Progress Report

Here's a quick update progress report on the family room remodel. We replaced the old windows and door and added recessed lighting....

BEFORE

AFTER


And we had new cabinets built on the other side of the room. The old cabinets were in the opposite corner (on your right when you walked in the door). These are on your left when you walk in. There are drawers that go on the fronts in the middle, they're just not installed yet. The picture doesn't really do them justice...they look really nice and will look even better when painted I'm sure.

BEFORE (nothing)

AFTER (in progress)

And here's a Parker pic so no one has a fit. This is her and her waitress game that she played NON-STOP for a week. Notice the detail....she has a pad and pen to take your order (I have an old sushi menu she uses) and she insists on having a dishtowel tucked into the back of her pants. She's seen waiters do this to use when handling hot plates. There was much hysteria when she tried to play waitress in her nightgown and didn't have anywhere to tuck in her dishtowel. She's using a little wooden sushi set... they have velcro in the middle so she can pretend to slice them and everything. After sushi, she serves (toy) ice cream, and then brings the check and runs your credit card. And then we start over.

Garden (and Parker's) Growth

We had a super busy week last week. Construction finally got underway on the playroom. The new lighting, new windows and new door were installed. Tomorrow, hopefully, the "mud people" will come and the cabinets are being installed this week too. I'll post some progress pictures after the mud folks are done. Just the new windows have made a HUGE difference in how light and bright it is in there now.

On Thursday Parker had her 4 year old "well visit" or checkup. She's continuing to grow along her same growth curve, and she's in the 25th percentile for both height and weight and BMI. And her blood pressure is normal. They also checked her blood sugar and iron levels with a finger stick, because I said that she seems like she has low energy some of the time. We don't have the results yet, but I suspect she'll be diagnosed as 'lazy'...or another polite medical term meaning lazy. I'm making an effort to boost her stamina.

The garden is limping along. Parker and Bob planted sunflowers, and one is finally blooming. I've had several tomatoes and cucumbers and dill and we also have some jalapeño peppers but they're pretty tiny since they're in the shade of the sunflowers. The other day I made a yummy ziziki sauce using cukes and dill from the garden. Pretty thrilling. Next year I'm going to try zucchini and squash and eggplant.

Striking a pose for the sunflower picture:

Cucumber - I planted the english kind that have a thin skin. Very yummy.

Green tomato. I should have picked this one green....the birds found it when it turned red. They've taken care of my grasshopper problem though, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much. I'm getting a net next year though.

My garden clogs. Army green with ladybug jibbitz.