Today's Special Guest: Turkey Lurkey

We were visited again yesterday by a wild turkey out in the backyard of the new house. He was really pretty curious and came right up to the house. He's a bit smaller than the one who visited a few weeks ago...

Word on the street (aka from our contractor, Brent) - a woodchuck came out of our garage earlier today..... So many visitors! How nice.

Birthday Time!!

We celebrated our neice, Brooke's, 1st Birthday this past Sunday - complete with Princess balloons, Princess tablecloths/napkins and Princess CAKE!!!

The Birthday Girl!!

Owen taking notes, and a bite of cup, for HIS 1st birthday coming up in Sept. 

+ it was my birthday this weekend as well - ugh, the big 30 - yikes! Much to my delight, the lovely and talented Jenny Sohn created the TASTIEST cupcakes in all the lands - So good!

Surprise! Strawberry Filling!!!

Veggies!

Today our first box of fresh veggies arrived from Hay River Farms (via Target HQ). The season has started out pretty slow - so says "Farmer Jim" - so we mostly have greens - but that's okay! Kevin needs to look up a few recipes - I don't even know what all this is...
Next Thurs. = Box #2!

Rainbow Chard, Kale, Dill, Parsley

Red Leaf Lettuce?, Arugula, Bok Choy, Green Onions

Carrots, Funny Radishes??, Beets

+ a big bunch of lettuce!


Any recipe suggestions?

Mad the Grad!!

Madeleine, Kevin's younger sister, graduated from high school this past weekend - it was a busy weekend! Here are some highlights.

you can't miss Mad's red hair...

Here is Mad performing the national anthem in American Sign Language.

well done Mad, well done. 

Congrats Mad!

Owen & Brooke's Baptisms

This weekend was both Owen's (Sat.) and Brooke's (Sun.) Baptisms - followed by a joint lunch reception on Sunday. The honor of Godmother to Brooke has been bestowed upon me, Elisa - I'm super excited! The services were really lovely and babies were so cute.

Today's Special Guest: The Countertop Installer Guys

And how nice! they brought countertops with them too! So sweet.

   The cabinet doors are going on and the countertops are in! Kevin, Finch and I are planning to move our remaining 'stuff' this Saturday afternoon. We will be living out of the guest room for a while since our master bedroom is full of master bathroom pieces. It won't be super glamorous, but we'll have a dishwasher!! and THAT will be SOOO worth it.

Here's how the kitchen is look'n today:

our upper cabinets have doors!! Door pull hardware to come...

And here is a section of our lovely new countertop...

the Fenc'n is Commenc'n

Pretty soon here, our new backyard will be all fenced in and Finch will be able to roam free. It seems the fence will also be serving to keep deer out of the yard too (I found deer 'evidence' in two places) Recently, Kevin and Ian saw a big 'ole turkey just outside the downstairs windows - this will be a HUGE change for Finch who has lived in the city all his 5, almost 6, years. I don't think he understands that this is his new yard yet..
We are installing a chain link fence for one side of the yard and wire fencing on the other for the 25ft stretch that is all trees and lilac bushes anyway. There is NO way to get a chain link fence in there or to have it look nice - so this 4ft tall wire fencing will do the trick, and we won't really be able to even see it. So that works...well we'll see today I guess...

ta da!!

see the green wire fencing? No? That's the plan... 

okay: here's an closer look at the wire fencing where it connects to the side deck.

Also commenc'n: Painting the kitchen walls!
We wanted to get the kitchen walls all painted before countertops are installed this coming Wednesday. So my mom and I are taking it on: There really isn't that much to paint, so should take no time at all. Much like the previous painting experiences I've had with my mom, I'll be in charge of cutting in around all the edges and she will do the rolling.
- Paint = check! Behr brand paint from Home Depot, but "Rice Paddy" = color from Sherwin Williams (a light yellowish-green)
- Brushes, Roller, Paint Tray, ladder = check!
- Paint clothes = check!
- Kitchen Floor Tiled = check!


We have all of the new drawers put together, and are working on door hinge hardware today in between coats of paint - starting to get antsy for all the doors, drawers, countertops and appliances to be installed!