More rain in the forecast

Well, once again, spring is bringing with it lots of rain. Yesterday was a windy and rainy day here in St. Thomas. Ralph is also disappointed that the weather is noat co-operating and allowing him to complete his work. Last night he focused his attention on extending the outside taps and it was a frustrating experience for him. He worked until 11:00 p.m. trying to get the work done and now he says he has to do more again tonight. I hope that it won't be quite as difficult as last night.

I enjoyed a wonderful day with Laura, Jordan and Hailey. Hailey spent the bulk of it sleeping. She hardly makes a sound. I'm amazed at how content she is. Laura gave her a bath last night - that was something! She doesn't like the bath and she cried at the top of her lungs. It was amazing that as soon as Laura took her out of the bath, she immediately stopped crying and promptly fell asleep. She already is sleeping between 4 and 5 hours at night time and her awake time seems to be in the morning. Laura is pretty blessed with this little one as she is then able to get enough sleep for herself as well. Jordan enjoys pulling out all the toys and then chases Oakley around the room with them. Poor Oakley, I think he's exhausted by the end of the day and looks forward to his crate where he can get some rest.

Such a sweet baby

Ralph and I headed to St. Thomas on Sunday morning. We had a wonderful day with Jay and Laura, Jordan and Hailey. Jay's family visited as well. Little Hailey spent most of the day sleeping. She is a very content little girl. Jordan and I took Oakley out for a nice long walk this morning. It sure is cold outside. Laura and Hailey are at the doctors this morning for their first week appointment. Hopefully all goes well. They are so blessed. Hailey sleeps 4-5 hours between feedings.

The kitchen looks great!

Well, all the coats of paint are done! I'm happy with the results. I still have some touchup's that need to be done, but that can wait till I return from my visit with Laura and Jay. I've hung up the curtains and placed all the plates and bowls on top of the kitchen cabinets. With a little fresh paint on the trim, we'll be all set. It was a long day and my feet are sore and I'm tired, but it feels good to see some progress. I hope by the time I come back next week Sunday that I'll be able to show you pictures from the outside.

Painting the kitchen

Since the weather hasn't been on our side to do work on the outside, I decided to work on the inside. Last Saturday Ralph and I picked up some colour swatches from Benjamin Moore and decided to paint our kitchen Raintree Green. It's a nice warm colour. It was a toss up between the green and a dark brown colour that Ralph liked, but I thought that might be just a bit too dark for our kitchen. I started priming the walls on Thursday evening. What a job. There certainly is a lot of cutting in around the windows and cabinets. Friday evening I put on the first coat of paint and today I hope to finish with a 2nd and if needed 3rd coat. I really like the results so far.

Will this weather ever get any better?

Rain, snow, rain, snow..... when will the weather settle down and allow spring in all's its glory arrive? This weather that we are having sure is frustrating. You simply cannot get any of the work done around the house to prepare for the Stucco. Once again the work has been delayed, however, weather permitting it is only a few days. The big problem is if it rains, we can't remove the siding because you don't want the wood to get wet. Sigh.... I'm happy we decided to do this work now and not in May or June, when the gardens will start to grow vigorously. I have purposely left my front garden bare with the exception of the rose bushes because I'm sure everything will get trampled once the work starts. By having the work done in April, there should be enough time for the plants to recover and still give a nice showing in the summer. Lets keep our fingers crossed that we'll have the house finished by the end of April or early May. So for now, my focus will be inward and I've decided to paint my kitchen. I've cleaned off all the tops of the cupboards and tonight I plan to tape off the ceiling and start priming. We've selected a green paint, that isn't too dark and it isn't too light. It's just in between. I hope that it turns out well. Time will tell. My goal is to have the entire kitchen finished by Saturday. If I prime tonight and tomorrow, I can paint the rest on Saturday. At the very least I can get 1 coat on and then put the 2nd coat on when I return from Laura's. We'll see how far I get. I really was hoping that the outside of the house would be finished in two week so we could start designing the new deck. I guess that will be May's project.

Our first visit

We drove to St. Thomas today after work to visit with Jason, Laura, Jordan and Hailey. It felt so nice to hold the new baby in our arms. She is so small. Her bone structure seems so fine and she hardly weighs anything. I'm not so sure that she looks like Jordan anymore. She has her own look and certainly has a lot of Jason in her. Her fingers are nice and long and I'm sure that she will take after her mother and enjoy playing the piano. She has pretty big feet as well. I wonder if this means that she will grow up to be tall like her Oma? We enjoyed a nice "short" visit and then headed for home. Four hours of driving was certainly worth the experience of holding our new grandchild, if only for a short little while. Jordan was home again and she doesn't seem to be cognizant at all about the new baby. She happily plays away, but we noticed that she keeps an eye on where Laura is and likes to stay close. I'm really looking forward to my extended visit next week. It will be a wonderful time to bond with Laura and Jason and spend more time with Jordan and Hailey.

What a beauty!!

Here are Hailey's first pictures. Isn't she beautiful. She looks just like Jordan. It's so amazing. Laura is doing well and she is already home. She came home this evening and is looking forward to sleeping in her own bed. Jordan is currently staying at Herma and Jerry's house (Jasons parents) and she will come home tomorrow. Ralph and I plan to head down to St. Thomas for a quick visit. I can't wait!!