Christmas Decorations

Hi!

Last Saturday was a beautiful day, so the kids and I went out and cut a tree from the woods behind our house.

We decorated it Sunday afternoon.

Here are a few more pics of the decorations we (I) put out.

C has even decorated (and re-arranged her room)! Including a festive "Keep Out" sign.

(This One Direction Poster is on the ceiling!)

Have a great day! :-)

Tasty Thursday

Hi!

Another busy week and only 7 more days til Christmas!

Here's what we ate last week.

• Thurs- Vegetable Soup- from a can with a few additions- basically what we had last Sunday, but N wasn't here so it was "new" to him
• Fri- Frozen Pizza- C had friend over.
• Sat- Dominoes Pizza (kids gone)
• Sun- Gumbo from mix with Sausage, Rice
• Mon- Chicken Fajitas, from a chicken roasted that afternoon.
• Tues-Frozen Tuscan Beans, Leftover Rice, Steamed Sugar Snap Peas, Raw Carrots & Raw Sugar Snap Peas with Ranch dressing
• Wed- Macaroni & Cheese, Peas

Enjoy the rest of your week! :-)

TGIF- More Front Room Progress

Hi!

Gooness, it has been a busy week!  I tutored Monday thru Wednesday. Thursday and today there was no school because of roads and bridges being closed due to flooding. On Wednesday and Thursday we got 7 inches of rain in a 36 hour period which is more than twice the amount we usually get in the whole month!

However, even with this, we still got some work done on the front room.  Here are some pics.

The ceiling is drywalled!

 The ceiling and little side parts are drywalled!

More ceiling and side parts (are drywalled)!

This wall separating the front room from the master bathroom is drywalled.  The pic kinda looks like the wall is at an angle, but it's not...

Also, all the walls are taped and ready to be drywalled.  We're just waiting for a dry day to pick up the drywall.  It's supposed to be raining all weekend plus K has to work tonight, tomorrow and maybe Sunday. :-(

Have a great weekend!

:-)

Tasty Friday

Hi!

Here's what we ate last week.

• Thurs- Kale Super Mix Oriental Stirfry, Quinoa (?)
• Fri- Out for dinner for my in-laws' anniversary
• Sat- Roast Chicken, Leftover potatoes, Black Beans, Raw Sugar Snap Peas & Carrots
• Sun- Veggie Soup- started from canned soup with extra carrots, onions, canned tomatoes, frozen peas, green beans, chicken broth
• Mon- Tamale Pie (More Easy Beans, pg 97), Salad with Sugar Snap Peas and Carrots, Chips and Salsa
• Tues- Frittata Muffins with Frozen Spinach, Toast
• Wed- Frozen 4 Cheese Raviolis, Tomato Sauce for the kids, Green Olive Pesto for the Adults

:-) 

TGIF- Front Room Progress

Hi!

The weeks are so busy!  K & I had a lovely time at the Johnson Shore Inn last Friday night.  It was a combined birthday gift for K and me for our birthdays in October.  We finally got to go before they close for the season Jan. 6. We went to Charlottetown before and got some "fun" shopping done.  K got a new jacket and I found some ramekins. I had Wednesday off work, but I had to go to town for a job interview (!) and then I did my shopping.  I got a lot of Christmas stuff done, so that's good.  In the afternoon, it was my turn to drive to dance class so I had to go back to town.  I also had to drop the cats off to get spayed.  Thursday, C was supposed to see our family doctor about her hearing, but the public health nurse who did her hearing test at school, got her an appointment in town to have another hearing test.  She has decreased hearing in both ears, probably because of fluid build-up behind the ear drum. She has another appointment with the family doctor next week. Today there's no school. We have to pick up the cats this morning and then go back to town for dinner to celebrate my in-law's anniversary. We also plan on getting a few Christmas decorations up today!

Have we made any progress in the front room this week?  Well, a little!

Notice there's a piece of drywall up to the left of the door (with a hole cut our for the plug) and the top 2x4 for the closet wall on the ceiling.

  

This side is plastic-ed, taped and ready for drywall.  Except, the plug needs to be moved :-(.  Where it is now, it ends up being right under the end of the bench.  It needs to be a bit further from the door.  I guess it's good I noticed before we drywalled, but I wish I'd noticed before I taped all the plastic!

  

Here is the wall to the bathroom framed up.

So, we are slowly getting there!

Have a lovely weekend!

:-)

Tasty Thursday

Hello!

Here's what we ate last week.

• Thurs- Pork chops with scalloped potatoes. I got this "recipe" from N's teacher.  It's just thinly sliced potatoes in a baking dish covered with a can of cream of mushroom soup, then more potatoes and another can of soup  Place pan-seared pork chops on top and bake at 350 for 45 min or so.  
• Fri- Out- K and I got to go to Johnson Shore Inn for the night (a combined birthday gift to K and me from my in-laws) where we had a delicious dinner of pan-fried haddock, potatoes and baby bok choy.
• Sat- Frozen Pizza
• Sun- K's Mac & Cheese (N had a friend over for dinner.)
• Mon- Frozen Enchilada Casserole
• Tues- Baked Lemon Sole, Frozen Spinach, Whipped Potatoes
• Wed- Quesadillas, Raw Carrots

I heard on the news that the average family of four in the maritimes spends $900/month on groceries.  We spend less than that, so I feel better about my food budget now.  K heard from his co-workers that meat prices have increased a lot, so serving a lot of vegetarian meals must help with keeping our prices down.  The news also said that food prices have increased 35% since 2004 and are going to keep rising in the next year!

:-)

TGIF

Hi!

Happy American Thanksgiving (a day late)!  Yesterday was a snow day for us, so school was cancelled.  We got about a foot of snow (30cm).

Can you see C under the tree?

Here's a closer pic. C's building a fort under the spruce tree.

N has the snow saucer out.

Here's the pond this morning.

So, we've been slowly working on the front room.  Everyday we do something.  It doesn't look that much different from last week, but we got a lot of little things done.

The styrofoam is framed off by 2x2's. This wall is ready to be plastic-ed and then drywalled! There's a vertical 2x4 behind some plastic that shows where the closet wall will come out from the front wall. 

This part of the wall just needs the light switch box installed (and the pink insulation put back in the bottom) and then we're ready for the styrofoam. 

We hadn't planned on putting the 2x2's on the wall, but at the top of the wall is a 2x6 and it sticks out over the rest of the 2x4 wall.  So, we added the extra 2 x2's and styrofoam so there wouldn't be a bump out.  

The ceiling has been vented and insulated and a lot of extra drywall backers have been put in so the ends of the drywall will have something to screw into.  The wiring is also done.

Here we actually have drywall (and extra lumber) to put up! 

Blah!  Here's where I moved most of the stuff from the other side of the room.

And here's the hallway, where the other stuff went.

We are almost ready to put the drywall up!  This is an exciting step, but I'm always wondering, "Is there anything else we need to do before we close up the walls?"

Have a great weekend! :-)