New Kitchen Windows!

Paul installed our new kitchen windows! I am so happy. This is the first step in someday remodeling our kitchen. The old ones were not only drafty and old and horrible, they were also too long, making it impossible to install cabinets in front in our tiny kitchen. Not good, when every inch counts. Now they are the proper height to place base cabinets and a counter top underneath. There is more work to be done, as you can see below:

We have to put up the siding again where it was removed. We will have to order more, as many of the old pieces split during removal (in spite of Paul being extra careful). But the insulation is on, the windows are caulked. The inner windows have their exterior sides painted. All that is left is to stain and polyurethane the interior sides.

Tyler has been a "helper" again. (Although he proved himself rather adept at removing nails from the siding pieces.) He found Paul's stud finder in the toolbox and was intrigued. So we brought him inside and showed him how it worked - hours of fun:

We are praying for a few more nice weekends so we can get the exterior a little farther along before the real cold sets in. But I am happy with the thought of a warm kitchen this winter!

Fun at the Pumpkin Farm

We went to a pumpkin patch in Homer Glen, IL called Bengston's. It was a lot of fun. We went there last year, but Tyler was really too small to enjoy the rides. This year it was completely different.

Frog Hopper - Anticipating

Climbing up - Scary!

Whee!

All Aboard!

A Wanted Criminal

Captured!

The Honey Pot - Dizziness

A Happy Day!

Happy Fall!

Scenes From A Birthday

We had two birthday celebrations for Tyler in September. One was a party at Lifetime Fitness with his classmates. The other was a family party here at home. Here are some highlights:

The Bounce House at Lifetime

Scooters!

The Cake (made by my niece, Denys)

Tyler and Mama

The home party cakes - Oberweis Ice Cream Cakes!

One of the gifts - a Dual Light Saber, spinning in the dusk

Blommer Chocolate Factory

We love to put cocoa mulch in our garden. It degrades fast, looks pretty and smells divine (although be careful if you have dogs - if they eat it they can get quite ill). The local garden centers run out of this in springtime, so the only way to get it now is by going to the factory to pick it up (call first to be sure they have it). It is near downtown Chicago, and Paul and I went one day when he was off work. The first thing we noticed was the heavenly, chocolate smell emanating from the air vents of the building. It was literally like walking past Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. We didn't know until we got there that they have a little chocolate shop on the premises. Yum!

Look at the rows and rows of chocolate!

Ginormous Candy Bars on the Top Shelf

Sculptures

A Very Happy Man!

My Baby Goes To College

Robert has left for college. Fortunately for me, he is not far. He is going to school in Downtown Chicago and is staying in the dorms (to avoid a daily commute and to avoid the harshness of travelling on the train in frigid winter in Chicago). But it is very odd not having him around all the time.

I think he is very happy!

The World Outside Your Window

We are in the process of painting the exterior of our house, an enormous job. But the quotes from painters were just too high. So we sallied forth. We may not get it all done this year, but are comfortable with the idea of breaking it up. While working on Side 1, the east side and front of our house, we also finally, finally stained and polyurethaned the interior side of our bedroom windows. This has only taken us about 22 years! Paul also repaired a section of the window where the molding had separated out from the wall that needed gluing:

Both the interior windows and the storm assembly were out. I took this opportunity to take a photo of the view from above, looking down on our scaffolding:

Scary