Kitchen 2010, Part Two!!

Kitchen Redo of 2010 is coming along nicely.....

for the most part! 

Here is my awesome potrack/light that 

my hero installed. No big deal? WELL....

He had to remove a fluorescent light, move the wires,

patch the old hole, create a new hole and add sturdy wood

so the pot rack won't ever fall on our heads. 

I think it looks fantastic!

We worked all weekend on the kitchen cabinets.

Papa and Hero sanded them all down.

Hero added the trim on all the doors.

Then, the doors were primed and painted.

New knobs and hinges and all doors 

were back on by Sunday night!

Hero also installed a microwave over the range.

You'll notice in the picture that he had to 

fill in some space on either side...

Once it's painted, you'll never know!

Trim...no trim..

Just as a point of reference...

here are the kitchen cabinets and hood

BEFORE! 

Doodle dressed up as Raggedy Ann and

part of her costume was mine when I was 7 

that Mema sewed for me! 

Can you say ADORABLE???

LucyBelle modeling her new sweater

from the dollar spot at Target....

Kitchen 2010, Part One

Excitement is brewing!!! We are embarking on a major kitchen renovation project! It's been a LONG time coming!

Week One of Kitchen Renovation is complete. Hero had three days off this week. Despite a terrible cold, he still managed to get beadboard up, the dining room ceiling painted and new light fixture hanging!

New dining room light...

Proud of the "miracle cut"...perfect fit around doors!

Hero celebrated his 44th birthday this week, too! 

Banana Pancakes for the Daddy!

The Boy was his trusty assistant this week.  And the girls...they just showed up occasionally and said..."Wow! Looks great!"

It's coming along nicely!

Fabric: Covington Remington,multi

 Meanwhile, I spent WAY too much time obsessing over which paint color to use, which curtain fabric to choose, and thinking about if blue kitchens really do suppress the appetite bc blue isn't a food color. Yes, I read that online. And we all know that everything we read online is true. Ha! But.....now that I'm thinking about it...maybe an appetite suppressing color isn't a bad thing...

Stay tuned for part two!

No more sorrow, no more pain....

My beautiful Grandmother went home to be with Jesus.

I couldn't have handpicked a Grandmother who loved me as much as she loved me.

Yummy Meatballs!

We love Casa frozen Italian meatballs that we buy in a big bag from Sam's. They are made in southeast Georgia and are so so so good!

I decided to try a different meatball recipe instead of the same old spaghetti and meatballs. We enjoyed this sooo much that I decided to share.

In a large frying pan, sauté 1/2 cup chopped onion and 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper in olive oil. Whisk together 1 cup ketchup,  2 T apple cider vinegar, 3/4 cup cola, 1 t seasoning salt, 1/2 t ground black pepper, 1 T Worcestershire sauce in a bowl, then mix with sautéed onion/pepper in pan. Add about 25 frozen meatballs, cover and simmer for about 1/2 hour. Serve over rice and enjoy!! (This would also be great in the crockpot!)

Our Newest Family Member

Say "Hi!" to the newest member of our family....

13 week old Lucy Belle. She's a one and a half pound  bundle of Yorkie-Poo love who came to live with us a week ago.

I've never in my entire life had a tiny dog OR an inside dog. So, there's been quite a learning curve for me to figure all this out.

This is the best picture I could find of her bc she just won't pose for the camera!!! She'd rather bark at the camera and attack the camera and bite the camera and then take off zooming around after the kitties.

Her first few days were rough. She had a pretty severe hypoglycemic episode her first night and we spent the night helping her recover from that scary episode.

We're all in love with this little ball of fluff!!!!

Homeschool 2010 Is Underway!!!!

Wow! Is it that time already? Our summer ran away from me without my permission. 

(More on our rocky start to summer break in another post.) 

We are into our third week of home learning already! 

Here's a shot of the room where the action happens!

And here's where I found these two one day...

Learning together.

Anywhere With You

Anywhere with you

is my favorite place to be....

This week we celebrated 19 years of marriage. We just thought we knew what love was and what being in love meant 19 years ago at the altar. We loved each other as much as we knew how...back then.

19 years together has brought about a love between us that is hard to describe, deep as an ocean, wide as the sky. We are one.

About a month after we got married, I got upset everyday at my Hero because we'd get home from work...and he'd go fishing. In my mind, I couldn't understand why he wanted to go fishing more than he wanted to be with me. I cried about it. Yes, I cried. I thought I was enough for him...why did he need fish to help him unwind and de-stress?? Fish are slimy and they stink! And let's not discuss crickets and worms.  Oh the joys of being a newlywed, trying to figure out how to navigate a marriage relationship. 

19 years later, my sweet card he gave me says it all..."Anywhere with you is my favorite place to be."

Our favorite place to be isn't a location, a favorite vacation spot, a delicious restaurant. "Favorite place" does not equal "destination" to either of us. Anywhere we are with each other and our kids is our favorite place to be because that's where our hearts are. Our hearts are with each other. Not at a favorite shopping spot, movie theater or fishing hole. We are content when we are together no matter where we are and what we are doing because we are "one."

I agree with Jack Johnson..."It's always better when we're together."