A 5 year old and a newly found camera (mine)

I love this kid...She is too funny...

Anna is getting ready to leave the house. She has all her bags (what is in them only she knows and we will find out later when we realize that the toaster is missing or the little knobs to turn lamps on!) Anyway she asked me if I could help her carry some stuff. I look down at her and she has bags, a pillow, a lunchbox, and a box of tissues. I asked her why does she need a box of tissues. She relplies..

My nose is cloggeded and I may need to sneeze it and I will need a tissue for that.

I carried the pillow to the car for her while chuckling!

MY BABIES

ADAM



AMBER


AUSTIN






ANNA




CAPPUCINO

Makeover cont......

Ok where are we now? you may be asking.

The kitchen is now back to being able to be used. I have counter tops or at least 10 feet of it. I have new lower cabinets. new floor walls without a condiment pass through, sink, stove/oven fridge. I also have my microwave in the house(it was in the garage)


















The walls have been painted and the trim is done. What else is left you may be wondering.... but before I tell you that I thought I should tell you about how we almost became toast.


The week before we the oven came we called our propane company to come out and disconnect our gas lines to the old wall oven and cook top. The man came our and said he disconnected the wall oven line (since we no longer needed it) and he capped off the line to the cook top so we could safely work without fear of blowing up.

So the following week another company came out to install the range. After working for a while it was time to hook up the gas and test the oven.

"Mrs. Eyler," the installer calls,
"yes" I reply
"we need to disconnect the oven", he said.
"why", I said.
'Let me show you.."

He takes me to the basement and shows me that when the propane company came out to do their job they did disconnect the wall oven and instead of eliminating it at the source he just cut the pipe from the oven and pinched it closed with pliers and left it connected to the main gas line so when they reconnected the gas to the new oven it went through the pipe to the old oven and was just leaking into my basement.

It was a good thing that the installer was not in a rush to get out of here that he was able to hear the slight whistle that the leaking gas was making in the basement or how do I say it.....BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No more Eyler home. Thank you County Propane.

I of course called them immediately and they came out and fixed the MAJOR ERROR on their part!

So now that we are safe we now still have work to do.

We have to finish staining the new cabinets, painting old hardware on old upper cabinets, building a breakfast bar, adding the extra 3 feet of countertop, build shelves where old wall oven was for a coffee bar and microwave. After all that then I have to clean and put everything back into the kitchen.

So what is the total cost of our makeover???


THIS IS MY OLD KITCH FLOOR

PRICELESS! I LOVE IT
and I love the worker who did most of the work!

Design on a dime + quarter + a few dollars....

Ok I am sorry that this post will not include photos. I will be a descriptive a possible.

It started like this...

Back in February 07... Wall oven breaks while I am in Turks and Caicos.... I return call repairman and while he is there he looks and cook top and determined that it was broken too. Home warranty said that they would replace them. I get a great idea that instead of replacing them separately I will just order a freestanding range. (I always hated the 2 separated appliances.) So I ask John if we could do that which would cause us to have to replace the countertop and remove the cabinet under the cook top to make room for the new range. He said ok...

March 07...Had not picked out new range
April 07... Tried to order new range and was told I have to wait until May because the company is changing all their parts numbers and they cannot find anything????? WHATEVER
May 3. 2007... Order range and it is scheduled for delivery on the next Friday.

We now have to get rid of the old oven and cook top so I call the propane company and ask them to come out and disconnect them so we don't blow up! They come that Friday. Everything is progressing nicely.
Saturday we remove old ovens and we go to Home Depot for supplies. While there we see a stainless steel fridge on clearance. We needed a new fridge for quite some time so we decide to get it. John will pick it up Saturday morning.

Saturday.... John picks up fridge. Fridge will not fit through door so he spends the morning taking off the doors and putting them back on. Later that day..

John starts to remove the cabinet. First thing to do was cut the countertop and remove a section to get access to the cabinet. While doing so John cracks a wall tile and we realize that the new countertop won't fin into the area cut out from the tile so......

We make the decision to rip out the tile back splash...(and the ride begins...)
We rip out the base cabinet under the cook top and notice that there is no floor under the cabinet just the wood planks that are the basement ceiling! (All the sawdust and tile dust fell through the cracks in the floor to the basement) (Now I need to clean the basement.).


Well without any floor under the cabinet we now have to replace the whole kitchen floor... We cannot just leave it soooo...

The exhaust fan that is built into the wall never worked anyway we decide to remove which leaves a hole in the wall. No big deal right? We this hole went right through to the outside! I told John we should leave it and use it as a condiment pass through for barbeques! He didn't agree so he duck taped it for now and back into the kitchen he came.

Ok now back to removing the tile and the wall it is glued to (NOT REALLY supposed to do that) Huge chunks of plaster are coming off with the tile! and....

Guess what that leads to.... Having to drywall the walls.....
(Husband at this point may be slightly annoyed with wife)

Now while John runs to home depot to get dry wall I clean out old fridge and decide to be kind to the environment and put what I can into the garbage disposal. The disposal did not like that idea and decided to clog itself in protest....
No problem I will just take off the elbow pipe and unclog in right?? NO of course not...
While removing the pipe I notice a huge crack in the drainpipe and it has to be replaced....and while under there I notice that the cabinet is warped from water damage and the gives me an idea!?!?!?
I call John on his cell and present the idea to him...let just replace the base cabinets. We should since while the counter is off and most of the drawers were broke anyway. John agrees based on me saying it will be easy we just take the old ones out and pop the new ones in...No problem....

Stay tuned for the next update....

Now I know you will all be cracking up at this....

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Next time you think you are having a bad day....

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This is so amazing...please watch the whole thing!

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I love these guys

YOU PUSH IT!

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Happy Easter & Egg Schiessing

This has been our first Easter home in 2 years. We certainly picked a cold one! The week prior has been great. I spent my "free" (not driving to Narberth) time working on projects around the house. Wow I am amazed at what one can accomplish in a day when you do not have to take the kids places.

We were also selected to host Easter dinner for the Boccelli side. The funniest part of that is that I do not have an oven! So I got off easy with the cooking part. I was in charge of veggies, appetizers, dessert, and beverages. Lets not forget being a charming hostess and the cleaning up.

Dinner was great. The ham (courtesy of Donna-Bird) was yummy! I still think she should have gotten a bigger one (hehe) I only have enough for 1 or 2 more meals. We had a total of 17 people. 10 of them were kids! It was a little loud at times but what a blessing! It is so amazing that 10 kids can all get along and have fun! My friends Beth, rich and their daughter were also part of the group. I was a pleasure to have them. Thank you Beth for ALL you did. Bif provided potatoes and pineapple stuffing (both very tasty) Thanks to all for all your contributions to make dinner a huge success. Also thanks D-Bird for the fruit flowers!
Of course I have to thank the big J for all his help too. My kids were great too helping out with the cleaning.

After dinner we had a long over due rematch of egg schiessing. The Eyler's won last time so the Lobb's had to try to save the family. Now I am sure you are all ask what the heck is egg schiessing?!??? It is a game that my grandmother (Mom-Mom)(greatest Mom-Mom ever!) taught us when we were little. It is where you take a leaf from the table and lean it on a chair to form a ramp. You place an Easter egg at the bottom and the player gets behind the ramp at the top. The player then takes a wedding band (or my PG ring) and rolls it down the ramp trying to hit the eggs and crack it. It is way more fun than it sounds!

After many rounds (2 1/2 dozen eggs to be exact) the Lobb had the lead but due to a technicality (they had too many players) the received a 2-egg penalty the game ended up in a tie! Bif (my sister) will disagree with this version of the story but this is m blog not hers!(HEHEHEHEH) They should also be penalized for playing with inedible eggs! (the ones with the black dots!!!) Especially since the whole object of the game is to win the eggs to EAT!


I think all in all every they went eggceptionally well!!! (HEHE)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

This post is a little late.... I forgot to post it in a timely fashion...
But better late than never (and he doesn't know how to use the computer anyway...)




Look how nice he is to share with his little brother....



OvO is now 3 years old and about 110 lbs. Someone forgot to tell him that he is not a lap dog! He still sleeps with me and has his own spot on the couch with us! He is a great dog!!!!

Lights, Camera, Austin....

Austin had his television debut this morning!

We had a rather unexpected surprise this morning. We took Amber to ballet and I had offered to drive Mrs. White (Director of Pennsylvania of Ballet) to Philadelphia for an interview. She was going to talk to the Philadelphia School District Spanish classes via a television program. She brought 2 dancers wither her to show some ballet ect. When we got there she asked Austin if he would be on the show too. At first he said, "No, I am too young." But after a little coaxing he agreed. He answered some questions and demonstrated first position and some jumps! He made us proud when he answered the question Do you like ballet? correctly. His usual answer is "sometimes” but he answered on T.V. "I love it!" I was able to watch the show from the booth and it was so fun! He was so funny at the end of the show when they asked the "dancers" to just do some stuff until they faded out and Austin was dancing behind the 2 girls. It was a sight! I am trying to get a copy of it and when I do I will post it for all to see.





Also this Sunday on PBS they are showing MIRROR DANCE at 7 p.m. This is the movie about Mrs. White and her life. You should all try to watch it. It is a fabulous story. We are so lucky to have the privilege to study with them. If you would like more information on the film you can to http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/mirrordance/ for more info.

Home again, home again.....

I am back to reality (boo hoo). I returned home on Sunday night and I have one thing to say about that BRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

I know that many of you were looking forward to seeing me upday my blog while I was away but I just didn't get to it and honestly did any of you look at the pictures of where I was staying????? Did you really expect me to come inside and work on the computer????

I will update you all on the what happens when you go to heaven.

My first morning was rather interesting. I woke up early (don't tell my husband) and went to the main house for breakfast. I had met the chef they day before and knew right away that I would like her. She is so sweet. She made me some coffee and fruit and a croissant for breakfast. I know I could have asked for anything but it was kinda of strange ordering food in somebody's kitchen. I took my breakfast outside to eat it on the deck. I have to say that I will NEVER get tired of looking at the view here. I am ready to pack up and move here for that beautiful view!


I can just feel the stress and tension floating right out to that sea!
Of course I had company for breakfast....
Squeeky, Chelsey, and Annabell were all in attendance. All waiting for a taste of what I had. (of course I shared.)



After breakfast you all must already know what I did. I sat by the pool in the sun of course. Barb was working on getting ready for an open house and later that afternoon we had to get ready to meet the parents of all the students that came last year. Then Barbara and I loaded all the pups we could into the car and took them to a beach and fed them fried chicken and roasted pork and watched them swim in the ocean! We had to get them away from the house while they were showing it.
After we returned home we all went for a swim in the pool



The families and students came around 3 and it was great to meet all of them. The kids looked great and I was happy to see them again. Some have gotten taller and of course none of them forgot the mustard!!!!

Barbara made bellinis for the adults that were YUMMO!
After everyone left I learned some island customs from Karina....
and called home.
I told John that all was great but I had a hard time getting used to having someone prepare all my meals. He replied "I am sure you will adjust" I said "I am sure I will but it was much harder getting used to the national beverage." He asked, "What is that?" I replied, "Champagne." He didn't think I was funny. He ended our call with "oh goodbye".
We all went to bed to be ready for another day....

paradise soon to be over....

Well it is our last full day in heaven. It started a bit rough. We had to get up early since our first ballet class was at 8:00 a.m.
But after a quick cup of magic coffee and breakfast; up we went.

Starting early worked out great because that gave us the rest of the day to relax and talk. Barbara had to finish packing up the house for the renters coming in on Sunday so she needed all the extra time too. I was able to cat nap by the pool for a bit and then we got ready to go out for dinner.

It was getting late and Melinda and I realized that we were not going to have a chance to go get little gifts for the kids since all the shops were closed and will be closed on Sunday too. So after trying to help Barbara finish up and getting a little loopy from hunger. I told Barbara that I was just going to grap a few things from the house for the kids. And if you know Barbara you can guess what her reply was... Sure, better your kids have them then the renters! She is too funny! Thank you so much Barbara for you hospitality and caring nature! You are the best!



We did finally get to dinner We went to Mark and Barbara's resturant call Iguana. We had a great meal and it was so nice to spend the last quiet night with our hosts. Mark, It was great to get to know you and thank you too for everything! Especially the astonomy lessons and the great jokes. I am very fortunate to have met both of you!

We went back to the house for packing and bed...

Magic island...

I need to make sure that you are all sitting down for this next post.....
Are you sitting?

Good, What I have to tell you next may shock you. I woke up this morning and I had breakfast with Barbara and Melinda and then I.....went to sit out in the sun by the pool!

Duh what do you all think I would be doing???????
It was really hot today! I had to get up often to get in the pool to cool off.

I could not spend a lot if time in the sun today since we had a parents meeting at 12 p.m.

The meeting went well. We got to meet some of the parents and tell them about ourselves ect....

Then we had lunch and the kids started to arrive for day 2 of the audition.

Before I tell you about that I thought I would tell you about the magic...
The Chef is great. Her name is Annek. The food just magically appears on the counter or in the fridge covered in plastic wrap. I have yet to see her actually cook anything?? I smell it, but there is NEVER a mess or prep going on. I don't get it. Even when she makes an omlette I saw her break the egg in a bowl and then bam it is on a plate in front of me??
I am not sure if I told you about one of the coolest features of Barbara's house. I know what else could there possibly be there. She has a built in coffee maker! It is like having a mini starbucks in the wall. You put your cup under it a press what size you want and out comes a cup of hot cofffee. COOLNESS!!

But I saved the best magic for last...
For Valentine's day, Karina gave me a mini bottle of champagne. I placed it in the fridge in the cottage to chill...
Last night Melinda opened the fridge for some water and she asked me "What is this a mini six pack of champagne?" I told her that Karina gave me a bottle for Valintine's Day. She told me that there was six of them in there. I said "what?" I went over to look and yep....there was six of them! How cool is that? The national beverage clones itself when chilled!



The second audition went great too. We have a lovely dinner and then poor Barb fell asleep on the couch and so Melinda and I slipped out to the cottage to chat about the kids and of course have some of the national drink!!

All in all it was a lovely day in heaven.

Audition time..

Thursday I woke up and waited for some sleepy heads to wake up and join me in heaven. If my husband only knew how easy it was to wake me up. The formula is simple pure beauty! I just cannot get enough of the view. Everyone who knows me knows that my favorite color is blue. My house blue, my car is blue... I even made sure that one of my kids had blue eyes. (Alright I had not control over that one). but I do like the color blue. So I just cannot sleep thinking that I could be looking at a preview of heaven. I look out at the ocean as much as I can.

I had the pleasure of sharing the view today with Melinda. She got a tour of the house/compound last night and I told her that there was one thing that Mark and Barbara forgot to add to the house. They haven't managed to light up the ocean at night so we can see at night too.!
We had breakfast and then headed poolside. We talked about the upcoming audition and about her lovely trip here! We went for a walk on the beach then headed in to get ready for the children to arrive.

Our first group of children came and they were registered and given a number. We had 17 children ages 9-11. They were too cute. They worked hard and did great! Our second class was for ages 12 and up. We had 10 in that group plus a few guest that just wanted to take class. They all did great too!




Dinner and bed followed....