Kitchen Renovation - 5/10/14

We bought our house in March 2008 as a foreclosure.  Y'all, it was trashed.  Like a total hot mess, trashed.  But, we were able to purchase it for a steal, which we were so thankful for.  Before we moved in, we changed out all of the flooring and painted every wall.  We have gradually made improvements here and there over the years when we could afford to do so.

I remember when we first looked at the house, I really disliked the kitchen.  I loved the cabinets, but thought that they looked weird with white appliances.  The corian countertops had a pinkish hue to them and had a huge crack by the stove.  I remember telling Wade that I could not live with those countertops - they needed to be changed ASAP.  Well... it turns out that I could (and did!) live with those countertops for 6+ years.  Ha!

We saved and researched until we could afford to get new countertops.  I was so excited this Spring when Wade told me that we were in a position that we could pay cash for a kitchen renovation.  Yay!  It did feel a bit like the "If you give a mouse a cookie..." series of children's books, though.  If you get new countertops, they will damage your backsplash ripping out the old ones and you will have to get a new backsplash.  If you are getting granite countertops, you will need an undermount sink.  If you get a new sink, you'll have to buy a new faucet.  If you are ever going to get rid of your white stove, you better do it while they are replacing your countertops.  If you get a new stove, you have to get a matching vent-a-hood.  If you all of your other appliances are going to be stainless steel, you can't keep your white oven and microwave.  So on and so on...

Thankfully, our contractor was great and my husband is an appliance bargain hunter master, so we still came in within budget.  I'm so happy with my new kitchen!

Before pictures:

And, After:

My favorite part, hand's down, is my new copper farmhouse sink.  I love it so much!  It is a bit fussier from a maintenance standpoint than I thought that it would be, though.  You cannot leave anything acidic in there or it will leave shiny copper spots where the acid eats away at the black finish that they use.  So, I am super diligent about rinsing it out a million times a day and we don't leave dishes in there.  We still have a couple of shiny spots, though, from things that didn't get rinsed quick enough.  I still would choose this same sink again, in a heartbeat.  Even if it is pretty high maintenance.  :)

I also love that we extended the island to accommodate counter stools.  My kids love to sit there to eat their breakfast.  I went round and round about my backsplash tile, and I am so glad that we went with the travertine in a herringbone pattern.  I love it!

I did learn a ton from our little remodel.  It was much more stressful than I imagined it to be, and being without a kitchen for a week was really hard.  I know that this a total first world problem, so it is absolutely ridiculous to complain.  Wade and I reminded the kids (and ourselves!) that people live without running water and kitchen appliances on a daily basis all over the world.  We are so spoiled!

I am very grateful for the improvements that we were able to make, and I look forward to enjoying this kitchen for many years to come!

Kindergarten Round Up - 5/9/14

My Drew will start Kindergarten in the Fall!  What?  How can that be???  I would be sad, but he is so ready both socially and academically!  I am confident that he is going to do great!  Having an October birthday has been great for my boy.  I have seen him grow and mature so much over the last year.  He is fully prepared for Kinder.  I am excited to watch my baby bird spread his wings and fly a little bit.  :)

Our new little school had Kindergarten Round Up on May 9th.  Drew was super excited to spend some time with his classmates and teachers while I went to a parent meeting.

 I bought him his spirit shirt, and you would have thought that I had handed him a bar of gold.  He was so proud of that shirt!  :)

Drew will go to school with one of his sweet friends from church.  They have very similar personalities, and I know that they will love being in school together.  I have my fingers crossed that they are in the same class.  

I got a lot of information in the parent meeting about what our homeschool days will look like and learned about the curriculum that they use at our new school.  Drew did well on his assessment and said that the teachers were really nice.  He did say that he and his buddy were in different groups and "no one played with" him in his group.  :(  It was a good opportunity for me to talk to my shy child about how everyone else may be nervous, too.  We worked on how to introduce himself and how important that it is to make eye contact.  I'm hoping that it was just pre-first day jitters.  Hopefully, he will be much more confident on the first day of school now that he has been exposed to the environment and met all of the kids.  :)

Ready or not - Kindergarten, here we come!

Owen version 3.0 - 5/7/14

My baby boy turned three years old on May 7th!  I am CRAZY about 3 year olds - it is one of my very favorite ages!  I feel like 3 is when they get really funny.  I love the way that they communicate their observations about the world, too.  3 year olds are still sweet and snuggly, but are able to do some things for themselves.  I love everything about this age!  So, as sad as I am to know that my sweet babe is another year older, I am super excited about spending the next 365 days with the 3 year old version of Owen Thomas Carpenter.  :)

As I have mentioned, Owen's birthday fell on a super busy day!  We were still able to celebrate him well, though.  We went to the park with the Hunt girls, which he was super excited about.  He says, "Sadie is my best friend" approximately 435 times a day.  So, seeing his BFF was exactly what he wanted to do on his birthday.  :)  We also went to dinner and he got to open a few small gifts.  I think it was a special day for my special boy!

At 3 years old:
*  Owen weighs 31 pounds (42%) and his 39 inches tall (83%).  He is a tall, skinny little thing.  :)

*  He wears 3T tops and 2T bottoms.  Getting rid of his diaper sure made fitting this skinny boy in clothes more difficult.  3T shorts slip right off of him, but the 2T are borderline too short.  :-/  He wears a size 8 1/2 shoe.

*  He has 20 teeth (counting his 2 year molars that are still coming through the gums, but are almost completely in).

*  Owen is sleeping in a toddler bed, and did great transitioning from his crib!  He still naps for 2-3 hours every afternoon.  May 6th was the very first time in his life that he didn't get his nap.  He ended up falling asleep on the floor at 5:20pm.  He was playing happily one minute, and passed out on the floor the next.  Bless his heart.  He definitely still needs a good afternoon nap.

 He still looks like a baby when he sleeps.  :)

 *  Owen is fully potty trained!  Glory, hallelujah!!!  He is in underwear full time and accidents are extremely rare.  I still put him in a pull up at night, but he always wakes up dry.  I am just a smidge superstitious - nervous that he will wet the bed the one time that I don't lay him down in a pull up.  ;)

*  Owen still sleeps with his "nanny" and LOTS of stuffed animals.  He also still sleeps in his sleepsack.  I didn't put it on him one night, just to see if he even noticed.  As soon as I sat down to rock him, he said, "I need my sleepsack."  Ha!  I guess we'll hang onto it for a bit longer.

*  Owen learned how to whistle last Fall.  He is REALLY good at it, and Clayton thinks it is a great party trick.  He has been known to hold up carline so that he can show off his baby brother's talent to his friends and teacher.  Ha!  I think that O is such a good whistler because of his half tooth in the front.  That extra air flow is bound to help matters.  ;)

*  O's voice goes up about 4 octives when he I remind him to say "please."  Pretty cute.

*  I keep notes in my phone about milestones and funny things that my kids say so that I will remember to blog them in their yearly birthday post.  That's totally normal, right?  Don't answer that.  Anyway, back in November, Owen sang along with the "Nationwide is on your side" jingle when the commercial came on TV.  Wade and I laughed so hard!

*  Owen has a freckle on his right upper arm.  For the last few months, he has called it his "sprinkle."  It is probably my very favorite mispronunciation of his.  I'll be so sad when he corrects himself!  He also says "Buzz Story" instead of "Toy Story,"  "jungle" instead of "juggle," "biff-rent" instead of "different," and "steering wheel" instead of "ferris wheel."  I love listening to him talk.  :)

*  He talked about his first imaginary friends back in February.  They were squirrels named Squad and Squadon.  They only lasted for a day or two, but he was very emphatic when he talked to them or about them.

*  He calls his brothers "Drewy" and "Clayte" (rhymes with plate).

*  He can chew gum without swallowing it.  That's a legit milestone, right?

*  You can definitely tell that Owen has big brothers by his speech.  He says big kid things on a fairly frequent basis.  I doubt that most brand new 3 year olds use the phrases "pinky promise" and "double dare."  But, Owen sure does.  In March when we were potty training, he tee-tee'd on the toilet and then he stood up, threw his hands in the air, and said, "Boom!"  I have never laughed so hard!  In April, we went to a bounce house party.  I was trying to be "cool mom" and went through an obstacle course.  I completely wiped out and tumbled down the last slide.  Owen looked at me, dead serious, and said, "Epic fail."  Ha!

*  When he doesn't hear you or doesn't understand what you are saying, Owen says, "What now?"  My in-laws were quick to point out that he learned that from me.  I guess you pick up those kinds of phrases when your mother is half deaf.  ;)

*  It took Owen a sweet forever to learn his colors.  I was convinced that he was color blind (I still think he has a mild degree of red/green color blindness).  He finally mastered all of his colors in December.  He knew all of his shapes months before he learned his colors.  It was so odd to me.

*  He can count to 10 consistently and knows his ABC's.

*  He loves books.  His favorites are Goodnight Moon, Wide Awake Jake, and Runaway Bunny.  We read those three almost every night.

*  His favorite shows are Paw Patrol, Bubble Guppies, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

*  He is still not a great eater.  His favorite foods are yogurt, pizza, tacos, burritos, Lunchables, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, teddy grahams, and goldfish.  He likes salad, but will fight me tooth and nail about eating any other vegetable.  Sigh.  I'm hoping his appetite will improve with time.

*  I would say that Owen is still super sweet the vast majority of the time, but he still has his stubborn/strong willed/feisty side.  He is still sensitive to correction and doesn't require discipline very often, so I am very thankful for that.  However, there are times when I can tell by the look in his eyes that he is not going to do something that I am asking him to do (it usually involves eating).

*  He loves playing baseball and loves when we pitch balls to him.  He is a pretty good batter, too!  Every time that he hits the ball, he says, "Can I throw down the bat?"  He has been at the ball fields enough to know that when you hit the ball, you throw your bat down, and then run the bases.  It is funny that that is his code phrase, though.

*  Owen is still very healthy, praise God!  His one major health issue is his skin.  Poor guy has terrible eczema!  It makes me crazy!  His hands, wrists, elbows, knees, feet, and ankles are always red and inflamed.  He will scratch until his skin bleeds.  It is just awful.  I am praying that we can get it under control soon.

Dear Owen,

Happy Birthday, my Precious Boy!  I know that I tell you this all of the time, but I am so glad that you are mine!  I can't imagine my life without you in it.  You are a precious gift, Child of mine.  Don't ever think for one minute that your Mama doesn't know that.  I am 100% sure that the Lord chose to let me be your mother out of  His sheer love and His desire to bless me.  You'll never know how deep my adoration is for you!

You sure do make life fun, Owie!  I hope that I always remember that little glimmer in your 3 year old eyes when you know that you are being funny.  You are hysterical, and you know it!  You bring heaps of laughter and tons of smiles to our household.  What a treasure you are!

You are quick to want to right a wrong, and I love that about you.  You say, "I'm soooo sorry.  I'm soooo sorry," whenver you cause someone harm or do something that you know is wrong.  "Please forgive you?  Please forgive you?"  You mix up the pronouns when you ask for forgiveness, but I love that that is your heart.  I hope that you are always quick to reconcile.  That will get you far in life, Dear One.  When you do something wrong, try to make it right as fast as you can.

You love to pray and end most prayers with "Thank you for Jesus."  Yes, yes, yes!  I hope that the magnitude of the Father's gift will grow in your little heart over time.  I pray that you will recognize your need for a Savior at an early age, my Child.  Please, God, let it be so!  The older that I get, the more that I realize what a true gift it is to be saved early in life.  This life is hard.  So, so, so hard.  And I truly do not know how people make it through the dark parts without Jesus by their side.  I pray that for you, Owen.  I pray that you won't have to suffer through the painful seasons without knowing that you have Heaven to look forward to.

Your brothers are so very different from each other - night and day.  They truly could not be more opposite.  I remember being pregnant with you and thinking that they were such polar opposites, that you must fit in somewhere in the middle.  As it turns out, you are completely different from both of them, too!  I'm so glad that God didn't make us all the same!  That would make life very boring, wouldn't it?  You are brave, strong, fast, handsome, kindhearted, stubborn, sometimes quick to anger, loving, and happy.  God made you, you - and I am so glad!  You are fearfully and wonderfully made, Son!

In the Fall, you will be going to preschool for the first time.  Wow!  I know that you are going to love it, but I am going to miss you so very badly!  You have been my little sidekick on the days when your brothers were at school for the last two years.  We have had some really fun times together, you and me!  We will still have Mondays together while your brothers are at school this year.  I plan on soaking in every minute of that one-on-one time each week.  Mommy/Owen days are pretty fun!  I'm excited for your first school experience, too, though.  I know that you will do well and make lots of friends.  I hope that you always remember to be a good friend and obey your teacher.  Those are two of the most important things to learn at school.

I'm so happy to have a 3 year old again!  This is going to be a great year for you and our family!

I love you to the moon and back,
Mommy

Muffins with Mom & Clayton's Last Day of School - 5/7/14

You know how there are days when everything seems to hit at once and you feel like you hit the floor running and never stop all day?  May 7th, 2014 was that kind of day.  :)

It was Clayton's last day of school, Drew's Muffins with Mom at preschool, and my Owen's 3rd birthday.  To add fuel to the fire, we were in the middle of a kitchen remodel.  I hadn't had a kitchen sink, dishwasher, stove, oven, or microwave for a full week.  To say that I was a little stressed is a MAJOR understatement.  Nevertheless, we made lemons out of lemonade and had a great day.

Clayton was a bit melancholy about his last day of school, bless his heart.  He has been at Coram Deo since Kindergarten and loved his friends there.  However, we have heard wonderful things about a school that is the same model (a hybrid of private school and homeschooling), that is closer to home, and considerably less expensive.  So... we made the difficult decision to change schools for the 2014-2015 school year.  I know that it will be a great move for our family, but Clayton is super sad to leave his school friends.  My heart aches for my little boy, but I know that he will bloom where he is planted.  He will make friends quickly, I'm certain.

Clayton's last day as a 3rd grader!

After dropping Clayton off for his last day, Drew and I went to Muffins with Mom at preschool.  It was an adorable preschool celebration, as usual.  Drew had made me an early Mother's Day card and pillow.  He was so proud to give them to me!  

These questionnaires always crack me up!  By the looks of it, one would think that I sit around watching TV and eating chips all day.  Lovely...  I did appreciate the fact that I got upgraded this year on the "best thing she cooks" category to "pizza."  Last year he answered "pop tarts."  ;)

I asked D about the picture on the left that he drew.  He said that Mrs. Chay asked them to draw somewhere that they like to go with their mom.  He drew Target.  Not the park.  Or the library.  Or the beach.  Or Disneyworld.  Nope - he picked Target.  I've never been more sure that he does, in fact, share my DNA.  Ha!

Love this boy!

Owen's birthday was on 5/7 as well, but I think that deserves its own post.  :)

A Midsummer's Night Dream - 5/5/14

As one last hoorah in the 3rd grade, Clayton's little school has the tradition of putting on a Shakespeare play during the last week of school.  Those kids (and their teacher) worked so hard memorizing lines, making props, and practicing their comedic/dramatic timing.  I must admit that my expectations of 9 year olds performing a Shakespeare comedy, but I was so pleasantly surprised!  They did a great job and were truly very funny!

I had to laugh at the way that Mrs. H assigned the parts.  The most mischievous (but funny and sweet!) little boy was cast as Puck.  Clayton was assigned the role of Lysander, and his "arch enemy of all the girls" (his words, not mine) was cast as his love interest.  Ha ha!

 C snickering at himself after one of his funny lines.  ;)

 Puck working his magic on the enchanted couples.

 Clayton was most excited about this scene where he got to wrestle with his buddy, Reid.  ;)

 The Final Bow

What a fun way to finish out the year!  Clayton loved getting to talk to his Gran (my mom taught High School English for many years) about their play and truly enjoyed his first Shakespeare experience.