Duncan Flicka

So that new (to us) kitchen table that I promised...  I am finally ready to show you.  Honestly, I was ready to show you last week but never had time.  Twenty-three more days of homeschool, by the by.

This was our previous table.  

Once Lydia started growing out of her high chair I worried about where she was going to sit... there really wasn't any space to squeeze in one more. And I finally figured out that it might help if we had a rectangular table rather than oval...

And I thought that a Duncan Phyfe style table with drop leaves would be the perfect thing, because we could increase and decrease the size as necessary.  (Once a month we have a Sister Pizza Night here and there are 10  kids trying to cram into this kitchen.)

Once I found this table on craigslist, I knew it would be perfect. It is pretty much the same length as our last table, but more narrow. Yet, somehow it seats more people. It is a magical table of joy. (Being able to stick someone in the corner makes it possible to put 4-5 kids (depending on their size) on the benches alone. --And I thought they would hate the corner seat, but it is actually in high demand, strangely enough.


















So I threw another bench back there (until we get this kitchen project under way) and our new table is working out quite nicely.

There is another leaf in the center that isn't pictured because I forgot, but when we open it up we get another 8 inches.  Or we can drop down the sides and free up a bunch of floor space.  I am in love with this table, yo.

As an aside, after I painted my kitchen table and chairs two years ago, I had a friend ask me if I had sanded them anywhere to give them that antiqued/weathered look.  I said, "No.  I assume my kids will take care of that for me."

And boy howdy, did they ever.  They're such troopers. These puppies are allsortsa dinged up.  There is even a chair that has Bennet's name scratched into the paint because apparently he was tired of his sisters snaking his spot.  And he also wasn't clever enough to realize that scratching BENNET into the paint was going to make it impossible for him to pretend that he was not the perpetrator.  ARGH.  Out the window! 

They look rough.  I am guessing I have some spray painting in my future.

 And lastly, here is a picture I saw in This Old House magazine that made me decide that we certainly must knock through the wall over my someday banquette.  I love this look so much.  It almost makes me less mopey about not being able to completely knock the wall down.

I think it is wonderful.  Isn't it wonderful? I like it a lot. 

So, anyway, that's it.  We will certainly keep you updated on any progress.

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Stairstep

These guys (and their dad) gave me the sweetest Mother's Day.  I am crazy about all of them!

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Serenity now

Are there blogs that you read that give you a feeling of peace and serenity?  I have a couple mommy blogs that I follow that do that... I always come away wishing that my blog was more like that.  More artistic and relaxed and Utopian.

And so every now and then I think, "I'm going to do that.  I'm going to show the beauty we are surrounded by.  I am going to try and portray the love and calmness that is our life here."

 

 

But, then I realize that our life is fantastic, honestly... but calm and serene?  Not really.  And I'm sure those other bloggers have their chaotic moments even if they....

 

 

 

SCCCRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAM!!!!  I just felt something on my ear and flicked it off and saw an earwig on the ground and holy crap NO NO NONONONONONONONONONONO!!!!!!!!!!!!    In what kind of world is it okay for earwigs to CRAWL ON EARS?????????!!!!!!!   WHY WHY WHY??????????????

 

 

This is giving me The Wrath of Khan flashbacks.  That movie messed me up.  Don't let your 8 year old daughters watch that.

 

 

ANYWAY...  I'm thinking that pretty much summarized this post.  I don't think I have it in me to grow calm children.

These is my girls.  This is how we do it, baby.

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Cinco turns dos

Lydia turned 2 yesterday. That wraps up the fastest 2 years of my life so far. Seriously, this time warp stuff is tripping me out.

 

So, let me explain something about these pictures.  Lydia loves finding crayons/markers/pencils/any writing utensil and leaving graffiti  all over anything and everything.  Furniture, walls, sheets, floors... floors are fun, they're like a huge, neverending canvas. 

So, yesterday she got her hands on a yellow permanent marker and tattooed her face and arms pretty successfully.   We scrubbed and scrubbed and it wouldn't come off.  Eventually I decided that it does quite accurately sum up Lydia at this age, although I admit for a little while I thought about postponing the cupcake pictures until we had removed it.

But, that's my girl... always scribbling on something.  I just realized that I forgot to add "graffiti" to her list of LOVES.  Consarn it!



I was able to remove most of the marker from her body this morning during her bath, so I took her outside for her 2 year old photo shoot.

Hey, Liddy, how old are you?

 

This child runs very hot or cold.  She is either happy and charming, or a short little tyrant screaming orders and throwing things.  Or occasionally head butting stuff.  If she was my first child, I would worry about this little ragey-tantrum business, but that is one of the benefits of having 5 children.

I'm too tired to care anymore.  Haha, just kiddin'.  Truthfully, this ain't my first rodeo.  I know this is just one of those stages where you have to soak up the sweet to get you through the sour,  and rest assured that in a year or two or five she will be a perfectly pleasant human child again.

--I mean, we are all crazy about her, for sure.  I don't want to give you the impression that we don't like this girl.  She is so fetchin' cute and funny.  She talks our ears off and is constantly coming up with some funny phrase that we all repeat over and over.  And sweet, honestly, she is such a sweetheart at times, hugging and kissing and saying, "Sowwy!". 

But there are definitely 2 year old moments with the screaming and throwing herself down on the floor.  As I was carrying her inside the house the other day while she was screaming and kicking and trying to get away (she doesn't like coming inside, see) I remembered doing the same thing with Lizzy and how frustrated I felt.  And how it would stress me out that my daughter had turned into a tiny terror and I didn't know how to fix it.

But, now almost 12 years later, I'm like, "Meh.".  She'll grow out of it.  I wish I could go back and whisper some reassurance into my 12 years ago self.  "This won't last forever.  She will grow up to be amazing.  It's okay."

 

So, Lydia on this two year anniversary of your birth, thanks for being perfectly you.  You will always be my lastborn, my final sweet little baby.  Last night as I took you up to your room, I pointed to the spot that you were born and I said, "That is where you came out of my tummy." You didn't know what I was talking about.  But once again, I felt that heaviness or sacredness or whatever that feeling is as I remembered your birth.  It was lovely.  You were lovely.  You are lovely.  Every morning as you wake up too early and snuggle in bed with us it is a privilege to have you in our family.

 

We couldn't do without you.







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Dream Kitchen



I have decided that this year is the YEAR OF THE KITCHEN. (Imagine that being read in a movie announcer voice.)  We have been dealing with this kitchen and its wacky layout for almost four years.  And over those years I have constructed a plan on how to turn this space into my dream kitchen. 

 

Things I like about the kitchen: 

1.  White cabinets.  They aren't my dream white cabinets, but they will do.  White kitchens  make  my heart pitter patter.

2.  I love the turquoise paint.  It is such a bright, happy color.

3.  The bin pulls.

4.  Cafe curtains.

5.  That it is an eat-in kitchen.

6.  I really do love my Moorman's sign with a burning, endless love.

  

Our kitchen isn't tiny, especially by old house standards.  It is about 200 square feet, which would seem like enough space.  However, the room is 20 x 10 ft., very long and narrow.    To complicate things further, there are four doorways which break up the flow or limit storage options.

Here is my super professional rendering of the kitchen layout.

 The breakfast nook area that leads to our deck:

My dream kitchen would have a lovely subway tile that extends all the way up to the cabinets.  I also want built-in banquette seating in the breakfast nook to provide extra storage and the ability to seat more people. 

The table shown in these pictures could only seat 6, but there are 7 of us now.  I purchased a new table off craigslist a few days ago.  I will post pictures of it in a day or two. 

 

I am also toying with the idea of breaking through the wall above the fantasy banquette into the family room.  I would really like a more open feeling between the two spaces, but we probably will not be able to knock down the wall like I originally intended. 

And of course, we want to replace the flooring.  Dream kitchen-best case scenario flooring would be the original hardwood floors that we hope are underneath, but if that doesn't work I love the look of cork floors laid out in a checkerboard pattern.   So dreamy.

Also, we need to change up this goofy peninsula that offers counter space while sacrificing any sort of flow.   I want to get rid of the counter and turn the cabinet 90 degrees so the back is against the wall.  Then figure out a new counter top and hang some open shelves above it.

Right now the peninsula counter juts out into the kitchen from the right, the fridge bumps out further on the left and if anyone is sitting at the bar while I am cooking at the stove we have successfully bottlenecked all kitchen flow.   With two little girls playing at my feet and the big kids constantly bumping and jostling me to get past, I lose my mind a little more each day.

(This picture is almost a year old, look how little my girls were!)

One of the biggest trends in kitchens right now is the built-in look.  Electrolux offers a collection of counter-depth refrigerators designed to achieve that look.

I would love to replace our current fridge with a counter depth fridge to improve our kitchen's flow.   And Electrolux Dishwashers feature adjustable, customizable racks that can fit more than 180 items in a single load.  With a family this size, we generate a plethora of dirty dishes so 180 items per load sounds pretty sweet to me! 

 

(Honestly, my super dream kitchen would have two dishwashers.  Or at least one and a half.  There never seems to be enough space!)

So, this is the year...  We are planning on getting rid of the peninsula, adding open shelves, a banquette and will hopefully come up with a good flooring solution in the next few months.  I am giddy!!!  I hope the end result will be functional and beautiful, while still retaining some 1930's charm. 

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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Keep on truckin'

Well, this was sort of a mess with uneven lighting and the general chaos that goes along with photographing five kids packed into a truck.

But, I like the colors. And they're cute.


In other news, I am in the process of tinkering with my blog.  I am going to change the look and layout, etc. and at the same time I was considering changing the name (Quite Contrary) and url to something more house related.  However, I'm stumped.   Any ideas? 

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Crazy Scheme of the Week

Mr. Darcy was teasing me today that I should start a weekly post featuring all the crazy ideas I come up with. -- Because I have a never-ending supply of wacky ideas.  I believe he is looking for some sympathy and understanding, poor chap.

First, I wanted to be a birth photographer.  Then last week I wanted to become a midwife. Then I changed my mind and was going to become a doula.  Then I thought, hey, I can be a doula/birth photographer combo!!!  Best idea ever!  I haven't totally crossed that off my list, but now I'm distracted by my new amazing idea...

here

here

Don't you think we need to raise alpacas?!  They're friendly, good with kids, you can drive them around in your minivan (allegedly), their poop doesn't smell (also allegedly), their fur is in high demand...  And maybe they could live down on that bottom of our hill where Pauly refuses to build a house.  (Thanks for nothing, Pauly.)

 

We have talked about getting goats to keep our overgrown unused land clear, but while researching that option I was told that goats are buttholes and we do not want goats.  That is almost a direct quote.  Goats are devils from hell.  That is what I was told.  They will break out of their fencing, they will ram your children, there is a reason that Jesus said that goats were going to hell.  Anyway, that quickly ended our discussion on goats.

 

 

But alpacas!!!  To my knowledge, Jesus never said boo about alpacas.  And aren't they cute?!  My kids and I have been cracking up at those pencil-necked alpaca babies up there for the last 20 minutes.   If you breed them (which isn't actually a part of my crazy scheme) you can earn buttloads of money!!!  (allegedly).  I like money.
 

I hope you enjoyed this Crazy Scheme of the Week.   Maybe I can breed alpacas and become an alpaca doula/birth photographer?!  This idea gets better all the time!!!!

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