Remembering A’s 1st Evacuation!

Posted on September 10, 2011 by lksquared

I remember when hurricane Gloria hit Long Island back in the day…and I remember our evacuation. We went to our family friends & my dad’s business partner. They live in Woodmere & I guess were out of the “evacuation zone”, although in reality, they were about 15 minutes drive away! I don’t think there’s any documentation of this family get-a-way, but for A’s first evacuation (and hopefully her last), I wanted to document how much fun we had hanging out at Auntie H’s house!

First we started with Daddy & Auntie E going to pick up dinner while A & I waited in Auntie E’s apartment….and this is how well that went…

She didn’t want me! She wanted her DADDYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

Great.

Then we went back to Auntie H’s house & took a bath & in the morning we played with Cousin S’s stuff. She has the best stuff according to A!

"There's a CASTLE in this house Mommy!!!!"

"Hey Cousin S...there's a kitty cat in your house too!"

"Listen to my song...la la la laaaaaaa"

"Daddy's turn!!!"

"How about you Mommy!!!???"

"Hey Daddy...you ready to head home?!?!"

So we left…but when we got home, as you know, we couldn’t stay home! So we went to our friends house, put the girls to bed and got to drinkin’! Since our friend RD makes “magic” wine, we woke up nice and hangover-free 🙂 All the trains were down so we had an extra day with Daddy home!

A took full advantage of this and got some story time in the morning!

All in all, it was a fun time…and now we’re just hoping the hurricane’s go back to sea where they belong!

The Wrath of Irene at the LK House…

Posted on September 2, 2011 by lksquared

We had a nice hurricane experience for the most part. We had dinner with Auntie E, then spent the rest of the hurricane in Auntie H’s house watching movies & playing with Cousin S’s toys. We didn’t think it was so bad out there! We also watched the news…which was stationed in 4 places. 1 was my town, 1 was the part of Brooklyn my Grandma lives in, 1 was where Auntie H & my dad & fam live, and the other was where we got married! I felt very connected to the news! The news from our little city was bad. We saw the ocean bust past the boardwalk and right to the streets with fury. It was scary to think of what we were coming home to.

The hurricane passed pretty quickly & we were able to get on the road home once we had someone come check that we had power.

We left this…

We came home to this…

Our power lines are holding the tree up! The meter box and pole have been shifted & need major repair…but thankfully, we don’t think too much more damage is under that tree. We won’t really be able to tell until the tree is lifted, but our fingers are crossed.

We have installed some extra fire alarms in the house since I’m nervous about those power lines, and we have evacuated the playroom, which is directly under that tree, and our phone lines are all screwy & sent phantom 911 calls out last night, but other than that and a lot of water in our crawl space, we’re good!

The storm was definitely bad…but it also could have been much worse!

And our house is strong!!!! It lived through years of abuse and neglect & now that she’s getting a lot of love and attention…a little tree isn’t gonna take her down now!!!!

Embrace the Camera Thursday 9.1.11

Posted on September 1, 2011 by lksquared

Hi everyone!

We had a great opportunity while evacuated from Irene to capture something I don’t think we’ve ever been able to capture in A’s 16 months! Our WHOLE family!

Mommy, Daddy, Baby A, T & M!

Thanks Auntie H for letting us crash at your house while you were in NJ! We had an awesome time there & can’t wait until you guys are home for the fall!

Join Emily in ETC!

Irene…Please Leave Our Long Beach Alone!

Posted on August 28, 2011 by lksquared

We’ve been hiding out in Brooklyn, away from the “danger zone”…but it is super frustrating to see all the reporters standing on my boardwalk, while we are wondering what is going on at our house! We did get a little bit of the storm excitement here though! The window above our head leaked on us…YAY! Was kinda fun 🙂 A’s been sleeping in Cousin S’s crib since 7:45pm and it is now almost 9am….I love this house. Just sayin’.

Here’s some photos someone took on FB of what is left at the beach…

the ocean reached the boardwalk...it even moved the lifeguard HQ building and crashed it into the boardwalk....fun times.

it took the beach onto the streets...

I wonder if they'll move the ticket takers to the street to make sure we still use our beach passes for the rest of the season?!

I hope everyone is safe at home…and the mess isn’t too big for us to get back later tonight!

Oh Hurricanes….how NY has missed you….

Posted on August 27, 2011 by lksquared

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the Christmas Blizzard of 2010 really F&*$ed up NY. I know we all know that NY was F&*$ed under snow. But I mean more mentally. All of a sudden it is not safe to be in a place where you can’t get emergency help! No kidding!

I was only 5 years old when Hurricane Gloria payed us a visit, and that storm was a category 3 when it hit Long Island. Irene is anticipated at a 1.

If the LKs were only husband, wife, dog and cat…we would be getting cozy in our PJs and riding out the storm on our couch. But now we have A. The little lunatic is making us prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

There are many guidelines to follow when correctly and thoroughly preparing for a hurricane here on our barrier island. I’ve already put all of our pretty important documents up high on a shelf in a plastic box. I’ve taken the super important docs and made sure they’re in a ziploc bag and are coming with us. Good jewelry, coming with us. Water bottles, check. Food prepared, check. (I will NOT eat canned food). Now, to the thing that people have been recommending…documentation of the house. I’ve been told to photograph the house from all angels in case there’s any damage & insurance needs proof! What a better reason to show the house 8 months after move-in! I am apologizing for the disorganized mess you’re all about to see, but this is how it is around here for now. We’re working on it!

Lets start in the master bedroom!

Ahhh clean sheets! Irene - if you mess those up I'll be PO'd.

Our bay window. See that tree trunk out there...Mister LK is pretty scared that is one of 5 that are going to crash land on our house from the winds!

Cathedral closets

Mirror Mirror on....every wall of the hallway....show me where to enter the bathroom!

Primary colors galore!

Sink stuff...

my little dark vanity table

on our way out the door!

Holy Bathroom!!! This is the next project....for obvious reasons.

Guestroom...

We like to store things in here that we don't want touched by A since this door is pretty much always closed

I am going to have this room looking much better very soon for our friend's visit mid-September!

A's almost complete art station...with no crayons since she thinks the couch is her canvas lately!

For someone (me) who can't commit to color, I think I did a pretty good job in here!

I know the blue is tropical....and some might hear steel drums when they walk in, but I love it!

Load up the office shelves - everything important UP HIGH!

A little bit of organized mess in the mudroom! how much laundry can one family of 3 have!

this kitchen....could really use some work haha!

I can't wait to have an open layout one day...then the highchair won't be in the middle of the room!

We're really hoping our new giant windows don't break from the wind!

More piles on TOP of the furniture 🙂

Nice big empty wall space waiting for something to be hung up....what to hang ?!?!

Just the living room - watching the weather!

We've moved all things away from the windows & off the shelves in preparation 🙂

I guess it is a good thing we never hung anything on the walls yet!

See! Nothing on the walls 🙂

We hope you like our house 8 months later! We hope it’s still here when we get home!!!

All for this…

Embrace the Camera Thursday 8.25.11 & 20 Minute Recipe Search!

Posted on August 25, 2011 by lksquared

Hi ETCers 🙂 Here’s our deal today!

See this family…

We need some help!

We are tired of ordering dinner in, but the mommy featured up there gets harassed by the baby up there, every time she tries to cook our family dinner. This results in either ordering in something quick, or heating up some sort of frozen meal. In my defense, our frozen options are of the healthier variety from organic markets & Trader Joes, but I’m bored with this stuff.

Here’s where all you other mommies come in! I’m looking for recipes that take approximately 20 – 30 minutes prep to plate. The hunt will benefit anyone looking for quick and easy recipes because I will put everything together into an organized post & re-post so everyone can have all the recipes!

Here’s my entry! I hope everyone loves it as much as I do 🙂

Dijon Lemon Salmon: (serves 2)

1lb wild salmon (or any salmon you like) – this also works with Arctic Char!
1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp garlic (either minced or paste)
black pepper to taste

In a small bowl, mix the mustard, lemon juice, garlic & pepper together. Cut the salmon into individual pieces. Spray a broiler safe pan or cookie sheet with non-stick spray & place the salmon skin side down (or just flat if you prefer salmon steaks). pour sauce over salmon, making sure to cover the whole surface. Put it on pretty thick. Broil approximately 10-15 minutes. The mustard will get brown & bubbly in spots. That is ok – I usually just broil until it’s well done b/c that is how I like it!

(I never use measuring devices to make this – I eyeball it, & the consistency should be less thick than the mustard alone, but still thick enough to cover the salmon!)

I make this with some roasted broccoli & cauliflower & tadaaaa!

So delicious!

If you guys have any quick dishes you recommend, either kid friendly, or husband friendly, or both! Please email me @ LKSquaredblog@gmail.com or leave them in the comment section!

I hope everyone can participate! I’m looking forward to some delicious, nutritious meals!

A Hurricane, A Tornado & Now An Earthquake at the LK House!

Posted on August 24, 2011 by lksquared

Last week Gramma had cousin S stay at her house all week! That was pretty exciting for A & I because we haven’t really seen cousin S all summer, and Gramma brought her over for a play day with Miss A! It was a great day. These girls are so damn cute together.

We went out to lunch, had a dance party, watched a princess movie, had sushi dinner, took a bath & got ready for bed together. When they left, my house looked like Hurricane A & Tornado S did massive damage! Way more damage than the earthquake did yesterday!

Before we see the photos of the fun from our play day, I’d like to talk about yesterdays’ quake. I know a lot of people are very shaken up, both literally & figuratively from it. I also know that it was very mild here at my house. For me…it was kind of fun & a little funny. I really thought I was going crazy! The floor wasn’t moving here, but the walls of the house were swaying back and forth. I thought I was dizzy…but then I checked out the lampshades that were swaying, the plants, the tv, etc. I went to call our friend E who lives around the corner to see if I was crazy, and the phone wasn’t really working. The first person I spoke to was AG in NC and SHE FELT IT TOO!

I know it was not as strong here as it was in other places closer to the VA epicenter, however, I’m grateful that no one was hurt. As we’ve seen out in Cali & down in Haiti & across the ocean in Japan. Earthquakes can be tragic. Here on the east coast of the US, we were all shaken…but not injured. As people experience the aftershocks, I am going to appreciate the power of Mother Nature & this earth…try to respect her more & prepare for the real life hurricane Irene about to hit. Here in Long Island we haven’t had a major hurricane since I was a little girl (same time we had the last little earthquake too), so I will pray that we don’t get hit with anything devastating or dangerous.

Now – check out OUR little natural disasters at work!

Lunchtime smiles with Gramma!

Dance Party!

They thought sitting here was so funny!

"I didn't push anyone!"

What mesmerizes S like this?!

A Princess of course!

(Auntie S2, please note S’s obsession with A’s kitchen you got her…loved by all!)

Hugs!!!!

Cousinly love!

Relaxing with Gramma & some Sesame Street

A being a hair stylist!

Saying goodnight 🙂

What a great day! We can’t wait to play with Cousin S & Cousin A2 again this weekend!!!

My Corney Little Girl!

Posted on August 23, 2011 by lksquared

We had dinner the other night with our friends the D family. It was an extensive menu, and A did eat some chicken, lamb and broccoli.

She also ate 2 whole ears of corn. She cleaned the cobs…..it was INSANE!!

Her method was really funny! Check it out 🙂

Nom Nom Nom!

Ahhh Delicious!!!!

Howdy Cow = Happy A

Posted on August 22, 2011 by lksquared

What makes my mom the best Gramma??? It’s too long to describe here in a quick post.

But one thing is that she knows her grandchildren & how to make them happy girls!

Present from Gramma!

She hasn't stopped bouncing yet!

Thanks Gramma!!!

Built Right Renovations…Siding done right so far!

Posted on August 19, 2011 by lksquared

I have not been paid for this review. I wish I was! It would have helped!

I never thought we would be the people that did improvements to the exterior of the house before the interior. I usually just don’t care enough about curb appeal – especially when compared to how I care about the interior design of my space! The thing (or thousands of things) that pushed us to do the exterior first were the ants…and bugs…there is nothing I hate more than bugs. We knew the house was in need of a better barrier between outdoors and in!

We met with a few contractors who specialized in siding & decided that Built Right Renovations were the ones who gave us the best impression, had the most knowledge & were reasonably priced. They were not the cheapest, but when we thought about all that was needed for maximum protection, we thought they gave us the best bang for our buck!

First…let me show you what we were working with!

Front Door

Front Patio

Side Door

View from the backyard

Back of house

not too bad right?!

hahahaha

check out what was under all that vintage (read: old as Moses) cedar shake…

complete destruction...

There was a LOT of rot. The sill plate around most of the house was rotten, the plywood was non-existent…and we discovered a small roofing problem too! I can’t imagine where all the bugs were coming from!!!

Built Right came to us with the damage, and obviously the price went up, but the work had to be redone and I do believe they did great work. I suppose more time will tell since they have just finished about 2 days ago, but I was watching pretty closely & they were very pleasant, clean, & quick.

Here’s what we look like today!