A sink? Yes. A vacuum cleaner? No.

I was a lucky gal and got my Mother's Day gift a little early... on Easter actually.  We were all home sick with nasty head colds.  I got up early and made a wonderful Easter breakfast.  I used my late grandma Betty's tablecloth, and a beautiful set of china of hers that I inherited a few years back, when we moved her out of her home and into assisted living.  I was sad but grateful that I had some things to remember her by.  I dished up scrambled eggs, peach crisp, bacon and fresh bananas.  Four Easter baskets waited for the kids...

Jordan, Rylan and Owen got some pinwheels.  They blew on them and then erupted into long, drawn out coughing fits... it was actually pretty funny.  We were a sorry bunch.  Lots of coughing, sneezing and spewing all sorts of snot in all directions.  It was lovely.  And then we ate breakfast.  And Owen coughed so hard that he threw up his breakfast.  On the table, himself, his chair and the floor.  Perfect.

It was to be this little guy's first crack at egg hunting.  We were supposed to go down to Longmont to have Easter dinner with the family and do an egg hunt with the cousins.  Then, later in the day we were going to spend the afternoon and evening with homeschooling friends, having an egg hunt and potluck.  But.  It was not to be.  By Saturday evening I knew that it was to be a no-go.  We were not fit to be good company for anybody but ourselves...

So what to do?  Saturday evening we made a preemptive move and prepared for the next day where we now had nothing planned, besides eating copious amounts of chocolate.  We went to Home Depot!

This was the kitchen sink.  The sink itself is as it was when I purchased the house eight years ago.  Shallow bowls meant that it could not hold much - and splashing all over the counter was a common occurrence.  The faucet was installed (pre-Dean) by a handyman at my church, about six years ago.  Around the end of last year, the entire faucet assembly started rocking back and forth.  You would use either handle and the whole thing would move back and forth.  Dean got underneath the sink and looked at it from below.  The bolts were rusting through.  Evidently some sealant that should have been used during installation wasn't.  Dean fashioned a quick fix by installing a wooden brace that held the assembly down tight, but it was only a fix.  I was now in the mood to replace the entire thing...sink and all.  I wanted something nice, something bigger.  I hate the look of stainless steel sinks - they show every scratch and dent.  I picked out what I wanted.  I visited my new sink, on display at Home Depot, every few weeks.  I even took pictures with my phone, so I could look at it from time to time... sigh.  I wanted a new sink!!!

Look, ma!  No plumber's crack!

So I got my wish!!  Lots of helpers to get the project started.  First everything was disconnected and the non-working dishwasher was removed.  Pipes were sawn away, and lovely, greasy sludge in the pipes was admired and discussed.  I spared you the pictures.  Again, you're welcome.

Goodbye sink!

Nothing says yummy like washing dishes in the bathroom sink.

 
So while Dean slaved away, I wiped noses and hid eggs for each child to find.  Colin had one blue egg to find.  Owen had three green eggs.  Rylan had four purple eggs.  Jordan had ten orange and yellow eggs.  When they found all of their (empty) eggs, they turned them in and got their Easter gift.

Colin can now impersonate Sid the Science Kid

Owen got a 4-pack of Cars characters

Rylan got a Jasmine doll

You guessed it.... Legos.

We ended the day with the sink replacement job almost finished.  The new sink is a 3/4 sink so the hoses were not quite long enough to attach to the water supply.  And Home Depot is not open at 1:15 am.  So the sink was finished the next day.

We left this cast of characters in charge for the night...

Dean took the van to work the next day, and then stopped at Home Depot after work.  Then he finished the job in very short order.  I didn't take a picture of the new sink until Wednesday though.

Voila!

We spent Tuesday in Wray, visiting with family and attending my grandmother's funeral.  I brought back some of the flowers that were delivered from family and friends for the service.  The two flower bouquets in the center were just beautiful.  The Peace Lily on the left was the one we ordered for the service.  The Peace Lily on the right, in the ceramic pot, is from Dean's grandmother's funeral service that we attended in January.  I also have another Peace Lily that was from my grandpa Orin's funeral service in 1997.  I think the Peace Lily has taken on new meaning in our household.  (Universe?  No more Peace Lilies for a while, okay?)

So I am loving my kitchen sink!  My original request for a Mother's Day gift was a birdbath.  But then I changed my mind and figured that a new sink (and a new dishwasher!!) was the way to go.  Dean was able to install the dishwasher on Wednesday afternoon, after we picked it up from Sears.  I imagine that some moms would be insulted by something so utilitarian - but I LOVE it.  And I love that my husband was able to do all the work himself..what a gift!!  Love ya honey!  And I also have my dear grandmother to thank.  She made this wonderful gift possible.  It has given me loads of time back that I otherwise spent washing dishes by hand, and that means all the world to me and my family.