonies.  Suffice it to say, we did a lot of sheetrock mudding, sanding, and smoothing in the kitchen.  It still isn’t perfect, but it is tremendously improved, and I have no complaints. 
Next, we primed and painted all the dark woodwork (except for the cabinets) white.  It is amazing what a good coat of paint will do to a room.  We actually painted all the trim in the house white.  What a remarkable difference!  I picked out my paint colors, and the kitchen is painted with Patience.  Really.  That was the color of the paint.  I thought it was a very appropriate color for the room in which I would spend a great deal of time.  Actually, I still have an almost full can of Patience sitting next to my cabinets, in case any of you are running low on that particular virtue.  :)
After painting, we had new linoleum installed, and it is wonderfully different.  We have a Habitat for Humanity ReStore not far from us, where they sell used construction/household items rather than junking them.  I found some new glass globes for my light fixtures, as well as the 2” blinds for the windows.  Total cost of the blinds and globes was $8.  Eight dollars – you got it!  You can’t do better, unless it is free!  I love the ReStore!
These are the renovation pictures along with a few of the finished product. 

		ok - having issues with viewing the pictures. Sorry, all - I will try to get them up and running.

New Year, New Picture

Each year, my goal is to get a good family photo taken to send to our family, friends, and supporting churches.  Over the years, my definition of “good” has evolved into what I would call a very loose term.  This simply means that all parties involved are facing the camera, all eyes are open, smiles are in place,and there are no stray fingers delving into forbidden areas (such as eyes, ears, noses, or armpits).  Forget the perfect hair, the perfect pose, and the wrinkle-free clothing.  After all, this is our family – why pretend to be something we are not?  So, sadly, I have at present abandoned the quest for a model family picture.  The good thing is, I will remember how it all played out each time that I look at the photo.  This was actually our first shot, and since it was so good, I only took one other.  :)  I won’t forget how, while I was taking shots of the boys, Esther danced around the yard, dragging my camera bag and dumping all my spare batteries into the grass.  We never did find them. 

I will now present (drum roll, please) our 2012 family picture.



All in all, I think it is the perfect picture of my wonderful family!  I love them all so much! 

Transferring…

My very sweet and wonderful husband bought me a new laptop for Christmas. This really was becoming more and more of a need each passing day.  My old computer took about five minutes, more or less, to boot up each day, and frequently did not want to turn off.  Using certain programs insured a lockup  (this would be my picture organizing and editing software that holds nearly 15,000 pictures).  Yep, you read that right!  I am one happy, snappy, camera toting mama!  Anyway, most of Monday and Tuesday was spent in computer lockdown while the old computer transferred all its files to the new computer.  I was so relieved I didn’t have to do each program by itself, the “old-fashioned way.”  Now all you have to do is connect both PCs to your home network and hit “Easy Transfer” and voila, it works all by itself!  Now, I was a little anxious when it took nearly 24 hours to transfer all 49 GB, afraid that one of the kids would touch it and disturb the transfer, causing us to have to start the whole process over again, but (big sigh of relief) it all worked out perfectly.  Now all I have to do is re-install some of my favorite programs – music writing, picture editing, and that kind of important stuff.

I am also trying to prepare myself for the possibility of a disaster – the chance that I might lose all my pictures.  It almost makes me cry just thinking about it!  So, I am also transferring all 15,000 pictures to my Snapfish account.  The best thing about Snapfish is not just their great photo sales, but the fact that they have unlimited online photo storage for free! I can definitely use that!  So, over the next few days, weeks, months, (as Eeyore says, “Who knows?”) I will be transferring all those memories, one MB at a time! Why did I take so many photos?!?!
A word to the wise, start uploading your photos  before you reach 15,000.  Depending on your internet speed, the time to transfer those important moments can be quite time consuming.  Right now, I am organizing all of mine by time segments (May 2010, June 2010, etc.).  That way, I will have a general idea of where to find certain events when I want a specific picture.  Don’t wait – the next crash could be around the corner! As much of a bother as it is to move pictures to online storage, it could save you a lot of tears later.

A Jolly Holiday

Today dawned bright and beautiful and we decided to take the family to see the Pacific Ocean.  We drove up the coast a little ways, and found a rocky stretch of beach where we could spend some time in solitude.  The kids all loved the water, except for Daniel who was afraid.  The surf was crashing rather loudly, and the waves were all foam as they washed onto the coast.  The only people we saw were a few surfers trying to catch the waves off in the distance.  We played in the chilly water a bit, and the kids dug holes and built a "house" out of rocks.  We dubbed it the "Foolish Man's House" because it was built on the sand.  I have no doubt that when the tide comes in, it will go CRASH just as it did in the song!  It was so much fun just to relax and enjoy spending time with our children.  I took the opportunity to attempt another family picture.  That always adds excitement to the day.  I think we will be able to salvage at least one, perhaps more if I "photoshop" them! :) So, here is our most recent (only a few hours old) family picture.