April 2020 – nicole.groudasfamily.com

Diningroom Trim Started

This weekend we had some lovely weather Saturday. Unfortunately we also had a lot of cleaning to do so the girls and I were inside all morning cleaning and organizing. In the afternoon though we got outside for some exploring and time on the swings.

Alex learned how to jump off her swing the big kid! Bella faced her fear of bugs and went exploring with us around the yard.

Inside Ryan was working on trim all weekend. He started the ceiling of the diningroom making progress until he was out of wood the right size. He also put up a bit more crown in the kitchen (we are now out of crown until a new order is delivered).

Diningroom celing – 2.5 beams are finished. There will be crown around all of these too.

Crown – 2 more pieces in the kitchen – just 1 last piece to do (he was 2 inches short with what we have) 🙁

Also the pieces above the arch there – he got that on there which involved routing that little round piece so he usually does those in bulk. I believe the pantry also has a new top on the trim.

A productive weekend for sure. Sunday was rainy but we sent the girls out to jump in puddles anyway. They had fun but it was a bit cold to last long.

Happy Birthdays and Happy Easter

This past week was our annual week of birthdays but due to the quarantine and kids being home Ryan did not take the week off entirely. I took the week off and homeschooled/played with the kids instead of trying to do that while also working so it was a break for me but not relaxing or productive.

A couple of highlights from the week…

She wanted a space themed birthday and got a telescope as her big gift. We had a virtual party with family which included pajamas (slumber party) and ice cream sundaes.

Parties with family are still fun… this was funny because Alex could not manage to blow any candles out!

Epic Fort in the girls’ room … this thing has been up all week

The next day this little child turned 2!!

Another virtual party but this time we had cake!

Next up was Easter and Ryan’s birthday combined.

Next up on the highlights reel … back to the house progress.

The cabinet above the fridge is in progress

The archway to the livingroom is getting trimmed out to help finish out the diningroom side – please ignore the mess – kids are home FULL time now – can’t keep up!

Sanded and primed the island – this will be blue so I wanted to get it done first to see how this paint works out (supposedly will match the cabinet paint)

Crown molding in the kitchen – it isn’t complete because the beam isn’t done but all the pieces that can be done are now done

And finally – for my birthday the girls helped me make pasta for the first time – bowtie pasta. They had a blast and everyone liked it so it was a success!

And that’s our little vacation update. Now it’s back to work and homeschooling combined. Our new normal until at least May 15th.

Kitchen Project

With the coronavirus quarantine going on Ryan has been taking full advantage of having every weekend home to continue to make great progress on the kitchen. He had planned a 4 day weekend in March to tile the floor while I was away – my trip got cancelled but he still got a start on the ‘finishing of the kitchen’ project that weekend and hasn’t quit yet.

Here are some pictures to catch up to the current progress. Note the backsplash was done back in Nov so I put dates by each picture.

Nov 1 – Tiling the backsplash — this was during the bathroom tile job

At this point Ryan was pretty sore AND out of the yellow clips 🙂

Mar 21 – inlay in front of the stove tiled

Mar 25 – Grout complete and dishwasher installed!

Mar 25 – Grout completed – view of the inlay

Mar 28 – Fridge/Freezer installed finally!

The pantry will have french cleats throughout with shelving. That is why he used plywood on the walls (easier to hang the french cleats).

April 5 – Wainscotting going up on the kitchen walls

April 5 – Under the peninsula looks awesome

Still more trim work to finish up (caps on doors and wainscotting) then painting (lots of painting). Ryan plans to build a cabinet above the fridge, we have crown molding both on the ceiling and above the cabinets to install as well. So the kitchen project will continue but it’s getting to finishing stages so it’s wonderful to see the progress!