My Guys

E went to his girlfriend's Senior Prom last night. He's only a junior, and this is his second senior prom! Things were a little iffy as to whether they would still be together to go, but I guess it held together and they had a good time.
















Thursday was L's 6th Birthday! We had family over for cake & ice cream, then we're planning a trip next Sunday to King's Dominion, an amusement park near Richmond. His big gift was this "Green Machine"; sort of a Big Wheel/bike hybrid. He's had a great time running it around our driveways, at least until he jackknifed it last night and fell, thus scraping his hand and knee. All is well, however, and he's decided that he again likes it.

Guess where I am right now?!.....

Yup - sittin' in my NEW kitchen! We moved most of our stuff into it yesterday. Painting still needs to be done, so I'll post a pic when that's done. The painters will be here this coming week to finish up, then probably the next week they'll start demolition of the old kitchen. How many people get to boast that they have TWO functioning kitchens, I ask? If I have my way this week, I will never cook ANYTHING EVER AGAIN in the old one.

For my first meal this morning, I proceded to absolutely incinerate a couple of eggs on my Thermador gas cooktop. I am just so not used to cooking with gas, and I had the flame up too high. Oh well, lesson learned, and truthfully, the eggs didn't taste all that bad. I have an instant hot/cold water dispenser by my sink, which is heaven for making tea in the morning. TWO dishwahers (hubby's over-extravagent, in my opinion, requirement), a monster-size fridge and a double wall oven. I may never leave this room again.....

The yuck part of the whole moving experience was going through all the cabinets and drawers in the old kitchen, many of which have not been thoroughly explored since shortly after we moved in 7 years ago. Simply gross. We filled many, many trash bags. And the best part... I have numerous empty drawers and cabinets in the new kitchen! Room to spare! It'll probably take about a week for me to absentmindedly stuff 'stuff' in them.

But for now, life is good. I promise a pic soon!

The kids' first "rock" concert

So we are big Ralph's World fans at our house, and when I found out he was coming to town, I got tickets for me and the kids to go (hubby just couldn't quite stomach another kiddie concert; he's done his time at a Wiggles concert a few years ago).

We had a blast. It was a very small venue, only about 300 people; 200 or so of whom were under 4 feet tall. The kids actually got to go up on stage when Ralph was singing; M, for the last number, was standing RIGHT NEXT to Ralph. I think she's in love..... Afterwards, we got Ralph to sign a CD for us, and M&L gave him a high five.

If you're not familiar with Ralph's World, he is very cool. It's kids' music, but we, ahem, grownups, can actually tolerate the stuff. For example, at his concert, he threw in a little Hendrix and Freebird (for which we all held up our cell phones - lighters are SO passe), which of course went entirely over the kids' heads. Most all of his stuff is like that; it can be taken on many different levels. We'll definitely go back next time he's here; we had such a good time.

And to top off the whole day, we went for ice cream (in downtown DC in spring - what could be better?), then rode the Metro (aka subway) home. The kids were in heaven.

And if you ever have the opportunity to check out Ralph, please do. He's great. In fact, Disney has just picked him up and he'll be appearing on Playhouse Disney soon. He also has a grownup band, the Bad Examples. I've never heard of them, but supposedly they're pretty good. Sort of a "bar" band.

Wow!

I just got this in an email from my aunt - these are little babies made out of MARZIPAN. Yes, the almond paste gunk that usually is in the shape of a pear or banana. Besides questioning WHY someone would want to make human babies out of almonds, you really have to admire the talent. But frankly, it's a little creepy.

I just hope she's not planning on eating these little cuties......

The light at the end of the tunnel

Well, we're finally starting to see an actual KITCHEN emerge from the dust! As I type, we have an installed slate floor, cabinets, a countertop, and a functioning faucet. The appliances have yet to be installed, but they're sitting in the middle of the kitchen, awaiting their turn. The painters have been here for three days, prepping the area for the eventual color (Benjamin Moore Camouflage). I've been told that by the end of next week, we'll have a fully functioning, if not 100% complete, kitchen. They should start the demo of the existing kitchen in a couple of weeks. The second phase of the project (the dining room and laundry room) shouldn't take nearly as long. I promise pictures when we get nearer to completion. I still worry, as silly as this sounds, that I won't like it. Isn't that dumb? I've never, ever, in my life, had such control over my house to this degree. I usually feel pretty good about my choices, and I do this time, too, but yikes, to spend over $200k and not have it turn out EXACTLY as I wanted it? That scares me to death!

But so far, so good.