Did you have a good Christmas? For the first time in several years, we actually woke up Christmas morning in the home of one of our children. Last year, as I recall, we spent the day in a Walmart parking lot. The year before we were hanging out with SOWER friends while we bided our time waiting for our New Years trip to Columbus (and our official Family Christmas ). So this year, though quiet, was still very special. Cinnamon buns, coffee, a couple of presents, family. All the good stuff!

Oh, and let’s not forget the other members of the Waco Family!
Later in the day friends of Lara’s brought us dinner, and we actually managed to clear off the dining room table. And along with dinner, they also brought their precious almost 3 year old, Henry.

While it wasn’t quite the same as having my own grandchildren clustered around, it did my heart good. (And in the spirit of this new technology age – we’re totally engrossed in an iPad.)

It was a quiet year also in the Christmas Craft department. I was still determined to “use what I had” in the fabric department, so I decided to see if I could make my sisters each a nap size quilt made from my stash.


Except for the fleece backing, I was able to make them both from leftovers. It’s a good thing I have sisters that are willing to help out with reducing the fabric weight in Lizzie!
And while I was pretty focused on getting the grandkids practical things for Christmas (like winter boots and gift cards for diapers), before we left for Waco, I came across some leftover squares from a quilt I made for Hayley several years ago that I thought might work for some cute little girl purses.
And they did!


I’ve been told they were quite a hit!

OK, the natives are getting restless here so I guess I’d better join the “party” in the kitchen!
More up-dates on that front soon!

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons.
It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags.
And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.
What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

May this Christmas find you experiencing “a little bit more” of what this season is all about.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

Blessings to you, dear friends, during this precious Christmas season!

A Kitchen!
We had a couple of big days here at the Kitchen Reno ~
The counter guys showed up bright and early Tuesday morning with a trailer full of Bee-U-ti-Ful granite. Such excitement!

It turned out to be a longer than expected installation – and they even had to go and get a new piece – but that’s the challenge of installing a new anything in an old house.


Hmm….if we get it to line up on one side, there’s an inch gap on the back side. Quite the puzzle.

Then there was the peninsula slab – now that was one big heavy piece of rock! Unfortunately, the overhang curves weren’t right and we were afraid the whole counter would have to go back. Gulp. But not so . These guys carry all kinds of tools with them, and recutting and bullnosing and polishing a couple of corners was well within their grasp. The glitch on the sink side of the counter was not so easily fixed, though, and they did have to go back to the shop to get a new piece after they tried to fix the gap problem.
Seams were joined -

and edges polished.
Five hours later, the kitchen had counters!


I’m happy to say that the little piece over on the refrigerator (spot) wall did not present any problems whatsoever.

But while the counter guys were busy figuring out how to make the granite fit, Gary was busy on the other side with the water heater project. After finally getting the chimney pipe (remember, that 3/5 concentric vent) down the chimney, it was time to get that baby operating. He decided to move it to the chimney wall to make that little teeny tiny closet just a tad more useful, and by the end of the day, we not only had hot water from the new tankless water heater, but Lara also had a designated Vacuum Cleaner Closet.

OK, so you have to imagine the closet walls and door, but I’m sure you get the vision!
And did you notice that the hall decoration (aka old water heater) has been removed? Now that was a delight to behold to those of us who have been squeezing by it for the last month!

Once we had counters, it was on to plumbing! By the end of Wednesday we had a working sink, garbage disposal, cold water filter and dishwasher.

The dishwasher isn’t quite installed just yet, but close enough to do a load of dishes for sure!
So, what’s next?
Well, today Gary is trial fitting the large pantry and bookcase that goes in front of the Vacuum Cleaner Closet.

This picture was taken a couple of days ago – but perhaps you can see our problem. Even without the kickplates installed (which will make the entire unit 3 inches taller) there is that door cornice molding that will definitely be in the way of actually opening the upper cabinet doors. We haven’t totally figured out the fix, but Gary’s on it, as we say. Problem has been identified, and resolution will be forthcoming.
He doesn’t want to actually install the cabinet though until we do the painting behind it. And we’re still not quite sure about the color. Lara did decide on the backsplash tile – a great mosaic with lots of neutrals to work with -

We’ve tried four different shades of green (the last two are still in the running), a nice gray-blue, two shades of mocha/latte and even a deep wine color (ruled out pretty early, way before she decided on granite color and backsplash). Right now she’s going between a lighter or darker sage green or maybe that blue gray. Of course Jo (she and hubby Roy stopped by to see the progress) just said – have you ever thought of a deep gold? AAAAAHHHHKKKKKKKK…..
Help!!!!! We’re open to suggestions!

Oh, and in case you haven’t noticed -
It’s also beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
One day and a wake-up!

Sometimes it’s about the bathroom.
Remember back in October when we were popping in on Lara most weekends (we were doing a SOWER project a couple of hours away) and we tackled redecorating the bathroom?

Aside from some art on the walls, the only thing that was left to do was the crown molding. And even though you might think that crown molding in the bathroom is a little over the top, it was only room in the entire house that did not have any. Lara wanted something that she could hopefully install by herself, so she decided to try So Simple Crown Molding, which is essentially crown molding made out of Styrofoam. Yes, like the coffee cups no one likes to drink anything out of! It came already cut to her bathroom measurements, was easy to paint, and not quite as easy to install as the video led you to believe (though the dark red walls and white caulk could have been some of our problem). But the end result is quite nice, I think.

I don’t think you’d ever know it was coffee cup stuff!

Sometimes it’s about chimneys.
Since Lara is changing out her old water heater for a new tankless water heater,

(seen hanging on the wall), there was some new vent pipe that needed to be installed up the chimney. (It’s 3/5 concentric vent, for those of you who really want to know.) It took us awhile to track down the parts in the first place, but then there was the exercise of actually getting the pipe DOWN the chimney.
Here are Hugh and Gary on the roof, trying to force the pipe down the chimney which is just a little teeny-tiny too tight.

Yes, that is Hugh with a hammer, and Gary with the high-tech vegetable oil. Such an innovative group! (And it’s a really good thing I wasn’t home for that little bit of ladder business!)

Sometimes it’s about Family
For the first time in several years The Conrads won’t all be together for Christmas. While we’ll be here with Lara, everyone else will be doing their “own thing” for the holidays. We’re sad about not seeing how big Noah is getting -

Or just plain being with those Ohio Conrads!

And it just won’t seem the same without Josiah and Abigail -

This was a big year for them – a new house (love it!), a new job for Abigail (going great), and (the really big news….) a Baby On The Way! We are very anxious to HUG them!!!!
But we are blessed to be with Lara, here in Waco.

because
Sometimes it’s even about Christmas -
Regardless of the fact that her house is in major disarray, it is still the first Christmas that Lara has been home in Waco for Christmas. Plus, the parents are visiting! So while we haven’t been able to decorate the whole house, we have tried to bring a little of the Christmas spirit home.

But sometimes
it IS about the kitchen -
The floor is down!

We think it’s quite beautiful!
And this is all that’s left -

Gary did a great job of using every last piece. We have another full box, but since we could return the box for full credit if it’s unopened, we hated to break into it for just a couple of boards. We LOVE returns!
Because we still have a lot of painting and trim work to do, this is what the floors look like now -

Better safe than sorry. That’s all I have to say about our cardboard kitchen.
News Flash!!!!!
Lara just got word that the counter and sink will be arriving TUESDAY. That’s tomorrow. And that’s pretty darn exciting!
Better go and get that soon-to-be counter cleared off.

Yes, indeedy it is!
Once the sub-floor was completed, it was on to the cabinets!

And as the cabinets progressed, so did the installation of the stove and the dishwasher.

(That’s Gary really getting into the installation!)
By this afternoon, it ready was for the counter guy to come and measure for the counter tops .

And I’m pleased to report that although the installations are only temporary, we ran the dishwasher and used the stove tonight! Such progress!
But we still have a long way to go.

Yikes!
Aside from that whole other side of the room (which consists of the refrigerator cabinet and microwave cabinet on the left of the door, and then the installation of water heater (hanging on the wall), building the closet around the water heater, and installing the pantry cabinet in front of the closet and chimney), there’s the floor (pre-counter), the backsplash (post-counter), and of course painting (anytime I can do it and not be in Gary’s way). We (the design team of Lara-Katie-Me) are really struggling with paint colors, except to know that the purple will be going and the white trim will be staying. I think my next big project will be to paint the walls (and the purple ceiling) a nice primer white, and then maybe Lara (and the team) will be inspired. No firm decision on the backsplash either. Gah – we need some of the folks from HGTV to stop by!

But I don’t want to get overwhelmed thinking about all there is left to do, when there is rejoicing to be done for all that has been accomplished. Because yes, that was a dishwasher I heard!