Christmas: A time for family (and housework)

 It was quite the busy week leading up to Christmas as you can see in our previous blog post.  Our first day of break was spent getting our home ready for our Long Island family to visit on December 26th and wrapping Christmas gifts for our Rochester and Long Island families.  We left that afternoon for Rochester to spend Christmas with all of my side of the family.

It was a very peaceful drive through the snow covered hills.

It's a big tradition of mine to always make the traditional Christmas cookies.  This year, there was NO time for that, sadly.  I had purchased some pre-baked cookies from Wegmans (always saving the day).  Liz, Brendan, and I decorated them on Christmas Eve!

Some of our favs: The Gingerbread Santa (by Liz), The Alien (by B), and the Injured Gingerbread Man (by Ash)

We had a great time visiting all of my family on Christmas, even if only for 3 days.  The day after Christmas, Mom and I went out and bought some great (1/2 price!) Christmas items for the house next year.  Although, I'm sure our movers would say we don't need any more x-mas items.

Lenz Christmas Tree

Ashley tuckered out on the couch with Duke on Christmas morning.

Although we loved our visit with the Rochester family, we were eager to get back to the house to do some final preparations for our Long Island family's visit, plus we just plain missed it!

Our new "queen-size" air mattress in our master bedroom while Brendan's family visited.

 This was one of 4 places we slept from December 23-December 29.  First at my mom's house, next on our couch (because we hadn't bought the batteries for the air mattress pump), then the air mattress (but too cold without a rug underneath), and lastly, on our old futon mattress (JUUUUST RIGHT).  We felt like Goldilocks!  I had some trouble sleeping because I couldn't shut my brain off.  For those of you who don't know me, or haven't realized it yet, I'm totally crazy when it comes to organization (or at least organized chaos).  Amidst the craziness of the holidays, we had boxes all over the house, unorganized and unpacked and I felt like I couldn't entertain and accommodate like the hostess I like to be!  If I could, I'd be Martha Stewart and Sandra Lee's apprentice!  I should be clear in saying that we are lucky to have a wonderful and easy-going family and they didn't expect anything but a bed to sleep in, food in their bellies, and most of all, some quality time with us.  All this pressure was simply me and my silly antics.  


The first full day (Dec 27) our Long Island family was up, we got right to work...well, after a motivating meal!  We ate at our favorite mom and pop diner, "Phil and Cindy's", for breakfast.  Then off to our old apartment we went.  We cleaned the apartment from top to bottom.  When we moved into the apartment, it was brand-spanking-new and we wanted to leave it looking as close to it as possible after living there for 3 1/2 years.  After about 4 hours of cleaning and sorting through some remaining items, we were finished.  Back to the house we went to enjoy some pizza and celebrate another Christmas!  We never thought we would be so excited to get Home Depot and Lowes gift cards, among other useful things for around the house!

Our Christmas tree with the Long Island family.

 On December 28th, my family came to visit from Rochester.   This was the first time my sister got to see our house and it was great to share it with her.  I made some baked ziti (well, technically penne rigate) and had sandwiches for lunch.  Yes, below you will see what I would say is a must have for anyone, a foldable banquet table.  I'd love two more for parties, to be quite honest!  They are so useful and take up little space when put away.  I almost started looking through boxes for a quick centerpiece to put on the table, but I was pretty sure I would have been ridiculed for that.

The Long Island and Rochester families together with the Jamestown family!

You'll notice the tablescape of paper plates and plasticware.  You can easily create this gypsy theme at your next luncheon by towering boxes and as the host/hostess searching throughout the boxes for various ingredients you need.  Warning: This theme may cause an increase in anxiety.  Treat immediately with a glass (or bottle) of wine, while making regular jokes.  Your guests will sure to be entertained by your obstacle course!



The next day, Uncle Gary came to visit for breakfast.  He often stops by for an hour here and there while on his trucking route.  Always a welcomed guest!

Uncle Gary and B in our Family Room (yes, the purple is temporary)

Okay, so you're probably wondering at what point will this post get to the progress of the house.  Well hold your horses, this is about the Ups and Downs and All-Arounds.  All of the above, would fall under the All-Arounds!


After Uncle Gary left, we got right to work.  By far the most exciting day of work at the house!  We had gone to Home Depot earlier in the week to get some supplies for working on the house.


I worked with Brendan's parents on putting together our kitchen pantry.  It's nothing special, but it'll do the job until we get a nice beautiful pantry to take its place.  A special thanks to Mom and Dad K for their help with the assembly!

Dad K giving me an extra hand, while I drill.

Mom K reading the directions to us.

While we worked on assembling the pantry, Brendan worked with Alex on changing the door knobs and locks around the house.  It was a relatively easy learning experience for Brendan.  Well, up until they hit a very stripped screw.  They spent about 10 minutes trying to hammer and cut the screw in order to remove the old knob.  Their hard work paid off and the doors look great and secure!  (Funny Story: While in Home Depot, I interrogated one of the employees about the security of the door knob and key sets.  I noticed that there are a couple duplicates of our same key/lock set and was quite nervous about it.  Long story short, the man had to explain that although yes it was possible for someone to get the key for our house, it would be nearly impossible for them to find us, unless they were following us in the store to identify the key number and follow us home.  Needless to say, I looked over our shoulder from purchase until we got home. Am I crazy?  Of course and you all love it!)

Changing the deadbolt on the front door.

Changing the door knobs in the back!

The final task of the day was to secure the pantry to the wall.  This is no easy task when you live in an old house with plaster walls.  I had to go with Dad K to Home Depot to purchase a deep-sensing stud finder.  This particular stud finder helped us locate studs (although not perfect) and also identify when there were electric wires in the walls.  Someone nicely pointed out that if I drilled into the wires, I could start a fire. (Always good to know.)  When we finally found a safe stud, I began to drill.  This was incredibly nerve-racking because you never know what can happen as you drill into a plaster wall.  It could crack or completely break away from the wall and come crumbling down.

Trying hard to find a stud with Alex, but only finding studs surrounded by wires!

I am woman. Hear me roar!

Success!

All complete and finished with tan liners

 

After the pantry was successfully assembled and secured, we took half of the living room boxes upstairs to the attic using a great method, an assembly line.  The extra space in the living room makes it easier to sort through, providing organized chaos, instead of just chaos.


It was an incredible week with our families.  We are so thankful for our Long Island family for driving all the way to help us around the house.  The moral support and advice were very helpful!

Brendan with his family on the front steps!