Fun Things We Found in Our Super Old Kitchen

Apparently it was the thing back in the day of kitchen remodel to hid newspaper in places where someone may find it years and years later. Last week, when Bryan demolished the cabinets, he found a newspaper from 1951.



And tonight, when Dad arrived and he and Bryan were poking around in the kitchen, they pulled up a piece of flooring in the sink area and found parts of newspaper from 1936. Notice the advertisement for Camels cigarettes, indicating that smoking them helps digestive health. I am so intrigued about the people who lived in this house before us and how different their lives were from ours!




And because I know a lot of you read this because you like to see Jonathan pictures, here are a couple of fun ones. I was a "bad" mother and didn't get any Easter ones of him. But the one where his teeth are brown, that is J-man versus chocolate egg. Needless to say, that little brown egg did not stand a chance!!






Jonathan was with my parents this week in WV so as to allow us (read: Bryan) some time to work in the kitchen. It has been really nice, particularly last night when I stayed up until past 1:00 a.m. watching NCAA basketball (GO CARDS!!) but I will be SO happy to reunite with him tomorrow!!

Kitchen Madness

In 2002, Bryan and I purchased our house at an incredible price and we have happily nested here for over six years. Before we moved in, we drywalled the living room, dining room and our bedroom. We painted all of those rooms and also the bathroom and the room that would become Jonathan's bedroom. Before Jonathan was born, we put new flooring in his room and updated the lighting. The big gaping hole has been the kitchen. A kitchen remodel is EXTREMELY expensive and was something that we, as our 2002 selves, thought would happen one day.

That day has come as we are currently in the midst of a complete rehab. Prior to beginning this project, we had no dishwasher, no ice maker, no double-bowled sink. And our washer and dryer were downstairs, requiring a strategic duck under an antiquated sewer pipe that was probably appropriately placed when it was installed but not so much when they dug out the basement in the 1960s.

So here is what we have lived with for six years:





Of particular hatred, for me at least, was the hideous poop brown sheet linoleum and the faux brick behind the stove. Ick. Regardless, we made it work. Finally, this year we decided to do a re-fi and pull out some money and do a complete renovation. This involved demolition initially and then new drywall. We also split the room up so it is now two rooms, kitchen and utility area. There will be a dishwasher, an ice maker in the refrigerator, a double sink with a sprayer (!) AND the washer and dryer will be on the first floor. Oh, and that hideous linoleum? Soon it will be lovely ceramic tile.

Since the project just started a week ago, it's not quite there yet, but here is where it is currently:







Obviously, still a lot of work to do. Picture it with cabinets and "jalapeno jelly" green walls, new cabinets and counter top and appliances. It's going to be awesome! For now, however, we are making due with disposable dinnerware and a refrigerator in our dining room. It's not glamorous but it's working so far. Kudos to Bryan and my dad for undertaking this task--you guys rock!!

And The Winner Is...

Thanks to everyone who participated in my contest! Your comments are so sweet and I feel very lucky to have such a great group of people with whom I can share my blog! And I apologize for taking so long to do this--we are in the middle of a kitchen remodel (more to come on that in a later blog) and things have been a bit hectic, to say the least! Anyway, on to the goods:






Congrats to Paula! Paula, email me at jfantoni@okoonlaw.com with your address and your size preference and I will get your sparkly new bag in the mail! Thanks for playing to everyone else! I'm off to (hopefully) watch WVU and Louisville make it to the Elite Eight!

100th Post Celebration!

In honor of this being my 100th post, I am having a little contest, inspired by Janice and her September 2007 one year blogging anniversary Starbucks giveaway. Up for grabs is your pick of one of these lovely creations made by none other than Mr. Jonathan's Mommy. The smaller of the two is a handbag size and the larger is more of a tote. As you can see, the fabrics and design are the same, the only difference being the size.




In order to be eligible, all you have to do is write a comment. To comment, click on the words at the bottom of the post where it says how many comments there are. You do not have to sign up for a blogger account, just click on "Anonymous" and make sure to identify (if it's not obvious) who you are. This goes for my parents and friends out there who I know read the blog but who do not comment! Also be sure to put in your comment which size you would prefer.

The contest ends Sunday at midnight. Good luck everyone!

A Foot of Snow

No kidding! We actually got a foot of snow! I like snow and all but this was seriously overkill! It was still snowing this morning so we held Jonathan off until this afternoon. We had the appropriate gear.

The hat:


The gloves:


The boots (he would wear these all the time if we let him):


We made the obligatory snowman. Well, sort of.


We also had the obligatory drop-the-chihuahua-in-a-bank-of-drifted-snow-and-point-and-laugh-at-him moment.


We are watching our friends' dog this weekend. His name is Leonard and he is a Scottish Terrier/Schnauzer blend. He was a big fan of the snow, chomping through it like Pac-Man:


Daddy did the shoveling. Much needed but also much less fun that just playing in the snow. Jonathan followed Bryan up the street calling for Daddy to come back.


I'll end with some other favorites since I have not posted for a while. It was a great day for snow since it's Saturday and we did not have to go anywhere. The last picture is a cake that I did for Kara's husband Todd--they are coming over for dinner tonight and his birthday is tomorrow. I am always looking for an excuse to make a cake, particularly now that I have a stand mixer!