A Springy Day

We enjoyed sunny skies and temperatures near 60˚ today!  The mounds of snow are finally melting and the Robins, Blue Jays and Cardinals are making their first appearances.  After a busy day of painting and a fun lunch outing with friends for me, we took a nice little family walk before dinner.  We walked down to the house to take a couple pictures of the kitchen cabinets (yahoo!) and spent some time jumping in puddles and visiting with my parents on their quiet little street. 
Here is our quaint little street...we love it!  (Don't worry, we're removing those ugly white gas tanks from the side of our house)...

 Happy boys in our newly painted mudroom...

 Cabinets!!!!

 The other side where the refrigerator will be...

 Looking from the dining room table area...(check out all those new doors that need to be hung!)...

 I love the early evening light that comes through our new sliding door...

 Our little treehugger...

 Loving these cute yellow rainboots that I picked up for $1.00 at the thrift store earlier this week!

 The Benson/Allenby/Swanson men in front of my Mom and Dad's...

 Love that little tongue and his beautiful lashes...

Happy Beginning of SPRING!!!

House Update

Our little green house has been a happening place recently!  Carpenters, electricians the insulation guy and the plumber have all been hard at work over the last few weeks and we're starting to see the fruits of their labor!  It's SO exciting!  It's still hard to believe that this place will be livable by some point this spring, but it seems as though things are on track! 
Here are a couple pictures to show the progress over the last month or so...
Our front study/playroom...

Part of our mudroom/downstairs bathroom and laundry room...it's not framed yet.

Just this week we had some of our new windows installed!  We are replacing some of the windows in the house that really needed it.  Now that these new ones are in, we wish we could afford to do the whole house!  They are amazing!  :)

Some of our new windows from the outside (don't worry...all this JUNK will be gone before we move in!)

 Here is a closeup of the spray foam insulation...pretty crazy, but SUPER efficient!

 Chad, one of the contractors, finishing up the floor in the mudroom area...

 The electrician has been hard at work!

It looks like sheet rock might be going up starting late this upcoming week!  YAHOO!  That's really gonna change the feel of things! Can't wait!

Oh, and we finally completed the stressful task of buying our appliances!!!  After literally reading every single post in the "Appliances" section of NH Craigslist for the last four months and not really finding what we were looking for (we drove all the way down to Manchester to look at one fridge and although it was the kind we wanted, it was not well taken care of, the freezer didn't open smoothly, it was scratched etc...) we decided it was worth buying new appliances IF we could find the right sales.  We've been watching sales at Sears, Home Depot and Lowes for months and finally jumped on one last week.  We got our fridge for 38% off and 30% off all our other appliances!!!  Thank you Sears!

Can't wait to put these in my new kitchen!

Peninsula Results and some Christmas Festivities

So, the final vote count came back at 18 votes for the flat-top peninsula and 25 votes for the step-up peninsula.  And one of you wonderful blog readers voted for "Other" - do you care to explain?!?!  :)

Scott and I were leaning one way before asking your opinion, and though we value all of your wonderful opinions and feedback, we've decided to stick with our first instinct, which happens to be what the majority of you also felt, and go with the split level peninsula.  I received many wonderful explanations from you giving the pros and cons to both ideas, and I loved reading your ideas.  It really helped us finalize our thoughts...so thank you!  Our main reasons for the raised peninsula (and yes, I do mean peninsula and not island) are that:
-  we like the idea of having a separate space that kids could be eating on or doing homework at while we cook in the kitchen
- we won't have to worry about water from the sink getting all over their homework, etc, when we're doing the dishes
-  you can store soap or sponges etc, behind the sink and can't see it from the dining room area since it's hidden behind the raised part of the peninsula
- I know there are more reasons, but I can't think of them right now.

We actually got some drawings set in stone today with our kitchen designer from the local lumberyard/hardware store.  Did you know people work with you to design kitchens and bathrooms completely for free and with no obligation to buy?!?!  It seems crazy, but true!  Our kitchen guy, we'll call him Mr. J, came over to our house and measured the exact spaces that we needed help with and came up with plans and ideas for us that we were able to talk through with him!  How fun is that?!?!  And his cool computer program shows you in 3D just what your room will look like!  We finally feel like we're getting somewhere here!

On another note, we've had fun getting into the Christmas spirit the last few days.  Last night we went to our annual stone chapel service that my mom and a couple of friends organize every year.  It's a special time for family, friends and neighbors to gather and sing carols, read the Christmas story and share special music or readings.  We've been doing it for about 15+ years and is a special part of our holiday.

 Caren, Dave and Clara led all the kids in a version of The Friendly Beasts...

 Camden couldn't sit still...

 Silent Night by candle light at the end...(sorry it's so blurry!)

Tonight we went over to the McAllister's house for our annual family Christmas Eve(ish) gathering!  We having been doing this for as long as I can remember (18-20 years?).  Lindsay M was my best friend growing up and our families are very close.  Their house is gorgeous and we love spending time with with old friends, sharing good food (Jeanne's baked brie is to die for...) and singing songs, laughing and talking together.  Here are a few pictures from our evening...
Lindsay saved some cookies for Camden to help decorate...

 My Dad and my grandparents...

 Scott and Micah talking to Grandma Sylvia (she looks pretty good for a great grandmother, doesn't she???)...

 Lindsay's mom Jeanne and Grandma Sylvia...

 Ami reading with her grandchildren...

 Craig saying hi to Micah...

 LindsAy M and LindsEy B.  Love her...

 Ami and sleepy Micah

 The group of five Benson and McAllister kids has grown in recent years (and we were missing Lindsay's boyfriend Tim this year!)...

Thank you McAllisters!!!!  We love you and love this special Christmas tradition!!

Kitchen Peninsula Vote - Help!

So...if YOU were designing a kitchen with a peninsula that had to have a sink in it and stools on the opposite side, would you have one big flat surface (first picture) or would you design in with a step-up to the eating area (second picture)?  Look at the two following pictures and then vote below.  Disregard everything else you see in the pics (design, style, colors...everything), just trying to find an example of the two options I'm thinking about...

Photo from http://www.houzz.com

Photo from http://www.taylormadecontracting.com