The Kitchen

So. We don't like our kitchen. It's tiny, the stove is shoved in a corner, the counter is a strange color etc. We finally decided to take a small step to improving our kitchen however, and painted all the cabinets! That small step took about two weeks from start to finish. We painted and primed every night for most of those days and then the last few days were spent struggling to get the cabinet doors back on without them overlapping. Pat was the brains of the operation; I provided the brawn and some mad dance skills (best Pandora stations for home improvement projects-Katy Perry and Jock Jams). I like our kitchen so much more now and Pat has said a few times that he wishes we would have done it a long time ago. 

I did a little research before we started and took the advice of a couple blogs about not needing to sand anything if you buy quality primer and paint. We used Zinsser Bulls-Eye primer and Benjamin Moore Advanced paint. They worked great. I was worried about being able to see brush strokes when it dried but it sort of smoothed itself out as it dried. 

Before shot of the stove area

Before shot of some more cabinets 

During shot of Pat in total despair about the cabinets not fitting with the nice, new hinges we bought. 

After!

After!

Soccer!

I announced the beginning of Owen's soccer season but Pat and Paige are in the midst of their seasons too so I thought I should do a post about them as well. First up is Pat! Pat's team plays on Sunday nights so we usually go to Owen's game in the afternoon, drive home, have a little bit of time to relax before we pack a dinner and all head back out. Every week I ask Paige and Owen if they want to stay home but they love going because they get to play soccer with a couple older kids that come to the games. This past week it started raining about halfway through the game so the kids took shelter under a picnic table. 

Meet Marc Brown

Owen won two tickets from our library to meet Marc Brown, the author of the Arthur books! Pat should probably be writing this post because he took Owen but I'll see how much I can remember from what they told me. They got there a little early and Owen got to choose a new Arthur chapter book, courtesy of the library. Then there was a presentation/slideshow and q&a session that was very entertaining. Marc Brown explained all about where his characters came from (most inspired by his own 3rd grade class) and also told about his home life. Afterwards, they waited about an hour to get some books signed. Sounds like a long time but I think Marc Brown was so friendly to Owen when it was his turn that they didn't feel like it was wasted time. It was a great experience and Owen already had his new book read before he got home!

Artfest!

So we were on our way to the library to pick up a book that was on hold before we went to the Cedar Valley Settlers Celebration when we got blocked out by the Artfest and decided to just do that instead. We usually go every year but I had totally forgotten about it so I was glad we ended up there by accident. There were a lot of crafts for the kids and we did some chalk drawings and checked out the local artists. We could have stayed longer but eventually we had to leave for Owen's soccer game so we got our kettle corn and headed home!

We paused on the walk over to stand on a large rock

Paige working on her keychain

Owen contributing to the community art project that I believe was going to be attached to a paddleboat and sent onto the lake.

This was right before we realized it had gotten very warm and we needed to ditch the hoodies.

Oktoberfest (Part 2)

I checked the Oktoberfest post from last year before I started writing this one and realized I could write the exact same thing. It rained, then stopped and we ate strudel, watched dog races, and checked out the sand sculpture. We watched the Glockenspiel show and were a little more prepared this year to sing Fliegerlied with the crowd. New for us this year was the Frisch Marionette show. It was one guy doing the whole thing and he did some amazing things. My favorite was the creepy looking clown who could juggle a ball but there was also a marionette that had its own marionette (see below).

Wiener dog races! This year we got to check out the senior division.

Strudel! We tried cherry and apricot.

Marionettes!

Krampus (Oktoberfest Part 1)

We went to Oktoberfest a week or two ago and came across these creatures-Krampus. Owen boldly approached them for a picture and then Paige felt brave enough to join in after she saw it was safe. I took the liberty of reading up on Krampus for you and will now enlighten you on the details. The Krampus is a beast-like creature that is pretty much the opposite of St. Nicholas (who happened to be carrying suckers in his stocking! It was normal at the time but now that I read "suckers in his stocking" it seems really strange..). Anyway, they capture super naughty children and take them away to their lair. I guess this is the proof that Owen and Paige are good kids!

The Birthday

So...someone special had a birthday last month...me! A couple days before we had a small celebration with my family that involved a Vegan Chai Spice Cake with Vanilla Bean Buttercream (we kind of messed up the frosting, it needed more sugar but I thought the cake was tasty!). My actual birthday happened to occur the day before Owen went back to school so we kept things pretty low-key (totally unlike my usual blowout birthday bashes). We went to the bookstore and got some Mitchell's ice cream (S'more's ice cream for me, yum!) during the day and then when Pat came home from work we had dinner together.

Soccer Season!

Soccer season has begun! This means that we'll typically have at least three soccer related events happening every weekend. Pat is an assistant coach this year for Owen's team so we're watching the game from opposite sidelines. I'll try to make sure he doesn't miss my hilarious commentary by shouting it across the field. Owen's team started out with a great first game, despite the ridiculous heat, and Owen even scored 3 or 4 goals. Afterwards, he and a friend had some ice water dumped on them to complete a challenge from another friend.