Saturday, February 28, 2009

Can you still call it a bathroom?


John has been busy today. I am just staying out of the way. The kids bath has been reduced to studs with some plumbing fixtures. Luckily the studs seem to be in good shape. He is sort of at a stopping point for today. We have to get a new tub before we go much further. The original plan did not include a new tub, or a new toilet for that matter, but as with most of our projects this one grew. We decided that since the new sink is white, the off white tub and toilet won't work. We probably should have thought this through a little better before buying a white sink. Oh well. It is what it is. We will continue to support our local home improvement stores.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

So much for taking it slow

I mentioned a few nights ago that John was starting to rip the wallpaper out of the bathroom. Well he got a little carried away. Last night he ripped out the cultured marble that was around the tub. It looks a little different now. See the cool mold growing. Anyway, at this point the kids could still use the toilet and sink in their bath. We discussed leaving everything alone since we have lots of stuff going on this weekend and we aren't sure how much time we can devote to the project.Guess what? He couldn't resist tearing out a little more. I was just sitting at my desk working away at about 6:40 this morning, when I got an email with the above picture. I had only been gone for an hour. I guess the bath is officially off limits. We will now all four be sharing one small bathroom. This will be a great time of bonding. Last night when Joshua got out of the shower, he told me to feel his hair. He said it was really soft since he used my conditioner. Also, he told me that his skin was softer and smelled nice since he used my shower gel. I hope this room goes back together as quickly as it is coming apart. I don't share well.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

No Fear

I thought that yesterday's experience would curtail my kids adventurous spirits for a day or two. I was wrong. They were both outside jumping the ramp again today. When I went out to check on them, Joshua didn't have a helmet on. So much for learning a lesson.
Tonight John is starting to work on the bathroom. He is scoring the wallpaper. I am hoping it comes down a little easier than the wallpaper in the hall. I wanted to go ahead and include some pictures before John got much further on the project. I think he intends to have the wallpaper down by the weekend. The way he is going, it might be down this evening.
Here is the current vanity. The new one will have a door in the center and drawers down each side. Also, the new sink is more square and will be centered. I hope this project goes a little quicker than the hall, but I am not holding my breath. I know the tiling is going to take some time and I don't want to rush it. I will post pictures as we progress. Owning a home that needs some updating is its own adventure.

Monday, February 23, 2009

It's all fun until...

Yesterday, John taught the boys one of the fundamentals of being a boy. They learned how to make ramps so they could get some air. Today they had lots of fun being boys. After taking a few pictures I went inside to mop the floor. The boys came in and played video games for a few minutes then went back out for more fun. Apparently, Jacob didn't feel the need to wear his helmet the second time around. After a few minutes I heard a pretty awful scream. Jacob fell off his bike after a jump and landed on his hands and knees. He was complaining that they were scratched. As we were walking in the house to wash his hands and knees, I noticed blood dripping down his neck from the back of his head. His hair is so thick it took me a minute to find the cut. It wasn't very big, so I didn't get too excited. I just put some pressure on it, and had him hold an ice pack on it. After about thirty minutes, I was pretty sure we needed to go get stitches. John got home and took a look. He decided I was just overreacting and it looked fine. After a few minutes he looked again and said maybe we should make a trip to the doctor to be safe. Jacob did really good at the doctor. He is so brave.Three stitches later all is well. He doesn't even have to miss school tomorrow. He is pretty excited that he has a story for writer's workshop. The joys of raising boys.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Contributing to the Economy

We are making progress. Last night we made a trip to Lowes for a vanity and sink for the bathroom.Today, Home Depot received our dollars for tile. They are the only distributor of Daltile Mendocino Golden Brown porcelain tile. Our truck was loaded down. Twenty-eight boxes of 18x18 inch tile is heavy. We also had to get the smaller tile for the counter and a tile saw. We still have to go back and get grout, but that will be an easier trip. I cannot believe the transformation of the hall. I will be so glad when we get the tile and baseboards in.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Projects never end

Today when I got home there was a surprise waiting. Our new pool pump and filter had been delivered. We have so many things going on that they won't likely be installed for a few weeks, but it is good to have them here for when we get bored.
We are nearing completion on the hall. I can't believe it is taking so long. Today, I put the second coat of paint on the walls. The picture above is from yesterday after I put the first coat on. John has finished painting the crown molding and we should be able to put it up this weekend. After that we can start on the hall bath. Once the new vanity is in the bath, we can start on the floors. I can hardly wait to get the new floors down and the baseboards installed. I am ready to have things back in order.
Tonight, we are working on a class project for Jacob. We have know about it for two weeks, but didn't do much until tonight. He has to do a report on toucans for their study of the rain forest. He also has to have a toucan for his visual aide. Luckily, you can use any medium you want and he just wanted to draw one and color it. I am glad he is easy to please.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Critters

I know the picture isn't that great, but work with me. For some reason, the dog and the cat always end up in Jacob's bed. It is a good thing that he is such a sound sleeper.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Birthday Pictures



Happy Birthday Joshua


Today our oldest son turns nine. It is hard to believe it has been nine years since we set out on this journey. He wasn't due until March 15, so he made his debut a little early. He was our miracle and we are so blessed to be his parents. I thought this would be a good time to tell the story of how Joshua was a direct answer to prayer. I wanted a baby the day we got married. Luckily, God is much wiser than I, and He knew that wasn't a good plan. After we had been married about two years we started trying to find a reason as to why we weren't able to conceive. After a year in which I had surgery and six months of hormone shots, my doctor told me that my chances of getting pregnant were pretty slim. We began to contemplate adoption. At that time I was working for an attorney who offered to help us with the adoption process. A couple of months went by and she came in on a Monday morning and said she had to tell me something. She had visited a church the night before to hear someone she knew speak. She said that after the preacher had dismissed everyone, he said that everyone should wait because the Lord told him to say something. He said that someone there was trying to get pregnant, or they knew someone who was trying to get pregnant. He said that his wife needed to pray over that person, because she had the gift of intersession, specifically to pray for those who could not conceive. When my boss came in on Monday she told me that she knew he was talking about me, so his wife would be coming by the office to pray over me. She came in on Tuesday to pray. She told me that if I didn't get pregnant right away to not let Satan steal my joy. That statement really moved me. Anyway, less than two weeks later I was having a pampered chef party at my house. I wasn't feeling that great and my Aunt Nikki kept saying, "I think you're pregnant." I hoped it was true, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. I waited two more days and then decided to take a pregnancy test. It was positive. John was sitting outside the bathroom, and when I told him it was positive, he just said, "I knew it." God's timing was perfect and today we once again celebrate the gift of our Joshua. Happy Birthday son! We love you and are so thankful that God allowed us to be your parents.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Fog


As the sun was going down today, the fog was settling in. The boys kept saying they wanted to go explore in the fog. They were making up stories about a fog monster. Since it is very muddy, they had to stay on the driveway. Also, I don't really like them exploring in the woods when it is getting dark. I just don't share their sense of adventure.

Friday, February 13, 2009

The Rains came down, and the Floods came up

Yes, it is raining again. I should be painting right now, but I just wanted to sit and do nothing when I got home from work. Work was interesting today. We had a gas leak this morning and had to evacuate the plant. Luckily the break room and lobby weren't affected so the group that I work with hung out in the lobby and had breakfast. The only down side is that I was at work a little later than I would have liked trying to catch up. Our hall project is taking longer than we intended, but it is getting there. Tonight we will put the last coat of paint on the doors and trim. Hopefully, we can get the walls painted tomorrow and then hang the new doors. We are making another trip to the home improvement store tonight for door hardware. Our next project will be the kids bath. It is going to be a big project. It started simply enough. We were just going to removed the wall paper, paint, and install tile floors. Somehow that has evolved to include a new vanity with sink and tile top. In addition, we are planning to tear out the walls around the tub to the studs and make it tile. It will be nice once it is done, but the chaos until then may drive me crazy.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Happy Birthday Memaw!


Just wanted to put a quick note on to tell my Mom Happy Birthday, or as the boys would say, Happy Birthday Memaw! My mom wanted to be grandma, but Joshua changed that one when he was just starting to talk and it stuck. Plus, Memaw sounds better with Pepaw. I guess Joshua knew.


Hope you are having a great day.


Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Oscar

John and Oscar made quite a mess in the kitchen tonight. John thought it would be funny to spray Oscar. Oscar kept trying to attack the water. We are easily entertained.

Baseball

We are officially signed up for baseball. Joshua played last year, but this will be Jacob's first year. We were so blessed last year. Joshua had great coaches, and he really enjoyed playing. I am praying that the same is true this year. I am not looking forward to balancing practices and games for both of them, but I am sure we will get through it.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

What were we thinking

Today, I will continue the fun John started yesterday. We need to paint all the new doors. It isn't hard, just time consuming. Anyway, I am going to spend about an hour on doors, then I have to get dinner ready and prepare for cub scouts. We are going to the fire station tonight. I am sure it will be lots of fun.

Weekend Recap

I should probably have wrapped up the weekend on Sunday or Monday, but the time got away from me. John got the thermostat installed in the family room. After that we took a break from projects. I spent some time cleaning. The cat was having way too much fun playing on top the chairs. I had put them on top the table so I could mop the floor. She kept getting on them so she could hit at the chains on the fan. Once the house was clean, the boys spent some time playing rock band. I don't even try. I was not blessed with rhythm.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Surprises never end

John had to add some texture to the walls, so we aren't going to paint any in the hall today. No big deal we will just move on to other projects. First up, remove the gas heater from the family room. We turned in on once and the carbon monoxide alarm started going off. We then read the warning about not using it in an area without fresh air. Oops! I am really not sure why the previous owners installed it indoors, but there are lots of things about this house that perplex me. John is going to install it in the garage instead. Now we have a lovely blue spot on our wall. I have a hard time picturing what the family room must have looked like at one time. I am really glad they decided to paint the walls before listing the house. Anyway, John patched the holes and now we are waiting for it to dry. The hole where the gas line was is pretty big, so it will probably take several applications of patch before it is ready to paint. Luckily, there is some left over paint in the garage that matches the room. I really don't want to have to paint the entire room in the next couple of weeks.
Last night at Home Depot we decided to go ahead and get a programmable thermostat for the family room. As you can see, the one that is in there looks pretty sad. They are relatively inexpensive and the one we installed in the other half of the house has made a difference. Anyway, when John pulled the old thermostat off the wall he discovered some lovely wallpaper with records on it. Upon further inspection, I realized that they had painted over the wallpaper. In addition, there is a border around the top that was also painted over. Why would anyone paint over wallpaper. I don't get it. Needless to say the project list for that room is growing.

What a Guy

John makes breakfast on Saturday. Is is sort of a tradition at our house. We usually have pancakes or waffles. Today was waffles. Our waffle iron is an antique. John's Nanny made waffles on it for him when he was a kid.
In addition to making a good breakfast he also likes to cook on the smoker. Today he is smoking ribs, potatoes, and corn on the cob. We have some friends coming over for dinner this evening. I need to get busy cleaning this morning while John is doing some sanding in the hall. Once he is done we have to get some primer on the walls. It is going to be a busy day.

Friday, February 6, 2009

More Home Improvement Fun

I am just waiting on John to get home so we can head to the store. We have high hopes of getting lots done this weekend. The current plan is to get all the trim in the hall primed and painted. In addition, we are going to prime and paint the hall walls. I know we said we were going to just paint the doors in the hall, but plans have changed. We are going to replace all the existing doors with six panel doors. With all the painting that needs done, I don't think we will get the new doors up this weekend. Hopefully, next weekend we can get them up and the new hardware installed. The tile will not be installed until next month. We are having a 25th anniversary party for some friends on the 28th, and I would like the house to be somewhat orderly for the celebration. It will be nice to have a little break before we start laying the tile. We have never done tile before, so I am sure it will be fun. Have a great weekend.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Blooms


One of the flowers in the front bloomed. I am pretty sure they are daffodils. It was looking pretty sad so I decided to pick it and bring it in to warm up. The cat immediately took it out of the vase and ran off with it. Once I recovered it, I put it in the family room so I can lock the cat out.It has been in the mid twenties the last few nights, but it should warm up this weekend. I hope we don't get any more cold snaps. Have I mentioned I am ready for Spring.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Life in Mississippi

This was one of the stories in the Metro Section of the Clarion Ledger today. Mississippi is an interesting place to live. At an elementary school in Hattiesburg they celebrate Cotton Picking Day as part of Black History Month. The kids could pay a fee to dress like slaves instead of wearing their school uniforms. Some parents complained, so they decided to replace it with career day.
There was another story in the paper several weeks ago about a high school somewhere in Mississippi where they are having an integrated prom this year. Apparently, it is only the second year for it. Even though segregation ended many years ago, the school continued to have separate white and black proms. Stories like that really surprise me. Maybe I am just naive.