Alphabettios

I have to say, we have bought a lot of packaged foods since I began our property and home remodel. I try to stick with (mostly) healthy foods. I generally make my own pasta sauce and we grind our own meat. We grind it from goat meat (we butchered this) or we buy whole turkeys on sale and grind it. Sigh... I am really tired and not on top of my game right now! This is our cast of characters for Alphabettios.


In my opinion, these were pricey. 1.99 for a bag of noodles! It made a HUGE amount though! Nathalie wanted Alphabet Spagettios when we were in the store yesterday. She did have a bit of a breakdown when I refused to buy them, she wont eat them but she says the letters are cute. She loves tiny cute things and honestly, she thinks small foods taste better than normal-large ones.


I figured if a cheap can of alphabet spagettios (alphabettios) was .69 cents and its truly horrible for her, then I could spend the 2$ on alphabet noodles, 1 $ on pasta sauce and 1.59 on the lb of turkey and make our own. She doesnt usually break down in the grocery store... just as a fact, nor do I wish to condone the breakdown. However, she is really at the end of her rope waiting on Daddy's homecoming. So as a treat, I found these noodles.


Nathalie loves to cook and is capable of making meat sauce (homemade marinara on seasoned ground meat usually) and the noodles, she even drains them herself which worried me at first. She can make and bake bread from scratch-so this was an easy and fun meal for her.


Here are our noodles-I didnt see any other brand of alphabet noodles and the da vinci brand are actually pretty healthy. We normally eat whatever the Sam's brand of noodles are...


And here is the finished product! She loved it very much and while some people do not like pasta that has been frozen, we dont mind it. We froze it in portions for her. I wanted to can it, but I havent canned pasta. I have canned meat so I know the protocol for that, but I am going to assume that canned noodles should only be al dente. They would otherwise get pretty squishy I think. I will read up on how to can noodles, chicken noodle soup and spaghetti would be great to have canned for quick lunches. We are trying to move more into food preservation that doesnt require electricity, we freeze meat and many other things but would like to can and dry more in the future.

Last Bathroom

This is the last one! The shower walls still need to be tiled, but I sort of wore out. I did lay the tile in this bathroom, I have photos of laying the backerboard and laying the tile but I dont have those for you yet...

I laid the tile, grouted then put the toilet back which did cause me some grief but here it is. No leaking! This is the 2nd toilet which I have put down alone! Its nice to have a toilet back.

More paint

You are tired of painting? Wow me too. This is the hall, I mudded all the paneling lines in here, primed and painted 3 x. Then, the lines cracked. Only a few of them, but still. So Eric and his son textured it. Then I had to prime, and paint. It looks wonderful! They did great job. I cut in everything first after priming, I cut in light switches, outlets, ceilings and door frames.


I lined these benches and stools up, well the children did, for me to cut in at the ceiling level. These are benches that my grampie made when my mama was a little girl. I have the matching table.


This was the first roll, so I didnt actually cut in the center but everything else I did. This is the front door area, also was paneling.


Why is this photo here twice? let me get back to you. I am not going to try to delete it.



Living room vaulted ceiling, and my way of rolling it! I borrowed Erics ladder, in a previous post you saw me cutting this ceiling in. Then I sent the ladder home, not considering the impossibility of me rolling that high with no ladder. At about 2 a.m. this idea seemed good, and I am still alive so I was right.



A dizzying view, I hate looking up this way it makes me feel as though I am spinning. However, here it is. The rolled spots are still light from being wet, but in actuality its all complete just not dry. It was done in different stages.


I went into the kitchen to clean up, and I found this. Nathalie's way of covering the tea... She forgot to put it in the fridge.

A big red door

It really does look more red-less pink in person. It is a dark red, I love red doors. I look poor in red, yet its one of my favorite colors. I hardly ever decorate but if I can paint something red, I will. Our door, as you see, was dingy and dark. The inside has been painted a cream color and our siding is light beige so the red compliments both. The old door handle was broken inside and secured with a screw... Other than that, it just looked cheap. I primed the door, painted 2 coats of red and put on a new door handle and lock assembly. The further I painted away from this side of the door, the worse I painted! the last coat was put on at 1 a.m. and I was pretty tired. It does need a 3rd coat on most of the door but it is much better looking!

Convo

Husband: I should have done a prenup when we got married.
Me: Well I guess thats too bad.
Husband: Can I postnup?

Hmm...

Textured hallway

Okay so this isnt textured, nor is it the hall and foyer which were textured yesterday. This is the kitchen, those who have been to my house know that there was some nasty wallpaper, and weird fake grape vine decorations on the wall. Now it is just painted a nice cream color! Really does lighten it up, make it look less 1970s. The cabinets are still dark and dated, but only 10 things at a time right?


Yesterday, Eric and the kids textured. I went to Lowes with Nathalie in the morning, to pick up what we would need and additional remodel items, Tad hung out with Eric riding the Harley and working on shop things at his house. I picked up a box of drywall mud and Eric (with the children's expert help-all 4 of them- mixed it with the right amount of water to make texture.


Why would I post 2 of the same pictures? They are not the same! It is just Eric's signature, "you really asked that question?" look and Tad gave several no-brainer questions out for the world.


"Dad!" Jeff alerts us to a forseen problem in the hall. We ignore him several times. Then Dad answers and goes down the hall, works on air compressor then comes back to finish mixing.


This hall is the one that I mudded the paneling lines on. 4 times. Sanded each time. Never could get it quite right. Primed it, painted 3 coats of cream color. It wasnt right still. Then some of the deeper lines cracked. Justina and Eric are expert at remodeling, they have done a lot of it. They both said texturing was the only answer. So here we are! I am so grateful that they had the tools, the time and the knowledge to help me (again.) seems they save me a lot???


I have a hard time getting pictures of Tristin, he doesnt pose much and he rarely smiles for photos. He smiles, laughs and jokes often just not when I grab a camera. He asked me 3 times yesterday how many photos did I possibly need!


Nathalie needs to get a closer view apparently, thankfully she didnt step in the additional mud. She managed to get mud on her new jeans though she didnt do any work!


Tristin helping dad mix, it has to be the consistency of oatmeal. Arguably different people like soupier oatmeal. So I would venture to say it has to be the consistency of the oatmeal that Eric makes.


Nathalie was gonna just climb into the bucket but Eric said she shouldnt this time. She also asked him what it tasted like, he told her Not Oatmeal! He said chalk, though I was surprised he didnt offer her a taste!


Now Jeff and Eric are working on the air compressor, it didnt like my house and it said no thanks to being helpful but they got it back on track. You can see to the right the first texture part. These photos are clearly out of order...


They mixed a small amount to start out with and then just mixed more. It didnt take long, the texture gun (I think it is called this) only uses a certain amount at once, then you refill it. It goes a long way also, such a small amount would spread over a huge amount of wall.


I believe Nathalie is giving me the evil eye here! What did I do??


Jeff steps in to help. He did all of the texturing himself. His dad helped him some, making suggestions but mostly he did it alone. He has done it once before but seen his parents doing it as well.


Aww look! I got a smile! I took about 20 pictures to get this one. He has a piece of candy in the side of his cheek, but its a smile! I didnt even sneak up on him to get it.


I taped off the door frames, well Jeff taped some last wk then we ran out, so I finished. I also taped off light switches and sockets. We took off their covers first. The floor has brown paper and plastic, but really the bits of mud that got on the carpet vaccum up easily.


The hall is hard because there is no space to stand back. If he steps into one doorway, then when he comes out he cannot get as far back from the next bit of wall. He did a great job staying even despite this.


Now Jeff is learning how to mix. He knew when it was too much/not enough water both by sight and mixing himself.


The drill here has a paint mixer on the end. I am glad Eric brought his as I forgot to get one. This is one of the things that we did have in the shop which of course we have no more.


If you look at both of them from the back you would swear that Jeff was the parent. He is already bigger than Eric! He will turn 16 in a few days. These two were telling me here how Mom is the expert at texturing. She wasnt here yet, she arrived from work shortly before the job was done.


Now how many people does it take to fix a garbage disposal? Really just one. Two of them are here to watch, one is here to help and be next to his wife, and the wife is the one who is the ultimate plumber.


She found a penny stuck in there, under something. I have tried to go fish and find what was in there, but without success. Partly because I hate garbage disposals and also because, I dont know what I am doing.


This picture is fuzzy I know, but I like to watch Tad and Jeff talk. Like his dad, Jeff needs his hands and facial expressions or I think he would be mute. When Tad is with him, he expresses himself much the same way as if it is contagious.


They used a flashlight, running water and a screwdriver. It took several minutes of messing around with it and Eric was ready to take it out/drop it down when she found the penny.

They also fixed some stuff in the bathroom, and Justina helped me figure out how the toilet flange repair should work. The flange is broken a little and I dont want to completely replace it.

I am so glad that they came to help me, the hallway looked quite terrible. Last night the kids and I (kids couldnt sleep) sprayed down the door frame parts that I didnt paint and wiped them down, the excess texture wipes right off with a wet cloth 2 min after I spray it with charlies cleaner. Today I need to prime and paint the walls in there and then it is done except molding. Then my bathroom still needs tile! Work is endless right?

Your mom

Tomorrow Tad will be going to Salina (about 25 miles away) with Eric. On the back of a Harley. I called it a motorcycle and my son gently corrected me. Twice. Apparently there are motorcycles, and Harleys. He needed a new jacket as the only one that fits from last yr is a bit thin and worn. This photo is washed out because one-I dont know my camera. 2- he has really white hair and skin and there is a white board behind him.


He really struggles to look mean. It is hard work. Both his military ID and passport photos make him look like a criminal. He is mean and scary looking. No, really, his military ID scares me. His jacket is made of windpro-waterproof and windproof fleece.


Oh okay here he laughs. I made a joke that I wont repeat here. I dont know what all of you guys are used to hearing...this boy of mine, he thinks some crazy things are funny. Like this one time...Just kidding. I will keep that one to myself.

Wow this kid has a lot of hair. No, seriously we were in the Post office yesterday and a guy walked in. Tad had his back to him. The guy says, "How are you ladies today?" About the THREE of us. Nathalie looked up at him with big eyes, Tad looked around at him and the poor man looked startled and I said, "yeah sometimes I mistake him with all that hair." Poor fellow. Tad doesnt mind, he understands that some amount of flack and trash talk will occur due to his style choices.


I dont think he is saluting me, though he often does. He does this sometimes in the morning, and when I say goodmorning back he says, "your mom." I think that here, he is saluting his father. Granted, he doesnt do it quite right yet, see a bit too much palm. But he is still saying hey to daddy. We miss you.

Oh and Tad says, "your mom."

Yes, I know, your mom sounds pretty rude. My son is 10, and very respectful and kind hearted. We do allow some joking, trash talk and just being silly in our house. As long as it doesnt approach disrespect, or transfer outside of our home towards other adults. We feel that its pretty normal, and within our home its kinda funny.