Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Catching Up

Hello Blog - O - Sphere,
Well, it has been about 2 or 3 years since I have truly blogged!  Life tends to interfere and the blog gets ignored!  FB seems to be the short version, snip of life,  that people go to and have time for. 

So, I think I will upload some pictures from the computer and update you on what we have been busy doing!  I may not have any readers left, but I will at least have some pics backed up on the blog server!

So, here we go.... 2014
My original kitchen

At the end of 2013 we decided to remodel our kitchen.  It was suppose to take 6 weeks...

Cabinets came down!

Walls got moved!

A beam was put in and the wall moved!

Wow!  3' makes a big difference!



Amelia turned 17!


So, when your kitchen is torn apart at the 1st of the year what do you do?  Run away to your happy place!!!


Yes, WDW was a much needed respite.  Magic Bands were brand new in 2014.

Everyone loves the army men!

We met our friends, Steve and Davenna, and had a blast for several days!

AJ with PUSH!  It's a Disney thing!!

Fun times at Chef Mickey's !  Goofy is always a hoot!

A visit to WDW isn't a visit without a pic with Mickey!

The new castle entrance to Fantasyland.
It's always good to get a Disney fix, but it was really good when my house was in chaos!

AJ gets a driver's permit!!!
In March, AJ turned 15!  This meant he was old enough for a learner's permit and to start driving lessons!  Driver's Ed in a Box one more time!!

The kitchen is coming along slowly.  My sister posted that she is getting rid of her dining table, so we planned a whirlwind trip to AZ.


Hole in the Rock!  Couldn't go to Scottsdale and not show the kids Hole in the Rock!!

cabinets going in

cabinets going in and more getting fitted


Things were getting so far behind, we decided to help out with the painting!




April and May found the cabinets being stained and varnished!

We should have gone to a hotel, couldn't breathe!!

Now that the cabinets were done, we get moving on the granite.  We have a long drawn out story on that, but I won't get into that here!  Lets just say we went with our 3rd choice in granite!

Cutting granite for cooktop!

Granite cut, sink fits!

Granite in sun room on the bar.
May the 4th be with you!


Mother's day, still need floors!


End of school field trip. Amelia and AJ with TXVA teachers and students.



Appliances !!!


After the appliances went in, the flooring went in.  The kitchen remodel kind of snowballed into a house update!  Since we had had flooring in the kitchen and the den we decided to put it in the sum room, living, and dining room.  Well, wouldn't you know it was discontinued!  So, we ripped up the laundry, kitchen, and den, I sold it online cheap, and we ordered new for the entire house, except bedrooms!

The back splash finally went in!!  I have a kitchen!

Lights over the sink.


The appliance garage!

I love my cookie sheet and muffin tray storage above the microwave/oven

I have serving trays for every holiday!

Spice racks on both sides of the cooktop!

My Disney wreath!

The back of the fridge is the perfect place for aprons!

The BEAST!

Inside the Beast!  I love my pantry!

The back shelves are adjustable!

Yes, I kept the old microwave!  We use 2 all the time!!

This is the best!  Potatoes, onions, garlic, squash, whatever!  3 bins, and they come out!

Under my kitchen table! Cook books and placemats! The binders are full of recipes that I pull out of magazines! 

My island is on wheels!  It is wonderous!

So, this was while they were still doing floors!! Dining room was not finished.  But this is the bar, Mini fridge and Ice maker!!
The 7 week project took 7 months!!!  And 3 years later I'm still finding dust!!!! :-)  We had to take out the back patio and redo all the cement back there.  The old one was higher than the inside floor.  If it rained, it would flood inside the door!  Can't have the new floor ruined!


Amelia learns how to jackhammer!

AJ can have fun doing anything!

AJ on the jackhammer!











On the way to Big Sky, MT

AJ in Yellowstone!

Zip cording in Big Sky!

Horse back riding in Big Sky!
 
The end of August school started!  Our 2nd year with TXVA !

AJ doing orientation, meeting all his teachers!


Amelia is adding her teachers to her phone and mine!







Lubbock TXVA teachers and kiddos!



In October we went to Dallas, or should I say Irving for the Expo Fan days Comic Con.  It was great fun. 

We got to meet Kevin Sorbo from Hercules/Andromedia

We also got to meet Elija Wood, you may know him as Frodo!

Ray Parks who played Darth Maul was very nice!

We met a few others too!  The Phelps twins from Harry Potter, and Karen Allen who is known from Indiana Jones!


Gizmo and R2D2 always like the Christmas tree!
And that was 2014!