Bathroom Renovation Complete!

For the past few years I've been thinking about renovating our little powder room downstairs. I've never liked the nasty marbleized teal counter top that graced the top of the blah cabinet beneath.And the green tile on the floor drove me crazy every time I'd try to scrub the nasty white grout... I was never able to get it clean enough.
And my dated sponge painting technique was buggin' me every time I stepped foot into that room...So, we finally pushed up our sleeves and got to work trying to make our little bathroom shine to our liking.









I have to admit that a little trip to Costco started the ball rolling. We, or maybe I should say, I fell in love with this little dark brown vanity with a lovely marble top. I knew it was exactly what I was looking for and it fit perfectly!


We tore out all the green tiles and installed new brown/tan speckled ones. Neither one of us had ever laid a tile before so we were nervous about the whole procedure. But with some research, a few calls to my expert tile laying dad, and a tile saw borrowed from our neighbor we were tiling like pros in no time!

I love how the floor turned out!I painted the walls twice... First color was too dark. I mixed a couple colors together from the endless supply of paint cans in our garage and voila...I made something I could live with!We decided to go with a mostly brown room with blue accents. That meant I got to go shopping! I must have gone to every store that sold towels withing a twenty mile radius of our home before finding the ones I liked.

Connor picked out this faucet. It's very pretty and it is fun to watch the water dribble down the little channel before falling off into the sink. Nice choice Connor!

The boys were beyond thrilled to have the bathroom back in working order. They voiced their lack of enthusiasm for having to trek up the stairs every time they had to go to the john.

It took us a lot longer than I had anticipated to finish this job. Seemed like our weekends were jam packed with activities lending only an hour or two to work on the renovation.

But we persevered and today we can flush downstairs yet again!

The boys had to play rock, paper, scissors, to find out who was going to be the first one to try out the new facility! :) Nolan won.

It's very satisfying knowing we worked together on this project and it turned out even better than I anticipated. I love it! Thanks for all your help, Connor. We make a great team!

Odds and ends of growing up and growing old.

Here are some of the latest goings on around our homestead...

Nothing earth shattering going on here lately, but a few things floating around in my head that I feel worthy of writing down.

1. A few days ago, I entered the doors of the local Junior High School and sat through a parent orientation that strangely brought me right back to my junior high days. It was a very nice school, but I'm in serious denial that my son will be attending that place in the Fall. He's going to have an ASB card, use power tools, suit up for P.E., rush around crowded hallways, etc. etc. etc.... How did this happen so soon? I swear it was just yesterday that I was trying to teach him how to push those yellow plastic shapes into that red and blue Tupperware shape sorter sphere. Time is slipping by.

2. Nolan made my day this morning... I got up early (which is unbelievable in itself) and was sitting by myself on the couch enjoying a quiet cup of coffee along with Meredith Vierra. Next thing I know, sleepy Nolan, with bedhead beyond anything I've seen in a long time, plopped down next to me on the couch and leaned his head on my shoulder and gave me a sweet kiss on the cheek. Seems so simple, but I really needed that. He's been seeming like he's growing up and trying to avoid the snuggling sweet stuff lately. Made. My. Day.

3. I can see the light. The light that will be our finished bathroom renovation. Connor and I worked a bunch this weekend on getting more steps completed... Just need to grout, seal, install trim, and attach the new vanity/sink that has been living in my family room for a month. This weekend we learned that we are one of the lucky couples. The type of couple that can withstand home renovations without wanting to kill one another. We work well together and actually had fun! :)

So see, nothing front page news worthy happening here... just a few thoughts bumping around in my brain that I thought I'd share. :) I'm getting older people, it's getting to the point that I need to jot things down or I'll forget about them forever.

Daydreaming and watching paint dry...

While I wait for paint to dry...

I will think back to my great weekend spent with Connor. His terrific Aunt Lee agreed to take our boys Saturday and Sunday so we could have a weekend together. We played "tourist" in Olympia and it was a lot of fun. We walked around downtown and along the waterfront harbor checking out the little shops and dining out to our hearts' content. The weather was bi-polar and we never knew if we'd be faced with sunshine or snow anytime we walked outdoors...kept things interesting! Why do we wait so long between weekends away? We had a wonderful time together and I know for a fact that Nick and Nolan had more fun that we could have ever shown them. Aunt Lee's house is a boys dream paradise... She lives on the Puget Sound so they usually hang out on the beach looking for crabs and fishing for who knows what. And the food that comes out of her kitchen is delicious and never ending! :) Great weekend for all! Thank you Aunt Lee!!

I've also got Nicholas on my mind today... I dropped him off at school today packed to the gills for his big 6th grade camp excursion. He and the entire 6th grade hopped on buses headed for the hills and some fun expeditions to be sure. He was SUPER excited and that makes me smile from ear to ear. He wont come home until Friday so it will be very strange around here without him. Nolan seems pretty excited, but I know he will miss his big bro in no time flat. I can't wait to hear about all of his fun experiences and to give him a big hug on Friday.

I'm also wondering how on earth I managed to pick the exact same paint color for my bathroom that I used in Nick's bedroom.... I mean I must have taken 32 paint chips from 3 different hardware stores and agonized over them for days before settling on the one I thought would be "just right". After painting for awhile I got a strange feeling that this color resembles Nick's, so I took the little paint chip up to his room and placed it on the wall and BINGO...it is exactly the same! Weird. Anyway, it's looking much darker than I expected and I'm hoping I haven't just painted a cave of a bathroom in my house.

Well, the first coat must be close to dry by now... on to coat number two! No rest for the wicked!

Mad Scientist

Things get a little crazy around these parts this time of year...

You may be thinking to yourself, spring cleaning? Tax time? After school sports?
None of those things apply, although the tax thing is weighing on my mind.

It's the school's Science Fair. And while I totally feel it is a worthwhile endeavor and completely necessary for teaching my boys the value of science, It brings me grief. No matter how much I try to step back and let my kids do the majority of the work, there is no way to avoid being sucked in.

This year, Nolan decided to make a mirror chamber. What's that you ask? It is a really cool project in optics and reflection. But it also caused his parents to trek to the hardware store several times and fork out more dough than they really wanted to, but it is all for the sake of science, right? It turned out great, he had a lot of fun making it, but I'm beyond thrilled that this project that took up most of our weekend is finally OVER.

As for Nicholas, that boy has floored us completely. He did the ENTIRE project from start to finish all by himself. He built a catapult from wood scraps in the garage and tested it to see what objects worked best for flying the farthest. His was out there sawing, hammering, and perfecting his project until it was complete. And let me tell you, this kid doesn't mess around. I believe his findings show that bouncy balls really make the best projectiles. He even added some flair with duct tape accents. (I'll post pictures later...)

It was so nice only having one science project needing our assistance. But somehow, even that one project made me feel overwhelmed. Sadly, I think this is just a sign of me getting old. I swear something like this wouldn't have phased me five years ago. So tonight's the big fair, where all the students display their projects for all to see. It's always fun to see what interesting experiments these kids come up with. They stand in front of their display boards with big grins ready to explain their scientific data and conclusions. It really is a great thing. Especially when we wake up tomorrow and don't have to think about it for another year!

I La-uv Him Soooo Much...

My husband is the absolute best.

I worked my tail off at work yesterday, all the dang day. Mondays are always insane at the pharmacy, but yesterday took the cake. INSANELY BUSY. Our busiest day EVER. So when I called Connor for a few minutes during my lunch break, I think he could tell by my my tone that I was less than thrilled with my day.

Fast forward several hours...

I drove home late in the evening completely tuckered out from the crazy day. I walked into our quiet house and climbed the stairs to my room where I found my sweet hubby. He had drawn a bubble bath for me! :) He had several candles burning and my favorite magazine was waiting for me on the side of the tub. And for my drinking pleasure... he poured my a yummy mixed drink concoction. Aahhhhh. Just. What. I. Needed. (He even cleaned the kitchen 'til it was sparkling clean!)

Am I lucky or what? Thank you Connor, for continually taking the time to make me happy! You are always so thoughtful. You turned my frown upside down! :)