Ktichen reno. Because that's basically where we live.

The kitchen is the heart of our home. The bed is the brain of it. That's how it has been my entire life.

When my family comes together, we don't sit in the living room or go off in groups. We cram into the kitchen, regardless of size, and we chop things. We'd rather be standing in a doorway or sitting on the counter than away from the center of the action in a posh recliner.

Our kitchen habit is especially pronounced at my parents' house, which is not surprising since they do the hosting of get togethers. The condo they moved into a few years ago had a galley-style kitchen, with black tile countertops and a black tile backsplash and black speckled wallpaper with roosters on it. It had an island that sprouted out of a corner by the door to the deck, and it was so crammed that to leave your seat, you had to play musical chairs. Above the island there was a hanging lamp with a punched metal shade. It was at that perfectly annoying height so that whenever you sat at the island, you felt like you were being interrogated. To cook anything, you had to stand in a nook between the refrigerator and the oven, with all of 12" of counter to your right to work on. It was so crammed we had to use stove top space for utensils.

 The cooking nook. Barely able to contain Leiah's pregnant belly and the Thanksgiving stuffing.

A corner of the kitchen cram. We've got no fewer than six projects going on right there.

And here's Renee's 5th birthday because you love my singing voice and need to know about the dining room too, which had floor to ceiling mirrors on one wall.

Well, the coffee pot got fed up with that kitchen. And in protest, it leaked water under the tile counter top and rotted the wood beneath. It did this for several months before we even noticed the damage it was doing. Sure, we noticed you'd put in water for 12 cups of coffee and only get out 10, but we thought that was the angels' share. All the disasters in the world, the angels can probably use some caffeine.

My parents went to see about a new counter or some new counter tiles and then came home and called some architect friends of Shannon's. Apparently you can either spend $1 million on a counter or just redo your kitchen for $1,000,050.

First they knocked everything out and sanded the floors. Then they made the door into a wall and put a sliding door in. Then they painted and the cabinets came. Then my mom and I mocked up a counter top with a giant piece of cardboard, some string, a measuring tape, and a marker. We even rounded the corners so the babies wouldn't go unconscious when they run laps around everything – a favorite pastime at Gigi and Dude's house.

The renovations started in November, and I was in LA off and on for most of the project. There was no kitchen when I was home for a couple of weeks for Thanksgiving, which we managed to pull off in my parents' bedroom with a crock pot, a microwave, and a grill (okay, the grill was on the deck), but when I came home for Christmas there was this.

For Christmas and to christen the kitchen, my mom and I went on a cream puff making bender. Since then, this kitchen has hosted Lilly's second birthday (2 parties for that) and Valentine's Day dinner and Easter brunch. This weekend it will kickoff of birthday season with Leiah's 30th birthday. My dad and I sit at the island and play Mario Kart. My mom and I sit on the chairs and watch Rascal do tricks. Lilly makes us draw buses when she's in her booster seat. Kieron leaves chocolatey fingerprints all over the baby table.

My parents may never be able retire, but we've finally got a kitchen that can really handle being our heart.