Finished!

So are you sick enough of the Hazmat zone? I know that I was. I have neglected a lot of things in the last month, not just my post. The blog was a last priority for a while though, but I will try to do better now, that I don't have to paint, solve a crisis, or do anything related to remodeling.

Now that I am looking back at the last 2 months, would I do it again? Yes, I would because I LOVE the end product, but I would be a little more educated about the components that I was putting into the bathroom. The shower ended up being the biggest ordeal of the whole remodel. I assumed the contractor knew how to do everything, when really plumbing changes like everything else, and I got a more complicated system than he was used to installing. So after ordering more parts once, cutting a whole in my bedroom wall twice, and two floods in my family room... everything is working now, and we had the tape cutting ceremony on the shower last night.

See that cupboard on top of the vanity. That is one of my favorite parts. The bottom cupboard has an outlet in it so I can keep my blowdryer and straightener plugged in all of the time. It is fabulous, coming from a bathroom that had no storage, now I have more than I know what to do with.

Also here is a picture of the finished floor.

I am going to post about everything else going on around here later. Gotta run now!

Hazmat Zone

Why do I take on so many things at once. It seems like a good idea to get everything over at once, but in the middle of it all, I question my reasoning. Our house looks like a hazmat zone for a few days. Plastic is covering every nook and cranny making it near to impossible to get to anything used for our daily existence. On the brighter side I haven't had to load or unload the dishwasher for a few days, and I can't cook either. See everything has a brighter side.

My advice though. Wait until you are going to be out of town for a few days to lay down new wood flooring, and sand the existing floor.

On the bathroom remodeling.. things took a step forward yesterday after a holding pattern. We were waiting for the cabinets to come, which they did yesterday. So where are the workman busily installing them today??? Who knows, not at my house. I wish everyone was in as big of a hurry to have my bathroom back, as David and I are. We installed warm wire last Wednesday night to keep our toes nice and toasty on those cold Colorado mornings. Then the tile went in over the weekend, and it looks fabulous. I am pleased with the tile. All in all... the bathroom change has been a good experience.

Day 1 of Demolition

We all have an inner desire to be destructive sometimes, but we don't have many opportunities. Yesterday we let loose and destroyed the bathroom. It was a lot of fun to destroy all of the ugliness in our bathroom. Our new bathroom is going to be our dream spa bathroom. We waited seven years to get to this project so we could do it right. Out with the white boring tiles, in with the porcelain tile and travertine border. Out with the inefficient use of space cabinetry, and in with the beautiful dark wood- much more storage cabinets. Out with our 4 foot tub, and in with the 6 foot jacuzzi tub. Of course all of this beautifulness has a price which I am choking on every day that I have to buy something else, but just think... I can go and soak away the stress when the tub is in!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The day is off to a snowy start... yesterday was beautiful and warm :-( But at least it meant a delayed start for school so Mikaela and Derek got some sleep for Valentine's Day!
For me it means running around on snowy roads to get the supplies I need for the Valentine Party I am in charge of at school. Then after school we did have soccer practice which I think will be cancelled so another good thing because of the snow.

The kids all had to make Valentine Boxes this year. Even Mikaela and Derek had a party in Student Government. Derek wasn't into the box, and slapped some hearts on a shoe box. They had to make the box to give to someone else in the class. The box he brought home was a bright red felt covered box with lots of ribbon and lace. Obviously an over-achieving freshman girl made it for him. Here is a photo of the valentine boxes the girl's made on Sunday afternoon.
My Valentine Present is a jetted shower, which I don't get for a couple of weeks, but I ordered it yesterday, and I am really excited. It has an overhead rain shower head, and then 4 nozzles coming from the wall that spray. We are doing a much needed bathroom renovation. Our bathroom has been last on the list for the 7 years we have lived here. Thus the reason for not many posts the last 2 weeks. Deciding and buying all of the components of the bathroom is very time consuming. It is finally coming together though, and they start demolishing on Tuesday. Yea! David's present is a jacuzzi tub. He likes to soak, and I like to sit in a hot shower. So we are both happy.

My BFF Fleece

Here it is the first week of February and Puxatawney Phil says we still have 6 more weeks of winter to go. So I thought I would write my ode to fleece. I have to say that I think fleece is the greatest invention of the last decade. It could possibly have been around longer, but I was only introduced to this marvelous fabric in the late 90's when I purchased my first fleece pullover. Since that discovery I have made numerous items with fleece. Blankets for everyone in the family to use while watching TV or whatever, neck warmers for skiing, and here I am with my favorite fleece items my fleece socks and my own fleece blanket, both of which are with me every night when I go to bed.

Tonight we are in the single digits again, and snow is falling in Colorado yet again, but I don't dread the cold winter nights anymore thanks to my BFF fleece. Don't think that they have replaced David, he is still there to keep me warm too, but I think he is happier now that I don't put my icy toes on him at night anymore. So until spring reappears, check out these http://www.rei.com/product/728055 fleece socks at REI. They are amazing!

Happy Birthday Anna!

This has been a week of birthdays. First and foremost was my baby, Annalise's. Hard to believe she is 7 already. How the years have flown with her. I have already blogged about Anna and her cute, silly sense of humor. She definitely brightens our home. Here are a few more specific Anna traits.

1. Definitely the baby of the family. She has us all wrapped around her finger.

2. Momma's girl. Does not like to be away from home.

3. Sensitive. Very caring of other's feelings.

4. Shy. She does not like the spotlight on her at all.

5. Silly. Her favorite phrase when she messes up is "OH Pickles!"

6. Curious. She comes up with some thought provoking questions sometimes.

7. Tenacious. Does not give up until she masters something.

8. Snuggler. Likes to snuggle, and likes to sleep in the big bed with her sister.

9. Good Gopher. I can always count on her to get something for me in 10 seconds or less :-)

10. Valiant. Anna is a very special Child of God who will accomplish much in her life.

I Love you Anna and hope you have a great year ahead to 8! To celebrate the day Anna invited 2 of her friends from school to go to the Hannah Montana 3D concert movie. We did her hair all fancy and she had a Hannah Montana Shirt to wear. The movie was a lot of fun, but rather quiet for a concert movie.

Please pass the Bon bons

Today was the first day back on track. I definitely deserved a slower paced day than yesterday, or the whole weekend actually. But I like busy.

Friday way skiing, and boy was it frigid. We do go prepared for the cold. We have neck and face warmers, and everyone has little hand warmers in their gloves. The good part about it being so cold is that the lift lines are very short, and that is NICE! We skiied non-stop until we had enough. We skiied a different part of the resort than we had skiied before, and Kamryn and Anna did fabulous, Kamryn was usually the first one down the mountain taking steeper terrain faster than I like too. I really had to ski fast to keep up with her. Derek and I went to the top of the mountain one time because it had a couple of blue runs that we could manage, but I accidentally went the wrong way and had to go down a black diamond mogul hill. Boy did my thighs burn after that run.

Yesterday was another school holiday, but not a day off for David. We started it off by going to get Kamryn's early birthday present. She got her ears pierced now so that they can heal before soccer starts.

When we got home around lunch time the craziness began. First there was a strange car in the driveway. A girl and her mother were there to pick up Derek to take a group to the movies. A bunch of kids in the seminary class- I gathered. He had done everything I had asked him to do, and they were waiting so I didn't have much of a choice. I guess there were 2 boys and 4 or 5 girls so not too bad of odds for him. Then Maddie who also got her ears pierced with Kamryn came in to play. Pretty soon another friend also came over, and then another. The 5 little girls wanted to craft, so I got out the craft bag and they went to town assembling what else -bridesmaid dresses, complete with flowers. A short time later Mikaela and her friend returned from "Savers" a goodwill type store where they had purchased clothing to wear on Plaid Day at school. Then 2 more friends showed up to tye dye shirts and socks for "tye dye Fridye". Then 2 more friends showed up to make t-shirts for the Sadie Hawkins dance. Then 2 more showed up because they heard about the gathering and couldn't be left out.

So what was I supposed to do on a bitter cold day with 15 kids in the house? I made spudnuts. They didn't get to raise like they should have, but they were yummy and the kids liked them, and they were so amazed that you could actually make homemade doughnuts.
Needless to say I was sort of grumpy by the end of the day. So that is why I was ready for today.

SPELLING BEE day! Kamryn was pretty nervous sitting on the back row of about 20 students. Only 3 were from the 4th grade. Her first word was "scribble" and she got that right. Her 2nd word was "unpleasant". She was very nervous and she spelled it INPLEASANT. She knew it wasn't right after she said it, but she couldn't change it. She knew many of the words that came in the rounds later, so I'm sure she will make a great showing next year.

Anna had a hard time going back to school today. When ever she has a break for very long, she hates going back. She says she misses me. She came to the spelling bee, and she cried when it was over, she didn't want to go back to class. She might be the one to never leave home, and I will probably be okay with that :-)