Hallelujah for the Blood! Passover, Easter, and all points in between

It's been quieter around here, which we much prefer... other than Easter weekend we haven't had to go or do much at all! 

The girls made a picnic for Daddy, complete with chairs and made him pray... hehe.

On Palm Sunday the younger Sunday school grades got palm branches to take home.  Cecily was pretty excited... they acted out the story in her class room which I'm sure was hilarious.  

 This was a rare moment... playing together relatively quietly. 

Wednesday evening there was a special service at church because we put in a new minister.  The girls both did really well and Emmy (and Bob) even stayed in the sanctuary and went through the line! 

Sometimes when she's hungry/just woke up/isn't getting her way she's very ornery.  This was a brand new roll of paper towels that was sacrificed because I wasn't getting supper ready fast enough for her...  if she only realized that getting her out of things was causing most of the delay...  

But I did eventually get our Passover feast on the table... china, candles, lamb steak...chicken nuggets for the girls... ha.  Cecily insisted on turning the lights off.  She actually asked a lot of questions this year, which was cool.  I guess that is the point, they ask questions, we explain what makes this night different from all other nights...  but it was exciting to see her make connections.   

I'm ashamed to admit how old I was when I really "got" and understood the connection between the old and new testament... I mean, I always understood how everything fit together historically and chronologically (unlike an unnamed SS classmate who wondered if Jesus came before or after Moses... hehe...).   But I was probably in college before the whole overarching theme of the gospel, and the foreshadowing, and the symbolism, and how everything fits together between the two gelled in my head.  Passover helps.  They did this in the old testament, they did it in the new testament, and it all points to Christ. 

Mom and "Sheddy" came over on Good Friday to help us dye Easter eggs.   

Emmy thought it was great to put the eggs in, but then she didn't want to wait on them to turn colors.  When they were finally done enough she wanted the colored eggs. "Pink! Pink!"

 So we gave up and gave her a cup of water and some plastic eggs and she was perfectly happy. 

And of course Cecily needed blue plastic ones then too... *sigh*  Oh well, this exercise was mostly for Shelly and I to dye Easter eggs because we've never grown up. 

 We went to Good Friday services in Washington because we hadn't been there since Christmas.  I know, that's pathetic.  After church we stopped in at the condos to see Pearline and Grandma and Grandpa.  They gave the girls Easter candy.  It's a good thing they like my girls, because they were bouncing off the walls... and showing off their acrobatic talents.  Ayiyi.

Bob spent Saturday helping Rustin and Sharon tear out their driveway.  Sprout came over and indulged all of their chalk whims.  "Draw a shark!"  "Draw a flamingo!"  "Shushan! Shushan!"   

It was a lovely day to "cwimb" the lilac bush.  "NOOOO Sheshaldee!" 

Somebody was a bit sleepy Easter morning.  "ooooohhh  Bucket!" 

They got all kinds of fun stuff... stickers, beads, glow stick flashlights... 

We were running a bit late for church so I didn't take a picture of them in their Easter dresses until after... so the hair is slightly messy (well, I guess that's normal), shoes are missing, and they were a little squirrely. 

I'm a sucker for blue seersucker... and they are ridiculous.   

She wanted to play with her beads right away. 

 This one was more interested in chocolate and throwing the beads onto the floor.  "bead! ball!"

We spent the evening with the Beutels.  It was rainy so they didn't really get to play outside with all the cool toys much, but they both had fun.  I read an Archie comic for the first time in ages...
Blessings.

Busy, busy

The last two weeks were pretty busy weeks... for us anyway.  Usually I try not to leave the house unless it's absolutely necessary.  And we rarely do anything that requires babysitters. 

So getting up for story hour is kind of a production.... we watched Kenna one morning and she came with us to the library. 

That weekend Cecily got to go to a morning pajama party at Hanna's house.  She was super excited and she had a good time with her friends.  Bob's family got together in the evening for a baked potato supper. 

My mom turned Old on Sunday.  So we spent the evening at the farm with my family and Steve and Renee's family.  They share a birthday... and it only took me 31 years to figure out why.  The girls had fun playing with Cristina; after she went home uncle Jakey dug out their old light saber.  They were so wound up.  Cecily turned off all the lights and Emmy was running around saying "zzzt, zzzt!" *sigh* Such nerdlings. 

The next week I actually rescheduled a dentist appointment because I would have needed to find someone to watch the girls 5 days in a row... and that's kind of a lot.  They start to get a little fragile when our routine is off that much.  But we survived. 

After story hour I dropped them off at the farm and headed to the doctor for the dreaded glucose tolerance test.  (I passed, thankfully.)  It's actually gotten a lot better each time, this time it wasn't fasting, only lasted an hour, and the glucose solution didn't even taste that bad.  It still leaves a really awful feeling in the pit of my stomach for the rest of the day.  Ick.  We listened to church with Grandpa and Grandma Beutel that evening and the girls were really good and quiet!

The next day they got to play and eat lunch at Kenna's house while I met Amber for lunch.  It was delightful.  And not just because I didn't have to tell anyone to lean over the table and eat.  It had been a very long time since I've gotten to catch up with her.  Good times.

Last Friday night was potluck.  Janelle told us we all had to buy our spouse's outfit at a thrift store for the evening... we all looked pretty amazing.  Jon's outfit was pretty stellar, 'Best Dressed Individual' was definitely deserved.

 And the girls... Nichole was pretty styling... Mary's wool West German suit was just cool...

The maternity section of thrift stores is always super small so I didn't really have high hopes.  I ended up with a lovely nautical tent.  Haha.  At least it had pockets and was super comfy!  And now we know where the muumuu originated from... apparently missionaries to Hawaii introduced it to replace indecent indigenous fashion.  Aren't we cute, or something!

Saturday was a dreary day.  We picked up sticks in the yard and burned the brush pile.  I got tired of bending over so I raked sticks.  And raked. And raked.  So many sticks.  That evening was communion at church... mom came over to watch the girls so they could take a bath/be ready for bed a little bit early because of the time change.  Ugh.

Morning came so early.  I had a hard time staying awake in church and I took a nap when we got home.  We all did, except Cecily.  She says she wasn't tired.  That evening we headed back to church for the Easter program.  O man.  Cecily did... good.  Ha.  I was kind of feeling bad about not singing her song with her, or going over the poem they said very often. (It was cheesy.  I don't like cheesy.) But then she got up there, right in front of the mike, and she knew all of it and was the loudest one in her class.  I wasn't sure if I should be embarrassed or amused... ayiyiyiyi.  At least she was enthusiastic? 

This week we are doing as little as possible.  I was trying to put the snow clothes away.

 It wasn't raining, but they wanted their umbrellas.

 Who knows...

 Bob told them to go clean the bathroom walls... with dry paper towels... it kept them occupied for a while.

Hopefully the rest of the week is as quiet.  We voted today and I'm pretty sure the storm that came through deposited a lot more sticks in the yard.  woot. 
Blessings.

The Kitchen

Since I love a good before and after, and since I'm sure you're all dying to know what goes on inside my head...

This is what we started with: white walls, white countertop with gold flecks, original cabinets that had been painted yellowish cream, gold plated hardware and hinges with the plating flaking off... ceiling fan with random tassel... Perfectly functional, but not very pretty.

By move in day it had gotten a good dose of blue paint (which I love) and a healthy dose of clutter. Oooo, note the classic metal edging around the sink, and around the glass inlay... I actually kind of miss the glass, it was very practical. (Although grossness would collect around the metal band...)

So whoever painted the cabinets cream didn't do that great of a job.  (They were originally 60's orangish/yellow stained.)  They put the paint on super thick and you could see the brush strokes.  It was like a checkerboard on the doors- the put on a coat and brushed up and down, then the next coat they went side to side.  There were also holes where previous owners had hung things with nails/screws... and spots where the paint was chipped... and these weird black marks around the hinges that wouldn't wash off.  Of course, there was no extra paint in the basement to do any touchups.  None of this was glaringly obvious, but it bugged me since I saw it everyday.  

Right before Emmy was born I decided it was time, it had bugged me long enough!  And I was going to call a painter to repaint them for me.  And then I started thinking about how I didn't really love the style of the doors anyway, and it would be pointless to sand and paint doors I don't like.  And I would want to replace hinges and pulls.... and the countertop was so white.... and then I decided I was probably nesting and I should just wait until I could do everything I wanted to do in there at once.  Probably a good decision.

But they still bugged me and I toyed with the idea of convincing Bob that we needed new cabinets.  The practical side of me won out; our cabinets are solid wood, built in place, they don't make them like this anymore cabinets.  Plus there was absolutely nothing wrong with them besides bad paint and the door style not being what I would pick out.  Really, it would be stupid to tear them out.   

So fast forward almost a year.... we had a cabinet re-facing company come give us an estimate.  I figured it would be a quick, easy refresh that wouldn't take a lot of time or money.  Ha.  Their cost for new doors and countertops was astronomical.  For that price we could have replaced everything with mid-range cabinets from a big box store.  I pouted for a few days...

And then I found a company out of Kansas that sells custom sized unfinished cabinet doors online.  And they were solid wood and economically priced!  And I have an uncle who has a really good paint sprayer who was willing to paint and hang them for me!  And there's a countertop place just down the road!  And we know a good plumber and electrician!  All I had to do was paint the cabinet boxes... no problem.    

We dove into painting chaos just as Emmy was starting to walk... great timing.   

One side at a time....

Oh, this was awful.  I think it was about at this point I was muttering under my breath while painting late at night.... 

She thought it was great that she could get into the snacks.

Coincidentally, my mom was helping a friend paint her kitchen cabinets at the same time and she asked what my process was.... I sent her an email titled, "how to obsess over painting your kitchen cabinets in 11 easy steps..."

 

1.  All doors off, we're getting new hinges so I filled all the holes with wood filler.

2.  Sanded with two grits of sandpaper-  I did 80 and 120 with my palm sander, and then used a 220 sanding block.

3.  Wiped everything down to remove all dust....  the pros would use tack cloth...

4.  Primed with Sherwin Williams primer (supposed to hide wood grain, stains, etc.  It's also sandable.) 

5.  Scuff sanded the primed cabinets with 220 sanding block and wiped everything down.

6.  Painted 1st coat.

7.  Sanded out drips, scuff sanded everything with 220, wiped it all down.

8.  Painted 2nd Coat.

9.  Sanded, wiped down.

10.  Painted 3rd coat (Probably unnecessary....)

11.  Obsess about sheen differences and repeat ad nauseam...

 

O man, I'm not sure I'd ever do this again... ok, I probably would.  But still.  There are times that I have to remind myself that no one sees the imperfections like I do, and that painted real wood cabinets are not going to look like factory sprayed MDF cabinets....

 

I do like the lighter color, although I maybe kind of wish I would have gone even whiter.  The drawer is the old color: 

And then it was finally done.  Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!  The new countertops came and the gray was so pretty.

And my new sink that is one inch deeper and the basins are 1 inch wider than the previous sink- I can fit a muffin pan in there and it is awesome!  The new faucet caused minor issues with the window sill/shelf thing.

And then after living with open cabinets and a busy toddler for quite a while the doors came home!  There was great rejoicing.  Except I measured two wrong and had to reorder.  Boo.

It was so very nice to have doors, drawer fronts, and pulls again.  And bigger crown molding!  woot woot. 

 

We took down the valence board over the sink at the beginning of the process and I had kind of forgotten that there was an old, very ugly fluorescent fixture behind it.  Which required finding a light to replace it... and at some point the main fixture quit working so we had to replace that too... anyway, finally picked something out and Rob came and put in a box and I patched and painted, added some ticking stripe café curtains, and just like that we were done!  

 Although, now I kind of think the big light is a little too Art Deco to go with the school house light... eh, oh well.  They aren't coming down anytime soon.  I hope.  *grin* 
Anyway, all that for a before:

 And after!:

I am pleased with how it turned out. The changes are subtle but it definitely feels newer (and cleaner!). The best part is probably the satisfaction of knowing that it all cost just under half of what we were quoted for refacing...
Blessings.

In like a lion? lamb?

I'm not completely sure what we've been up to lately.  I feel like we've kept busy, but I'm really not sure what all we've been doing.

The girls spend their time playing.  And fighting. Since Emmy has figured out that she doesn't have to put up with Cecily taking her toys... there is very little playing quietly happening.  Although, sometimes they stuff all the things in the tent and are very happy.

We went to my Grandpa's birthday party.  They pulled taffy, which is great, but it was super warm that weekend so it didn't really get all nice and brittle.  Emmy loved it; Cecily refused to try it so Grandma gave her chocolate instead.   

Aunt Shelly went shopping and got them new outfits, which they love and insisted on wearing right away.  We have such an exciting neighborhood... they are watching the grave diggers... *grin*  

Our former neighbor and dear friend Beulah died last week.  Her daughter let us know around Christmas that it was coming... She was a sweet woman.  When we moved in she brought me her church cookbook and wanted to know if we had a church to go to because we were welcome to go with her.  I enjoyed visiting her at Restmor (even though we didn't go very often) and the girls liked to see her stuffed animals and pictures of cats.  The girls and I went to her visitation Wednesday morning.   I've heard it said that if you want to be a sweet old lady, you have to be a sweet young lady... so I'm pretty sure I've got a long way to go to be like her. 

Silly girls...she can actually get some sound out of her trumpet like this.

Story hour started up again... they had a music program for the first session.  Cecily loved it, Emmy was not so sure... but she may have just not been feeling well.  Bob came home from work sick that day and then she woke up the next morning with a pretty high fever.  It only lasted a day, thankfully, since there's some nasty stuff going around.  We spent it on the couch.

Oh my busy little bee... I was getting lunch ready and she was getting lunch ready for her dolly.   

She's talking a lot now.  Which is good and bad.  I hear lots of "Want hold you," "hab it," "choc-at," "come on, come on, come on," "want tab-et," "miiiiiine!"  Oh, and "potty!"  Because apparently she wants to potty train herself.  Which I am not really ready for.  At all.  I was just talking to someone about how I had no plans to try potty training pre-baby, and then the next day she decided she wanted to sit on the potty.  And she's actually gone in it a few times.  Aaaahhh.  I know, this is good, right?  I just don't want to.  Maybe she'll lose interest for a while.  She mostly just wants to waste toilet paper and wash her hands (soap bubbles!).

I have hit the point in pregnancy where I must!finish!all!the!projects!  Not so much nesting, just have to get things done while I feel mostly well and still have time. 

According to the blog archives, this was the 3rd Saturday quilt club quilt in 2011.  I think.  So I finished the small blocks in 2011, pieced the center medallion and sashing in 2012, had it machine quilted in 2013.... and finally finished the binding last week.  woot woot! 

The girls' little table has a new top.  It's aspen... it was the only decent board they had in the right size that wasn't red oak.  I looked it up because I've never played with aspen... the recommendation was for gel stain to fight blotchiness... so that seemed to work ok, but it did bring out some factory sanding marks.  And then my final poly coat had some issues.  Grr.  I keep reminding myself that this is for the girls to destroy play with, and they've already put some pencil marks on it, so I should just chill.  I may still attempt to learn a new skill and 'rub out' the topcoat.   

Checking things off the list to get the kitchen completely done- it'll be a year since we tore into it in May-  under the sink used to have a lovely piece of genuine Congoleum in a delightful shade of mustard yellow.  Gag.  I mean, I have nothing against the color yellow, but that particular shade under the kitchen sink just didn't do anything for me.  So Cecily helped me cut up a piece of leftover vinyl from the bathroom to replace it.  New always feels so much cleaner, so we can all pretend it's now very clean under my sink!  I'm such a good housekeeper!  And I won't be embarrassed the next time the plumber has to stick his head under there.

Rob was here the other day and put in a box and replaced the light over the sink... Cecily talked his ear off the whole time.  At least this time she didn't tell him I was grumpy.  So once I get the ceiling patched and painted, the kitchen refresh is DONE! There will be great rejoicing and probably lots of pictures.   

The weather has been so back and forth we really haven't been outside much.  Or if we are, one day we'll be in sandals, the next day we'll need shoes and socks and winter coats.  I wish it would just decide to be warm or cold.  It would save many arguments with a certain 4 year old.

Blessings.

Valentine's

We had a busy week last week... busy for us anyway.  Sewing club, doctor appointments, valentines... 

And I've been catching up on projects and some light reading in the evenings.  Ha.  My former boss is up for promotion and review this year and he let me know that the reviewers may be contacting me about some of the projects that I worked on.  Yikes.... I remember very little of the particulars so he also sent me a bunch of the papers and patents that are relevant.  Oh man.  I love chemistry and science, but technical writing and scientific literature put me to sleep!  I despise reading research!  Even the stuff I did!  I know, I know.  They used to have me proof read their papers before they submitted them for review... ugh... one of the post-docs loved commas way too much. I have been slowly slogging through them. 

This is probably why when someone tells me they've "done their research" on a scientific/medical topic I raise my eyebrows a little bit; I'm very impressed you've actually read things like, "The diffusion coefficients of water in bio-based hydrogels were measured with a simple NMR method. This method tracked the migration of deuterium oxide through imaging data that was fit to a diffusion equation. The results show that a 5 wt % soybean-oil-based hydrogel gave an aqueous diffusion of 1.37 (60.21)  109 m2/s. The value for a 0.5 wt % saponified starch– polyacrylonitrile graft copolymer was 1.28 (60.26)  109 m2/s, which remained about the same at increased poly-mer content in the hydrogel."  Actual research is mind numbing to read, although it is rather gratifying to see, "The authors thank Jennifer R. Koch for gel preparation and experimental work presented herein," in the Journal of Applied Polymer Science.  I'm famous!  Sort of.  Ha. 

Cecily has been begging to make valentines for weeks so we did more than once.  These were some kind of paint markers- not washable.  Woot.

 They both had fun with them.  We cut hearts out of their masterpieces to send to people.

 Another time they got stickers and glitter glue.  Cecily glued everything to one piece of paper.

 Emmy had just woken up, but she wanted to do stickers too.

 It is very festive... *grin*

 We haven't been outside much, so they make messes inside.  And go fishing in their boat. 

Friday I spent the day cleaning and getting the house in some semblance of order because Bob invited his coworker and family over for supper on Saturday.  We had been invited to their boys' birthday party last summer so Cecily was super excited to play with them again.

Saturday morning the girls and I went to Meg's to make valentines and do crafts... then we delivered flowers and their creations and got McDonalds for lunch. I've been ordering an extra glass of water and diluting a little bit of "Pop! Want Pop! Hab it" into it so that little Bee can have her own glass of pop...

I was nervous about the evening.  Even though I've met them before, I don't do small talk well.  And I take after my grandmother and I'm always nervous about the food, whether I need to be or not.  I was glad I went with soup... I didn't have to come up with side dishes!  And creamy chicken and wild rice soup in bread bowls is pretty much my favorite right now.  After all my worrying, we had a really good evening.  The girls played well with Alex and Rafael, and we didn't lack for conversation with Hassan and Denisse.  They're moving to Ecuador soon and they say we should come visit.

Having people over always makes me wish I was less introverted... since Bob is too.... I/we want to be hospitable, but it's just hard! 

We didn't have any plans to go out on Valentine's day (crowded restaurants are not my thing) so we were glad to accept Dale and Meg's invite for heart pizza.   The girls thought it was the best thing ever, especially since they got to sit at their own little table.  Emmy was so proud sitting by Hanna.  Our neighbor randomly brought us a strawberry pie so we enjoyed that with them... overall it was a great Valentine's weekend! 

This week we played in the snow and built a short lived snowman and that's about it.  I love it, the girls are getting stir crazy. 

Emmy prefers to eat her sundae cones with a spoon.  Silly Bee. 

Blessings.

Chill February

And the last of the January doldrums.

One day the girls and I met Kendra ("Krenda") and William at the pool.  They loved it.  And I was glad for another set of eyes to keep an eye on them...

 I never remember pool toys, good thing they have some built in.

 Emmy and William... aww.

 Bob and I went to Rustin and Sharon's for a chuck-wagon themed potluck... smoked brisket with all the trimmings.  It was super yummy, probably rivaled all the chuck-wagon suppers Dad dragged us to out west.  It had kind of been a long time since we were with them all, so it was a good night.  And you won't believe what Greg said to me.......  just kidding Greg! 

We took the girls to Bass Pro Saturday evening just because.  They wanted to see the fish and the animals, but they spent the most time exploring the boats.  And the ATVs... 

 Emmy wanted to drive them all.

 We need one of these, right?

 My parents and Jake invited themselves over and brought pizza Sunday evening. 

We've been spending most of our time inside coloring, playing, fighting...

 Stepping on Bubble wrap...

 Putting stickers under our shirts...

 We made cornbread one night for supper.  I measure, they take turns dumping.  Then they both wanted to stir.  Somehow it all stayed in the bowl!  They like cooking a lot more than it looks like in this picture. 

 I've been cooking all sorts of things again!  Whole meals that don't come from a box or the Schwann's man!  It's amazing.  I even made a whole turkey that I bought on sale last thanksgiving.  It turned out great... nice and moist and delicious.  I even made gravy from the drippings!  And the carcass is in the freezer for making broth (once I get around to it or I'm tired of it taking up space in the freezer)!  Can't let Shelly be more domestic than me...  hehe. 

Mom needed a grandma day so she took the girls Thursday... I went shopping.  Anymore I much prefer online shopping... I'm getting old or something.  The girls had lots of fun at the farm with "Ga-maw" and "Ap-aw."

So I had great intentions of rehabbing this little table and chairs that were mine as a child in time to give it to the girls for Christmas... didn't happen.  I'm just finally getting started now.  Originally my plan was to paint/ stain them to match our kitchen table and chairs.... but.... all those spindles.  And the chairs are in decent shape.  After tightening screws and re-gluing spindles and armrests, I used Restor-a-finish on them.  It works really well- the chair on the left hasn't been done yet, the one on the right has.  They still don't look brand new, but the scratches are less obvious and the finish looks nice and shiny again. 

 Oh this poor table.  Apparently the four Wyss kids were hard on their toys.  Ha.  Tape, paint, scratches, missing edge banding... we did a number on it.  Although, I don't remember paint being allowed on it so that must be Michelle's fault.  Anyway, waffling about what to do with the top... it's thin veneer on plywood so it would be a waste of time to refinish it. My trip to Pekin Hardwood for a replacement was fruitless... so if Menards doesn't carry edge glued panels in the size I need I'm not sure what I will end up doing.  I'm painting the legs white so the table will at least sort of look like our table.

Anyway, it's been quiet, the girls are going a little stir crazy, but next week looks to be busier so they'll be happy.
Blessings.