Saturday Snapshot

February was a hard month for our family with the passing of three family members within 3 weeks of each other:
Betty - Hubby's Mom,  My MIL, Grandma to 7, Great-Grandma to 4
Bev - Aunt, (Betty's sister-in-law)
Rich - Uncle (Betty's brother)

We celebrated their lives with tears and laughter. They will be greatly missed.

 In a few weeks we will be celebrating new life.  My daughter Courtney and her cousin Aimee are expecting!  Aimee is expecting a girl in April and my daughter is expecting a boy in June.

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot hosted by West Metro Mommy post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Before and After Home Renovations

During June and the first part of July we engaged in some serious renovations projects.  When you redo everything at once, everything needs it 21 years later!! 

I previously shared the kitchen cupboard transformations.


Today I share my favorite thing we did, replace our kitchen and dining room floors


In the kitchen we had vinyl and in the dining room we had carpet.

It took me awhile to talk my husband into going with a wood floor in the kitchen and dining room.  He caved and it is just beautiful. 

Dining room not quite finished

We also replaced the bathroom floor, redid the cupboards using the same product as the kitchen and installed new shower doors.

We thought about redoing the entryway with the wood, but decided it would take too much abuse so we got very nice high traffic carpet.

Living room carpet was also replaced at the last minute.







My mom and I recovered the dining table chairs, but will share those pictures at another time.

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme created by Alyce of At Home With Books and now hosted by West Metro Mommy post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Saturday Snapshot Before and After

With our daughter's upcoming wedding, we have taken on quite a few projects that we had no intention of ever doing! Last week we restored the cupboards and they turned out beautifully. Below are a couple of before and after pictures.  These are the cupboards below the sink, so they get lots of abuse.

Before

After

This group is directly across from the sink,  and got driect sunlight over the last 21 years.

Corner Cabinet Before

Corner Cabinet After

We removed the cabinet doors before beginning the project. We used Howard's Resore-A-Finish in golden oak. You apply it with 0000 steel wool, wipe it off, let it dry and then follow with Feed-N-Wax (also by Howard's). It took four of us 3.5 hours to do this job. I am so pleased with the results.

We are replacing the floor in the kitchen and dining room with hardwood.  I am sure you will see before and after pictures for that project as well.

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme created by Alyce of At Home With Books and now hosted by West Metro Mommy post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Saturday Snapshot

We had a great time at my niece's wedding in Flordia last weekend
The countdown to my daughter's (she was a bridesmaid last weekend) wedding is 9 weeks!

 

 

 

But my Kindle did not survive the trip.  It went through security and when I turned it on, it looked like this.  I am so sad.  Amazon has said they will replace (upgrade) it to a Paper White, Touch or Fire at a reduced cost.  Do you own either of the choices?  If so, why do you love it or don't?

 

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Saturday Snapshot

It took awhile, but the temperature has caught up with Spring!

Love the color and fragrance of hyacinths!

It is a bit hard to see the azaleas are just budding.  The tulips will be open in a day or two.

The tulips are hiding all the new green shoots in the hydrangeas and rose bush.

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Saturday Snapshot

I have a couple of pictures to share that are totally unrelated!


This is how we wrung out the wet carpet we cut up and dragged upstairs in order to be able to lift up easier into the garbage can and so that the poor guy collecting that day did not hurt himself!

This next pictures is one I took of a book I read last week that really ticked me off - what a patron did not the book!  The first 50 pages had every "F" word scribbled out.  It got really annoying.  If it bothered this person so much, he/she should have returned the book instead of defacing a book that did not belong to them!!!    Since the scribbling stopped, I wonder if the book was returned after the 50 pages or they gave up and kept reading. 

I also found in another book a note left by the previous reader that they really liked the book.  I forgot to take a picture of the note. 

What have you found in library books?

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Saturday Snapshot

I was going to share a totally different picture this week, but after last weeks rain seeped into my basement I had to share a few pictures of the mess it caused. My prayers go out to those who have suffered worse than I have, but this was my reality, just as devastating as the carpet and a few items are a total loss.

It is very hard to capture in a photo the water as our basement floors are painted gray.  As you can see in the family room the water is easily identifiable as we walked around trying to put what we wanted to save up out of reach of the water.

Thankfully the water did not get high enough to immerse our shoes while sopping it up with towels and running the wet vacs we have.  We spent 36 hours trying to keep ahead of it.  Yesterday I spent 6 hours getting all the towels, sheets, blankets, whatever we could find to soak up water washed and dried.  I finally broke down and hauled it to the launder mat and used their industrial sized machines.   I was not the only one there washing/drying soaking wet items.  

It is still not totally dry.  Once it has stopped raining and seeping in we will move everything out of the family room to suck up as much water as we can before removing the carpet.

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Saturday Snapshot

I cleaned the house Thursday and gathered all my library books in one spot.  YIKES... I am a library addict!  I can't resist the new release section, and the shiny covers just scream to pick them up.  I am a greedy library patron or blonder than I pay to be as I noticed I have duplicate titles.

Take a look at the stacks and tell me how many titles are duplicates.  I will enter those correct guesses and draw a winner (on Monday) for a Starbucks Gift Card or Dove Chocolate! 

PS:  I have since returned the duplicate titles so others can enjoy them too.

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Saturday Snapshot

Courtney and Grandpa Bob

We celebrated the life of a kind and giving man two weeks ago, my father-in-law Bob.

Here is an excerpt from the tribute that my daughter, Courtney, gave for her grandfather:

Grandpa was our biggest fan, all through growing up and into adulthood, regardless of what we were involved in. From sports to band to choir or even when I coached Little League softball, Grandpa was there cheering us on and offering encouraging words from the sidelines. When he went to Florida each winter, he would want tapes sent to him so he didn’t miss any action. When he was at the games, if he could reach you, he would always give you advice on what to do – “choke up on that bat 1-3, keep your eye on the ball 1-3” and it was always done with encouragement and pride in his voice. If you were sitting next to him and cheering for the opposite team, he would simply smile and say... “Well, you’re rooting for the bad guys” – that’s what he always called the other team. When I brought my now fiancee, Kevin, to meet him for the first time, Kevin was wearing a Boston Red Sox hat, and the first thing Grandpa said was… “The RED SOX, those are the bad guys!” .

Grandpa had a huge sweet tooth, and cookies were one of the top favorites. We grand kids would always try to sneak a cookie from the tins Grandma kept them in, without him hearing us, and the minute we would open one, we’d hear… “HEY, who’s stealing my cookies!?” But he always shared! Like I mentioned earlier, Grandpa loved to play practical jokes – they were always harmless and all in good fun – like the time he sent an anonymous sympathy card to someone in his Florida complex because her beloved Boston Red Sox lost in the playoffs, or he would go plant his U of M flags in other peoples yards and steal their MSU or OSU ones

James, Caleb, Courtney, Abbie, Jared, Allison, Aimee

They will miss their Grandpa!

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Saturday Snapshot

Last week Saturday I participated in the Locks of Love event that took place on the ice at the GR Griffins hockey game. It was the second time I donated my hair to this worthy cause. Douglas J Aveda Institute hosted the event. My daughter, an instructor at Douglas J, cut my hair on the ice. Fellow educators and students also participated.
 

 

BEFORE

 

Group shot before going out on ice

My daughter and I are in the back

Listening to the participants telling how much hair they are donating

 

My turn, I donated 12 inches.

The gentleman sitting next to me donated 18 inches!

 

AFTER

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Saturday Snapshot

Looked out the window last evening to see a beautiful sky at sunset. My camera did not pick up the intensity of the pinks and purples, trust me, it was so pretty!

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Saturday Snapshot

Santa did not bring any new books this Christmas, but did bring a new iPod Touch for audiobooks and maybe some music! ;o)


I did get a few sparkly things as well:

 

We received our first dusting of snow. The sparkly snow does not translate with my camera. It is so pretty sitting on top of the hydrangeas!

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.