Centennial Olympic Park

This picture is a large area where fountains shoot up randomly. There are lots of kids playing in the water.

Atlanta Skyline

World of Coke in Atlanta

Working Cooktop

Working Sink

Morning Pictures

Countertop Installed!

I love the countertop with the cabinets and hardware that we have chosen! The countertop is Silestone (crushed quartz) and the sink is black granite. I am really pleased with the results. We are getting closer and closer to the kitchen being done! Several things still need to be completed on the island. The lighter wood things under the countertop in the first picture are wood supports called corbels. They will be stained to match the cabinets. Also the picture shows the back of the island, which is not yet finished. The gap between the cabinets will be filled and then the entire back of the island will be covered with slate squares to match the entryway. To the left of the drawers on the island in the first picture is the bare wood side of the cabinet where the cooktop sits. We have a panel that will cover that up that matches the cabinet doors.

The last picture shows the new sink. We can't use it for 24 hours, so Mike will hook up the plumbing tomorrow night along with the new faucet. He will also be able to hook the cooktop back up, so we will back in service for cooking.

These last several months have been a test of patience, but it has been worth the wait.

I'm Freeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

(Final Grades are entered)

Kitchen Update

These are the three different kinds of cabinet hardware in our kitchen. As we install them, we are moving things into the cabinets!

The countertop people came this last week and measured the kitchen. As soon as the order gets cleared through the store where we purchased it (hopefully today or Monday), then it will be sent to the manufacturer to be made. They said 2 to 3 weeks for completion. We will be gone the third week of June, and we have to be home for the install...so I'm hoping it will make it in before we leave.

Field Day for Isaac

In the first picture they are closing their eyes and dropping clothes pins into a laundry detergent container. In the last picture, they had to get a hoola-hoop around a circle while holding hands.

Kids Have Fun at Field Day

Avritt with his friends.

Progress and Setbacks

The drawers finally arrived on Friday, after 3 weeks of waiting! They were the last missing cabinets (we reordered a different kind of drawer after the first ones came and we weren't happy with the construction). I eagerly opened the boxes, and to my dismay, discovered that the drawer fronts were in the wrong style! We mixed two different styles of cabinets in the kitchen, so I understand how it could happen. However, it wasn't my mistake - it was the mistake of the company where we bought the cabinets. So they will be ordering two new drawer fronts (thankfully we can keep the box and drawer, and just switch the fronts). Otherwise we would have been waiting another 3 weeks.

Before we can call the countertop company, we have to have all cabinets installed that the countertops will be sitting on or butting up against. Those drawers were the only thing we were waiting on. Now Mike just needs to finish putting in one base cabinet and the oven cabinet (which we have had sitting there waiting) and we will be able to call on the countertop. They will come and measure the kitchen and then 2 to 3 weeks later they will come install the countertop.

We also received our cabinet hardware last week. I got to pick out what I wanted, and I really love the style of the stuff that I found. Don't have any pictures of it -- I'm waiting to take a picture until they get installed.

We are so close...yet it all depends on Mike having enough energy and stamina to push through these last things. His schedule this last week was tough (he spent some late nights up working) and so his progress so far this weekend has been limited. I'm hoping for the best...

New Kitchen Windows

We had the new windows in the kitchen installed by the guy who did our siding. He started the job yesterday morning and finished right after supper. When I got home at 3:30, I walked into the kitchen and was at first really taken back by how much better the three windows looked than the old unit that was there. Then I noticed that they had installed the three windows in the wrong spots. One of them doesn't open, which should have been in the middle, and the other two that open should have been on the sides. Every one of them had to be moved. Thankfully, they hadn't replaced the siding yet so they just popped them out and switched them around. I was glad that I caught it when I did. We were happy with the end result. Those were the last three windows to be replaced. One more thing is finished on the house.

More Party Pics

The kids had a blast riding the go-karts. Isaac was tall enough for the rookie carts for the first time this year. I (being a typical mom) was really worried about Isaac (being a typical youngest child) getting crunched by all the fast drivers, or crashing into the sides. However, he did really well and absolutely loved being able to drive himself. He only bumped into the side one time a little bit. In the last picture you can see Isaac driving (he had to look on the side of the steering wheel to see because he couldn't see over the top!).

Avritt's Birthday Party

The Party was at a local go-kart place. They did bumper boats first, and everyone came out pretty dry except Mike, who was a sitting duck. The less-than-powerful engine on his boat combined with his weight differential made him a slow-moving, easy target for the kids.