Tyler loses his first tooth

Tyler lost his first tooth this morning while we were eating
breakfast. He didn't even notice when it happened. A little while into
the meal I looked over at him and noticed something was different. I
asked him, "Tyler, is that loose tooth even in your mouth anymore?"
That is when we realized it wasn't! Now the panic was building. Where
did the tooth go? Tyler raced upstairs to look in his bed, thinking
it might have fallen out while he was sleeping. The couch was also
examined as he had been watching cartoons before breakfast. Then I
looked at his breakfast sandwich. There was the tooth! It was stuck
in the croissant. Tyler was very excited to have found the tooth. He
immediately set off to place it in a little plastic chest that the
dental hygienist had given him at his last tooth cleaning. Now he
can't wait for the tooth fairy to come.

Painting Progress

Steve was (finally) feeling well enough yesterday to keep an eye on the kids, but still not feeling well enough to head into work. Since his tummy troubles had turned into a surprise vacation I decided that I should get something done around the house, since going on a trip was out of the question. I knew I had to pick something I could do on my own as he was still recuperating from a yucky stomach bug and was pretty low in the energy department. What did I decide to tackle? Painting the trim in Emma's room! It had only been five months since her walls had been painted... It was definitely time. An impending visit from her preschool teachers helped push this project along, too.

Here it is after the first coat:

Kitchen Updates

OK, it's been much too long since I have posted!  We have been busy making many updates here at the Tudor House.  Today's post is all about the kitchen.

The kitchen first got some attention back in November, on Thanksgiving to be exact.  I had really been wanting to change out the cabinet knobs and drawer pulls as shiny brass just isn't our style here at the Tudor House.  When I removed one of the old drawer pulls to measure the hole spacing I discovered that the cabinet fronts had darkened with age and left light spots behinds the pulls!  So, if I was going to be able to replace the pulls they wouldn't just have to match the hole spacing, they would have to cover the same shape as the previous pulls (at least).  I was a little worried that this wouldn't be possible.  Then a few Amazon gift cards came my way (thanks to some Kodak Study Group referrals), so I went hunting.  Low an behold, they had our exact pulls, and they were available in brushed nickel!  Exactly what I wanted! So, I thought I ordered enough to change all of the pulls and knobs.  The box arrived the day before Thanksgiving, but since we were hosting Thanksgiving at our house there just wasn't enough time to make the switch before turkey day.  My Mom and Dad came over for our traditional Pie Lunch and to help finish getting things ready for dinner. 



Pie Lunch

Well, we had a little time after the turkey was in the oven and having lunch before we needed to do anything else, so we decided to change the knobs.  This is when things got interesting.  First we discovered that the old pulls had slightly longer screws, and that smidgen of length was required in order to actually reach through the drawer face and catch the pull.  So, we had to use the new pulls with the old screws.  Then we discovered that I couldn't count.  The knobs came in a value package of ten.  When I was counting how many knobs I needed I was delighted to discover that we had an exact multiple of ten.  When I placed my order I accidentally only ordered one ten-pack, when I actually needed two... Oops!  So, we had to put ten knobs back on the cabinets while I placed another order from Amazon.  Actually, after telling about my knob snafu at dinner my brother-in-law ordered them for me with his Amazon Prime account so that I could get free shipping.  We called it an early Christmas present. Now the kitchen looks like this:



Yay for soothing, brushed nickel cabinet hardware!



In the photo above you can also see that we added a brushed nickel towel bar to the side of the cabinet next to the sink.  I have no idea where the previous owners kept their dish towels.

A good friend happened to have to stools that she didn't need anymore, so she gave them to us for our breakfast nook.  We (my mom and I)  reupholstered the seats with some beautiful purple fabric. Then, since we had some fabric left over we made oven mitts, too!

We (Steve and I) have been up to a few other things in the kitchen, too.  They are kind of boring, but they make me happy.  It's mostly all about organizing... I found a Command Hook to hang my reusable grocery bags on the back of the pantry door.  Recently I finally found another Command Hook to hold the dust pan and broom on the back of the cabinet door below the sink.  We found some hardware to put inside the really skinny cabinet next to the dishwasher so we could store cookie sheets and cooling racks in there. I received that cute little tray with the olive oil dispenser and salt and pepper grinders that is pictured along with my oven mitts for my birthday.  This weekend I got an organizer that is supposed to be for spices, but I am using it for my cake and cookie decorating "sprinkles".  Isn't it neat?

Our Snowman

Updates

Well, what have we been up to around the new Tudor House?  First up was dealing with the dead central air system.  Yes, we discovered at our pre-closing walk through (during the first major heatwave of the summer) that the central air wasn't working.  At first we were told that only the cooling unit needed to be replaced.  After we moved in an were having it looked at there was a moment where we thought it could be repaired.  Unfortunately, hopes were quickly dashed and it wound up that we had to replace the cooling unit AND the furnace! 



before



after



Then we replaced the basement windows.



before



after



Next up: adding a small section of fence to protect the AC unit from the neighbor's driveway plow during the winter and adding electricity to the inside of the garage.  Keep your fingers crossed for garage door openers!

Planning for a Mudroom

Remember this space at our old place?  We called it the mudroom.  It was the back entrance to the house.  That door went out onto the deck and pointed right down the stairs into the yard, which had a little path over to the gate at the driveway so that you could get to the garage.  We did a mini-renovation to the space in 2006 in order to make it the way you see it now.  A chair rail and wall paper that covered half the wall was removed.  Wall to wall carpet was torn up.  A bad tile job was pried off the floor.  Steve and his dad laid the slate tile floor, along with radiant heating underneath so that it was warm in the winter.  We had hardwood floor installed for the other half of the space, which is the office.

Oh, how we miss that space!!  While the new Tudor House is amazingly similar to our First House, with a nearly identical layout, the mudroom is MIA.  You see, it was an added later (by a previous owner) at the First House.  The part where the hardwood floor is used to be a porch.  The Tudor House does not have a door that goes into the back yard.  There is a front door and a side door, but no back door at all. It does have its own space that used to be a sun room, which is now the office.  It just hasn't had the addition, yet...

You see, we knew on the first day we saw the house that it HAD to have a mudroom (and back door) added.  See that picture over there?  That's me during our first walk through, pointing at the space where the mudroom should go.  When we had the minor debacle discovery that the central AC unit had died at our pre-closing walk through it was just another sign that the mudroom was meant to be.  How does a dead central air unit mean we should add a mudroom, you might ask.  Well, the unit was located behind that bush at the corner of the dining room, basically right where my thumb is pointing.  Key word being was.

So, we were given a credit to have the AC replaced at closing.  When we had the unit replaced later in the summer we also had it moved, over next to the side of the current office so that it would be out of the way when we added the mudroom in the spring.

Here is how the space looked at the end of the summer, ready for its makeover:

So, now it is time to start making the addition a reality.  We haven't ever put an addition on a house, though, so we are a little unsure of where to begin.  We are getting recommendations for architects and contractors from our real estate agent (who has a lot of experience with this, and is just awesome in general) and friends in the area, and just figuring out where to go from here.  We would like to bring the addition out to the bump at the corner of the dining room, flush with the current side wall of the office, having the roof line mimic the slope of the office roof, so that it feels like a continuation of the office just like the mudroom did at the First House.  We also hope to have slate tile with radiant heating for the floor, just like before.  One thing we learned is that we want the door to be centered on the wall, not crammed in the corner like it was at First House.  We need a little more space to get in the door. 

The bench is just waiting for its spot.  And we certainly still know where to get the hook racks for the walls!

Front Entrance Organization

Last night we add some much needed organization to the front entrance at the Tudor House. We purchased the hook racks back in the fall but hadn't made the time to install them. Well, after Tyler's bus missing episode yesterday we finally had the incentive we needed. So, after the kids were in bed out came the cordless drill, level, tape measure, and rubber mallet and up went the coat and key racks. Everything came from Target, and are identical to the ones we had purchased for the mudroom back at Irvington. What can I say, when we find something we like we stick with it.

We added a small stool to the space, also from Target. You can see it in the bottom left in the picture below. It was "some assembly required" but so worth it. The legs are metal with a nice deep brown finish and the top is padded and has a wonder faux-leather cover. Now we have a spot (other than sitting on the step to the entrance) to sit and put our boots on. I also now sit there when I'm waiting for Tyler's bus to bring him home at the end of the school day. Next up: the coat closet. I have a plan for some bins to store our out of season gear, plus an "out the door" or return station. More on that later.