The Wall, the Cake, The Cake, the Wall

Or

"What We Did December 27th,

After We Cleaned Up All

the Wrapping Paper and Bows

Off the Floor"

The Cake








The Wall























Engineering of the arch construction courtesy of our oldest son, Paul, the man who can do anything. Muscle work on the wall, proudly accomplished by Kevin, Paul, and Dominic, who can do anything resembling grunt work.* Electrical work, all by Daddy, the only one brave enough to mess with electrical.
Engineering on the cake, courtesy of Grandpa, the other man who can do anything. Muscle work on the cake happily accomplished by Michelle and Jonathan, who can do anything that enables them to lick frosting.*
Enchilada dinner after all the work was over, courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa, who do way too much!
And I had a very important job: I swept and chased little ones out of the construction zone all day.
Pictures and slideshow courtesy of son #5, Dominic, the man who aspires to ... Well, he says to say he just aspires.

It is unbelievable how this project (the carpentry, not the cake) opened up our little house.
Visually it added an enormous amount of square footage! But, now that we've removed the wall, I need to replace the kitchen floor, and if I replace the kitchen floor, I need to replace the dining room floor adjoining it, and if I replace both floors, well, I'm gonna have to have some new coordinating counters. And, then, of course I'll need to get new cabinets because the old ones will look awful up against all the new stuff... And, a new refrigerator, too, just because we need one anyway. And, oh! I've always wanted a trash compactor! I bet we could fit one in if we fill in that old doorway and extend the counter all the way to the wall...
And, I'm stopping now, because my husband is looking over my shoulder and making grunting noises...

Really, I'll be happy with the archway trimmed out. And a new kitchen floor. And it wouldn't cost that much to extend the counter down, would it? Alright, alright, alright. I'm stopping. Really. I don't covet anything else at all. Honest. Cross my heart.

Didn't the cat cake turn out cute? Did you see how it matches the painting Grandpa made for Theresa's birthday? We don't do anything the easy way around here, but it always turns out interesting!
Also, enquiring minds want to know: Do you think it would have made for a better slideshow if it had been made to Pink Floyd's The Wall?
*I'm kidding; they really are all amazingly multitalented.