The Crafts

Kate has learned her colors!! She has had pink and yellow down for at least a week now but we couldn't get her to recognize other colors. But now she is batting about a 95% average. Did I use that terminology correctly? As a matter of fact, she has become so good with her colors she sometimes blurts it out before I can ask. I'm so proud.

Iowa State offers fans an opportunity to send pics to their mascot, Cy. Cy will then choose his favorite photos and display those pics during Iowa State home basketball games. Last year I sent in a picture of Matt, Kate and Bill Fennelly, the ISU head women's basketball coach. Because Kate is so adorable, and Matt is pretty good looking too, Cy picked them for the big screen during the Texas A&M game. Unfortunately the weather that day was so awful that we weren't able to drive to Ames for the game. However, I just discovered an archive of pics...including the photo of our very own Kate and Matt. Click here to see my 'famous' family. http://www.cyclones.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?db_oem_id=10700&palbid=16729

I just returned from City Council to a fabulous surprise. Matt wiped down everything in the dining room and kitchen. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I am so happy and I can go to sleep tonight a little earlier than expected. What a great husband. I am one lucky gal!!!

THE PLASTER GIRLS ARE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never been so pleased and so overwhelmed at the same time. No more clearing the kitchen by 6:50 a.m. No more recleaning the kitchen every afternoon. No more eating in the Iowa State room. The overwhelming part is the absolute filth that is our kitchen. Large chunks of plaster are hiding under the refrigerator, stove and dishwasher. Every square inch is covered in a thick layer of dust. And it appears the dust has settled its way into the living room, den, foyer and Iowa State room. Oh, and I haven't cleaned the dining room yet. Which is actually a good thing since it became dirtier after today's mess. But tonight I will stay up as late as it takes me. I will push the refrigerator, dishwasher and gas stove around (gently) to clean below. I will wipe down the walls and wood trim. I will sweep and wash the floors with a smile on my face because I won't have to deal with the plaster mess again. At ...

I'm so sad. I was really hoping plaster drama would be over today. The plaster girls called this morning to say they wouldn't be coming in today. One of them isn't feeling well. I was really excited to move on from this destruction/construction phase. I was planning to thoroughly clean the kitchen and pick out paint colors this weekend. But instead this will have to wait a few more days. We've been in this for almost a month now so a few more days can't be all that bad, right? At least I won't have any additional kitchen cleaning today or this weekend. Kate woke up at 5:30 this morning!! I didn't hear a thing but Matt flies out of bed to scoop her up at the bedroom door. And she must have needed more sleep because two hours after waking up, she is still asleep. Thank you, Matt! Do you know how rough today would have been had she gotten up at 5:30?!?! I hope everyone has a great weekend. We are taking Kate to the ISU v Kansas basketball game on S...

Well the plaster girls had planned to work here all day today. Unfortunately one wasn't feeling well so they left around 10:30 a.m. Even more unfortunate is that she 'felt pukey.' Great!! However, in the three and a half hours they were here (that's right, they get here just before 7 a.m. each day) they cleared out the remaining second story room and finished the dining room. The dining room is still full of their equipment but at least it is pushed to the side. I started cleaning and it is taking more time than I would have liked. Practically everything is covered in a thick coating of white powder. I haven't yet made my way into the kitchen to clean but I better get in there fast if we want to eat dinner tonight. Whew. This cleaning stuff is exhausting. Now I know my calling isn't to be a maid. Kate got up again at 6 this morning. Thankfully we caught her quick enough to pretend 'it is still night time' and she miraculously went back to slee...

Well the girls were here about five hours today. I have such a hard time telling what they accomplished. Not because I think they aren't doing anything but rather I just don't understand. It seems to me that more mudding was done. Hopefully that means only one more coat of mud? They also worked for awhile in the dining room but the ceiling is not yet textured. I cannot convey the excitement pulsating through my veins when I think about getting our kitchen and dining room back. The day will come and I'm sure it is near but boy, oh boy, it can't seem to arrive quick enough. My plan tomorrow is to track down the guy who I hope will build in a counter for the dishwasher. It would be nice to get him in here before I get too used to the kitchen being ours again. On another note, Kate has a new 'do. I've been able to successfully put in and keep in ponytail holders. This is great news because it means she will have fewer opportunities to run around with a mop...

I'm beginning to wonder if our house might not be haunted with a playful ghost. The only odd occurrences happen with Kate's toys. She has a "Melissa and Doug" puzzle with wooden animal pieces. When you place the animal in the correct spot the animal will make a noise. The chicken clucks, the puppy barks, etc. Well a few weeks ago the puzzle began making its animal noises each time we shut off the living room light. But it has since progressed. Sometimes the animals sound when you simply walk past the puzzle. And it isn't the same animal each time. Luckily I haven't noticed the animal pieces moved about the house...yet. Secondly, Kate got a 'cell phone' for Christmas. If you open the phone and then close it again the phone will ring. Kate LOVES it. However, lately the phone has begun to ring on its own. Like today for example. Kate is asleep in her room, I'm typing away on the computer and the cell phone starts ringing...from inside the toy box. No ...

Kate celebrated her 2nd birthday this weekend with lots of family and fun. Kate's favorite part of her birthday seemed to be the balloons she received from us. Matt took Kate out to the farm Saturday morning while I ran to buy the balloons. I bought two bunches of four. One bunch contained a Barney balloon, the other an Elmo balloon. I placed them in the living room and waited for Matt and Kate's return. The moment Kate entered the living room she spied the balloons. "BOON, BOON, BOON! Barney, Barney! Elmo, Elmo! Down, down!" So we put the balloons onto the floor and Kate didn't let go of them until bedtime. She took her balloons for a walk in the stroller, she played hide n seek with them, the balloons were part of meal time, she feverishly hugged them, tickled them (literally), and fed the Barney and Elmo balloons snacks. She loves them SO much that come bedtime she sobbed and gasped for air reluctantly saying goodnight. When Matt got Kate up for church the ne...

Pictures to follow soon. Well, pictures from someone else's camera since ours isn't working. Happy 2nd Birthday!!!!!!

No contractors again today and no contractors on Friday. So by the end of next week this mess should be done, right?! I'm keeping my spirits high...or at least I'm trying.

It is easy to feel stir crazy when trapped inside with an almost two year old. There is only so much you can do and so much she understands. Not to mention, the issues with a short attention span. So I decided to put in an exercise DVD. I thought maybe she will have fun dancing to it while I work-out. So we started and she loved it...for about 45 seconds. Then Kate wanted to be held while Mommy exercised. I'll tell you what, adding 35 pounds to your hip really does help you sweat more. That was a tough 20 minutes! I was ready to pass out and Kate was laughing it up. At least I got some exercise in, right!

Third day in a row the contractors have cancelled due to snow. Grrrrrrrrrrr

Due to a light coating of plaster, almost every one of our dishes needed washing last night. I washed, Matt dried. And then we stored them in the office so we wouldn't have to go through that again today. After washing all the dishes I wiped down the cupboards and I haven't looked back in there because I'm a little afraid. :) Each afternoon Matt will call the house for a status update and it is like playing a game of Clue. Leak - Dining Room - and the Electrician did it. You never know what that day of 'repairs' will bring. But today was actually a great day. Primarily because we were gone almost the entire time the plaster girls were working and when we returned home my dreams had come true...mostly. I walked into the dusted coated kitchen to discover a gleaming white ceiling! I was/am so happy I couldn't stop staring. I had forgotten how bright and happy our kitchen could be. And I didn't even fret over the dirt as I swept and mopped. Unfortun...

I just discovered that teeny, tiny plaster pieces made their way into the kitchen cupboards...and into all of the dishes. Now I think I may cry.

Well everyone quit early today. The kitchen ceiling has been shimmed and the electrical is done. The plumbers returned this morning and knocked out MORE wall in order to replace the sink drain line. Oh, and the plaster girls had to tear out more kitchen wall. I tried to take pictures but apparently our camera has gone to an early grave. I tried battery after battery with no reaction so I guess we'll have to save up for a new one. Due to the unexpected wall tear down today I had to again deep clean the kitchen. The bathroom needs a good cleaning too but that will have to wait until after Matt returns home. Friday brings lots of excitement...literally! We have electrical inspection around 9 and then the plaster girls will begin hanging the new ceiling!!!! Party, party, party. Of course, afterwards they still need to patch the kitchen walls and the dining room ceiling but at least we have finally exited the destruction phase and have gleefully entered the construction zone. It sounds ...

I brushed my teeth about half an hour ago and the water still has not drained from the sink. Another call to the plumber. Grumble, grumble, grumble...

Yeah! Thanks for comments! So after four attempts I finally got Kate down for a nap. And just around that same time the electrician was leaving. Which was fabulous news because I got a chance to survey and clean-up the damage. More walls were torn down. Ahhhhh. Are you kidding me? We have so few walls in that kitchen it is amazing the room still stands. Thank goodness for stable framework. Then again, I shouldn't attempt a jinx by typing that. Kitchen clean-up today included a full wipe down of everything, serious sweeping and two rounds of mopping. Only two! Hooray! I've been spending so much time cleaning the same rooms at the end of each day that I may get bored when all the renovations are done. Nah...maybe I'll relax instead. So the plan for tomorrow is a bit more electrical work and of course, more plaster work. The girls will be hanging shims on the kitchen ceiling. I have no idea if I spelled the word shims correctly or not because I have never even h...

The plaster girls showed up bright and early to begin repair on the dining room ceiling. It is closed up but they still need to sand and texturize. They hoped to begin putting up sheet rock on the kitchen ceiling tomorrow (Thursday) but it doesn't look like the electrician will be done in time. Speaking of which, the electrician is in the kitchen now. He is replacing the wiring for the overhead ceiling light fixture which is outdated. He had hoped to not need to tear out walls. It sounds like he may have changed his mind...without telling me. Right now there is a lot of pounding and you can also hear plaster crumbling to the floor. I doubt he used drop clothes either. I guess that means I will need to deep clean the kitchen...again. I cannot count how many times I have had to do that in the last week and a half. This also means the plaster girls will have more work. Oh, I should have begun this post with the plumbing issue. It almost slipped my mind in the midst of ever...

I was signing in the rain today...but I wasn't outside. The plumbers worked all afternoon and announced they were completely done around 5:30. Hooray! After putting Kate to bed I washed dishes, cleaned the bathroom sink, bathtub and toilet and skipped to the basement to take out the garbage...only to discover a long stream of flowing water. After a long hard day I decided I just needed to cry but instead pulled myself together and in a panic called the plumber. Upon further review the water seems to be coming from the basement ceiling which means the leak is somewhere in the wall above it. Sadly that is the wall shared with the kitchen and Matt's Iowa State room. The irony is that we had the plumbing replaced so that we can avoid any future leaks. So what didn't leak before, leaks now. I'm really hoping the damage isn't too bad. The plumber instructed me to shut off the water to the house which means no hand washing, no pottying and no coffee or showers in ...

You know things are bad when the plumber comes downstairs and says, "Whew, it stinks down here!" Yikes!

Have you heard of the snowball effect? Well it is happening in our house...big time. But the bright side that will hopefully melt this snowball is that we are very quickly accomplishing (or at least starting) many of our various projects. It all began with an electrician. He was changing out the kitchen fuse box for a more modern, and safe, circuit breaker. But to do so he had to punch a 10' x 3' hole in the wall. So I hired some plaster experts to fix the hole. Well the electrician wasn't quite ready to have the hole filed so the plaster girls (as I call them) started patching some of the more severe cracks and breaks throughout the house. They started in the guest bedroom, Kate's room and our bedroom. After a week we now have our bedroom and Kate's room back....dirty, but back. Still not able to patch the hole in the kitchen wall I ask the plaster girls to look at the kitchen ceiling. The ceiling was covered in a badly sagging wall board. So they took off the wall...

Our Christmas travels took us several directions. One trip took us west to Lawton, near Sioux City, to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Smith. Below is a picture of four generations on this side of the family. Kate is actually looking at the camera! She isn't smiling, which is pretty typical, but she is at least acknowledging that we were taking a picture. From left to right: Grandpa Smith, Grandma Smith, Sarah, Kate and Gary, my dad

I wasn't planning to set any goals for the new year but after a little thought I've decided to make one. To have more fun. Life is supposed to be fun, right?! It is easy to forget the little joys in our daily life so let's toss in some happiness and live our life while we have it. What are your resolutions? Here is a pic to inspire you to have some fun of your own. Who do you think is enjoying themselves more? The kids? Or the Dads?