Toys R Us & Construction Day 5

After I picked DD up today, we stopped by the gas station for some yummy icee. Then we were off to Toys R Us again because I needed to pick up some safety latches for DD's room. While we were there, DD got to run around and play with some toys. She fell in love with rocking horse. She rode it for long time.

Then on our way out, she wanted to ride the fire truck.

Sergio & his crew finished working at 7 PM. This is what the kitchen looks like now. The bottom cabinets have been installed.

We got a lazy susan cabinet installed on the bottom too. I can't wait to use it!

This morning, I went to the supermarket to pick up some TV dinners. I could not believe that I was actually buying TV dinners! I can't even begin to tell you how long it has been since the last time I brought one of those. DH suggested that I picked some up because without a kitchen stove & a kitchen sink, we have been eating out. We are not huge fans of fast food (though once awhile we do crave for it), so it's been hard to try to figure out what we should eat. I am not as talented as OC Mama-- who still cooked even when her entire kitchen was under construction. Frankly, the mess and the dust already pushed me over the edge. The last thing on my mind is making food. So, TV dinners for us until this whole thing is over!

Tomorrow Sergio is putting in the top cabinets & he thinks that he will be able to install the counter tops on Saturday. Ideally, I should have my kitchen sink back by Saturday. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Sergio predicted the entire kitchen to be done in the next 10 days. I am not holding my breathe.

Disneyland Fun

We went to Disneyland today for a day of fun! I just love the holiday decorations (Halloween & Christmas) at Disneyland. It was nice to get out of our messy house and leave it all behind to go on rides and see some Disney characters.

On the way to the park, I was able to get a couple of photos and Mickey, Minnie & Donald Duck in their Halloween costumes.

Our first stop was California Adventure. Minnie was by the giant candy corn for photos, so DD got to take a photo with her (I had this print out for free with my Visa free photo discount).

This was the photo I took with my own camera & without the cute Disney frame.

Awwww, it's Mickey's favorite pet!

Yes, we got to take pictures twice with Pluto (although I am pretty sure it's not the same person on the inside of Pluto costume).

After having her pictures taken, we went on Monsters Inc. DD had been watching the movie and so she was extra excited when we rode it.

DD had no problem finding Boo's door. LOL!

This was when DD screamed, "Oh, no!"

Awww, a happy ending.

After Monsters' Inc, she wanted to go on the plane ride (that's what she calls Soaring), so we walked to the other side, but we did stop by the candy corn to take a picture.

And then a picture with Cars. I have no idea why she was making such a weird face here.

After Soaring, I took DD across the way to Disneyland. I love that you can see Mickey Pumpkin everywhere!

A giant Mickey Pumpkin for Halloween.

When we stopped for lunch, I noticed that the cafe had this cute dessert so I got it to share with DD. It's little chocolate covered red velvet cake pieces stuffed in a Nightmare Before Christmas Coffin. The spider web was made with white chocolate and the spider was raspberry. There were 5 pieces of cake and it was $4.95. I thought the price was really reasonable for Disneyland. Best of all, it was delicious!

The backside of it.

Can you tell that someone really enjoyed her dessert?!

Where is the honey?!

Waiting to get her photo taken with Pooh. As you can see, she was pretty excited.

Pooh left to go on his break right before it was our turn to see him. DD had a break down and cried for a bit. She was really heart broken when Pooh left. Luckily, Tigger came and saved the day.

Awwww!

Construction-- Day 4

No really work was done today! ARG! Sergio was supposed to go and picked up the cabinets this morning, except he spent most of the day away because apparently Home Depot sold me some cabinets that they no longer carried. I think it is pretty amazing that a company as large as Home Depot would have the nerve to sell products they haven't carried in months. Of course, Sergio did not know this until he went to pick up the cabinets this morning. Sergio spent a large part of the day driving to all of the Home Depots in Orange Country trying to find the cabinets (in case there is a left over in any of them), but no such luck. I was given 2 choices. I could have either wait for a custom made cabinet to come in and that would take 2 weeks. In other words, Sergio and his crew will need to stop working all together until the cabinet come in & I would have to live without a kitchen for 2 additional weeks. My other option is to just get another cabinet that is 3" wider. I decided to go with the second option because I don't think I can survive that long without a kitchen. I mean, we are on day 2 without a kitchen and I am already going crazy. Anyhow, the problem with getting a larger cabinet is that the bottom cabinets will be longer than the top cabinets, so Sergio will have to put in fillers. When I explained this to DH over dinner together, he was really upset by it, he asked why we could not replace a top cabinet to one that is 3" wider too so everything will match. I could not believe that both Sergio and I did not think of that! So, I called Sergio after dinner and he agreed to get another cabinet tomorrow morning. A disaster was resolved! Yay!

Here's our kitchen-- filled with boxes of new cabinets.

Because DD is no longer allowed to play downstairs (due to the construction), we decided to get a TV so she can play and watch TV in her bedroom instead. After we napped this afternoon, I took DD to Toys R Us to pick up a Disney Princess TV and DH put it together for her. She was totally in love with it. We are a little concern about how well she deals with the TV in her room. If she tries to watch TV when she is not supposed to, we will most likely remove the TV from her room.

Construction - Day 3

Today was our 3rd day of construction. After dropping DD off this morning, I went to Home Depot to purchase the cabinets (Sergio went over the weekend so that I could go & pay for it today). There was some mix-up with the price, so it took almost 3 hours for me to make a simple payment. ARG!

By the time Sergio and his crew was done, all of our old cabinets & counter tops were gone. I assumed that Sergio would at least leave the stove plugged in for me to use this week, but no such luck. Without a kitchen sink and stove, I guess I am not going to be doing much cooking :(.
Sergio leveled the walls for the new canbinets.

Last night, DH and I spent about 3 hours moving everything in the kitchen to our livingroom. I can't believe we are going to have to live like this for the next couple of weeks. *sigh*

While moving the fridge, Sergio's crew broke the water hook up to our fridge. I am sort of dreading have to deal with that, I might just make DH talk to Sergio tomorrow AM.

While I am excited about having the kitchen remodeled, living like this is totally crazy. The house is in such a messy state. Can't wait until this is all over!

Grow, yummy things, grow up fast!

My strawberry is beginning to grow. Yay! Even though it is just a tiny green thing right now and there is only 1 strawberry on my plant, I am still pretty excited!

The flowers are coming in on my tomato plants too.

DH brought some more potting soil for me this morning, so I planted the rest of my plants this afternoon. In the large pot are my 2 tomato plants, and in the medium pot is sweet basil. Lastly, in the small pot is my Thai basil. I brought the pots a couple of weeks ago, and I think they look great in the back patio. Can't wait for my yummy basil and tomatoes to grow up!

Dance class, Lowe's, Kidget event and a party! WHAT A DAY!

We had a crazy busy day today. We got up early in the morning for DD's dance class. I am not sure if she is actually learning anything, but she is having a blast running around doing
"creative" dance in her class.

Right after the class was over, we met up with DH at Lowe's for the Build and Grow event.
DH reading the instruction to help DD build her fire truck.

Time to hammer hammer!

Julie and Avery were there too. For some odd reason, the line was super long, Julie was nice enough to get a kit for DD too so that we did not have to wait in the long time.

DD checking out what her daddy was doing with her fire truck.

Her daddy was actually trying to put the stickers pieces on the fire truck for her. What a nice daddy!

Avery's daddy was also helping her with her fire truck.

I love this photo of DD and DH. Soooo sweet!

DD loves the fire truck her daddy helped her make.

After Lowe's, DH went home to rest from a long week at work and I took DD to the mall for a kidgets' event. While we were there, DD got a rainbow painted on her face.

DD won a huge sheet of sticker and she had a lot of fun putting the stickers all over her entire dress.

Following a lunch and a sort nap, I took DD to Jenni's house for a dinner party. Jessica brought Meimei too, so the girls were having a lot of fun playing together.

Agnes. I haven't seen her in a couple of years. Agnes and I used to work together at UCI.

Since it is a party full of Chinese people, there has to be some karaoke. DD also joined in on some singing. Everyone was cracking up but DD acted so seriously about singing and no one could understand a word she was singing. ROFL!

My karaoke girl!

After 2 hours of playing, the girls finally got hungry and sat down to eat some dinner.

Di and Ruohmei. Di has been teaching at UCSD for the past couple years now & Ruomei is in charge of the Chinese program at UCI.
The person with DD was Polly, who teaches both at UCI and Saddleback College. Behind her is her boy friend. Jessica is in the blue, Ying is the woman on Jessica's right. Chiaoru is on Jessica's left and Jenni is on the very end. These women are people I have been friends with for many many years now! I think it's very rare for people to make friends at work, but I was lucky enough to have worked with all of them back from when I was teaching at UCI. While I was there, I became great friends with them (although everyone knows that my bff is Jessica :P).

DD dancing to the music.

Polly and Jenni showing DD and Meimei how to dance.

Agnes decided to join in on the fun.

Jenni started a dance train for the girls to follow! LOL!

We had a wonderful time at Jenni's house. Jenni's newly remodeled house looks beautiful. I love her new kitchen! DD had a great time playing there too. When we left at 9 PM, DD still did not want to leave.

Even though we had a long and busy day, it was a good day!