Island Happiness

I love islands - kitchen islands to be exact! haha. (well, I love beach islands too, but I don't live on one like a certain sister of mine.) Back to our kitchen island... The boys play, talk and keep busy on our island while I'm cooking and cleaning in the kitchen. Friends gather around it while I can move about half-socializing and half-preparing food. I absolutely love it.

This week, clearly, has all been about our kitchen island and...drumroll please....WATER! We now have running water in the kitchen! Oh yeah!

Okay - so I had to document my first stove top meal in 2 months...Trader Joe's pot stickers. I was craving them for the longest time!! Colin and I scarfed down this whole pan-full.

After dinner, the boys cut their fruit for the next day's lunches. They love their kid-approved knives, and I love having them join in on the kitchen festivities. I'm a firm believer that I have our kitchen island to thank. It's just a great space for gatherings and for kids to get involved in things.

"What? This thing will wash dishes for us?" haha. For the first time in my adult life, I have a dishwasher. Well, I'll be honest, I had Jack before this piece of machinery. Life is good.

And here it is! Running water!!!! We love our faucet. Nice and high. And the end of it pulls out so we can spray things.

 I joked all week that when I got water, I'd have a "boiling water" party. Friends would come over and watch us boil water. In the end, I decided that having actual food would be far more fun for our friends. So less than 24 hours after we had water running in the house, we had friends over to help us celebrate! I cooked up 2 chilis and had warm apple cider. For appetizers we had cowboy caviar and brie. Full bellies and good friends!

 When it was time to eat, Justin volunteered to watch Baby Andy.

 Colin and Haoie constantly talk about each other and we're so happy that we can finally have guests over so these 2 can play more! (yes, Justin is rolling around in the background to keep Andy company. And no, we have not done any furnishing/decorating in the living room.)

I loved watching friends eat around our island. All of us hang out in the kitchen - while kids ran back and forth. It was the feeling that Jack & I wanted to create for our family - and it was amazing just to see it all play out. Love.

A wrap up on this week's house updates...

New outdoor carpeting for the sunroom. It has a warmer feel now and I am so proud of my internet-rug purchase! (C'mon, it takes guts to purchase a rug online. I have a new appreciation for customer reviews and now leave them frequently on items we've purchased)

 The guest bathroom has new flooring and toilet. Any thoughts on a paint color? (the old toilet didn't work and the flooring was a yellowish-brown color - sorry, no "before" picture)

My mom asked for a wide view of the kitchen. Here you go! (and the cabinet handles) We still have a handful more finishing touches - so we're not done yet!

To refresh your memory.. here's the before and during!

In non-kitchen related news, Justin was invited to his friend's bday party. He had a blast playing with his friends, and I loved watching him have fun and had a great time meeting the parents.

 The kids were so well behaved during lunch; I was thoroughly impressed. All of us parents credited the kids' amazing teachers to help make this drama-free lunch possible.

In other Justin news, he's talking all of the time.
Justin: Look mom, the moon.
me: yes, you can see the moon.
Justin: The moon is broken! (it was a 1/8th moon day)

Justin: Mom, you're not paying attention to me. Look at me!

Colin: Here you go, Justin. (giving him some goldfish)
Justin: You're sharing with me? Mom, Colin's sharing!

Colin: (crying about something)
Justin: I'm not crying mom. Justin is not crying.

Justin: Mama, you're so beautiful. You're so pretty. =)

Justin: (after getting his bday party goodie bag). Mom, where's Colin's?
Me: Colin doesn't get one. This is just for you.
Justin: Oh.
Me: You can share with him if you want. Do you want to share?
Justin: I want to see what's inside. (then looks) No, I don't want to share.

And by now, you all know that Justin is particular about foods - especially veggies. Well, this week, he ate 2 peas and 1 piece of broccoli! Huge success. Admittedly, he was promised a "grandma-cookie" after eating the peas and broccoli. Bribery, it works.