Kitchen Remodel IV

Big week last week as the drywall went up and rooms began to take shape. You can really see the difference the addition of the drywall makes in the photo below in which the kitchenette has been drywalled and the kitchen is still at its studs. Then right below that when the whole space has been drywalled and mudded. It really felt like we turned a corner- whew! I already have photos on my camera (but not on the computer) from this week's progress and it is just amazing how much has been done in one week's time after more than a month spent in demo and rough-in work! Hooray-hooray! I can't wait for my next post about the kitchen remodel!

New back door! (Still needs to be stained.)

Garden Tour

The above photo shows Darren's hard work in creating climbing fences and tomato cages for the garden. That photo was taken about a week and a half before the rest of these photos. We came back from our Memorial Day trip, and I was shocked by how the garden had grown in just a few short days (with temps in the 90s). I cannot even keep track of everything in the garden beds, but it looks like we could be in for a bumper crop if things continue to go as well as they have thus far. We did lose a few cabbages to what we expect are deer, which can be a serious problem in our area. Last year, we only had a small garden, but did not lose much crop to deer... we suspect that the cats might deter the deer a bit. Now, Darren wants the cats out every night so they can "patrol" the property and keep the deer (and bunnies) at bay!

Tomatoes!

I think that these squash (or melons?) look so pretty! Those are beans in the back beds.

Lettuces

We have had a few raspberries already... of course, they are in Kyrie's belly as soon as they are ripe! I was lucky to get this pic!

After a slow start, our asparagus started to grow! They are in the rounded bed.

Peppers

"The Land of Fairies & Wizards"

Show day! It is hard to believe that we have come to the end of another year at DanceArts Academy! This was Degen's first year in dance, and he LOVED it! This was Kyrie's second year, and I was so proud of all the hard work she put into paying attention and learning her dance this year! Dress rehearsal went well for both kids, especially Degen, but I got more & more nervous as we got closer to the auditorium for drop-off. Kyrie was not a bit nervous, but I had no idea how Degen would do. Drop-off back stage was touch & go. Degen did not want to be left with his teacher & class, but let me leave him after a few minutes of reassurance. I was on pins & needles after we found our seats.

All the students performing in this show are on stage for the entire show. We lucked out and got absolutely perfect seats in the center and close to the front. I was able to catch Kyrie's eye after a few minutes, but I could tell that Degen was VERY nervous, so much so that he kept his little head tucked into his friend's shoulder for most of the show. Seeing how nervous he was made me even more nervous for his turn to dance.

Kyrie's class performed first, and Degen's class performed towards the end. I have video of both kids, but I have had trouble trying to download it (to Facebook) because we have had some issues with our PC. I do not have photos of the kids performing because I took video instead. Let me just say that as nervous as you are, sitting in a dark auditorium with your spouse and watching your kids on stage is an absolutely wonderful thing! You have so much love & pride for them! This was Darren's first time seeing the kids' dances, and he just loved it. Really, every single performance was adorable!

Degen with his almost sad face before his class performed.

This was DanceArts' mini-show for the Kindergarten & younger classes. Kyrie's class danced to "LOVE" by Natalie Cole and Degen's class danced to "Daydream" by Art Garfunkel. This year's show was so CUTE! I loved all the songs and the costumes! Degen's class was the youngest and got the most chuckles from the audience. Degen was nerve-struck and kept his eyes on the friend next to him rather than the teacher. He sort of, kind of did the dance, but I have seen him perform it 100% better on other occasions. One, sweet girl in his class stood still the whole time, but joined the class in their final pose, which brought out smiles & applause from the audience! There were too many sweet moments to count!

We were so happy with the kids' performances! The teachers & staff at DanceArts do an absolutely fantastic job of putting the mini-show together! From dress rehearsal to drop-off, performance & pick-up, we could not ask for more! The length of the show is perfect (less than 1 hour) and the kids really enjoy getting to watch all the performances while they wait on stage. At the end of the show, happy parents with flowers & gifts pick up their kids from the stage. We got a few post-show pics in the lobby before we headed to our favorite ice cream shoppe for celebratory treats! It was a fantastic afternoon for our family!

Dress Rehearsal

Here are the kids at their dress rehearsal for this year's show: "The Land of Fairies & Wizards." I took a lot of photos of the kids during dress rehearsal because I knew that I would want video during the actual show. All the little girls (& my little man) looked absolutely adorable! I really loved the costumes this year, especially Kyrie's. It was hard not to take 1000 pictures!

Degen looking so grown up waiting to dance!

Degen with his class!

Degen & friends in mid-jump!

Kyrie's class: Kinder Ballet/Tap

Dance Portrait 2012

Here's the kids' dance photo for this year! We went straight from our dress rehearsal to the photo studio to save me the time & effort of doing costumes, hair & make-up one more time. This strategy worked well, but the kids were a bit tired from the morning's dress rehearsal so they were not overly enthusiastic about getting their pictures taken. Still... how sweet are my little dancers?!? 

Kyrie's (Almost) Curls

It is dance recital time! Though I do Kyrie's hair every day, rarely is it the production that is required of recital time. Once again, Kyrie's class needed "high, curly pony tails." I was glad that Kyrie's hair had grown out so much since last year as it made doing her hair much easier. I washed and rolled her hair the night before the dress rehearsal, but her longer hair made last year's strategy not as good. Her wet hair did not fully dry in the rollers (even though they were in for more than 12 hours), so her curls did not set. She still looked cute, but I changed my method (ie. dry hair curled the morning of with even more gel) for the recital and her curls turned out perfectly! Thank goodness for dress rehearsal!

Kitchen Remodel III

Demo work continued last week, as well as the rough in for the electric and plumbing. In the above photo you can still see the kitchenette/dining room ceiling before it was raised. In the photos below, the ceiling has been raised. We took out a portion of the cinder block wall into the garage because we will move the door down a few feet and to prep for a future phase of the remodel. There will be a standard-size door on the wall and the rest of the hole will be walled in until we are ready to convert the garage into living space (which will be a few years from now). This should be the last week of demo, as insulating and drywall is happening this week.

This is the massive amount of debris filling the double-car garage. You can see in the photo below that the debris has been removed.

Our new LED can lights!

These photos show the kitchenette & dining room with its new framing. The photos do not really do it justice, but the raised ceiling height makes the whole room feel fantastic (especially the dining room). The photo below also shows the roughed in plumbing for the new sink that will be in the kitchenette. Good progress this past week, and we are looking forward to more this week!