Yakov and Sarah's Wedding

A couple days after we got back from New York Yakov and Sarah got married. It was the best. So much fun, two cute boys and a wonderful babysitter we brought with us so we could have fun ourselves.

Beautiful Lucy Baby!

Eitan being crazy running down the aisle during the ceremony. We left the room seconds after...

Annnd I realize there are no pictures of Yak in here. Whoops.

The Boys Take Manhattan!

I'm behind on blogging. Big time behind. Things have been crazy! So here goes. Lots of pictures, less words.

Highlights of our trip to NY for the week between camp and school. Ami stayed home to deal with grown up stuff, and me and the two boys took the train to spend time in the city. We had a great time, lots of playgrounds, lots and lots of playgrounds, and spending time with friends and family. 

To the boys, just looking out the window was an activity- the cars, the sirens, the people!

 Playing with loyal blog reader Harry. And yes, this is the best picture that we were able to snap of this very close to bedtime playdate. 

 Crazy Eitan, Silly goose.

Eitan's First Day of School

Two weeks late and a tongue sticking out. Because that's how we roll.

And yes, sweet Levavi makes that hilarious face every time we say 'smile '! Cutest.

As you can see I couldn't convince Eitan that the first day of school was an occasion that calls for more than a jersey, but did get him to take off the hat for 5 pictures worth, so mom for the win!

Kitchen Remodel: Check!

So I have a feeling that we're never going to see the kitchen as done-done, so moth as well post where we are, so close.

Are renovations like your babies? That you can't say how amazing and adorable you think they are, but really think that they are so amazing and adorable (sometimes)?

Because I love this kitchen. I think it's beautiful and functional and I'm so proud of all the work we (ok, mostly Ami) put into it.

We still have to add shoe molding on some sections of the floor, and the art is very temporary, and the new sliding doors to the grill patio haven't been installed yet, but fine.

Hooray Kitchen!!!

Deep Creek Lake Weekend, Decisions and Counters!

How far have we come????

So far that not only is all of the food in our house in the kitchen, but as of yesterday at 1:37 pm we also have countertops!

Okay, so we can't use the ovens, cooktop or dishwashers or disposal, we still need to paint, add a backsplash and deal with a table makeover and build a bench, BUT, the end of eating in the dining room with a kotel wall full of boxes is over. One cabinet is out for an exchange (the above the fridge cabinet was a smidge too big so we're swapping it out for a smaller one), but life is returning to normal.

Last weekend, hopefully our LAST weekend without a kitchen we went to Deep Creek Lake with most of the Rozmaryn family. It was only for 48 hours, but felt like a real retreat. Maybe it's because I was actually taking my pain medication, or the mountain air, but whatever, it was lovely.

That face. I can't. He hated that life vest, but too bad.

Cousins trying to fish. Guess how many they caught? (I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with hero)

Levav and his girl-cousin-twin played so nicely together, really for the first time. Except when she got near his tape measure, or he near her dolly. I told him should be the grown up, he is a whole 20 days older then her, but he didn't seem to get that.

All five of the kiddos- most of Eitan, half of Itay, 2/3 of Liat and Levavi and Maya making crazy faces. What can you do?


Kitchen Progress- Friday morning:

And Tuesday afternoon: Counters!!!! They're prettier in real life. Once the rest of the lighting comes in things will look a lot more true-to-color on camera. The hole in the Island is for the cooktop (tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow!)

What's new: Mud puddles, Floors and Cabinets!

Things are are moving along in the kitchen so much so that we see the end in sight! Well, maybe not the end-end, but the ability to use our kitchen. After the last of the "big stuff" we still have a lot of finishing touches- painting, choosing and installing a backsplash, adding the cabinet hardware, sanding and painting the old kitchen table, building a built in bench along the far wall...but the rest, the BIG STUFF so within sight!!!

Here's where we are- funnest first!

There was a pretty crazy rainstorm on Saturday night, and our driveway is puddle heaven. In getting something done in the garage, maybe cutting trim, the kids got out and just had a ball. Particularly the Levs. He lives for puddles. He jumps and jumps and jumps. Another reason I'm glad to have the kitchen end in sight so I can park in the garage again and avoid late-for-school-because-Levav-saw-a-puddle-and-ruined-his-outfit while getting to the car. That guy.

We have floors (almost) yo!!!! The tile guy started Monday morning and will finish up tomorrow. We love the tile! It lightens up the room (as will the counters) looks modern and has a subtle pattern to it bringing in the brown tones of the cabinets, grey of the counters, and white of the future backsplash and table.

Oh, and peek-a-boo, cabinets are in and they are gorgeous and highlight the copper-ness of the range hood exactly as we wanted. I unpacked most of the stuff back in, and will finish once we have all the counters in and the plumbers and electricians are back (hopefully early next week), no reason to move stuff in and out again for them, right?






Anyways, Tisha B'av- a great day to be kitchenless. So that worked out. Oh and did I mention I had an emergency oral surgery this morning- wisdom teeth. All four of 'em. Yanked. Full anesthesia. Fuller cheeks, medium pain for now - NOTHING compared to the pain that they were causing me when it all started on Friday an hour before shabbat (doesn't it always?), sending me to urgent care and nearly begging them to pull all of the teeth on the right side of my lower jaw out, but not feeling awesome and on a soup/smoothie diet right now. I would totally do a cleanse or juice fast, such good timing, except you need a full stomach to take the antibiotics and pain killers. And god, I really, really, need those.

Big shout out to Liz who came by this morning with soup and gatorades- with um, no notice that oral surgery is needed and no kitchen, feeding yourself is complicated and she did a big time mitzvah! Hoping tomorrow to be well enough to enter the world of eggs or mashed potatoes, that might be optimistic however...

Moon white and Stilts

A few little big updates for today.

First, as I type, the cabinets are in our possession. This means that some day soon we will have a functional kitchen again, and today it seems so much closer then yesterday.

The last week has dragged and lagged. Nothing exiting. We had all of the grey tile ripped up (an expense we weren't planning on, but a)we couldn't match the 25+ year old tile to fill in spaces that are now going to be exposed and b)didn't particularly like it anyways and c) needed to call in a professional when the DIY methods proved difficult. $500 later, we have no floor in the kitchen/laundry/mudroom. Whoooo!

Other then that the week was spent building up the walls and ceilings and refining the drywall to prepare for the cabinets. 

Drywall stilts. See below. 

In other news, now that we have an intact ceiling, does anyone out there want to buy a pair of drywall stilts?

The other adventure was to the stone yard where I went to choose the slabs of granite that will make up our counters. The color/granite we had chosen is called "moon white" and apparently it's a best practice to go to the yard and actually choose the piece yourself from the options there.

To be honest, they all looked the same to me, but it was cool I guess to go over there. It was very very dusty as you can tell from these pictures...



Hard hat, patent leather and pearls...something doesn't belong...



The chosen slab of moon white. See you next week future counter!