No turning back now!!

The beginning.....

Demolition is in progress....its a wild experience to watch this come to life!

The view in our garage after day 1!

The view from our new side hall entry.

There will be bannisters with spindles on either side of the stairwell to the basement.

The wall is gone! This was taken standing where my old kitchen sink was looking toward the dining room.

The start of removing the family room/living room wall!

The view from "behind" the future island (minus the post in the middle of the picture!)

Its coming along! We are settling into life in our "penthouse apartment". The top floor has become our home as the basement ceiling will need to come out...along with the family room and living room ceilings.  We've continued to pack and clear the way for our crew in the basement.  Whew...I never imagined it would require this much work to prepare for this project! Moving IN will be much more fun! Stay tuned for more updates!

A couple pics of the kids just for fun!

BEFORE.... .....AFTER?

Whew...its been a bittersweet week around the Krueger house. While thrilled with the idea that we are finally executing a project that has been in the pipeline for a long time, I also struggle with the fact we are tearing apart a perfectly good house in light of the Hatian disaster.

This process has gone something like this....first with excitement, next sheer overwhelmed-ness (if thats a word!!) at the thought of packing up the whole first floor, (insert exhaustion), next by shame that I let my house get SOOOO cluttered and out of control with toys and stuff, (did I mention I never want to move?), then motivation to simplify my life (4 van loads to charity!), followed by relief the house is empty, (did I mention Kyle and I are beyond tired?) and finally a tinge of sadness....my home that was so diligently kept for 27 years by my parents will no longer be as it was. I sat in my highchair in that very kitchen as my children have; my mom stripped every cabinet door, stained them and rehung them; the wall we are removing between the famliy room and living room was our movie screen during family 8mm movie night; the dining room was the very place of many family holidays, birthdays and special occasions. For a moment, I wandered through the empty rooms this evening remembering the countless mundane moments that define my memories of growing up within these very walls. I then took a deep breath, and started to look forward to 8 am when the demolition crew is scheduled to arrive. Though the inner walls are moving and changing, the same four walls that surrounded me in childhood will still protect and shelter our family for years to come.

Enough sap...just needed to do something with this bittersweet feeling inside!

Here are some before pics....

When You Wish Upon A Star

What a magical time it was! We departed for Disney World the day after Christmas for a 4 day adventure through Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Coronado Springs was our home away from home during our adventure.  I highly recommend staying within a Disney property and signing up for the Disney Dining Plan. It was quite nice to have food and transportation at our fingertips!

Some words of advice ~ do Disney once kids are preschool or older.  It is a ton of work to take kids to Disney World. Did you know the average person walks 40 miles over 5 days in Disney parks? This leads me to my next thought - strollers are a must, even for 4 and 5 year olds.  There are strollers for rent but I would recommend taking your own. Those for rent are bulky, hard plastic strollers with no storage or cup holders.  It was inconvenient to load stollers on and off shuttles, but well worth the convenience of having our own.  AVOID high tourism traffic...apparently Christmas is by far the busiest time.  Wait times on popular rides were 2 1/2 hours ~ really? You'd be lucky to get 2 things done in a day at that pace! The fast pass system is handy if you can time your arrival at the park.  Get there early (my guidebook suggested this time and time again but it is easier said than done when kids are up half the night/so tired/not napping, etc...) and grab a fast pass for the ride you most want to get on - the fast pass gives you a time to return for the ride so your wait may be only 15 or 20 minutes. 

Finally, plan your trip early (like 6 mos ahead) and make reservations for your dinners - we had to eat lunch at 2 and dinners at 4 due to last minute planning (Kyle's mom planned the trip in September - last minute in Disney trip planning terms).  Character meals were a hit with the kids.  Chef Mickey's Buffet, Princess Luncheon in THE Magic Kingdom Castle along with a Playhouse Disney lunch were hits with my kids. They were able to meet many characters, get pics and autographs all while eating a meal! Otherwise you may spend hours waiting in character lines to "meet and greet" various characters throughout the park. 

Highlights of our trip:
Epcot: Finding Nemo Ride; Lion King conservation movie; met Stitch

Magic Kingdom: Its A Small World; Peter Pan's Voyage; Royal Horse Carousel; Mickey's Philharmagic 3D movie (awesome special effects!); met Fairy Godmother; Lunch with the Princesses in the Royal Castle; 2 magnificent parades

Animal Kingdom: Finding Nemo Musical; dance party with Pocohantes and Meeko

Hollywood Studios: Toy Story Mania ride (AWESOME for all ages...a fun arcade style game in cars that whirl you through the "arcade"; Playhouse Disney show; Voyage of the Little Mermaid Musical; Backlot tour; Extreme Stunt Show; met Buzz Lightyear & Woody, 4 Power Rangers, Pixar, Mader and Lightning McQueen.

So much fun...it was a blast to see the excitement on the kids' faces as they recognized some of their favorite movie characters! Here are a few of the hundreds of pics that document our trip through a magical kingdom!

You must make your way to Disney in your lifetime - this was my first time and I can say (despite the logistical nightmare as a parent of young children) that it was a must do....who knows, we may have to do it again sooner than later!

Christmas Rounds 2 3 & 4!!!

Well well well...the Holiday fury is over and BOY, what a fun year it was!

Christmas round 2 was scheduled to be here at home in our PJs in front of our beautiful tree, but Mother Nature had a different plan. With a blizzard on the horizon we scurried to pack our presents in the car and head to Nana & Papa's to ensure we would make it in time for the exciting Round 3 to be had Christmas afternoon. I shed a few tears, dissappointed we wouldn't have a quiet Christmas at home, just the 4 of us. The tears dried as I realized we surely wouldn't have made it to Bolivar on Christmas day for the ultimate Christmas surprise for the kids, so all was well. SO, to Bolivar we went in the sleet and freezing rain. We enjoyed a lazy Christmas morning just Kyle's parents and the 4 of us. It really was quite nice.

Emma & Evan at the top of the stairs...waiting to see what Santa brought (nevermind Emma snuck out of bed to take a peek and returned upstairs to declare..."Santa came! I got Geo Trax - Evan, you got a dump truck!")

Emma's Cars GeoTrax set from Santa...she was SO excited!

Evan's new dump truck...what little boy doesn't LOVE a Tonka truck?

Late afternoon brought the rest of the family over for Christmas round 3 and THE GREAT REVEAL!!!

We're going to Disney World! Evan had no idea what that meant, but was more than willing to share in the excitement of the moment. Emma, however, was a bit over stimulated, over-gifted, and frankly had a 4 year old melt down in the moments leading up to the "moment" the cousins all opened their Santa hats sporting Mickey ears. Her response was "I don't want to go to Disney World, its too far away". A good night's sleep and cousin Ellie's pep talk about meeting all the princesses including Pocohantes brought about a change in perspective. She was more than willing to venture to Disney World the next morning.

More about Disney in coming posts (great trip...Thanks Nana and Papa for helping to make it happen!!)

Round 4 came New Year's Day, the morning after returning from Disney. Uncle PJ and Aunt Wendy's presents awaited us under our very own tree. We did, in fact, get to open gifts in front of our own tree after all!

Some gift favorites...

Emma ~ doorway puppet theater, Cars GeoTrax, Pocohantes Barbie, Merry Madagascar Penguin game, & Leapfrog Tag reading system (HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!)

Evan ~car carrier truck, bowling set, Leapfrog Tag Jr (aka Frosty...the wand resembles the shape of a snowman so he refers to it as Frosty!), Tonka truck & GeoTrax

WHEW! Lets just say our kids are blessed with more gifts than they know what to do with. They are so lucky to have family that loves them so!

With Christmas summary wrapped up I can now say HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

A trip to Disney World sure helped jumpstart a magical year for us! May 2010 be filled with magic in your world, too :)