more pictures

So it's a little after midnight Wednesday night & I'm just home from work and tired, but wound up enough that I can't go right to bed. So I thought I should put some photos of the kitchen on now that I know I DO love the cabinets. I'll show the cabinets half way up then all the way up and maybe you'll see why I was worried about how it would look. We've got a stove in now which is really what I've been needing...you can only microwave & barbeque for so long. I looks like it could still be more than 2 weeks though before we have everything in order. Countertops could take up to 2 weeks, then a tile backsplash has to come after that. There are still cabinet lights, pendant lights, painting, baseboards, some electric outlets, one broom closet that needs to be custom made, the bay window with a window seat (which will come much, much later), bar stools, man, there's still quite a bit. It does look like a kitchen now though and I can actually envision it done.
















Jack had a friend over last week who thought it was the "best day EVER" because we got to have lunch at the kitchen table set up in the family room. I haven't been quite as enthusiastic as that lately, but the kids are managing fine. Here's Jack playing in the carboard earlier today. - Dana

I won't post photos tonight...

The kitchen cabinets are half way done...they're all up, but no doors or little finishes and frankly they look frighteningly awful. It's crazy designing your own kitchen. Jason & I spent months planning and searching and looking at samples of everything in all different light, but you don't know just what it will look like until it's all done. So I can't look at it at this stage because it frightens me that we've chosen something wrong. I'm sure I'll love it tomorrow.

I did manage to get out of jury duty. It's a long story. Should I really go into the whole story? Don't read on if that sounds like a boring topic because I'll now tell the story: today was very different from last Monday. Last Monday, 200 potential jurors (myself included) sat in a hallway for most of the day not knowing what was going on. They called about 35 numbers randomly (we were each assigned a number) and those people disappeared into a court room only to be sent back out for a lunch break 15 minutes later. We were all told to return an hour & a half later after we'd had a break (a break from what?). When we came back, we were told to take another break for an hour. When we came back again, they took the same 35 or so into the court room, sent them out 5 minutes later for what they thought would be a 5 minute break. The next thing we were told was to all go home and return next Monday at 8:30am (which was today). That was at 4:10pm. What a waste of 200 people's time! I couldn't believe I had to do it again today. However, today all 165 of us (the other 35 were selected for a trial I guess) were brought right into a court room where we were to be selected for a number of civil trials. They asked if there was anyone with a medical reason they couldn't be on a jury... then could anyone not understand written or spoken English...it was very intimidating. You had to be presented to the judge in front of all these people and explain why you were too ill or needed surgery etc. So when they asked if anyone had an extreme hardship or reason, financial or otherwise, why they couldn't be on a jury I was hesitant to approach. I knew Jason would be mad if I didn't at least try though. We really would be stuck if I had to spend weeks on a jury! So I did get up. Now, the only person the judge had excused so far was a man who said he was going to throw up right then & there (good one!) so I wasn't sure having small kids to look after was going to cut it. The woman presented her plea a couple of people before me that she had 2 small kids at home and he looked at her a little disgusted and told her to sit down. Well my knees were shaking as I approached - not unlike the lion in the Wizard of Oz now that I think of it. I told him my husband had to take the day off for me to be here & that I had 3 small kids at home. He asked their age. When I told him he said, "aren't 2 of them in school then?" I said that the middle one was only in for half days. He told me to sit down. I thought that meant my excuse wasn't good enough. When everyone had given their stories and he had told us ALL to sit down, I overheard him saying some of the juror numbers to the secretary or whoever and one of the numbers was mine. He didn't call them out though, but I thought I heard him saying something about not including those numbers in the draw...because it is a draw. It's just like bingo. They call out a number and that person goes up and sits in the jurors box. And so it began. Lawyers came in 2 by 2...said how long they thought their case would last, 6 numbers were called, the lawyers had the option of rejecting people (without asking ANY questions, just by looking at us!) and then they would agree on a jury. The jury would be sworn in, they would be wisked away to start their trial either immediately or tomorrow, then the next pair of lawyers would be called in. 2 juries were decided on, and in the third, my number was called. I was sitting in the jurors box and neither judge contested my selection. The jury had been selected for this trial. I was just about to be sworn in when I meekly said to the bailiff, "I think I might have been excused." She shouts out to the judge that juror 6 thinks she might have been excused. I called out my juror number and sure enough...I had been excused. Whew. I ran out of there! I must admit, it would be interesting to be a juror, I hope one day I get to, but right now, it would be SO HARD to balance and to find care for the kids. So I guess I got lucky! - Dana

I want my kitchen back!

Bad News....
Installers are here to install the cabinets...and I had to run to ikea to pick up a different cabinet and some huge 3x8 ft thing, not sure what but they needed it and we didn't buy it or something...I don't know. What a pain, thanks Elaine for picking up Jack at school as Henry and I had to make a mad dash to ikea.

Good News....
Dana is off Jury Duty!!! By the skin of her teeth. I'll let her tell the long story - what does skin of your teeth mean anyway - sounds kinda gross.

Weekend Update...

We've been due to visit Karen & Bob & their girls for a couple of months and already had to postpone once due to sick children (in both our houses) so when we found out that the floors could only be installed on Saturday morning, we asked them to come first thing in the morning so that we could get to Barrie at a decent time. We were due to spend the night. So Friday night, after all the kids went to bed, I breathed a sigh of relief that no one was sick and our plans were going forward...10pm, a loud barking noise came through the baby monitor. We went in to check on Henry and he was coughing a bark like a seal and was burning up. He spent the night in our bed barely sleeping and seemed fine in the morning. I don't know a lot about croup, but I think it's a cough that flares up at night and that the best remedy for it is cool air & a cool mist vaporizor. So we adjusted our plans somewhat and spent the afternoon & evening in Barrie and drove home at the kids' bedtime. Henry did get a fever again Saturday night and had a very restless sleep so I'm glad we opted to come home, but I'm also glad we didn't cancel the visit entirely. The kids had a great time and so did we.















Henry's sleeping well so far tonight although he's been talking in his sleep a lot. He played outside a lot today with Hannah & Jack and they were all glad to get out in the nice weather.

As far as the kitchen goes...the floors are in and the cabinets are due to be installed tomorrow. I'll be at jury selection (for the second Monday in a row!) so I'll be pretty excited to get home and see how everything looks. Jason's taken the day off so he'll see the work in progress and also get to take the kids to school! I think he's really looking forward to it. I know the kids are!

-Dana

Is Henry 2? You bet he is!

Henry sure is a good little boy, but boy oh boy the day he turned two is the day he started into the terrible two's... Like clockwork. He has a little temper tantrum where he just throws himself down on the floor dramatically, sometimes hitting his head on the floor or wall. He doesn't like listening all of a sudden either - bolting for any exit he can find.

With patience Dana and I are trying to teach him to listen, and we are putting him in his crib when he kicks or hits, yesterday though he was very grumpy and each time I took him out he would look right in my eyes and hit me upside the head....this went on for a few times and each time I would place him back in the crib and leave the room laughing to myself because he was so sneaky about it. First he would say "out daddy, out" and look very sad, so I would pick him up and he would cuddle me, then look at me and then Smack!

The other two were not hitters so this is something we will have to nip in the bud quickly, he doesn't like going back in his crib or his room when he is misbehaving so hopefully this will have some positive effect - either that or I will have to put a bike helmet on.

Henry is a good boy though (baby to him, he says "ReRe Baby"), yesterday I was watching him play and he was holding a shoe up to his ear saying "Hello Daddy? Hello?" it was very cute.

Floors go in tomorrow, new sink arrived via ups/via ebay... and ikea delivered all the cabinets so the house is full of boxes and boxes of everything - now it just has to be put together (not by me!) and then we are almost done!! - J

Thought maybe this would be more intertesting than it actually is.

Rules:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to it).
3. Find the 5th sentence (or closest to it).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.

Results
Who is this large baby we have, he's not only heavy, he's tall.

Floor-Shmoor

So they finally found the correct product that we wanted, but it was in a very cold warehouse near the Airport somewhere...now that they brought it over they won't be able to install it because it needs to climatize, so they won't install until Saturday morning - frustrating, but at least they found the product and I am glad we left a little time before the next set of installers arrives on Monday...

We ate drywall dust for dinner tonight. Yumm.

Spoke too soon.

The floor arrived and when it was taken out the box it is a different colour...not just slightly, we were thinking brown....what was delivered was orangish...working on a solution now as that's all they have in stock ...ahhh.

It's coming along.

The floors go in today and that means we can move some furniture back downstairs. There is furniture in everyone's bedroom and it's getting a little crowded. So far everything has gone well and no huge suprises - and we are just hoping this continues.

March Break Over!!! - Yeahhh

Hannah and Jack are back at school today - and speaking for Dana and myself - thank god! They have been at eachother's throats and partly due to the fact it's still cold out and inside we are all confined to a small area of the house. Erika is coming over to watch Henry today because Dana has been called to Jury Duty...well not yet, just the first stage where you wait and they decide if you are what they are looking for. Hopefully it won't take all day, but I imagine it will and the fact she has to drive all the way to Newmarket - it will probably take up most of the day.

Yesterday we tried out the Richmond Hill Wave Pool - what a fun place! The kids had a great time, especially Henry - he really enjoyed the waves and the pool was perfect - a gradual beach-like entry. On another note, Jack went to his first sleepover - and it went smoothly, they stayed up late watching a t.v. after going to see The Shaggy Dog... what a grown up little boy.
House construction starts back up today - flooring should be in on Wednesday (hopefully) we have to put a new sub-floor in...which wasn't in the budget...oh the budget.

A few Henry-ism's;
ohshoot - (said really quickly) used when told he can't go somewhere or we can't find a toy he is searching for.

yippeee - used when told he can go somewhere or when you do find his toy

ooooppppps - said when he drops anything, really anything.

broommm broommm - car, truck...anything the drives around

Owwwww!

Will type with eyes closed...excuse typos. Hurt my eyes very much today, soaked contact lenses for 4 days in wrong solution then put thme in my eyes...stung so much. Rinsed them off & put thme back in for many hours even though still hurt...figured it would go away. No, really. Ended up having some kind of IV flush in my eyes at the hospital tonight & can't keep my eyes open for too long...so much pain. NO eye damage though, thank goodness. Going to bed soon wiht lots of Tylenol. Shouldn't talk like a robot just because eyes are c losed, sorry.

Lots of renovation photos.

Yesterday...Jason surveying new hole in wall with 3 spots for pendant lights above.













Today...new hole cleaned up somewhat but oops, that end little wall wasn't supposed to come off. That will be put back maybe tomorrow.














Another view from today...potlights put in, fridge area dry-walled. I've been skipping this view so I"ll show you a before photo too...














And one more view from today and before...















this one wasn;t taken from the same angle so it's hard to tell, but where there once was a door, there's not anymore. Don't go crazy on this one, you'll just have to trust us. It makes room for the stove AND in the 5 years we lived here, we've never used that door. It doesn't really go anywhere we want to go. Plus the natural light will be replaced by all the natural light now flooding in from the living room.

Ok, so that all rquired a little too much eyes open. even with the lights out & my sunglasses on, it's still too bright. - Dana

whew! Glad that's over.

Back at work, feeling better. I even bought a coffee at tim-tims (henry calls it tim-tims), but I haven't taken a sip yet. I slept and slept, a few kids woke up here and there, but I am just glad it's over with and don't wish that upon anyone.

Hopefully Dana will be able to post some kitchen pics soon - what a mess!

We've been in bed!

I can't believe that was only yesterday that Jason wrote that entry! Not too long before dinner yesterday, Jack got sick to his stomach. We felt so sorry for him. Jason & I had even talked about how poorly we thought Jack would handle it if he got sick too since he's never thrown up in his life and is way more likely to freak out about that sort of thing. On the contrary, he immediately asked if he could watch 4 episodes of PeeWee's Playhouse in a row since that's what Hannah got to do when she was sick. So off to bed with a mini DVD player & a bucket for him & next thing you know, Henry's getting sick. He's a bit trickier since he doesn't understand & can't warn us. Then suddenly Jason's sick. So I'm feeling a little overwhelmed but grateful that I'm feeling well since they've all dropped like flies. Jason slept on the bathroom floor much of the night and so did wee Henry. He looked so cute all wrapped in towels on his back asleep with his hands behind his head. Then, come 11pm...should have seen it coming. I was sick too. It was an AWFUL night! No one slept (except Hannah who's fully recovered) and the crew arrived at 8am to start LOUD construction on the kitchen. We all spent most of the day in bed and are generally feeling better. Jason's looking a little rough still & I don't dare eat anything, but Henry's bounced right back!
In the meantime, kitchen reno is well under way.

Sunday, the kitchen emptied out in anticipation of the demolition (fridge is in our front hallway!)















Monday, demolition crew tears down cabinets, bulk heads & all floors.














Tuesday, half wall is partially removed and new space created for fridge...thermostat is moved to a new wall & for some reason the furnace won't come on. Someone else is called in to fix the problem...they arrive at 7:30pm! Shivery sick people everywhere, but we have heat again!

Demo Day

Last night we enjoyed our first dinner cooking in our new kitchen...the laundry room. We are about to begin a kitchen reno (which will be on time and on budget...) so we have cleared out the entire kitchen, along with the living and dining rooms. The fridge is currently in the hallway near the front door, and everything else is scattered throughout the house just in time for March Break with three kids at home all day... We have setup the kitchen table in the family room and this setup will hopefully be only for 4 weeks...

The weather on the weekend was great, it was so nice to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. The kids wrapped up their swimming lessons and have done really well. On Saturday night we were out and got a call from the babysitter that Hannah was sick to her stomach, 24 hour flu...Dana spent most of Saturday night on the bathroom floor with Hannah in her arms, she got sick each time she moved so she didn't want to go anywhere. Last night she was feeling better and ate a few Saltines. Hopefully everyone else doesn't get this - I don't do well with a child who throws up...who does? - J

Jack's Birthday!

Today was Jack's birthday party. Erika made a fantastic cake which Jack was thrilled with - thanks so much Erika, it was great - the kids loved it, especially when they found out they got to take home a Hot Wheels car off the cake!

An all boys party sure is different from a girls party...Hannah wasn't home she was at an all-day craft making thingy - she came home with hundreds of crafts...

Anyway, yes a boys party if a little louder, a little more chaotic - different - at one point Dana went downstairs to see what they were up to, they were all playing cars - then this one kid shouted out "Let's get this party started!!" and Jack of stands on the couch, with his arms in the air, shouts back to everyone "YEAH!! LET'S GET THIS SICK PARTY STARTED" Sick being the new great, wicked, awesome - I guess... Where does he get these things - a new wonderful phrase from my 5-year old.

The party was a lot of fun, Jack had a great time and enjoyed being the centre of attention. Dana and I are glad all parties went well and that party-season is now officially completed. - J

Hannah's Party

So today was the last day of school before March Break and also "beach day" at school so everyone was pretty excited. Add to it that it was Hannah's party with her friends after school and we had a bunch of wild chickens running around here.

Eri came up this morning to help me decorate the cake for Hannah...it was pretty great! She's got a whole tool box of neat supplies (you left a tip here by the way Er) and I got to try my hand at icing the cupcakes. It was pretty fun!

Then came a mini-shower for a friend of mine who's having a baby in April, then party time!

2 of 9 girls couldn't make it, but it was a great time for those who could. Dancing and crafts, cake & pizza, presents and games. What more could you ask for. Hannah really enjoyed being the focus of all her friends for a day!

I was noticing how tame and quiet it was for so many people being here, but above the quiet was one REALLY LOUD voice...Jack.

Tomorrow's the Hot Wheels party and I anticipate a lot more noise! - Dana

Happy Birthday Hannah!

Wow 7 Years Old.....

Happy Birthday Jack & Henry!!!

More Pictures

Birthdays

We celebrated the kids birthdays with Nan & Grampa, Eri, Mike & Bennett today...mostly it was Henry's party since the other 2 will have parties with their friends this week, but everyone got presents. It was great! Henry was so surprised and excited by everything. He had the same reaction no matter how big or small, balloons - oh! Dora napkins - oh! A card - oh! Hannah got her ears pierced as a big surprise gift. She read about it in her birthday card & then we went out to have them pierced only a couple of hours later...can't believe I was able to keep that a secret, not only from Hannah but from Mom & Eri. Thanks so much for the great gifts everyone...and Memu & Rob too! And of course I had to include one photo of Henry's new "angry face". - Dana

Hey, what ever happened to Valentine's Day?

The kids wanted to read through the blog so we've been looking back and got as far as Valentine's Day when I suddenly remembered Jason & I promised we'd go out a different night to celebrate...it's March 3rd...hmmm.
Jack wants to say, "we all live in a yellow submarine"
Hannah thinks this is hysterical!
They're both giggling uncontrollably now. I thought they really wanted to say something...sorry, not much to blog about.

Yes, I have 2 on March 6, and 1 on March 8.

"You should just have one big party for all three kids and be done with it" I have heard that comment so many times at work when I mention we have three kids who have birthdays next week. I used to think that too, I told Dana once that we could just do one party until they were ten - she looked at me like I was crazy. So we are having three birthday parties in one week - a lot of planning to do and we are way way behind. We just got the invitations out the other day and I bought some presents last night, it will be interesting.

It doesn't help that Dana is still sick, Hannah is home again today, for the 5th day in a row. Poor Dana, I think she has the flu and can't shake it. Dana gets the short end of the stick being a stay-at-home mom and no real rest, she did get a good nap in when Eri came over. It doesn't help things when we are trying to get ready for a kitchen renovation that starts just after birthday party season.

Okay enough complaining...life's good. When is spring anyway? Jack has been invited to his first sleepover...and very excited too. Henry is entering the 2's...he now has perfected an angry face - and it's not pretty. Looking forward to the weekend - j

Quarantine the neighborhood

Nothing to report lately, Hannah has been off school for three days - the entire school has been hit with the flu bug. The school had 59 calls yesterday of kids out sick, 11 from Hannah's class alone. Jack seems to have recovered, along with Henry and I. Dana is out now though - Erika is on her way over to help out this afternoon - thanks so much Eri! I can't leave work this week as it's too crazy. Hopefully some extra sleep will help things out. J