Memorial Day 2010

We were invited to go shooting. The girls and I were a little wary but we went to have a good time. Connor was excited to give the guns a try. Courtney really enjoyed it. Mallory was more hesitant.

Court really liked the pistol.

Mallory really didn't like the big, loud guns.

Courtney gave a few guns a try.

So did Mal. They were both braver than I was.

The guys started shooting clay pigeons. Then they talked me into trying it. It was kind of fun!

We had a really good time. It ended up being a beautiful day so we didn't have to contend with the rain.When we were getting ready to leave. Pete saw that the front passenger tire had a slice out of it and it had exposed wires. The trip home was a little unnerving but went just fine. He has new tires now.

The Kitchen

So we have been wanting to get better storage in our kitchen. Well I have. I finally made my decisions and this is our kitchen remodel....

Before the chaos started.

The first piece of tear out was the desk area. I was okay at this point. I watched things come out and I found that I really liked seeing what had to be done to take parts of your house apart.

Next was the pantry.

The cabinets that were above the desk fit above my laundry just right. I was really excited about this because we didn't know if they would or not. (When Pete came home he got excited about it too. Don't let him kid ya.)

Next, out came the sink. This was Monday morning and we thought the counters were going in the next afternoon.

so everything got pulled out. Even the counters....

This was my floor after the tear out.(Notice the lovely stuff we covered?)

And this is the floor getting fitted for the new cabinets.

This was the floor ready for the new look.

I thought I'd take a picture of the jumbled mess we had without the cabinets and counter. Honestly I don't know how I fit all of this into the space we had! The counters didn't get put in until Thursday evening so I was lazy and we ate out or used paper plates.

The front room wasn't exempt from the overflow.

These are the new cabinets getting installed. I got to help bring these in. We were a little scared they weren't going to fit but we figured out a way to just get them in. I have to admit I was a bit emotional the day we started to put the counter, sink, and the rest of the cabinets in. It was for no good reason. (Other than my stress finally revealing itself in a most inconvenient way!)

My new sink!

And counters! Stress level lowering.

The almost finished product.

The new wall of cabinetry(minus the counter top)

There are still the finishing touches to do. The moulding, toe kick, counter and back splash on pantry side, texturing, putting on knobs and pulls, and painting but this is the gist. I smile every time I walk into the kitchen now (and so do Pete and the kids) and am really glad we did this. I had numerous stomach aches because I was afraid that I'd picked the wrong thing to go with whatever but so far it's working out really well.

Courtney had a very cool field trip that took 8 weeks prep at school before they went. It's called JA Biztown. The kids learn about how the economy works, entrepreneurship, checks and balancing your check register and much more. Just before the field trip takes place the kids have to apply for jobs and get hired. When they get there this is what they see....

This is just one angle of the Biztown. All of the desks and chairs look just like what grown ups have in their offices but are just their size. City Hall is where Court worked. She was hired as the Town Attorney.

This is Court just as they came in and sat down for the opening town meeting.

This was a quick shot of Court at work.

Courtney at lunch. I was too busy with my CFO/CEO that I didn't get a chance to really see her. My poor guy had to be both top positions because one kid didn't show up. A really rough work day.

Court also had to give a wrap up of her work day at the closing town meeting. She had two cases that were resolved. Way to go Court!!

We both had a great time at this field trip. I hope Mallory gets to go in 5th grade too.

Connor Does Track...

Connor told me he wanted to try track. He has chosen different things to do almost each time. I have tried to be at each meet so I've only missed one. This was the first.....
He did a great job.

A fun Saturday with the Family

We took the kids to the zoo after it had down poured so there weren't many people there and the animals were out in force.
These animals were just too cute!

The afternoon turned out beautiful. At least for the moment!

We left the zoo and headed over to OMSI. This is how Pete rolls...

The main exhibit is Space. The kids has a really good time. Pete and I did too.

Family Dinner

We had our family dinner tonight. It was really nice to get back to it. So much goes on that before you know it it's been 3 months and we hadn't gotten together. Hopefully we'll get a better track record going again.

Side note... I made Paula Deans Peach Cobbler and (if I can say so) it was YUMMY! I hadn't ever made it before and was worried about it turning out alright but it was great and only used 1 cube of butter. (That comment was for Pete.)

Happy Sunday.

Mallory's Field Trip

First off I have to say Pete's been giving me a bad time about how long it's been since I last blogged. You can guess my retort to that! Secondly, life has been just that. Life. The kids keep me busy carting them from here to there every day after school. A (you know who you are!) said I should give a run down on a normal day.

Here it goes....

A normal Tuesday is:

7:45 am girls off to school

8:10 Connor heads out

Until the school day is done I'm up to who knows what depending on the day

2:30 Mallory's home

2:50 take Mal to piano

3:20 Get Courtney

3:25 get Mal from piano

3:30 every other week get girls to Activity Days

Try to get dinner started, mostly done if I'm getting things done.

4:35 Girls home

4:45 get Connor

This is a day that the running stops early. Every day is similar. Some worse, some not as bad. Friday is a nice slow day with a late activity for the girls. I'm not complaining. I just took A's advice and jotted it down so I can say....

Life has been same-o same-o. That's why I didn't blog.

Now. On to Mallory's field trip. The 3rd graders went to hear the Portland Youth Philharmonic. Connor and Courtney have both had the same trip but this one gave it a little more flair. Each section had been introduced and they each had a piece of music from something the kids would know. Mal liked the Viola. They played Pink Panther and put on sunglasses.
Afterwards, the kids had lunch and then we set off on a walking tour through Portland.This is Portlandia. She is the 2nd largest hammered copper statue in the world. The 1st is the Statue of Liberty.

Mal took this picture of her.

This was just because the flowers were so pretty.

This is a miniature Liberty Bell.

The World Trade Center

We had a good time.