"Why do you hate me?"

Jared asked me this question the morning I forced him to go to swimming lessons.  Jared's never taken lessons, and he is getting to the point in scouts that he needs to be a stronger swimmer so I signed him up during this, our last off-track time of the year.  He did not want to go at first (thus the comment), but after his first two lessons he is really loving it and has asked me to sign him up for another round.  It's amazing how quickly things change.


Scout-o-rama

We went to our first ever Scout-o-rama this weekend.  That is a big gathering scouts where there are lots of booths of different activities for the scouts to do (and things for the parents to buy).   We didn't know how huge it would be (it filled the entire convention center). We spent hours doing the activities and could have spent hours more. I was amazed at the hundreds and hundreds of volunteers that were working at the event. Here are a few pictures:

Jared rocked at the bridge climb.

There were several different rubber band gun shooting galleries. Now I want to make one.

I sword fought Jared a few different times. Everyone in the family could do the activities.

This was one of two rain gutter races we did. The other one was duckies.

Even  Chuck and I fought one battle. But the guy running this one wouldn't let Chuck hit me so I won. Not that I needed the help mind you.

Annette, Lisa and Amy (I'm taking the photo)

BYU Women's Conference

One of the highlights of my year is the two days every April/May that I get to escape with my girlfriends and go to Women's Conference.  BYU Women's Conference is  put on by the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  All day you attend different presentations on various subjects. I particularly enjoyed hearing from the head of the church's Humanitarian Services, Ruth Todd, a Temple Square organist, Brad Wilcox and Ardeth Kapp.

Here we are making puppets.

 On Thursday night we participated in a huge service project; We made felt hand puppets for Head Start. There was also a concert that night that had some nice moments. On Friday, our closing speaker was Elder Anderson. Afterwards, we walked around the art museum and went out to our traditional pizza at The Brick Oven.  Of course the best part is spending time with great friends.  Thanks ladies!

Flat Jared went to see his cousin ice-skate

The Adventures of Flat Jared

Jared has been working on a project at school.  After reading the book, Flat Stanly, Jared made his own "Flat Jared" and spent a week writing down all the activities that they did together.  Then, for the next part of the assignment, Jared sent his little friend to his Aunt Laura in Minnesota to spend a week with her.  She has been taking Flat Jared everywhere and we've been getting regular updates on Facebook. Flat Jared seems to be having a great time and our family has really enjoyed seeing all the adventures that he's having.

Before and after: The main reason we started this project is because when you opened the dishwasher it blocked the sink. We cut out the peninsula, created a small island and moved the dishwasher. We also moved the much larger cabinets away from the window to give it a more open feel.  In the pictures from last week you can see that we moved the refrigerator out of the doorway. Now you can open the fridge and it doesn't block entry into the kitchen and living room.

Almost There 

The hero of the remodel!

We put a lot of finishing touches on the kitchen this week. Chuck got the microwave and the dishwasher installed. He put in new molding to replace those we ripped out when we did the floor. It is looking fantastic and we are so glad to be nearing the end of the project. I also was able to sell our old fridge and stove so we've started to get some of the old kitchen moved out.

Scouts  

We had our pack meeting this week and Jared earned a belt loop for gymnastics and also the gymnastics athletic pin.. This is his first athletic pin and we are proud of him. Those months in gymnastics class were good for something. I got a patch for finishing all my training (scouts love training!). Speaking of training, this week I volunteered to join our districts round table staff (yes, you heard right, volunteered. Amy, stop laughing!). I'm replacing a lady who is moving so will just assist for the next couple months and then I'll take over as district trainer for the Webelos (you don't need experience evidently, just willingness).  


Youth Group Responsibilities

 Kaitlin and Ruth are setting in in their new responsibilities with their new youth group. Kaitlin is adjusting to the idea of being the president of her group. She is learning to give assignments and take responsibility. Ruth likes working with the other girls in her group, though I get the sense that she would be happier if she were in charge. Kaitlin is also getting ready to be a youth leader at girls camp this year. She will be certifying the younger girls on various skills. This will be Ruth's first year at camp and she is excited. Camp is a week long in July.

Under Construction: our week in pictures

On Monday, for family home evening,  we continued our creative cooking adventures by making personal chocolate cakes in the microwave. They turned out as well as you would expect a cake in the microwave would.

The cabinets were delivered on Wednesday morning. Only one day later than promised because last week, at the last minute, we decided we wanted them glazed.

By Wednesday afternoon our team of installers had arrived and got to work. They struggled at first because, evidently, our walls are neither square, nor plumb.

At the end of the first day of construction this is what our kitchen looked like.  We ate out this night and Jared also went to his first night of Karate at our local rec center (he loved it).

And just to break things up, this is our bunny summer. She is happy that the weather is warm and there are lots of good things in the yard to eat. Including my peas, which are now nubs.

Kaitlin tried out the closet to see if it would go to Narnia. It didn't.

At the end of the second day of construction.  There were a few pieces missing, and one cabinet door didn't fit and had to get re-made.  We had a potato crockpot dish that was okay.  We are getting sick of camping type food at this point.

Friday morning, our installer, Juan, is busy at work, fixing the hardware that had too long of screws, adjusting all the hinges and getting ready for the counter tops.

By Friday the appliances had been delivered and the counter-top was installed.  I can't fine the "before" pictures, hopefully I'll be able to post some before and afters next week so you can see the huge contrast.

Friday night we spent an hour wiping everything down. It was all thick with several types of dust including regular and saw.  We also propped the doors open to air them out. Our whole home smells like Sherwin Williams.

On Saturday morning Chuck tackled the installation of the new garbage disposal and kitchen faucet. He was also going to instal the dishwasher but discovered the opening they had left was too small. We will have to call them tomorrow to come and rip it out and reset the edge cabinets to fit the dishwasher. 

Here is our kitchen as of Saturday.  It is almost done.  Kaitlin made sure to put the certificate she had earned at her BYU Spanish competition on our new refrigerator.  She competed in a Spanish skit and was rated 'very good' and her school got 3rd place overall out of 8 schools.

New Floors

Chuck took Wednesday through Friday off to work on the kitchen.  On Wednesday we took out the lower cabinets and pulled up the rest of the sub floor and staples and started to lay the floor. We worked on the floor all day Friday.  On Saturday while I was out having fun, Chuck stayed behind and finished up the floor and spackled and sanded the walls to get them ready for painting (the new cabinets leave a slightly different footprint than the old ones so we have to repair the walls where they will be newly exposed).   While the project took longer then expected it went off well, and we are very pleased with the new floor and how things are going.  Tomorrow after work Chuck will paint and the cabinets and counter-top should be installed on Tuesday.


Spring Break

While all this construction was going on, we have also been having spring break.  I took the kids swimming one day, and then another night the girls and I went to see a local community production of Into the Woods that some friends were in.  While there I saw my cousin, Sara, was also in the orchestra, I got to visit with her and that was fun. I had boiled eggs earlier in the week before we took out the stove, so that we could dye eggs on Friday.  I had planed to dye them outside, but on Friday we woke up to some snow and freezing temperatures (hopefully it didn't get my peach tree too badly). By Friday afternoon, the kitchen floor was 2/3 done so while Chuck took a break, I laid down a tarp and set up the card table and we dyed eggs on the part of the floor that was done. 

I thought you'd need a little help finding Jared.

Also on Friday Kaitlin got an early birthday gift: a nice camera with detachable lens.  She enjoyed spending Easter afternoon doing a 'photo shoot' with all the members of the family.  Once she edits her pictures, I'll try to remember to post some of them here.

Saturday morning was our city's annual Mad Candy Grab. Ruth opted out this year (it's her last eligible year anyway) but Jared wanted to go, so we did. It was craziness as ever, and Jared did a great job muscling in there and shoving the other kids out of the way to get the candy. 

With Grandma and our cousin Benjamin.

On Saturday, while Chuck worked on the floor, the kids and I drove down to my sister Donna's house to attend our annual family Easter gathering.   All my siblings that live locally were there, and we had a great time, hunting eggs (lots and lots of them), eating food, doing crafts and visiting.



Easter

I haven't yet talked about what it is like living without a kitchen.  We moved the refrigerator to the front room and plugged it in.   We kept the sink intact until Friday when it had to go.  We moved a few of the cabinets to our family room where I filled them with the contents of my kitchen, along with several boxes placed on top.  The rest of the cabinets went down to the basement for now.  We have been without a stove since Wednesday, but we did plug the microwave in, in the family room.   It wasn't that bad really, kind of like camping.  That is, until we took out the sink.  Losing your kitchen sink feels like moving to a third world country.   Luckily, we have a bathroom right there, but it just feels unsanitary to get drinks of water and wash dishes in the bathroom sink and tub.  Something about putting your dishes on top of the toilet as you get ready to wash them is just wrong. Not to mention the problem of no disposal.  So we've been using a paper goods, but for basic cooking some use of knives and dishes is unavoidable.   We've been grilling and using the crock-pot for every meal, and that has worked out okay. 

Today, I wanted to make a special meal, it being Easter and all.  So imagine with me...   The crock pot is sitting on the floor in the front room near the front door.  It's sitting on a towel that is on the welcome mat. In the family room, I'm microwaving potatoes, which will later be mashed by Jared, by hand, on a towel on the floor of the family room.  Asparagus are washed in the bathroom sink, and then they also get the microwave treatment.  There is no gravy; I have no stove top.  There is an old card table set up in the empty kitchen. Chuck brings some sawhorses and a piece of plywood to make a "food table"; Ruth brings in the piano bench (she has to maneuver it around the stove that is sitting in the middle of the front room) as we need to fit five around the table. When the ham is done I kneel to carve it right in the crock, as it is very hot and I am not trusting it to the "food table" aforementioned. Kaitlin, who has been assigned to make lemonade, is filling the pitcher in the bathtub.  We line up to get the last remaining cubes of ice out of the freezer (there is no water line attachment in the front room). Kaitlin settles for just one cube.  The card table has been set nicely, with paper goods on a striking blue vinyl table cloth with cows and barns on it.   I bring the plate of meat in from the front room. It is time for Easter dinner. We sit down at the table and Kaitlin smiles, "This is the best Easter dinner we've ever had." And indeed, it was.

Jared

I haven't blogged about Jared lately.  He's a great kid who is happy just being home. This week, because of our warm weather, he spent some time perfecting a back flip on the trampoline.  His strength and bravery continue to amaze us (though he still doesn't want to go back to gymnastics or as he calls it: "that sweaty gym").  This week he also had Business Days in his class. He did a presentation about scientists and dressed the part. Though he doesn't want to be a scientist any more, now he want to be a computer programmer.

Choir Concert

Kaitlin sang in her spring choir concert this week.  She started the year not being able to sing harmonies. She worked with me at home, practicing the parts so she could get them just right.  Now she is singing harmonies more easily  and even sings the alto line in church.  It's clear that she is the leader of her section in choir.  It's fun to watch the choirs get better and better as the year progresses.

Deconstruction

We finished painting the railings in the kitchen.  They look much nicer.  Chuck also spent the weekend taking out all the upper kitchen cabinets and then working on the wiring.  He had to move an outlet, and then he added all the wiring for the upper and lower cabinet lighting.  Next week we'll take out the lower cabinets and start work on the floor.

Kaitlin and I got our hair cut this week.

Ruth on the bumper cars (right).

Cast Party

Jared playing mini-golf.

We started our week by attending the Cinderella cast party at a local fun center.  The girls had a great time hanging out with their friends. We didn't see much of either of them most of the night. Jared, Chuck and I had fun mini golfing, roller skating and riding the rides.
 There was a little awards ceremony where the kids got their t-shirts and a certificate. It was a fun way to wrap up the show.

Kitchen Work

Our first big project in the kitchen is repainting our bannisters which had also fallen victim to the creative painting of our home's former owners. Chuck and I spent two days hand sanding all the spindles.  I had been out for a run that first day, and also did a lot of work in the yard, so that night my hands and arms just ached. We picked up some paint and will try to get them painted this week.   Chuck, being the good project manager that he is, has outlined a timeline for our project. I've been busy brainstorming meals that we can cook for the week or two that we will be without a kitchen (crock pot, grill, rotisserie).   Hopefully we can stay on track. 


Young Women Conference

Can you see Ruth? There is a hint.

On Saturday, Ruth and I went with a group from our church to a Young Women's Conference in downtown Salt Lake City. We rode on our new TRAX line (mass transit train) that was just completed not far from our house this past fall. We ran into some snags along the way so ended up late to the conference and our seats had been given away(The conference center was full and it seats over 21,000). So we ended up in an overflow theater and we watched the conference on TV.  When it was finished we sat outside and ate some snacks and visited for a long time, hoping that the crowds would clear out. Even with our wait the TRAX platform was full and we squeezed our group onto a train.  This weekend was also the grand opening of a fancy new mall downtown.  Our train, already bursting pulled up to the mall stop and the mall platform was also packed.  The doors opened and we squeezed even more people on.  It was quite an adventure.