SANTA VISIT AND THE PINK PIG

Most of you have heard of Santa but maybe not the Pink Pig. The Pink Pig is a pretty big tradition here in Atlanta as you'll see from the link. We had a great day visiting Santa, who I must say is one of the best Santa's you'll ever see! The one we had for many years passed away 3 years ago but this one is pretty amazing. If you want to have your photo with this Santa you have to make a reservation (which are gone within a few hours) in advance or you may not get the chance at this great photo opportunity. They really do make it a wonderful, if not a magical experience for you and your family. We didn’t know if Quinn would go up to Santa willingly this year or not, he didn't last year. When it was our turn Quinn walked right up to Santa and sat on his lap with a big smile on his face the entire time. We had to reassure Cooper it was okay to go talk to him. I told Bryan later that I thought he was a little worried about going to talk to Santa because he had a few not so good days in school as of late. Nonetheless he walked up and discussed the list that he had filled out for him-- so cute! At first I thought I was crazy for going so early but now that I've experienced that I don't think I'll go in December again mainly because of the crowds! The Pink Pig is a pretty fun holiday event here in Atlanta. It just so happens that two pretty big malls are across the street from each other and they both host one of the major events—Phipps Santa and the Pink Pig. I must say that makes going to both in one day much easier. The Pink Pig was not crowded at all given our early November arrival! The boys had so much fun going around on the Pink Pig with mom and dad! We look forward to doing it again next year!!!

Happy Anniversary!

11 years and counting! We celebrated our anniversary and Lisa's birthday with some friends this weekend at Rathbuns Steak. Our good friends Craig and Jill came to town from Chicago to help us all celebrate. We all got babysitters and hit the town. We had a great weekend with both the Kouri and Tis families and only hope to do it more often in the future!

No more blue protective wrap in the kitchen

Here are a few shots of the kitchen for those of you who have asked what it looks like w/o the blue protective wrap on the cabinets. We still have a lot of painting to do on the base boards and back wall but for the most part it's almost finished.

VOTE

We took the boys with us to vote so they could see for themselves what we had been talking about for months. Though we had to wait for two hours to vote they were troopers. Cooper got to see a few of his school friends as we waited in line and he enjoyed spending time with them. Quinn hung in there and enjoyed being there with us for the experience.

Halloween recap

The boys had so much fun this year as Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Quinn would tell Cooper every 5 minutes, "Luke, I am your father." He found that humorous. They walked our entire route this year with no strollers or wagons. They did hitch a ride with Liv and Oskar every now and then but for the most part walked on their own. I guess they are old enough to do that but I'm also in a bit of denial that my children are getting older. Despite the state of our economy this year the boys returned home with more candy than ever. Quinn scored big when we approached a house with a UGA pumpkin and he quickly started signing, "Goooooo Georgia Bulldogs!" They started dumping stuff in his bag as if he was the last ghoul of evening. He just might be a UGA boy after all? It's a joke in our house for those of you who have not heard us talking about it...we say Cooper is our GA Tech kid and Quinn is our UGA kid.


October was full of fall activities and Halloween events. We attended my companies annual Trick or Treat on Turner Street (family carnival type event) where this years theme was Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The boys loved meeting Yoda, some clone troopers, and General Grievous. All in all it was a great event! We picked pumpkins, made cookies, and had a pumpkin carving party with a few friends and neighbors. It was a busy month, but so much fun!!

We Have Countertops!

The countertops were delivered right on time today- 9am sharp! It took about 3 hours from start to finish. These things are so beautiful- thanks to my architect husband and his design. I'm not sure if the photo does them justice, but they are 8 feet long by 5 feet wide!! If you knew my kitchen prior to this renovation you can only imagine how excited I am to have these new counters!

There she is! This is an amazing piece of art!

Check out the new faucet! Ah! So pretty!!

We're being told the plumber and the electricians are coming on Tuesday- after that most of the work should be done. I'm not holding my breath.

Happy Halloween! Almost.

The boys are so excited for Halloween this year. They have been asking me EVERY SINGLE DAY to decortate! We've been able to do a little given the house is such a huge mess at this point.

How much longer?

It really feels like we're almost there. The big hold up now is the counter install. Counters should be ready by next week some time and then the rest will move right along! So they say.

The cabinets are not blue. That is the protective layer that will be removed once the contractors are out of the house.

Progress is happening!

It's been some time since my last post but perhaps from the photos you'll see why!?

Day 15- Drywall goes up

Day 17- the start of the plaster going up

Day 23- we have tile (24x24)

Day 23- plaster is finished with the first coat and the tile has grout.

Day 24- cabinets arrive

Day 24- kitchen is ready for cabinets

Day 25- Cooper is helping put the cabinets together.

Day 25- Cooper and Bryan putting more cabinets together.

Day 25- There they are! Assembled and ready for the installers.

The cabinets should be installed today! I'm hoping I'll have time to post an update again if indeed that is the case.

Construction Update

Here are some photos from the past few days. I've been pretty busy with Cooper's school festival so I've had little time to post.

Day 8- Look NO floor!Day 8- Yikes! No floor in the kitchen. That is the old fireplace.

Day 11- Bryan checking out the progress. Keep an eye out on the wall behind Bryan. Notice it's solid- no doorways.

Day 11- Look at all that stuff! All the old walls had to come out so we could wire and put in much needed insulation. This old house never had any! No wonder our bill was so high for so many years. Day 12- The downstairs hallway getting framed for the new pantry. We decided the hallway was a lot of unused space.
Day 12- We punched this new doorway in the wall so we could build the pantry in the old hallway. This was not part of the original plan, but one Bryan really wanted to add. I will have to agree with this idea!

Day 12- Another view of the new doorway.